Hybrid non-rail tired vehicle with safety mechanism
First Claim
1. A hybrid road vehicle comprising:
- a chassis;
a plurality of wheels being rotationally mounted on said chassis;
a plurality of road vehicle tires being disposed on corresponding ones of said plurality of wheels; and
a hybrid propulsion system, said hybrid propulsion system comprising;
an internal combustion engine;
a power supply connected to said internal combustion engine;
at least one motor for propelling at least one of said plurality of wheels;
a switching arrangement to transfer power from said power supply to said at least one motor;
an acceleration sensor arrangement to determine and generate a value of at least one acceleration-dependent variable, said at least one acceleration-dependent variable being a function of the acceleration of at least one portion of the vehicle;
a control system to control the amount of power transferred from said power supply to said at least one motor dependent on at least one of;
said determined value of said at least one acceleration-dependent variable generated by said acceleration sensor arrangement, and the rate of change of said determined value of said at least one acceleration-dependent variable generated by said acceleration sensor arrangement;
said control system comprising an arrangement to minimize deterioration of said switching arrangement;
said arrangement to minimize deterioration of said switching arrangement being configured to temporarily reduce power flowing through said switching arrangement upon and during the duration of at least one of;
said determined value of said at least one acceleration-dependent variable generated by said acceleration sensor arrangement, andthe rate of change of said determined value of said at least one acceleration-dependent variable exceeding a corresponding defined characteristic of the acceleration of at least one portion of the vehicle;
said arrangement to minimize deterioration of said switching arrangement being configured to substantially immediately restore power flowing through said switching circuitry subsequent to the occurrence of said at least one of;
said determined value of said at least one acceleration-dependent variable generated by said acceleration sensor arrangement, andthe rate of change of said determined value of said at least one acceleration-dependent variable exceeding a corresponding defined characteristic of the acceleration of at least one portion of the vehicle,to permit substantially continuous and substantially uninterrupted operation of said vehicle.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
The components of a vehicle, in particular of a non-rail vehicle, which is powered by an electric motor traction propulsion system, can be protected against the damaging effects of accelerations which occur during operation by reducing the operating power supplied to a propulsion motor of the vehicle when the accelerations which occur on certain components of the vehicle reach values which pose an immediate danger to these components or reduce their useful life. For this purpose, a traction propulsion system which includes at least one electric motor, a power supply device which supplies the electric motor with operating power and an electronic switching system to control the operating power supplied to the electric motor is equipped with acceleration sensor means and with evaluation means, whereby the acceleration sensor means supply at least one variable which is a function of the acceleration of at least one component of the vehicle, and the evaluation means respond to this variable and control the electronic switching system so that at least in a portion of the range of values of the acceleration-dependent variable, the operating power supplied to the electric motor is reduced in accordance with a specified characteristic.
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. A hybrid road vehicle comprising:
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a chassis; a plurality of wheels being rotationally mounted on said chassis; a plurality of road vehicle tires being disposed on corresponding ones of said plurality of wheels; and a hybrid propulsion system, said hybrid propulsion system comprising; an internal combustion engine; a power supply connected to said internal combustion engine; at least one motor for propelling at least one of said plurality of wheels; a switching arrangement to transfer power from said power supply to said at least one motor; an acceleration sensor arrangement to determine and generate a value of at least one acceleration-dependent variable, said at least one acceleration-dependent variable being a function of the acceleration of at least one portion of the vehicle; a control system to control the amount of power transferred from said power supply to said at least one motor dependent on at least one of;
said determined value of said at least one acceleration-dependent variable generated by said acceleration sensor arrangement, and the rate of change of said determined value of said at least one acceleration-dependent variable generated by said acceleration sensor arrangement;said control system comprising an arrangement to minimize deterioration of said switching arrangement; said arrangement to minimize deterioration of said switching arrangement being configured to temporarily reduce power flowing through said switching arrangement upon and during the duration of at least one of; said determined value of said at least one acceleration-dependent variable generated by said acceleration sensor arrangement, and the rate of change of said determined value of said at least one acceleration-dependent variable exceeding a corresponding defined characteristic of the acceleration of at least one portion of the vehicle; said arrangement to minimize deterioration of said switching arrangement being configured to substantially immediately restore power flowing through said switching circuitry subsequent to the occurrence of said at least one of; said determined value of said at least one acceleration-dependent variable generated by said acceleration sensor arrangement, and the rate of change of said determined value of said at least one acceleration-dependent variable exceeding a corresponding defined characteristic of the acceleration of at least one portion of the vehicle, to permit substantially continuous and substantially uninterrupted operation of said vehicle. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. An electric non-rail vehicle, comprising:
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a chassis; a plurality of wheels rotationally mounted on said chassis; a plurality of road vehicle tires disposed on corresponding ones of said plurality of wheels; and an electric propulsion system, said electric propulsion system comprising; at least one electric motor for propelling at least one of said plurality of wheels; a power supply to supply electric power to said at least one electric motor; a power transfer arrangement to transfer power from said power supply to said at least one electric motor; said power transfer arrangement comprising switching circuitry to transfer power from said power supply to said at least one electric motor; an acceleration sensor arrangement to sense a value of at least one acceleration-dependent variable, said value of said at least one acceleration-dependent variable being a function of the acceleration of at least one portion of the vehicle; said power transfer arrangement comprising a control system to control the amount of power transferred from said power supply to said at least one electric motor as a function of said value of said at least one acceleration-dependent variable; said control system comprising an arrangement to minimize deterioration of said switching circuitry; said arrangement to minimize deterioration of said switching circuitry being configured to temporarily reduce power flowing from through said switching circuitry upon and during the duration of said at least one acceleration-dependent variable sensed by said acceleration sensor arrangement exceeding a defined characteristic of the acceleration of said at least one portion of the vehicles and said arrangement to minimize deterioration of said switching circuitry being configured to substantially immediately restore power flowing through said switching circuitry subsequent to the occurrence of said at least one acceleration-dependent variable sensed by said acceleration sensor arrangement exceeding a defined characteristic of the acceleration of said at least one portion of the vehicle, to permit substantially continuous and substantially uninterrupted operation of said vehicle. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
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20. An electric motor propulsion system for a non-rail tired vehicle with an arrangement to minimize deterioration of switching circuitry which controls power flowing to at least one electric motor by temporarily reducing power flowing through said switching circuitry, said electric motor propulsion system comprising:
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said at least one electric motor; a power supply to supply power to said at least one electric motor; said switching circuitry to transfer power from said power supply to said at least one electric motor; an acceleration sensor arrangement to sense a value of at least one variable, said at least one variable being a function of the acceleration of at least one portion of the vehicle; a control system to control the amount of power transferred from said power supply to said at least one electric motor dependent on at least one of;
said sensed value of said at least one variable, and the rate of change of said sensed value of said at least one variable;said arrangement to minimize deterioration of said switching circuitry comprising a portion of said control system; said arrangement to minimize deterioration of said switching circuitry being configured to temporarily reduce power flowing through said switching circuitry upon and during the duration of said at least one variable sensed by said acceleration sensor arrangement exceeding a defined characteristic of the acceleration of said at least one portion of the vehicle; and said arrangement to minimize deterioration of said switching circuitry being configured to substantially immediately restore power flowing through said switching circuitry subsequent to said at least one variable sensed by said acceleration sensor arrangement exceeding a defined characteristic of the acceleration of said at least one portion of the vehicle, to permit substantially continuous and substantially uninterrupted operation of said vehicle.
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Specification