Driving unit for an electric motor driven bicycle

• US 6,012,538 A
• Filed: 09/25/1997
• Issued: 01/11/2000
• Est. Priority Date: 09/26/1996
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd.
• Inventors: Suzuki, Katsuhiko, Ohta, Katsutoshi, Takahashi, Hisayoshi, Hirabayashi, Masashi, Sonobe, Hiroyuki
• Primary Examiner(s): Camby, Richard M.
• Application Number:
  US08/937,804
• Time in Patent Office: 838 Days
• Field of Search: 180/204, 180/205, 180/220, 180/65.1, 180/65.2, 180/65.6, 180/65.7, 180/65.8, 180/218, 180/219
• US Class Current: 180/220
• CPC Class Codes: B62M 6/45 Control or actuating devices therefor
• CPC Class Codes: B62M 6/55 power-driven at crank shafts parts
• CPC Class Codes: B62M 6/60 power-driven at axle parts

Abstract

In a driving unit for an electric motor driven bicycle, a motor (31) has an output shaft coaxial with a crank shaft (39) of a pedal. A planet roller reducer (40) has a sun roller shaft coincident with the output shaft. Through the planet roller reducer (40) and a two-stage reducing gear mechanism (50) for further reducing the output of the planet roller reducer (40), a torque of the motor (31) is transmitted to a driving chain sprocket (4). Provided that the torque of the motor (31) exceeds a predetermined pedaling torque level, the torque is transmitted to the driving chain sprocket (4).

Claims

1. A driving unit for an electric motor driven bicycle, comprising:

a motor having an output shaft concentric with a crank shaft of a pedal;

a planet roller reducer having a sun roller rotating integrally with said output shaft of the motor;

a second-stage gear reducer for further reducing the rotation of a shaft of said planet roller reducer;

a first one-way clutch interposed in a power transmission path of said second-stage gear reducer;

a driving chain sprocket having a first gear which is concentric with said crank shaft and is engaged with an output shaft of said second-stage gear reducer;

a second gear equal in pitch diameter to said first gear, supported through a bearing on said crank shaft of the pedal, and having a second one-way clutch for transmitting the rotation of said crank shaft to said driving chain sprocket;

an angular displacement mechanism having an elastic member provided in said first gear and a protruding member protruding from said second gear to be engaged with said elastic member, said angular displacement mechanism converting the magnitude of a pedaling torque into angular displacement following deformation of said elastic member; and

an angular displacement detecting mechanism for detecting the angular displacement produced in said angular displacement mechanism, wherein,

an output torque of the motor is controlled in correspondence to the magnitude of said pedaling torque.

2. A driving unit for an electric motor driven bicycle as claimed in claim 1, wherein said angular displacement mechanism includes,

a plurality of long hole portions to which long holes are made to penetrate said first gear to both side surfaces thereof are arranged at an equal interval in a circumferential direction,

a plurality of compression springs received in said long holes in one-to-one correspondence, and

said protruding member formed on said second gear to be engaged with said compression springs only in a single rotational direction, said compression springs being compressed and shortened in proportion to said pedaling torque to represent relative angular displacement between said first and said second gears.

3. A driving unit for an electric motor driven bicycle as claimed in claim 2, wherein said compression springs are applied with an initial pressure so as to produce no relative angular displacement between said first and said second gears while said pedaling torque is small, thereby restricting the range of energization by said motor.

4. A driving unit for an electric motor driven bicycle as claimed in claim 2 or 3, wherein said angular displacement detecting mechanism includes,

a pair of gears engaged with said first and said second gears, respectively, and rotated on a common axis,

a plurality of V groove cams fixed on annular side surfaces of said pair of gears and arranged at an equal interval in a circumferential direction to confront one another,

a compression spring urged to press said V groove cams against one another, and

a plurality of rollers each of which is interposed and held in each of parallelopiped cavities defined between cam surfaces of said V groove cams, wherein

every confronting ones of said V groove cams being offset from each other, upon occurrence of relative angular displacement between said gears, to force said rollers to climb upward along the cam surfaces so that both gears are separated from each other in an axial direction by a moving distance which is converted by a sliding plate and a lever into displacement to be measured by a displacement detector to produce a motor output control signal.

8. A driving unit for an electric motor driven bicycle as claimed in any one of claims 1 through 3, wherein said angular displacement detecting mechanism includes,

a helical groove shaft having opposite ends rotatably supported by bearings and a plurality of helical grooves formed in a cylindrical shaft portion extending between said bearings,

a third gear fixed on said helical groove shaft and engaged with said first gear,

a fourth gear engaged with said second gear and loosely fitted on said helical groove shaft to be slidable both in a rotational direction and in an axial direction, said fourth gear having a plurality of dead-ended grooves equal in number to said helical grooves of said helical groove shaft and formed inside of a stepped portion of an inner loose-fit cylinder of said fourth gear in parallel to axial lines of said helical grooves,

a plurality of balls equal in number to said helical grooves and engaged with both said helical grooves of the helical groove shaft and said dead-ended grooves of the fourth gear,

ball holding means for holding said balls inside of said dead-ended grooves of the fourth gear,

urging means for urging said fourth gear towards said third gear, and

detecting means for detecting a moving distance of said fourth gear in the axial direction to produce a motor output control signal.

9. A driving unit for an electric motor driven bicycle as claimed in claim 8, wherein a combination of said ball holding means, said urging means, and said detecting means includes,

an annular plate fitted to the stepped portion of the inner cylinder of said fourth gear, and

a compression spring arranged between said annular plate and a seating plate fixed to said helical groove shaft and urged in a direction of pressing said fourth gear towards said third gear, wherein

said fourth gear being angularly offset from said third gear upon occurrence of relative angular displacement between said first and said second gears in correspondence to the magnitude of said pedaling torque so that said fourth gear is pushed by said balls moving along said helical grooves to move in an axial direction by a moving distance, said moving distance being picked up by a lever in contact with the side surface of said fourth gear as displacement which is detected by a displacement detector to produce a motor output control signal.

10. A driving unit for an electric motor driven bicycle as claimed in any one of claims 1 through 3, wherein said angular displacement detecting mechanism includes,

a helical groove shaft having opposite ends rotatably supported by bearings and a plurality of helical grooves formed in a cylindrical shaft portion extending between said bearings,

a third gear fixed on said helical groove shaft and engaged with said first gear, and

a fourth gear engaged with said second gear and loosely fitted on said helical groove shaft to be slidable both in a rotational direction and in an axial direction, said fourth gear having a plurality of protrusions equal in number to said helical grooves of said helical groove shaft and having a helical angle equal to that of said helical grooves, said protrusions being formed in an inner loose-fit cylinder of said fourth gear to be engaged with said helical grooves, wherein

said angular displacement detecting mechanism further includes, detecting means for detecting, when said fourth gear is angularly offset from said third gear upon occurrence of a relative angular displacement between said first and said second gears in correspondence to the magnitude of said pedaling torque, a moving distance of said fourth gear moving along said helical grooves to produce a motor output control signal.

11. A driving unit for an electric motor driven bicycle as claimed in claim 10, wherein said detecting means includes a lever in contact with the side surface of said fourth gear, said lever picking up the moving distance of said fourth gear moving along said helical grooves as displacement which is detected by a displacement detector to produce the motor output control signal.

12. A driving unit for an electric motor driven bicycle as claimed in claim 8, wherein said angular displacement detecting mechanism further includes,

a ball bearing externally fitted over a stepped cylindrical shaft portion of said fourth gear,

a bearing holder ring externally fitted over said ball bearing, a compression spring arranged between said bearing holder ring and a casing and urged in a direction of pressing said fourth gear towards said third gear, and

a rotation stopper shaft fixed to said casing in parallel to said helical shaft to inhibit rotation of said bearing holder ring, wherein

said fourth gear being angularly offset from said third gear upon occurrence of a relative angular displacement between said first and said second gears in correspondence to the magnitude of said pedaling torque so that said fourth gear is pushed by said balls moving along said helical grooves and is moved in an axial direction by a moving distance, said moving distance being picked up, through said ball bearing and said bearing holder ring, by a lever in contact with the side surface of said fourth gear as displacement which is detected by a displacement detector to produce a motor output control signal.

13. A driving unit for an electric motor driven bicycle as claimed in claim 10, wherein said angular displacement detecting mechanism further includes

a ball bearing externally fitted over a stepped cylindrical shaft portion of said fourth gear,

a bearing holder ring externally fitted over said ball bearing,

a compression spring arranged between said bearing holder ring and a casing and urged in a direction of pressing said fourth gear towards said third gear, and

a rotation stopper shaft fixed to said casing in parallel to said helical shaft to inhibit rotation of said bearing holder ring, wherein

said fourth gear being angularly offset from said third gear upon occurrence of relative angular displacement between said first and said second gears in correspondence to the magnitude of said pedaling torque so that said fourth gear is moved in an axial direction by a moving distance, said moving distance being picked up, through said ball bearing and said bearing holder ring, by a lever in contact with the side surface of said fourth gear as displacement which is detected by a displacement detector to produce a motor output control signal.

14. A driving unit for an electric motor driven bicycle as claimed in any one of claims 1 through 3, wherein said angular displacement detecting mechanism includes,

a serration shaft having opposite ends rotatably supported by bearings and a cylindrical shaft portion extending between said bearings with a helical serration portion formed on said cylindrical shaft portion,

a third gear fixed on said serration shaft and engaged with said first gear,

a fourth gear engaged with said second gear with a bush internally fitted in an inner cylinder of said fourth gear so that said fourth gear is loosely fitted to said serration shaft to be slidable both in the rotational direction and in the axial direction, said fourth gear being provided with an inner serration formed in the inner cylinder with a helical angle equal to that of said helical serration portion to be engaged with said helical serration portion of the serration shaft,

a ball bearing externally fitted over a stepped cylindrical shaft portion of said fourth gear,

a bearing holder ring externally fitted over said ball bearing,

a compression spring arranged between said bearing holder ring and a casing and urged in a direction of pressing said fourth gear towards said third gear, and

a rotation stopper shaft fixed to said casing in parallel to said helical shaft to inhibit rotation of said bearing holder ring, wherein

said fourth gear being angularly offset from said third gear upon occurrence of a relative angular displacement between said first and said second gears in correspondence to the magnitude of said pedaling torque so that said fourth gear is moved along said helical serration by a moving distance, said moving distance being picked up, through said ball bearing and said bearing holder ring, by a lever in contact with the side surface of said fourth gear as displacement which is detected by a displacement detector to produce a motor output control signal.

15. A driving unit for an electric motor driven bicycle as claimed in claim 14, wherein said angular displacement detecting mechanism includes, instead of said fourth gear engaged with said second gear with said bush internally fitted therein and loosely fitted to said serration shaft to be slidable, a fourth gear of a low frictional coefficient engaged with said second gear and loosely fitted to the shaft portion of said serration shaft to be slidable both in the rotational direction and in the axial direction, said fourth gear being provided with an internal serration formed at a part of the same inner cylinder to be engaged with said helical serration of the serration shaft.

16. A driving unit for an electric motor driven bicycle as claimed in any one of claims 1 through 3, wherein said angular displacement detecting mechanism includes,

a serration shaft having opposite ends rotatably supported by bearings and a cylindrical shaft portion extending between said bearings with a helical serration portion formed on said cylindrical shaft portion,

a third gear fixed on said serration shaft and engaged with said first gear,

a fourth gear engaged with said second gear with a bush internally fitted in an inner cylinder of said fourth gear so that said fourth gear is loosely fitted to said serration shaft to be slidable both in the rotational direction and in the axial direction, said fourth gear being provided with an inner serration formed in the inner cylinder with a helical angle equal to that of said helical serration portion to be engaged with said helical serration portion of the serration shaft,

a ball bearing externally fitted over a stepped cylindrical shaft portion of said fourth gear,

a lever including a ring-shaped plate having a fulcrum or a supporting point formed at one protruding end thereof to be kept in contact with a casing, force points comprising projections formed on both sides of said ring-shaped plate to be brought into contact with a side surface of an outer ring of said ball bearing, and an acting point formed on the other protruding end opposite to said fulcrum,

a rotation stopper pin fixed on said casing in parallel to said serration shaft and inserted into a hole formed on the other protruding end of said lever,

a compression spring urging said lever through said projections as the force points to press said ball bearing on the shaft of said fourth gear, and

a displacement detector for converting a moving distance of said acting point of the lever into angular displacement to be detected, wherein

said fourth gear being angularly offset from said third gear upon occurrence of a relative angular displacement between said first and said second gears in correspondence to the magnitude of said pedaling torque so that said fourth gear is moved along said helical serration by a moving distance, said moving distance being enlarged by said lever to provide displacement of said acting point of the lever, said displacement being detected by a displacement detector to produce a motor output control signal.

17. A driving unit for an electric motor driven bicycle as claimed in claim 16, wherein said angular displacement detecting mechanism further includes, a bearing holder ring externally fitted over said ball bearing on said stepped cylindrical shaft portion of said fourth bearing and having a rotational direction restricted by said rotation stopper pin fixed on said casing, said projections being brought into contact with the side surface of the outer ring of said ball bearing through said bearing holder ring so that an axial moving distance of said fourth gear is enlarged by said lever.

5. A driving unit for an electric motor driven bicycle, comprising:

a motor having an output shaft concentric with a crank shaft of a pedal;

a planet roller reducer having a sun roller rotating integrally with said output shaft of the motor;

a second-stage gear reducer for further reducing the rotation of a shaft of said planet roller reducer;

a first one-way clutch interposed in a power transmission path of said second-stage gear reducer;

a driving chain sprocket having a first gear at a final stage which is concentric with said crank shaft and engaged with an output shaft of said second-stage gear reducer;

a second gear equal in pitch diameter to said first gear, supported through a bearing on said crank shaft of the pedal, and having a second one-way clutch for transmitting the rotation of said crank shaft to said driving chain sprocket; and

a torque detecting mechanism having third and fourth gears arranged on a common axis to be engaged with said first and said second gears, respectively, said torque detecting mechanism being responsive to a pedaling torque transmitted through said two pairs of gears for producing axial displacement proportional to a transmission torque between said third and said fourth gears, wherein

an output torque of the motor is controlled in correspondence to the magnitude of said pedaling torque.

6. A driving unit for an electric bicycle as claimed in claim 5, wherein said torque detecting mechanism includes,

a plurality of V groove cams fixed on annular side surfaces of said third and said fourth gears and arranged at an equal interval in a circumferential direction to confront one another,

a compression spring urged to press said V groove cams against one another, and

a plurality of rollers each of which is interposed and held in each of parallelopiped cavities defined between cam surfaces of said V groove cams, wherein

every confronting ones of said V groove cams being offset from each other, upon occurrence of relative angular displacement between said third and said fourth gears in response to the pedaling torque, to force said rollers to climb upward along the cam surfaces so that said third and said fourth gears are separated from each other in an axial direction by a moving distance which is converted by a sliding plate and a lever into displacement to be measured by a displacement detector to produce a motor output control signal.

7. A driving unit for an electric motor driven bicycle as claimed in claim 6, wherein said compression spring is applied with an initial pressure so as to produce no relative angular displacement between said third and said fourth gears while said pedaling torque is small, thereby restricting the range of energization by said motor.

18. A motor power assistance system for a bicycle having a crank shaft, pedals for rotating the crank shaft, and a sprocket for transmitting rotation of the crankshaft to a driving wheel, the system comprising:

a first gear connected to the crank shaft through a first one-way clutch;

a second gear connected to said sprocket;

a motor provided coaxially with the crank shaft and transmitting output torque to said second gear through a second one-way clutch;

a torque transmitting unit which transmits torque at least from said second gear to said first gear while permitting a relative displacement therebetween;

an angular displacement detecting unit which detects the angular displacement between said first and second gears; and

a control unit which controls an out put of said motor based on said detected angular displacement.

19. A motor power assistance system of claim 18, further comprising:

a speed reducer provided between said motor and said second one-way clutch.

20. A motor power assistance system of claim 19, wherein said speed reducer includes,

a first speed reducer provided coaxially with the crank shaft and,

a second speed reducer which further reduces output speed of said first speed reducer.