JPH0345407A - All terrain travelling vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To enhance propulsion efficiency on the water in particular by providing floats for the outer circumference of a vehicle body, providing pushers monolithically with front and rear wheels, thereby providing said pushers with thrust blades in a circular arc shape in such a way as to be attached onto each cylindrical base barrel at equal intervals. CONSTITUTION:An all terrain travelling vehicle is so constituted that its vehicle body 2 is movably furnished with floats 3 and pushers 4. In this case, the vehicle body 2 is built up, for example, based on a four wheel drive vehicle for all terrain travelling use which meets specifications for a buggy. The respective floats 3 are distributively arranged in front and in rear to the right and the left 3a through 3c so that the vehicle 2 is well balanced when it floats. In addition, each pusher 4 is detachably mounted onto front and rear wheels 7 and 8 integrally with all terrain travelling tires T1 and T2. Each pusher 4 is formed in such a way that a plurality of thrust blades 59 each of which is in a circular arc shape, is extended while being curved to the reward side in the rotating direction of the wheel, and is interposed to the outer circumferential surface of a cylindrical base barrel 57.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to an all-terrain vehicle that can safely navigate on water without causing accidents such as sinking, and has significantly improved propulsion.

[Conventional technology]

With the diversification of leisure, sports, etc., there is a desire for land vehicles equipped with prime movers, especially all-terrain vehicles, to be used on water. proposed an amphibious all-terrain vehicle that is equipped with a float that generates a buoyant force greater than the total weight of the vehicle including the occupants, and a propulsion device having thrust vanes that can be detachably attached to the vehicle body.

By adopting a float made of a foam material with closed cells, this product prevents a decrease in buoyancy due to breakage or damage, completely preventing accidents such as sinking or capsizing, and can be attached separately to the wheel rim. The propulsion force is obtained by a propulsion device, and the cruising speed is greatly improved compared to the conventional one, which relied only on the rotation of tires with block patterns.

[Problem to be solved by the invention]

In order to further improve the practicality of such all-terrain vehicles, the inventors of the present invention have conducted further research into improving the propulsion force of such all-terrain vehicles.

As a result, the above-mentioned document III (Utility Application No. 1-10969)
As shown in FIG. 8, the propulsion device disclosed as an example is a water turbine in which flat thrust vanes b are radially provided on the outer periphery of a cylindrical base tube a that is attached concentrically to a wheel rim. It was found that the propulsion efficiency of the propulsion tool C was extremely poor. This is because when the thrust vane 11b enters the water, the air in the large space H surrounded by the outer wall of the base tube a and the water surface S is drawn into the water together with the thrust vane flb, and the impact upon entry into the water becomes large. This may be possible. In other words, the water around the propulsion tool C becomes foamy due to the entrained air and impact, and the reaction force received from the water is greatly reduced.

Incidentally, such a decrease in reaction force, that is, a decrease in propulsion efficiency, becomes more remarkable as the rotational speed of the propulsion tool C is higher and the bubbles are finer and more widespread, and as the draft surface is lower and the internal volume of the cavity increases.

Therefore, the inventors of the present invention deliberately went against several aspects of conventional water grip performance, but curved the thrust vanes backward in the direction of rotation to reduce the internal volume of the cavity and alleviate the impact force when entering the water. By suppressing the generation of air bubbles, they were able to improve overall propulsion efficiency and find scales.

That is, the present invention aims to provide an all-terrain vehicle that can significantly improve propulsion efficiency and increase navigation speed by curving the thrust vanes outward in the radial direction and toward the rear in the rotational direction. There is.

(Means for Solving A) In order to achieve the above object, the all-terrain vehicle of the present invention is made of a foam material having closed cells and has a detachable structure that produces a buoyancy greater than the total mass including the occupant. A flexible float and
An all-terrain vehicle comprising a propulsion device having thrust vanes and removably disposed on a wheel rim, the propulsion device comprising a cylindrical base removably and concentrically attached to the wheel rim. A cylinder, and six or more and twelve or more thrust blades having inner ends on the outer circumferential surface of the base cylinder and extending curvedly outward in the radial direction and rearward in the wheel rotation direction.

The thrust vanes are arranged radially outwardly and in the rotational direction by following an arc with a radius of curvature R rising from the point of contact between the outer circumferential surface and the tangent, the center of which is on the tangent that contacts the outer circumferential surface and on the rear side in the rotational direction. While curving toward the rear side, the outer end radius R1, which is the length from the rotation center to the outer end of the thrust blade, is set to 2.
00f1 or more and 30 (ln or less), and the inner end radius R2 from the center of rotation is 75 m or more and 1750 or less, and the radius of curvature R is the outer end radius R1 and the inner end radius R.
1 or more times the radius difference R1-R2, which is the difference from 2, and 1.4
It is preferable to make it twice or less.

[Effect]

In this way, the thrust vanes of the propulsion device attached to the wheel rim curve outward in the radial direction and backward in the direction of rotation of the wheel, thereby allowing smooth entry into the water and reducing the void volume. It is possible to suppress the surrounding water from forming into foam, and it is possible to greatly improve the reaction force that the thrust vanes receive from the water, that is, the propulsion efficiency. Therefore, the present applicant
While having all the advantages of the all-terrain vehicle previously proposed in No. 9, it enables high-speed navigation, improves practicality, and can expand the market.

〔Example〕

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below based on the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an embodiment of the present invention.

In the figure, an all-terrain vehicle 1 is formed by attaching and detaching a float 3 and a propulsion device 4 to a vehicle body 2.

In this example, the vehicle body 2 is a conventional all-terrain four-wheel drive vehicle having a so-called buggy specification and having front wheels 7 and rear wheels 8 connected to a drive source M such as an engine via a propeller shaft 5, an axle 6, etc. The upper part of the vehicle body 2 is covered with an exterior cover 11. In addition, exterior cover 1
1, it is preferable to provide a lower wall part 16 for a footrest that is continuous with the side wall part 13 and the front and rear mudguard parts 15A and 15B at a position below the seat 12 to prevent the occupant from getting wet.

Further, the front wheels 7 and the rear wheels 8 are provided with all-terrain tires T1 on wheel rims 21 which are respectively bolted to the axle 6.
T2 is attached, and in this example, the propulsion device 4 is detachably provided via a connector 22.

The connector 22 is connected to the wheel rim 21 as shown in FIG.
A flange 27 is formed along the outer surface of the disk 23 and on the periphery of a disk-shaped base plate 25 that is fastened together with the disk 23 to the axle 6 via a stepped portion 26 extending outward in the axle direction. A bolt-like screw fitting 29 is fixed to the outer surface of the flange 27 with a threaded portion 29A protruding outward.

Further, the propulsion device 4 has a cylindrical base tube 57 provided concentrically with the axle on the outer edge of a disk-shaped side plate 56 which has a through hole 55 for passing through the threaded portion 29A and is fastened to the flange 27 with a nut. The base body 58 has an arc-shaped base body 58 having an inner edge el on the outer peripheral surface of the base cylinder 57 and extending in a curved manner outward in the radial direction and toward the rear side in the wheel rotation direction. Thrust vanes 59 are formed with equiangular pinches.

Therefore, as shown in FIG. 4, the propulsion device 4 can greatly reduce the internal volume of the space H surrounded by the thrust vane 159, the base tube 57, and the water surface S formed when the thrust vane 59 enters the water. It also enables smooth entry into the water, suppresses the formation of foam around the water around the propulsion device 4, and greatly improves propulsion efficiency.

The reason why the base tube 57 is used in the propulsion device 4 is to improve the attachment of the propulsion device 4 to the wheel rim 21, and also to improve the attachment of the propulsion device 4 to the wheel rim 21.
9-. can be mounted with high strength, and also from the rotation center C○ to the outer end e2 without causing a decrease in the strength of the blade itself due to the blade length of the thrust blade 59 being excessively large. This is because the outer end radius R1 of all the thrust vanes 59 can be increased.

Further, as shown in FIG. 3, the thrust vane 59 has a center O on the tangent vAL in contact with the outer circumferential surface of the base cylinder 57 and on the rear side in the rotational direction, and extends along an arc with a radius of curvature R rising from a contact point P. It is preferable that the number of formations is 6.
The number must be at least 12 sheets and no more than 12 sheets.

This was obtained from the relationship between the propulsive force and the number of thrust vanes t159 formed based on laboratory experiments; if there are less than 6, the propulsive force is insufficient, and if more than 12, the adjacent thrust vanes 59 are If they are too close, each thrust vane 59 will not work effectively, and on the contrary, the propulsive force will be reduced overall.

In addition, the thrust vane 59 has an outer end radius R1 of 200 n or more and 300 am or less, and also has an inner end e1 from the rotation center CO.
The inner end radius R2 of the thrust blade 59 that reaches this point is 75u+ or more and 175 tuna or less, and the radius of curvature R is at least 1 times the radius difference R1-R2, which is the difference between the outer end radius R1 and the inner end radius R2. It is also preferable to set it to 1.4 times or less, preferably 1.1 times or more and 1.3 times or less.

This is because if the outer end radius R1 exceeds 300n, the outer end e2 of the thrust vane 59 will be too close to the tire tread surface, causing collision between the outer end e2 and the road surface when driving on land, especially on a curved surface, resulting in propulsion. This is because there is a risk of damaging the tool 4, and there is also the problem that the blade length of the thrust vane 59 becomes substantially excessive, reducing the strength of the blade itself.

Therefore, the propulsion device 4 includes the base body 58 and the thrust blades! It is preferable that one or both of the parts 159 be made of an elastic hard rubber material.

On the other hand, when the outer end radius R1 is less than 200 v* and the inner end radius R
2 exceeds 175 mm, the blade length becomes substantially too small and sufficient propulsive force cannot be obtained, and the inner end radius R2
If it is less than 7511, the workability of attaching the propulsion tool 4 to the wheel rim 21 is greatly reduced. Further, when the radius of curvature R is less than 1 times the radius difference RL-R2, the water grip loss of the thrust vane 59 itself becomes large compared to the water foaming prevention effect, and the radius of curvature R Radius R1-R 1.4
If it exceeds twice that, on the contrary, the effect of preventing water from becoming foamy will be insufficient, and in either case, it is difficult to expect a significant improvement in propulsion efficiency.

The components of the vehicle body 2 such as the driving source M, the propeller shaft 5, and the axle 6 are supported by a frame 33 for reinforcing the vehicle body 2.

In this example, the frame 33 is, for example, as shown in FIG.
Vertical frame pieces 35 parallel to each other extending in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle body, and horizontal frame pieces 36 connecting between the vertical frame pieces 35.
It is a ladder-like frame body with A bumper-like raised portion 33C is formed to protect the.

Further, front and rear base metal fittings 37A and 37B are fixed to each of the raised portions 33C and 33C, respectively, and in this example, the base metal fittings 37A
, 37B, the float 3 is attached via a sub-frame 39 that is detachably attached between them.

The base metal fittings 37A and 37B have the same shape, and in this example, have inner holes 40 that are open at both ends, and have the raised portion 33C.
It is formed of a cylindrical body which is horizontally fixed by welding or the like to the inner hole 40, and bolt fittings 41 extending into the inner hole 40 are screwed into the vicinity of both sides of the peripheral wall thereof.

Further, the sub-frame 39 is formed of, for example, a pipe-like circular body, and has a main portion 42 extending back and forth passing through the outside of the propulsion device 4.
Each inner hole 40 of the base metal fittings 37A, 37B is installed at the front and rear ends of A.
．． 40 and has a fitting portion 42B at its tip that is prevented from being removed by the bolt fitting 41;
The main portion 42A has a U-shape and is configured to be separable by a well-known joint means 43 formed at the center of the main portion 42A.

Further, the subframe 39 includes the main portion 42A and the bent portion 4.
2C, a mounting portion 44 having, for example, a vertical screw hole 44A.
- are formed at appropriate positions, and the float 3 is removably attached via the wire attachment part 44. It is preferable that the exterior cover 11, frames 33, 39, etc. be formed using synthetic resin, lightweight metal such as aluminum, etc., in order to reduce the weight of the entire vehicle body 2.

In order to stabilize the balance of flotation, the float 3 is divided into front and rear float pieces 3A and 3B and side float pieces 3C and 13C, which are respectively disposed at the front, rear, and sides of the vehicle body 2 in this example, in order to stabilize the balance of flotation. Pieces 3A and 3B are main portions 46Al extending forward and rearward over substantially the entire width of the vehicle body 2, respectively.
It is formed in a U-shape with a sub-portion 46B that is bent along the side at the j end.

Further, each of the float pieces 3A to 3C is fixed using a fastening metal fitting 47, respectively.

As shown in FIG. 6, the fastening fitting 47 has a band shape in which a connecting portion 47B faces and protrudes from the edge of a base portion 47A extending in a ring shape along the outer peripheral surface of the float 3. By bolting the float 3 to the mounting portion 44, the float 3 can be detachably mounted to the subframe 39.

In addition, the float 3 has all Ii including the float 3 itself and the crew members.
The total volume and the volume distribution of each of the float pieces 3A to 3C are set so as to generate a buoyant force greater than 0.0ft and to float the entire vehicle body horizontally in a well-balanced manner. In addition, the float 3 can eliminate the float piece 3C on the side by, for example, extending the sub-portion 46B, and can also provide a plurality of mounting parts 44 to change the mounting position of the float piece 3C on the side. By doing so, the balance change caused by the difference in the weight of the occupants may be corrected and the float 3 may be configured to have a suspended structure, and the waterline of the float 3 may be located below the drive source M and the power transmission means such as the propeller shaft 5. It is preferable to set the total volume as follows.

Here, the float 3 is formed from a foamed material with closed cells almost uniformly scattered, and by preventing loss of buoyancy due to breakage, damage, etc., it prevents accidents such as sinking and overturning, and is safe. Greatly improve your sexuality.

The foam material is made by mixing a foaming material such as dinitroso, pentamethylene, tetrayone, azocabonamide, azobisisobutyronitrile, toluenesulfonyl hydrazide, etc. into a base material made of synthetic resin, and then thermoforming the mixture. By doing so, it can be easily formed into a desired shape, and the porosity, cell diameter, etc. of the closed cells are appropriately set according to the required buoyancy and strength. It is preferable that each of the floats 38 to 3C made of such a foamed material be covered with a protective material in the form of a net or a sheet, for example, to prevent the floats from being separated from the vehicle body due to breakage.

The all-terrain vehicle 1, which floats safely and stably on the water surface due to the float 3 without sinking or overturning, can move forward with high propulsive force due to the rotation of the propulsion device 4 by the drive source M. Further, by operating a handle 10 connected to the front wheel 7, the direction of propulsion of the front propulsion device 4 can be changed, allowing the vehicle to travel freely on the water. In addition, on land, by removing the propulsion device 4 and the flow)-3 together with the subframe 39, it is possible to avoid impairing maneuverability, running performance, etc., especially in sandy areas,
It is possible to drive on rough terrain scattered with mud and rocks.

Note that in flat areas with relatively few obstacles, such as lake shores and seashores, it is possible to travel both on land and water with the float 3, propulsion device 4, etc. attached.

In addition to four-wheel drive, the all-terrain vehicle 1 can also be formed using a rear-wheel drive vehicle body 2, and in such a case, it has a steering plate extending downward from the front wheel axle 6 or wheel rim 21, etc. The direction of propulsion can be changed by providing a removable rudder.

In addition, the propulsion device 4 may have the thrust vanes 59 formed along an involute curve, or may have a straight portion 59A provided near the inner end e and an outwardly curved portion in the form of an arc, as shown in FIG. 59B, and the internal volume of the space H can be further reduced or eliminated by tilting the straight portion 59A at an appropriate angle with respect to the normal n.

In addition, the propulsion device 4 has, for example, a hole 60 for venting air suitable for the cavity H in the base tube 57 as shown by the dashed line in FIG. can be further increased.

〔Effect of the invention〕

Since the all-terrain vehicle of the present invention, like the Territory, uses a float made of a foam material having closed cells, accidents such as sinking can be completely prevented and safety can be improved. In addition, the thrust vanes of the propulsion device, which are detachably attached to the wheel rim, are curved outward in the radial direction and toward the rear in the rotational direction, which prevents water from forming around the propulsion device when entering water. This makes it possible to increase the propulsion effect and significantly increase the navigation speed.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Fig. 1 is a perspective view showing an embodiment of the present invention, Fig. 2 is an exploded perspective view showing the installation state of the propulsion tool, Fig. 3 is a schematic sectional view showing the shape of the thrust vane, and Fig. 4 is its function. Line diagram showing 5th
The figure is a perspective view showing the frame, FIG. 6 is a sectional view showing the installation state of the float, FIGS. It is a diagram for explaining. 3 - Float, 4 - Propulsion device, 21...Wheel rim, 31... Thrust vane, 57... Base tube,
59...-thrust vane, el-=-inner end,
e2... Outer end. 3 Figure 1゜Figure 4, Figure 6, Figure 8

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A removable float made of a foam material having closed cells and generating a buoyancy force greater than the total mass including the occupant, and a thrust vane, which is removably attached to a wheel rim. an all-terrain vehicle comprising a propulsion device, the propulsion device having a cylindrical base tube that is removably and concentrically attached to the wheel rim, and an inner end on the outer peripheral surface of the base tube; An all-terrain vehicle comprising at least 6 thrust vanes and no more than 12 thrust vanes extending radially outward and toward the rear in the wheel rotation direction. 2. The thrust vane has its center on the tangent line that contacts the outer circumferential surface and on the rear side in the rotational direction, and extends radially outward and in the rotational direction by following an arc with a radius of curvature R that rises from the point of contact between the outer circumferential surface and the tangent line. While curving toward the rear side, the outer end radius R1, which is the length from the rotation center to the outer end of the thrust blade, is 200 mm or more and 300 mm or less, and the inner end radius R2 from the rotation center is 75 mm or more and 175 mm or less. In addition, the radius of curvature R is set to be at least 1 times and at most 1.4 times the radius difference R1-R2, which is the difference between the outer end radius R1 and the inner end radius R2. terrain vehicle.