Vehicle having two axially spaced relatively movable wheels
First Claim
1. In a parallel vehicle comprising:
- a pair of wheel hubs;
only two side-by-side wheels attached to the parallel vehicle, each rotatably mounted on a respective one of said wheel hubs such that said vehicle includes no wheels other than the two side-by-side wheels; and
an assembly to which said only two side-by-side wheels are rotatably mounted, said assembly including;
a chassis having two sides;
means for connecting the hubs to the chassis such that said hubs are non-rotatable with respect to said chassis;
a support structure positioned between the two sides of the chassis and below a center line connecting the wheels; and
propulsion means depending from said support structure for causing rotation of the wheels relative to said hubs to propel said vehicle, the improvement wherein;
said means for connecting the hubs to the chassis include first and second wheel position control means for changing a relative distance between respective ones of said wheels and the chassis by changing a distance between at least one of said hubs and said chassis during said rotation of said wheels.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A parallel vehicle includes three main control systems. The first controls the position and angle of the two parallel wheels relative to a fixed chassis, enabling the wheels to be moved outwardly and inwardly and the camber varied for greater stability, aerodynamic effect, or turning. This first system may be mechanically or hydraulically actuated, but preferably is controlled by a pair of control members whose position relative to the chassis corresponds to the desired position of the wheels relative to the chassis in order to provide an intuitive control mechanism. The second system is the propulsion system which may, for example, take the form of a derailleur drive of the type used in bicycles, but with power from the propulsion system being transmitted to the wheels via a rotating cable and individual gearboxes for each wheel which permit the direction of the wheels to be reversed. Finally, a braking system includes a braking mechanism which can be individually controlled to separately brake the wheels for steering purposes or to brake both of the wheels at the same time.
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Citations
58 Claims
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1. In a parallel vehicle comprising:
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a pair of wheel hubs; only two side-by-side wheels attached to the parallel vehicle, each rotatably mounted on a respective one of said wheel hubs such that said vehicle includes no wheels other than the two side-by-side wheels; and an assembly to which said only two side-by-side wheels are rotatably mounted, said assembly including; a chassis having two sides; means for connecting the hubs to the chassis such that said hubs are non-rotatable with respect to said chassis; a support structure positioned between the two sides of the chassis and below a center line connecting the wheels; and propulsion means depending from said support structure for causing rotation of the wheels relative to said hubs to propel said vehicle, the improvement wherein; said means for connecting the hubs to the chassis include first and second wheel position control means for changing a relative distance between respective ones of said wheels and the chassis by changing a distance between at least one of said hubs and said chassis during said rotation of said wheels. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35)
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36. In a parallel vehicle comprising:
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a pair of wheel hubs; only two side-by-side wheels attached to the parallel vehicle, each rotatably mounted on a respective one of said wheel hubs such that said vehicle includes no wheels other than the two side-by-side wheels; and an assembly to which said only two side-by-side wheels are rotatably mounted, said assembly including; a chassis having two sides; means for connecting the hubs to the chassis such that said hubs are non-rotatable with respect to said chassis; a support structure positioned between the two sides of the chassis and below an unloaded center of gravity of the vehicle; and propulsion means depending from said support structure for causing rotation of the wheels relative to said hubs to propel said vehicle, the improvement wherein; said means for connecting the hubs to the chassis include first and second wheel position control means for changing a relative camber angle between respective ones of said wheels and said chassis during said rotation of said wheels. - View Dependent Claims (37, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58)
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38. In a parallel vehicle comprising:
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a pair of wheel hubs; only two side-by-side wheels attached to the parallel vehicle, each rotatably mounted on a respective one of said wheel hubs such that said vehicle includes no wheels other than the two side-by-side wheels; and an assembly to which said only two side-by-side wheels are rotatably mounted, said assembly including; a chassis having two sides; means for connecting the hubs to the chassis such that said hubs are non-rotatable with respect to said chassis; a support structure positioned between the two sides of the chassis and below a center line connecting the wheels; and propulsion means depending from said support structure for causing rotation of the wheels relative to said hubs to propel said vehicle, the improvement wherein; said propulsion means comprises a pedal mechanism including an output shaft, said output shaft forming an input to a pair of clutch/reversing mechanisms, each of said clutch/reversing mechanisms having a respective output to said at least one wheel and each of said clutch/reversing mechanisms including means for independently reversing a direction of rotation of a respective one of said wheels such that the respective one of said wheels is driven in a direction opposite to a direction of rotation at which the other of said only two wheels is driven in response to rotation of said pedal mechanism in a single direction. - View Dependent Claims (39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47)
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Specification