Back to results
US 7,255,618 B2Granted
Screw drive vehicle
AssigneeMattel, Inc.
InventorsVladimir Leonov, Ong Kenlip
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A screw drive vehicle has a main housing with forward and aft ends and first and second lateral sides. A first support arm rotatably supports a first pontoon assembly from the first lateral side of the main housing. A second support arm rotatably supports a second pontoon assembly from the second lateral side of the main housing. A reversible motor in the housing simultaneously rotates the support arms from positions parallel to one another and the main housing to non-parallel positions. Each pontoon assembly includes a tubular housing with exterior screw thread supported for rotation between distal ends of the arm and a reversible pontoon drive motor operably coupled with the tubular housing so as to rotate the housing and thread in a selected rotational direction.
Claims24
A screw drive vehicle comprising:
- a main housing having a forward end and an aft end, first and second lateral sides and a central longitudinal axis extending through the forward and aft ends;
- at least one electric power source supported by the main housing;
- a first pontoon assembly having a central longitudinal axis;
- a first support arm connecting the first pontoon assembly to the first lateral side of the main housing;
- a second pontoon assembly having a central longitudinal axis;
- and
- a second support arm connecting the second pontoon assembly to the second lateral side of the main housing;
- each pontoon assembly including:
- a rotatable housing supported for rotation by the support arm and having at least one screw thread extending generally radially outwardly from an exterior surface of the housing;
- and
- a reversible, electrically powered pontoon drive motor operably coupled to the at least one electric power source and operably coupled with the rotatable housing so as to rotate the rotatable housing with the at least one screw thread together in a selected rotational direction, each pontoon drive motor being operable separately from the other pontoon drive motor;
- wherein:
- each support arm further includes a forward end and an aft end;
- and
- each rotatable housing is rotatably supported between the forward and aft support arm ends;
- and
- each pontoon drive motor is supported within the rotatable housing.
14 more elements
A screw drive vehicle comprising:
- a main housing having a forward end and an aft end, first and second lateral sides and a central longitudinal axis between the forward and aft ends;
- at least one electric power source;
- a first pontoon assembly having forward and aft ends, a central longitudinal axis and a rotatable housing having at least one screw thread extending generally radially outwardly from an exterior surface of the rotatable housing;
- a first support arm connecting the first pontoon assembly to the first lateral side of the main housing, the first support arm having a pivot point and being capable of moving the first pontoon assembly from a position parallel to the central longitudinal axis of the main housing to a non-parallel position;
- a second pontoon assembly having forward and aft ends, a central longitudinal axis and a rotatable housing having at least one screw thread extending generally radially outwardly from an exterior surface of the rotatable housing;
- a second support arm connecting the second pontoon assembly to the second lateral side of the main housing, the second support arm having a pivot point and being capable of moving the second pontoon assembly from a position parallel to the central longitudinal axis of the main housing to a non-parallel position;
- and
- at least one pontoon drive motor operably coupled with at least one of the first and second pontoon assemblies;
- a steering motor supported by the main housing and operably coupled to the at least one electric power source and with the first and second support arms,
- wherein in the parallel positions of the first and second pontoon assemblies, the forward ends of the first and second pontoon assemblies define a forward plane perpendicular to the main housing central longitudinal axis and the aft ends of the pontoon assemblies define an aft plane perpendicular to the main housing central longitudinal axis and the first and second support arm pivot points are intermediate the forward and aft planes, and
- wherein the steering motor pivots the first and second support arms from a first operating configuration wherein the central longitudinal axes of the first and second pontoon assemblies are in the parallel positions generally parallel to the central longitudinal axis of the main housing to at least another operating configuration wherein the central longitudinal axes of the first and second pontoon assemblies intersect.
8 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.