GB2024728A

GB2024728A - An amphibian vehicle

Info

Publication number: GB2024728A
Application number: GB7828821A
Authority: GB
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1978-07-04
Filing date: 1978-07-04
Publication date: 1980-01-16
Also published as: GB2024728B

Abstract

Road wheels (9) can in first positions engage the road and help support the vehicle and they can be moved to second positions where they are supported by the vehicle with at least their upper halves out of contact with still water when the vehicle floats on it. The invention solves the problem of yachtsmen and other users of watercraft needing to go ashore and then travel on land to fetch stores, for they can take an amphibian vehicle according to the invention on their yacht or other craft, travel across the water on it, with the road wheels in the second positions, to the shore, take the vehicle out of the water, put the road wheels in the first positions and drive on roads, etc. Preferably, there are two road wheels (9) at the back of the vehicle and one at the front which can be turned, to steer the vehicle on land, by handlebars (24), like those on a motor-cycle, which can also be turned to steer the vehicle in the water by way of a turnable jet- propulsion device. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION An amphibian vehicle According to the present invention, an amphibian vehicle has a plurality of road wheels each of which can readily be moved from a first position, in which it can engage a road and help support the vehicle, to a second position, in which it is supported by the vehicle with at least its upper half where it will be out of contact with the water when the vehicle is floating on still water.

Preferably, each road wheel when in its second position is entirely where it will be out of contact with the water when the vehicle is floating on still water.

Preferably, the vehicle has two rear road wheels, supports for which are fixed to opposite ends of a bar which can be swung upwardly about a substantially horizontal axis extending across the vehicle forwardly of the bar, to liftthe rear road wheels from the first positions to the second positions. There may be two ears projecting from the rear of the vehicle and readily releasable means, for example screws or nuts and bolts, for securing the bar to the ears when the rear road wheels are in the first positions.There may also or alternatively be two struts each of which is pivotally connected at one end to the bar, the other ends of the struts being the lower ends when the two rear road wheels-are in the second positions and these lower ends then bearing on a fixed part of the vehicle-so that the bar is supported in space by the struts, whereby at least the upper halves of the two rear road wheels are held high enough to be above the water level.

The vehicle, if it has the above-described arrangement of a swinging bar to lift the rear road wheels, may have first and second struts each having one end fixed to a respective one of the rear wheel supports and the other end mounted on, and turnable around, a respective elongate member which passes substantially horizontally through one side of the vehicle, the axis of the elongate member being said substantially horizontal axis.

The vehicle preferably has only three road wheels, viz. one front wheel and two rear wheels, the front wheel then preferably being symmetrically positioned with respect to the rear wheels. The second position of the front road wheel is preferably inside the body of the vehicle.

The vehicle is preferably such that only one rear road wheel is a driven wheel. Whether or not this is so, there is preferably only a single motor to propel the vehicle on a road and on water.

The vehicle, if it has the above-described arrangement of a swinging bar to lift the rear road wheels, may have also a first wheel which rotates about said axis and is driven from a motor, a second wheel fixed to one of the road wheels and an endless member, for example a belt or a chain, coupling the first wheel to the second wheel.

One of the elongate members mentioned above may pass through a tubular shaft carrying the first wheel and fast with it. Whether or not this is so, the first wheel may be fixed to a third wheel which is coupled to another endless member, for example a belt or a chain, to a fourth wheel which is driven from the motor. The motor may be coupled to an impeller which produces a jet of water propel the vehicle when it is on water. Preferably, the motor is coupled to the impeller via two belt wheels and an endless belt and there is a belttensionerwhich can be operated to tension said endless belt when the rear road wheels are in their second positions so that drive is transmitted by the endless belt to the impeller when the belt tensioner is operated and when the tensioner is not operated drive is not transmitted.The belt tensioner may be an idlerunning wheel over which said endless belt passes, the wheel being mounted on a rod which passes through a wall of the vehicle, for example at the rear end, to the outside, where it can be fastened to prevent its movement in a direction which will cause the belt to slacken, i.e. forwardly in the example mentioned above.

The vehicle may have to propel the vehicle when on water, a rotary impeller in a housing having an outlet for a jet of water produced by the impeller, whereby turning of the housing alters the direction of the jet and this steers the vehicle. There may be a single manually operable control member turning of which results in turning of said housing and steering of the vehicle when the road wheels are in contact with the road. This control member may be a steering wheel or a pair of handlebars such as are used in motor cycles. Wires may couple the abovementioned housing to the control member so that turning of the latter causes turning of the housing to steer the vehicle when on water.If there is a single front road wheel, preferably it is mounted between first and second arms to the upper end of which is secured the lower end of a third arm which passes into a socket, for example a tubular member, and is fixed thereto when the vehicle is to operate on a road, the wheel and the three arms being readily removable as a unit when the vehicle is to be used on water and then being capable of being stored in the vehicle.

There may be a framework of elongate members on the vehicle to support a canopy over the vehicle.

An example according to the invention is described below with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 shows a perspective view, from the front and one side, of an amphibian vehicle and a frame for supporting a canopy, two rear and one front road wheels of the vehicle being in first positions, Figure 2 shows a perspective view, from the front and the other side, of the same vehicle without the frame, with the rear road wheels in second positions and the front road wheel removed from its first position and lying on the ground, Figure 3 shows a perspective view, from the rear and said other side, of the same vehicle without the frame and with the road wheels in the first positions, Figure 4 shows a diagrammatic cross-sectional view of part of the vehicle, Figure 5shows a diagrammatic plan view of another part of the vehicle, Figure 6 shows a perspective view of an interior partofthe vehicle, Figure 7shows a diagrammatic rear view of part of the vehicle, Figure 8 shows a plan view of a modification of what is shown in Figure 6, Figure 9 shows a diagrammatic plan view of the vehicle and indicates the position of steering wires, Figure 10 shows diagrammatically the mounting of handlebars of the vehicle.

The amphibian vehicle shown in the drawings includes a body 1 made of fibre-reinforced plastics laminate with a tunnel 2 extending fore and aft so that there is provided a seat 3 extending along the centre of the vehicle and so that the vehicle has two hulls 4 and 5. The body has substantially the shape of a rowing boat that is already commercially available and has a somewhat pointed forward end or nose 6 and a square-cut rear end 7.

There are two rear road wheels 8 and 9 which rotate about a common axis B (Figure 5) and a front road wheel 10 symmetrically placed with respect to the rear road wheels 8 and 9.

Each rear road wheel has a wheel support, one of which is represented diametrically by a rectangle A in Figure 5, incorporating a bearing for the road wheel, and the two wheel supports are fixed to opposite ends of a bar 11 which extends across the vehicle at its rear end. Each wheel support is also fixed to one end of a respective one of two struts 12, the opposite ends of the struts being fixed to tubes 13 which rotate around horizontal rods (not shown) which extend through opposite sides of the vehicle.

When the bar 11 is lifted from the position shown in Figure 3 to the position shown in Figure 2, the bar, the wheel supports, the wheels 8 and 9 and the struts 12 all turn about a horizontal axis extending across the vehicle forwardly of the bar, this being the axis of each of the above-mentioned rods, and thereby the wheels 8 and 9 can be moved together from first positions (Figures 1 and 3) in which they can engage a road and help support the vehicle, to second positions (Figure 2) in which they are supported by the vehicle in positions where the whole of each of them will be high enough to be out of contact with the water when the vehicle is floating on still water.

To secure the bar 11 when it is in its lower position, there are two ears 14 (only one of which is shown in Figure 5) projecting rearwardly from the bottoms of the hulls 4 and 5 and they are formed with holes 15 which receive the lower ends of screws which pass downwardly through holes 16 in enlarged portions ofthe bar 11. To secure the bar 11 when it is in its upper position, struts 17 only one of which is shown in Figure 5, have ends (which are uppermost when the bar 11 is to be secured in its upper position) pivotally connected to the bar 11,the pivot axis 18 being a horizontal, fore and aft axis.These struts can lie along the bar 11 when the bar 11 is in its lower position and can be swung until nearly vertical when the bar 11 is to be secured in its upper position; then the lower ends of the struts 17 bear on a fixed part of the vehicle, i.e. a ledge 19 at the back, and the struts support the bar 11 in space so that the wheels 8 and 9 stay out of the water.

The front road wheel 10 is mounted between first and second arms 20 and 21 to the upper ends (i.e.

uppermost when the road wheel 10 runs on a road) of which is secured the lower end of a third arm 22 which slides upwardly into a socket in the bottom of the vehicle and is secured in it by a pin 23 when the road wheel 70 is to run on a road. Then the arm 22 is fixed to the lower end of a steering column (not shown) operated by handlebars 24, such as is used on motor-cycles, provided with brake handles 25 which operate through cables 26 to apply brakes to the rear wheels. When the vehicle is to travel on water, the front road wheel 10 and the arms 20 to 22 are removed as a unit, after withdrawal of the pin 23 and this unit, shown lying on the ground in Figure 2, can be scored in the vehicle.

To propel the vehicle both on a road and in the waterthere is only a single motor which in this case is a 48 cc two-stroke petrol engine 26 mounted on a table 27 at the back of the vehicle. This engine 26 has a circular mounting plate 28 which is secured by two screws to the table 27 so that the engine can readily be removed and used for other purposes, for example when the vehicle is stored on a yacht it may be used to operate a windlass on the yacht. The engine drives only the rear road wheel 8. This it does through a clutch 29 (Figure 6) beneath the engine and within the body 1 of the vehicle, one side of the clutch being connected to the engine via a shaft 30 and the other side driving belt wheels 31 and 32. The belt wheel 32 drives a belt wheel 33 through an endless belt 34 and the belt wheel 31 drives a belt wheel 35 through an endless belt 36.This belt wheel 35 is fixed to a tubular shaft 37 on which is also fixed a belt wheel 38 which is coupled by an endless belt 39 (not shown in Figure 6) to a belt wheel 40 that is fixed to the road wheel 8. The tubular shaft 37 is mounted on, so as to turn around, a rod (nowt shown) which passes through a plate 41 which is fixed to the side of the body 1 and through one side 42 of a member 43. The rods passing through the tubes 13 and the shaft 37, and also through a space tube 44 extending between a second plate 41A and a second part 42A of the member 43, have nuts 45 at both ends.

The belt wheel 33 is fixed to the upper end of a vertical shaft 46 to the lower end of which is fixed an impeller 47 in a housing 48 (see Figure 7). When driven by the shaft 46, the impeller draws water into the housing through an opening at the bottom of the housing 48 and expels it in a jet which issues from an opening 49 in the housing. The jet propels the vehicle when on water and the vehicle can then be steered by turning the housing 48 about a vertical axis by pulling one or the other of two wires 50 and 51 anchored to a shaft 52 which is fixed to the housing.

It is not an ideal arrangement for the engine to drive the impeller 47 when the vehicle is travelling on the road orto drive the wheel 8 when the vehicle is travelling in water. To avoid this, of course the belts 34 and 36 could be uncoupled from the belt wheels when they are not required to transmit drive.

Instead, as shown in Figure 8, when the vehicle is to travel on water the belt 34 could be tensioned by operating a belt tensioner 53, so that the belt 34 transmits drive to the impeller 47, wherein when the belt tensioner is not operated no drive is transmitted to the impeller 47 because the belt wheel 32 turns but the belt 34 is not driven by it. The belt tensioner is an idle-running belt wheel 51 over which the belt 34 passes, the wheel 51 being mounted on the bifurcated end of a rod 52 which passes through the rear end 7 of the body 1 and through a tube 53 having a flange 54 at one end of it fixed to the rear end 7 of the body 1. A pin 55 passes through one of a row of holes through the rod 52 and abuts the end of the tube 53 to prevent the belt wheel 51 moving away from the rear end 7 of the body 1.The rod 52 has a downwardly turned end and when one wishes to use the vehicle on water one grasps this and pulls it away from the nose of the vehicle and then puts the pin 55 through the exposed hole in the rod 55 that is nearest the tube 53. A similar tensioner could be used on the belt 36 orthe belt 39. Instead, however, a tensioner of a different kind is used on the belt 39, this comprising an idle-running belt wheel 56 mounted at one end of a strap 57 the other end of which is fixed by a nut and bolt to the strut 12 on the right-hand side of the vehicle.

Figure 9 shows diagrammatically a column 58 which is fixed to the handlebars and wires 59 and 60 each fastened at one end to the column 58 and at the other end to the shaft 52. The wire 59 passes over wheels 61 and 62 and the wire 60 passes over wheels 61,63 and 64 and thus approaches the shaft 52 from substantially the opposite direction compared with the wire 59. Thus turning the column 58 in one direction or the other results in the wire 59 or 60 turning the shaft 52 in one direction or the other.

Figure 10 shows the mounting of the handlebars on the body 1. The handlebars carry controls for the clutch and the speed of the engine.

Figure 1 shows a framework, made up of two inverted U-shaped tubular members 65 and 66 the ends of which fit in recesses in the body 1, the purpose of the framework being to support a canopy over the vehicle.

Claims

1. An amphibian vehicle having a plurality of road wheels each of which can readily be moved from a first position, in which it can engage a road and help support the vehicle, to a second position, in which it is supported by the vehicle with at least its upper half where it will be out of contact with the water when the vehicle is floating on still water.

2. A vehicle according to claim 1 having two rear road wheels, supports for which are fixed to opposite ends of a bar which can be swung upwardly about a substantially horizontal axis extending across the vehicle fowardly of the bar, to lift the rear road wheels from the first positions to the second positions.

3. A vehicle according to claim 2 having two ears projecting from the rear ofthe vehicle and means for securing the bar to the ears when the rear road wheels are in the first positions.

4. A vehicle according to claim 2 or 3 and having two struts each of which is pivotally connected at one end of the bar, the other ends of the struts being the lower ends when the two rear road wheels are in the second positions and these lower ends then bearing on a fixed part of the vehicle so that the bar is supported in space by the struts, whereby at least the upper halves of the two rear road wheels are held high enough to be above the water level.

5. A vehicle according to any one of claims 2 to 4 having first and second struts each having one end fixed to a respective one of the rear wheel supports and the other end mounted on, and turnable around, a respective elongate member which passes substantially horizontally through one side of the vehicle, the axis of the elongate member being said substantially horizontal axis.

6. A vehicle according to any preceding claim having only three road wheels, viz one front wheel and two rear wheels.

7. A vehicle according to any preceding claim in which only one rear road wheel is a driven wheel.

8. A vehicle according to any preceding claim having a single motorto propel the vehicle own a road and on water.

9. A vehicle according to any one of claims 2 to 5 or according to any one of claims 6 to 8 appended to any one of claims 2 to 5 having a first wheel which rotates about said axis and is driven from a motor, a second wheel fixed to one of the road wheels and an endless member coupling the first wheel to the second wheel.

10. A vehicle according to claims 5 and 9 in which one of the elongate members passes through a tubular shaft carrying the first wheel and fast with it.

11. A vehicle according to claim 9 or 10 in which the first wheel is fixed to a third wheel which is coupled by another endless member to a fourth wheel which is driven from the motor.

12. A vehicle according to claims 8 and 11 in which the motor is coupled to an impeller which produces a jet of water to propel the vehicle when it is on water.

13. A vehicle according to claim 12 in which the motor is coupled to the impeller via two belt wheels and an endless belt, there being a belt tensioner which can be operated to tension said endless belt when the rear road wheels are in their second positions so that drive is transmitted by the endless belt to the impeller when the belt tensioner is operated and when the tensioner is not operated drive is not transmitted.

14. A vehicle according to claim 13 in which the belt tensioner is an idle-running wheel over which said endless belt passes, the wheel being mounted on a rod which passes through awall of the vehicle to the outside, wherein can be fastened to prevent its movement in a direction which will cause the belt to slacken.

15. A vehicle according to any preceding claim having, to propel the vehicle when on water, a rotary impeller in a housing having an outlet for a jet of water produced by the impeller, whereby turning of the housing alters the direction of the jet and this steers the vehicle.

16. A vehicle according to claim 15 in which there is a single manually operable control member turning of which results in turning of said housing and steering of the vehicle when the road wheels are in contact with the road.

17. Avehicle according to claim 16 in which the control member is a pair of handlebars.

18. A vehicle according to claim 16 or 17 in which wires couple the housing to the control member so that turning of the latter causes turning of the housing.

19. Avehicle according to claim 6 or claim 6 and any one of claims 7 to 18 in which the front road wheel is mounted between first and second arms to the upper end of which is secured the lower end of a third arm which passes into a socket and is fixed thereto when the vehicle is to operate on a road, the wheel and the three arms being readily removable as a unit when the vehicle is to be used on water and then being capable of being stored in the vehicle.

20. A vehicle according to any preceding claim having a framework of elongate members projecting upwardly from it to support a canopy over the vehicle.

21. An amphibian vehicle substantially as de scribed above with reference to the accompanying drawings.