CA2069584A1 - Off road amphibian vehicle - Google Patents
Off road amphibian vehicleInfo
- Publication number
- CA2069584A1 CA2069584A1 CA 2069584 CA2069584A CA2069584A1 CA 2069584 A1 CA2069584 A1 CA 2069584A1 CA 2069584 CA2069584 CA 2069584 CA 2069584 A CA2069584 A CA 2069584A CA 2069584 A1 CA2069584 A1 CA 2069584A1
- Authority
- CA
- Canada
- Prior art keywords
- vehicle
- tunnel
- hulls
- vehicle according
- track assembly
- Prior art date
- Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
- Abandoned
Links
Classifications
-
- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B60—VEHICLES IN GENERAL
- B60F—VEHICLES FOR USE BOTH ON RAIL AND ON ROAD; AMPHIBIOUS OR LIKE VEHICLES; CONVERTIBLE VEHICLES
- B60F3/00—Amphibious vehicles, i.e. vehicles capable of travelling both on land and on water; Land vehicles capable of travelling under water
- B60F3/0007—Arrangement of propulsion or steering means on amphibious vehicles
- B60F3/0015—Arrangement of propulsion or steering means on amphibious vehicles comprising tracks specially adapted therefor
-
- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B60—VEHICLES IN GENERAL
- B60F—VEHICLES FOR USE BOTH ON RAIL AND ON ROAD; AMPHIBIOUS OR LIKE VEHICLES; CONVERTIBLE VEHICLES
- B60F3/00—Amphibious vehicles, i.e. vehicles capable of travelling both on land and on water; Land vehicles capable of travelling under water
- B60F3/003—Parts or details of the vehicle structure; vehicle arrangements not otherwise provided for
- B60F3/0038—Flotation, updrift or stability devices
Landscapes
- Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
- Chemical & Material Sciences (AREA)
- Combustion & Propulsion (AREA)
- Transportation (AREA)
- Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
- Body Structure For Vehicles (AREA)
Abstract
ABSTRACT
An off road amphibious vehicle has four water-tight hulls, two at the front, and two at the rear. The rear hulls are supported on fixed runners, while steering runners are located below the front hulls. The laterally spaced hulls define a tunnel along the centre of the vehicle which houses, adjacent rear, a drive track assembly. The vehicle has a closed body and used as a multi-passenger or cargo vehicle.
An off road amphibious vehicle has four water-tight hulls, two at the front, and two at the rear. The rear hulls are supported on fixed runners, while steering runners are located below the front hulls. The laterally spaced hulls define a tunnel along the centre of the vehicle which houses, adjacent rear, a drive track assembly. The vehicle has a closed body and used as a multi-passenger or cargo vehicle.
Description
The present invention relates to an all-terrain amphibious vehicle.
Transportation in relatively unpopulated parts of the world can be difficult or impossible because of the absence of roads, railroads or even aircraft landing sites.
Where the terrain encountered may include water, muskeg, swamp, snow or ice, conventional land vehicles are not usable.
The objective of the present invention is to provide an amphibious off road vehicle for this purpose.
According to the present invention there is provided an off road amphibious vehicle comprising:
a vehicle body with laterally spaced apart, water-tight floatation hulls on opposite sides thereof, each hull having a broad bottom surface;
fixed runners, substantially narrower than the bottorm surfaces of the hulls, mounted on respective hulls adjacent a rear end of the vehicle and projecting below the bottom surfaces thereof;
two steering runners, substantially narrower than the bottom surfaces of the hulls, mounted below respective hulls adjacent a front end of the vehicle body and means for steering the steering runners.
The vehicle preferably has an inverted channel along the bottom of the vehicle, between the hulls, which provides a tunnel accommodating a drive track assembly.
On hard packed snow or ice, the vehicle travels on its runners, both fixed and steering. When on a soft surface, the bottom surfaces of the hulls provide a greater bearing area to reduce the ground pressure, thus supporting the vehicle. In water, the hulls act as those of a catamaran to support the vehicle on the surface of the water.
For propulsion in water, the track assembly may preferably be raised into ~ .
--2~9a84 the tunnel and driven to act somewhat like a paddle wheel drive.
Preferably, the drive track assembly is fitted with a tripping system so that itwill swing free up into the tunnel on hard impact with an external object.
In the accompanying drawings, which illustrate an exemplary embodiment of the present invention:
Figure 1 is a side elevation of the vehicle;
Figure 2 is an end elevation of the vehicle;
Figure 3 is a longitudinal cross-section of the vehicle with a front runner shown in section;
Figure 4 is a transverse cross-section of the vehicle; and Figure 5 is a longitudinal cross-section of a back runner.
Referring to the accompanying drawings, and especially to Figures 1 and 2, there is illustrated an all-terrain amphibious vehicle 10 with an enclosed vehicle body 12.
The body has a door 14 in each side, a front window 16, a rear window 18 and side windows 20.
Along opposite sides of the vehicle body are two downwardly projecting hulls 22 each with a relatively wide, flat bottom surface 24. At the back of the vehicle the hulls carry fixed runners 26. The runners are hardwood with steel shoes 27 positioned approxirnately 30 cm below the hull bottom and having a width of approximately 6 cm.
The configuration of the fixed runners is illustrated in Figure S. Fixed runners 26 are mounted in place using vertical stay pins 28 welded to the shoes 27 and extending through the runners and the hull bottom 24. On the inside of the hull the stay pins on each side of the vehicle are fixed to a steel plate 30. As illustrated most particularly in Figure 2, the mnners 26 slope downwardly to the outside. This provides 206~8~
lateral stability in turns.
Two steering runners 32 of similar to the fixed runners are positioned beneath the hulls 22 near the front of the vehicle. As shown in Figure 3, each of the steering runners has a steel shoe 33 and a steel plate 34 along the top. The shoe 33 and the plate 34 are connected by stay pins 36. The complete runner assembly is mounted on the end of a column 38 extending through the runner and welded to the shoe 33.
The column 38 is supported by bearings 44 in a channel 46 along the inner side of the associated hull 22. The upper end of the column extends through the vehicle body, to the interior of the vehicle where it is connected to a gear 48 meshed with a transverse rack 50. The rack extends across of the vehicle and meshes with the gears 48 on both sides so that transverse displacement of the rack will turn the two steering runners 32 simultaneously. The rack is driven by a pinion 52 mounted on a shaft 54 leading from the pinion to a steering wheel 56.
The laterally spaced hulls give the bottom of the vehicle the configuration of an inverted channel on the inside and define a tunnel 58 in the bottom along the centre of the vehicle. Mounted in the tunnel 58 is a drive track assembly 60 that includes a centre beam structure 62 carrying a set of wheels 64. Track assemblies of this sort are known.
The track assembly is supported in the tunnel by two pairs of links 66. One pair is adjacent the front of the track assembly, while the other pair is adjacent the rear. The links of each pair extend up to the underside of the tunnel centre, where they are joined by a cross shaft 68 supported in bearings 70. Connected to each cross-shaft 68 is a lift arm 72 that extends through the body of the vehicle for connection to a spring 74. The springs bias the track assembly downwardly in the tunnel to project below the bottom surfaces 28 of the rear hulls.
2 0 6 ~
Each of the lift arms 72 includes an over centre, spring-loaded trip mechanism 73 that will release if impact forces on the track assembly exceed a pre-set level. On release, the track assembly is free to pivot upwardly about the axes of cross-shafts 68 without acting against the force of the springs 74.
The track assembly is driven by a front sprocket that runs co-axially with the pivot of the front links 66. A right angle drive 76 drives the front sprocket. It is connected through a shaft 78 to a flexible coupling 80 operating on the axis of the front cross-shaft 68. A drive shaft 82 leads from the flexible coupling to a motor transmission unit 84 mounted centrally in the vehicle. This provides drive to the track assembly without interfering with the proper operation of the suspension.
A lift cylinder 86 is connected to the lift arm 72. This is a hydraulic cylinder that can be actuated to raise the track in the tunnel.
The vehicle body is supported by an internal skeleton structure including a main beam or spine 88 extending from end to end of the vehicle above the centre tunnel 58. A set of ribs extend downwardly from this main beam. The ribs include downwardly divergent upper struts 92 that connect at their lower ends to cross-members 94. The cross-members extend laterally about 10 cm to opposite sides of the bottom ends of the upper struts ~,vhere they extend down along the sides of the tunnel as legs 96 and then across the bottom of each hull as floor braces 98. The ribs then extend up the sidewalls and over the roof of the vehicle body. At the rear of the body, the ribs are fixed to the reinforcing straps 30. The ribs intersect the stay pins 28 and have the same longitudinal spacing approximately 75 cm.
Secured to the rib structure are a series of seat panels 100 that connect to theribs where the upper struts 92 meet the cross-members 94. They are mounted in place by 2 0 6 ~ ~ ~ 4 - s -hinges 102 that permit the seat panels to pivot from raised positions extending along ~he upper struts 92 to a lowered position extending laterally and supported on the cross-members 94 where they project beyond the cross members 94.
When used on a hard surface, such as ice or hard packed snow, the vehicle will be supported on the runners 26 and 32 and driven by the track assembly 60. Where the surface is soft as with soft snow or certain types of soil, the runners will sink into the surface and the vehicle will be supported on the combination of the runners and the flat bottom surfaces 24 of the hulls. On water, the buoyancy of the hulls will support the vehicle, with the water line below the top of the tunnel so that the track assembly 60 can be raised using the lift cylinder 88 and driven to propel the vehicle forwardly.
The vehicle is thus useful on terrain where other vehicles of a comparable size and capacity are largely unuseable.
While one embodiment of the present invention has been described in the foregoing, it is to be understood that other embodiments are possible within the scope of the invention. The invention is to be considered limited solely by its scope of the appended claims.
.
Transportation in relatively unpopulated parts of the world can be difficult or impossible because of the absence of roads, railroads or even aircraft landing sites.
Where the terrain encountered may include water, muskeg, swamp, snow or ice, conventional land vehicles are not usable.
The objective of the present invention is to provide an amphibious off road vehicle for this purpose.
According to the present invention there is provided an off road amphibious vehicle comprising:
a vehicle body with laterally spaced apart, water-tight floatation hulls on opposite sides thereof, each hull having a broad bottom surface;
fixed runners, substantially narrower than the bottorm surfaces of the hulls, mounted on respective hulls adjacent a rear end of the vehicle and projecting below the bottom surfaces thereof;
two steering runners, substantially narrower than the bottom surfaces of the hulls, mounted below respective hulls adjacent a front end of the vehicle body and means for steering the steering runners.
The vehicle preferably has an inverted channel along the bottom of the vehicle, between the hulls, which provides a tunnel accommodating a drive track assembly.
On hard packed snow or ice, the vehicle travels on its runners, both fixed and steering. When on a soft surface, the bottom surfaces of the hulls provide a greater bearing area to reduce the ground pressure, thus supporting the vehicle. In water, the hulls act as those of a catamaran to support the vehicle on the surface of the water.
For propulsion in water, the track assembly may preferably be raised into ~ .
--2~9a84 the tunnel and driven to act somewhat like a paddle wheel drive.
Preferably, the drive track assembly is fitted with a tripping system so that itwill swing free up into the tunnel on hard impact with an external object.
In the accompanying drawings, which illustrate an exemplary embodiment of the present invention:
Figure 1 is a side elevation of the vehicle;
Figure 2 is an end elevation of the vehicle;
Figure 3 is a longitudinal cross-section of the vehicle with a front runner shown in section;
Figure 4 is a transverse cross-section of the vehicle; and Figure 5 is a longitudinal cross-section of a back runner.
Referring to the accompanying drawings, and especially to Figures 1 and 2, there is illustrated an all-terrain amphibious vehicle 10 with an enclosed vehicle body 12.
The body has a door 14 in each side, a front window 16, a rear window 18 and side windows 20.
Along opposite sides of the vehicle body are two downwardly projecting hulls 22 each with a relatively wide, flat bottom surface 24. At the back of the vehicle the hulls carry fixed runners 26. The runners are hardwood with steel shoes 27 positioned approxirnately 30 cm below the hull bottom and having a width of approximately 6 cm.
The configuration of the fixed runners is illustrated in Figure S. Fixed runners 26 are mounted in place using vertical stay pins 28 welded to the shoes 27 and extending through the runners and the hull bottom 24. On the inside of the hull the stay pins on each side of the vehicle are fixed to a steel plate 30. As illustrated most particularly in Figure 2, the mnners 26 slope downwardly to the outside. This provides 206~8~
lateral stability in turns.
Two steering runners 32 of similar to the fixed runners are positioned beneath the hulls 22 near the front of the vehicle. As shown in Figure 3, each of the steering runners has a steel shoe 33 and a steel plate 34 along the top. The shoe 33 and the plate 34 are connected by stay pins 36. The complete runner assembly is mounted on the end of a column 38 extending through the runner and welded to the shoe 33.
The column 38 is supported by bearings 44 in a channel 46 along the inner side of the associated hull 22. The upper end of the column extends through the vehicle body, to the interior of the vehicle where it is connected to a gear 48 meshed with a transverse rack 50. The rack extends across of the vehicle and meshes with the gears 48 on both sides so that transverse displacement of the rack will turn the two steering runners 32 simultaneously. The rack is driven by a pinion 52 mounted on a shaft 54 leading from the pinion to a steering wheel 56.
The laterally spaced hulls give the bottom of the vehicle the configuration of an inverted channel on the inside and define a tunnel 58 in the bottom along the centre of the vehicle. Mounted in the tunnel 58 is a drive track assembly 60 that includes a centre beam structure 62 carrying a set of wheels 64. Track assemblies of this sort are known.
The track assembly is supported in the tunnel by two pairs of links 66. One pair is adjacent the front of the track assembly, while the other pair is adjacent the rear. The links of each pair extend up to the underside of the tunnel centre, where they are joined by a cross shaft 68 supported in bearings 70. Connected to each cross-shaft 68 is a lift arm 72 that extends through the body of the vehicle for connection to a spring 74. The springs bias the track assembly downwardly in the tunnel to project below the bottom surfaces 28 of the rear hulls.
2 0 6 ~
Each of the lift arms 72 includes an over centre, spring-loaded trip mechanism 73 that will release if impact forces on the track assembly exceed a pre-set level. On release, the track assembly is free to pivot upwardly about the axes of cross-shafts 68 without acting against the force of the springs 74.
The track assembly is driven by a front sprocket that runs co-axially with the pivot of the front links 66. A right angle drive 76 drives the front sprocket. It is connected through a shaft 78 to a flexible coupling 80 operating on the axis of the front cross-shaft 68. A drive shaft 82 leads from the flexible coupling to a motor transmission unit 84 mounted centrally in the vehicle. This provides drive to the track assembly without interfering with the proper operation of the suspension.
A lift cylinder 86 is connected to the lift arm 72. This is a hydraulic cylinder that can be actuated to raise the track in the tunnel.
The vehicle body is supported by an internal skeleton structure including a main beam or spine 88 extending from end to end of the vehicle above the centre tunnel 58. A set of ribs extend downwardly from this main beam. The ribs include downwardly divergent upper struts 92 that connect at their lower ends to cross-members 94. The cross-members extend laterally about 10 cm to opposite sides of the bottom ends of the upper struts ~,vhere they extend down along the sides of the tunnel as legs 96 and then across the bottom of each hull as floor braces 98. The ribs then extend up the sidewalls and over the roof of the vehicle body. At the rear of the body, the ribs are fixed to the reinforcing straps 30. The ribs intersect the stay pins 28 and have the same longitudinal spacing approximately 75 cm.
Secured to the rib structure are a series of seat panels 100 that connect to theribs where the upper struts 92 meet the cross-members 94. They are mounted in place by 2 0 6 ~ ~ ~ 4 - s -hinges 102 that permit the seat panels to pivot from raised positions extending along ~he upper struts 92 to a lowered position extending laterally and supported on the cross-members 94 where they project beyond the cross members 94.
When used on a hard surface, such as ice or hard packed snow, the vehicle will be supported on the runners 26 and 32 and driven by the track assembly 60. Where the surface is soft as with soft snow or certain types of soil, the runners will sink into the surface and the vehicle will be supported on the combination of the runners and the flat bottom surfaces 24 of the hulls. On water, the buoyancy of the hulls will support the vehicle, with the water line below the top of the tunnel so that the track assembly 60 can be raised using the lift cylinder 88 and driven to propel the vehicle forwardly.
The vehicle is thus useful on terrain where other vehicles of a comparable size and capacity are largely unuseable.
While one embodiment of the present invention has been described in the foregoing, it is to be understood that other embodiments are possible within the scope of the invention. The invention is to be considered limited solely by its scope of the appended claims.
.
Claims (11)
1. An off road amphibious vehicle comprising:
a vehicle body with laterally spaced apart, water-tight floatation hulls on opposite sides thereof, each hull having a broad bottom surface;
fixed runners, substantially narrower than the bottom surfaces of the hulls, mounted on respective hulls adjacent a rear-end of the vehicle and projecting below the bottom surfaces thereof;
two steering runners, substantially narrower than the bottom surfaces of the hulls, mounted below respective hulls adjacent a front end of the vehicle body; and means for steering the steering runners.
a vehicle body with laterally spaced apart, water-tight floatation hulls on opposite sides thereof, each hull having a broad bottom surface;
fixed runners, substantially narrower than the bottom surfaces of the hulls, mounted on respective hulls adjacent a rear-end of the vehicle and projecting below the bottom surfaces thereof;
two steering runners, substantially narrower than the bottom surfaces of the hulls, mounted below respective hulls adjacent a front end of the vehicle body; and means for steering the steering runners.
2. A vehicle according to Claim 1 wherein the body comprises a tunnel between the hulls extending from end to end of the vehicle.
3. A vehicle according to Claim 2 further comprising drive means including a drive track assembly within the tunnel and extending partially therealong.
4. A vehicle according to Claim 3 including lift means for lifting the drive track assembly from a lowered position projecting below the bottom surfaces of the hulls to a raised position within the tunnel.
5. A vehicle according to Claim 3 wherein the vehicle body comprises a main beam extending from end to end of the body, centrally above the tunnel, and a plurality of ribs projecting from the main beam at positions spaced therealong.
6. A vehicle according to Claim 5 wherein the ribs are arranged in pairs diverging downwardly to the top of the tunnel.
7. A vehicle according to Claim 6 wherein the ribs include cross members extending laterally across the top of the tunnel.
8. A vehicle according to Claim 7 including fold-up seat means pivotally mounted on the top of the tunnel for movement between a raised position projecting upwardly from the tunnel and a lowered position projecting laterally from the tunnel.
9. A vehicle according to any one of Claims 1 to 8 wherein the vehicle body is a closed body with sidewalls and a roof.
10. A vehicle according to Claim 9 wherein each rib extends across the tunnel, down the sidewalls of the tunnel, across the hulls, up the sides and across the roof of the body.
11. A vehicle according to Claim 4 wherein the lift means comprise link means mounting the track assembly on the vehicle body, and trip means normally retaining the link means with the track assembly in the lowered position, the trip means comprising means for releasing the track assembly to move freely to the raised position in response to a force thereon greater than a pre-determined minimum force.
Priority Applications (1)
| Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| CA 2069584 CA2069584A1 (en) | 1992-05-26 | 1992-05-26 | Off road amphibian vehicle |
Applications Claiming Priority (1)
| Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| CA 2069584 CA2069584A1 (en) | 1992-05-26 | 1992-05-26 | Off road amphibian vehicle |
Publications (1)
| Publication Number | Publication Date |
|---|---|
| CA2069584A1 true CA2069584A1 (en) | 1993-11-27 |
Family
ID=4149912
Family Applications (1)
| Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| CA 2069584 Abandoned CA2069584A1 (en) | 1992-05-26 | 1992-05-26 | Off road amphibian vehicle |
Country Status (1)
| Country | Link |
|---|---|
| CA (1) | CA2069584A1 (en) |
Cited By (1)
| Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CN108657386A (en) * | 2018-06-10 | 2018-10-16 | 苏州云逸航空复合材料结构有限公司 | Water-sports apparatus propulsion system and water-sports apparatus |
-
1992
- 1992-05-26 CA CA 2069584 patent/CA2069584A1/en not_active Abandoned
Cited By (2)
| Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CN108657386A (en) * | 2018-06-10 | 2018-10-16 | 苏州云逸航空复合材料结构有限公司 | Water-sports apparatus propulsion system and water-sports apparatus |
| CN108657386B (en) * | 2018-06-10 | 2024-03-08 | 苏州云逸航空复合材料结构有限公司 | Water sport device propulsion system and water sport device |
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Legal Events
| Date | Code | Title | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| EEER | Examination request | ||
| FZDE | Dead |