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US 6,296,072 B1Granted
Electric bicycle and methods
AssigneeOpti-Bike LLC
InventorJames R. Turner
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An electric motor assembly comprises a housing and a spindle disposed to rotate in the housing. A motor is provided which comprises a stator coupled to the housing, and a rotor rotatably disposed within the stator such that the rotor is disposed about the spindle. The assembly further includes an output driver, and a gear system operably coupled to the rotor and the output driver to rotate the output driver upon operation of the motor.
Claims18
An electric motor assembly, comprising:
- a housing;
- a spindle disposed to rotate in the housing;
- a motor comprising a stator coupled to the housing, and a rotor rotatably disposed within the stator such that the rotor is disposed about the spindle;
- an output driver;
- a gear system operably coupled to the rotor and the output driver to rotate the output driver upon operation of the motor;
- and
- a sprocket assembly operably coupled to the output driver such that the sprocket assembly rotates upon rotation of the output driver;
- wherein the gear system is coupled to a motor driver, and further comprising a first clutch to engage the motor driver with the output driver when the motor driver is rotating faster than the output driver, a crank arm coupled to the spindle, and a second clutch to engage the crank arm with the output driver when the crank arm is rotated faster than the output driver, and wherein the first clutch and the second clutch are coaxially aligned with an axis of the spindle.
5 more elements
An electric motor assembly, comprising:
- a housing;
- a spindle disposed to rotate in the housing;
- a motor comprising a stator coupled to the housing, and a rotor rotatably disposed within the stator such that the rotor is disposed about the spindle;
- a crank arm coupled to the spindle;
- an output driver;
- and
- a gear system operably coupled to the rotor and the output driver to rotate the output driver upon operation of the motor;
- wherein the gear system is coupled to a motor driver, and further comprising a first clutch to engage the motor driver with the output driver when the motor driver is rotating faster than the output driver, and a second clutch to engage the crank arm with the output driver when the crank arm is rotated faster than the output driver, and wherein the first clutch and the second clutch are coaxially aligned with an axis of the spindle.
5 more elements
An electric motor assembly, comprising:
- a housing;
- a spindle disposed to rotate in the housing;
- a motor comprising a stator coupled to the housing, and a rotor rotatably disposed within the stator such that the rotor is disposed about the spindle;
- an output driver;
- a gear system operably coupled to the rotor and the output driver to rotate the output driver upon operation of the motor;
- a crank arm coupled to the spindle;
- and
- a clutch disposed in the crank arm to engage the crank arm with output driver when the crank arm is rotated faster than the output driver.
5 more elements
An electric motor assembly, comprising:
- a housing;
- a spindle disposed to rotate in the housing;
- a motor comprising a stator coupled to the housing, and a rotor rotatably disposed within the stator such that the rotor is disposed about the spindle;
- a set of bearings disposed between the rotor and the spindle to permit the rotor to roll over the bearings when rotating about the spindle;
- an output driver;
- a gear system operably coupled to the rotor and the output driver to rotate the output driver upon operation of the motor.
3 more elements
An electric motor assembly, comprising:
- a housing;
- a spindle disposed to rotate in the housing;
- a crank arm coupled to the spindle;
- a motor comprising a stator coupled to the housing, and a rotor rotatably disposed within the stator such that the rotor is disposed about the spindle;
- an output driver;
- a first clutch to permit the rotor to rotate the output driver when the first clutch is engaged;
- a second clutch to permit the crank arm to rotate the output driver when the second clutch is engaged;
- wherein the output driver includes engaging components of both the first and second clutch.
5 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.