Motor vehicles – Special wheel base – Having only three wheels
Patent
1979-10-24
1983-01-18
Pekar, John A.
Motor vehicles
Special wheel base
Having only three wheels
180 41, B62D 6108
Patent
active
043687962
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The object of the invention is a device for operation and control of the tilt of the body of a vehicle mounted upon at least one set of running wheels upon which the body is articulated about a substantially horizontal axis located in its median plane.
BACKGROUND
The invention is applicable especially but non-restrictively to light three-wheeled vehicles of the type described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,698,502 filed by the same inventor.
In this patent a three-wheeled vehicle is described including a front wheel for steering and a back axle onto which is articulated the body of the vehicle so that the latter can tilt to one side or the other of the plane of symmetry of the axle. Thanks to this arrangement the vehicle is stable at standstill, the articulation being then blocked, which enables it to have a body for protecting the driver. But when running, the articulation is unblocked so that the vehicle can behave like a two-wheeled vehicle which enables the driver, in order to compensate for the effect of centrifugal force, to tilt the body towards the inside of the curve until the median plane passing through the center of gravity is directed along the direction of the apparent vertical, that is to say, of the resultant of the gravity and the centrifugal force.
However, one cannot count solely upon the sense of balance of the driver, above all if the vehicle has a body, and for safety it is useful to have available a means enabling the body of the vehicle to be kept along the convenient tilt. In French Pat. No. 1,562,248 and its Addition No. 2,031,813 a certain number of means have been described enabling the articulation of the body to be blocked when the median plane of it tends to deviate from the direction of the apparent vertical. In the patent already quoted, the different means of control for maintaining the tilt of the body are operated by a pendular mass consisting either of a pendulum articulated onto the body or a rolling mass, for example, a ball capable of moving over a pan in the form of a cylindrical surface having an axis parallel with that of the articulation.
In these vehicles the stability depends obviously upon the sense of balance of the driver. Now that depends upon persons and may otherwise be disturbed by the fact that the vehicle has a body and hence has a weight necessarily higher than that of conventional two-wheeled vehicles and that furthermore it is more sensitive to sidewind.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The object of the invention is a new arrangement which enables one to be freed of the role of the driver in maintaining balance.
The device in accordance with the invention comprises means of rocking and of maintaining the tilt of the body, operated by a driving shaft driven in rotation by the movement of the vehicle and comprising a rocking mechanism capable of being driven in two opposite directions by said driving shaft by means of one or other of two disengageable coupling means which operate the rocking, each in one direction, and a means of progressive engagement of one or other of the said coupling means operated directly by the pendular mass, the deviation of the latter to one side or the other of the plane passing through its axis of oscillation and parallel with the median plane of the body operating the progressive engagement of that one of the two coupling means which causes the rocking of the body in the direction enabling the median plane of the latter to be brought back into the direction of the apparent vertical passing through the axis of oscillation and the center of gravity of the pendular mass.
In a preferred embodiment the driving shaft is driven in rotation at high speed and is connected to the rocking mechanism by way of a means of gearing down. Preferably the two disengageable couplings are keyed onto a secondary shaft for connection between the driving shaft and rocking mechanism, the said couplings being capable of driving the secondary shaft in two opposite directions of rotation which correspond each with one direction of rocking
REFERENCES:
patent: 1262829 (1918-04-01), Neumeier
patent: 1574691 (1926-02-01), Ragsdale
patent: 1821271 (1931-09-01), Musgrove
patent: 2417526 (1947-03-01), Steins et al.
patent: 2815960 (1957-12-01), Zapelloni
patent: 2819093 (1958-01-01), Geiser
patent: 3601213 (1971-08-01), Patin
patent: 3698502 (1972-10-01), Patin
patent: 3781031 (1973-12-01), Patin
patent: 3964563 (1976-02-01), Allen
patent: 4006916 (1977-02-01), Patin
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