Apparatus and method for producing ambulatory motion
OwnerMitch Randallinventor
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An ambulatory mechanical leg system drives a mechanical leg (100, 21) with a crank (91) to pivot about a pivot axis (102) to produce uniform rectilinear motion at the distal end (41) of the leg (100, 21) during a stride stroke (51) portion of a crank revolution or cycle and then lifts the distal end (41) to fast-return it in a step stroke (61) during the remainder of the revolution to a starting point for the next stride stroke (51). The crank (91), leg (100, 21) and pivot axis (102) sizes and proportional lengths or distances are modeled to an angular profile that produces nearly constant velocity, and mechanical structures maintain nearly rectilinear motion, of the distal end (41) of the leg (100, 21) during the stride stroke (51).
Claims30
Locomotive apparatus for supporting and moving a vehicle, toy, or other body, on a support surface, including a plurality of legs extending from the body, each leg comprising a leg lever having a proximal end portion connected to a drive mechanism and a distal end portion adapted for contacting and supporting the body on the support surface, wherein the drive mechanism and the leg are characterized by:
- the proximal end portion of the leg lever connected to a crank and constrained at a pivot adjacent the crank to move the distal end portion of the leg lever in a linear path in relation to the body as the crank rotates through a part of a 360-degree revolution and to lift the distal end portion of the leg lever and return it to a starting point of the linear path as the crank completes the 360-degree revolution.
Apparatus for moving a distal end of a mechanical leg in a cycle comprising a stride stroke to support and propel an object on a support surface and a step stroke following the stride stroke to lift the distal end above the support surface and return it to begin another stride stroke, said apparatus comprising:
- means for moving the distal end at a constant velocity during the stride stroke and at accelerating and decelerating velocities during the step stroke;
- and
- means for maintaining movement of the distal end to a substantially straight path in relation to the object during the stride stroke and to an arcuate path in relation to the object and above the support surface during the step stroke.
A method of supporting and propelling an object over a support surface with a plurality of mechanical legs, comprising:
- connecting each mechanical leg to a crank pin that is rotatable at a radial distance about a crank axis;
- constraining such mechanical leg in a pivotal manner at a pivot axis that is parallel to the crank axis and positioned at a lateral distance from the crank axis, said lateral distance being greater than the radial distance;
- sizing the radial distance and the lateral distance to model an angular profile of Q=ARCTAN (VR/ωd) to obtain a constant velocity V of a distal end of said mechanical leg in relation to angular velocity ω of the crank pin rotation about the crank axis for a stride portion of a revolution of the crank pin about the crank axis, where R is an angle between a plane that includes the crank axis and the pivot axis and a plane that includes the crank axis and the crank pin, where Q is an angle between a plane that includes the crank axis and the pivot axis and a plane that includes the crank axis and a point of contact of the mechanical leg on the support surface, and d is a perpendicular distance from the pivot axis to a plane that is parallel to the pivot axis and extends through the point of contact of the mechanical leg on the support surface;
- and
- rotating the crank pin about the crank axis.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.