1. A vehicle air guiding system arranged in a vehicle rear area, comprising at least one central main air guiding element displaceable between a moved-in inoperative position and a moved-out operative position, and lateral auxiliary air guiding elements displaceable together with the at least one central main air guiding element, wherein the lateral auxiliary air guiding elements are arranged to be displaced while enlarging a transverse dimension and simultaneously enlarging a longitudinal dimension of the at least one central main air guiding element or of the air guiding system from an also moved-in inoperative position into an also moved-out inoperative position.
2. The vehicle air guiding system according to claim 1, wherein each of the lateral auxiliary air guiding elements is arranged to be changed or displaced by an operating device, respectively, transversely to a longitudinal direction of the vehicle and simultaneously, relative to the longitudinal direction of the vehicle, diagonally toward the rear from the inoperative position into the operative position.
3. The vehicle air guiding system according to claim 2, wherein each operating device comprises at least two operating elements having one side articulatingly connected with a respective one of the auxiliary air guiding elements and another side articulatingly connected with a vehicle body part.
4. The vehicle air guiding system according to claim 2, wherein each of the lateral auxiliary air guiding elements is arranged to be swiveled upward by an erecting device respectively coupled with the displacement of the lateral auxiliary air guiding elements diagonally toward the rear.
5. The vehicle air guiding system according to claim 4, wherein each operating device comprises at least two operating elements having one side articulatingly connected with a respective one of the auxiliary air guiding elements and another side articulatingly connected with a vehicle body part.
6. The vehicle air guiding system according to claim 4, wherein each erecting device comprises at least one erecting element having one side articulatingly connected with a respective one of the auxiliary air guiding elements and another side articulatingly connected with a vehicle body part.
7. The vehicle air guiding system according to claim 6, wherein the respective erecting devices are mutually connected by a crossbar operatively applied to joint positions between the erecting elements and the respective one of the auxiliary air guiding elements.
8. The vehicle air guiding system according to claim 1, wherein the at least one central main air guiding element is operatively coupled to the lateral auxiliary air guiding elements by way such that, simultaneously with displacement of the lateral auxiliary air guiding elements, the at least one central main air guiding element is arranged to be swiveled upward during the change or displacement from the inoperative position into the operative position.
9. The vehicle air guiding system according to claim 8, wherein each of the lateral auxiliary air guiding elements is arranged to be changed or displaced by an operating device, respectively, transversely to a longitudinal direction of the vehicle and simultaneously, relative to the longitudinal direction of the vehicle, diagonally toward the rear from the inoperative position into the operative position.
10. The vehicle air guiding system according to claim 9, wherein each operating device comprises at least two operating elements having one side articulatingly connected with a respective one of the auxiliary air guiding elements and another side articulatingly connected with a vehicle body part.
11. The vehicle air guiding system according to claim 8, wherein each of the lateral auxiliary air guiding elements is arranged to be swiveled upward by an erecting device respectively coupled with the displacement of the lateral auxiliary air guiding elements diagonally toward the rear.
12. The vehicle air guiding system according to claim 11, wherein each erecting device comprises at least one erecting element having one side articulatingly connected with a respective one of the auxiliary air guiding elements and another side articulatingly connected with a vehicle body part.
13. The vehicle air guiding system according to claim 12, wherein the respective erecting devices are mutually connected by a crossbar operatively applied to joint positions between the erecting elements and the respective one of the auxiliary air guiding elements.
14. The vehicle air guiding system according to claim 8, wherein the at least one central main air guiding element is coupled by way of a respective coupling element with the lateral auxiliary air guiding elements and by a further coupling element with the crossbar operatively connecting the erecting elements.
15. The vehicle air guiding system according to claim 1, wherein in the inoperative position, the lateral auxiliary air guiding elements are arranged to be displaced into a position below the at least one central main air guiding element so as not to be visible.
16. The vehicle air guiding system according to claim 1, wherein in forward sections, the lateral auxiliary air guiding elements have an indentation adapted to a rear edge contour of the at least one central main air guiding element, and in the operative position, rearward sections of the at least one central main air guiding element are arranged to engage in the indentation, with the lateral auxiliary air guiding elements thereby enlarging the at least one central main air guiding element flush with a surface of the at least one central main air guiding element.
17. The vehicle air guiding system according to claim 16, wherein each of the lateral auxiliary air guiding elements is arranged to be changed or displaced by an operating device, respectively, transversely to a longitudinal direction of the vehicle and simultaneously, relative to the longitudinal direction of the vehicle, diagonally toward the rear from the inoperative position into the operative position.
18. The vehicle air guiding system according to claim 17, wherein each operating device comprises at least two operating elements having one side articulatingly connected with a respective one of the auxiliary air guiding elements and another side articulatingly connected with a vehicle body part.
19. The vehicle air guiding system according to claim 1, wherein a gap occurs between a vehicle body part and a forward end of the at least one central main air guiding element during the displacement of the at least one central main air guiding element from the inoperative position into the operative position, and a closing element is arranged close to the gap.
20. The vehicle air guiding system according to claim 19, wherein each of the lateral auxiliary air guiding elements is arranged to be changed or displaced by an operating device, respectively, transversely to a longitudinal direction of the vehicle and simultaneously, relative to the longitudinal direction of the vehicle, diagonally toward the rear from the inoperative position into the operative position.
The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.
1. An omnidirectional borehole navigation system comprising:
a housing for traversing a borehole;
an outer gimbal connected to said housing and at least two stacked inner gimbals that are connected to said outer gimbal, said inner gimbals each having an axis parallel to one another and perpendicular to an axis of the outer gimbal;
at least one inertial sensor located on each inner gimbal, the at least one inertial sensor selected from at least one gyro and at least one accelerometer, the gyros having input axes that span three dimensional space, and the accelerometers having input axes that span three dimensional space;
one or more gyro circuits within the housing and responsive to the at least one gyro to produce the inertial angular rate about each gyro input axis;
one or more accelerometer circuits within the housing and responsive to the at least one accelerometer to produce the non-gravitational acceleration along each accelerometer input axis;
a processor responsive to said gyro circuits and said accelerometer circuits for determining the attitude and the position of said housing in the borehole;
an outer gimbal drive system for controlling the orientation of the outer gimbal; and
an inner gimbal drive system for controlling the orientation of each of the inner gimbals.
2. The borehole navigation system of claim 1 in which the outer gimbal has complete rotary freedom.
3. The borehole navigation system of claim 2 further including a plurality of latching mechanisms connected to the rack for keeping each pinion at its respective stop.
4. The borehole navigation system of claim 1 in which the inner gimbal drive system includes:
an inner gimbal drive motor, a rotary-to-linear gear connected to the drive motor, a rack connected to the rotary-to-linear gear and a plurality of pinions each engaging the rack, each pinion connected to an inner gimbal for maintaining the gyro input axes at substantially an orthogonal triad and the accelerometer input axes at substantially an orthogonal triad.
5. The borehole navigation system of claim 4 in which the rack includes stops that are elastic to compensate for misalignments between the rack and the pinions.
6. The borehole navigation system of claim 5 in which the inner gimbals have rotary freedom between their respective stops.
7. The borehole navigation system of claim 4 further including an inner gimbal angle readout connected to the inner gimbal drive motor.
8. The borehole navigation system of claim 1 in which the inner gimbal drive system includes a drive motor, a gear train driven-by the drive motor, each of the inner gimbals connected to the drive motor through the gear train for maintaining the gyro input axes at substantially an orthogonal triad and the accelerometer input axes at substantially an orthogonal triad.
9. The borehole navigation system of claim 8 in which the gear train includes a bicycle chain gear.
10. The borehole navigation system of claim 1 in which there are six stacked inner gimbals each having one inertial sensor located thereon.
11. The borehole navigation system of claim 1 in which there are five stacked inner gimbals, two of which each include a two-degree-of-freedom gyro and the other three each include an accelerometer.
12. The borehole navigation system of claim 1 in which there are three stacked inner gimbals, two of which each include a two-degree-of-freedom gyro and one includes three accelerometers.
13. The borehole navigation system of claim 1 in which there are three stacked inner gimbals each having two inertial sensors located thereon.
14. The borehole navigation system of claim 1 in which there are two stacked inner gimbals each having three inertial sensors located thereon.
15. The borehole navigation system of claim 1 in which there are three gyros each having an input axis, the gyro input axes substantially forming an orthogonal triad.
16. The borehole navigation system of claim 1 in which there are three accelerometers, each having an input axis, the three input axes substantially forming an orthogonal triad.
17. The borehole navigation system of claim 1 in which the gyros are MEMS gyros and the accelerometers are MEMS accelerometers.
18. The borehole navigation system of claim 17 in which there are three inner gimbals each having one MEMS gyro and one MEMS accelerometer located therein, the gyro input axes substantially forming an orthogonal triad and the accelerometer input axes substantially forming an orthogonal triad at each inner gimbal position.
19. The borehole navigation system of claim 1 in which the inner gimbals have complete rotary freedom.
20. The borehole navigation system of claim 1 further including a plurality of drive motors, one drive motor connected to each of the inner gimbals and one to the outer gimbal.
21. The borehole navigation system of claim 1 in which each inner gimbal includes a gimbal angle readout.
22. The borehole navigation system of claim 1 in which the inner gimbals are electrically coupled to the outer gimbal by a coupling selected from twist wires, twist capsules, slip rings and rotary transformers.
23. The borehole navigation system of claim 1 in which the inner gimbals are configured to communicate with the outer gimbal by a link selected from an optical communications link, an electrostatic communications link, slip rings, rotary transformers, twist wires, and twist capsules.
24. The borehole navigation system of claim 1 in which the outer gimbal is electrically coupled externally by a coupling selected from slip rings and rotary transformers.
25. The borehole navigation system of claim 1 in which the outer gimbal is configured to communicate externally by a communications link selected from an optical communications link, an electrostatic communications link, a rotary transformer, and slip rings.
26. The borehole navigation system of claim 1 in which the gyros and accelerometers are each oriented, respectively, in an orthogonal triad configuration.
27. An omnidirectional borehole navigation system comprising:
a housing for traversing a borehole;
at least one outer gimbal connected to said housing and at least two stacked inner gimbals that are nested in and connected to said outer gimbal, said inner gimbals each having an axis parallel to one another and perpendicular to an axis of the outer gimbal;
at least one inertial sensor located on each inner gimbal, the at least one inertial sensor including at least one gyro or accelerometer, the gyros having input axes that span three dimensional space and the accelerometers having input axes that span three dimensional space;
an outer gimbal drive system;
an inner gimbal drive system including an inner gimbal drive motor, a rotary-to-linear gear connected to the inner gimbal drive motor, a rack connected to the rotary-to-linear gear and a plurality of pinions each engaging the rack, each pinion connected to an inner gimbal for maintaining the gyro input axes at substantially an orthogonal triad and the accelerometer input axes at substantially an orthogonal triad;
one or more gyro circuits within the housing and responsive to the at least one gyro to produce the inertial angular rate about each gyro input axis;
one or more accelerometer circuits within the housing and responsive to the at least one accelerometer to produce the non-gravitational acceleration along each accelerometer input axis; and
a processor responsive to said gyro logic circuits and said accelerometer logic circuits for determining the attitude and the position of said housing in its borehole.
28. The borehole navigation system of claim 27 in which the rack includes inner gimbal stops that are elastic to compensate for small misalignments between the pinions and the rack.
29. The borehole navigation system of claim 27 in which there are six stacked inner gimbals each having one inertial sensor located thereon.
30. The borehole navigation system of claim 27 in which there are five stacked inner gimbals, two of which each include a two-degree-of-freedom gyro and the other three each including an accelerometer.
31. The borehole navigation system of claim 27 in which there are three stacked inner gimbals, two of which each include a two-degree-of-freedom gyro and the other one including a triad of accelerometers.
32. The borehole navigation system of claim 27 in which there are three inner gimbals each having two inertial sensors located thereon.
33. The borehole navigation system of claim 27 in which there are two inner gimbals each having three inertial sensors located thereon.
34. The borehole navigation system of claim 27 in which there are three gyros each having an input axis, the three input axes substantially forming an orthogonal triad.
35. The borehole navigation system of claim 27 in which there are three accelerometers, each having an input axis, the three input axes substantially forming an orthogonal triad.
36. The borehole navigation system of claim 27 in which the gyros are MEMS gyros and the accelerometers are MEMS accelerometers.
37. The borehole navigation system of claim 36 in which there are three inner gimbals each having one MEMS gyro and one MEMS accelerometer located therein, the gyro input axes substantially forming an orthogonal triad and the accelerometer input axes substantially forming an orthogonal triad at each inner gimbal position.
38. An omnidirectional borehole navigation system comprising:
a housing for traversing a borehole;
an outer gimbal connected to said housing and at least two stacked inner gimbals that are connected to said outer gimbal, said inner gimbals each having an axis parallel to one another and perpendicular to an axis of the outer gimbal;
at least one inertial sensor located on each inner gimbal, the at least one inertial sensor selected from at least one gyro and at least one accelerometer, the gyros having input axes that span three dimensional space and the accelerometers having input axes that span three dimensional space, the borehole navigation system determining the attitude and the position of said housing in the borehole.
39. The omnidirectional borehole navigation system of claim 38 further including one or more gyro circuits within the housing and responsive to the at least one gyro to produce the inertial angular rate about each gyro input axis.
40. The omnidirectional borehole navigation system of claim 39 further including one or more accelerometer circuits within the housing and responsive to the at least one accelerometer to produce the non-gravitational acceleration along each accelerometer input axis.
41. The omnidirectional borehole navigation system of claim 40 further including a processor responsive to said gyro circuits and said accelerometer circuits for determining the attitude and the position of said housing in the borehole.
42. The omnidirectional borehole navigation system of claim 38 further including a drive system for controlling the orientation of each of the inner gimbals.
43. The omnidirectional borehole navigation system of claim 38 further including a drive system for controlling the orientation of the outer gimbal.
44. An omnidirectional borehole navigation system comprising:
a housing for traversing a borehole;
at least one outer gimbal connected to said housing and three stacked inner gimbals that are nested in and connected to said outer gimbal, said inner gimbals each having an axis parallel to one another and perpendicular to an axis of the outer gimbal;
one MEMS gyro and one MEMS accelerometer located in each inner gimbal, the gyros having input axes substantially forming an orthogonal triad and the accelerometers having input axes substantially forming an orthogonal triad at each position of the inner gimbals;
an outer gimbal drive system coupled to the at least one outer gimbal;
an inner gimbal drive system including an inner gimbal drive motor, a rotary-to-linear gear connected to the inner gimbal drive motor, a rack connected to the rotary-to-linear gear and a plurality of pinions each engaging the rack, each pinion connected to an inner gimbal for maintaining the gyro input axes at substantially an orthogonal triad and the accelerometer input axes at substantially an orthogonal triad;
one or more gyro circuits within the housing and responsive to the at least one gyro to produce the inertial angular rate about each gyro input axis;
one or more accelerometer circuits within the housing and responsive to the at least one accelerometer to produce the non-gravitational acceleration along each accelerometer input axis; and
a processor responsive to said gyro logic circuits and said accelerometer logic circuits for determining the attitude and the position of said housing in its borehole.