The invention relates to a drive system and method. More specifically but not exclusively it relates to a drive system for a vehicle capable of making the vehicle more manoeuvrable.

The present application claims priority from UK Patent Application Numbers GB1504237.7 and GB1504238.5 filed on 12 ^th March 2015 the content of which, including all drawings, is hereby incorporated by reference.

Over the years cars have upgraded dramatically with engines may be at least 10 times the power of that which they used to be, the introduction of automatic cars was an incredible breakthrough, even the internal systems have improved with Bluetooth, cruise control and individually controlled wheels. The one feature of cars that had stayed very much the same is the wheel and the drive system.

The restriction of wheel movement to approximately 30-degree rotation is a huge inconvenience in known vehicle wheels. Parking in crowed areas is one of the most significant problems today with more and more cars produced every year. Increasingly in cities, vehicles are required to be able to perform increasingly complex manoeuvres. Current drive systems do not allow for vehicles to be, for example, parked in increasingly tight spaces.

According to the invention there is provided a drive system for a vehicle comprising rolling means fixedly mounted within a substantially ring-shaped member, the drive means further comprising motor means mounted on axel means, the axel means being mounted on the inside surface of the ring- shaped member, the ring-shaped member being independently driven from the rolling means, such that the motor when driven acts so as to rotate the rolling means within the ring shaped member, the ring-shaped member being separably moveable. Preferably, with this new spherical design, each conventional wheel replaced with a substantially spherical wheel, has 360-degree range of rotation allowing a whole new approach to motion of the vehicle. Preferred features of the invention are described in the claims.

The two main problems associated with manoeuvrability of vehicles are to do with the inefficient use of space.

Firstly, the vehicle turning circle or the space needed to turn the vehicle around.

Taking the average car to be 4.5m in length, the turning circle is made up of 3 touching circles with the radius the same length as the car. Using the formula Λ=3τττ ^Λ 2 the average car uses at least 190=3π [4.5] ^Λ 2

Secondly, parking a vehicle in a manner parallel to the direction of travel of the vehicle.

An average sized car (taken as 4.5m) uses 5 to 6m to park on the street using a parallel parking method and at least 7m while entering the space forwards. The most efficient way of parking on the street, parallel parking, uses 1 0% to 30% extra space. With greater numbers of vehicles being produced each year there is a need for a better method of parking. The present invention preferably includes a spherical wheel.

The drive system incorporating this spherical wheel aims to 'upgrade' the wheel of today, giving increased maneuverability, diversity and functionality. Preferably, the invention utilizes a central spherical ball encased in a strip of rubber or some other kind of high friction material. This is held inside an exterior band on an axis in a similar to style to a gyroscope. This exterior band is to be mounted into the vehicle, controlled by a mechanical rotary device. This exterior band is what reinvents the wheel and allows it to do so much more. The wheels of today only move 30 degrees to the left and right of the centre hugely restricting the range of motion of a vehicle. With this concentric rotary band, each wheel can move over 90 degrees left and right allowing it this innovative functionality.

The invention described with respect to the attached Figures enables the following manoeuvres: By rotating all four wheels 90 degrees clockwise or anticlockwise, the car can move perpendicular to the direction it is facing and "literally" park parallel to the road using up next to no additional space.

Rotating the front two wheels 90 degrees in one direction and the back two wheels 90 degrees in the opposite direction, the car can turn around with the center of rotation at the center point of the car. This allows the car's turning circle to be a third of the size of a 3 point turn (a circle with the diameter the length of a car). In this way, the invention overcomes the problems of current drive systems and methods.

The invention will now be described with reference to Figures 1 to x of the accompanying drawings. The annotations on the drawings are incorporated by reference herein.

Figure 1 is a schematic perspective view of one form of the drive system invention showing a spherical wheel in accordance with the invention mounted on a stationary axel within a concentric ring;

Figure 2 is a schematic cut away perspective view of one form of substantially spherical wheel in accordance with the invention, the wheel further comprising a cavity for mounting the axel and a motor within the wheel; Figures 3a and 3b are a schematic cross-sectional view of the wheel of Figures 1 and 2, showing the axel with the motor mounted thereon, the motor being fixedly attached to the inside of the wheel, the drive system further comprising a secondary supporting axel;

Figures 3c and 3d are schematic perspective views of the wheel showing the motor and the axels mounted therein;

Figure 4a and 4b are schematic perspective views of the concentric ring of Figures 1 and 2, the concentric ring further comprising an engaging steering system;

Figures 5a and 5b are schematic perspective views of the drive system of Figures 1 to 4 further in situ in one form of floor pan of a vehicle;

Figure 5c is a schematic drawing of a floor plan of a four wheeled vehicle, the vehicle comprising four wheels of Figures 1 to 4, the wheels in accordance with one form of the invention; and Figure 5d is a schematic perspective view of the floor pan of Figure 5c without the drive means in situ.

As can be seen in Figure 1 , the drive system comprises a substantially spherical wheel 2, the spherical wheel 2 being mounted on a stationary axel 6, the axel 6 being mounted in a concentric ring 4 such that the spherical wheel 2 is held in the center of the concentric ring 4. The axel 6 is fixedly attached to the concentric ring 4 by any suitable fixing means, for example by grub screws. The drive system further comprises a bearing 8 acting between the stationary axel 4 and the spherical wheel 2. The spherical wheel 2 further comprises an internal motor 10, the motor 10 acting so as to rotate the spherical wheel 2 about the axis of the axel 6. While the wheel 2 when driven, revolves clockwise and anticlockwise around the stationary axel 6 substantially as in the manner of a conventional wheel, the concentric ring 4 may be moved independently via a motor and gear assembly (not shown in Figure 1 ). This dual control of the wheel 2 allows the concentric ring 4 to be rotated 360° giving a vehicle using the drive system substantially, complete freedom of rotation.

The dual control allows for the vehicle to be steered in the manner of a conventional vehicle where just the front wheels are driven. However, the present invention allows for the front wheels to be grouped and driven, the rear wheels to be grouped and driven or all 4 wheels driven together. However, it should be noted that the back wheels may be able to move in the opposite or same direction as the front wheels. It will be appreciated that in the invention as described allows for 90 degree movement of each wheel in either direction from the centre point, therefore 180 degrees in total at each wheel. However, 360 degree movement is possible with the same system. The motor 10 is mounted inside the wheel 2 itself producing positive drive to the wheel 2 itself and decreasing wear on other parts of the vehicle. The reduction in wear is achieved as no friction is produced by cam shafts and other spinning parts as conventionally found in vehicles. Therefore the drive system is more efficient and less wear occurs. It should be noted that all the kinetic energy produced by the motor 10 is used only to turn the wheel 2 and not other connected parts of the vehicle.

The assembly process can be simplified into three distinct stages as follows: Wheel Assembly

Concentric Ring Assembly

Turning Mechanism Assembly

Firstly, with respect to the wheel 2, there are six different stages: The motor 10 is mounted inside the "motor plunger". The motor 10 may be secured in place by strong araldite adhesive or attached by any other suitable attaching means, while the terminals are connected to wires which feed out of an exit hole. These wires may be soldered to the base terminals of the motor and at the other end are connected to a power source (battery or power supply).

The second stage is connecting the steel axel 6 to the "motor plunger". This is done by a vertical grub screw clamping down through the aluminum plunger and holding the axel 6 in place. The grub screw is carefully measured as to not stick out the top of the plunger to reduce friction.

The motor 10 and the plunger are then fixed inside the wheel 2. The strength inside the wheel 2 holding the rotating shaft to the inside of the wheel is a very strong friction fit. This can be aided by araldite adhesive or even super glue but is not necessary and would be replacing the motor very difficult. Any other suitable mechanical or adhesive fixing means may be used. The bearing on the other side of the wheel 2 is then fitted. This is forced into the perfectly sized cavity and secured by a strong adhesive or fixedly attached by any other suitable mechanism.

The smaller plunger is then connected to the steel axel 6 in a similar arrangement to the motor plunger, described above. This is achieved by a vertical grub screw clamping down through the aluminium plunger and holding the axel 6 in place. The grub screw is carefully measured as to not stick out the top of the plunger to reduce friction. The second plunger is then placed inside the bearing to complete the wheel assembly.

There are four stages to assemble the concentric ring 4: Firstly the bolts must be placed through the three sheets of acrylic in order to hold them together. This is done by one set of nuts being screwed on form the bottom leaving a 5mm gap below the acrylic sheets. The second set of nuts are then screwed on 3mm. These nuts are responsible for supporting the concentric ring above the lazy Susan and keeping it level.

The two axels 6 are then placed in their respective grooves mounting the wheel 2 centrally inside the acrylic rings 4. The positioning of the axels 6 is very important in order to create precise turning of the wheel 2.

Finally the initial nuts are tightened fully in order to clamp the axels 6 within the acrylic sheets and hold them stationary. For the turning mechanism there are only two simple stages:

The concentric ring 4 with the motor 10 clamped inside it must be lined up such that the bolts align with the holes on the upper ring. The lower bolts of the concentric ring 4 must then be adjusted so that the steering motor lines up with the central acrylic sheet to obtain maximum surface area.

The exterior steering motor is the system that allows the wheel to be rotated at least 90 degrees. The arrangement described with reference to the Figures attached demonstrates this rotary motion and can in fact turn through 360 degrees. It will however, be appreciated that multiple revolutions requires the electrical connections to be addressed to prevent wires from tangling. Any suitable contacting form of electrical contact may be used.

In one embodiment there is a requirement for two separate drive systems. It will be appreciated that the two separate drive systems control the forward motion and the turning motion and these may be two separate motors. One of the motors is inside the wheel and produces the forward and backwards motion, while the external steering motor that moves the concentric ring is used for turning. These motors may be wired and controlled by two separate 3 way switches. Both switches are wired that the central part is stationary and either side is forwards/right and backwards/left. However, it will be appreciated that in a further embodiment a single motor 10 controls the forward motion and the turning motion.

The present embodiment describes a drive system in which the wheel has one internally mounted motor which is secured in place by an aluminium plunger supported in the concentric ring by a steel rod.

The internally mounted motor provides that forwards and backwards motion to the central sphere. It may be advantageous for the wheel 2 to comprise high friction material.

The separate connections will now be described with reference to the accompanying diagrammatic drawings. The Drive Wheel Connection:

It will be appreciated that when designing the concentric ring as a gear within a bearing, it is very difficult to allow access for a secondary driving gear. The idea is that there should be a small opening (one where the teeth engage) in order for the driving gear to gain access. This does come with some notable disadvantages. Unfortunately most bearings are made from hardened steel and are therefore very difficult to remove parts from. Even if it is possible to take a segment out it will make the structure a lot weaker and therefore may compromise the build unless it is made as a custom bearing. However, it will be appreciated that alternative connection and assembly may make the use of such a bearing possible.

The Motor Connection: In order to upgrade the wheel and make it less labour intensive it will be appreciated that it would be preferable for the drive means not to require plungers in the wheel. The idea is that the metal motor housing will be the part that is moving without the need for the plunger. By using the axel that the motor already has as our stationary axel, the smaller plunger is no longer needed. The difficulty will be getting the motor to spin without the plunger. However, it will be appreciated that the moving part is being transferred from the axel to the metal housing (the actual motor part itself). This may be achieved by using, for example, a 3.5mm, or any other suitably sized, jack. This will enable rotation by 360 degrees as required, whilst still supplying power.

It will be appreciated that 4 drive means may be disposed on the floor pan of a vehicle in the manner shown in Figures 5c and 5d. The drive system as described with respect to a single wheel means above may be extended to include a number of such drive means and this will enable certain manoeuvres that the vehicle would be able to do, not currently possible with conventional drive means: such as parking parallel to the direction faced and turning around with a centre of rotation at the centre of the car.

Having contemplated the benefits of four independently controlled wheels it seems as though it that would be an unnecessarily complicated way of controlling the concept board and that all the manoeuvres could be done with half the number of steering motors by grouping the front two wheels and the back two wheels.

It will be appreciated that ehe drive system would work as follows (note the difference between "drive" meaning power to the wheels and "steer" meaning the steering of the wheels themselves): The board/car/vehicle would be two wheel drive normally to conserve energy and be as energy efficient as possible.

If necessary the board would be able to engage all four drive motors supplying extra power in order to help on difficult inclines or terrain. During normal driving the wheels would behave just as conventional wheels with a limited clockwise and anticlockwise rotation of 30 degrees. The board would be front wheel steer and behave as conventional cars do.

In order to carryout special manoeuvres the wheels would be allowed full 360 degrees of rotation (although they should only need 90 degrees in either direction). These manoeuvres would in two different categories: unison or opposite. Unison actions such as parallel movement mean that both the front and back wheels are rotated in the same direction whereas opposite actions such as turning require the front and back wheels to rotate in opposite directions.

In use, the conventional wheels of a vehicle may be replaced with wheels 2 in accordance with one aspect of the invention. In accordance with one aspect of the invention, all four wheels on the vehicle may be replaced and accordingly have independent control. In this way, many operational configurations of the wheels are envisaged. By rotating two front wheels of a four wheeled vehicle in a 90o clockwise direction and the back two wheels 90o in an anticlockwise direction, the vehicle may spin round in a circle. The vehicle will turn around with a centre of rotation at the centre of the vehicle. This central turning point makes the overall turning circle's diameter the length of the vehicle. Furthermore, by rotating all four wheels of the vehicle 90o in the same direction the forward motion is directly translated 90-degrees, allowing the car to move sidewise and, for example park perpendicularly.

It will be appreciated that this technology converts any vehicle into an ultra manoeuvrable version of itself.

In this design all four wheels on the vehicle may have independent control. This allows all sorts of configurations of the wheels. In one aspect of the invention, for example only, a drive motor 10 may be embedded inside each wheel 2. This allows each motor 10 to act as an individual bearing delivering positive drive to each wheel. To reduce wasted energy and be as efficient as possible the only moving part of the wheel is the wheel itself, the motor is stationary inside the wheel supported by the axels, hugely reducing friction and providing better fuel economy.

The wheel 2 above is referred to as spherical however, it will be appreciated that the wheel need not be absolutely spherical but could be many substantially circular shapes. For example, the wheel could resemble a conventional wheel mounted and driven in this novel and inventive manner. Advantageously the wheel is substantially spherical and this will result in a smooth movement and will also counteract rough and uneven surfaces in the road. Furthermore, the spherical nature of the wheel in one form of the invention results in a spherical point of contact with the surface in contact with the wheel and this allows for an improved 90 degrees twisting movement.

It will be appreciated that the spherical wheel 2 should be located approximately in the centre of the concentric ring 4 as shown in the Figures. However, it will be appreciated that the system will function in the manner described subject to the wheel 2 being in the same relative place to the ring 4 on rotation.

It will also be appreciated that the concentric ring 4 is a ring in the preferred embodiment. However, the ring 4 may be at least a half circle, but for strength a solid circular shape is preferred. In a second embodiment of the invention shown in Figure 4, the concentric ring is replaced by a custom built toothed thrust bearing.

Moreover, the axels 6 are described as stationary. However, it will be appreciated that the axels 6 of the drive system do not move as they are secured to the concentric ring 4. In this way, the motor 10 moves when power is applied. In the embodiment described above, the spherical wheel 2 comprises rubber material such as that used in conventional tyres, such as a cross-linked rubber. However any other suitable tyre material may be used including reinforced materials or composites.

In the embodiment described above, the toothed ring may comprise a composite material, a suitable metallic material such as steel or, in the case of a lightweight vehicle, any suitable plastics material having the required characteristics, such a PP, PTFE or PET.

In the embodiment described above, the axels comprise metallic materials such as steel or stainless steel. However, it will be appreciated that any other suitable material may be used having the required characteristics. It will be appreciated that the embodiment above utilizes a conventional motor. However, any suitable form of motor or any form of device that can produce rotary kinetic energy may be used. For example, the wheel 2 itself may be made in to the motor 10. Moreover, the examples described above may be double axeled motors but it will be appreciated that any suitable form of axel may be used.

It will be appreciated that the wheels may be driven and controlled by a suitable utility such as a computer program located and running in an engine management system of the vehicle. This may be operated by a user via suitable engaging means such as a button or dial in the cockpit of the vehicle.

It will be appreciated that the above embodiments refer to vehicles but it will be appreciated that the drive system may be used on any form of vehicle such as a car, van, lorry, 4x4, mobility scooter or the like.

The aim of the invention as described above with reference to the various embodiments is to create the next step in the innovation of the wheel. Car wheels today are limited to 30-degress of rotation. In order to create the new and improved wheel, increasing its range of motion would have to be the main focus.

This technology converts the standard car into an ultra-manoeuverable vehicle, perfect for city centers, being able to travel in any direction allows it to fit in tight spaces and negotiate congested traffic.