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:
Jan. 04, 2000
Filed:
Dec. 22, 1997
Jean-Luc Caminade, Saint Jean de Vedas, FR;
Jean-Marc Montant, Montpellier, FR;
Support Systems International Industries, Montpellier Cedex 5, FR;
Abstract
The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for supporting a body element. The apparatus includes at least one support device with at least one closed or controlled-release chamber, a filling device and an emptying means device for filling said chamber with a filling fluid and emptying the fluid from the chamber, and a distance-measurement device for measuring the distance between a top face and a bottom face of the chamber. The apparatus further includes a reaction-measurement device for measuring the reaction of the support device relative to the morphological data of the body element to be supported, and a control system including a combination device for combining the measurement of the penetration distance d provided by the distance-measurement device and the measurement of the reaction provided by the reaction-measurement device. This combination is advantageously constituted by summing the two obtained measurements. The invention makes it possible to support the element to be supported substantially in a position of equilibrium corresponding substantially to a predetermined float line.