Device for guiding the movement on the ground of a self-driven machine
First Claim
1. A device for controlling the movement of a machine on a surface, said device comprising:
- (A) an obstacle disposed along at least part of a periphery of an area to be traversed by said machine;
(B) a winder-unwinder device connected to said machine;
(C) an anchor which is located remote from said machine and which is stationary with respect to said surface;
(D) a flexible connection attached at one end to said machine at another end to said anchor;
(E) obstacle detector means, carried by said machine, for detecting the presence of said obstacle;
(F) means for freeing a given length of said connection when said obstacle is detected by said obstacle detector means, and(G) propulsive means for causing said machine to travel in a direction in which said connection is stretched again after said given length of said connection is freed, and for then causing said machine to travel in a direction which is opposite to a direction in which said machine was travelling before said obstacle was detected.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A method and device are disclosed for controlling the movement of a machine on a surface. The device comprises an obstacle disposed along at least part of an area to be traversed by the machine, a winder-unwinder device connected to the machine, and an anchor which is located remote from the machine and which is stationary with respect to the surface. A flexible connection is attached at one end to the machine at another end to the anchor. An obstacle detector, carried by the machine, detects the presence of the obstacle. A device successively frees a given length of the connection when the obstacle is detected. A propulsive device causes the machine to travel in a direction in which the connection is stretched again after the length of the connection is freed, and then causes the machine to travel in a direction which is opposite to a direction in which the machine was travelling before the obstacle was detected.
22 Citations
9 Claims
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1. A device for controlling the movement of a machine on a surface, said device comprising:
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(A) an obstacle disposed along at least part of a periphery of an area to be traversed by said machine; (B) a winder-unwinder device connected to said machine; (C) an anchor which is located remote from said machine and which is stationary with respect to said surface; (D) a flexible connection attached at one end to said machine at another end to said anchor; (E) obstacle detector means, carried by said machine, for detecting the presence of said obstacle; (F) means for freeing a given length of said connection when said obstacle is detected by said obstacle detector means, and (G) propulsive means for causing said machine to travel in a direction in which said connection is stretched again after said given length of said connection is freed, and for then causing said machine to travel in a direction which is opposite to a direction in which said machine was travelling before said obstacle was detected. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. A method of controlling the movement of a machine on a surface having an obstacle provide along at least part of a periphery of an area to be traversed by said machine, said machine having a winder-unwinder device which is mounted thereon and to which is connected an end of a flexible connection, which connection is at least partially wound onto said winder-unwinder device, said method comprising the steps of:
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(A) attaching another end of said connection to an anchor which is located remote from said machine and which is stationary with respect to said surface; (B) propelling said machine to travel in a first direction with said connection being stretched between said machine and said anchor;
then(C) detecting the presence of said obstacle via an obstacle detector located on said machine, then (D) freeing a given length of said connection from said winder-unwinder device, then (E) propelling said machine to travel in a direction in which said connection is stretched again, and then (F) propelling said machine to travel in a direction which is opposite to said first direction.
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Specification