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 Title: |
WO9623478A1:
TRANSPORTATION VEHICULES AND METHODS[French]
[ Derwent Title ]
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Country:
Kind: |
WO World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO)
A1 INTERNATIONAL APPLICATION PUBLISHED WITH INTERNATIONAL SEARCH REPORT i
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| Inventor: |
KAMEN, Dean, L.;
AMBROGI, Robert, R.;
DUGGAN, Robert, J.;
HEINZMANN, Richard, Kurt;
KEY, Brian, R.;
SHOSKIEWICZ, Andrzej;
KRISTAL, Phyllis, K.;
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| Assignee: |
DEKA PRODUCTS LIMITED PARTNERSHIP
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| Published / Filed: |
1996-08-08
/ 1995-02-03
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| Application Number: |
WO1995US0001522
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| IPC Code: |
Advanced:
A61G 5/00;
A61G 5/04;
A61G 5/06;
B25J 5/00;
B60B 19/00;
B60K 15/10;
B60K 26/02;
B60T 7/02;
B62B 5/02;
B62D 6/00;
B62D 37/00;
B62D 51/02;
B62D 57/00;
B62D 57/02;
B62D 57/028;
B62D 57/032;
B62K 3/00;
B62K 17/00;
Subclass:
A61G;
IPC-7:
A61G 5/04;
A61G 5/06;
B60B 19/00;
B62K 17/00;
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| ECLA Code: |
B60B19/12; A61G5/06A; B60B19/00; B62K3/00D; L60G300/24; K61G5/06B2; L60Y200/47; L60Y200/84;
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| Priority Number: |
| 1995-02-03 |
WO1995US0001522 |
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| Abstract: |
There is provided, in a preferred embodiment, a transportation vehicle for transporting an individual over ground having a surface that may be irregular. This embodiment has a support for supporting the subjet. A ground-contacting module, movably attached to the support, serves to suspend the subject in the support over the surface. The orientation of the ground-contacting module defines fore-aft and lateral planes intersecting one another at a vertical. The support and the ground-contacting module are components of an assembly. A motorized drive, mounted to the assembly and coupled to the ground-contacting module, causes locomotion of the assembly and the subject therewith over the surface. Finally, the ambodiment has a control loop, in which the motorized drive is included, for dynamically enhancing stability in the fore-aft plane by operation of the motorized drive in connection with the ground-contacting module. The ground-contacting module may be realized as a pair of ground-contacting members, laterally disposed with respect to one another. The ground-contacting members may be wheels. Alternatively, each ground-contacting member may include a cluster of wheels. In another embodiment, each ground-contacting member includes a pair of axially adjacent and rotatably mounted arcuate element pairs. Related methods are also provided.
[French]
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| INPADOC Legal Status: |
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| Designated Country: |
AT AU BE CA CH CN DE DK ES FI FR GB GR IE IT JP KR LU MC MX NL NO NZ PT RU SE
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| Family: |
Show 42 known family members
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First Claim:
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CLAIMS
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Description
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+ TRANSPORTATION VEHICLES AND METHODS
Technical Field The present invention pertains to vehicles and methods for transporting individuals, and more particularly to vehicles and methods for transporting individuals over ground having a surface that may be irregular.
+ Background Art A wide range of vehicles and methods are known for transporting human subjects. The design of these vehicles has generally resulted from a compromise that favors stability over maneuverability. It becomes difficult, for example, to provide a self-propelled user-guidable vehicle for transporting persons over ground having a surface that may be irregular, while still permitting convenient locomotion over ground having a surface that is relatively flat. Vehicles that achieve locomotion over irregular surfaces tend to be complex, heavy, and difficult for ordinary locomotion.
+ Summary of the Inventio The invention provides, in a preferred embodiment, a vehicle for transporting a human subject over ground having a surface that may be irregular. This embodiment has a support for supporting the subject. A groundcontacting module, movably attached to the support, serves to suspend the subject in the support over the surface. The orientation of the ground-contacting module defines fore-aft and lateral planes intersecting one another at a vertical.
The support and the ground-contacting module are components of an assembly.
+ Brief Description of the Drawing
The invention will be more readily understood by reference to the following description, taken with the accompanying drawings, in which: Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a simplified embodiment of the present invention, showing a subject seated thereon; Fig. 2 another perspective view of the embodiment of Fig. 1, showing further details of the embodiment; Fig. 3 is a schematic view of the embodiment of Fig. 1, showing the swivel arrangement of this embodiment; Fig. 4 is a side elevation of the embodiment of Fig. 1 as used for climbing stairs; Fig. 5 is a block diagram showing generally the nature of power and control with the embodiment of Fig. 1; Fig. 6 illustrates the control strategy for a simplified version of Fig. 1 to achieve balance using wheel torque; Fig. 7 illustrates diagrammatically the operation of joystick control of the wheels of the embodiments of Fig. 1; Fig. 8 illustrates the procedures utilized by the embodiment of Fig. 1 to ascend and descend stairs; Figs. 9-21 illustrate embodiments of the invention utilizing a pair of wheel clusters as the ground-contacting members; Figs. 9-10 show use of a two- wheel cluster design in various positions; Figs. 11-21 show use of a three-wheel cluster design in various positions and configurations; Figs. 22-24 illustrate an embodiment wherein each ground-contacting member is realized as a plurality of axially adjacent and rotatably mounted arcuate element groups; Figs. 25-26 provide mechanical detail of a three-wheel cluster design for use in the embodiment of Figs. 18-20; Fig. 27 is a block diagram showing communication among the control assemblies used in the embodiment of Figs. 18-20; Fig. 28 is a block diagram showing the structure of a generic control assembly of the type used in the embodiment of Fig. 27; Fig. 29 is a block diagram providing detail of the driver interface assembly 273 of Fig. 27; Fig. 30 is a logical flow diagram followed by the central micro controller board 272 of Fig. 27 in the course of one control cycle; Fig. 31 illustrates variables defining the dimensions of the cluster design of Figs. 11-26 and of a hypothetical stair with respect to which the cluster design will be used for ascent or descent; Fig. 32 illustrates angle variables pertinent to defining orientation of the cluster in relation to the vehicle and to the world; Fig. 33 is a schematic of the wheel motor control during balancing and normal locomotion; Fig. 34 is a schematic of the cluster control arrangement during balancing and normal locomotion; Fig. 35 is a schematic, relating to Fig. 33, showing the arrangement by which the state variables indicating wheel position are determined so as to compensate for the effects of cluster rotation; Figs. 36-38 illustrate the control arrangement for stair-climbing and obstacle traversal achieved by the cluster design of Figs. 11-26 in accordance with a first embodiment permitting climbing; Fig. 36 is a schematic for the control arrangement for the cluster motors in the first embodiment permitting climbing, here employing a lean mode; Fig. 37 is a schematic for the control arrangement for the wheel motors in the first embodiment permitting climbing; Fig. 38 is a block diagram of the state of the vehicle, utilizing the first embodiment permitting climbing, for moving among idle, lean, and balance modes; Figs. 39A-B, 40A-B, 41A-B, and 42A-C illustrate stair-climbing achieved by the cluster design of Figs. 11-26 in accordance a second embodiment permitting climbing; Figs. 39A and 39B illustrate orientation of the cluster in the sequence of starting stair climbing in accordance with the second climbing embodiment; Figs. 40A and 40B illustrate orientation of the cluster in the sequence of resetting the angle origins in this embodiment; Figs. 41A and 41B illustrate orientation of the cluster in the sequence of transferring weight in this embodiment; Figs. 42A, 42B, and 42C illustrate orientation of the cluster in the sequence of climbing in this embodiment; Fig. 43 is a schematic for the control arrangement for the wheel and cluster motors during the start sequence of Figs. 39A and 39B; Fig. 44 is a schematic for the control arrangement for the wheel motors during the weight transfer sequence of Figs. 41A and 41B; and Fig. 45 is a schematic for the control arrangement during the climb sequence of Figs. 42A, 42B, and 42C.
+ Detailed Description of Specific Embodiment The invention may be implemented in a wide range of embodiments. A characteristic of many of these embodiments is the use of a pair of laterally disposed ground- contacting members to suspend the subject over the surface with respect to which the subject is being transported. The ground-contacting members are motor-driven. In many embodiments, the configuration in which the subject is suspended during locomotion lacks inherent stability at least a portion of the time with respect to a vertical in the fore-aft plane but is relatively stable with respect to a vertical in the lateral plane. Fore-aft stability is achieved by providing a control loop, in which the motor is included, for operation of the motor in connection with the ground-contacting members. As described below, the pair of ground- contacting members may, for example, be a pair of wheels or a pair of wheel clusters. In the case of wheel clusters, each cluster may include a plurality of wheels. Each ground-contacting member, however, may instead be a plurality (typically a pair) of axially-adjacent, radially supported and rotatably mounted arcuate elements. In these embodiments, the ground- contacting members are driven by the motorized drive in the control loop in such a way as to maintain the center of mass of the vehicle above the point of contact of the ground-contacting members with the ground, regardless of disturbances and forces operative on the vehicle.
In Fig. 1 is shown a simplified embodiment of the invention in which the principal ground-contacting members are a pair of wheels and in which supplemental ground-contacting members are used in stair climbing and descending. (As will be shown below, stair climbing and descent and flat- terrain locomotion may both be achieved with a single set of ground- contacting members, when such members are the wheel clusters or the arcuate elements referred to above.) The embodiment shown in Fig. 1 includes a support arrangement 12, embodied here as a chair, on which a subject 13 may be seated. The vehicle is provided with a pair of wheels 11 disposed laterally with respect to one another.
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