Vehicle equipped with turning mechanism
US6378641B1 · kind B1 · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Jul 20, 2000 |
| Grant date | Apr 30, 2002 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Jul 20, 2020 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC B)Performing Operations; Transporting
- CPC primaryB62D7/1509
- WIPO fieldTransport
- WIPO sectorMechanical engineering
Abstract
A four-wheel vehicle equipped with a space saving, relatively simple turning mechanism capable of turning a vehicle body with a sufficiently reduced turning radius. One of front and rear pairs of left and right wheels, to which a running torque produced by a driving force is not transmitted, are arranged for rotation concerning respective axes perpendicular to the ground. For turning the vehicle body, the one pair of left and right wheels are fixed at respective angular positions along tangential directions of an arc which passes the axes perpendicular to the ground of the one pair of left and right wheels and has the center near the center point of a rotating axle for running the vehicle of the other pair of left and right wheels. At these angular positions, rotating torques in different rotating directions from each other are applied to the other pair of left and right wheels, respectively, to turn the vehicle body on a neighborhood of the center point of the rotating axle for running the vehicle of the other pair of left and right wheels.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.