Pedal driven vehicle

• US 4,227,712 A
• Filed: 02/14/1979
• Issued: 10/14/1980
• Est. Priority Date: 02/14/1979
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Timber Dick
• Original Assignee: Timber Dick
• Inventors: Dick, Timber
• Primary Examiner(s): Love, John J.
• Assistant Examiner(s): McGiehan, Donn
• Application Number:
  US06/011,782
• Time in Patent Office: 608 Days
• Field of Search: 280/236, 280/252, 280/253, 280/255, 280/258, 74/217 B
• US Class Current: 280/236
• CPC Class Codes: B62M 1/28 characterised by the use of flexible drive members, e.g. chains

Abstract

A pedal driven vehicle such as a bicycle which employs oscillating levers instead of crank type pedals, and endless chain to which the two pedal levers are respectively connected, one to each run of the chain by pull and push rods to impart an oscillatory movement to said chain and in which the oscillating chain is connected to drive two shafts in opposite directions at any one time and means including one way drives connecting said shafts respectively to the drive wheel for propelling said vehicle. The vehicle also has means for simultaneously moving the connections between said pull and push rods and the oscillating levers respectively along the lengths of said levers in the same direction so as to change the effective leverage of said levers and to thus change the driving ratio imparted to the propelling wheel by the drive mechanism.

Claims

1. A pedal driven vehicle such as a bicycle or the like comprising a frame, propelling means mounted in said frame, a pair of oscillating pedal levers, an endless chain and two pull and push rods connected respectively one to each of said oscillating pedal levers and respectively one to each run of said endless chain so as to impart oscillatory movement to said endless chain by the movement of said pedal levers, two parallel shafts, gearing associated with each of said shafts connected to oscillate with said endless chain, sprockets associated with each of said shafts and connected to drive said propelling means, and a one way clutch associated with one of said shafts and a second one way clutch associated with the other of said shafts said clutches each being constructed to alternately drive said sprockets in the same direction in response to the oscillatory movement of said gearing.

2. The vehicle defined in claim 1 further characterized in that said vehicle also has means for simultaneously moving the point of connection between each of said pull and push rods and its associated pedal lever along the length of said pedal levers respectively in the same direction at the same time so as to change the effective arms of said pedal levers and to thus change the driving ratio effective to propel said vehicle at any particular time.

3. The vehicle defined in claim 2 further characterized in that said means for moving the point of connection between each of said pull and push rods and its associated pedal lever is manually controlled by the operator of said vehicle.

4. A vehicle having a frame, at least one driven wheel for propelling the vehicle and means for driving said wheel, said means comprising a pair of closely associated spaced rotary shafts mounted on said frame and disposed in parallel relation and each having associated therewith a sprocket each of which is connected to its associated shaft by a one way clutch type connector which locks the sprocket to its associated shaft when the sprockets respectively are rotated in the same direction, said sprockets being disposed in substantially the same plane normal to the axis of said pair of spaced shafts, a pulley like element mounted on said frame relatively remote from said pair of sprockets and in substantially the plane of said pair of sprockets, an endless sprocket chain disposed over said pulley like element and over one of said sprockets in such manner that said one sprocket is in driving engagement with the inside of said chain, said chain further having a tangential driving association with said other of said sprockets by engagement between said other sprocket and the outside of said chain whereby any movement of said chain at any moment serves to rotate said sprockets respectively in opposite directions, said chain having relatively long, straight, runs which extend between said pulley like element and said sprockets, a pair of pedal levers, and pull and push rods connected between each pedal lever and one of the runs of said chain respectively said runs being disposed substantially parallel to the propelling motion of the foot engaging parts of said pedal levers and another sprocket chain and associated sprockets connecting said two shafts respectively and said driven wheel.