Gyroscopic rider assist device

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11577793-B2
Application number	US-202117321875-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	May 17, 2021
Priority date	Nov 20, 2018
Publication date	Feb 14, 2023
Grant date	Feb 14, 2023

Abstract

A tilting vehicle includes a frame and a front wheel coupled to the frame. A rear wheel is coupled to the frame and positioned rearward of the front wheel in a longitudinal direction. A seating area includes at least one seat positioned to support a rider between the front wheel and the rear wheel. A gyroscopic rider assist device is provided within an enclosure behind the seating area and above the rear wheel.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A tilting vehicle comprising:
a frame;
a front wheel coupled to the frame;
a rear wheel coupled to the frame and positioned rearward of the front wheel in a longitudinal direction;
a seating area defined by at least one seat configured to accommodate an operator at a position between the front wheel and the rear wheel and configured to accommodate a pillion passenger behind the operator; and
a gyroscopic rider assist device provided within an enclosure behind the seating area and above the rear wheel, wherein the gyroscopic rider assist device further includes
a gimbal support frame fixed with respect to the frame,
a gimbal rotatably supported by the gimbal support frame for rotation about a roll axis, and
a flywheel supported for rotation about a flywheel axis by a bracket, wherein the bracket is rotatably supported by the gimbal about a precession axis.

2. The tilting vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the gyroscopic rider assist device enclosure is a faux cargo trunk that is permanently fixed closed.

3. The tilting vehicle of claim 1 , further comprising an actuator coupled to the gimbal through a force transmission mechanism and operable to drive the gimbal relative to the gimbal support frame to trigger a precession reaction of the flywheel relative to the gimbal so that a corrective moment is generated on the vehicle.

4. The tilting vehicle of claim 3 , further comprising:
a clutch configured to decouple the force transmission mechanism to selectively deactivate the gyroscopic rider assist device by allowing the gimbal to move freely within the gimbal support frame to remain level as the vehicle leans during operation; and
a controller programmed to actuate the clutch to decouple the force transmission mechanism in response to detecting a speed of the vehicle that exceeds a threshold speed stored in a memory.

5. The tilting vehicle of claim 4 , wherein the actuator is a linear actuator and the force transmission mechanism includes a lever arm, wherein the clutch is positioned between the lever arm and the gimbal.

6. A tilting vehicle comprising:
a frame;
a front wheel coupled to the frame and configured for manipulation by a handlebar;
a rear wheel coupled to the frame and positioned rearward of the front wheel in a longitudinal direction;
a gyroscopic rider assist device operable to output a corrective moment on the vehicle in response to an input from an actuator; and
a clutch provided between the actuator and the gyroscopic rider assist device to selectively deactivate the gyroscopic rider assist device upon transition from a first condition of the vehicle to a second condition of the vehicle,
wherein, in the first condition, the gyroscopic rider assist device is operable in tandem with a human rider situated on the vehicle to balance the vehicle during traveling as the human rider controls a steering angle of the front wheel, and
wherein, in the second condition with the gyroscopic rider assist device deactivated, the vehicle is configured for steering and lean control by the human rider during traveling.

7. The tilting vehicle of claim 6 , wherein the gyroscopic rider assist device further includes
a gimbal support frame fixed with respect to the frame,
a gimbal rotatably supported by the gimbal support frame for rotation about a roll axis, and
a flywheel supported for rotation about a flywheel axis by a bracket, wherein the bracket is rotatably supported by the gimbal about a precession axis.

8. The tilting vehicle of claim 6 , wherein the clutch is electromagnetically controlled to switch between engaged and disengaged states.

9. The tilting vehicle of claim 6 , wherein in the second condition of the vehicle with the gyroscopic rider assist device deactivated by operation of the clutch, a motor of the gyroscopic rider assist device remains coupled to a flywheel of the gyroscopic rider assist device to continue spinning the flywheel.

10. The tilting vehicle of claim 7 , wherein the flywheel is the one and only flywheel of the gyroscopic rider assist device.

11. The tilting vehicle of claim 6 , further comprising a controller and a memory, the controller programmed to actuate the clutch to deactivate the gyroscopic rider assist device in response to the transition from the first condition to the second condition in accordance with instructions stored in the memory.

12. The tilting vehicle of claim 11 , wherein the transition to the second condition of the vehicle occurs upon the vehicle exceeding a threshold speed value stored in the memory.

13. The tilting vehicle of claim 12 , wherein the threshold speed value in the memory is user adjustable.

14. A tilting vehicle comprising:
a frame;
a front wheel coupled to the frame;
a rear wheel coupled to the frame and positioned rearward of the front wheel in a longitudinal direction;
a seating area including at least one seat positioned to support a rider between the front wheel and the rear wheel;
a cargo trunk positioned behind the seating area and above the rear wheel and having a body and lid that opens to provide selective access to an interior of the cargo trunk; and
a gyroscopic rider assist device provided within the cargo trunk interior such that opening the lid provides selective access to the gyroscopic rider assist device and a cargo volume of the cargo trunk.

15. The tilting vehicle of claim 14 , wherein the gyroscopic rider assist device further includes
a gimbal support frame fixed with respect to the frame,
a gimbal rotatably supported by the gimbal support frame for rotation about a roll axis, and
a flywheel supported for rotation about a flywheel axis by a bracket, wherein the bracket is rotatably supported by the gimbal about a precession axis.

16. The tilting vehicle of claim 15 , further comprising an actuator coupled to the gimbal through a force transmission mechanism and operable to drive the gimbal relative to the gimbal support frame to trigger a precession reaction of the flywheel relative to the gimbal so that a corrective moment is generated on the vehicle.

17. The tilting vehicle of claim 16 , further comprising a clutch to decouple the force transmission mechanism to selectively deactivate the gyroscopic rider assist device by allowing the gimbal to move freely within the gimbal support frame to remain level as the vehicle leans during operation.

18. The tilting vehicle of claim 17 , wherein the actuator is a linear actuator and the force transmission mechanism includes a lever arm, wherein the clutch is positioned between the lever arm and the gimbal.

19. The tilting vehicle of claim 17 , further comprising a controller programmed to actuate the clutch to decouple the force transmission mechanism when the vehicle exceeds a threshold speed stored in a memory.

Assignees

• Harley Davidson Motor Co Inc

Inventors

• Brendelson James C
• Del Rosario Mason
• Karagianes Sean
• Lowen Sean
• Searing Michael
• Smith Ben
• Titchener Paul

Classifications

• B62D37/06 Primary

  using gyroscopes · CPC title