Vehicle belly pan
First Claim
1. A vehicle chassis comprising:
- a rigid sheet having formations defining a plurality of cavities;
at least three wheels mounted with respect to the rigid sheet;
an energy conversion system operably connected to at least one wheel;
an energy storage system operably connected to the energy conversion system;
a steering system operably connected to at least one wheel; and
a braking system operably connected to at least one wheel;
wherein the energy conversion system and energy storage system are mounted to the rigid sheet and at least partially located within respective ones of the plurality of cavities.
13 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A vehicle chassis having substantially all of the mechanical, electrical, and structural componentry necessary for a fully functional vehicle includes at least an energy conversion system, a steering system, and a braking system. The chassis is configured for matability with a variety of different types or styles of vehicle bodies. Various prior art mechanical control linkages between a driver and controlled systems are replaced with non-mechanical control signal transmission components. Fuel cell technology is also implemented. A quick plastic formed (QPF) rigid sheet (belly pan) includes cavities formed therein to facilitate attachment of various components of the energy conversion system, energy storage system, braking system, steering system, etc.
75 Citations
25 Claims
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1. A vehicle chassis comprising:
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a rigid sheet having formations defining a plurality of cavities;
at least three wheels mounted with respect to the rigid sheet;
an energy conversion system operably connected to at least one wheel;
an energy storage system operably connected to the energy conversion system;
a steering system operably connected to at least one wheel; and
a braking system operably connected to at least one wheel;
wherein the energy conversion system and energy storage system are mounted to the rigid sheet and at least partially located within respective ones of the plurality of cavities. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
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14. A method of assembling a vehicle chassis, comprising:
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mounting an energy conversion system, energy storage system, steering system, and braking system to a rigid sheet;
wherein the energy conversion system, energy storage system, steering system, and braking system are each comprised of a plurality of operably interconnected components;
wherein the rigid sheet is formed to include a plurality of cavities of predetermined size, location, and shape;
wherein the predetermined size, location, and shape of each of the plurality of cavities is determined to position at least one of the components with respect to the rigid sheet and to at least partially contain the at least one interconnected component in the cavities. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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21. A vehicle chassis comprising:
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a one-piece structural sheet member formed from a single sheet of metal, and defining a plurality of cavities;
a suspension system including at least three wheels mounted with respect to the structural sheet member;
a steering system having steering components, mounted with respect to the structural sheet member and operably connected to at least one wheel;
a propulsion system having propulsion system components, mounted with respect to the structural sheet member and operably connected to at least one wheel;
a braking system having braking components, mounted with respect to the structural sheet member and operably connected to at least one wheel;
a plurality of body attachment couplings mounted with respect to the structural member, including a plurality of body retention couplings and a control signal receiver coupling;
wherein at least one of said steering components, at least one of said propulsion system components and at least one of the said braking components are mounted at least partially within respective ones of the cavities. - View Dependent Claims (22, 23, 24, 25)
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Specification