Vehicle

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10744830-B2
Application number	US-201816027405-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 5, 2018
Priority date	Aug 22, 2017
Publication date	Aug 18, 2020
Grant date	Aug 18, 2020

Abstract

A vehicle includes an engine, a front frame, a rear frame, an intermediate frame, a front propeller shaft, a rear propeller shaft, and a brake. A pair of right and left front lower arms are swingably mounted to the front frame. A pair of right and left rear lower arms are swingably mounted to the rear frame. The intermediate frame is located between the front frame and the rear frame. The front propeller shaft extends forward from the engine and the rear propeller shaft extends rearward from the engine. The brake is located outside the engine in the front-rear direction and within a region defined by the intermediate frame and brakes a rotation of the front propeller shaft.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A vehicle comprising:
at least one seat located such that a plurality of occupants are able to be seated in a right-left direction of the vehicle;
an engine;
a front frame including a pair of right and left front arms swingably mounted thereto and respectively supporting right and left front wheels;
a rear frame including a pair of right and left rear arms swingably mounted thereto and respectively supporting right and left rear wheels;
an intermediate frame located between the front frame and the rear frame in a front-rear direction of the vehicle and supporting the at least one seat and the engine;
a front propeller shaft extending forward from the engine to transmit a rotational power of the engine to the front wheels;
a rear propeller shaft extending rearward from the engine to transmit the rotational power of the engine to the rear wheels; and
a brake located outside the engine in the front-rear direction and within a region defined by the intermediate frame to brake a rotation of the front propeller shaft or the rear propeller shaft; wherein
the brake is located farther forward than the engine and farther rearward than a front end of the at least one seat.

2. The vehicle according to claim 1 , further comprising:
a front drive shaft extending in the right-left direction and linked to the front wheels;
a rear drive shaft extending in the right-left direction and linked to the rear wheels;
a front gearing supported by the front frame and linking the front propeller shaft and the front drive shaft; and
a rear gearing supported by the rear frame and linking the rear propeller shaft and the rear drive shaft; wherein
the brake is located between the front gearing and the rear gearing.

3. The vehicle according to claim 1 , wherein the brake is located between rear ends of the pair of front arms and front ends of the pair of rear arms.

4. The vehicle according to claim 1 , wherein the intermediate frame is wider than the front frame and the rear frame.

5. The vehicle according to claim 1 , wherein the brake is a parking brake including a disk integrally rotatably linked to the front propeller shaft, and a caliper holding a pad that clamps the disk to generate a braking force.

6. The vehicle according to claim 5 , further comprising:
a shiftable transmission that shifts and transmits the rotational power from the engine to the front propeller shaft and the rear propeller shaft and that is integral with the engine to define a drive unit; wherein
the brake is located farther forward than the drive unit.

7. The vehicle according to claim 6 , wherein the shiftable transmission is located farther forward than the engine and the brake is located farther forward than the shiftable transmission.

8. The vehicle according to claim 6 , wherein the caliper is fixed to the drive unit.

9. The vehicle according to claim 6 , wherein
the drive unit further includes a continuously variable transmission integral with the engine and the shiftable transmission and that transmits the rotational power from the engine to the shiftable transmission; wherein
a mounting width of the pair of rear arms at the rear frame is narrower than a width of the drive unit.

10. The vehicle according to claim 1 , wherein the brake is located at a center or substantially a center of the vehicle in the right-left direction.

11. The vehicle according to claim 1 , wherein the at least one seat includes a pair of seats aligned in the right-left direction; and
at least a portion of the brake is located in a region between the pair of seats in a plan view of the vehicle.

12. The vehicle according to claim 1 , wherein the pair of front arms and the pair of rear arms are A-arms.

13. The vehicle according to claim 1 , further comprising:
a pair of vertical frames extending upward and rightward and leftward from portions of the rear frame at which the pair of rear arms are mounted; and
an upper frame located at a position higher than the rear frame, linked to upper ends of the pair of vertical frames, and supporting a rear deck; wherein
a distance between lower ends of the pair of vertical frames is not more than one-third of a distance between the upper ends of the pair of vertical frames.

Assignees

• Yamaha Motor Co Ltd

Inventors

• Hayashi Tomoyuki
• Fujimoto Hiroyuki
• Oba Shigeaki

Classifications

• B60T1/062 Primary

  acting on transmission parts · CPC title

• B60T7/102

  by means of a tilting lever · CPC title

• B60K17/22

  characterised by arrangement, location, or type of main drive shafting, e.g. cardan shaft · CPC title

• B60G2200/144

  with two lateral arms forming a parallelogram · CPC title

• B60G3/20

  all arms being rigid · CPC title