Moving body

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12275487-B2
Application number	US-202217881346-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Aug 4, 2022
Priority date	Sep 3, 2021
Publication date	Apr 15, 2025
Grant date	Apr 15, 2025

Abstract

A moving body includes: a vehicle which includes a front wheel and rear wheels and which a passenger gets on; an unmanned carrier vehicle which is arranged at the back side of the vehicle, and includes a wheel and a driving unit which drives the wheel; and a coupler which couples the vehicle and the unmanned carrier vehicle. The coupler includes a biasing mechanism which biases a rear part of the vehicle toward an upper side of the vehicle, the biasing mechanism includes a first elastic member; when the passenger is on the vehicle, the first elastic member is deformed by the weight of the passenger to place the rear wheels in contact with a road surface, and when the passenger is not on the vehicle, the rear wheels are separated from the road surface by the elastic force of the first elastic member.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A moving body comprising:
a vehicle that includes one or more front wheels and a plurality of rear wheels;
an unmanned carrier vehicle that includes a wheel and a driving unit, wherein the driving unit drives the wheel; and
a coupler that couples a rear part of the vehicle and a front part of the unmanned carrier vehicle,
wherein the coupler includes a biasing mechanism that biases the rear part of the vehicle toward an upper side of the vehicle,
wherein the biasing mechanism includes a first elastic member,
wherein in a state in which a passenger is on the vehicle, the first elastic member is deformed by to place the plurality of rear wheels in contact with a road surface,
wherein in a state in which the passenger is not on the vehicle, the first elastic member separates the plurality of rear wheels of the vehicle from the road surface by the elastic force,
wherein the coupler includes a first coupling part that is connected to the vehicle, and a second coupling part that is connected to the unmanned carrier vehicle and the first coupling part, the second coupling part is relatively rotatably about the first coupling part around a rotary shaft along a left-right direction of the vehicle,
wherein one end of the first elastic member is supported by the first coupling part,
wherein another end of the first elastic member is supported by the second coupling part, and
wherein the biasing mechanism switches between a state of contacting the plurality of rear wheels with the road surface and a state of apart the plurality of rear wheels from the road surface by relatively rotating the second coupling part with respect to the first coupling part by deformation of the first elastic member.

2. The moving body according to claim 1 , wherein
the vehicle includes a steering part that changes the direction of the front wheel, and a self-centering mechanism that biases the steering part to direct the front wheel toward a front side of the vehicle.

3. The moving body according to claim 2 , wherein
the steering part changes the direction of the front wheel by a turning motion of the steering part, and
the self-centering mechanism includes a second elastic member and a third elastic member, the second elastic member is connected to the steering part and a vehicle body of the vehicle, the second elastic member biases the steering part to turn the steering part, and the third elastic member is connected to the steering part and the vehicle body, the third elastic member biases the steering part to turn the steering part in a direction opposite to the turning direction of the second elastic member.

4. The moving body according to claim 1 , wherein
the number of the one or more front wheels of the vehicle is one.

5. The moving body according to claim 1 , wherein
the vehicle travels by operation of the passenger,
the driving unit is an in-wheel motor that is provided in the wheel,
the unmanned carrier vehicle includes a motor driver that drives the in-wheel motor, and a switch that switches on and off the electrical connection between the in-wheel motor and the motor driver, and
the switch switches off the electrical connection between the in-wheel motor and the motor driver when the vehicle is traveling by operation of the passenger.

Assignees

• Toyota Motor Co Ltd

Inventors

• Hasegawa Koji

Classifications

• B62K27/003 Primary

  Trailers · CPC title

• B62K13/04

  to a tricycle · CPC title

• B62K13/08

  Frames · CPC title

• B62J43/26

  carried on a trailer · CPC title

• B62K21/10

  Mechanisms for restoring steering device to straight-ahead position · CPC title