AU1508500A

AU1508500A - Two-wheel transportation vehicle, in particular transportation motorcycle

Info

Publication number: AU1508500A
Application number: AU15085/00A
Authority: AU
Inventors: Bertrand Cordier; David Zandberg
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1998-12-11
Filing date: 1999-12-03
Publication date: 2000-07-03
Also published as: JP2002532325A; WO2000035742A1; EP1137569A1; ID30269A; TR200101696T2; CN1329553A; OA11808A; FR2787085B1; BR9916128A; FR2787085A1; PL349432A1

Description

TWO WHEELED TRANSPORT VEHICLE, PARTICULARLY A TRANSPORT MOTORCYCLE This invention relates to a two-wheeled transport vehicle of the type comprising a carrier frame with a steerable front wheel, steering with handlebar to control the orientation of the front wheel, a small 5 diameter back wheel carried by an oscillating arm articulated on the frame, a seat fixed on the frame between the wheels, and a load support at the back of the seat located above the back wheel. This invention is particularly, but not 10 exclusively, applicable to a motor-driven vehicle and particularly a transport motorcycle. Designs of two-wheeled vehicles for transporting various products or for transporting a person in addition to the driver (motorbike taxi, bicycle taxi) 15 have already been proposed. However, solutions proposed in the past are not entirely satisfactory since the useful space available for the load is relatively small. The main purpose of the invention is to provide a 20 two-wheeled transport vehicle that enables a large volume load while remaining relatively easy to build.

2 It is also desirable that this type of two-wheeled vehicle should be controlled in the same way as a conventional motorbike with a handlebar, and that all the advantages of conventional motorbikes for traffic 5 and parking are maintained. According to the invention, a two-wheeled vehicle of the type mentioned above is characterized by the fact that the driver's seat is closer to the center line of the front wheel than to the center line of the 10 back wheel, and that the loading support comprises a platform that extends at least partially in front of the back wheel; advantageously, the plane of the platform is located just above the back wheel clearance area and all component elements of the vehicle that are 15 behind the vertical plane passing along the back edge of the seat, are located below the plane of the said platform. The forward position of the seat, combined with the small diameter back wheel, gives a large loading 20 capacity, both along the length of the vehicle (forward position of the seat and clearance under the seat) and along the height (low position of the platform due to the small diameter of the back wheel). Advantageously, the steering handlebar is offset 25 forwards and is mounted free to rotate at the end of a bracket projecting forwards, while transmission means are provided to transfer the rotation of the handlebar to the steering column. These transmission means may include a mechanism 30 with a deformable parallelogram. Preferably, the diameter of the front wheel is greater than the diameter of the back wheel (which maintains the gyroscopic effect and the stability and 3 braking qualities of a conventional motorbike) and is supported by a fork mounted free to pivot with respect to the frame. The back wheel diameter may be of the order of the 5 diameter of scooter wheels, in other words the outside diameter of the wheel tire is between about 38 and 52 cm. Preferably, the ratio of the outside diameter of the front wheel tire to the outside diameter of the back wheel tire is between about 1.1 and 2, and 10 preferably between about 1.2 and 1.6. According to this application, the outside diameter of a wheel tire is the maximum diameter of the tread of the said wheel. The vehicle frame is advantageously composed of a more or less L-shaped master beam, with the vertical 15 branch of the L facing forwards; this contributes to increasing the volume of the load. The driver's seat is preferably fixed close to the top end of the front upright part of this master beam, leaving a clear space under this seat. 20 When the vehicle includes an engine, the engine is advantageously composed of an oscillating engine unit. The oscillating arm supporting the back wheel can then also support the engine. The oscillating arm may be supported by a clevis, 25 particularly made of cast aluminum, fixed to the back lower part of the master beam of the vehicle. The engine block may be fixed in the oscillating arm. In this case, the oscillating arm is formed by the assembly of a junction plate, the front of which is 30 articulated on the clevis and the back of which is fixed on the engine block, and a back plate, the front of which is fixed to the engine block and the back of which is fixed to the back wheel spindle.

4 The average direction of the arm assembly is approximately horizontal. The length of the platform may be between about 0.8 and 1.6 m; it may support a container with a 5 volume of up to 1 M 3 , or a cab to form a taxi-motor bike, or any other required adaptation. The volume of the container may communicate with the volume of a compartment formed below the platform at the back of the back wheel. 10 Apart from the provisions mentioned above, the invention includes a number of other provisions that will be described in detail below with regard to an example embodiment described in detail with reference to the attached drawing which is in no way restrictive. 15 On this drawing: - figure 1 is a left view of a two-wheeled vehicle according to the invention; - figure 2 is a partial right view of the back of the vehicle at a larger scale; 20 - figure 3, like figure 2, shows the back of the vehicle seen from the right, partly in section and partly from the outside; - figure 4 is a diagrammatic longitudinal section of the front of the vehicle with a cutout part; 25 - figure 5 is a top view of the platform at the back of the vehicle; - figure 6 is a top view of the back of the vehicle, with the platform having been removed; - figure 7 is a view of the back of the vehicle; 30 - figure 8 is a view of the back of the frame only, the engine, the back wheel and the platform being removed; 5 - figure 9 is a partial view along IX-IX in figure 2; - figure 10 is a view "of the handlebar and the steering along the arrow X in figure 1; and 5 - figure 11 is a section along line IX-XI in figure 10. The drawing, and particularly figures 1 and 2, show a two-wheeled transport vehicle 1 of the motorcycle type with one steerable front wheel 2, 10 steering control D with handlebar 3 to control the orientation of the front wheel, and a small diameter back wheel 4. The front wheel 2 is similar to a normal motorbike wheel, the outside diameter of the tire being about 58 cm, while the diameter of the back wheel 4 is 15 significantly smaller than the diameter of the front wheel and is like a scooter wheel, the outside diameter of the tire being about 43 cm. In other words in this example, the diameter of the front wheel 2 is equal to 1.36 times the diameter of the back wheel 4. 20 The vehicle 1 comprises a carrier frame C that includes an L-shaped master beam 5 with a raised front part 5a and an approximately horizontal back part 5b. The back wheel 4 is supported by an oscillating arm B (fig. 3) for which the average direction is 25 approximately horizontal. The arm B extends backwards starting from a hinge pin 6 mounted on a clevis 7 fixed to the bottom back part of frame C. As can be seen in figure 8, the clevis 7 comprises two lugs 7a, 7b with a spacing between each other, projecting backwards and 30 through which coaxial reamings are formed to act as bearings for spindle 6. The engine block 8 is also supported by arm B.

6 Advantageously, the engine block 8 is built into arm B. This arm B is then formed by the assembly of a junction plate 9 (fig.3), the engine block 8 and a back plate 10. 5 The plate 9 is hinged at the front on the pivot pin 6 and is fixed at the back to the engine block 8. The front of the back plate 10 is fixed to the engine block 8; the spindle X4 of the wheel 4 is supported on one side by plate 10 and on the other side by the 10 transmission casing of the engine block 8. A "spring-shock absorber" combination 11 is placed on one side of the engine block, for example on the right side, between an anchor point 10a in the top part of the back plate 10 and an anchor point 12 placed on a 15 cross-piece 13 forming part of the frame 14 fixed to frame C. Clevis 7 is made of a lightweight cast metal, particularly cast aluminum. It is fixed to the master beam 5 and comprises 2 lateral extensions 7d, 7g 20 towards the back, as can be seen in figure 8. These extensions 7d, 7g are used as anchor points for triangulation beams 15d, 15g, for example composed of hollow rectangular sections that support longitudinal beams 16d, 16g of frame 14. 25 At their front end, the longitudinal beams 16d, 16g are fixed to the crosspiece 17, itself fixed to an upper extension 7h of clevis 7 as can be seen in figure 1. The rectangular-shaped frame 14 comprises a front 30 cross-piece 17 and a back cross-piece 18, and a central cross-piece 13 between the two. A platform 19 made of wood or a composite material is fitted on top of this cross-piece over the back wheel 4, to form a support

S

7 for a load. A compartment 20 is provided at the back of the frame 14, further back than wheel 4 and projects downwards. The compartment 20 is closed by a door 21 towards the back of the platform 19 and hinged with 5 respect to the said platform by means of hinges 22 formed on the front side of door 21. A lock 23 at the back of the door 21 locks the compartment 20. The seat 24 of the driver P is moved forwards in order to maximize the length L (fig. 1) of platform 19; 10 this seat is fixed directly to the upright part of the master beam 5 close to the geometric line of rotation A of the steering column G fixed to a fork 25 on which the front wheel 2 is fixed. More precisely as can be seen in figure 4, the 15 bottom of the seat or saddle 24 is fixed at three points to a part 5ac forming the top end of the upright part 5a to which it is fixed. Part 5ac is cast and is made in the same way as the clevis 7. The steering column G is fixed free to pivot in this part 5ac. 20 The seat 24 is located closer to the spindle X2 of the front wheel 2 than the spindle X4 of the back wheel 4. This forward position of the seat 24 means that the front edge 19a of the platform 19 can be placed well in front of the back wheel spindle X4, as fare as about 25 the vertical V passing along the back edge of the seat 24. The handlebar 3 is mounted free to rotate at the end of bracket 26 projecting forwards. The geometric axis of rotation A of the handlebar 3 intersects figure 30 10 at point 27. The axis A of rotation of the handlebar 3 is thus offset forwards from the center line A of the steering column G; it is preferred that the A and A axes are parallel.

8 Transmission means T are provided to transfer the rotation movement of the handlebar 3 to the steering column G and to the fork 25. These transmission means T comprise two parallel tie rods 28d, 28g articulated 5 at their ends onto handlebar 3 and a plate 29 (frequently called the fork T) fixed to the fork and able to rotate about the axis A. A deformable parallelogram is thus formed with summits at the four articulation points of the tie rods 28d, 28g, to enable 10 transmission of the rotation movement from the handlebar 3 to the fork 25. The handlebar 3 is mounted on a ball bearing 30 installed at the end of the bracket 26. The master beam 5 has a hollow cross-section, for 15 example rectangular, and its inside volume is used as a fuel tank 31. The tank cap 32 is placed on the top face of the part 5ac just in front of the end of the seat, and a gasoline valve 33 is placed on the left side of the part 5ac. 20 The length L of the platform may be of the order of 1.2 meters. The width W of the platform 19, as can be seen in figure 5, is less than the length L, however it is possible to place a container 34 shown diagrammatically in figure 1 with a height of the order 25 of 1 meter, to transport voluminous products, particularly due to the very low position of the platform 19 behind the driver; the width may also be of the order of 0.70 m which can provide a container of about 0.85 m 3 . The volume of the compartment 20 can be 30 combined with the volume delimited by the container 34 by opening of the door 21. A cab can be installed to form a taxi-motorbike or for any other required adaptation, instead of the container 34.

9 Figure 1 shows a prop 35 in the raised position. As can be seen in figure 6, an exhaust with a silencer 36 is placed on the right side of the back, the housing of filter 37 being located on the left side; figure 2 5 shows one or two radiators 38 associated with the engine block 8 and figure 3 shows that the battery 39 is inserted in a housing formed in the clevis 7. Although the invention has been described with reference to a vehicle with an engine, it is also 10 applicable to vehicles with two wheels without an engine and particularly to bicycles.

Claims

1. Two-wheeled transport vehicle comprising a carrier frame (C) with a steerable front wheel (2), a 5 steering handlebar (3) to control the orientation of the front wheel, a small diameter back wheel driven in rotation by an engine (8), a seat (24) fixed on the said frame (C) between the wheels (2, 4) and finally a load support (S) located above the said back wheel (4) 10 behind the seat (24), the load support (S) comprising a platform (19) that extends at least partially in front of the back wheel (4), characterized by the fact that the back wheel (4) is supported on an oscillating arm (B) articulated on the frame (C) and is able to move 15 with respect to the platform (19) through the articulation in the said oscillating arm (B), the plane of the said platform (19) being located immediately above the movement area of the back wheel (4).

2. Vehicle according to claim 1, characterized by 20 the fact that all components of the vehicle behind the vertical plane passing along the back edge of the seat (24) are located below the plane of the platform (19).

3. Vehicle according to one of claims 1 or 2, characterized by the fact that the steering handlebar 11 (3) is offset forwards and is mounted free to rotate at the end of a bracket (26) projecting forwards from the steering column (G), the axis of rotation of the handlebar (3) being parallel to the axis of rotation of 5 the steering column (G) and fixed with respect to it, transmission means (T) being provided to transfer rotation of the handlebar (3) to the said steering column (G).

4. Vehicle according to claim 3, characterized by 10 the fact that the transmission means (T) comprise a mechanism with a deformable parallelogram (3, 28d, 28g, 29).

5. Vehicle according to one of claims 1 to 4, characterized by the fact that the diameter of the 15 front wheel (2) is greater than the diameter of the back wheel (4).

6. Vehicle according to one of claims 1 to 5, characterized by the fact that the ratio of the outside diameter of the tire of the front wheel to the outside 20 diameter of the tire of the back wheel is between 1.1 and 2, and preferably between 1.2 and 1.6.

7. Vehicle according to one of claims 1 to 6, characterized by the fact that the frame (C) is composed of an approximately L-shaped master beam (5). 25

8. Vehicle according to claim 7, characterized by the fact that the oscillating arm (B) is supported by a clevis (7), particularly made of cast aluminum, fixed at the bottom lower part of the master beam (5) of the vehicle. 30

9. Vehicle according to one of claims 7 or 8, characterized by the fact that the driver's seat (24) is fixed close to the top end of the front upright part (5a) of the master beam. 12

10. Vehicle according to one of claims 1 to 9, characterized by the fact that the oscillating arm (B) supporting the back wheel (4) also supports the engine (8) that forms an oscillating engine group. 5

11. Vehicle according to claim 10, characterized by the fact that the engine block (8) is integrated in the oscillating arm (B) that is formed by the assembly of a junction plate (9), the front of which is articulated on the clevis (7) and the back of which is 10 fixed to the engine block (8), and a back plate (10), the front of which is fixed to the engine block and the back of which is fixed to the spindle of the back wheel (4).

12. Vehicle according to one of claims 1 to 11, 15 characterized by the fact that the platform (19) supports a container (34).

13. Vehicle according to claim 12, characterized by the fact that the volume of the container (34) is combined with the volume of a compartment (20) formed 20 underneath the platform (19) behind the back wheel (4).