Vehicle and method of operating same
First Claim
1. A wheelchair comprising a seat and front and rear wheel assemblies for supporting the seat wherein each said assembly comprises a respective spider and a plurality of wheels rotatably mounted on the spider, one of said assemblies is movable upwardly and downwardly relative to the seat when the seat is in the normal attitude of use, each of said spiders is mounted for rotation relative to the seat about a respective axis, there is provided control means including a control element displaceable relative to the seat and a linkage for transmitting displacement between the control element and the one wheel assembly and wherein the wheelchair includes a single drive means for simultaneously driving the spiders and the control element, said drive means providing a driving connection between the spiders and the control element whereby displacement of the control element relative to the seat is dependant on the relation between rotation of the spider of said front assembly and rotation of the spider of said rear assembly.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A wheelchair capable of climbing a flight of steps has a cluster of rear wheels rotatably mounted on a member (19) which can pivot on a body (10) of the chair to move the rear wheels upwardly and downwardly and thereby compensate for differences in the levels of the surfaces on which the rear wheels and front wheels of the chair rest. The member (19) is pivoted automatically in accordance with differences between the rotation of front and rear drive elements.
51 Citations
7 Claims
- 1. A wheelchair comprising a seat and front and rear wheel assemblies for supporting the seat wherein each said assembly comprises a respective spider and a plurality of wheels rotatably mounted on the spider, one of said assemblies is movable upwardly and downwardly relative to the seat when the seat is in the normal attitude of use, each of said spiders is mounted for rotation relative to the seat about a respective axis, there is provided control means including a control element displaceable relative to the seat and a linkage for transmitting displacement between the control element and the one wheel assembly and wherein the wheelchair includes a single drive means for simultaneously driving the spiders and the control element, said drive means providing a driving connection between the spiders and the control element whereby displacement of the control element relative to the seat is dependant on the relation between rotation of the spider of said front assembly and rotation of the spider of said rear assembly.
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7. A vehicle comprising a load-carrying body, and front and rear wheel assemblies for supporting the body, wherein each said wheel assembly comprises a respective carrier and plurality of wheels rotatably mounted on the carrier, a control element which is movable relative to the body, drive means common to the front and rear wheel assemblies and the control element and a differential transmission for transmitting drive from the drive means to the front and rear wheel assemblies and the control element, wherein the control element is connected with one of said wheel assemblies for moving same upwardly and downwardly relative to the body when the control element itself is moved.
Specification