Other

Steve Glovsky

Stephen Lee Canfield

James Walter Beard

David Bryant

A climbing vehicle with wheel or endless-track type propulsion using suction for generating adhering forces is adapted to climbing non-planar surfaces such as intersecting walls, pipes or other structural members. The suction chamber is relatively fixed to the vehicle chassis and moves with the vehicle chassis. A seal is created around the suction chamber through an adaptive sealing mechanism. The adaptive sealing mechanism consists of a series of links that adapt to the climbing surface geometry and forms a seal at the climbing surface. The links in the adaptive sealing mechanism span a portion of the suction chamber along the longitudinal sides of the vehicle and are elastically sprung to maintain contact with the surface. The adaptive sealing mechanism links also span the lateral sides of the vehicle to fully enclose the suction chamber. Thus, the suction chamber is maintained even as the mobile vehicle passes over significant geometry changes in the climbing surface, for example transitioning between surfaces that are orthogonally opposed.

Climbing vehicle using suction with variable adaptive suspension seal

An endless-track type mobile climbing vehicle containing a suspension apparatus, transducer manipulator and surface cleaning system to perform non-destructive examination of structures while traversing the structure in all positions. The invention is able to conform to large range of irregularities of the climbing surface while maintaining contact between the track and adhering members and uniformly distributing the climbing loads on the adhering members giving the system a high payload to weight ratio. The invention is moves the inspection transducer over the surface while maintaining correct alignment of the tool relative to the surface. The invention allows an operator to perform an inspection on structures that require cleaning or other preparation prior to inspection. The invention allows an operator to perform an inspection remotely.

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Franklin, TN, United States of America

Steve Glovsky