Motor vehicles – Ski- or skate-type vehicle for imparting movement to a... – With power means or a portion thereof affixed to or built...
Patent
1997-11-13
2000-05-09
Camby, Richard M.
Motor vehicles
Ski- or skate-type vehicle for imparting movement to a...
With power means or a portion thereof affixed to or built...
180 651, B60K 100
Patent
active
060590629
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
BACKGROUND
This invention relates to powered, lightweight, individualized personal transport methods and apparatus, and more particularly, to powered roller skates.
Power has been applied to the wheels of roller skates in many different ways. Often, the motor is worn on the user's back and connected to the roller skate's wheels through a flexible drive. Alternatively, the motor is mounted to the roller skate and directly connected to the roller skate's wheels. Where the motor is an internal combustion engine, a fuel tank is required, and the fuel tank is either worn by the user or mounted to the roller skate.
Generally, speed control is provided by a hand- or foot-controlled mechanical device, for instance, hip handles or a tiltable foot support. The hand controlled devices may be electrically connected to the motor for direct control or may include a wireless transmitter for remote control. Hand controls can be awkward, unnatural, and possibly dangerous when sudden changes occur. A user can initiate braking or motor-starting through a tiltable foot support by depressing or tilting the forward or rear portions of the foot support platform. The roller skate's foot support has also included devices to assist in steering, for example, a pivoted sole piece. These foot-controlled devices often require significant foot motion and sometimes impact the trailing less-weighted and less-effective foot. As a result, the foot-controlled devices can be difficult to operate.
SUMMARY
In one aspect, the invention relates to a powered roller skate having a foot support, multiple wheels mounted to the foot support, and a motor coupled to at least one of the wheels. The invention features an active control system having at least one sensor located on the skate and a controller. The controller receives electrical signals from the sensors and further, electrical signals from the motor which indicate the state of the motor. In response to those signals and, in accordance with a control mechanism, the controller sends electrical signals to the motor to control the operation of the motor.
In another aspect, the invention relates to a powered roller skate having a foot support, multiple wheels mounted to the foot support, and a motor coupled to at least one of the wheels. The invention features an active control system having at least one sensor, at least one detector for detecting an operational mode of the skate, and a controller. The controller receives electrical signals from the sensors and further electrical signals from the detectors which indicate the operational mode of the skate and electrical signals from the motor which indicate the state of the motor. In response to those signals and, in accordance with the selected operational mode and a control mechanism, the controller sends electrical signals to the motor to control the operation of the motor.
In another aspect, the invention relates to a pair of powered roller skates where each skate has a foot support, multiple wheels mounted to the foot support, and a motor coupled to at least one of the wheels. The invention features a controller and an active control system having a communication system for communicating with the other skate. The controller receives electrical signals from the communication system and further electrical signals from the motor which indicate the state of the motor. In response to those signals and, in accordance with a control mechanism, the controller sends electrical signals to the communication system to aid in coordinating movement of the pair of skates and to the motor to control the operation of the motor.
In another aspect, the invention relates to an automatic braking system for use with a powered roller skate having multiple wheels. The invention features determining means which determine when the skate has been stationary for a predetermined amount of time and which send an electrical signal indicating such determination to preventing means which respond to the electrical signal by preventing at least one of the wheels from turnin
REFERENCES:
patent: 4456089 (1984-06-01), Kuwahara
patent: 5487441 (1996-01-01), Endo et al.
Lang Jeffrey H.
Staelin David H.
Camby Richard M.
EMPower Corporation
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