BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Grappling devices have existed in the form of hooks and hook-like projectiles since the basic concept was thought of However, their convenience is limited by their weight, need to be thrown or propelled by a relatively great force and requirement to latch onto a certain shaped object (or penetrate the object) in order to adhere to the object and allow it to be pulled, or to pull the person whom is using it. An alternative is to use a strong but light string with a strong and removable adhesive attached to it, in particular a gecko synthetic adhesive which can be made light enough to be propelled by simple spring or compressed gas mechanisms, or otherwise by electromagnetic propulsion. The resulting device allows the user to latch onto virtually any surface with a low weight projectile that can then be used to pull the object towards the user, or to allow the user to swing/pull/lift himself or herself up.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The invention uses a propulsion mechanism from of electromagnetic force, a loaded spring or by compressed air to expel a string attached to an adhesive, removable surface. This can then pull objects from a distance or otherwise allow for grappling functions. The adhesive material used is a gecko synthetic adhesive that can adhere with great force but be removed with less force by pulling at an angle.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS:
FIG. 1 shows the body of the invention, with the projectile launching tube (in a hollow rectangular shape for this embodiment), a possible extra section that may be used if practical for operation, and a spring loaded piston which could be put in place of the section at the back of the open end of the projectile firing portion. It also shows holes in the projectile firing part for the string attached to the projectile to go through and for gas propellant to be attached to, a possible holder for gas propellant, a gas propellant canister, a spool for the string, a servo and a recoil pulley.
FIG. 2 shows the projectile (where the adhesive surface is cut in a square shape), the string attached to it, and the rail gun part which may or may not be used depending on its practicality.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
Referring to the drawings, 1 (FIG. 2) identifies the adhesive front of the projectile component of the device. The adhesive is a gecko synthetic adhesive (GSA) designed to adhere strongly to a surface with high van der Waals forces when pulled by a string attached in the middle, while being able to be pulled off by pulling the surface at an angle, that is, pulling on one side with more force than the other. These adhesives may be constructed from different materials, such as material that is either or both or a string/tubular/spatula shape at the molecular scale and/or bunched into micrometer scale rectangular prism/cylindrical columns of similar width. Additional forms of the GSA that is likely more practical to use are draping adhesives, such as stiff fiber material combined with elastomer or rubber material designed to have conformal contact and adhere to various materials, and thermoplastic material nanoscopic fibers. The fabrication and design of the GSA is not covered by this patent, but it is used as the adhesive projectile. Depending on the characteristics of adhesive strength, removability, versatility on rough surfaces, reusability and ease of cleaning the material, a certain GSA material will be used for the adhesive part. This GSA must be able to adhere strongly with limited application pressure while being able to be pulled off with far less force by uneven pulling (pulling on one side of the material harder than the other). Depending on how the GSA material is manufactured (1, FIG. 2), such as by chemical vapor deposition or lithography, the adhesive and the layer of material it is manufactured on can be attached to a light but strong material such polycarbonate, or the GSA may be manufactured on the polycarbonate. In order to prevent the projectile surface (1, FIG. 2) from turning in the barrel (13, FIG. 1), the projectile is produced with thin material located at the edge of the projectile, on the other side of and perpendicular to the adhesive surface (2, FIG. 2), shown for a square shaped adhesive surface in the drawings. This edge protruding material also allows the user of the device to hold the material and pull it off from an angle. Two alternative means of preventing the projectile (1, FIG. 2) from turning while being fired are making it in a concave shape or with a hole in the middle, however both of these designs may add to manufacturing costs, so the design with the perpendicular material is more likely to be used. A strong but flexible and light string (3-A, FIG. 2) made of a material such as Kevlar should be attached to the middle of the backside of the projectile (1, FIG. 2), threaded through a hole in the back of the projectile barrel (3-B, FIG. 1), and attached to and wound around a spool (4, FIG. 1). The spool can be put on a shaft (5, FIG. 1). The string can be rewound manually, by using a servomotor (6-A, FIG. 1) where the end of the motor shaft that can be shaped to fit into a hole on one side of the spool (4, FIG. 1), or by using a small recoil or rewind pulley (7, FIG. 1). The servomotor or pulley (6-A or 7, FIG. 1) can be slid into place to rewind the pulley (4, FIG. 1) on a track (6-B, FIG. 1). In order to propel the projectile and string (1,2, and 3-A, FIG. 2), a trigger activated gas canister, such as a CO2 canister (8, FIG. 1) can be put in a holder (9, FIG. 1) behind the barrel (13, FIG. 1), where it will be attached to the hole in the barrel (10, FIG. 1) which can have a small tube that ensures the gas will only go into the barrel. In order to make sure the gas doesn't leak out in any significant quantity, the string hole (3-B, FIG. 1) must be very close to the width of the string (3-A, FIG. 2). The hole for gas propellant (10, FIG. 1) should be close to the hole for the string (3-B, FIG. 1). Although it will reduce the pressure of the gas propellant (8, FIG. 1), a small midsection (11, FIG. 1) can be produced and attached to the barrel (13, FIG. 1) if the force from the gas canister (8, FIG. 1) causes the projectile (1 and 2, FIG. 2) to bend to a significant amount when being fired, if this makes the projectile last for longer. Otherwise, in place of a trigger operated gas canister (8, FIG. 1), a loaded spring may be used for propulsion (12, FIG. 1), which would be in place of where the possible extra section could be (11, FIG. 1). The barrel (13, FIG. 1), which has been previously mentioned, is shown for a square shaped projectile surface (1, FIG. 2), and thus is the shape of a hollow rectangular prism. The length of the barrel (13, FIG. 1) depends on the acceleration needed for the projectile and string (1, 2 and 3-A, FIG. 1) and whether the length used is a practical size for the device, and like the exact size and weight of the other components, must be determined from tests of different dimensioned models. The barrel (13, FIG. 1) has two sets of lines in the middle section of both sides, which indicate where the electromagnetic propulsion rails (14, FIG. 2) could be manufactured, so that they resides inside the walls and can contact the railgun conductive material (15, FIG. 2). The conductive material can be inserted through the middle of the projectile extensions (2, FIG. 2, indicated by dotted circles), so when a power source is connected and activated, electrical current will flow through the rails (14, FIG. 2) and the conductive projectile (15, FIG. 2) and propel it and the adhesive and string (1,2 and 3, FIG. 2) by electromagnetic force. If it is practical to keep the device in good condition, a thin layer of thermally insulating material can be placed around the rails and the conductive connector (14 and 15, FIG. 2). Ultimately this device should be able to propel a removable adhesive surface with an attached string, which will attach to objects with a great amount of force, but be removed with relative ease, so as to enable the user to easily pull on objects with great force from a distance.
Patent Application
20180064996
