JPH08142965A - Power assist tricycle - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To simplify the structure of a rear frame, to improve the traveling stability, and to sufficiently secure the volume of a basket by arranging a battery on the rear side of a seat tube, and arranging a controller and a motor along the lower side of a front frame. CONSTITUTION: A battery 52 is arranged on the rear side of a seat tube 6, and a controller 53 and a motor 51 are arranged along the lower side of a front frame 4. This constitution makes effective use of the empty space of a tricycle body to arrange the components, and to arrange the heavy parts in the vicinity of the center of gravity of the tricycle body in a concentrated manner. As a result, the structure of a rear frame 5 can be simplified and the traveling position in the cornering can be stabilized. The volume of a basket 20a can be increased compared with the case where the total components of a power assist unit 50 are arranged on the rear frame 5.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a power assisted three-wheeled bicycle in which an auxiliary driving force corresponding to the pedaling force of a pedal is supplied to a rear wheel by a motor.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A large pedaling force is required when riding a bicycle, for example, on an uphill road, in a headwind, or while carrying a load. In order to reduce such a burden during running, a power assisted three-wheeled bicycle equipped with a power assist unit that gives an auxiliary driving force according to the pedaling force of the pedal has been proposed (for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 6-21179). reference). This power assist unit is composed of a motor that rotationally drives the rear wheels, a battery that supplies power to the motor, and a controller that controls the driving force of the motor according to the torque applied to the pedal and the vehicle speed.

When the power assist unit is mounted on a three-wheeled bicycle, the volume of the battery, motor, etc.,
The layout of the relatively heavy components is important.
As an example of such an arrangement structure, in the above-mentioned conventional publication,
It has been proposed that a box accommodating a battery and a controller is arranged on a rear frame below a cargo basket, and a motor is arranged on a lower portion of the rear frame.

[0004]

However, in the structure of disposing all the components of the power assist unit in the rear frame as disclosed in the above-mentioned prior publication, the structure of the rear frame becomes complicated or becomes large in size. There's a problem. Also, since heavy objects such as the battery and motor are located on the rear wheel side, which is farther away from the center of gravity of the vehicle, the cornering performance is not sufficiently satisfactory, and running stability is low. Furthermore, the battery and controller are placed under the cargo basket. There is a problem that the volume of the cargo basket is reduced as much as it is added.

The present invention has been made in view of the above conventional circumstances, and provides a power assisted three-wheeled bicycle capable of simplifying the structure of the rear frame, improving running stability, and ensuring a sufficient volume of the cargo basket. It is intended to be provided.

[0006]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION According to the present invention, a front wheel supporting front fork is pivotally supported at a front end and a rear end portion of a front frame having a seat tube erected midway in the longitudinal direction is provided with a pair of left and right rear wheels. A vehicle body frame that supports the load basket and is swingably connected to a rear frame, a motor that is mounted on the vehicle body frame and that rotationally drives the rear wheels, a battery that supplies power to the motor, and a pedal. In a power assisted three-wheeled bicycle equipped with a power assist unit consisting of a controller for controlling the driving force of the motor according to the pedaling force of the vehicle, the battery is arranged on the rear side of the seat tube, and the controller and the motor are disposed on the lower surface of the front frame. It is characterized by being arranged along.

[0007]

According to the power assisted three-wheeled bicycle of the present invention, since the battery is arranged on the rear side of the seat tube and the motor and the controller are arranged along the lower surface of the front frame, the empty space around the vehicle body is effectively utilized. The components can be arranged, and the heavy objects can be concentrated and arranged near the center of gravity of the vehicle. As a result, the structure of the rear frame can be simplified and the traveling posture can be stabilized during cornering. Further, the volume of the cargo basket can be increased as compared with the case where all the components of the power assist unit are arranged on the rear frame.

[0008]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. 1 to 8 are views for explaining a power assisted tricycle according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIGS. 1 to 4 are a side view, a plan view, and a partial sectional side view of the power assisted tricycle, respectively. Drawing, partial cross-sectional plan view, FIG. 5 is a schematic configuration diagram showing the pedal shaft drive portion, FIG. 6 is a sectional side view showing the swing portion of the front frame, and FIG. 7 is a sectional view taken along line VI-VI of FIG. 8 is a block diagram showing the operation.

In the figure, reference numeral 1 is a power assisted three-wheeled bicycle of this embodiment, and a body frame 2 of the three-wheeled bicycle 1.
Connects the rear end portion 4a of the front frame 4 extending obliquely downward and rearward from the head pipe 3 to the rear frame 5 so that the saddle 6a on which the occupant is seated is seated approximately at the center in the longitudinal direction of the front frame 4. It has a structure in which the mounted seat tube 6 is erected.

A steering shaft 8a of a front fork 8 is pivotally supported by the head pipe 3, a front wheel 9 is pivotally supported at a lower end of the front fork 8, and a handle 10 is fixedly secured at an upper end thereof. Furthermore, the front fork 8
A front basket 11 is attached to this via a bracket.

The rear frame 5 includes a lower frame 15 having a generally U-shape in a plan view and an upper frame 16 having a generally U-shape in a plan view and arranged in parallel therewith. Connected with, and the left and right side portions of the upper frame 16 are bent downward in a V shape to integrally form the bearing portion 16a. A reinforcing plate 18 extending in the vehicle width direction is bridged and joined to the lower frame 15, and two reinforcing plates 19, 19 extending in the vehicle body front-rear direction are bridged and joined to the upper frame 16. . A rear basket 20 is placed on the upper surface of the upper frame 16, and the rear basket 20 is bolted and fixed to the reinforcing frame 19.

As shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, a swing shaft 22 is fixed to the rear end portion 4a of the front frame 4 via a pair of brackets 21 and 21. Both ends 22a of the swing shaft 22 are cylindrical, and the central part 22b is a square prism. Both ends 22a are rotatably supported by the reinforcing plate 18 via bearings 18. Further, the rocking shaft 22 is mounted with a rectangular tubular bearing pipe 23 fixed on the reinforcing plate 18.
The Neilhardt rubber 24 is arranged between the swing shaft 22 and the swing shaft 22. As a result, the front frame 4 is swingable to the left and right, and is returned to the original vertical position by the elastic force of the Nyquid rubber 24.

Rear wheels 3 are provided on the left and right outer portions of the rear frame 5.
0, 30 are arranged, and the axle 30a of the rear wheel 30 is pivotally supported by the left and right bearing portions 16a of the upper frame 16 and the bearing portion 15a of the lower frame 15, respectively.

Further, as shown in FIG.
A driven sprocket 32 is coupled to the inner end of a with a one-way clutch 31 interposed therebetween. An intermediate shaft 33 is arranged in front of both axles 30a in parallel with the axles 30a, and the intermediate shaft 33 is rotatably supported by the lower frame 15 via a bearing (not shown). The drive sprockets 34 and 35 are provided on both ends of the intermediate shaft 33, respectively.
Are connected to each other, and the respective sprockets 34, 35 are connected to the drive sprockets 32, 3 via chains 37, 37.
It is connected to 2.

A support boss 4b is integrally formed at the base of the seat tube 6 of the front frame 4, and a pedal shaft 40 is rotatably attached to the boss 4b. A pedal 42 is provided at both ends of the pedal shaft 40 via a clan 41.
Is installed. The driving force of the pedal shaft 40 is transmitted from the resultant force shaft 49a of the planetary gear type speed change mechanism 49 via the one-way clutch 80 to the driving sprocket 43, the chain 44,
It is transmitted to the intermediate shaft 33 through the driven sprocket 36. In this embodiment, the power from the pedal 42 is simultaneously transmitted to the left and right rear wheels 30 via the intermediate shaft 33. Therefore, the one-way clutch 31 absorbs the rotation difference between the two wheels during turning. Become.

A power assist unit 50 of this embodiment is arranged on the vehicle body frame 2. The power assist unit 50 includes a motor 5 for rotating both rear wheels 30.
1, a battery 52 that supplies power to the motor 51,
The controller 53 controls the driving force of the motor 51, and a torque sensor 54 and a vehicle speed sensor 55 are connected to the controller 53.

The torque sensor 54 detects a reaction force acting on a fixed element in the planetary gear type speed change mechanism 49 as torque, and outputs the detected value to the controller 53. In addition, the vehicle speed sensor 55 is the resultant shaft 49 of the transmission mechanism 49.
The peripheral speed of the bevel gear 49b fixed to a is detected, and the detected value is output to the controller 53.

The battery 52 is a 12V battery, which is vertically stacked and connected in series, and is housed in a rectangular parallelepiped battery box 60 that is vertically long. The battery box 60 is vertically arranged on the front frame 4 on the rear side of the seat tube 6, and has a support frame 62 and a support pipe 62 joined to the seat tube 6 and having a rectangular frame shape in plan view. It is supported by a support pipe 63 which is bridged and joined to the front frame 4. The rear portion of the support pipe 62 and the front frame 4 are joined by a reinforcing pipe 64 extending obliquely rearward. A handle 65 is attached to the upper surface of the battery box 60, and the battery box 60 can be pulled out by removing the saddle 6a. Although not shown, a charging outlet is provided in the battery box 60.

The motor 51 is arranged on the lower surface of the central portion of the front frame 4, and is fixed to the front frame 4 via a mounting bracket (not shown). The motor 5
The output of No. 1 is input to the drive sprocket 43 from the resultant shaft 49a of the planetary gear type speed change mechanism 49 via the one-way clutch 39, and is transmitted to both rear wheels 30 through the intermediate shaft 33.

The controller 53 is arranged on the lower surface of the front frame 4 in front of the motor 51, and is fixed to the front frame 4 via a mounting bracket (not shown).
In this way, the controller 53, the motor 51, and the gear unit 49 are arranged in series along the lower surface of the front frame 4.

Further, the controller 53 and the motor 5
1, the gear unit 49 is covered with a cover 75. The cover 75 is an upper cover 75 fixed to the front frame 4.
and a lower cover 75b detachably attached to the lower surface of the upper cover 75a, which has a two-part structure, thereby improving the appearance and avoiding damage to each component. Further, a main key switch 75c for operating the power assist unit, a warning lamp (not shown) for displaying a battery voltage drop and an abnormality of the controller system are provided at the front portion of the lower cover 75b.

Then, the controller 53 obtains the magnitude of the torque (pedal force) generated in the pedal 42 from the detection value of the torque sensor 54 and the vehicle speed from the detection value of the vehicle speed sensor 55, based on the built-in map. The auxiliary driving force is calculated according to the calculated auxiliary driving force, and a current corresponding to the auxiliary driving force is supplied from the battery 52 to the motor 51. This auxiliary driving force is 1 for 1 pedaling force of the occupant.
Is set below, and the vehicle speed is, for example, 15 km / h.
It is set such that it becomes gradually smaller from the point when it exceeds 24 km and becomes zero when it reaches 24 Km / h.

Next, the function and effect of this embodiment will be described. The power assist unit 50 of the present embodiment supplies a larger auxiliary driving force as the occupant's pedal effort increases when the vehicle speed is equal to or lower than a predetermined value (for example, 15 km / h), and increases when the speed exceeds the predetermined value. The auxiliary driving force is decreased as the speed increases, and when the speed exceeds the maximum value (for example, 24 km / h), the auxiliary driving force is made zero. In this way, labor can be reduced when climbing uphill, headwinds, loading luggage, and starting. The above-mentioned one-way clutches transmit the rotational force from the pedal shaft / motor shaft side to the rear wheel side, but do not transmit the rotational force in the opposite direction.

According to this embodiment, the battery 51 is arranged on the rear side of the seat tube 6 and on the upper side of the front frame 4, and the motor 51 and the controller 53 are arranged along the lower surface of the front portion of the front frame 4. The components can be arranged by effectively utilizing the empty space around the body frame, and the rear frame 5 can be prevented from becoming large and complicated. Further, the opening width and depth of the rear basket 20 placed on the rear frame 5 can be increased, and the load capacity of the luggage required for the three-wheeled bicycle can be increased.

Further, in this embodiment, the battery 52,
Since the heavy objects such as the motor 51 are arranged in the vicinity of the center of gravity of the vehicle, traveling stability during cornering can be ensured, electric wiring can be simplified, and damage due to twisting of the vehicle body can be prevented. Incidentally, for example, when the components are arranged separately in the front frame and the rear frame, the wiring becomes complicated and the wiring is twisted due to the swing of the front frame.

Further, since the controller 53 and the motor 51 are arranged in series on the front frame 4, they can be covered with the cover 75 having a simple shape, and rainwater can be prevented from entering and damage due to external force can be prevented. 75
Since it has a two-part structure, maintenance can be easily performed by removing the lower cover 75b.

[0027]

As described above, according to the power assisted tricycle according to the present invention, the battery is arranged on the rear side of the seat tube, and the motor and the controller are arranged on the lower surface of the front frame. It is possible to arrange the components by utilizing the structure, simplify the structure of the rear frame, improve the running stability during cornering, and further ensure the sufficient volume of the cargo basket.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side view illustrating a power assisted tricycle according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the tricycle according to the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a partial cross-sectional side view of the tricycle according to the embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a partial cross-sectional plan view of the tricycle according to the embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a schematic configuration diagram showing a rear wheel drive mechanism of the above-described three-wheeled bicycle.

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional side view showing a swinging portion of the front frame of the tricycle according to the embodiment.

7 is a sectional view taken along line VI-VI of FIG. 6 showing the swinging portion.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram of a power assist unit of the tricycle according to the embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 power assisted three-wheeled bicycle 2 vehicle body frame 4 front frame 5 rear frame 6 seat tube 8 front fork 20 rear basket (cargo) 30 rear wheel 50 power assist unit 51 motor 52 battery 53 controller

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A front fork for supporting a front wheel is pivotally supported at a front end and a rear end of a front frame having a seat tube erected midway in the longitudinal direction is pivotally supported for a pair of left and right rear wheels and supports a cargo basket. A body frame that is swingably connected to a rear frame, a motor that is mounted on the body frame and that drives the rear wheels to rotate, a battery that supplies power to the motor, and a motor of the motor that responds to the pedaling force of a pedal. In a power assisted three-wheeled bicycle including a power assist unit including a controller for controlling a driving force, the battery is arranged on the rear side of the seat tube, and the controller and the motor are arranged along the lower surface of the front frame. A power assisted three-wheeled bicycle.