FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to human-powered vehicles, specially to a human-powered skateboard like vehicle which can be propelled entirely by human body weight and movements without having to push off against the ground by the rider's foot.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Conventional skateboard is propelled by the riders applying a propelling leverage directly against the ground with one of their feet. One foot supports the rider while the other foot engages the ground and pushes the rider and the skateboards forward. This propulsion is not sufficient to allow the skateboard to attain higher speeds and it is tiresome to push off from the ground with one foot for keeping moving the rider and skateboard.

U. S. patent Nos. 3,399,906, 3,415,540, 4,411,442, 4,861,054,

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4,915,403 disclose several types of human-powered skateboards such a way to keep moving the rider and the skateboard by human power without propelling directly against the ground with one of the feet. However, they could not make good use of the rider's body weight and movements so that they could not permit sufficiently practical application and commercialization. Further, all the above skateboards were always higher and bigger than the conventional skateboard.

In my pending application Ser. No. 07/733,438, a human-powered drive is disclosed which can be applied in a skateboard like vehicle and makes good use of the rider's body weight and movements to move forward the skateboard, but there was not an empty space between the front and rear drives as the conventional skateboard so that the rider could not use the playing technique of the conventional skateboard, and the human-power drive in the pending application Ser. No. 07/733,438 could be made smaller and more compact so that the human-powered skateboard can be lighter for practical use and have the same height and size as the conventional skateboard.

Accordingly, objects and advantages of the present invention are:

(a) to provide a human-powered propelling drive which can make good use of the rider's body weight and muscular power to propel efficiently with the feet of riders without having to push off .the ground with one of the feet,

(b) to provide a human-powered skateboard with the propelling drive which can have the same height and size as the conventional

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skateboard and can use the playing technique of the conventional skateboard.

(c) to provide a human-powered skateboard with the propelling drive and the devices which should be not only usable, but also simple and inexpensive for manufacturing, also small and light to be portable for practical use.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent through consideration of the drawings, description and claims thereof.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

Fig. 1 is a side view of the skateboard.

Fig. 2 is a bottom side view of the skateboard.

Fig. 3 is a front side view of the skateboard.

Fig. 4 is a sectional view of the steering truck and the front propelling drive.

Fig. 5 is a sectional view of the transmission of the front propelling drive.

Fig. 6 is a sectional view of the steering truck and the rear propelling drive.

Fig. 7 is a sectional view of the transmission of the rear propelling drive.

Fig. 8 is a side view of another embodiment of the skateboard with two identical propelling drives.

Fig. 9 is a side view of another embodiment of the skateboard

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with compression spring and flat spring.

DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Structure of Preferred Embodiment:

A preferred embodiment of the skateboard like vehicle for the invention is shown in Fig. 1 for its side view, Fig. 2 for its bottom side view and Fig. 3 for its front side view respectively.

The embodiment of the skateboard consists of a board 1 which is for the rider's supporting and operation, and a pair of propelling drives: a front drive 2 and a rear drive 3 under the board 1. Each drive comprises a steering truck 4, two torsion springs 6 and two wheels 5 as shown in Figs. 1 and 2. One end of the leg of the torsion spring 6 is connected with the propelling drive, another end is connected with the steering truck 4 which has a spring support 7 where there is a spring slot 8 as shown in Fig. 3. The another end of the torsion spring 6 is mounted in the spring slot 8 and can be put in the different position of the slot 8 so that the action of the spring 6 to the board is readjustable for the different body weights.

Figs. 4 shows a sectional view of the steering truck as well as the front propelling drive. The steering truck comprises a truck base 11 which is fixedly connected with the spring support 7 and fixed with the board 1, a truck axle support 12, a pivot tip 13 and a truck axle 15. The truck axle 15 is connected at each side of the truck support 12 with a rubber bushing 16 and a bushing washer 17,

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and fixed on the truck base 11 with a loσknut 18. The pivot tip 13 is pivotally mounted on the truck base 11 through a bushing 14.

The propelling drive consists of a gear train for power transmission, plural transmission shafts, a gear box for fixing the gear train and the transmission shafts and the wheels for enabling the vehicle to roll. Figs. 5 shows the transmission of the front propelling drive.

The gear train consists of a gear sector 21, plural transmission gears 21 - 27, and a output gear 28. The gear sector 21 which translates human force into gear rotation is pivotally mounted on a gear sector shaft 31, and fixedly connected with the steering truck support 13 and the pivot tip 14. The gear sector 21 meshes a small gear 22 which is fixed with a bigger gear 23. The gear 22 and the gear 23 are pivotally mounted on a shaft 32 which is fixed on the gear box 20 with clip-rings 41 on both sides of the shaft 32. The gear 23 meshes with a small gear 24 which is fixed with a bigger gear 25. The gear 24 and the gear 25 are pivotally mounted on a shaft 33 which is fixed on the gear box 20 by clip-rings 41 on both sides of the shaft 33. The gear sector 21 has a slot 19 so that the shaft 33 is mounted through the slot 19. The gear 25 meshes with a small gear 26 which is fixed with a bigger gear 27. The gears 26 and 27 are pivotally mounted on the same shaft 32 as the gears 22 and 23. The gear 27 meshes with the output gear 28 which is pivotally mounted on a output shaft 34. The output gear 29 has a multi-jaw portion 43 which is connected with another multi- jaw coupling 42. The multi-jaw coupling 42 is fixed on the output

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shaft 34 with a shaft key 44. The output shaft 34 is connected with a wheel 5 through a roller bearing clutch 47 at each end of the shaft 34. Two bearings 48 and a spacer 49 are mounted on each side of the shaft 34 between the gear box 20 and the wheel 5. A compression spring 46 is mounted on the shaft 34 between the multi- jaw coupling 42 and the bearing 48. A washer 50 and a lockn t 51 are fixed at each end of the output shaft 33.

Figs. 6 and 7 show sectional views of the steering truck and the transmission for the rear propelling drive respectively. The structure of the rear propelling drive is similar as the front propelling drive. The only differences between the front drive and the rear drive is that the rear drive has one more idle gear 29 and the idle gear shaft 35 so that the two wheels of the rear drive have the same rotating direction as the front drive.

Other Embodiments of the Skateboard:

The present invention is by no means limited to the specific showing in the drawings and description of the preferred embodiment, but also encompasses any exemplifications of several of their possible forms within the scope of the invention. Following then, are some examples of possible variations on the invention:

- An only one propelling drive can be used for propelling the vehicle.

- The structure of the front propelling drive and the rear propelling drive can be identical. In such case, the two identical propelling drives as well as the two steering trucks are mounted

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under the board with the same direction, as shown in Fig. 8.

- The number of the transmission gears as well as shafts could be changed for ^" having different gear train ratio for different age of riders.

- The one way roller clutch can be replaced other one way clutch, such as pawl-ratchet clutch.

- The torsion spring can be replaced by other type of spring sucli as compression spring or flat spring. As shown in Fig. 9, a flat spring is used for the front propelling drive where one end of the flat spring contacts the front propelling drive and another end of the flat spring is fixed between the board 1 and the truck base 11, and two compression springs are used for the rear propelling drive where one end of the compression spring is connected with said propelling drive, another end of said compression spring is fixed on the bottom of the board 1.

- The propelling drive can be applied for human-powered scooter, wheel chair, roller skate like vehicles as disclosed in the pending patent Ser. No. 07/733,438.

Operation of the Embodiment:

While coasting, a rider is normally standing on the board with one foot on the front side and the other foot on the rear side of the board. During rider shifts the body, the board would then be alternatively depressed and returned, which applies alternatively a propelling leverage through the steering device to the gear sectors of the propelling drives. The force is then transmitted

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through the gear trains to the output gears and then through the multi-jaw coupling and the one way roller bearing clutches to rotate the front and the rear wheels. Thus, with the alternatively applying forces on the front drive and the rear drive, the skateboard get from rider the both strokes which keeps rotating the front wheels as well as the rear wheels. When there is nb force transmitted in a propelling drive, the wheels in the front and rear drives are in freewheeling. The propelling drive can be active for many types of human body movements, such as shifting, pedalling, jumping, bouncing, shaking, waving, wagging, balancing and so on, so that the rider can have more choices for operation means and have more opportunities for long-duration use, performance and speeding.

The rider can control the skateboard speeds by adjusting the force applied on the board, or the waving amplitude of the board, or the frequency of the waving board, or the foot distance on the board at any time.

The skateboard is steered when the rider tilts the riding board to the left or to the right. The tilting action is transmitted to the steering truck axles and the steering pivot tips in each of the propelling drive. The truck axles and the pivot tips are pivotable members so that there is a steering torque on the gear sector shafts of the both propelling drives. This cause the both output shafts tilt and thus cause both the whole rear and front propelling drives to steer.

When the skateboard is backed up or there is an overload on the

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board, the multi-jaw coupling is disconnected by slipping.

The position of the torsion spring is readjustable in order to change the actions of the springs for the different body's weight of riders.

CONCLUSION

The above description of the invention provides a useful and practical means of non-motorized motion, which is more efficient than that of a conventional skateboard as well as other pedal- powered skateboards and can have the same height as the conventional skateboard. This human-powered skateboard like vehicle provides for a wide range of riders, a better means for entertainment, convenience, fitness or performance.

What is claimed is:

1. A human-powered skateboard like vehicle as a riding equipment, said human-powered skateboard like vehicle comprising: a board for supporting an occupant and for operation by the occupant; two steering trucks, one said steering truck fixed under the front side of said board, another said steering truck fixed under the rear side of said board, said steering truck comprising a truck base which is fixed with said board, a truck axle support, a pivot tip and a truck axle, said truck axle being connected at each side of said truck support with a rubber bushing and a bushing washer, and fixed on said truck base with a locknut, said pivot tip being pivotally mounted on the truck base through a bushing;

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