Human powered land vehicle

A land vehicle for self-propulsion by a paraplegic or lower-limb amputee operator, the vehicle comprising:

• a frame;
• at least one rear driven wheel;
• a seat for supporting the operator;
• two levers locked in parallel and adapted to be grasped by the operator and to be simultaneously pushed and pulled in a reciprocating fashion both away from and toward the operator's torso;
• means for converting the reciprocating motion of the two levers into undirectional rotation motion of the rear driven wheel;
• at least one steered wheel disposed at the front of the vehicle and;
• a steering control means connected to at least one of said levers and comprising means for controlling the direction of said front steered wheel in a left, right or straight direction, whereby said levers are operable by at least one arm of said operator to drive said rear driven wheel and to steer said front steered wheel.

A propulsion system for a human powered land vehicle propelled by at least one arm of the operator, the propulsion system comprising:

• a rear driven wheel rotatably mounted to a frame;
• at least one steered wheel disposed at the front of the vehicle;
• two lever means disposed so as to be moved in a reciprocating motion by an arm of the operator, the lever means comprising steering means for directing the front steered wheel such that the vehicle may be guided in a left, right, or straight direction and means for locking the two lever means in parallel;
• conversion means for converting the reciprocating motion of the lever means into a unidirectional rotational motion;
• and
• transmission means for transmitting the unidirectional motion to the rear driven wheel so as to cause rotation of the driven wheel.

A high performance wheelchair capable of allowing a paraplegic or lower-limb amputee operator to efficiently propel himself, the wheelchair comprising:

• a frame;
• a seat upon which the operator may orient his torso in a substantially non-horizontal position, the seat further comprising back support means;
• two levers locked in a parallel position with respect to each other, each lever having a proximal first section and distal second section, each of the levers' proximal ends being pivotally connected to the frame and oriented such that the operator may use his arms and torso to move the distal ends of the levers toward and away from the operator's body in a reciprocating fashion;
• means for converting the reciprocating motion of each lever into a undirectional rotational motion;
• at least one rear driven wheel;
• means for transmitting the undirectional rotational motion to the rear driven wheel, the driven wheel contacting the ground along a portion of its circumference;
• means for varying the relationship between the amount of movement of the levers and the angular velocity of the driven wheel;
• at least one steered wheel disposed at the front of the wheelchair, the steered wheel being pivotally connected to the frame so as to allow the steered wheel to rotate about its hub and to laterally pivot about its axis;
• and
• at lest one steering handle, the steering handle being mounted on at least one of the levers, and being laterally movable so as to direct the position of the front steered wheel and also being connected to the lever so as to be capable of being used to longitudinally move the lever.