Motor vehicles – Special wheel base – Having only two wheels
Patent
1999-10-14
2000-12-12
Johnson, Brian L.
Motor vehicles
Special wheel base
Having only two wheels
180 652, B62D 6102
Patent
active
061585432
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
TECHNICAL FIELD
The present invention relates generally to a motorcycle and more particularly to a hybrid motorcycle including an electric motor in addition to an engine.
BACKGROUND ART
Vehicles of the type using a gasoline engine as a drive source are chiefly available at present. However, vehicles of the type using an electric motor as a drive source are required at locations where the occurrence of an exhaust gas must be avoided. A motor-driven vehicle, however, has an inconvenience in that it has an increased body weight and a shortened running distance. To cope with such an inconvenience, there is an increased demand that a hybrid vehicle including an electric motor in addition to an engine be developed.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. HEI-8-175477, for example, discloses a hybrid motorcycle entitled `DEVICE FOR SWITCHING ENGINE POWER TO/FROM MOTOR POWER IN MOTORCYCLE OR THE LIKE`.
As shown in FIG. 2 of the above publication, a crank shaft is parallel to an axle, and as shown in FIG. 3, a shaft of a motor is perpendicular to the axle.
To be more specific, according to the related art structure, since the crank shaft extends in the lateral direction of a vehicular body and the shaft of the motor extends in the longitudinal direction of the vehicular body, a transmission case which contains both the crank shaft and the shaft of the motor is applied with forces both in the lateral and longitudinal directions.
Accordingly, the transmission case must be rigid enough to withstand the above forces both in the lateral and longitudinal directions, which requires an not only increase in the weight of power the transmission case but also causes a loss of power transmission in the power transmission system.
DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a motorcycle capable of reducing the loss of power transmission in the power transmission system and reducing the weight of the transmission case, that is, the power unit case.
According to the present invention, there is provided a motorcycle in which an engine and an electric motor are provided as a power unit and an engine output and an electric motor output are transmitted to a drive wheel through a transmission shaft and an electric motor shaft, respectively, characterized in that the transmission shaft and the electric motor shaft are coaxially disposed in series in the longitudinal direction of a vehicular body and in parallel to a crank shaft of the engine.
Since the transmission shaft and the electric motor shaft are disposed in series in the longitudinal direction of the vehicular body, the direction of a force applied to the power unit case becomes simple. This reduces a loss of power transmission and makes designing of the power unit case easy. Concretely, the power unit case can have high rigidity in the direction of application of the force and low rigidity in the direction of non-application of the force; consequently, the power unit case can be reduced in weight and also be made compact as a whole in conjunction with the simplification of the applied force.
According to an invention, the transmission shaft holds a one-way clutch and a clutch shaft. The clutch shaft holds a starter one-way clutch for electronic motor and a centrifugal clutch. The clutch shaft and various clutches are provided integrally with the transmission shaft.
The clutch shaft is integrally connected to the transmission shaft; the one-way clutch for electronic motor is held by the transmission shaft; and the one-way clutch for a starter and the centrifugal clutch are held by the clutch shaft. According to another aspect invention, the power unit is swingably mounted, together with a rear wheel, on a main frame.
With this arrangement, since the power unit can be significantly reduced in weight and also the power unit is swung together with the rear wheel, the unspring weight can be reduced and the steering stability can be enhanced.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Preferred embodiments of the present invention will
REFERENCES:
patent: 732944 (1903-07-01), Jenatzy
patent: 1083730 (1914-01-01), Collischonn
patent: 4579190 (1986-04-01), Hashimoto et al.
patent: 4763538 (1988-08-01), Fujita et al.
patent: 5433266 (1995-07-01), Kumamaru et al.
patent: 6048289 (2000-04-01), Hattori et al.
Matsuto Takushi
Wachigai Kaoru
Fischmann Bryan
Honda Giken Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha
Johnson Brian L.
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