Classifications

• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B62—LAND VEHICLES FOR TRAVELLING OTHERWISE THAN ON RAILS
  • B62M—RIDER PROPULSION OF WHEELED VEHICLES OR SLEDGES; POWERED PROPULSION OF SLEDGES OR SINGLE-TRACK CYCLES; TRANSMISSIONS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR SUCH VEHICLES
  • B62M23/00—Transmissions characterised by use of other elements; Other transmissions

Definitions

• the invention concerns a vehicle with front-wheel drive, in particular a bicycle, a motorcycle or a delivery tricar.
• vehicles such as bicycles, motor- cycles and delivery tricars consist of a frame bearing at its front end a wheel which is connected through a fork revolving by means of a steering, which is connected to the frame in correspondence with a steering column. Attached to the rear end of the frame there are two wheels, in the case of a delivery tricar or a single wheel in the case of bicycles or motorcycles, which are driven by a propelling device.
• the propelling device is an endothermic motor in the case of motorcycles and for delivery tricars or it consists of a pair of pedal cranks with pedals in the case of bicycles.
• the vehicles of the just described type have in common the • characteristic that the rear wheels or wheel are the dri- ving wheels, while no vehicle of this type is known, where the front wheel is a driving wheel. It is, therefore, the purpose of the present invention to disclose a vehicle wherein the front wheel becomes the driving wheel by means of a propelling device, which drives it through transmission means.
• a vehicle which, in accordance with the main claim comprises a frame associated with: - a front wheel coupled with a fork, the latter being connected with the steering column of the frame and atta- ched to the steering; - at least one rear wheel connected with the rear end of the frame; - a propelling device associated with the frame for the generation of power, and is characterized in that the front wheel is made motive a gear-wheelwork associated with the vehicle frame in corre- spondence with the steering column, said gear-wheelwork presenting an ingoing shaft which is rigidly attached to the steering column and is connected through driving means with the propelling device, which drives it into rotateion and at least one outgoing shaft, rigidly attached to the fork and connected through more driving means with the front wheel, which it drives.
• a front-wheel driven vehicle presents undoubtedly some advantages according to the type of vehicle and its use. If the vehicle is a delivery tricar with two or more rear driving wheels, the possibility of having also a front- drive wheel means to obtain an all-wheel driven vehicle offering on rough, muddy or yielding grounds, in general, a larger degree of safety than offered by analogous vehicles with rear-wheel drive only. Moreover, advantegeously and always in the case of a deli- very tricar, the fact of making the front wheel a driving wheel permits also to render the rear wheels idle, thereby eliminating the differential, if there is an interest in achieving that, so that it becomes less costly to manufac- ture the vehicle.
• the all-wheel drive also offers an undoubtable advantage of driving safety and an improved grip on the ground .
• the all-wheel drive in motorcycles can advantageously be useful in the curves and during competi- tions, when the maximum grip on the ground is required in order to always guarantee the maximum transmission of power and/or torque. Further scope of applicability of the present invention will become apparent from the detailed description given hereinafter.
• the two-wheel vehi- cle could also be a motorcycle or even a delivery tricar wherein both the front wheel and the rear wheels are dri- ving wheels.
• the same description in general can also apply for vehicles wherein the front wheel only is a driving wheel.
• the two-wheel drive vehicle according to the invention in this case a bicycle, indica- ted as a whole with 1, comprises a frame, indicated as a whole with 2, with which a pair of wheels is associated.
• the front wheel 3 is coupled with the front fork 4, which is connected with the steering column 5 of the frame and is attached through a tie-rod 18, visible in Fig.
• the rear wheel 7 is a driving wheel thanks to a propelling device, indicated as a whole with 9, which in the specific case of the bicycle referred to in the description consists of a pair of pedal cranks 10, which are driven into rota- tion by the pedals 11, said pedal crank being arranged at the opposite sides of and coaxial with a chain wheel 12.
• a propelling device indicated as a whole with 9
• the chain wheel 12 drives a pinion gear 14 co-axially attached to hub 15 of the rear wheel 7.
• a chain 17 - transmits the rotation of the propelling device 9 to a gear-wheelwork, indicated as a whole with 20, being associated with frame 2 of the vehicle in correspondence with the steering column 5, said gear wheelwork 20 being visible in better detail in the Figs. 2 and 3.
• chain 17 engages a cogged wheel 21 positioned at the end of an ingoing shaft 22, it drives a bevel pinion 23 belonging to the gear-wheelwork 20.
• Said bevel pinion 23, as can be observed in. Fig. 3 belongs to an upper set of four bevel pinions, indicated as a whole with 24, to which another bevel pinion 25 also belongs.
• Said bevel pinions • constitute a pair of crown pinions 23 and 25 facing each other, their bevelled surfaces converging and being co- axial. These crown pinions in turn engage a pair of side pinions 26 and 28, also being co-axial with each " other. It can be observed that, while the crown pinions 23 and 25 present their pivots, 27 and 29 respectively, matching within seats obtained in the steering column 5 of the frame through the interposition of the ball bearings , 57 and 59, the side pinions 26 and 28 are co-axially arranged with tie-rod 18 which permanently connects the front fork 4 with the handle-bar 6. Below the upper set of four bevel pinions 24 there is a lower set of four bevel pinions, indicated as a whole with 34.
• this set consists of a pair of crown pinions, 33 and 35 respec- tively, which engage corresponding side pinions, 36 and 38 respectively.
• the crown pinions present their pivots, 37 and 39, matching withing seats obtained in fork 4 and supported by ball bearings 70 and 69, while the side pinions are co-axial in this case, too, with the tie- rod 18 joining fork 4 with handle-bar 6.
• the crown pinion 35 is connected with shaft 32, which supports at its end a cogged wheel 31 engaging driving means 47, for instance a chain, which is better visible in Fig. 1, which engages a corresponding pinion 48, attached co-axially with hub 49 of the front wheel 3.
• the two sets of four pinions, the upper 24 and lower 34 respectively, are kinematically connected, since, through connecting means, for instance the pegs 50, the side pinion 28 of the upper set 24 is connected with its corresponding side pinion 36 in the lower set 34 in correspondence with their flat mutual surfaces 51 which are matched with each other.
• the cogged wheel 31 besides performing a rotational movement around its own axis 61 can also accomplish, at the same time, a revolving movement around the vertical axis 52, said movement being impressed upon it when, by moving the handle-bar 6, fork 4, with which said outgoing cogged wheel 31 is rigidly connected through its shaft 32, is caused to rotate in direction 53. It is easy to understand that this fact is crucial in order to permit the transmission of the movement from the propel- ling device 9, consisting in this case of the pedals 11, to the front wheel 3, thereby allowing the steering of the bicycle.
• the cogged wheel 31 not only can rotate around its own axis 61, it can also accomplish at the same time a revol- ving movement around the vertical axis 52 which is impres- sed on it when, by rotating the handle-bar 6, fork 4, with which said outgoing cogged wheel 31 is rigidly connected through its shaft 32, is caused to rotate in the direction of arrow 53.
• the vehicle described, a bicycle in the example permits to obtain a vehicle with both driving wheels, said driving wheels being driven by the single driving unit associated with the frame.
• the front wheel the single driving wheel.
• chain 13 transmitting the motion to the rear wheel 7.
• the vehicle can indifferently be a motorcycle of any type, rather than a bicycle, or even a delivery tricar.
• the rear wheel can be a driving wheel or not.

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• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Chemical & Material Sciences (AREA)
• Combustion & Propulsion (AREA)
• Transportation (AREA)
• Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
• Automatic Cycles, And Cycles In General (AREA)
• Arrangement And Driving Of Transmission Devices (AREA)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Publications (1)

Family

ID=11424777

Family Applications (1)

Country Status (2)

Cited By (3)

Citations (4)

• 1991
  • 1991-12-16 IT ITVI910187A patent/IT1253820B/it active IP Right Grant
• 1992
  • 1992-12-14 WO PCT/EP1992/002886 patent/WO1993011991A1/en unknown

Patent Citations (4)

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