Motor vehicles – Special wheel base
Reexamination Certificate
1999-08-31
2003-05-13
Johnson, Brian L. (Department: 3618)
Motor vehicles
Special wheel base
C180S007100, C180S008200, C180S065800
Reexamination Certificate
active
06561294
ABSTRACT:
TECHNICAL FIELD
The present invention pertains to a balancing personal vehicle having a support for a human subject, the support being pivotable in order to allow the subject to be supported at a desired angle with respect to ground contacting elements of the vehicle.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Personal vehicles may be self-propelled and user-guidable, and, further, may entail stabilization in one or both of the fore-aft or left-right planes, such as whey no more than two wheels are in ground contact at a time. Vehicles of this sort may be operated in a mode in which motion of the vehicle, including acceleration (both linear and turning), is controlled partially or entirely by leaning of the vehicle as caused by a subject riding the vehicle. Several such vehicles are described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,971,091, issued Oct. 26, 1999, which is incorporated herein by reference.
Such balancing vehicles may lack static stability. Referring, for example, to
FIG. 1A
, wherein a prior art personal transporter is shown and designated generally by numeral
18
, a subject
10
stands on a support platform
12
and holds a grip
14
on a handle
16
attached to the platform
12
, so that the vehicle
18
of this embodiment may be operated in a manner analogous to a scooter. A control loop may be provided so that leaning of the subject results in the application of torque to wheel
20
about axle
22
thereby causing an acceleration of the vehicle. Vehicle
18
, however, is statically unstable, and, absent operation of the control loop to maintain dynamic stability, subject
10
will no longer be supported in a standing position and will fall from platform
12
. Another prior art balancing vehicle is shown in FIG.
1
B and designated generally by numeral
24
. Personal vehicle
24
shares the characteristics of vehicle
12
of
FIG. 1A
, namely a support platform
12
for supporting subject
10
and grip
14
on handle
16
attached to platform
12
, so that the vehicle
18
of this embodiment may also be operated in a manner analogous to a scooter.
FIG. 2
shows that while vehicle
24
may have clusters
26
each having a plurality of wheels
28
, vehicle
24
remains statically unstable and, absent operation of a control loop to maintain dynamic stability, subject
10
will no longer be supported in a standing position and may fall from platform
12
.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In accordance with a preferred embodiment of the invention, there is provided a device for transporting a human subject over a surface. The device has a platform defining a fore-aft plane that supports a payload including the human subject. The device also has a ground-contacting module that includes a ground-contacting member movably coupled to the platform. The platform and the ground-contacting module are components of an assembly, and the position of the center of gravity of the assembly is defined with respect to the ground-contacting member. The device also has a support for supporting the subject, where the support is coupled to the platform in such as manner as to permit variation in the fore-aft plane of the position of the center of gravity. Furthermore, the device has a drive, coupled to the ground contacting module, for delivering power to the ground-contacting module in a manner responsive to the position of the center of gravity.
In accordance with alternate embodiments of the present invention, the support includes a seat. The support may be coupled to the platform at a pivot oriented to allow motion of the support about an axis substantially transverse to the fore-aft plane. The device may have a handle, affixed to the platform, having a grip at approximately waist height of the subject, so that the device may be operated in a manner analogous to a scooter. The ground-contacting module may be characterized by a region of contact with the ground and the support may have an articulated member, biased for supporting a portion of the weight of the subject, and the support may have a region of local stability substantially above the region of contact with the ground of the ground-contacting module.
In accordance with a further embodiment of the invention, there is provided a device for carrying a user, wherein the device has a platform and a user support having a position defined with respect to the platform and coupled to the platform in such a manner that the user may vary the position of the support with respect to the platform in the course of normal operation of the device. The device also has a motorized drive that propels the platform over an underlying surface through motion of at least one ground-contacting member and a controller, coupled to the motorized drive, for governing the operation of the motorized drive at least in response to the position of the user support.
In accordance with yet a further embodiment of the invention there is provided a device for conveying a seated user. The device has a platform for supporting a payload including the seated user, a ground-contacting module mounted to the platform that propels the platform with respect to an underlying surface, and a drive, coupled to the ground-contacting module, for delivering power to the ground-contacting module in a manner controlled solely by leaning of the user.
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Ambrogi Robert R.
Duggan Robert
Field Douglas
Heinzmann Richard Kurt
Kamen Dean L.
Bromberg & Sunstein LLP
DEKA Products Limited Partnership
Johnson Brian L.
Phan Hau
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