Trailer for balancing vehicle

Details Trailer for balancing vehicle Trailer for balancing vehicle

2000-03-01

2002-08-20

Johnson, Brian L. (Department: 3618)

Land vehicles

Wheeled

Occupant propelled type

C180S218000, C280S492000, C280S458000

Reexamination Certificate

active

06435535

ABSTRACT:

TECHNICAL FIELD
The present invention pertains to trailers that may be attached to a balancing vehicle, and more particularly, to an attachment mechanism that permits tilting action of the balancing vehicle.
BACKGROUND ART
Vehicles for transportation of individual persons may provide stabilization in one or both of the fore-aft or left-right planes, such as when 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. Vehicles whose stability with respect to fore-aft overturning is substantially affected by the orientation of the user on the vehicle will be referred to as “dynamically balanced” vehicles for purposes of this description and any appended claims. One such vehicle is shown in
FIG. 1
, while various other such vehicles are described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,971,091, and U.S. application Ser. No. 09/325,976, which patent and application are both incorporated herein by reference.
FIG. 1
shows a prior art personal transporter, designated generally by numeral
18
, that lacks static stability and that balances during the course of ordinary operation. 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 vehicle
18
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
may have one or more yaw controls
28
, such as a thumbwheel or thumb dial, for example, to enable subject
10
to steer the vehicle about a vertical axis z perpendicular to the plane defined by the direction of motion x and a transverse axis y.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In accordance with preferred embodiments of the present invention, there is provided a trailer for a dynamically balanced transporter that has a support and an attachment housing coupled to the support. The trailer has a platform and an arm with two ends, one of which ends is coupled to the platform and the other of which is pivotally coupled, about a horizontal axis to the attachment housing. Finally, the trailer has a ground-contacting member coupled to the platform.
In accordance with alternate embodiments of the invention, the ground-contacting member may be a wheel or a ski or a skid. The trailer may further have a locking mechanism for locking the pivot in response to a stabilization fault condition.
In accordance with another aspect of the invention, there is provided a rider support trailer for a dynamically balanced transporter having a support and an attachment coupled to the support. The rider support trailer has a base having a bottom side and a top side and a pivot coupled to the base for permitting motion of the base about a horizontal axis with respect to the support of the transporter. The rider support trailer also has a ground-contacting member coupled to the bottom side of the base and a substantially vertical support column coupled to the top surface of the base, and a rider support that may be a seat coupled to the support column.
In accordance with a further aspect of the invention, the platform of a trailer for supporting a user in a standing position may have a characteristic transverse linear dimension substantially comparable to the shoulder width of the user.


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