Patent ID: 8308604

Claim:
An omni-wheel based driving mechanism, comprising: a spherical wheel having a spherical surface; a pair of axially extending cylindrically contoured first omni wheels being arranged at two sides of the spherical wheel to space from each other by a predetermined distance in a first direction; each of the first omni wheels including a main wheel having a cylindrical wheel face extending between a first and a second end and a plurality of guide rollers, the main wheel having an axial direction which is normal to the first direction and has a first predetermined thickness, the guide rollers having a first diameter and being rotatably mounted on and spaced along the circumferential wheel face of the main wheel, the guide rollers extending in a first radial direction past the first end and the guide rollers extending in a second radial direction to a terminal position between the first and the second end, and at least one of the guide rollers on the first omni wheel being pressed against the spherical surface of the spherical wheel, so that the spherical wheel is rollably positioned between the pair of first omni wheels, wherein the first predetermined thickness is greater than the first diameter; and a pair of second omni wheels being arranged at another two sides of the spherical wheel to space from each other by a predetermined distance in a second direction; each of the second omni wheels including a main wheel and a plurality of guide rollers, the main wheel having an axial direction which is normal to the second direction and has a second predetermined thickness, the guide rollers having a second diameter and being rotatably mounted on and spaced along a circumferential wheel face of the main wheel, and at least one of the guide rollers on the second omni wheel being pressed against the spherical surface of the spherical wheel, so that the spherical wheel is rollably positioned between the pair of second omni wheels, wherein the second predetermined thickness is greater than the second diameter; whereby when the pair of first omni wheels or the pair of second omni wheels are rotated, the guide rollers mounted thereon sequentially contact with the spherical surface of the spherical wheel to thereby bring the spherical wheel to roll in the first or the second direction, respectively.