Forecarriage of a rolling motor vehicle with rolling block

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11046136-B2
Application number	US-201716472231-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 20, 2017
Priority date	Dec 21, 2016
Publication date	Jun 29, 2021
Grant date	Jun 29, 2021

Abstract

The present invention relates to a forecarriage of a rolling motor vehicle with three or four wheels, comprising: a forecarriage frame ( 16 ); at least one pair of front wheels ( 10′, 10 ″) kinematically connected to each other and to the forecarriage frame ( 16 ) by a kinematic roll mechanism ( 20 ) which enables the same to roll in a synchronous and specular manner; a roll block system ( 100 ) comprising a rod ( 110 ) which directly connects to each other at the two ends thereof by means of ball joints or hinging means equivalent to ball joints ( 101, 102 ), two parts of the forecarriage both subject to rolling movements of said two front wheels or said forecarriage frame and a forecarriage part subject to said rolling movements. The roll block system comprises a blocking device ( 111 a, 112 a; 130 ) adapted to block the rotation angle of said rod at the two ends thereof with respect to a rolling plane of said forecarriage.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. Forecarriage of a rolling motor vehicle with three or four wheels, comprising:
a forecarriage frame,
at least a pair of front wheels kinematically connected to each other and to the forecarriage frame by means of a kinematic roll mechanism,
a roll block system comprising a rod which directly connects to each other two parts of the forecarriage, at least one of said parts being subject to roll movements, wherein said rod comprises a first portion of rod and a second portion of rod kinematically connected to said two parts of the forecarriage by transmission means suitable to convert a rotation movement around an axis perpendicular to a roll plane into a rotation movement of the respective rod portion around to a longitudinal extension axis;
wherein said roll block system comprises a blocking device suitable to block the relative rotation of said first portion of rod and of said second portion of rod between a blocking position, in which said first and second portion of rod are rotationally integral to block the angle of rotation of said rod with respect to said rolling plane, and a release position, in which said first and second portion of rod are free to rotate around to said longitudinal extension axis to allow the rotation of said rod with respect to said rolling plane.

2. Forecarriage according to claim 1 , wherein the transmission means of said first and second portion of rod are configured so that said first and second portion of rod rotate axially in opposite directions to each other.

3. Forecarriage according to claim 1 , wherein said blocking device comprises on each of said first and second portion a respective first and second head element, arranged facing each other, said second head element being movable along the longitudinal extension axis to move between a blocking position, in which engages in reciprocal blocking said first head element so as to make said first and second portion of rod rotationally integral, and a release position, in which said second head element is longitudinally uncoupled from said first head element so as to leave said first and second portion of rod free to rotate, said blocking device comprising an actuator suitable to move said second head element between said blocking position and said release position.

4. Forecarriage according to claim 1 , wherein said rod directly connects to each other at their two ends by means of ball joints or equivalent hinging means to ball joints said two parts of the forecarriage.

5. Forecarriage according to claim 1 , wherein said transmission means have a transmission ratio greater than 1, so as to have a multiplication of the motion from the ball joints to the respective first and second portion of said rod.

6. Forecarriage according to claim 3 , wherein said first and second head elements are shaped like a collar or a flange coaxial to the respective portion of rod.

7. Forecarriage according to claim 1 , wherein said transmission means comprise, for each of the two first and second portion of rod, a helical-bevel gear pair.

8. Forecarriage according to claim 3 , wherein said second head element is mounted axially sliding in the longitudinal direction with respect to the second portion ( 112 ) of rod.

9. Forecarriage according to claim 3 , wherein said actuator is a linear actuator operating along the longitudinal extension axis of the rod.

10. Forecarriage according to claim 9 , wherein said linear actuator comprises an actuator shaft which axially connects in the longitudinal direction said first and second head elements to each other and is movable in the longitudinal direction in a fixed axial stroke which substantially corresponds to the fixed stroke of said second head element between the blocking and release positions.

11. Forecarriage according to claim 3 , wherein said first and second head elements are configured to engage each other in blocking by means of an axial front toothed engagement.

12. Forecarriage according to claim 11 , wherein each of said first and second head elements comprises a ring gear which extends over an annular surface perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the rod, and wherein said ring gear has a toothing extending radially with respect to said longitudinal axis, in particular the toothing of said ring gear being straight.

13. Forecarriage according to claim 10 , wherein said first and second head elements are configured to engage each other in blocking by means of an axial front toothed engagement and wherein said blocking device comprises an elastic means which is interposed between said actuator shaft and said first head element in order to mechanically separate the stroke of said actuator shaft from the stroke of said second head element and to allow said actuator shaft to reach the end stroke in the passage from said release position to said blocking position elastically compressing said elastic means, in the case in which the engagement between the two head elements is temporarily prevented due to a jamming between the teeth, and wherein, once elastically compressed, said elastic means are suitable to elastically push in the axial direction said second head element towards said first head element to bring said second head element to the end stroke in the blocking position, after the jamming between the teeth has been eliminated.

14. Forecarriage according to claim 3 , wherein the blocking device comprises a sensor electrically connected to a control unit suitable to detect when said second element head is in the blocking position.

15. Method of reversibly blocking the rolling movements of a motor vehicle with three or four wheels, having a forecarriage according to claim 1 , said method alternately comprising:
a roll blocking step, wherein said blocking device is active to block the relative rotation of said first portion of rod and of said second portion of rod so as to make them rotationally integral, and to block the angle of rotation of said rod with respect to said rolling plane, and
roll release step, wherein said blocking device is inactive to allow said first portion and said second portion of rod rotating one to each other and to allow the rotation of said rod with respect to said rolling plane.

16. Motor vehicle having a drive wheel at the rear axle and a forecarriage according to claim 1 .

17. Roll block system of a forecarriage of a rolling motor vehicle with three or four wheels, wherein said forecarriage comprises:
a forecarriage frame; and
at least a pair of front wheels kinematically connected to each other and to the forecarriage frame by means of a kinematic roll mechanism,
said roll block system comprising a rod which is destined—in the installed condition on said forecarriage—to connect two parts of the forecarriage, at least one of said parts being subject to roll movements,
wherein said rod comprises a first portion of rod and a second portion of rod kinematically connected to said two parts of the forecarriage by transmission means suitable to convert a rotation movement around an axis perpendicular to a roll plane into a rotation movement of the respective rod portion around to a longitudinal extension axis;
said roll block system comprising a blocking device suitable to block the relative rotation of said first portion of rod and of said second portion of rod between a blocking position, in which said first and second portion of rod are rotationally integral to block the angle of rotation of said rod with respect to a rolling plane, and a release position, in which said first and second portion of rod are free to

Assignees

• Piaggio & C Spa

Inventors

• Raffaelli Andrea

Classifications

• B62K5/10 Primary

  with means for inwardly inclining the vehicle body on bends · CPC title

• B62K5/08

  with steering devices acting on two or more wheels · CPC title

• B62K5/027

  Motorcycles with three wheels (specially adapted for disabled riders B62K5/023) · CPC title

• B62K5/01

  Motorcycles with four or more wheels (specially adapted for disabled riders B62K5/003) · CPC title

• B60G2300/45

  Rolling frame vehicles · CPC title