Patent ID: 9657884
Date: 2017-05-23
CPC Classifications: F16L

Claim:
1. A pipe crawler, having a front and a rear, for crawling inside a pipe having an inside wall, the pipe crawler comprising: (a) a front leg assembly having front legs and cooperating feet configured to extend outwardly against the pipe inside wall; (b) a rear leg assembly, having rear legs and cooperating feet configured to extend outwardly against the pipe inside wall, wherein the rear leg assembly is disposed at a distance from the front leg assembly; (c) a flexible midsection shaft made of a flexible material operably coupling the front leg assembly to the rear leg assembly, wherein the rear leg assembly is configured to selectively slide over the flexible midsection shaft to extend and contract the distance between the front leg assembly and the rear leg assembly; (d) a plurality of lever arms pivotably coupled between the front legs and the front leg assembly, and pivotably coupled between the rear legs and the rear leg assembly; and (e) wherein the lever arms, in response to a force applied in an orientation traveling from the front of the pipe crawler to the rear of the pipe crawler, are configured to redirect a portion of the force into a normal force between the feet and the pipe inside wall.