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:
Jun. 06, 2006
Filed:
Jan. 27, 2004
Thomas M. Myrick, Warren, NJ (US);
Stephen Gorevan, New York, NY (US);
Thomas M. Myrick, Warren, NJ (US);
Stephen Gorevan, New York, NY (US);
Honeybee Robotics, Ltd., New York, NY (US);
Abstract
An autonomous subsurface drilling device has spaced-apart forward and rearward 'feet' sections coupled to an axial thruster mechanism between them to operate using an inchworm method of mobility. In one embodiment, forward and rearward drill sections are carried on forward and rearward 'feet' sections for drilling into material in the borehole in both forward and rearward directions, to allow the device to maneuver in any direction underground. In another embodiment, a front drill section has a drill head for cutting into the borehole and conveying cuttings through a center spine tube to an on-board depository for the cuttings. The feet sections of the device employ a foot scroll drive unit to provide radial thrust and synchronous motion to the feet for gripping the borehole wall. The axial thrust mechanism has a tandem set of thrusters in which the second thruster is used to provide the thrust needed for drilling, but not walking. A steering mechanism composed of concentric inner and outer eccentric rings provided with the rearward feet section allow small corrections in both direction and magnitude to the drilling direction as drilling commences.