Collecting electric scooters
AssigneeNeptune Scooters
InventorsForrest Jean North, Matthew Michael O'Brien
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Systems and methods for collecting electric scooters are described herein. In some embodiments, the systems and methods facilitate a “snaking” configuration of attaching, coupling, or fixing multiple electric scooters to one another. The snaking configuration enables multiple electric scooters to be collected together and moved to various locations, such as locations where the electric scooters can be rented, serviced, and so on. Further, the systems and methods enable any electric scooter to act as a collecting scooter, and thus a scooter share service or other fleet of scooters can manage the collection and provisioning of scooters in a location without special vehicles or equipment, among other benefits.
Claims20
An electric scooter, comprising:
- a chassis that includes an electric battery and a controller;
- a deck disposed on top of the chassis;
- a steering tube attached to a front wheel fork through the chassis;
- handlebars supported by the steering tube;
- a front wheel attached to the front wheel fork;
- a back wheel attached to a rear of the chassis;
- a hub motor fixed to the back wheel or front wheel and controlled by the controller;
- and
- a vertical link bar that attaches to the steering tube of the electric scooter such that it can be moved into multiple positions, including:
- a collection position, in which the vertical link bar extends in a horizontal direction away from the steering tube;
- and
- a ride position, in which the vertical link bar extends in a vertical direction parallel to a long axis of the steering tube.
A method of collecting electric scooters, the method comprising:
- attaching a first electric scooter to a second electric scooter by vertically attaching a front portion of the second electric scooter to a rear portion of the first electric scooter;
- and
- attaching a third electric scooter to the second electric scooter by laterally attaching a chassis of the third electric scooter to a chassis of the second electric scooter.
A method of operating a group of electric scooters coupled to one another, the method comprising:
- operating a first electric scooter in a leader collection mode of operation when attached to the other electric scooters of the group of electric scooters;
- and,
- operating a second electric scooter and a third electric scooter in a follower collection mode of operation when attached to the other electric scooters of the group of electric scooters.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.