Land vehicles – Wheeled – Occupant propelled type
Patent
1992-06-18
1994-10-11
Focarino, Margaret A.
Land vehicles
Wheeled
Occupant propelled type
280224, 2802261, 482 62, B62M 100
Patent
active
053540832
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
This invention relates to a drive system for muscle-powered vehicles and/or equipment, in particular bicycles.
Various suggestions have been made for using the muscles of a bike rider in numerous ways to drive a bicycle or the like in order to thus optimize drive performance. For instance, the state of the art involved in this particular area, according to DE-OS 3737294, uses foot pedals connected to a cable pull, with the movement of said pedals being transmitted to the rear wheel via freewheels. At the same time, the pedals are connected via two longitudinal rods to a steering device that pivots back and forth around a vertical shaft. This couples the foot-powered drive component with the hand-powered drive component. However, this coupling permits only a simultaneous movement of the arms and legs in the same direction for the purpose of achieving drive motion. This prohibits movement in the opposite direction or resting of either arms or legs separately. In addition, the rods actually enclose the driver, thus impeding the dismounting, especially in critical situations. The connection of the pedals with the steering device also has a negative effect on the steering action.
DE-PS 88425 reveals a bicycle drive in which the seat of the rider pivots longitudinally around a low point on the frame. This pivoting motion is transmitted to the rear wheel via a chain and freewheels. For this purpose, the rider is belted to the seat. Feet and hands are braced against corresponding bracing parts of the frame. By means of a drawing motion of the arms, the torso and thus the belted-on seat backrest are moved forward resulting in a forward pivoting motion of the seat. During the back pivot, this movement is supported by the extension of the legs. This type of seat drive uses primarily the arms of the rider while the leeway of the legs is restricted.
In another seat drive according to U.S. Pat. No. 3,979,135, the seat may be moved longitudinally along an arc-shaped track. This back and forth movement of the seat is achieved in that the rider is able to brace himself on foot rests that are affixed to the frame and moves the seat by extending his legs and arms that are braced against the frame or the steering device. The seat is connected to the rear wheel via a chain pull and a freewheel system. The weight of the rider exploits the curved design of the track to support this movement.
All of these different drive systems have the disadvantage that only particular body parts are used for the drive or, if the entire body is moved, that the achieved drive performance is not proportional to the effort of the individual parts of the body.
Accordingly, the purpose of the invention is to create a drive in which the movements of the body parts, without any disadvantageous reciprocal effect, may be used effectively as comprehensively as possible for the drive so as to be able to increase the drive force in proportion to the used body parts and to considerably increase the riding time. In addition, the drive motions should not be affected by the steering.
In this way, a drive system is created that makes sensible use of the existing main muscle group forces of a rider and at the same time makes it possible to combine the individual drive components with each other as desired.
The invention contains advantageous improvements. For example, in the foot-powered drive, the drive force is independent of the weight of the rider because of the pivoting motion of the pedals around a vertical axis. The circular-arc-shaped movement of the pedals in the horizontal plane enables good utilization of the leg muscles.
The foot-powered drive with lineal pedal motion makes it possible to use muscle power optimally. It is also possible to separate a pedal from the associated cable pull and to affix it to the other pedal in order to achieve a leg movement in the same direction.
The construction of the foot-powered drive permits adaptation to the structural factors.
All foot-powered drive versions permit an uncoupling of the drive in such a way that th
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Focarino Margaret A.
Hurley Kevin
LandOfFree
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