Title: Vehicle for carrying a standing person

Technical Field

The invention relates to a vehicle for carrying a standing person, said vehicle having at least one front wheel and two rear wheels, where the front wheel is ro- tably mounted on an axle, which is connected with the end of a steering column, which at the opposite end is connected with a handle bar for manual turning of the front wheel, and which is rotably mounted around its own axis on a frame, which at an end opposite the front wheel has at least one bearing means for reception of the rear wheels, so that these may rotate around an axis, and said vehicle having two pedals, each having a first, front end and a second, rear end, which are rotably mounted around an axis of rotation at their second end in the immediate vicinity of the axis of rotation of the rear wheels, in that the pedals extend forward towards the position of the at least one front wheel and each having a means for driving each their rear wheel by turning around their axis of rotation in a downwards direction towards or just past a level corresponding to the position of the wheel axles and a means for carrying the pedals backwards in the opposite direction away from said level.

Background

Various vehicles of the present type are known, but generally relatively little forwards carrying is achieved per pedal stroke. For instance EP 0 000 228 dis- closes how the pedal movement is converted into a rotary movement by way of a belt being wound around an axle. However, the belt only moves a fraction of the length of movement of the foot and a very thin axle is required to obtain several revolutions per pedal stroke. A thin axle results in large deformations in the belt, and consequently the belt has relatively short durability.

US patent 4,124,222 discloses a vehicle with a pedal, the movement of which is transferred to a chain, which drives a gear wheel corresponding to the gear

wheel on a regular bike. Also, this vehicle suffers from a short movement of the chain per pedal stroke.

Finally, US patent 1 ,511 ,151 discloses an increase in the number of revolutions per pedal stroke by means of gear transmissions. This solution requires an extra gear wheel for reversing the direction of revolutions and thus makes the transmission device rather complicated.

Disclosure of the Invention

The object of the invention is to provide a vehicle enabling relatively large forwards movement per pedal stroke.

According to the invention this is achieved in that the driving means includes a first belt extending between a fixed spot on the frame in the area between the front wheel and the handle bar and to the front end of the corresponding pedal and from there along the bottom side of the pedal to a winding axle rotably mounted in the bearing means, the end of the belt being wound around said winding axle, in that the driving means further includes a clutch between the winding axle and the rear wheels, said clutch being adapted to drive the rear wheels around by turning the winding axle in the unwinding direction of the belt and to disengage the rear wheels by turning the winding axle in the opposite direction, and in that the means for backwards carrying is a spring means adapted to constantly subject the belt to a biasing force through the winding axle.

By this it is achieved that each pedal stroke provides relatively many revolutions of the wheels. This is due to the fact that during each stroke the belt changes from having a length approx. corresponding to the hypotenuse of a right-angled triangle to having the sum of the other two sides, and each time this change takes place a corresponding piece of the belt is pulled of the winding axle. The means for backwards carrying, which constantly subjects the corresponding belt

to presence for a biasing force, results in the belt being pulled backwards automatically by rotation of the winding axle.

In order to facilitate the movement of the individual belts, each pedal may ac- cording to the invention be fitted with one or more rollers through which the corresponding belt extends along the bottom side of the pedals.

According to the invention each winding axle may be mounted so as to rotate freely, and the means for backwards carrying may include a second belt being wound around the winding axle, said second belt wound in the opposite direction of the first belt and connected with the corresponding pedal through a spiral spring. This results in an easy pullback of the first belt on the winding axle by simultaneous lifting of the corresponding pedal.

Further, according to the invention the front end of the first belt connected with the frame may extend around a roller on the frame and be adapted to be removably connected with the front end of the corresponding pedal. This enables easy enhancement of the length of the piece of the first belt, which is pulled of the winding axle each time. The user may adjust this length by connecting the belt with the front end of the pedal or by removing it from this again.

According to the invention it is especially easy when the front end of the first belt has a ring for hooking onto a hook means on the front end of the corresponding pedal.

According to the invention, each winding axle in the area where the first belt is positioned may include axial, radially shiftable sections, which are adapted for manual activation and which in a position closest to the axis of rotation of the winding axle substantially cover the entire surface of the axle in the area below the first belt, whereas in a second position it provides a winding surface with a larger radius for the first belt. By this the user can adjust the outside diameter of the winding axle and thus the transmission of the belt with the winding axle.

Finally according to the invention, the axis of each winding axle and the axis of the corresponding wheel may be coaxially extending, whereby the driving means becomes especially simple.

Brief Description of the Drawing

The invention is explained in detail below with reference to the drawing, in which

Fig. 1 shows a perspective view of an embodiment of the vehicle according to the invention,

Fig. 2 shows a schematic view of an embodiment of the driving means of the vehicle,

Fig. 3 and 4 show a large scale side view of parts of the vehicle showing the belt of the driving means, shown both disconnected from and connected with the front end of a pedal,

Fig. 5 and 6 show a schematic and perspective view of the belt of the driving means being wound onto a winding axle, shown both with a large and a small diameter,

Fig. 7 shows a schematic view of a part of the vehicle seen from behind in verti- cal section, and

Fig. 8a, b and c show a schematic view of a different embodiment of the winding axle with the opportunity to adjust the diameter.

The vehicle shown in Fig. 1 comprises a front wheel 1 and two rear wheels 2 and 3 carried by a frame 4. The front wheel is mounted on a fork 5 which is mounted on a steering column 6 rotably mounted in a coupling box (see Fig. 3 and 4), which is part of the frame 4. At the top, the steering column 6 is con-

nected with a handle bar 8 enabling manual steering of the vehicle by turning the steering column 6 around its longitudinal axis and thereby enabling turning of the front wheel 1. Further, a screen 9 is mounted on the frame 4, said screen 9 formed in such way that on the front side it may be used for carrying luggage.

On each of the axles of the front wheels 2 and 3 (see Fig. 7) a pedal 10 and 11 are mounted, which are adapted to turn up and down on each their side of the frame 4 by depression by the user of the vehicle. This motion is transferred to the respective rear wheels 2, 3 through a driving means belonging to each pedal.

Each driving means comprises a belt 12, 13 extending from a ring 14 adapted to hook onto a hook 15 (the drawing only shows one of the hooks) being mounted on the front end (seen in the direction of movement) of each pedal 10 and 11. In the following, only the driving means with the belt 12 is described, as the two driving means are identical. (Fig. 7 shows left rear wheel 3 with corresponding belt 13). From the hook 15 the belt 12 runs over a roller 16, which is mounted to rotate freely on the backside of the screen 9 at the top end of the said screen 9 (seen in the position of use). From here the belt 12 runs down- wards to a roller 17, which is mounted to rotate freely on the front end of the pedal 10 in such way that the belt 12 can continue downwards from the roller 17 to the corresponding rear wheel 2 on the bottom side of the pedal 10 (see also Fig. 2). The pedals 10 and 11 are formed with such U-formed cross section that the tread surface 18 on the pedal 10 extends above the corresponding rear wheel 2, whereas the sides increases in height in the direction from the front side of the pedal 10 to the area around the axis of rotation of the rear wheel 2. By this the belt 12 is protected by the sides of the pedal 10 on the bottom side of the tread surface 18. At the rear wheel 2 the belt 12 is wound around a winding axle 19 in that the end of the belt is fastened to the winding axle 19. The winding axle 19 is connected with the drive shaft 20 of the rear wheel 3 (see Fig. 7) through a freewheel clutch 21 adapted in such way that by unwinding of the belt 12 of the winding axle 19 the drive shaft 20 of the rear wheel 2 is driven around by means of the rotation of the winding axle 19, whereas the drive shaft

20 of the rear wheel 2 is not driven around when the winding axle 19 rotates in the opposite direction. The belt 12 is wound around the winding axle 19 with a number of windings corresponding to the piece, which the length of the belt 12 varies, from the roller 16 to the winding axle 19 by use of the pedal 10. Around the winding axle 19 in the area next to the belt 12, a second belt 22 is mounted, which is connected with a fixed spot 24 on the bottom side of the .tread surface 18 of the pedal 10 through a spiral spring 23. By mounting the spiral spring 23 in such way that it will be constantly compressed independent on the number of windings of the belt 22 on the winding axle 19, the belt 12 will at any time be subjected to a biasing force resulting in the belt 12 being wound on the winding axle 19 every time the pedal is not subjected to the tread of the user.

When using the vehicle, the user will drive the vehicle forwards by treading the pedals 10 and 11 downwards. When treading the pedal 10 in such way that the front end is moved downwards the belt 12 will be pulled of the winding axle during simultaneous driving of the rear wheel 2. When the user changes tread to the other pedal, the pedal is forced backwards again by the spring 23 and the belt 12 is pulled back onto the winding axle 19 by way of the spiral spring 23, until the pedal is in its top position. Upon desire, as shown in Fig. 3 and 4, a re- lease of the ring 14 from the hook 15 or a mounting hereon allows a desired adjustment between two settings of the number of rotations of the winding axle 19.

The number of windings caused by the unwinding of the belt 12 can also, as implied in Fig. 5 and 6, be adjusted by making the diameter of the winding axle 19 adjustable. In this case the winding axle 19 has a number of radially movable sections 25-28, which constitute the surface of the winding axle 19 at the spot where the belt 12 touches the surface. Without being shown in detail, these sections 25-28 are adapted to be shiftable in radial direction and thus provide the winding axle with differing diameters. Appropriately, this adjustment can be per- formed manually and at an appropriate time during the unwinding of the belt 12 of the winding axle 19 or during the winding onto the winding axle 19.

Fig. 7 shows the winding axle 19 rotably mounted on the joint axle 30. The winding axle 19 is composed of two parts 31 and 32 for each their belt 13 and 22. The winding axle is mounted on the joint axle 30 by means of a ball bearing 33 and a needle bearing 34. The separate parts constituting part of the connec- tion between the winding axle 19 and the rear wheels 2 and 3 are commonly known parts. A clutch of the type INA HF 3020 is e.g. used as freewheel clutch 21.

Fig. 8 shows schematically how the winding axle 19 may be adapted to adjust the diameter. Here it comprises a central axle 34', upon which a number of relatively stiff blades 35-39 are rotably mounted. The blades 35-39 are mounted on each their axle 40-44 and are driven by each their planetary gear 45-49 (shown separately in Fig. 8) in a planetary gear pinion, which is not shown in detail but may be activated by the user by a Bowden wire.

The invention has been described in accordance with a preferred embodiment. The invention may be varied in many ways without deviating from the scope of the invention. The pedals may e.g. be adapted to drive the same rear wheel instead of each their rear wheel. In addition, the spiral spring 23 and the corre- sponding belt 22 may be replaced by another mechanism for pulling the belts 12 and 13, which are affected by the pedals, back onto the winding axle, just as the spiral spring may be mounted on the frame instead of on the pedals. Further, potential adjustable stopping means may be provided for limiting the oscillatory movement of the pedals 10 and 11. Finally, the winding axles may be po- sitioned in continuation of the drive shafts of the rear wheels and be connected with these via a gear transmission or the like.