Mechanism and method of operation for polymorphic tracked vehicles such that the vehicle's weight can be spread between multiple supporting wheels
First Claim
1. A polymorphic vehicle, comprising:
- a) a chassis including a main body with left and right sides;
b) a left pair of actuated rotating arms on the left side of the vehicle, comprising front and rear arms, each arm being rotatably attached to the chassis about a transverse axis, allowing rotation of the arm about said transverse axis;
c) a right pair of actuated rotating arms on the right side of the vehicle, comprising front and rear arms, each arm being rotatably attached to the chassis about a transverse axis, allowing rotation of the arm about said transverse axis;
d) for each pair of arms, an actuation system consisting of a transmission, actuator, and linkage, which enables said pair'"'"'s front and rear arms to be rotated in synchronous motion;
e) rotatably attached to each such arm, at least two wheels or track sprockets, at least one such wheel or track sprocket located near to each end of said arm;
f) rotatably attached to at least one end of at least one of said actuated rotating arms, an additional supplementary supporting arm;
g) at least one mechanism by which said supplementary supporting arm can be rotated, so that it is maintained in parallel alignment with the vehicle chassis, and may also be kept in parallel alignment with a ground plane upon which the vehicle may be resting, regardless of the angle of rotation of the actuated rotating arm to which said supplementary supporting arm is rotatably attached;
h) rotatably attached to said supplementary supporting arm, at least one wheel or track sprocket;
i) at least one drive system and preferably two independent drive systems, comprising at least one motor, engine or other actuator, and associated transmissions and linkages, to cause at least one of the wheels or track sprockets on each side of the vehicle to rotate.
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Abstract
A method and apparatus is disclosed, for construction and operation of an all terrain polymorphic tracked vehicle. This invention extends and improves on the prior art disclosed in USPTO patent pending “A polymorphic tracked vehicle”, filed August 2009, USPTO application Ser. No. 12/540,391. The improvement concerns a mechanism and method of operation by which a track mechanism can be polymorphic, but can also distribute the weight of the vehicle over multiple supporting wheels. In contrast, in most configurations of the mechanism disclosed in application Ser. No. 12/540,391, the weight of the vehicle rests on just two wheels per track (i.e. on four wheels if the vehicles possesses a left track and a right track).
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. A polymorphic vehicle, comprising:
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a) a chassis including a main body with left and right sides; b) a left pair of actuated rotating arms on the left side of the vehicle, comprising front and rear arms, each arm being rotatably attached to the chassis about a transverse axis, allowing rotation of the arm about said transverse axis; c) a right pair of actuated rotating arms on the right side of the vehicle, comprising front and rear arms, each arm being rotatably attached to the chassis about a transverse axis, allowing rotation of the arm about said transverse axis; d) for each pair of arms, an actuation system consisting of a transmission, actuator, and linkage, which enables said pair'"'"'s front and rear arms to be rotated in synchronous motion; e) rotatably attached to each such arm, at least two wheels or track sprockets, at least one such wheel or track sprocket located near to each end of said arm; f) rotatably attached to at least one end of at least one of said actuated rotating arms, an additional supplementary supporting arm; g) at least one mechanism by which said supplementary supporting arm can be rotated, so that it is maintained in parallel alignment with the vehicle chassis, and may also be kept in parallel alignment with a ground plane upon which the vehicle may be resting, regardless of the angle of rotation of the actuated rotating arm to which said supplementary supporting arm is rotatably attached; h) rotatably attached to said supplementary supporting arm, at least one wheel or track sprocket; i) at least one drive system and preferably two independent drive systems, comprising at least one motor, engine or other actuator, and associated transmissions and linkages, to cause at least one of the wheels or track sprockets on each side of the vehicle to rotate. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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- 17. A method for operating a polymorphic vehicle, having at least one pair of front and rear actuated rotating arms, and at least one supplementary supporting arm rotatably attached to at least one of said actuated rotating arms, wherein the at least one supplementary supporting arm is controlled so as to maintain parallel alignment with the vehicle chassis, or the ground upon which the vehicle may be resting, regardless of the angle of rotation of the actuated rotating arm to which said supplementary arm may be attached.
Specification