GB2429684A

GB2429684A - Electric vehicle with front wheel drive and human power

Info

Publication number: GB2429684A
Application number: GB0517016A
Authority: GB
Inventors: John Willox Gibson
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2005-08-19
Filing date: 2005-08-19
Publication date: 2007-03-07
Also published as: GB0517016D0

Abstract

A personal transport vehicle consists of three wheels, two wheels 5 at the front and one wheel 10 at the rear. The space between the two front wheels 5 provides safe housing 4 for electric batteries, the electric drive motor, the gears and a differential. This is a battery powered rechargeable system with the addition of pedal power. It should provide safe affordable personal transport mostly running on battery power with pedal power as a backup with all the advantages of a bicycle needing much less leg power and a much steadier platform to travel on. It is also environmentally safe.

Description

1 2429684

Description Title

Electric Powered Vehicle

Background

Electric powered 3 wheeled one person personal transport vehicle intended for inner city travel using electric motor and peddle power it should replace the motor car and the ordinary bicycle on short runs such as getting to work or the supermarket run as it has all the advantages of both vehicles with none of the disadvantages it can use bus lanes bicycle lanes and is a lot easier to park.

Statement of Invention

The back half of my vehicle is a conventional bicycle which will provide extra pedal power through the back wheel using a conventional chain drive system the front half is powered by rechargeable batteries powering an electric motor using electric gears and a differential to provide front wheel drive the batteries electric motor gears and

differential are all prior art.

Advantage Small one person vehicle taking up the space of a normal bicycle on the road combining pedal power and electric motor power can use cycle ways bus lanes park on double yellow lines no congestion charges can be taken through the front door and parked inside the home or in the back yard main advantage driving past gridlocked traffic.

The invention will now be described solely by way of example and with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Figure 1 Side elevation which shows the side on view of the vehicle and it can be seen that the back part of the vehicle is similar to a standard bicycle the difference is in the front enj which has two wheels lying in parallel with each other with a box unit (item 4) placed between the two front wheels (item 5).

Figure 2 The top view looking down at the vehicle this is the position the front vehicle would be in when the front section is travelling straight forward. Figure 2 also provides a diagram of how (item 4) the box unit, a component which contains the electric engine, batteries, differential and storage space, fits between (items 5) the two front wheels.

Figure 3 Top view looking down at vehicle turning right note the front wheels (item 5) revolve in parallel to each other and turn with the whole front unit (item 4) Figure 4 Top view looking down at vehicle turning left as in figure 3 the whole front unit is turned manually by the driver in the direction the drivcr wishes to go a further alternative is for rack and pinion steering or any other type of prior art steering.

(item 2) This is the rear part of the vehicle which resembles any other rear part of a bicycle body frame this is the main part of the vehicle body on which all the other parts are attached it support's the driver the power unit and is in turn supported by three wheels which are in contact with the ground it is attached to the front section by a hinge (figure 9) situated on the bottom and at the centre of the front power unit.

(item 3) The foot peddle which drives the bicycle chain which drives the back wheel and gives forward motion.

(item 4) The container and storage area which contains the batteries the electric drive motor the gears the differential and drive shaft with space left over for storage.

(item 5) The two front bicycle wheels are attached to a differential drive shaft which is powered by an electric motor.

(item 6) Bicycle saddle for sitting on.

(item7) Front steering unit which works by turning the whole front end of the bicycle the driver grasps the steering bar (item 7) pulling it to the left or right as he pulls on the steering bar the whole front steering unit (item 4) turns in the direction the driver wants to go the front unit which is made up of the two front wheels (item 5) the power unit in its box (item 4) and the front steering bar (item 7) they all connect together and rests on the top half of the centre cylinder hinge (item 9) which is attached to the bottom of the steering unit (item 4) and the outer cylinder of the hinge is attached to the bicycle frame (item 2) and the rear part of the vehicle as the front end turns it rotates on the revolving hinge the whole front unit the wheels the power unit and the steering bar is pulled to left or right this alters the direction the bicycle is going and the rear of the bicycle has to follow (see figures 3&4).

(item 8) Power switch panel rests on the steering bar (item 7) here the power from the batteries is switched on or off the electric gears are engaged either forward or reverse and the speed is controlled using the gears and an accelerator.

(item 9) Turning pivot or hinge is attached to the centre bottom of the steering unit (item 4) its attached by the top of the centre cylinder of the turning pivot or hinge (item 2) the vehicle frame and rear section is attached to the outer cylinder of (item 9) as the front steering unit is turned (item 4) it turning the centre cylinder (item 9) which sits inside the outer cylinder of (item 9) as the inner cylinder turns the outer cylinder stays in the same position the inner cylinder turn quite easily this is because it is well greased and the two parts are kept apart by ball bearings the outer cylinder which is attached to the vehicle frame (item 2) stays in the same position but as the front steering unit travels forward it pulls the rear part of the vehicle in the direction of the front section and thereby steers the vehicle.

(item 10) Back wheel which may be powered by a bicycle chain peddled by the driver.

Claims

Claims The device comprises an electric powered vehicle unit combining

traditional peddle power at the rear with a front construction, containing two wheels one on either side running in parallel to each other, providing the steering and containing the electric batteries and the electric power unit which sits between the two front wheels and drives both wheels either forward or backward as required through a differential unit.

A lever is provide to enable the freeing of the front wheels from the control of the electric motor, in turn, allowing the front wheels to run free and be driven by foot peddle power alone.

A device as described in claim 1 that can travel along using the electric powered front wheels only, or can be successfully powered by the driver using only peddle power alone, or, a combination of both electric power and peddle power, and in so doing, using both simultaneously would increase speed on level ground.

A device as described in claim 1 where in the event of an electric power failure, or a mechanical breakdown, in the front power unit, the driver could still complete the journey using peddle power alone.

A device as described in claim I where the electric power unit can be augmented with peddle power to improve hill climbing ability when travelling up a steep gradient.

A device as described in claim 1 where two wheels at the front and one at the back provides greater stability.

A device as described in claim 1 where having two wheels at the front means that the widest part of the vehicle is in front of the driver, providing the driver with an immediate visual indication of whether the vehicle is narrow enough to squeeze between lines of rush hour traffic, for example, without scraping or touching the paint on the sides of the gridlocked vehicles; in normal tricycles, where the two wheels are at the back, the driver can't see what the back wheels are doing and this can lead to, miscalculations, misjudgements and accidents.

A device as described in claim I where the front power-drive unit is guided by the arms and hands of the driver, the driver provides the steering by physically moving the whole front section to the left or the right the wheels and the whole front section are turned by the driver into the direction the driver wishes the vehicle to go, the back end of the bicycle is connected by a movable hinge or universal rotating joint, where the front end goes the rear end has to follow.

A device as described in claim 1 the front wheels have a differential to help when going round corners.

A device as described in claim 1 the steering may also have rack and pinion steering

and any other type of known prior art steering.

A device as described in claim 1 where the brakes can be; 1. of the cable release type found on most street legal bicycles
2. a foot pedal type brake, of the type found on most motor cars, could also be fitted in the space just in front of the foot powered peddle unit
3. a cable system used to stop all three wheels using the foot brake or a hand lever.
4. or disc brakes could also be used, or, any other form of prior art braking system.

A device as described in claim 1 the accelerator is a hand depressed lever type which increases the current to the motor in turn, increases the speed of the electric engine and thereby increases the speed of the vehicle.

An further alternative embodiment would be of the foot pedal type as found in most motor cars, or the twist type accelerator as found on motorbikes, or any other type of

prior art accelerator system.