WO2007133584A2

WO2007133584A2 - Hub motor formed in a wheel improvements

Info

Publication number: WO2007133584A2
Application number: PCT/US2007/011194
Authority: WO
Inventors: Stephen B. Katsaros
Original assignee: Katsaros Stephen B
Priority date: 2006-05-08
Filing date: 2007-05-08
Publication date: 2007-11-22
Also published as: WO2007133584A3

Abstract

Described herein are exemplary methods and embodiments for manufacturing a wheel motor including building an engine assembly; testing the engine assembly; and building a wheel motor after the testing the engine assembly; and, a wheel motor including an engine assembly; a first hub half comprising a plurality of rim protrusions; and wherein the engine assembly is interfaced with the first hub half.

Description

HUB MOTOR FORMED IN A WHEEL IMPROVEMENTS

Related Applications

The present application is related to US Patent No. 6,971,467 titled HUB MOTOR FORMED IN A WHEEL AND A METHOD ASSOCIATED THEREWITH issued to Stephen B. Katsaros on December 6, 2005. Additionally, Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) International Application No. PCT/US2005/029685 titled HUB MOTOR FORMED IN A WHEEL AND ASSOCIATED METHODS filed by Stephen B. Katsaros on August 22, 2005 with a priority date of August 25, 2004 is related to the present application.

Background

Transportation devices have contained motors in the past. Certain limitations of the prior art motors have been realized. One of these limitations is that motors operate at a relatively high speed while wheels on vehicles operate at much lower speeds.

Summary

In one exemplary embodiment described herein a method for manufacturing a wheel motor may include building an engine assembly; testing the engine assembly; and building a wheel motor after the testing the engine assembly.

In another exemplary embodiment, a wheel motor includes an engine assembly; a first hub half comprising a plurality of rim protrusions; and wherein the engine assembly is interfaced with the first hub half.

Brief Description of the Drawings Illustrative embodiments are shown in the Figures of the Drawing in which:

FIG. 1 shows an exemplary embodiment of a wheel motor 100 shown in an exploded condition as assembled into a fork of a bicycle. FIG. 2 shows an elevation view of one side of an exemplary rim assembly 110.

FIG. 3 shows an exploded condition of the exemplary rim assembly 110 of FIG. 2 in an exploded condition. FIG.4. shows a perspective view of the wheel motor 100 of FIG. 1 in an exploded condition. FIG. 5 shows a perspective view of an exemplary embodiment of a left hub assembly 122 incorporated into the wheel motor 100 of

FIG. 1 in an exploded condition. FIG. 6 shows a perspective view of an exemplary embodiment of an engine assembly 160 in an exploded condition.

Detailed Description

US Patent No. 6,971 ,467 titled HUB MOTOR FORMED IN A WHEEL AND A METHOD ASSOCIATED THEREWITH issued to Stephen B. Katsaros on December 6, 2005 is incorporated by reference. Additionally, Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) International Application No. PCT/US2005/029685 titled HUB MOTOR FORMED IN A WHEEL AND ASSOCIATED METHODS filed by Stephen B. Katsaros on August 22, 2005 with a priority date of August 25, 2004 is also incorporated by reference.

With reference to FIG. 1 illustrating a view of one exemplary embodiment of a wheel motor 100. The wheel motor 100 may be utilized for any one of a variety of devices such as utility carts, tricycles, bicycles, recumbent vehicles, mini transportation vehicles, wheelbarrows, wheelchairs, pedicabs and other devices capable of moving from one location to another location. It should be noted that the description provided herein is directed to a bicycle, it being understood that the wheel motor 100 may be utilized in any one of the previously mentioned devices or equivalents thereof.

Ass shown in FIG. 1, the wheel motor 100 is installed on a bicycle (either as a front wheel or a back wheel). This installation is shown as being installed as the front wheel wherein a pair of forks 18 may be provided with a first fork 20 and a second fork 22.

With continued reference to FIG. 1, the wheel motor 100 is rotationally mounted to the forks 18 with the assistance of various hardware as shown. Movement of the bicycle in a first direction Dl causes counterclockwise rotation CCW of the wheel motor 100. It is noted that the terms such as "front", 'back', "upper", "lower", 'clockwise', 'counterclockwise', 'right', 'left', etc. are provided for illustrative purposes only and that these terms are relative to the orientation of the bicycle or drawings thereof. Therefore, other orientations may be utilized while retaining the functionality of the device.

The wheel motor 100 consists of a rim assembly 110 and a hub motor 120. The hub motor 120 is substantially located at the center of the wheel motor 100. The entire wheel motor 100 may define a first axis Al about which the wheel motor 100.

With reference to FIG. 2 illustrating an elevation perspective of the rim assembly 110, the rim assembly may comprise a tire 112, a rim 114 and a plurality of rim adaptors 116. The rim assembly 110 may also be provided with a tube (not shown) for receiving pressurized air therein. As illustrated in FIG. 2, the rim assembly 110 may be assembled with the plurality of rim adaptors 116 received by the rim 114. The tube and tire 112 are attached to the rim 114 in a manner consistent with existing technology in the industry. FIG- 3 illustrates an exploded view of one exemplary embodiment of the rim assembly 110.

With reference to FIG. 4 illustrating one exemplary embodiment of the wheel motor 100 in an exploded state, the wheel motor 100 consists of the rim assembly 110 and the hub motor 120 (shown in an exploded condition). The hub motor 120 may comprise a left hub assembly 122 and a right hub assembly 128. These left and right hub assemblies 122 and 128 are attached to the rim assembly 110 in a manner that will be described later herein.

With reference to FIG. 5 illustrating an exemplary exploded view of one embodiment of the left hub assembly 122, the left hub assembly 122 may include a hub half 130, a hub seal 140, a plurality of standoffs 150, an engine assembly 160, a transmission assembly 170 and a throttle assembly 180. The hub seal 140, the plurality of standoffs 150, the engine assembly 160, the transmission assembly 170 and the throttle assembly 180 are installed into the hub half 130 in a manner that creates the left hub assembly 122. With continued reference to FIG. 5, the hub half 130 may be provided with a first surface 132 and an oppositely disposed second surface 134. The hub half 130 may be further provided with a perimeter wall 136 integrally formed on the hub half first surface 132. The hub half 130 may be further provided with a plurality of rim protrusions 138. These rim protrusions 138 are integrally formed with the hub half 130 at the time of manufacture.

With reference again to FIG. 4, the wheel motor 100 may be further provided with a right hub assembly 190. The right hub assembly 190 is provided with another hub half that is substantially similar to hub half 130. In the interest of clarity, the hub half used in the right hub assembly 190 will retain the same element number, 130, as the previously described hub half 130.

With reference to FIG. 6 illustrating an exploded view of the engine assembly 160, the engine assembly 160 is provided with a crankcase assembly 162, a cylinder 164, a carburetor 166, an intake 168, a muffler (not shown) and an ignition system (not shown). These various components are assembled as illustrated in FIG. 5.

Having provided a description of various components and sub-assemblies of the wheel motor 100, a description of the building of the wheel motor 100 will now be provided. With reference to FIG. 4 showing the perspective view of the wheel motor 100 in an exploded condition, the left hub assembly 122 can be attached to the rim assembly 110 with a plurality of bolts (not shown). These plurality of bolts may be positioned through the holes formed in the plurality rim assembly rim adaptors 116 and the plurality of hub half rim protrusions 138. In another exemplary embodiment, the right hub assembly 190 may also be captured by these plurality of bolts thereby 'capturing' the rim assembly 110 between the left hub assembly 122 and the right hub assembly 190. It should be noted that this building of the wheel motor 100 may utilize the plurality of standoffs 150 (FIG. 5) for establishing a separation distance between the left hub assembly 122 and the right hub assembly 190. Furthermore, the hub assemblies 122, 190 may be attached to the standoffs 150 with screws (not shown). One important aspect of the present invention as illustrated in FIG. 5 is that the engine assembly 160 is a sub-assembly. As a sub-assembly, the engine assembly 160 exists (i.e. the engine assembly 160 has been 'built') in a completed form prior to being installed into the left hub assembly 122 and ultimately the entire wheel motor 100. When this engine assembly 160 exists as a sub-assembly it can be tested independently. After testing the engine assembly 160, it can be used in the final assembly of the wheel motor 100 as described previously herein. The major benefit of this independent testing is that all emissions compliance can be tested before final assembly. This ability to independently test the engine assembly 160 is an important aspect of commercializing the wheel motor 100 since these types of products usually fall within regulations of governments.

While illustrative embodiments have been described in detail herein, it is to be understood that the inventive concepts may be otherwise variously embodied and employed and that the appended claims are intended to be construed to include such variations except insofar as limited by the prior art.

Claims

What is claimed is:

1) A method for manufacturing a wheel motor comprising: building an engine assembly; testing said engine assembly; and building a wheel motor after said testing said engine assembly.

2) A wheel motor comprising: an engine assembly; a first hub half comprising a plurality of rim protrusions; and wherein said engine assembly is interfaced with said first hub half.

3) A wheel motor comprising: a first hub half; a second hub half; a plurality of standoffs disposed between said first hub half and said second hub half; wherein, said first hub half is attached to said plurality of standoffs; and wherein, said second hub half is attached to said plurality of standoffs.