ALL TERRAIN VEHICLE WITH DRIVING MEANS SUCH AS WHEELS OR TRACKS MOUNTED ON ARTICULATED LEGS

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS - Not Applicable FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH - Not Applicable SEQUENCE LISTING OR PROGRAM - Not Applicable

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to vehicles having their ground traversing elements, i.e. wheels or tracks, mounted on articulated legs in such a manner as to make the legs and ground traversing elements extensible to give the vehicle the capability of traveling comfortably on roadways and steep slopes as well as in most off-highway terrains such as loose sand, snow, mud and water, plus having the ability to climb onto embankments and over obstacles.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Presently a wide variety of all terrain vehicles (ATVs) and off-highway recreational vehicles (OHRVs) are used for personal transport and outdoor recreational activities. The majority of these are built for use over firm sand and mildly rough and mildly rising terrain and to cross an occasional small patch of mud or loose sand. These normally rely on ground traversing elements with large ground contact footprints to spread their weight over a wide area and engage and compact many particles of the traversed material, i.e. snow, sand and dirt, to get traction. Such vehicles can often traverse short sections of such loose materials if they acquire speed and momentum before entering the material, but they are not normally useable on a continuous basis in water or any type of mud, snow or loose sand over a few inches deep.

It is well known that if a loose material is deep enough that it can no longer compact under the footprint of the vehicle, it slips from under the vehicle's ground traversing elements and traction is lost. If the traversed material squeezes from under the wheel the vehicle will not only lose traction, but will sink into the material it was supposed to traverse. The most commonly known traction loss occurs in deep mud. When the adhesion of traversed mud exceeds its cohesion, mud begins to stick to the wheels and or tracks. It builds up to where the mud stuck on the wheels or tracks is all that is contacting the mud to be traversed and the mud shears at the

contact point allowing the wheels or tracks to spin, lose traction, and the vehicle bogs down. In all such cases the vehicle will then slow down, stop moving forward and will require outside assistance to be extracted.

There are many types of commercial and military vehicles made to travel over various types of terrain. Vehicles in this category are usually heavier than the personal recreational vehicles and are equipped with large heavy duty tires or cleated tracks. Although a few types are specially equipped to travel in loose sand, snow, deep mud and water, the majority merely bog down in these elements and require outside assistance to be extracted. Arakodile Vehicles of the current invention have been designed to not be trapped by these elements, but are able to continue on through such materials by way of their unique characteristics.

Other major problem areas for current recreational, commercial and military vehicles are embankments and steep slopes. A vehicle fitted with wheels has great difficulty getting past an embankment higher than half the diameter of its wheels. Most tracked vehicles also experience problems with embankments and similar obstacles. If an embankment is only a little higher than the height of the track, the vehicle can be forced against the side of the embankment to where the nose of the track digs into the embankment and pulls the vehicle upward.

This tracked vehicle embankment problem then becomes one of location of the center of gravity of the vehicle. If the center of gravity of the vehicle cannot be made to pass forward of the fulcrum point made by the edge of the embankment, before the rear of the track gets to the embankment face, the vehicle will topple over backwards. This undesirable effect is increased by the vehicle's operator adding rearward rotating torque, in trying to force the vehicle forward. Arakodile Vehicles of the current invention have been designed to climb onto and pull themselves up on embankments to where they can proceed forward on the upper surface.

A similar backward toppling effect to that of embankment climbing is also experienced when a vehicle is climbing a steep slope. If a vehicle can get traction it will topple over backwards when the slope becomes too steep. Even if the slope itself is not steep enough to cause the vehicle's center of gravity to be rearward of a vertical line upward from the rear most wheel, the added rotational torque generated by trying to force the vehicle up the slope can topple it over backwards. Also, if the operator of a vehicle climbing a slope allows the vehicle to rotate far enough left or right on the slope the vehicle can easily spin sideways back down the slope or roll over laterally and put an end to climbing the slope. A long wheelbase creates more operator awareness as well as more resistance to rotation on a slope surface and makes the vehicle easier to control on a slope than a short wheelbase vehicle. Arakodile Vehicles of the current invention

have been designed to lengthen out and flatten down against a slope to keep their centers of gravity as low as possible and as far forward as possible, as well as to increase driver awareness.

Some off highway vehicles, having wide, flat belts with cleats on their surface traversing elements are built to be used on snow. By spreading the vehicle weight over a wide area of snow and generating forward thrust by the belt cleats working against the cohesion of the snow, they are able to move forward from a stopped position in all but deep powdery snow. Once in motion they then rely on speed and momentum to cross over lighter snow and more difficult areas. The builders of these types recommend that they not be used on terrain other than that covered by a several inch deep layer of snow. Arakodile Vehicles of the current invention are optionally equipped with similar cleated belt sets to assist travel in light snow. Such belts are also useful when climbing over embankments and other obstacles by alleviating the scraping of the vehicle belly. Cleated belts coupled with the hip and knee jointed legs on which the main ground traversing elements of an Arakodile Vehicle are mounted give these vehicles the ability to cover more kinds of terrain than any other type of small off highway vehicle.

A different type of off highway vehicle is one having screw pontoons. These vehicles have rotating pontoons with screw threads around their exterior for the purpose of threading or screwing their way through slippery and loose materials. In this design the screw threads on the left hand and right hand pontoons are made with opposite screw direction leads and are rotated in opposing directions to balance the propulsion forces. They are steered by slowing one screw pontoon and or increasing the speed of the other. Arakodile Vehicles of the current invention are optionally equipped with similar screw pontoons to assist travel in snow, sand, mud and water. The optional screw pontoons are also useful when climbing over embankments and other obstacles by alleviating vehicle belly scraping.

An amphibian vehicle problem often occurs as that type of vehicle gets nearer to the actual body of water, such as a pond, marsh;, bog or lake. The mud nearer the water often becomes increasingly liquid and traction diminishes. Ground traversing elements, such as wheels and tracks, are known to load up with mud which causes these elements to lose traction, spin free, and not move the vehicle in the desired direction. In addition, the increasing flotation of the vehicle as it enters the water reduces the vehicle footprint pressure on the wet terrain which reduces compaction of the loose particles and thus further reduces traction. As a result, many slow moving amphibian vehicles bog down between where they can roll on firm ground and where they can float in water. Such vehicles then need some sort of special assistance to get to the water or at least to get out of the mud. The articulated hip and knee jointed legs of Arakodile Vehicles

are used to create an inch-worm action between front and rear legs to extract the vehicle if necessary and move the vehicle across mud (See Figs. 18 to 26).

Close spaced cleats on tracks, such as used on field equipment, military personnel carriers and tanks, cause a very hard and relatively uncomfortable ride on firm ground and are known to bog down in snow, loose sand and silty, slimy, mud. Open spaced tracks perform satisfactorily in such mediums but are known to provide an even more uncomfortable ride on firm surfaces and are very difficult to handle on highways. Arakodile Vehicles are designed to roll on wheels, use auxiliary belts or screw pontoons to assist in some terrains and traverse loose sand, mud and snow by using hip and knee jointed legs with braked and rolling ground traversing elements.

For many off highway vehicles a loss of traction is somewhat the same in sand as in mud, except that the sand does not stick to the wheels or tracks as does mud. Sand particles pack up into treads and the sand particles immediately outside the tread surface and the particles of sand packed into the tread separate under load from the sand in the surface to be traversed and fail to provide traction. Arakodile Vehicles use their articulated hip and knee jointed legs to cross and extract themselves from sand, just as they do with mud and other loose materials.

A desirable off-highway vehicle feature, built into Arakodile Vehicles, is that of being able to make observations over embankments, plant growth and other obstacles. Current off-highway vehicles are somewhat two dimensional. They are built to operate at what ever the ground level may be. Extensible hip and knee jointed legs give Arakodile Vehicles the ability to rise up and provide a view over obstacles before proceeding. This same feature also provides Arakodile Vehicles with the ability to wade into water, with wheels extended downward, providing the material under the water is reasonably firm, and then lower the hull down and raise the wheels to allow the vehicle to float.

Many current off highway vehicles are objectionable to the environment sensitive public, because the vehicles are large, noisy and rely on huge wheels and speed to crash through and over obstacles and plant growth, greatly harming the environment. These vehicles not only destroy the environment and the peace and quiet of the outdoors, but are often the cause of serious accidents.

As a result of studying the problems and shortcomings of current off highway vehicles, Arakodile Vehicles have been designed to roll on soft wheels for a comfortable ride, use auxiliary belts or screw pontoons to assist in some terrains and to operate on steep slopes, climb over obstacles and embankments and move through loose sand, mud, snow and water by using their extensible hip and knee jointed legs. By extending the legs downward an Arakodile Vehicle can be made to rise quietly upward for observation over many obstacles. An Arakodile Vehicle can

also be used to lift and carry a wide range of items, by being rolled above the item and lowered onto the item, tying the item directly to the hull and raising the hull. The vehicle can then be made to enter water and retract its suspension joints and wheels to where the vehicle and carried item can float, providing the hull, wheels and item carried have enough buoyancy. Once at a specific location the carried item can be dropped by releasing the tying. In addition, a raised Arakodile Vehicle and a few pieces of light canvas make an overhead shelter or a wild life blind.

OPERATING PRINCIPALS

The most important operating principal of Arakodile Vehicles is in the way the hip and knee jointed legs can be extended and retracted to be used to mitigate many of the problems encountered by other vehicles traveling off highway. The legs are used to climb up and onto embankments (see Figs. 10 to 17); to traverse deep loose sand, mud and snow (see Figs. 18 to 22); to enter and leave water, without bogging down in the muddy areas around the water (see Figs. 23 to 26); to make observations over obstacles, such as trees and embankments (see Fig. 27); and to lower the vehicle's center of gravity and extend the vehicle's wheelbase for climbing steep slopes (see Fig. 29). Arakodile Vehicles can be used to lift and move a wide range of items on land, mud and in water by the extending and retracting of their legs (See Figs. 30 to 33). By the addition of such accessories as a fixed scoop (not shown) these vehicles can be used to scoop up and move loose materials. Additionally, by raising the hull and draping coverings over the hull sides, the vehicles can be used as shelters.

OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION

It is a main object of this invention to provide a vehicle which can operate on firm surfaces as well as in sand, mud, snow, marshland, bogs and water.

An additional object of this invention is to provide a vehicle to travel on all types of terrain and also climb embankments and steep slopes.

It is another object of this invention to provide a vehicle which the operator can raise the hull up above water to allow the wheels of the vehicle to press firmly into the bottom of a body of water before the hull begins to float.

It is yet another object of this invention to provide a vehicle which the operator can raise up above obstacles for the purpose of making observations.

It is an object of this invention to provide a vehicle for recreational activities, nature viewing, logging, mining, prospecting, surveying and other commercial and military applications.

Another object of this invention is to provide users with a vehicle having flexibility to work itself out of soft sand, snow and mud as well as over and around obstacles.

And yet another object of this invention is to provide a vehicle which can be used to pick up, lift and move objects over many types of terrain.

An added object is to provide a vehicle which can be used as an emergency shelter.

PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

The preferred embodiment of this invention is a four wheel drive vehicle having each of its four wheels attached to a main hull by way of hip and knee jointed suspension legs, making up four bar links, so as to allow an operator to move each of the independent wheels out a distance from the hull and also bring each back nearly against the hull, as well as extend the same wheels downward and upward to raise and lower the hull of the vehicle. The preferred embodiment includes options, such as screw pontoons or load spreading cleated belts chosen to facilitate specific needs of an operator.

DESCRIPTION OF FIGURES.

Fig. 1 is a simplified plan view of an Arakodile Vehicle with its hull, 100, and its left front inboard suspension leg, 101, left front outboard suspension leg, 102, and left front wheel, 103, extended outward and its right front inboard suspension leg, 104, right front outboard suspension leg, 105, and right front wheel, 106, pulled inward towards the hull, and a line of seats, 107, an engine, 108, with a hydraulic power supply, 109, and having its left rear inboard suspension leg, 110, and left rear outboard suspension leg, 111, and left rear wheel, 112, extended outward from the hull, 100, and its right rear inboard suspension leg, 113, right rear outboard suspension leg, 114, and right rear wheel, 115, pulled inward towards the hull, 100.

Fig. 2 is a side view of the drawing in Fig. 1 , showing the hull, 100, and the left outboard suspension leg, 102, and left inboard suspension leg, 101, and left front wheel, 103, extended outward, and its right front inboard suspension leg, 104, right front outward suspension leg, 105, and right front wheel, 106, pulled inward towards the hull, and referencing one of its hydraulic cylinders, 116, by which the position of the suspension legs are controlled, and one of its rear hydraulic cylinders, 117, by which the position of the suspension legs are controlled, a left rear inboard suspension leg, 110, and left rear outboard suspension leg, 111 , and left rear wheel, 112, and right rear inboard suspension leg, 113, and right rear outboard suspension leg, 114, and right rear wheel, 115.

Fig. 3 is a simple plan view of the layout of a Arakodile Vehicle showing a hull, 120, a left front inboard suspension leg, 121, one of the hydraulic cylinders, 122, controlling the position of the suspension legs, a left front outboard suspension leg, 123, a left front wheel, 124, a right front wheel, 125, left and right front steering mechanism, 126, a right front outboard suspension leg, 127, an outboard suspension leg hydraulic cylinder, 128, an inboard suspension leg hydraulic cylinder, 129, a right inboard suspension leg, 130, an optional left hand screw pontoon, 135, a optional right hand screw pontoon, 136, a hydraulic power supply, 137, on the front of an engine, 138, and another hydraulic power supply, 139, on the rear of the engine, a left rear inboard suspension leg, 140, a left inboard hydraulic cylinder, 141, a left outboard suspension leg, 142, a left outboard hydraulic cylinder, 143, a left rear wheel, 144, a left rear steering mechanism, 145, a right rear inboard suspension leg hydraulic cylinder, 146, a right rear inboard suspension leg, 147, a right rear outboard suspension leg hydraulic cylinder, 148, a right rear outboard suspension leg, 149, and a right rear wheel, 150.

Fig. 4 is a side view of the drawing in Fig. 3 showing a right front wheel, 125, a right front steering mechanism, 126, a right front steering spindle housing, 155, a right front outboard suspension leg, 127, a right front outboard hydraulic cylinder, 128, a right front inboard suspension leg, 130, a right front inboard hydraulic cylinder, 129, an optional right hand screw pontoon, 136, a right rear inboard suspension leg hydraulic cylinder, 146, a right rear inboard suspension leg, 147, a right rear outboard suspension leg hydraulic cylinder, 148, a right rear outboard suspension leg, 149, and a right rear wheel, 150.

Fig. 5 is a simple, phantom rear view of a vehicle such as that shown in Figs. 3 and 4, showing its hull, 120, a left hand screw pontoon, 135, which is optional on most Arakodile Vehicles, a right hand screw pontoon, 136, which is optional on most Arakodile Vehicles, a left rear wheel, 144, and a right rear wheel, 150.

Fig. 6 is a simple plan view of a typical Arakodile Vehicle showing a hull, 160, a front wheel, 161, a steering mechanism, 163, a left front outboard suspension member, 162, a front outboard suspension leg, 166, a front outboard hydraulic cylinder, 165, an inboard suspension leg, 167, a left front inboard suspension leg hydraulic cylinder, 164, aright front wheel, 168, a hydraulic power supply, 169, on the front of an engine, 170, a hydraulic power supply, 171, on the rear of the engine, a left hand output drive, 172, a right hand output drive, 173, (for the cleated belts shown in Figs. 7 and 8) a left rear wheel, 174, and a right rear wheel, 175.

Fig. 7 is a side view of the vehicle in Fig.6, showing a front steering mechanism, 163, a front inboard hydraulic cylinder, 164, a front outboard hydraulic cylinder, 165, a front outboard

suspension leg, 166, a front inboard suspension leg, 167, a main hull, 160, a rear wheel, 175, a front wheel, 168, a cleated belt, 180, and a floatation box, 181.

Fig. 8 is a rear view of the vehicle in Figs. 6 and 7, pointing out its hull, 160, a left rear wheel, 174, a right rear wheel, 175, a right hand cleated belt, 180, a right hand floatation box, 181, a left hand cleated belt, 183, and a left hand floatation box, 184.

Fig. 9 is a diagram of the major components of a fuel engine powered hydraulic and mechanical driven Arakodile Vehicle indicating an engine, 185, a hydraulic power supply, 186, on the front of the engine, a hydraulic power supply, 187, on the rear of the engine, a left side chain drive, 188, and a right side chain drive, 196, from the power take off gearbox, 189, at the rear of the engine, a left front hydraulic wheel motor, 190, a left front steering hydraulic cylinder, 191, a right front hydraulic steering cylinder, 192, a right front wheel hydraulic drive motor, 193, a left front outboard suspension leg hydraulic cylinder, 194, a right front outboard suspension leg hydraulic cylinder, 195, two front air over hydraulic suspension cushions, 200, a hydraulic fluid return tank, 201, a right front inboard suspension leg hydraulic cylinder, 202, a left front inboard suspension hydraulic cylinder, 203, a steering control arm, 204, a right side steering power cylinder, 205, a left side steering power cylinder, 212, a left rear inboard suspension leg hydraulic cylinder, 210, a right rear inboard suspension leg hydraulic cylinder, 211, two rear air over hydraulic suspension cushions, 215, a left rear outboard suspension leg hydraulic cylinder, 217, a right rear outboard suspension leg hydraulic cylinder, 216, a left rear wheel hydraulic drive motor, 218, a right rear wheel hydraulic drive motor, 219, a left rear steering cylinder, 220, and a right rear steering cylinder, 221.

Fig. 10 is a side view stick diagram of a typical Arakodile Vehicle, moving in the direction, 229, on a surface, 232, approaching an embankment to a higher surface, 225. The front wheels, 226 and 233, are nearly at the vertical face of the embankment, and are retracted close to the hull, 228, of the vehicle, with suspension leg joints, 227 and 230, nearly closed up. The rear wheels, 231, are close to the hull, 228, with both rear suspension joints, 223 and 224, nearly closed.

Fig. 11 is a side view stick diagram of the same Arakodile Vehicle shown in Fig. 10, climbing onto the embankment, 225, with one of its front wheels, 233, elevated onto the top of the embankment by the extension of a front outboard suspension leg, 234, with the other front wheel.226, still on the lower surface, 232, and a front inboard suspension leg, 235, and leaving the rear suspension leg joints, 223 and 224, in the same position as shown in Fig. 10, with brakes on both rear wheels, 231, locked to prevent the vehicle from rolling backwards.

Fig.12 is a side view of the same Arakodile Vehicle shown in Figs. 10 and 11, climbing

further onto the embankment, 225, by extending suspension legs 234 and 235, and rolling its front wheel, 233, forward onto the top of the embankment, 225, and also rolling forward the two rear wheels, 231. Note that the suspension legs on the far side of suspension legs 234 and 235, are retracted causing the wheel, 226, on that side, to lift from the lower surface, 232.

Fig. 13 is the same Arakodile Vehicle shown in Figs. 10, 11 and 12, climbing further onto the embankment, 225, having raised the second front wheel, 226, up onto the embankment next to the first front wheel, 233, and beginning to retract both front sets of suspension legs, 234 and 235, and rolling forward, 229, the two rear wheels, 231, moving the hull, 228, upward.

Fig. 14 is the Arakodile Vehicle in Figs. 10 to 13 illustrating the outboard front suspension legs, 234, and the inboard front suspension legs, 235, extended outward on top of the upper surface, 225, while rolling the front wheels, 226 and 233, forward, 229, and both sets of rear suspension legs, 230, extended outward and downward, on the lower surface, 232, while the wheels 231, have been braked to prevent the vehicle from rolling backward, placing the hull, 228 level with the upper surface, 225.

Fig. 15 is another side view stick diagram of the same Arakodile Vehicle shown in Figs. 10 to 14 illustrating the vehicle hull, 228, further on the upper surface, 225, having rolled its wheels, 226, 233 and 231, forward, 229, while keeping the front suspension legs, 234 and 235, extended and the rear suspension legs, 230, in about the same position shown in Fig.14.

Fig. 16 is the same Arakodile Vehicle shown in Figs.10 to 15, with the hull, 228, over the upper surface, 225, having rolled its front wheels, 226 and 233, forward, 229, while leaving its front suspension legs, 234 and 235, in the same position as in Fig.15 and pulling its rear wheels, 231, up onto the upper surface, 225, by retracting its rear inboard and outboard suspension leg sets, 230. Note that the rear belly of the hull, 228, may scrape or lay on the upper surface, 225, during the raising of the rear wheels, but this can be alleviated by the use of the optional screw pontoons, items 135 and 136, Fig.3, or the optional cleated belts shown as item 180 in Fig. 7.

Fig. 17 shows the Arakodile Vehicle of Fig. 16, with its hull, 228, front wheels, 226 and 233, front suspension leg sets, 234 and 235, retracted in towards the hull, rear suspension leg sets, 230, also retracted in towards the hull, and rear wheels, 231, completely up on the embankment, 225, and moving forward, 229.

Fig. 18 is an Arakodile Vehicle, similar to that shown in Figs. 10 to 17, in short wheelbase driving mode, moving in a forward, 229, direction, on a firm surface, 241 , as it approaches a muddy area, 240. Note that the front wheels, 226, are retracted inward toward the hull, 228, by way of the front suspension leg joints, 227, being closed and the rear wheels, 231 ₅ are retracted

inward toward the hull, 228, by way of the rear suspension leg joints, 230, being closed.

Fig. 19 is the same Arakodile Vehicle as in Fig. 18, after it has entered a muddy area, 240, and its wheels have begun to load up with mid and bog down, whereupon the operator has braked and locked the rear wheels, 231 , and rolled the front wheels, 226, while opening the front suspension leg joints, 227, and the rear suspension leg joints, 230, to cause the vehicle hull, 228, to move forward, 229. Reference the hull, 228, position, relative to its position in Fig. 18.

Fig. 20 shows the same vehicle of Fig. 19, in the same muddy area, 240, except the operator has braked and locked the front wheels, 226, and rolled the rear wheels, 231, while retracting the front suspension leg joints, 227, and the rear suspension leg joints, 230, to cause the hull, 228, to be pulled forward toward the front wheels, 226, and the rear wheels, 231, to be pulled forward toward the hull. Reference the hull, 228, position, relative to its position in Fig. 19.

Fig. 21 is the same Arakodile Vehicle as in Fig.20, in the same muddy area, 240, following its position in Fig. 20, showing how the operator has braked and locked the rear wheels, 231, and rolled the front wheels, 226, while opening the front suspension leg joints, 227, and the rear suspension leg joints, 230, to cause the vehicle to move forward, 229. Reference the hull, 228, position, relative to its position in Fig. 20.

Fig.22 shows the same vehicle as in Fig.21, in the same muddy area, 240, except that the operator has braked and locked the front wheels, 226, and rolled the rear wheels, 231, while retracting the front suspension leg joints, 227, and the rear suspension leg joints, 230, to cause the hull, 228, to be pulled forward, 229, toward the front wheels, 226, and the rear wheels, 231, to be pulled forward toward the hull, 228, thus moving the Arakodile Vehicle through the muddy area, 240, in an inchworm like fashion.

Fig. 23 is the same vehicle as in Figs. 10 to 22, above, shown moving forward, 229, and entering a body of water, 245, over a muddy bottom, 246, with its front suspension leg joints, 227, and rear suspension leg joints, 230, extended open and having its front wheels, 226, in the water, 245, and its rear wheels, 231, in the muddy slope at the edge of the body of water, with its hull, 228, not yet in the water, 245.

Fig. 24 is the same vehicle as in Fig. 23, further forward, 229, into the water, 245, with both front wheels, 226, and both rear wheel, 231, on the bottom mud, 246, and with the rear suspension leg joints, 230, in approximately the same position as in Fig.23, but with the front suspension leg joints, 227, fully open and extended part way down, which keeps the hull, 228, from floating and maintains wheel pressure on the mud, 246.

Fig.25 is the same vehicle as in Fig.24, having inched and rolled forward, 229, into the

water, 245, with its front suspension leg joints, 227, opened and front wheels, 226, extended downward and its rear suspension leg joints, 230, opened, and its rear wheels, 231, on the bottom mud, 246, without floating the hull 228.

Fig. 26 is the same vehicle as in Fig.25, having now raised and opened its front suspension leg joints, 227, and opened its rear suspension leg joints, 230, to where the hull, 228, is floating on the water, 245, and the front wheels, 226, and the rear wheels, 231 , have no more than half their diameters immersed in the water, 245, so that rotation of the wheels, 226 and 231, will assist in propelling the vehicle forward, 229. Note that an auxiliary drive such as the screw pontoons, items 135 and 136, in Fig. 3, or the cleated belts, item 180 in Fig. 7, would further assist water propulsion.

Fig. 27 is a stick diagram of a similar Arakodile Vehicle as in Figs. 10 to 26, facing forward, 229, towards a raised area, 257, with its front wheels, 226, and its rear wheels, 231, on a lower surface, 249, and with its front suspension leg joints, 227, and its rear suspension leg joints, 230, fully open, extending the vehicle's suspension legs fully down to provide the operator in the hull, 228, with a view over trees and bushes, 248, and over the embankment to the raised area, 257.

Fig. 28 is of the same vehicle as that shown in Fig. 27, except that the operator in the hull,

228, has moved one of the front wheels, 233, up onto the raised area, 257, by raising and extending the front suspension set, 227, while braking the rear wheels, 231, and leaving the other front wheel, 226, on the lower surface, 249, preparatory to climbing forward, 229, up and onto the raised area, 257, (similar to the actions illustrated previously in Figs. 11 to 17.)

Fig. 29 is a similar Arakodile Vehicle as those shown in Figs. 10 to 28, but moving forward,

229, in slope climbing mode with its front suspension leg joints, 227, and its rear suspension leg joints, 230, extended open and with its hull, 228, as low as possible to the slope, 253, which positions the center of gravity, 251, of the vehicle as low and as far as possible forward of a vertical line, 250, extending upward from the ground contact point of the rear wheels, 231 , to mitigate as much as possible the tendency of the vehicle to topple over backwards or rotate to the left or right on the surface of the slope and, providing sufficient traction is achieved through the wheels, the vehicle can climb the slope, 253. Note that the greatly lengthened wheelbase of the vehicle gives an operator a better feeling of forward, 229, direction up the slope, 253, and more sensitivity in controlling the front of the vehicle's tendency to slip to the left or right and spin back down the slope or roll over laterally.

Fig. 30 is a stick diagram of a similar Arakodile Vehicle as those shown in Figs. 10 to 29, showing the vehicle in retracted driving mode, with both the front suspension member joints,

227, and rear suspension, member joints, 230, closed up with the front wheel, 226, and rear wheel, 231, close to the hull, 228, approaching a log, 237, in forward direction, 229.

Fig. 31 is the same Arakodile Vehicle as in Fig.30, excepting that it now has both front suspension member joints, 227, and rear suspension member joints, 230, opened up and having its front wheels, 226 and rear wheels, 231, extended out away from the hull, 228, which is lowered onto the log, 237, and chains, 238, have been attached to the hull, 228, and log, 237.

Fig. 32 is the same Arakodile Vehicle as in Figs.30 and 31, with its front hull to suspension leg joint, 236, and its rear hull to suspension leg joints, 239, opened and its front suspension leg joints, 227, and rear suspension leg joints, 230, just slightly more open than shown in Fig. 31, the effect of which is to raise the log, 237, by its attachment to the hull, 228, by the chains, 238.

Fig. 33 is of an Arakodile Vehicle similar to those shown in Figs. 30 to 32, except that is carrying a rock, 241, attached to its hull, 228, by way of chains, 238, and has its front hull to suspension leg joints, 236, and front suspension leg to leg joints, 227, and its rear hull to suspension leg joints, 239, and rear suspension leg to leg joints, 230, opened into downward positions, with its front wheel, 226, in mud, 244, nearly under water, 247, and its rear wheel, 231, just entering the water. This Figure illustrates that such an Arakodile Vehicle could be used to lift and carry a wide range of items, enter water and retract its suspension joints and wheels to where the vehicle and carried item could float, providing the hull, wheels and item carried had enough buoyancy. Once at a specific location the carried item could be dropped by releasing the chains or other binding material.

Fig. 34 is a side view of a cable operated suspension leg set, showing the end of a hull, 255, a cable actuator arm, 258, a cable, 259, an upper inboard suspension link, 266, an upper outboard suspension link, 267, a second cable actuator arm, 269, a right angle gear set, 265, within a lower inboard leg housing, 271, a drive shaft, 268, also within the lower inboard leg housing, 271, a double right angle gear set, 260, at the juncture of the lower inboard leg housing, 271, and the lower outboard leg housing, 261, a second drive shaft, 262, within the lower outboard leg housing, 261, a right angle gear set, 264, at the juncture of the lower outboard leg housing, 261 , and the axle of the wheel, 263, with the lower inboard and outboard suspension housing comprising, with vertical members, a double four bar suspension leg set.

Fig.35 is a cut away plan view of a mechanically driven wheel, 291, having driving members operating through a line of leg housings of a Arakodile Vehicle, showing an input drive shaft, 276, from a power supply (not shown) within a vehicle hull, 272, feeding power to a differential gear set, 278, with a brake, 280, and a driving shaft, 279, on one side and another

brake, 282, and drive shaft, on the other side, with a right angle gear set, 283, at the pivot point, 281, of of a leg housing, 285, a drive shaft 284, taking power to the next right angle gear set, 292, which is at the pivot point at the juncture of the inboard housing, 285, and the outboard housing, 287, having a second right angle gear set, 286, feeding a further drive shaft, 288, and another right angle gear set, 289, feeding power to the wheel, 291, which is steered by way of a steering arm, 290.

Fig. 36 is an isometric view of a powered wheel axle assembly on a corner of a hull, 293, with an upper inboard leg link, 294, and a lower inboard link, 298, attached to the hull at a pivot point, 297, an upper outboard link, 296, affixed to the inboard link, 294, at the same point where the vertical link, 295, attaches, forming an inboard four bar link, a lower outboard link housing, 287, which culminates at a second four bar link vertical member, 300, which is also a wheel frame with a steering arm, 290, and steering spindle, 301, attached to control the position of the wheel axle, 302, which is fed power through a universal joint, 303.

Fig. 37 shows a knee joint between an inboard leg member, 305, and an outboard leg member, 306, of a typical Arakodile Vehicle four bar linkage suspension leg operated by two hydraulic cylinders, 307 and 308, between which is fixed a roller chain, 309, which is passed around a sprocket, 310. By retracting the upper hydraulic cylinder, 307, and extending the lower hydraulic cylinder, 308, the outboard leg member, 306, is made to rise up relative to the inboard leg member, 307, in which the hydraulic cylinders are mounted, by way of the sprocket, 310, fitted onto the shaft, 325, (shown in more detail in Fig. 40) which is fitted into and rotated by the assembly of parts in Fig. 39.

Fig. 38 is of a knee joint between an inboard suspension leg member, 311, and an outboard leg member, 315, of a typical Arakodile Vehicle four bar linkage suspension leg operated by an electric geaπnotor, 312, having a shaft on which is fixed a worm, 313, fitted into a worm gear, 314. Operating the motor, 312, causes the worm, 313, to rotate the worm gear, 314, which raises or lowers, the outboard leg member, 315, by way of the worm gear being fitted onto the shaft, 325, in Fig.36 which is fitted into and rotated by the assembly of parts shown in Figs. 39, 40, 41 and 42.

Fig. 39 is an exploded view of the parts, along with the part shown in Fig.40, which fit into an inboard leg member, 320, similar to the inboard leg member, 305, in Fig. 37 and the inboard leg member, 311, in Fig.38, where a pivot bearing, 321, is fitted around a bearing block, 323, which is fastened with hardware, 322, into the threaded holes, 316, in the inboard leg member, 320, after the outboard leg member, 330, in Fig. 42, is fitted over the pivot bearing, 321, which is

followed by the retention disk, 324, having an internal spline, 319, which fits over the external spline, 326, on the shaft shown in Fig, 40, and is attached to the housing, 320, by bolts, 334, while the sprocket, 310, in Fig. 37 or the worm gear, 314, in Fig. 38, represented by the internally splined and externally blank appearing part shown in Fig. 41, which in actual practice is cut as a worm gear or sprocket, fits over the splined section, 325, of Fig.40, and the washer, 335, nut, 327, and cotter pin, 328, are attached at the threads on the shaft ends. A cover plate, 317, is also shown to be fastened over an access hole in the top of the inboard leg member, 320, using hardware, 318. The access hole provides for assembly and installation of the parts shown in this Fig. 39 and Figs.40, 41 and 42.

Fig. 40 is an isometric view of the shaft which fits in the center of the inboard and outboard suspension leg member joint shown in Fig. 37, or the joint shown in Fig. 38, and along with the parts shown in Figs.40, 41 and 42, make up the actuation between the inboard and outboard leg members. The center spline section, 325, receives either the sprocket 310, in Fig. 37, or the worm gear, 314, in Fig. 38, as represented by the blank, internally splined part in Fig. 41, while the outside spline sections, 326, receive the splines, 319, in the retention disk, 324, in Fig.39.

Fig. 41 represents a driven sprocket (as shown in Fig.37 as item 310) or a driven worm gear (as shown in Fig. 38 as item 314) by its surface, 331, being either a sprocket or worm gear, and having an internal spline, 332, into which the spline, 325, of Fig.40, is fitted. Motion on the chain, 309, in Fig.37 or on the worm gear, 314, in Fig. 38 transmits through the spline, 332, to the shaft in Fig.40 and then through the external splines, 326, in Fig. 36, to the internal spline, 319, inside of the access hole covered by the retention plate, 317, Fig. 39, which through hardware shown in Fig. 39, transmits to the outboard leg member shown in Fig. 42.

Fig.42 is an isometric view of an outboard leg member, 330, which fits over the inboard leg member, 320, Fig. 39, and receives the pivot bearing, 321, and bearing block, 323, Fig. 39, which fit into the hole, 333, and are held in place by the retention disk, 324, Fig. 39, using the hardware, 334, in Fig. 39, fitted into the threaded holes, 329, completing the joint of the inboard and outboard suspension leg members as shown in Fig.37 and 38.

Fig.43 is a cutaway cross section at the joint of a typical hollow inboard and outboard suspension leg set housing a mechanical drive system, illustrating, with Fig.44, how a drive shaft, 341, within an inboard leg housing, 340, transmits its power through a right angle gear set, 342, to a shaft, 346, mounted on bearings, 345, and on through another right angle gear set, 347, to a shaft, 348, within an outboard leg housing, 350, which is also supported by bearings, 344 and 345, which are braced on their outside edge by bracket, 343, being attached to the inboard

suspension leg housing, 340, by hardware, 349.

Fig. 44 is a cut away end view of the shafts and gears shown in Fig. 43, illustrating how the input shaft, 341, feeds power through the gear sets, 351, (342 and 347 in Fig.43) through the cross shaft, 346, to the output shaft, 348 (marked 348A and 348B), and how that shaft, within the suspension leg housing, can output power at any point shown by an arc, 353, between the solid line representation of the output shaft, 348A, and the dotted line representation, 348B.

Fig.45 is a cross section cut away showing how an electric motor and gearbox set, 352, is housed within a fixed axle tube, 359, which is mounted on the end of an outboard suspension leg, 355, and on which a rotating wheel tube, 354, is supported by bearings, 356, and driven through a wheel attachment plate, 358, which is coupled, 360, over the output shaft of the electric motor and gearbox set, 352, and is fitted with a tire, 361. The electric motor and gearbox set is powered by way of electric control cables, 357.

Fig.46 is a cross section cut away showing how a hydraulic motor and gearbox set, 363, housed within a fixed axle tube, 359, which is mounted on the end of an outboard suspension, leg, 355, and on which a rotating wheel tube, 354, is supported by bearings, 356, and driven through a wheel attachment plate, 364, which is coupled, 368, over the output shaft of the hydraulic motor and gearbox set, 363, and is fitted with a tire, 361. The hydraulic motor and gearbox set is powered by way of hydraulic fluid lines, 370.

Fig.47 is an isometric phantom view of a steering system placed within hollow inboard and outboard suspension legs on an Arakodile Vehicle, where a steering shaft, 375, moves a center steering arm, 376, which drives steering rods, 377 and 378, which in. turn move slave steering arms, 379 and 380, which turn shafts, 381 and 382, mounted in bearings, 384. The shafts, 381 and 382, are equipped with u-joints, 383, at hull and inboard suspension leg junctures, at the inboard and outboard suspension leg junctures and at the outboard suspension legs and wheel axle carrying members, which are housed within flexible plastic tubing, 374, within the suspension legs, 385. At the wheel end of the jointed steering shafts a right angle gear set, 390, operates a shaft which is parallel to a wheel axle spindle and through a gear, 391, transmits motion to another gear, 392, on a wheel axle spindle and thus controls steering by way of the wheels, 394, mounted on axles, 394. Note that the angles between the center steering arm, 376, and the slave steering arms, 379 and 380, are adjusted to simulate an Akerman effect, as used in automobiles, when the Arakodile Vehicle wheel base is between that of having the wheels pulled inward toward the hull and fully extended away from the hull.

Fig.48 is a isometric diagram of the equipment needed to steer an Arakodile Vehicle

electrically, where a steering wheel, 400, moves a steering arm 420, which pulls a left chain, 406, which activates a left hand switch, 405, or a right chain, 416, which activates a right hand switch, 417. As example, to steer left, the steering wheel, 400, is rotated counter clockwise and the steering arm, 420, rotates to the left, activating the right hand switch, 417, through chain, 416, which feeds electrical power to both electric motors, 410 and 412, to cause them to rotate and through worms, 407 and 415, on the electric motor shafts, turn the gears, 409 and 414, and the spindle shafts, 408 and 413, in a counter clockwise direction, which turns the attached axles, 411 and 418, to the left. Turning the vehicle to the right is a matter of turning the steering wheel, 400, clockwise, whereupon the steering arm, 420, through chain, 406, activates switch, 405, which does the opposite of switch, 417, and causes the electric motors to reverse their direction and turn the vehicle to the right. Note that the switches, 401 and 402, to the left of the steering wheel, 400, cause the left side electric motor, 410, to advance or regress, while the switches, 403 and 404, on the right of the steering wheel, 400, are used to do the same to the right side electric motor, which is useful to maintain as accurate as possible steering control during different geometric arrangements of an Arakodile Vehicle's wheels.

Fig. 49 is a schematic of a hydraulically driven Arakodile Vehicle where the main engine or motor, 432, is driving a primary pump, 431, which drives a hydraulic motor, 428, in each of four wheels, through controls, 427, and a secondary pump, 430, drives four outboard suspension leg cylinders, 423, through controls, 422, and four inboard suspension leg cylinders, 426, through controls, 425.

Fig. 50 is a simple direct connection hydraulic steering schematic for an Arakodile Vehicle where the primary steering shaft, 433, moves a left cylinder piston, 434, and a right cylinder piston, 437, which in turn move respective left and right cylinder pistons, 435 and 436, which are each attached to steering arms, 437 and 438, moving wheels, 439 and 440, to steer a vehicle.