Extensible mast device

US11345052B1 · kind B1 · utility

Assignee

• AMAZON TECHNOLOGIES, INC. · US

Inventors

• John E. Johnston · San Francisco, US
• Christopher C. Jones · San Francisco, US
• Carl Philip Taussig · Woodside, US
• Christopher Lorenzo Dunn · Los Gatos, US
• Mark Greggory Edstrom · Menlo Park, US
• David Jennings Dostal · Sunnyvale, US
• Jose Arnoldo Marin-McDaniel · New Orleans, US

Key dates

• Filing date: Oct 6, 2017
• Grant date: May 31, 2022
• Expiry date: Oct 6, 2037

Classification

• Technology area (CPC F): Mechanical Engineering; Lighting; Heating
• CPC primary: F16M11/42
• WIPO field: Mechanical elements
• WIPO sector: Mechanical engineering

Abstract

An extensible mast device allows a payload to be supported at a controllable distance from a supporting device. A motor driving a flexible strip provides a force through the flexible strip to extend the mast. The extended strip may have a curved cross section that provides some rigidity. A set of telescoping sections may enclose the strip. One or more of the sections may be flexible. In the event of an impact between the extensible mast and an object, such as a user, the flexible section and the strip yield to the impact and collapse. The extensible mast may be easily reset by lifting it back to a vertical position, with the flexible strip reasserting the curved cross section and the flexible sections resuming substantially the same shape as before the impact. A robot may use the extensible mast to elevate cameras or other sensors to a higher vantage point.