Free-to-lean three-wheeled passenger vehicle, power plant controller and body therefor

• US 20120181765A1
• Filed: 01/19/2011
• Published: 07/19/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 01/19/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Green Lite Motors Corporation
• Original Assignee: Green Lite Motors Corporation
• Inventors: Hill, Robert B., Lux, Fred, Miller, Timothy Michael, Stilwell, Edmund Jerome
• Granted Patent: US 8,662,228 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 280/62
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 6/42 characterised by the architecture of the hybrid electric vehicle
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2030/043 about the roll axis
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2520/10 Longitudinal speed
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2520/105 Longitudinal acceleration
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2520/125 Lateral acceleration
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2520/18 Roll
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2720/125 Lateral acceleration
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2720/18 Roll
• CPC Class Codes: B62D 21/08 built up with interlaced cross members
• CPC Class Codes: B62K 2204/00 Adaptations for driving cycles by electric motor for driving electrically assisted bicycles B62M6/00
• CPC Class Codes: B62K 5/027 Motorcycles with three wheels specially adapted for disabled riders B62K5/023
• CPC Class Codes: B62K 5/05 characterised by a single rear wheel
• CPC Class Codes: B62K 5/10 with means for inwardly inclining the vehicle body on bends

Abstract

A three-wheeled leaning passenger vehicle comprises a frame rigidly mounting a passenger seat; a drive wheel rotatably mounted on the frame preferably in a rearward region thereof; a frame-mounted rotary drive cooperatively coupled with the drive wheel for rotation of the drive wheel relative to the frame; and a frame-mounted coast/steer system including two rotatable and preferably front wheels freely rotatable relative to the frame in a forward region thereof, and a handlebar coupled with the two front wheels for turning the two rotatable wheels in a plane defined by their rotational axes substantially parallel with one another to corner, the vehicle being configured to substantially freely lean left and right in a natural response to a driver thereof in the driver seat steering the vehicle and leaning respectively left and right, and, alternatively or additionally, to have controlled leaning in response to a hydraulically or otherwise provisioned leaning, suspension, and stand-up mechanisms. The rotary drive includes a frame-mounted power plant operatively couple-able with the drive wheel, the rotary drive including an internal combustion engine and an electric motor selectively operatively couple-able with the drive wheel to power the vehicle. The power plant is selectively operable to power the vehicle in three modes of operation including a hybrid mode characterized by operation of the internal combustion engine and the electric motor coordinated substantially to optimize fuel economy, an electric-only mode characterized by operation only of the electric motor, and a sport mode characterized by concurrent operation of the internal combustion engine and the electric motor.

Claims

1. A three-wheeled leaning passenger vehicle comprising:

a frame rigidly mounting a driver seat;

a drive wheel rotatably mounted on the frame;

a frame-mounted rotary drive cooperatively coupled with the drive wheel for rotation of the drive wheel relative to the frame; and

a frame-mounted steer system including two wheels rotatable relative to the frame in a forward region thereof, and a handlebar coupled with the two rotatable wheels for turning the two rotatable wheels substantially parallel with one another to corner,

the vehicle being configured to substantially freely lean left and right in a natural leaning response to a driver thereof in the driver seat steering and leaning respectively left and right,

the vehicle being further equipped wherein the free leaning of the vehicle is selectively inhibited or controlled by an automatic stand-up mechanism to control the lean of the vehicle as necessary such as at stops, low speeds, emergency situations, or to assist the driver in attaining a desired lean of the vehicle.

2. The vehicle of claim 1, wherein the steer system further includes left and right upper and lower A-arms having pivot points on the inner ends thereof, wherein the pivot points of the upper A-arms are concentric with one another, wherein the pivot points of the lower A-arms are concentric with one another, and wherein the pivot points of each are co-planar with one another and also with a central plane longitudinal of the vehicle.

3. The vehicle of claim 1, wherein the rotary drive includes a frame-mounted power plant operatively couple-able with the drive wheel, the rotary drive including an internal combustion engine and an electric motor selectively operatively couple-able with the drive wheel to power the vehicle.

4. The vehicle of claim 3, wherein the power plant is selectively operable to power the vehicle in three modes of operation including a sport mode characterized by operation of the internal combustion engine and the electric motor, an electric-only mode characterized by operation only of the electric motor, and a hybrid mode characterized by selective operation of the internal combustion engine and the electric motor to optimize performance and efficiency.

5. The vehicle of claim 3 further comprising:

a torque converter operatively coupled with the electric motor and the rear wheel, the torque converter being configured to engage the electric motor thereby to accommodate power and electrical requirements of the electric motor.

6. The vehicle of claim 5 further comprising:

a manual throttle; and

a controller operatively coupled with the electric motor and the internal combustion engine and the manual throttle, the controller providing automatic software programmed control of the electric motor and of the internal combustion engine to control a hybrid operating mode of the vehicle.

7. The vehicle of claim 3, wherein the operation of the vehicle is further characterized by regenerative braking to charge a battery that is operatively coupled with the electric motor.

8. The vehicle of claim 1, wherein the automatic stand-up mechanism is configured to provide virtual, true, and active G-force controls based upon inputs including one or more of vehicle speed, acceleration, lateral G force, and leaning orientation.

9. The vehicle of claim 8, wherein the automatic stand-up mechanism maintains the vertical plane when the vehicle is stopped or in reverse.

10. The vehicle of claim 9, wherein the automatic stand-up mechanism maintains the vertical plane when the vehicle is operating under a predefined speed or when a switch is activated by the driver.

11. The vehicle of claim 8, wherein the automatic stand-up mechanism includes a pneumatic or hydraulic cylinder that is configured to provide active variable tension-compression controllable to dampen resonant oscillation even during high-speed vehicle operation.

12. The vehicle of claim 11, wherein the cylinder extends at an angle relative to a substantially horizontal lower expanse of a suspension and hydraulic knuckle.

13. The vehicle of claim 12, wherein the cylinder extends at an angle of between approximately 40°

and approximately 140°

.

14. The vehicle of claim 13, wherein the cylinder includes bilateral physical stops and provides substantially symmetric tension-compression.

15. The vehicle of claim 1, wherein the frame includes a nominally upright tower configured for leaning and an upright knuckle configured substantially not to lean relative to the vehicle'"'"'s nominally horizontal suspension, and wherein the stand-up mechanism includes a pneumatic or hydraulic drive cylinder operatively coupled between the knuckle and the left and right A-arms to produce pivotal action therebetween.

16. The vehicle of claim 1 further comprising:

a leaning mechanism including a nominally vertical tower pivotally mounting an end of a pneumatic or hydraulic cylinder cylinder that forms a part of the stand-up mechanism, the tower being disposed generally in a central region of the leaning mechanism corresponding with the vehicle'"'"'s central longitudinal and nominally vertical axes.

17. The vehicle of claim 1, wherein the vehicle is configured to lean substantially at least approximately 40°

left and right relative to a central plane of the vehicle.

18. The vehicle of claim 1 further comprising:

a body mounted to the frame, the body configured and dimensioned substantially to enclose one or more passengers within the vehicle.

19. The vehicle of claim 1, wherein the passenger seat is configured to seat plural passengers one of which is also a driver of the vehicle.

20. The vehicle of claim 1, wherein the body includes a framework mounting a rigid passenger enclosure therearound, the framework including one or more substantially straight tubular members fixedly attached to one or more curved tubular members, the substantially straight and curved members collectively configured rigidly to mount the passenger enclosure to the frame.

21. The vehicle of claim 20, wherein the one or more substantially straight and curved tubular members is substantially filled with a durable rigid lightweight filler material.

22. The vehicle of claim 21, wherein the material takes the form of a fibrous carbon rod inserted into hollow regions of the one or more substantially straight and curved tubular members.

23. The vehicle of claim 1, wherein the drive wheel is a rear wheel of the vehicle and wherein the rotatable wheels are the front wheels of the vehicle, and wherein the frame, the rear wheel and the two front wheels all remain in substantially parallel planes with one another during operation of the vehicle.

24. The vehicle of claim 1, wherein the frame, the drive wheel and the two rotatable wheels are operatively coupled with one another in a substantially rigid manner such that their angles are substantially the same relative to a reference plane at all times during operation of the vehicle.

25. The vehicle of claim 24, wherein the substantial sameness of the substantially same angles accommodates a variable camber between the two front wheels.

26. The vehicle of claim 1, wherein the configuration of the drive wheel and the two rotatable wheels describes an isosceles triangle within a nominally horizontal plane having an approximately four foot wide base defined by the two rotatable wheels.

27. The vehicle of claim 1 further comprising:

a manual throttle; and

an automatic transmission operatively coupled with the rotary drive and with the manual throttle.

28. A hybrid vehicle power plant controller comprising:

one or more sensors configured to monitor in real time one or more corresponding parameters chosen from a group consisting of position, orientation, throttle position, battery charge condition, speed, and acceleration, and fuel supply, distance, and topography of a free-to-lean vehicle and its travel route;

a hybrid vehicle power plant including an internal combustion engine and an electric motor selectively operable to power a vehicle;

a processor operatively coupled with the one or more sensor and couple-able with a hybrid vehicle power plant including an internal combustion engine and an electric motor, the processor configured selectively to deliver hybrid power to a drive wheel of a hybrid vehicle via the hybrid vehicle power plant based upon monitored parameters from the one or more sensors.

29. The controller of claim 28, wherein the one or more sensors are chosen from a group consisting of an accelerometer, a gravitometer, a global positioning system (GPS) device, a gyrometer, a calendar, and a time-of-day (TOD) indicator.

30. The controller of claim 29, wherein the controller delivers power to the drive wheel in defined response to the one or more sensors and in accordance with empirically derived historical travel route data stored in a memory operatively coupled with the processor.

31. A vehicle body comprising:

one or more curved members;

one or more substantially straight members extending along the one or more curved members; and

one or more brace members extending between each of the one or more curved members and the one or more substantially straight members;

wherein the one or more curved members and the one or more substantially straight members are configured to mount to a frame of a vehicle, and

wherein the members are collectively configured to mount a durable and rigid exterior skin extendable between and anchorable along the one or more substantially straight and curved members.

32. The body of claim 31, wherein one or more of the one or more substantially straight and curved members includes a nominally hollow interior region.

33. The body of claim 32, wherein the one or more nominally hollow interior regions of the one or more substantially straight and curved members are substantially filled with a durable rigid lightweight filler material.

34. The body of claim 33, wherein the filler material takes the form of a fibrous carbon rod inserted into the one or more substantially straight and curved members.

35. The body of claim 34, wherein the one or more curved members and the one or more substantially straight members are of generally circular cross section.