The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Mar. 10, 2020
Filed:
Dec. 07, 2017
Abb Schweiz Ag, Baden, CH;
Gregory Cole, West Hartford, CT (US);
William Eakins, Bloomfield, CT (US);
Daniel Lasko, Bloomfield, CT (US);
Harshang Shah, Bloomfield, CT (US);
Thomas Fuhlbrigge, Ellington, CT (US);
Biao Zhang, West Hartford, CT (US);
Sanguen Choi, Sinsbury, CT (US);
Luiz Cheim, St. Charles, MO (US);
Poorvi Patel, Ballwin, MO (US);
Andrew Salm, West Hartford, CT (US);
ABB Power Grids Switzerland AG, Baden, CH;
Abstract
A submersible inspection drone used for inspection can include a ballast system used to control depth of the submersible inspection drone. The submersible can be configured to communicate to a base station using a wireless transmitter and receiver. The ballast system can include a pressure vessel for storing fluid and a bag for inflating and deflating as it receives a fluid. Buoyancy of the submersible inspection drone can be provided by change in density of the pressure vessel as a compressible gas is expanded when the ballast bag is caused to inflate or deflate. A pump can be used to draw fluid from the ballast bag and store the fluid in the pressure vessel. In one form the pressure vessel can include a compressible fluid and an incompressible fluid, where the incompressible fluid is used to inflate and deflate the bag.