GB2366236A - A blade body for an electric plane incorporating wind flutes - Google Patents

Abstract

A blade body 1 of an electric planer with wind-flute woodchip-discharging apparatus comprises wind flutes 5 provided on the blade body 1 and baffle plates mounted with screws 4 on the bottom of said wind flutes. The two ends of each of the baffle plates are bent up and are vertical to the bottom of the wind flute so as to cover the two open ends of the wind flute. When being in use, the present invention can discharge woodchips smoothly from the woodchip outlet, so as to prevent woodchips not only from choking at the outlet or being blocked inside the planer housing, but also from being blown onto the processing plate.

Description

23662 A SINGLE / NIULTIPLE TRACK VEHICLE This invention relates to a road

vehicle that provides very compact dimensions to minimise the road space occupied, -whilst also providing good stability at lower and higher speeds, along with protection from weather and accidents.

There are two related, although different limitations recognised with current conventional road going vehicles: The first is that to increase the number of cars within already congested areas (and equally to also decrease this congestion), they need to become smaller, however, if a car becomes too narrow, the stability is generally likely to be impaired. Secondly, whilst motor cycles can provide a good solution to high density traffic, and are generally stable, they have the disadvantage of being open to the weather and offer little protection in the event of an accidental collision.

The object of this invention is to provide a method of obtaining the narrow width and small size advantages of a motor cycle along with the protection offered by a rigid and strong enclosed vehicle, in other words it seeks to provide the best of both worlds. The concept is realised by making a vehicle which is, under normal driving conditions, a two-wheel, single track vehicle with a strong and rigid covered external structure, inside of which the driver and passengers can sit and be protected. When slowing, there are additional wheels (for example - one to each side of the vehicle) which automatically descend together to provide the necessary low speed stability. These will then be retracted again for travelling at higher (ie. normal driving) speeds. Thus the vehicle provides stability at higher and lower speeds, plus protection from the elements and accidents, whilst occupying a relatively small amount of road space. For example, it is foreseen that these vehicles could be able to travel two abreast in the width of road occupied by one ordinary car, thus halving the road congestion.

In terms of practicality, it is envisaged that these vehicles would easily carry one or two persons (although more interior passengers could be accommodated by design), and prior research has shown that a large percentage of journeys are actually undertaken with only one or two persons occupying a vehicle. Therefore, this vehicle would be suitable for many of the journeys as they are currently undertaken.

A typical embodiment of this invention will now be described with reference to accompanying drawings in which:

FIGURE I shows a side view (in partial cross section) of the overall concept FIGURE 2 shows a side view of the vehicle FIGURE 3 shows a plan view of the "Road Footprint" of the vehicle at open road (higher) speeds FIGURE 4 shows a plan view of the "Road Footprint" of the vehicle at lower speeds and when stopped FIGURE 5 shows an example of one practical realisation (of many possible different realisations).

As shown in Figure 1, there is a rigid assembly consisting of the necessary supporting arrangements for the equipment, enclosed and connected within a rigid outer shell which fully encloses the vehicle occupants (driver, passenger, and luggage) to provide weather and accident protection 1. This outer shell will obviously require door(s), windows, lights, and all of the other requirements of a conventional road vehicle these are common to most road vehicles so are not illustrated here to enhance the clarity of the concept description. The body shape shown is a simple form to illustrate the principle, and it could be realised in many different forms.

There are two principal road wheels (front) 2 and (rear) 3 in-line (ie. forming a single track vehicle), at least one of which is driven by the motor, and associated drive assembly 4. The vehicle is steered and controlled by the driver 5, who is seated.

To provide the stability that a single track vehicle lacks at lower speeds or at a stop, there are supplementary wheels 6 (at least two) which are arranged outside of the principal wheels single track, and which are arranged to be held in position clear of the road under normal open road speeds. These supplementary wheels 6 are automatically actuated downwards (or outwards, for example) in order to make contact with the road surface when the speed reduces, and the dynamic stability of the single track vehicle reduces. In this mode, the vehicle is now multi- track, and hence has stability at low speeds or when stopped.

The supplementary wheels are actuated by a powered system 7 (which could be fluid power cylinder(s) or electric actuators, for example) connected at one end to the rigid structure of the vehicle.

The supplementary wheels actuating system is controlled by a control unit 8 which operates the power unit 9.

In the realisation shown (other mechanical arrangements are entirely feasible and obvious to development) the supplementary wheels 6 are mechanically attached to the rigid structure of the vehicle by a beam I I via a pivot 12.

Figure 2, shows a side view of the vehicle, in which can be seen the necessary access door 16, and the windows 13 (front), 14 (side), and 15 (rear). It is noted that, for safety reasons,, an emergency exit needs to be fitted upon another side of the vehicle to the door, such that if the machine falls (or is knocked) over onto the door side, the occupants can still get out with sufficient ease. This could well be realised by making the side window opposite to the door large enough for people to get out of, and easy to open wide enough. Alternatively, a door could be fitted on each side.

Also shown are external rear view mirrors 17, headlamp 18, turn indicators 19, and rear lights 20.

For additional safety when parked, a stand can be fitted 21, which is to be manually operated and has a locking mechanism when down.. There should be alarms and / or interlocks to prevent the machine being left parked without the parking brake, or attempting to drive away with it engaged. For example, the stand operation could be locked out at higher speeds to prevent accidental operation. It may be interlinked to the auxiliary wheels and start / transmissions system, such that the auxiliary wheels need to be "down" and the parking stand Z:1 raised before attempting to drive away.

With reference to Figures 3 and 4 - these drawings show the "road footprint" of the vehicle, in plan. Figure 3, shows the vehicle operating at normal open road speeds, where the "footprint" has the two principal road wheels 2 and 3 in contact with the road, along with the outline of the vehicle I for orientation. This condition has dynamic stability.

Figure 4 shows the vehicle "road footprint" at lower speeds or when stopped, illustrating that as well as the two principal road wheels 2 and 3 in contact with the road, there is now also the supplementary wheels 6 and 6 in contact with the road. The outline of the vehicle I is again shown for orientation. This condition has static stability.

Figure 5, is a supplementary drawing which shows a simplified side view illustrating one possible practical realisation with, for example, bodywork clearances for the main road wheels 2 and 3. There are many forms of appearance and layout that this invention could have, and this is only one example of many possible.

In summary, there are many purposes and benefits within this invention, some of which are noted below:

Protection for the occupants against a collision, or other accident, by having an outer shell, which can be realised in many and various forms (analogous to a motor car, with many shapes and sizes).

Protection for the occupants against the elements and road dirt, etc. By this means it can be used in a variety of climate conditions, and mitigates the need for protective clothing, and the like.

Takes up a small area upon the road (compared to a typical motor car). This means that more vehicles can use the same road with less congestion, and also more vehicles can be parked in the same area.

It can be styled, or laid out, to be more applicable for specific purposes, in different forms. For example, a small and light "spor&' or economy version could be realised, or a more spacious layout may have more luxury, luggage space, and so forth.

It can be styled or laid out to provide different visual appearances, in order to give satisfying or chosen aesthetics.

By benefit of compact dimensions, lighter weight (than, for example, a typical motor car), high efficiency aerodynamics (small frontal area, and "clean" shape), and similar attributes, the invention is capable of being realised in a highly fuel efficient package. This obviously contributes to reduced pollution, reduced running costs, and so forth.

By benefits of the dimensions, weight, aerodynamics, and so forth, high performance versions of the machine could easily be built.

The benefits of both economy and performance could be realised together by optimising the various design features, such as weight and aerodynamics.

The vehicle can incorporate safety features such as seat belts, head restraint, air bags, and other similar well developed, or other new equipment within the vehicle.

The power supply to the actuating cylinders can be either pneumatic or hydraulic, although it is foreseen that pneumatic operation confers certain benefits. The initial motive power for this can be supplied by a motor or engine driven compressor (or pump), and then efficiency gains can be derived from a pumping cylinder connected to the suspension, whereby normal road undulations will provide the movement to pump air into an energy storage reservoir.

The control unit can be realised in many different ways of detail, but has a clear function which is to provide an automatic means of raising and lowering the supplementary support wheels at appropriate points in the vehicle duty cycle. The basic control function is to lower these wheels when at low speeds or stopped, then raise them again when forward motion is fast enough for dynamic stability to occur in a single track vehicle. There are likely to be different operating envelopes for different vehicles, depending upon their configuration, and also there are considerations for speed of response, deliberate delay functions (for example to prevent excessive up / down operation in stop-go traffic), and derivatives of the monitored direct performance parameters (for example rate of slowing or speeding up). A manual override can be seen to be desirable, as well as warning methods for low operating pneumatic pressures, and similar faults or excursions from the defined operating envelope.

Claims (9)

1. A single / multiple track vehicle with a fully enclosing outer shell (with door(s) and windows) that offers the occupants protection against the weather and also accidents, which operates in a single track mode at normal road speeds whereby dynamic stability is achieved, and then can automatically deploy auxiliary wheels to provide low speed multiple track stability.

2. A single / multiple track vehicle as claimed in Claim I where the power supply to the actuating mechanism of the auxiliary wheels can be either pneumatic or hydraulic, or electrical.

3. A single / multiple track vehicle as claimed in any preceding Claims where the auxPiary wheels are activated automatically, with optional manual controls.

4. A single / multiple track vehicle as claimed in any preceding Claims where a parking stand may be employed for additional safety.

5. A single / multiple track vehicle as claimed in any preceding Claims where a combination of control features may be incorporated to enhance safety.

6. A single / multiple track vehicle as claimed in any preceding Claims where the styling or layout can be varied to provide different visual appearances, aerodynamics, carrying capacity, and so forth.

7. A single / multiple track vehicle as claimed in any preceding Claims where this vehicle can incorporate safety features such as seat belts, head restraint, air bags, and other similar well developed, or other new equipment within the vehicle.

8. A single / multiple track vehicle as claimed in any preceding Claims where the dimensions, weight, aerodynamics, and so forth, can be varied to optimise various performance features, such as fuel consumption.

9. A single / multiple track vehicle substantially as herein described and illustrated in the accompanying drawings.