Amphibious all terrain vehicle with track assemblies
OwnerTimothy A. Schaferinventor
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An amphibious all terrain vehicle having a body and at least three wheel and axle assemblies on each side and a pair of ground engaging track assemblies which are mounted on tires on either side of the vehicle. Each of the wheel and axle assemblies include an axle shaft supported by and positioned transverse to the vehicle body so that the wheel and axle assemblies form a front assembly, a rear assembly and at least one middle assembly. Each of the axle shafts has an axle extension with the axle extensions of the front and rear wheel and axle assemblies being fixed extensions and the axle extensions on at least the middle assemblies are idler axle extensions to permit the wheels on such assemblies to move in a free wheeling mode relative to their respective axle shafts.
Claims10
An all terrain vehicle having at least three wheel and axle assemblies on each side and a pair of ground engaging continuous tracks, said vehicle comprising:
- (a) a body;
- (b) said wheel and axle assemblies arranged in a parallel and spaced apart alignment and each including;
- (1) an axle shaft rotatably supported by and positioned transverse to said body so that said wheel and axle assemblies form a front assembly, a rear assembly and at least one middle assembly that are each supported by a bearing in said body;
- (2) an axle hub plate disposed on a free end of each of said axle shafts;
- (3) an axle extension mounted on each of said hub plates;
- and
- (4) a wheel secured on each of said axle extensions and a tire mounted on each of said wheels;
- (c) said axle extensions of said at least one middle assembly are idler extensions to permit the wheels to move in a free wheeling mode relative to the middle assembly;
- and
- (d) each of said tracks is mounted on opposite sides of said vehicle trained about said tires.
An all terrain vehicle having a frame and at least three wheel and axle assemblies mounted on said body in a front to rear relation and a pair of ground engaging tracks, said vehicle comprising:
- (a) said wheel and axle assemblies each including:
- (1) an axle positioned transverse to said body;
- (2) an axle hub plate disposed on each of the free ends of said axles;
- (3) an axle extension mounted on each of said hub plates;
- and
- (4) a wheel secured on each of said axle extensions and a tire mounted on each of said wheels;
- (b) said axle extensions of front and rear axle and wheel assemblies are formed to transmit drive power from said axles to said wheels;
- (c) said axle extensions of said axle and wheel assemblies located between said front and rear axle and wheel assemblies are idler extensions to permit the wheels to move in a free wheeling mode relative to their said associated axle and wheel assembly;
- and
- (d) each of said tracks is mounted on said tires.
A method for mounting a pair of ground engaging continuous tracks on an all terrain vehicle having at least three wheel and axle assemblies on each side that are arranged in a parallel and spaced apart alignment with a front pair of assemblies, a rear pair of assemblies and at least one pair of middle assemblies, which assemblies each include an axle shaft, an axle hub plate mounted on a free end of each of said axle shafts, an axle extension mounted on each of said hub plates;
- and a wheel secured on each of said axle extensions with a tire mounted on each of said wheels, said method comprising:
- (a) selecting said axle extensions from a group composed of fixed axle extensions that transmit drive power from said axle shafts to said wheels and idler axle extensions that allow said wheels to rotate relative to said axle shafts, and arranging said axle extensions so that said wheel and axle assemblies of said front and rear assemblies have fixed axle extensions and the middle wheel and axle assemblies have an idler axle extension;
- (b) determining the outside circumference of the tires on said wheel and axle assemblies;
- (c) arranging said wheel and axle assemblies such that the tires with the smallest outside circumference are on the front and rear wheel and axle assemblies and the tires with the largest outside circumference are on said middle axle assemblies;
- and
- (d) installing said continuous tracks about the tires on each side of said vehicle.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.