Patent ID: 8992108
Filing Date: 2015-03-31
Classification: B64G,Y10T

Abstract:
1. A self-driven assembly comprising: two adjacent elements each including articulation fittings attached to ends thereof and made to rotate about each other, a first of the two articulation fittings having a substantially cylindrical first surface positioned to roll without slipping along a substantially cylindrical second surface of a second of the two articulation fittings, the first and second surfaces defining substantially parallel central axes; means for biasing the first and second elements to rotate about each other along their respective surfaces between a storage position, in which the elements are rotated towards each other, and a deployed position, in which the elements are rotated away from each other; and at least one flexible duct compressed between the two surfaces at a moving rolling point, wherein the duct includes a restriction situated between two zones of the duct which are separated by the rolling point, and wherein the duct contains a fluid, the pressure of which increases ahead of the rolling point as the articulation fittings rotate from the storage position to the deployed position, such that the rotational speed of the first and second surfaces relative to the rolling point is regulated by the difference in pressure between the two zones of the duct.