公开(公告)号：US11345052B1

公开(公告)日：2022-05-31

申请号：US15727246

申请日：2017-10-06

Applicant: AMAZON TECHNOLOGIES, INC.

Inventor： John Edwin Johnston ,  Christopher Clive Jones ,  Carl Philip Taussig ,  Christopher Lorenzo Dunn ,  Mark Greggory Edstrom ,  David Jennings Dostal ,  Jose Arnoldo Marin-McDaniel

IPC: F16M13/00 ,  B25J18/02 ,  B25J19/02

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.