JP3480978B2 - Bicycle wheel with solar cell drive - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a wheel forming a bicycle with an electric motor driven by a solar cell. More specifically, the bicycle is provided with a solar cell by simply replacing the wheel with the wheel of a bicycle traveling only by the physical strength of a person. The present invention relates to a bicycle wheel with a solar cell drive unit, which can be modified so that a drive unit as a power source and a wheel driven by the drive unit are attached.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, when modifying an existing bicycle into a bicycle with a prime mover, for example, the engine is fixed to a frame and the wheels are fitted with sprockets or V pulleys,
It was necessary to connect the engine and the wheels with a chain or a V-belt. In addition, there is one that drives wheels by an electric motor, and in this case, a storage battery charged from a general commercial power source is used as the power source.

[0003]

However, in this conventional method, the bicycle frame must be modified to mount the engine, and the wheels must have sprockets, V-pulleys, etc. mounted at the same center of rotation. There is a problem that the assembly work on site is difficult and the work time is long, so that the remodeling cost is also high. Also, when using a live battery as a power source, it can not be used if the charging state is bad,
There is a problem that it takes extra time and money for charging. In this case also, it is necessary to modify the frame and the like.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems of the prior art, and an object of the present invention is to use a solar cell very easily anywhere without making a great modification to an existing bicycle. It is an object of the present invention to provide a bicycle wheel with a solar battery drive part that can be converted into a bicycle with a driving electric motor and is economical.

[0005]

In order to achieve the above object, a bicycle wheel with a solar cell driving section according to claim 1 of the present invention comprises a hub axle detachably fixed to the pawls of a bicycle frame; A hub in which the collar portion is enlarged and formed in a disc shape, and a rim provided at the tip of the collar portion is arranged in the center portion of the bicycle frame; and is pivotally supported by the hub shaft in a state of facing the disc-shaped collar portion of the hub. A base plate that is mounted between the pawls together with the disk-shaped collar portion; a solar cell fixed to the base plate or the like; an electric motor that drives the hub using the solar cell as a power source; and an electromotive force of the solar cell. A secondary battery that charges the excess and discharges the shortage; and a detent member that fixes the base plate to the frame.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a bicycle wheel with a solar cell drive unit, wherein the torque sensor detects a torque when the hub is driven by a person's pedaling force. A speed sensor that detects the rotation speed of the hub; and a controller that receives a signal from the torque sensor to adjust the power supply to the electric motor and receives a signal from the speed sensor to start and stop the electric motor. The configuration is provided.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a bicycle wheel with a solar cell drive unit, wherein the stator of the electric motor is fixed to the base plate concentrically with the hub shaft, and the rotor is fixed to the hub concentrically with the hub shaft. It has a structure.

[0008]

Since the bicycle wheel with a solar cell drive section according to claim 1 of the present invention is constructed as described above, the wheel of the existing bicycle is removed together with the hub axle from the pawl of the bicycle frame, and the hub axle is removed. Just fix the hub axle of the bicycle wheel with a solar cell drive unit to the claws, and fix the base plate with the electric motor to the frame with the anti-rotation material.
It is possible to modify an existing bicycle so that the solar cell, the electric motor, and the wheels driven by the electric motor are attached. Then, by supplying power to the electric motor from the solar cell, the hub can be driven to drive the bicycle with power. In addition, when the electromotive force of the solar cell has a surplus, the secondary battery is charged, and when the electromotive force of the solar cell is insufficient, the secondary battery is discharged, so that the solar cell can be used efficiently.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, in the bicycle wheel with a solar cell drive unit, the pedal effort of a person is detected by the torque sensor, and the pedal power is reduced by increasing or decreasing the power supply in proportion to the magnitude of the pedal effort, so that the pedal effort is always easy. If it is possible to drive the vehicle easily by only pedaling, it is possible to drive economically only by pedaling. Also, the running speed is detected by the speed sensor, and when the speed is too high or low, the driving by the electric motor is stopped,
It is possible to drive safely using only human power.

In the bicycle wheel with a solar cell drive section according to a third aspect of the present invention, the stator and the rotor are housed around the hub axle and the wheel is directly rotated by the rotor, so that the drive section is simple in structure and compact. Can be formed.

[0011]

Embodiments of the present invention will now be described in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view showing a bicycle wheel with a solar cell drive unit according to the present embodiment, FIG. 2 is a side view of the same, FIG. 3 is an overall view of the same mounted state, and FIG. 4 is a mounted state of a torque sensor. FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing an electric circuit of the same as above.

First, the configuration of the embodiment will be described. A bicycle wheel A with a solar cell drive unit according to the present embodiment includes a hub axle 1,
The hub 2, the rim 3, the base plate 4, the electric motor 5, the detent member 6, the torque sensor 7a, the speed sensor 7b, the solar battery 8a, the storage battery 8b, and the control device 9 are the main components. It has a simple structure. Incidentally, reference numeral 10 in the figure is a frame of the bicycle 11.

The hub axle 1 has the same tightening length as the hub axle of a conventional wheel mounted on the rear wheel side pawls 12, 12 of the frame 10, and the tightening screw portions 13 having the same diameter are provided on both sides thereof. Has been.

In the hub 2, a hub body 14 is formed shorter than a hub body of a conventional wheel, and one end of the hub body 14 is provided with a collar portion 15 which is enlarged to an inner diameter of a rim 3 described later. Reference numeral 16 in the drawing denotes a free wheel provided on the flange portion 15 side of the hub body 14.

The rim 3 is formed integrally with the collar portion 15, and when the hub axle 1 is mounted on the rear wheel side pawls 12, 12, the rim 3 is arranged at the center of the frame 10. In the figure, 3a is a tire attached to the rim 3.

The base plate 4 is arranged so as to face the flange portion 15 and forms a space for accommodating an electric motor 5, a storage battery 8b, a control device 9 and the like, which will be described later, and is generally called the flange portion 15. The rim 3 has the same diameter and its outer peripheral edge portion 15a has the same diameter.
The entire circumference is bent into a substantially L shape so as to cover the inner surface side at one end. The base plate 4 has a shaft supporting portion 17 at the center thereof for holding the hub shaft 1 in a penetrating manner. The base plate 4 is rotatably mounted on the hub shaft 1 so as to be close to the rim 3. It In the figure, 2a and 4a are nuts for holding the hub 2 and the base plate 4 at predetermined positions, respectively, and the distance between both outer sides of the nuts 2a and 4a is such that the rear wheel side pawls 12 and 1 are provided.
The inner widths of the two members are set to be substantially the same.

The electric motor 5 is a built-in type DC electric motor, and a ring-shaped stator 5a is fixed to the inner surface side of the base plate 4 with the hub shaft 1 being concentric. Further, the ring-shaped rotor 5b having an inner diameter larger than that of the stator 5a is
It is fixed to the inner surface side of the collar portion 15 with the hub axle 1 being concentric.

The anti-rotation member 6 locks the base plate 4 by the torque thereof while the electric motor 5 is being driven so that the base plate 4 does not rotate. It is fixed with bolts. In the figure, 18 is a chain connected to the large sprocket wheel of the gear crank 19, and 20 is a brake lever.

The torque sensor 7a is for detecting how much treading force is applied during traveling. As shown in FIG. 4, the pulling side of the chain 18 is locked by a small sprocket 21. Frame this small sprocket 21
The lever 23, which is rotatably held up and down at 0
It is pushed up at 4 and the fluctuation range is detected by the sensor 22 (strain gauge, load cell, variable resistor, etc.).

The speed sensor 7b is for detecting the current speed of the bicycle in order to start and stop the electric motor 5, and is of a power generation type for taking out and measuring the rotation of the hub body 14.

The solar cell 8a serves as a normal power source for the electric motor 5, and is attached to the outer surfaces of the base plate 4 and the collar portion 15, respectively. The side of the collar portion 15 is the hub body 14 It is electrically connected to the base plate 4 side by the slip ring 25 provided in the.

The storage battery 8b is used to charge the surplus power of the solar battery 8a and discharge (power) the power when it is insufficient, and is fixed to the inner surface side of the base plate 4. 26a in the figure,
26b is a terminal.

The control device 9 controls the electric motor 5, charges and discharges the storage battery 8b, etc., and has a first controller 27 and a second controller 28 as shown in FIG. ing.
The first control unit 27 uses only the solar cell 8a according to an instruction from the second control unit 28, which will be described later, or charges the storage battery 8b when there is available power so as to perform stable power supply. Is. The second control unit 28 energizes the electric motor 5 to assist the driving force of the bicycle, and a speed range setting unit 29 for setting a speed range of the bicycle (for example, from 5 km / h to 20 km / h), The speed range setting unit 2
The proportional determination section 30 which takes in the data of 9 and outputs the result in proportion to the detection signal of the speed sensor 7b, and the switch section 31 which opens and closes the circuit of the solar battery 8a or the storage battery 8b by the signal of the proportional determination section 30. And have.

Further, the torque setting section 32 for setting the range of the pedal effort and the data of the torque setting section 32 are fetched,
A comparison judgment unit 33 that compares the detection signal of the torque sensor 7a and outputs the result, and a power supply adjustment unit 34 that adjusts the power supply (voltage or current) from the switch unit 31 by the signal of the comparison judgment unit 33. Have In the figure, numeral 35 is an inspection lid provided on the base plate 4 for the control device 9, and numeral 36 is a main switch.

The above-mentioned components are integrally assembled as a bicycle wheel A with a solar cell drive unit, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, except for the torque sensor 7a. Therefore, in the bicycle wheel A with a solar cell drive unit according to the present embodiment, first, the chain 18 is removed from the free wheel of the rear wheel, and then the rear wheel is removed from the pawls 12 and 12 together with the hub axle thereof.

After that, the hub axle 1 of the bicycle wheel A having a solar cell drive unit is mounted on the pawls 12 and 12, the chain 18 is connected to the free wheel 16, the tension is adjusted, and the nut 37 is tightened. To fix. After fixing the hub axle 1, the detent member 6 is locked to the frame 10 and fixed to the base plate 4 with bolts.

The lever 23 of the torque sensor 7a is fixed to the frame 10, the small sprocket 21 is locked to the tension side of the chain 18, and the spring 24 presses it upward. Then, the output cable of the sensor 22 is connected to the control device 9. By the above work, the conventional bicycle can be converted into a bicycle with an electric motor driven by a solar cell.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described. First, the main switch 36 is closed and the bicycle is stepped on and the pedal is depressed.
When the speed of the bicycle is from 0 km / h to less than 5 km / h, the switch unit 31 is in the open state according to the signal of the comparison and determination unit, and the bicycle is run only by the pedaling force. At this time, the electromotive force of the solar cell 8a causes the storage battery 8b to be charged by the first control unit 27 according to a signal from the power supply adjustment unit 34. When the speed of the bicycle is 5 km / h or more and 20 km / h or less, the switch unit 31 is closed. Further, when the pedaling force detected by the torque sensor 7a is within the range of the set value, the comparison / determination unit 33
Outputs a signal proportional to the magnitude, and the power supply adjustment unit 34 proportionally increases or decreases the power. Therefore, when the speed of the bicycle is within the set value range and the pedal force is within the set value range, the electric motor 5 is driven to assist the running, and the driving force of the electric motor 5 is proportional to the pedal force. adjust. In this case, at the lowest speed and high speed, the driving of the electric motor is stopped and the safe running is performed only by the pedaling force. Adjust the driving force of the electric motor to make the car run easier.
Further, at this time, when the electromotive force of the solar cell has a surplus due to the signal of the adjusting unit 34, the storage battery 8b is charged, and when insufficient, it is discharged (power supply).

The embodiments of the present invention have been described above.
The specific configuration of the present invention is not limited to the present embodiment, and even if there are design changes and the like within the scope of the invention, they are included in the present invention.

For example, in the embodiment, the torque sensor 7a is structured to utilize the tension of the chain 18, but the invention is not limited to this, and it may be set between the free wheel 16 and the hub body 14.

The structure and mounting position of the speed sensor 7b are also arbitrary.

The electric motor 5 has been described with the hub shaft 1 built in concentrically, but a large gear may be attached to the collar portion 15, and a pinion may be attached to and meshed with a DC electric motor having a rotary shaft. In this case, the electric motor can be mounted on the outer surface side of the base plate. Moreover, you may use the electric motor with a reduction gear.

The configuration and operation of the control device 9 are also arbitrary. An inverter or the like may be used for speed control.

The storage battery 8b may have any shape and may be attached to the outer surface of the base plate.

A planetary gear device 40 may be provided between the electric motor and the collar portion, whereby the rotation of the high speed type electric motor may be decelerated for use (see FIG. 6).

[0036]

As described above, in the bicycle wheel with the solar cell drive section according to claim 1 of the present invention,
With the above structure, an existing bicycle can be easily modified into a bicycle with an electric motor driven by a solar cell. In addition, the solar cell enables economical traveling, and the combination with the storage battery provides stable traveling.

Since the bicycle wheel with a solar cell driving section according to claim 2 has the above-mentioned structure, the pedaling force can be reduced to allow easy traveling, and the electric motor can be started / stopped depending on the speed for safe traveling. And so on.

Since the bicycle wheel with the solar cell drive section according to the third aspect has the above-mentioned structure, the drive section can have a simple structure and can be made compact.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view showing a bicycle wheel with a solar cell drive unit according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a side view showing a bicycle wheel with a solar cell drive unit of the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is an overall view showing a mounted state of a bicycle wheel with a solar cell drive unit according to an embodiment.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing a mounted state of the torque sensor of the embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing an electric circuit of the embodiment.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram showing the periphery of a speed reducer according to another embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

A Bicycle wheel with a solar cell drive unit 1 Hub shaft 2 Hub 3 Rim 4 Base plate 5 Electric motor 5a Stator 5b Rotor 6 Rotation stop member 7a Torque sensor 7b Speed sensor 8a Solar cell 8b Storage battery (secondary battery) 9 Control Device 10 Frame 11 Bicycle 12 Frame Pawl 15 Collar 27 First control unit 28 for stable power supply Second control unit for starting and stopping the electric motor according to the speed of the bicycle

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── --Continued from the front page (56) References JP-A-56-149277 (JP, A) JP-A-5-262273 (JP, A) JP-A-5-24575 (JP, A) Actual development Sho-55- 19073 (JP, U) Actually opened 50-147354 (JP, U) Actually opened 49-132546 (JP, U) Actually opened 5-89188 (JP, U) Actually opened 4-125995 (JP, U) Tokuyohei 6-506891 (JP, A) (58) Fields surveyed (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) B62M 7/12 B62M 23/02 B60K 7/00

Claims (3)

(57) [Claims] 1. A hub axle detachably fixed to the pawls of a bicycle frame; one collar portion is enlarged and formed in a disk shape, and a rim provided at the tip of the collar portion is arranged in the center portion of the bicycle frame. A hub for supporting the disc-shaped flange portion of the hub, and a base plate pivotally supported by the hub shaft and mounted between the pawls together with the disc-shaped flange portion; the sun fixed to the base plate or the like; A battery; an electric motor that drives the hub by using the solar cell as a power source; a secondary battery that charges an extra electromotive force of the solar cell and discharges a shortage; a detent member that fixes the base plate to the frame; A bicycle wheel with a solar cell drive, characterized by being equipped with. 2. The bicycle wheel with a solar cell drive unit according to claim 1, wherein the torque sensor detects a torque when the hub is driven by a pedal force of a person; and a speed sensor detects a rotation speed of the hub. A controller for adjusting the power supply to the electric motor in response to the signal from the torque sensor and for starting and stopping the electric motor in response to the signal from the speed sensor; Wheels. 3. The solar cell drive unit according to claim 1, wherein the stator of the electric motor is fixed to the base plate concentrically with the hub shaft, and the rotor is fixed to the hub concentric with the hub shaft. Bicycle wheel with.