Tri-star (wheel arrangement)
Encyclopedia
Lockheed Corporation
The Lockheed Corporation was an American aerospace company. Lockheed was founded in 1912 and later merged with Martin Marietta to form Lockheed Martin in 1995.-Origins:...
in 1967—in which three wheels are arranged in an upright triangle with two on the ground and one above them. If either of the wheels in contact with the ground gets stuck, the whole system rotates over the obstruction. (Patent #3,348,518)
Its most famous application was the Landmaster
Landmaster
The Landmaster is a unique 12-wheeled amphibious articulated vehicle constructed by Dean Jeffries at Jeffries Automotive in Universal City, California for the 1977 science fiction film Damnation Alley. Despite the appearance of two Landmasters in the film , only one was built at a cost of $350,000...
, a unique armoured personnel carrier (APC) from the film Damnation Alley
Damnation Alley (film)
Damnation Alley is a 1977 film, directed by Jack Smight, loosely based on the novel of the same name by Roger Zelazny. The original music score was composed by Jerry Goldsmith.-Plot:...
. Its common application is employed as a stairclimber
Stairclimber
A stairclimber is a type of trolley fitted with rotating wheels or tracks so that it can be pushed or pulled up or down a stairway. Stairclimbers can be manual or battery-powered, and are commonly found in wheel, track, and walker variants....
.