Wetzel
29-07-2002, 03:09
Offical Patent for the Segway (http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO1&Sect2=HITOFF&d=PALL&p=1&u=/netahtml/srchnum.htm&r=1&f=G&l=50&s1='5971091'.WKU.&OS=PN/5971091&RS=PN/5971091), or Transportation vehicles and methods.
It is really long and involved, and will prolly tell you more then you ever wanted to know about the Segway.
Here is the short version.
"Abstract
There is provided, in a preferred embodiment, a transportation vehicle for transporting an individual over ground having a surface that may be irregular. 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 duster of wheels. In another embodiment, each ground-contacting member includes a pair of axially adjacent and rotatably mounted arcuate element pairs. Related methods are also provided. "
Wetzel
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+1 Interesting
It is really long and involved, and will prolly tell you more then you ever wanted to know about the Segway.
Here is the short version.
"Abstract
There is provided, in a preferred embodiment, a transportation vehicle for transporting an individual over ground having a surface that may be irregular. 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 duster of wheels. In another embodiment, each ground-contacting member includes a pair of axially adjacent and rotatably mounted arcuate element pairs. Related methods are also provided. "
Wetzel
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+1 Interesting