Patent ID: 8496299

Claim:
An omnidirectional wheel comprising: a wheel hub mounted for rotation around a rotation axis; two wheel discs connected to said wheel hub and mounted coaxially and co-rotationally with respect to said wheel hub with an axial spacing therebetween; a plurality of receptacle modules mounted to and between said wheel disks; each of said receptacle modules having a rounded roller body, having a roller axis, each roller body being mounted for free rotation around the roller axis thereof in the respective receptacle module, each roller axis being oriented at a diagonal angle with respect to said rotation axis of said wheel hub and each roller body being held between said wheel discs solely by the respective receptacle module in which the respective roller body is mounted, making rotation of the respective roller body in the respective receptacle module independent of changes in said axial spacing between said wheel discs; and each receptacle module comprising a web extending from a first facing side of the roller body to a second facing side of the roller body, said web having opposing flanges attached thereto at opposite ends at which the respective receptacle module is attached to an adjacent one of said wheel discs.