ALL-TERRAIN BOARD VEHICLE
An all-terrain board vehicle includes wheels characterized by a large bore hollow hub configuration comprised of an inner race portion that is held stationary of radial movement once connected to a frame, and a rotatable outer race that acts as a ground surface contacting member. The frame is pivotally connected to each wheel by a steering mechanism containing a pivoting axis located centrally in a longitudinal direction and set perpendicular to an inclination subtended from the axis of the wheel in relation to the ground. Rider weight directed towards the left or right side of the vehicle's longitudinal orientation induces a steering effect wherein each wheel pivots laterally along its axis in the opposite direction of rider lean, following the rotational path defined by the central rotating axis within the steering mechanism and due to the angular orientation of the axis and the opposing ground force upon each wheel.
The present disclosure relates to personal transportation devices and in particular to all-terrain board vehicles for personal use.
BACKGROUNDThe origins of modern day all-terrain boarding date back to the early indigenous peoples of what is now known as the Hawaiian islands, who were known to slide down volcanic slopes standing or otherwise “riding” on sleds of smoothed logs lashed together, as well as use smoothed logs or otherwise wooden craft in the water to “surf” waves which then became modern day surfing. Sliding down, or “riding” mountains was revived in the late 20th century after the rise in popularity of surfing created an environment for innovation from which modern day skateboarding, snowboarding, and all-terrain boarding are born. This widespread popularity of “board” sports led to many new advances in board types, steering configurations, and wheel type variations coming into existence. These advances in “board” technology propelled board sports into many niche areas of riding, particularly all-terrain boarding and more specifically in line boarding. An in line board is a type of board essentially comprised of a standing platform, otherwise known as a “board” or “deck” and two wheels placed in line with one another, mounted by the axles, and is ridden on a multitude of surfaces, either downhill or on flat ground, with the rider positioned standing upon the vehicle in a sideways manner.
There are many known all-terrain board types. Original designs featured up to four wheels and were configured in a manner similar to a large skateboard and were ridden off road. To obtain higher speeds boards featuring larger size wheels placed in line were developed. Traditional in line boards generally feature a steering system which is based on the front wheel held by a fork that swings laterally from a pivoting axis positioned in front of the wheel and below and perpendicular to the axle of the wheel. This design requires the frame to extend past the leading edge of the front wheel below the axle, resulting in a dangerously low ground clearance from the frame, in some cases causing the front frame to impact the ground and stop the vehicle entirely, violently throwing the rider to the ground. Also, traditional in line boards are non-motorized and thus are limited to downhill travel, or can be pushed like a skateboard across flat ground. Pushing an in line board is not very efficient however due to the cumbersome size and weight of the vehicle. Some in line boards feature hollow hub or “hub-less” wheels wherein the rider places their feet within the wheel, and these boards generally ridden on flat paved surfaces. Though some of these all-terrain board designs, including in line boards and hub-less wheel boards, have achieved considerable popularity and commercial success; there has been a continuing need for improvement.
SUMMARYIt will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that other variations of the embodiments described below may also be practiced without departing from the scope of the invention. Further note, these embodiments, and other embodiments of the present invention, will become more fully apparent from a review of the description and claims which follow.
In one embodiment of the present invention, there is described an in line all-terrain board vehicle consisting of a frame, including standing platform, and longitudinally extending frame locating a forward most wheel and rearward most wheel, exactly in line with one another, one or more of said wheels being a steering wheel and/or of a hollow hub configuration. A steering wheel is mounted dynamically within the cavity of the hollow hub or hubs of the wheels, wherein the frame is pivotally connected to the steering wheel by a pivoting member located below the axis of the wheel, the pivot being disposed at an angle located perpendicular to an inclination subtended from the frame, in correspondence with the axis of said wheel in relation to the ground, located between the axis of said wheel, and the ground surface, such that when the riders weight is applied to either side of the vehicle the steering wheel will pivot to the opposite side of the lean causing the forward most wheel to no longer be in line with the longitudinal orientation of the vehicle, but subtended on an angle relative to the longitudinal orientation of said vehicle, in correspondence with the severity of the riders lean, causing the vehicle to alter course.
In the embodiment described above, one of the wheels may be a forward most steering wheel, wherein the frame is pivotally connected to the forward most steering wheel by a pivoting member located perpendicular to an inclination subtended from the frame, in correspondence with the axis of the front wheel in relation to the ground, located between the axis of said wheel, and the ground surface, such that when the rider's weight is applied to either side of the vehicle the steering wheel will pivot to the opposite side of the lean causing the forward most wheel to no longer be in line with the longitudinal orientation of the vehicle and rear wheel, but subtended on an angle relative to the frame in correspondence with the severity of the riders lean, causing the vehicle to alter course. Further, optionally, one of the wheels is a rearward most steering wheel, wherein the frame is pivotally connected to the rearward most steering wheel, within the cavity of the hollow hub of the rearward most wheel by a pivoting member located perpendicular to an inclination subtended from frame, in correspondence with the axis of the rear wheel in relation to the ground, located between the axis of said wheel, and the ground surface, such that when the riders weight is applied to either side of the vehicle the rearward most steering wheel will pivot to the opposite side of the lean causing said wheel to no longer be in line with the longitudinal orientation of the vehicle and front wheel, but subtended on an angle relative to the frame in correspondence with the severity of the riders lean, causing the vehicle to alter course. In an additional embodiment, both of the wheels are adapted as steering wheels, wherein the frame is pivotally connected to the forward most and rearward most steering wheels within the cavity of the hollow hub of said wheels by a pivoting member located below the axis of the wheel or wheels, the pivot being disposed at an angle located perpendicular to an inclination subtended from the frame, in correspondence with the axis of said wheel or wheels in relation to the ground, such that when the riders weight is applied to either side of the vehicle the steering wheels will pivot to the opposite side of the lean causing the forward most wheel and rearward most wheel to no longer be in line with each other, or the longitudinal orientation of the vehicle, but subtended on an angle relative to each other and in correspondence with the severity of the riders lean, causing the vehicle to alter course.
In one embodiment of the present invention, the steering mechanism comprises a base that is part of or housed and/or mounted therein to the inner rim race of the wheel, upon which the frame arm or arms mount centrally by means of a pivoting member containing a rotating axis comprised of a kingpin or otherwise rotating column, and bearings and/or bushings. In another embodiment, the steering mechanism is comprised of a rolling carriage upon an arched track wherein the origin of the arch is located between the axis of the wheel and the ground, in which angular movement of the steering wheel in relation to the longitudinal direction of the vehicle is achieved. In yet another embodiment, the steering mechanism features a torsional or otherwise rotational movement dampening system that reduces unwanted movement due to vibrations induced by uneven terrain, and acts as a stop to prevent the steering wheel from angular movement past 30 degrees clockwise and counter clockwise on the plane of rotation. This rotational dampening helps keeps the wheels in line while the rider travels forward and adds resistance requiring the rider to lean into turns.
The embodiments herein will be understood from the following description with reference to the drawings, in which:
In the drawings, preferred embodiments of the invention are illustrated by way of example. It is to be expressly understood that the drawings are only for the purpose of illustration and as an aid to understanding, and are not intended as a definition of the limits of the invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTIONIn this respect, before explaining at least one embodiment of the invention in detail, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited in its application to the details of construction and to the arrangements of the components set forth in the following description or illustrated in the drawings. The invention is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced and carried out in various ways. Also, it is to be understood that the phraseology and terminology employed herein are for the purpose of description and should not be regarded as limiting. In particular, all terms used herein are used in accordance with their ordinary meanings unless the context or definition clearly indicates otherwise. Also, unless indicated otherwise except within the claims the use of “or” includes “and” and vice-versa. Non-limiting terms are not to be construed as limiting unless expressly stated or the context clearly indicates otherwise (for example, “including”, “having”, “characterized by” and “comprising” typically indicate “including without limitation”). Singular forms included in the claims such as “a”, “an” and “the” include the plural reference unless expressly stated or the context clearly indicates otherwise. Further, the stated board vehicle features and/or configurations or embodiments thereof the suggested intent may be applied as seen fit to certain operating conditions or environments by one experienced in the field of all-terrain board vehicle technology.
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An at least one wheel 3 is disposed substantially distally at or near each end of the frame 4. As depicted in
A tire 8 is mounted stationary to the outer rim race 7. The tire 8 may be solid, air filled, and/or contain uniform, or multiple densities of foam or suitable material, or a semi rigid structure that effectively maintains the shape of the tire 8 under load. The hub 9 optionally includes a seal (or seals) comprised of rubber or suitable material, which seal is contained between the stationary inner rim race 6 and outer rim race 7, and deters contaminants from entering each wheel 3.
Wheel sizes range from an overall diameter of 10 cm up to 60 cm, preferably within the 20 cm to 50 cm diameter, and widths of 2 cm up to 20 cm, preferably 4 cm up to 15 cm width range, as to be proportionate to the rider size. Different wheel sizes and configurations are contemplated for use without deviating from the scope of the invention. For example, wheels 3 having a spherical profile, or a more planar profile, or combination thereof, may be employed, where such different wheel configurations serve to alter the ground surface contact area 37 of the vehicle 1. It is not always necessary for the stationary mounted wheel 15 to be of a hollow hub 9 configuration, a traditional rod axle design may be utilized in some variations utilizing stationary mounted wheels 15.
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Frame 4 and/or frame variants may include, but are not limited to, mounting points and/or housings for the steering mechanism or mechanisms and/or components thereof, brake system or systems and/or components thereof, motive power system or systems and/or components thereof, binding system or systems and/or components thereof, and lighting system or systems and/or components thereof.
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The action of exerting force on either side of the frame 4 results in rotational movement of the frame 4 in accordance with the direction of riders 2 exerted force or otherwise lean. This rotational movement follows an arc 24 originating from the ground 15 directly in line with the longitudinal orientation 20 of the vehicle 3 resulting in the horizontal orientation of the deck to be tilted or otherwise angled (see
Forces exerted through tilting or otherwise rotating of the frame 4 along its longitudinal axis 20 upon the steering mechanism 34 are transferred mechanically into rotational movement of the wheel 3 along its central axis following a path determined by the placement of the pivot axis 17. This results in a change in the wheel 3 orientation in relation to the direction of the vehicle 20, in accordance with the severity of the angle of said pivot point in relation to the ground 15. The plane of rotation of the pivoting axis 17 within the hub 9, results in the front wheel 10 and rear wheel 11 being no longer exactly in line, but rather displaced at opposing angles 19 (see
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While one or more embodiments of this invention have been described above, it will be evident to those skilled in the art that changes and modifications can be made therein without departing from the essence of this invention. All such modifications are believed to be within the sphere and scope of the invention as defined by the claims appended hereto.
Claims
1. An all-terrain board vehicle comprising:
- a. a frame for supporting a user;
- b. an at least one wheel rotatably secured at or near each end of the frame, each of the least one wheels comprising an inner rim race and an outer rim race, the inner rim race and outer rim race defining a wheel hub;
- c. a steering mechanism disposed within the wheel hub of at least one of the at least one wheels, the steering mechanism comprising: i. a base mounted to the inner rim race of the at least one wheel and connected to the frame; and ii. a pivoting member affixed to the base, the pivoting member axially connected to the at least one wheel, the pivoting member for enabling axial rotation of the at least one wheel about a central pivot axis in response to shifts in the user's body weight to the left or right of a longitudinal axis of the frame.
2. The all-terrain board vehicle of claim 1 further comprising an at least one frame arm disposed at one end of the frame, the at least one frame arm for dynamically mounting the frame to the inner rim race of each wheel via the steering mechanism.
3. The all-terrain board vehicle of claim 1 wherein the outer rim race of each of the at least one wheels is capable of rotating radially to facilitate forward and backward movement of the vehicle.
4. The all-terrain board vehicle of claim 1 wherein each of the at least one wheels is rotatably secured to the frame at or near the lower-most point of each wheel hub.
5. The all-terrain board vehicle of claim 1 wherein a pivot axis angle of the steering mechanism is substantially perpendicular to an inclination subtended from the frame in correspondence with the axis of the at least one wheel in relation to the ground.
6. The all-terrain board vehicle of claim 5 wherein the pivot axis angle is between zero and ninety degrees (0 and +/−90°) relative to the axis of the hub of the at least one wheel in relation to the ground.
7. The all-terrain board vehicle of claim 1 wherein the frame further comprises a deck of substantially planar shape, the deck for supporting a user in a standing position.
8. The all-terrain board vehicle of claim 1 wherein the frame further comprises a deck having a convex shape, the deck for supporting a user in a standing position.
9. The all-terrain board vehicle of claim 1 further comprising an at least one binding, each at least one binding for releasably harnessing a user's foot to the frame.
10. The all-terrain board vehicle of claim 1 wherein radial movement of the inner rim race of each of the at least one wheels is inhibited.
11. The all-terrain board vehicle of claim 1 further comprising a tire mounted on each outer rim race of each of the at least one wheels.
Type: Application
Filed: Oct 19, 2015
Publication Date: Apr 21, 2016
Inventor: Christopher Charles John Paul Middleton (Guelph)
Application Number: 14/886,985