Motor vehicles – Special driving device
Patent
1994-05-27
1997-12-30
Boehler, Anne Marie
Motor vehicles
Special driving device
180 65, 180 82, 180 21, 180 658, 180907, 280 526, 364176, 364463, B62D 6112
Patent
active
057019657
ABSTRACT:
There is provided, in a preferred embodiment, a device for transporting a human subject over ground having a surface that may be irregular and may include stairs. This embodiment has a support for supporting the subject. 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 embodiment 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.
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Ambrogi Robert R.
Duggan Robert J.
Heinzmann Richard K.
Kamen Dean L.
Key Brian R.
Boehler Anne Marie
DEKA Products Limited Partnership
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