Coaxial two-wheel vehicle

• US 7,958,956 B2
• Filed: 04/13/2006
• Issued: 06/14/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 04/14/2005
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha (Toyota Motor Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha (Toyota Motor Corporation)
• Inventors: Kakinuma, Takekazu, Yamano, Ikuo, Sawai, Kunihito
• Primary Examiner(s): Shriver, II; J. Allen
• Assistant Examiner(s): AVERY, BRIDGET D
• Application Number:
  US11/402,975
• Publication Number:
  US 20060260857A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,888 Days
• Field of Search: 180/65.1, 180/65.5, 180/180, 180/181, 180/218, 180/6.5, 180/21, 180/7.1, 280/652, 280/87.041, 280/33.992, 280/32.7, 280/63
• US Class Current: 180/65.1
• CPC Class Codes: A63C 17/08 single-wheel type with single axis
• CPC Class Codes: A63C 17/12 with driving mechanisms
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 2200/16 Single-axle vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 2200/24 Personal mobility vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 2220/46 Wheel motors, i.e. motor connected to only one wheel
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 2240/18 lateral
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 2240/20 angular
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 2250/24 by lever actuation
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 2260/34 Stabilising upright position of vehicles, e.g. of single axle vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: B62D 51/02 the driver standing in the vehicle
• CPC Class Codes: B62D 61/00 Motor vehicles or trailers, characterised by the arrangement or number of wheels, not otherwise provided for, e.g. four wheels in diamond pattern
• CPC Class Codes: B62K 11/007 Automatic balancing machines with single main ground engaging wheel or coaxial wheels supporting a rider

Abstract

A coaxial two-wheel vehicle on which a rider stably travels without the upper body being swayed left and right in a riding state of the center of gravity being positioned high is provided.

The coaxial two-wheel vehicle includes: a step plate for a driver to ride; a vehicle body that supports the step plate so as to be capable of changing a posture in a roll direction of rotating around a roll axis as the center, when a traveling direction is made the roll axis; a pair of wheels disposed on both sides on the same axis in the direction orthogonal to the traveling direction of the vehicle body and rotatably supported by the vehicle body; a pair of wheel drive means to drive and rotate the pair of wheels independently; and a handle for directly changing a posture of the step plate or indirectly changing the posture through the vehicle body.

Claims

1. A coaxial two-wheel vehicle comprising:

a step plate for a driver to ride;

a vehicle body that rotates around a roll axis as the center with a traveling direction being the roll axis, the vehicle body supports said step plate so as to be capable of changing a posture of the step plate in a roll direction when the vehicle body rotates around the roll axis, the roll direction being formed substantially in a plane orthogonal to the traveling direction;

a pair of wheels, with one wheel disposed on each side of the vehicle on the same axis in the direction orthogonal to said traveling direction of said vehicle body and rotatably supported by the vehicle body;

a pair of wheel drive means to drive and rotate said pair of wheels independently; and

a handle for directly changing a posture of said step plate in the roll direction or indirectly changing the posture in the roll direction through said vehicle body when the handle is moved to indicate a desired travel direction.

2. The coaxial two-wheel vehicle according to claim 1,

wherein said vehicle body includes a parallel link mechanism having a vehicle body upper member and a vehicle body lower member that are disposed above and below in parallel with each other and a pair of lateral members that are disposed left and right in parallel with each other and that are connected to said vehicle body upper member and vehicle body lower member in a turnable manner, and

said step plate is divided in two to provide two divided steps, which are individually fixed to said pair of lateral members, and said pair of wheels are supported by the pair of lateral members through said pair of wheel drive means.

3. The coaxial two-wheel vehicle according to claim 1,

wherein said step plate is divided in two to provide two divided steps, which are individually supported by said vehicle body in a turnable manner, and the two divided steps are connected by a connecting link to be turnable and to the middle portion of which said handle is connected in a turnable manner to make said two divided steps turnable in synchronization with an operation of the handle.

4. The coaxial two-wheel vehicle according to claim 1, wherein said handle is fixed to said step plate and a posture of said step plate is capable of being changed by an operation of the handle.

5. The coaxial two-wheel vehicle according to claim 1, further comprising:

posture detecting means to detect an angle between said step plate or said handle and a gravitational axis and to output the detection signal,

wherein based on the detection signal from the posture detecting means the drive of said pair of wheel drive means is controlled such that predetermined centrifugal force is given.

6. The coaxial two-wheel vehicle according to claim 1,

wherein a posture of said step plate is changed to cancel the centrifugal force given to said driver based on a control signal output to said pair of wheel drive means.

7. The coaxial two-wheel vehicle according to claim 2,

wherein an elastic member, which generates spring force to maintain angles respectively formed by said vehicle body upper member and vehicle body lower member and said pair of lateral members to be orthogonal, is interposed between the vehicle body upper member and vehicle body lower member.

8. The coaxial two-wheel vehicle according to claim 4,

wherein an elastic member which generates spring force to maintain said step plate in parallel with the vehicle body is interposed between said step plate and said vehicle body.

9. A coaxial two-wheel vehicle comprising:

a first and a second step plate spaced apart from each other and provided for a driver to stand on while riding the vehicle,

a vehicle body that rotates about a roll axis, a longitudinal direction of the roll axis extending along a traveling direction, the vehicle body supports the first and second step plates such that the step plates rotate along a plane orthogonal to the traveling direction when the vehicle body rotates around the roll axis;

a pair of wheels, with one wheel disposed on each side of the vehicle body along a same axis in the direction orthogonal to the traveling direction and rotatably supported by the vehicle body;

a pair of wheel drive means to drive and rotate said pair of wheels independently; and

a handle for changing a position of the step plates in the plane orthogonal to the traveling direction when the handle is moved to indicate a desired travel direction.

10. The coaxial two-wheel vehicle according to claim 9, wherein each of the step plates are individually supported by the vehicle body in a turnable manner about an axis substantially parallel to the roll axis.

11. The coaxial two-wheel vehicle according to claim 9, wherein the step plates are connected by a connecting link such that a plane formed by a top surface of a first one of the step plates is substantially parallel to a plane formed by a top surface of a second one of the step plates, and wherein the planes remain substantially parallel to each other during rotation of the vehicle body about the roll axis.

12. The coaxial two-wheel vehicle according to claim 10, wherein the step plates are connected by a connecting link such that the step plates are turnable in synchronization based on an operation of the handle.

13. The coaxial two-wheel vehicle according to claim 10, wherein the handle includes a rotatable turning operation device that controls a turning motion of the vehicle.

14. The coaxial two-wheel vehicle according to claim 10, wherein the vehicle body includes a parallel link mechanism having a vehicle body upper member and a vehicle body lower member that are disposed above and below in parallel with each other and a pair of lateral members that are disposed left and right in parallel with each other and that are connected to said vehicle body upper member and vehicle body lower member in a turnable manner, wherein the step plates are connected to the parallel link mechanism so as to be turnable in synchronization.