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US 11,891,152 B2Granted
Human-powered vehicle
OwnerGregory Allan Seljestadinventor
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A vehicle is powered and steered by a rider's arm. The vehicle may be a cycle or a tricycle Propulsion occurs in response to the rider pushing and pulling on the handlebar along a fore-and-aft direction. The propulsion mechanism resists or prevents the cycle from unintentionally rolling in reverse. Steering occurs in response to the rider pushing the handlebar to the right or left. The steering mechanism responds the same no matter where the propulsion system is in its range of motion and can provide approximately a 5-foot turning radius for a rider steering input, by moving the handlebar approximately 1 foot right or left of center steer, while maintaining front wheel alignment. A shifting mechanism provides multiple settings between lower gears for hills and higher gears for speed.
Claims17
A vehicle powered by a rider's arm, comprising:
- a propulsion mechanism actuated by the rider's arm engaging a handlebar;
- the vehicle having a front and a rear, a base assembly, a frame assembly, a tube assembly, and a handle assembly;
- the handle assembly including the handlebar, and the handle assembly connected to and positioned substantially parallel to the tube assembly of the vehicle;
- a push input force from the rider's arm and a pull input force from the rider's arm transfers from the handle assembly to the tube assembly;
- the base assembly including a mount assembly, with the tube assembly rigidly fixed to the mount assembly of the base assembly;
- a drive shaft assembly extended from the frame assembly, with the drive shaft assembly including a drive shaft;
- a lever arm group attached to the frame assembly, with the lever arm group including a lever crank;
- the mount assembly coupled to the lever crank of the lever arm group by a pin, the pin extends from the lever crank, and the mount assembly free to pivot about a central longitudinal axis of the pin;
- a push of the rider's arm on the handle assembly generates a forward oscillating motion in a forward direction toward the front of the vehicle with a push input force transferred to the lever crank, and a pull of the rider's arm on the handle assembly generates a rearward oscillating motion in a rearward direction toward the rear of the vehicle with a pull input force transferred to the lever crank;
- the push input force rotates the lever arm group in the forward direction, and the pull input force rotates the lever arm group in the rearward direction;
- a lever link having a front link end and a back link end, and the front link end is coupled to the lever arm of the lever arm group;
- the forward oscillating motion of the lever arm group causes the lever link to reciprocate toward the front of the vehicle, and the rearward oscillating motion of the lever arm group causes the lever links to reciprocate toward the rear of the vehicle;
- the back link end of the lever link is coupled to a drive pulley at a drive stub;
- a clutch belt loops around the drive pulley, the clutch belt loops a first clutch pulley of a first clutch assembly, and the clutch belt loops around a second clutch pulley of a second clutch assembly;
- the reciprocation of the lever link by the lever arm group causes the drive pulley to rotationally oscillate, and the drive pulley oscillates the clutch belt in a rotational movement, to rotationally oscillate the first clutch pulley and to rotationally oscillate the second clutch pulley;
- as the drive pulley rotates, the first clutch pulley of the first clutch assembly rotates in a first clutch rotational direction and the second clutch pulley of the second clutch assembly rotates in a second clutch rotational direction, with the first clutch rotational direction of the first clutch assembly opposite to the second clutch rotational direction of the second clutch assembly;
- as the drive pulley rotates in a drive pulley first rotational direction, the first clutch assembly transmits a drive torque to a drive shaft of a drive shaft assembly, and the second clutch assembly does not transmit the drive torque to the drive shaft when the drive pulley rotates in the first rotational direction;
- as the drive pulley rotates in a drive pulley second rotational direction, the second clutch assembly transmits the drive torque to the drive shaft of the drive shaft assembly, and the first clutch assembly does not transmit the drive torque to the drive shaft when the drive pulley rotates in the second rotational direction;
- the drive torque upon the drive shaft of the drive shaft assembly rotates a sprocket crank assembly, the sprocket crank assembly having a front sprocket and a rear sprocket, with a rear chain wrapped around the front sprocket and the rear sprocket;
- and
- a rear sprocket adapter connects to a drive wheel of the vehicle, and the drive wheel rotates to propel the vehicle along a road surface.
18 more elements
A vehicle powered by a push input force and a pull input force on a handlebar, the vehicle comprising:
- a propulsion mechanism actuated by the push input force and the pull input force on a handlebar, and the propulsion mechanism transmits torque to a drive wheel of the vehicle with the push input force and the pull input force on the handlebar;
- the vehicle having a vehicle front and a vehicle rear, a base assembly, and a handle assembly;
- the handle assembly includes the handlebar, and the handle assembly positioned substantially parallel to a tube assembly of the vehicle;
- the push input force transfers from the handle assembly to the tube assembly, and the pull input force transfers from the handle assembly to the tube assembly;
- the tube assembly has a bottom end, and the bottom end of the tube assembly is rigidly fixed to the base assembly;
- the base assembly including a mount assembly, the tube assembly rigidly affixed to the mount assembly, and the mount assembly coupled to the crank of a lever arm group by a pin, the pin extends from the crank, and the mount assembly free to pivot about a central longitudinal axis of the pin;
- the push input force on the handle assembly generates a forward oscillating motion in a forward direction toward a front of the vehicle with an input force transferred to the crank, and the pull input force on the handle assembly generates a rearward oscillating motion in a rearward direction toward a rear of the vehicle with an input force transferred to the crank;
- the push input force rotates the lever arm group in the forward direction, and the pull input force rotates the lever arm group in the rearward direction;
- the lever arm group includes a lever link, the lever link having a link front end and a link back end, with the link front end of the lever link coupled to the lever arm;
- the oscillating motion of the lever arm group causes the lever link to reciprocate toward the front of the vehicle and to reciprocate toward the rear of the vehicle;
- the link back end of the lever link are coupled to a drive pulley at a drive stub;
- a clutch belt loops around the drive pulley, the clutch belt loops a first clutch pulley of a first clutch assembly, and the clutch belt loops around a second clutch pulley of a second clutch assembly;
- the reciprocation of the lever links by the lever arm group causes the drive pulley to rotationally oscillate, and the drive pulley oscillates the clutch belt in a rotational movement, to rotationally oscillate the first clutch pulley and to rotationally oscillate the second clutch pulley;
- as the drive pulley rotates, the first clutch pulley of the first clutch assembly rotates in a first clutch rotational direction and the second clutch pulley of the second clutch assembly rotates in a second clutch rotational direction, with the first clutch rotational direction of the first clutch assembly opposite to the second clutch rotational direction of the second clutch assembly;
- as the drive pulley rotates in a drive pulley first rotational direction, the first clutch assembly transmits a drive torque to a drive shaft of a drive shaft assembly, and the second clutch assembly does not transmit the drive torque to the drive shaft when the drive pulley rotates in the first rotational direction;
- as the drive pulley rotates in a drive pulley second rotational direction, the second clutch assembly transmits the drive torque to the drive shaft of the drive shaft assembly, and the first clutch assembly does not transmit the drive torque to the drive shaft when the drive pulley rotates in the second rotational direction;
- the drive torque upon the drive shaft of the drive shaft assembly rotates a sprocket crank assembly, the sprocket crank assembly having a front sprocket and a rear sprocket, with a rear chain wrapped around the front sprocket and the rear sprocket;
- and
- a rear sprocket adapter connects to a drive wheel of the vehicle, and the drive wheel rotates to propel the vehicle along a road surface.
16 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.