Selectable four-wheel drive system
AssigneeHydro-Gear Limited Partnership
InventorsK. Mike McCoy, Christopher K. Wyatt
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A drive system for a vehicle having a rear drive assembly powered by a first power source, a front drive assembly in selective electrical communication with a second power source, a selector switch to selectively permit or prevent electrical communication between the front drive assembly and the second power source, and an output capacity sensor to detect an output of the first power source, where the rear drive assembly drives the vehicle when the selector switch is in a first position and both the rear and front drive assemblies drive the vehicle when the selector switch is in a second position and the output capacity sensor detects that the output of the first power source meets a threshold output.
Claims23
A drive system for a vehicle having a pair of front wheels and a pair of rear wheels, the drive system comprising:
- a rear drive assembly for powering the pair of rear wheels, the rear drive assembly being powered by a first power source disposed on the vehicle;
- a front drive assembly in selective electrical communication with a second power source disposed on the vehicle and selectively powering the pair of front wheels;
- an activation switch, wherein the activation switch has a first position which prevents electrical communication between the front drive assembly and the second power source, and a second position which places the front drive assembly in electrical communication with the second power source;
- and
- an output capacity sensor disposed on the vehicle to detect an output of the first power source;
- wherein the rear drive assembly is capable of driving the vehicle when the activation switch is in the first position;
- and
- wherein both the rear drive assembly and the front drive assembly are capable of driving the vehicle when the activation switch is in the second position and the output capacity sensor detects that the output of the first power source meets a threshold output.
A drive system for a vehicle having a pair of steerable front wheels and a pair of rear wheels, the drive system comprising:
- a rear drive assembly for powering the pair of rear wheels, the rear drive assembly being powered by a first power source disposed on the vehicle;
- a front drive assembly in selective electrical communication with a second power source disposed on the vehicle and selectively powering both steerable front wheels of the pair of steerable front wheels at the same time, such that the pair of steerable front wheels are either both powered or both unpowered;
- a steering mechanism in communication with the pair of steerable front wheels and capable of steering the vehicle in straight line tracking or in a left direction or a right direction offset from straight line tracking;
- and
- an activation switch having a first position which prevents electrical communication between the front drive assembly and the second power source, and a second position which places the front drive assembly in electrical communication with the second power source, wherein (i) the rear drive assembly is capable of driving the vehicle when the activation switch is in the first position, and (ii) both the rear drive assembly and the front drive assembly are capable of driving the vehicle when the activation switch is in the second position;
- and
- wherein the drive system prevents electrical communication between the front drive assembly and the second power source when the steering mechanism steers the vehicle more than a predetermined number of degrees off of straight line tracking in either the left direction or the right direction.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.