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US 4,072,325 AGranted
Pendulum stabilized ground vehicles
AssigneeBright Engineering, Incorporated
InventorsJerd Bright, Donald R. Bright
Life of this patent
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AssigneeBright Engineering, Incorporated
InventorsJerd Bright, Donald R. Bright
Estimating the term…
A device for automatically stabilizing moving ground vehicles against the effects of transverse acceleration forces and roll moments, due to turning maneuvers, by means of an on-board pendulum, suspended from a stable platform, part of the vehicle, and intercoupled to pivotally supported vehicle ground wheels, acting so as to incline the planes of rotation of the pivotally supported ground wheels of the vehicle to the angle of the vector resultant of the gravitational force component acting on the pendulum and the transverse acceleration force component acting on the pendulum; the device thereby provides, within the design maximum angle of inclination of the ground wheels and the adhesion capability of the tires on the roadbed, essentially complete stabilization of the turning vehicle. The stabilizing effect is that the angle of the force vector resultant acting on the vehicle will nominally be that of the planes of rotation of the ground vehicle wheels, excepting small steering and suspension system deviations that may act on the steerable ground wheels or wheel. The vehicle is designed such that any transverse forces acting on the vehicle automatically cause the vehicle to lean, bank, or rotate about the longitudinal axis, much as a conventional two-wheeled motorcycle leans on a turn, thereby establishing the necessary angle of inclination required to balance the gravitational forces present and the inertial forces generated by the turning maneuvers.
A ground vehicle including, in combination, suspension frame means, ground wheel means, ground wheel support means, means coupled to proximate extremities of said suspension frame means for pivotally supporting said ground wheel support means, pendulum means, means centrally coupled to said suspension frame means for pivotally supporting said pendulum means such that said pendulum means depends downwardly from said suspension frame means, means for intercoupling said pivotally supported ground wheel support means and said pivotally supported pendulum means such that motion of said pivotally supported pendulum means transverse to the direction of travel of said vehicle causes a corresponding motion of said pivotally supported ground wheel support means and hence, of said attached ground wheel support means and said ground wheel means.
A ground vehicle including in combination, steering device means, suspension frame means, ground wheel means, ground wheel support means, means coupled to proximate extremities of said suspension frame means for pivotally supporting said ground wheel support means, pendulum means, means centrally coupled to said suspension frame means for pivotally supporting said pendulum means such that said pendulum means depends downwardly from said suspension frame means, means for intercoupling said pivotally supported ground wheel support means and said pivotally supported pendulum means in such a manner that motion of said pendulum means due to inertial forces acting on said pendulum means and causing said pendulum means to move transversely in said vehicle will be transferred from said pendulum means to said pivotally supported ground wheel support means, and hence to said ground wheel support means, causing the angle of inclination of said ground wheel means to the ground or roadbed to be positioned to the nominal angle of inclination of said pendulum means to the roadbed;
Means for pivotally supporting vehicle ground wheel support means from the proximate extremities of suspension frame means such that said ground wheel support means are capable of pivotal motion about an axis generally parallel to the longitudinal axis of the vehicle, and also are capable of pivotal motion about an axis generally parallel to the combined camber and caster angles of said ground wheel support means;
Means for pivotally supporting pendulum means from vehicle suspension frame means such that said pendulum means is capable of pivotal motion about an axis generally parallel to the longitudinal axis of the vehicle;
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.