WO2023152533A1

WO2023152533A1 - Transverse self-balancing vehicle

Info

Publication number: WO2023152533A1
Application number: PCT/IB2022/051114
Authority: WO
Inventors: Nhon BUI CHANH
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2022-02-08
Filing date: 2022-02-08
Publication date: 2023-08-17
Anticipated expiration: 2024-08-08

Abstract

A type of machine, which can be stand-alone or movable on the ground and applied in passive or active forms, comprises of at least two wheels, with or without axle, together supporting one or more of its bodies provided that all of them are arranged in the directions being across the direction of travel and rotatable relative to each other. In essence, because of the components arranged distinctively in the transverse direction, the machines according to the present invention may be collectively named as the transverse self-balancing vehicles.

Description

Transverse self-balancing vehicle

The present disclosure pertains to a type of wheeled vehicle for operating on the ground, which may be related to fields like transportation, infrastructure construction, agriculture, etc.

The self-balancing on the ground, for wheeled vehicles in general, is not easy to achieve. In fact, vehicles including bicycles or motorbikes cannot balance on their own and depend entirely on the driver's control. Maintaining the balance in a natural way, which is most commonly today relied on one's own weight, requires that vehicles have two or more axles and all arranged along the vehicle’s direction of travel with their wheelbase should be large enough. The layout of axles along the moving direction, the aspect that the present invention proposes to improve, must often exchange for increasing vehicle’s size and mass, resulting in increased friction, energy costs, significant occupied road surface and have to include a steering mechanism. Also, as if fitting to this design style, most vehicle’s center of gravity is usually higher than the axes of the wheels, so there is still a high potential for overturning. That is not yet to mention the limitations of maneuverability of these vehicles.

Basically, an assembly including two wheels concentrically connected to the ends of a single horizontal axle, and a vehicle body suspended on this axle on the condition that it is not in contact with the ground and rotatable independently of the wheels, is enough to form a wheeled vehicle that can be stand-alone and movable on the ground. Because of the fact that if the width of each wheel itself and/or the distance between the wheels are significantly large compared with their diameter size, the assembly alone including the wheels coupled with the axle is already possible to establish and maintain the horizontal axle posture by itself without any other assistance. When the vehicle not moving, the vehicle body is supported by the wheels in a way that it is rotatable stationary in a certain posture. When the vehicle moving, the wheels roll on the ground while the vehicle body may rotate freely around the axle’s axis and also the wheels’.

Before continuing with the expanded contents related to the disclosure, some of the following terms should be clarified, in addition to their usual meanings; the term “vehicle body”, i.e. the body of the vehicle, refers to a structure where expreses functions, uses and/or existent purposes of the vehicle, and occupying a considerable amount of space to be able to accommodate or carry or support transported objects which maybe including chassis, motorized drive, power source, working tools, payload, etc. (this whole meaning hereafter collectively represented by the phrase "for accommodating transported objects”); the term "wheel" refers to any object without limitation, with or without center hub, spokes, tire, tube, etc. so long as it can both support the vehicle’s mass, generally including the total mass of the work bodies, axes, machines, equipment, fuel, batteries, loads, etc. or even itself at trace of contact with the ground maybe, and roll on the ground to make the vehicle movable in certain directions, and in some cases, concurrently carry out some other functions of the vehicle (this whole meaning hereafter collectively represented by the phrase “for supporting the vehicle's mass”), wherein the term “hub wheel” refers to a type of wheel with center hub and the term “hubless wheel” refers to a type of wheel with no center hub (herein, the hub is the center of the wheel, typically houses a bearing, and is where the axle connects); the term “axle” refers to a bar-shaped object used to mechanically connect the wheels and the vehicle bodies together, wherein the axle may be fixed to the wheel to rotate with it, or fixed to the vehicle body so that the wheels rotating around the axle, or not fixed to both, and where the vehicle body is directly hung to ensure no contact with the ground (this whole meaning hereafter collectively represented by the phrase “for coupling to the wheel and the vehicle body”); the term “axis” refers to an imaginary straight line around which the wheel or the vehicle body can rotate, and in principle, the axle’s axis coincides with the wheel’s axis when they are assembled together; and the term “ground” refers to any surface on which the wheels are in contact and rollable, given the same topographical conditions as those considered for actual vehicles available, such as: road, land, grass, grounds, yard, floor, railway on the ground, etc.

The structural nature of the above-mentioned vehicle model, and also the distinctive characteristics that make it possible to be stand-alone and movable easily on the ground, are based on the layout of the components in the transverse direction. Accordingly, regardless of whether the vehicle is stationary or moving, the wheels are always in contact with and rollable on the ground to both support the weight and keep the balance and make the vehicle movable easily in certain directions, meanwhile, the vehicle body is not in contact with the ground at all whether directly or indirectly, which means its mass completely affects the axle and wheels, in order to have freedom from the ground and makes it rotatable independently of the wheels, i.e. there is always the possibility of relative rotation between the vehicle body with respect to the wheels and vice versa. Herein, the term “transverse direction” refers to directions that are perpendicular, and/or approximately perpendicular, to the vehicle’s direction of travel including horizontal, vertical, diagonal, etc. with a recognizable distinctive indication, which is the set of areas of contact between the wheels and the ground, where the ground is directly impacted by the vehicle's entire weight, belong to same long and narrow region on the ground, which is similar to a straight streak, which lies across the vehicle’s direction of travel (in terms of pure geometry, perhaps the contact trace between a wheel and the ground is a line segment, so the stated streak is just as a straight line). And these core distinctive characteristics are also shared by the following useful improvements:

each vehicle can own more than one vehicle body and all arranged in the transverse directions, wherein they can be separated and/or overlapped and/or nested to each other, on the condition that, they are not in contact with the ground at all (this whole meaning hereafter collectively represented by the phrase “not in contact with the ground”); herein, the different vehicle bodies means that they are either not directly conjoined and/or movable relative to each other; and the different vehicle bodies are not necessarily identical in shape and/or size;

each vehicle can own more than two wheels and all arranged in the transverse directions, on the condition that, there are always at least two wheels are in contact with and rollable on the ground at the same time (this whole meaning hereafter collectively represented by the phrase “in rollable contact with the ground”), i.e. at the minimum as stated by the original model; herein, the different wheels are not necessarily identical in shape and/or size;

each vehicle can own multiple separate axle instead of just one as stated, on the condition that, their axes are all contained in the same straight line which may be horizontal or inclined; here is referring to the case of coaxial wheels, where an axis being inclined means that it is at an angle to a horizontal straight line within a certain allowable range, provided that the distinctive characteristics of the vehicle according to the present invention remain unchanged to such situations (this whole meaning hereafter collectively represented by the phrase “contained in the same straight line”);

each vehicle can own multiple separate axle, or only a single axle consisting of many consecutive segments without interruption, wherein these axles’ axes or these segments’ axes can intersect and/or parallel, and there may be several of them that coincide, on the condition that they are all contained in the same vertical plane; herein, the term “vertical plane” refers to an imaginary plane and is allowed to have a relative meaning that, to a certain extent in the immediate vicinity of this plane, it is probable that some of the said axes are not absolutely contained in the same vertical plane, i.e. they may be parallel or even slightly intersect to this plane, provided that the distinctive characteristics of the vehicle according to the present invention remain unchanged to such situations; these are the feasible cases in practice, possibly due to manufacturing and assembly errors or by vibrations or oscillations while moving, or by even intentionally designing camber or toe angles, etc. (this whole meaning hereafter collectively represented by the phrase “contained in the same vertical plane”); besides, because of the probability that the axes do not coincide, it is probable that a vehicle body is rotatable around some axes, i.e. maybe a vehicle body bears to a combination of several rotations at the same time; and

each vehicle can own no axle, mean that instead of being suspended, the vehicle bodies are nested inside the rims of the wheels and supported directly by the wheels, on the condition that the vehicle bodies do not touch the ground and are rotatable independently of the wheels, whether the vehicle is stationary or moving, i.e. all of them behave to each other in the same way for a vehicle with axle, and maybe even regardless of coaxial or non-coaxial; herein, the mentioned type of wheel is the hubless wheel.

The above-mentioned suggestions are all likely to happen in reality and they contribute to the enhancement of the features, uses and performance of the original model, and overall also show that, a vehicle according to the present invention must always own at least one vehicle body and two wheels but the axle may or may not be present. Going into specifics, the present invention can be disclosed in the models as follows:

Model 1. A vehicle comprises:
at least two hub wheels for supporting the vehicle's mass;
at least one vehicle body for accommodating transported objects; and
one or more separate axles for coupling to the hub wheels and vehicle bodies; together the axles, hub wheels and vehicle bodies form a machine, characterized in that, the axles’ axes and the hub wheels’ axes are contained in the same straight line, and the hub wheels are in rollable contact with the ground, and the vehicle bodies are not in contact with the ground and rotatable independently of the hub wheels.

Model 2. A vehicle comprises:
at least two hub wheels for supporting the vehicle's mass;
at least one vehicle body for accommodating transported objects; and
one or more separate axles for coupling to the hub wheels and vehicle bodies; together the axles, hub wheels and vehicle bodies form a machine, characterized in that, the axles’ axes and the hub wheels’ axes are contained in the same vertical plane, and the hub wheels are in rollable contact with the ground, and the vehicle bodies are not in contact with the ground and rotatable independently of the hub wheels.

Model 3. A vehicle comprises:
at least two hubless wheels for supporting the vehicle's mass; and
at least one vehicle body for accommodating transported objects; the vehicle bodies are nested inside the rims of the hubless wheels to form a machine together, characterized in that, the hubless wheels’ axes are contained in the same straight line, and the hubless wheels are in rollable contact with the ground, and the vehicle bodies are not in contact with the ground and rotatable independently of the hubless wheels.

Model 4. A vehicle comprises:
at least two hubless wheels for supporting the vehicle's mass; and
at least one vehicle body for accommodating transported objects; the vehicle bodies are nested inside the rims of the hubless wheels to form a machine together, characterized in that, the hubless wheels’ axes are contained in the same vertical plane, and the hubless wheels are in rollable contact with the ground, and the vehicle bodies are not in contact with the ground and rotatable independently of the hubless wheels.

Model 5. A vehicle comprises:
at least one hub wheel and one hubless wheel for supporting the vehicle's mass;
at least one vehicle body for accommodating transported objects; and
one or more separate axles for coupling to the hub wheels and the vehicle bodies; together the axles, wheels and vehicle bodies form a machine in such a way that the vehicle bodies are either nested inside the rims of the hubless wheels or suspended on the axles or both at the same time, and characterized in that, the axles’ axes and the wheels’ axes are contained in the same straight line, and the wheels are in rollable contact with the ground, and the vehicle bodies are not in contact with the ground and rotatable independently of the wheels.

Model 6. A vehicle comprises:
at least one hub wheel and one hubless wheel for supporting the vehicle's mass;
at least one vehicle body for accommodating transported objects; and
one or more separate axles for coupling to the hub wheels and the vehicle bodies; together the axles, wheels and vehicle bodies form a machine in such a way that the vehicle bodies are either nested inside the rims of the hubless wheels or suspended on the axles or both at the same time, and characterized in that, the axles’ axes and the wheels’ axes are contained in the same vertical plane, and the wheels are in rollable contact with the ground, and the vehicle bodies are not in contact with the ground and rotatable independently of the wheels.

(note: Model 5 has both the structure and characteristics of Models 1 and 3, and similarly, Model 6 has both the structure and characteristics of Models 2 and 4, where “the wheels” includes both “the hub wheels” and “the hubless wheels”).

The above-mentioned vehicle models are ready to be put into practice as passive vehicles and thereby qualify for stand-alone vehicles, for instance, maybe they act similar to wagons, carriages, train cars, trailers, etc. in order to be pulled or pushed by other vehicles or powers. In them, one of common characteristics that should be emphasized that is the possibility that the vehicle bodies are rotatable independently of the wheels, i.e. between them there is always the possibility of rotation relative to each other, and so it automatically means that the cases or situations where the vehicle bodies fixed to the wheels (fastening together), or conversely, are out of the scope of the present invention.

In practical application, the above-mentioned vehicle models can be equipped with machines or devices that assign gear ratios between the vehicle bodies and the wheels, such as mechanical drives (belt, chain, etc.), or drivetrain/powertrain, or motor/engine, etc. which enable the vehicles to move by themselves or to carry out coordinated operations between the vehicle bodies and the wheels according to certain intentional rules, i.e. generating rotary constraints between the vehicle bodies and the wheels. And this causes a significant difference, that is, there is no longer the possibility that the vehicle bodies are rotatable independently of the wheels, replaced by, the vehicle bodies and the wheels are rotatable together but depend on each other, or in other word, there is rotary constraints between the vehicle bodies and the wheels (this whole meaning involved in the gear ratio generating hereinafter collectively represented by the phrase "interdependent rotatable relationship"). The installation of these devices, however, does not necessarily apply to all vehicle bodies nor to all wheels at the same time, which maybe just one of them should be enough due to the particular nature of these vehicle models, along with noting that the rotational speed or revolutions per minute (rpm) of a motor/engine alone, on its own, is also considered a specific value of the gear ratio between the vehicle bodies and the wheels. For these reasons, and also the purpose of the invention, the present invention goes on to be disclosed as follows:

Model 7. A vehicle has similar structure and characteristics to that of any of models 1-6 inclusive as described above, except for the only difference that, it is no longer possible that the vehicle bodies are rotatable independently of the said wheels, which is replaced by, the vehicle bodies are in interdependent rotatable relationships with the said wheels; and

Model 8. A vehicle as in any one of Models 1-6 inclusive, wherein includes at least one vehicle body that has an interdependent rotatable relationship with one or more of the said wheels, i.e. it is possible that the vehicle including both serveral vehicle bodies being rotatable independently of some of the said wheels and the rest of the said vehicle bodies and wheels being in interdependent rotatable relationships with each other.

Due to being also types of wheeled vehicle, the design, manufacture, and installation of the components of the stated vehicle models, such as motor or engine, clutch, gearbox, propeller shaft, final drive, differential, or frictional or regenerative brake, or belts or chain drives, etc. in general are not too many differences, that may be carried out similarly to what has been done on types of available vehicles in fact. In addition, perhaps it’s not necessary to equip a traditional steering mechanism to the vehicle according to the present invention, because the change to the direction of travel can be controlled by coordinating to cause the difference in either thrust or rotational speed or even rotational direction of the wheels on the left and right sides of the vehicle.

On the other hand, also related to the possibility that the vehicle body and the wheels are rotatable relative to each other, it may not be ruled out that the above-mentioned vehicle models operate in such a way that at least one vehicle body always maintains in a certain position whether the vehicle is stationary or moving, i.e. staying in a same posture to the user, or just oscillated around a virtually constant position, or just restricting its inherent free rotations to the extent acceptable (this whole meaning hereafter collectively represented by the phrase “maintain a certain posture”). If this is the case then the above-mentioned vehicle models, whether non-motorized or motorized, all will become true self-balancing vehicles and have equal status to compete with the existing vehicles in fact. Going into specifics, the following sections cover several manners for maintaining the vehicle body to a certain posture.

A vehicle body, belonging to one of all the above-mentioned vehicle models, can be maintained a certain posture by applying one, or some, or all of the following:

intentionally lowering the mass of the vehicle body so that the height of its center of gravity is less high than the height of the intersection of at least one axis around which it is rotatable and a vertical straight line which passes through it, or of the intersection of at least one axis around which it may rotate with the plane on which it may oscillate (i.e. the plane along the vehicle's direction of travel and perpendicular to the vertical plane containing the said axis), which measured from the ground and the lower the better, which means that the vehicle body acts as a physical pendulum; when the vehicle body being stationary, its center of gravity is always in the only possible position called the equilibrium position; whenever deviated from the equilibrium position, the vehicle body is always subject to a restoring force, which is a component caused by the vehicle body’s own gravity, returns its center of gravity to the equilibrium position, and this makes the vehicle body tend to maintain a certain posture by itself; this manner has a typical indication that, whenever given an initial push and later without any intentional outside interference, there are always a possibility that the vehicle body will oscillate back and forth (sway) with declining amplitude and the center of gravity tends to return to a constant position; nominally, although the vehicle body may not be fixed instantly, this manner also helps to establish a position that may be considered fixed to the vehicle, that is the said equilibrium position, corresponding to an unchanged posture for the vehicle body, whereby the vehicle according to the present invention achieves a balance sustainably, especially if combined with other manners to limit the oscillation or the sway; furthermore, because of lowering the center of gravity, the vehicle body is hardly overturned but only a local imbalance in the vehicle’s direction of travel, and the effect will be even higher if the vehicle body’s center of gravity is determined in relation to the entire swayable weight, including payload and equipment carried; and/or

at least one auxiliary wheel arranged, with or without shock absorbers, whose axis is parallel and at a certain distance away from the axes of the wheels of the vehicle (or the said vertical plane) in the direction of travel, on the condition that, the mass of the entire vehicle body acts mainly on the wheels of the vehicle compared with a little or even no effect on the auxiliary wheels and it does not affect too much the possibility that the vehicle body is rotatable to the wheels of the vehicle; usually, each auxiliary wheel may not be in contact with the ground or be slightly in contact with the ground, but whenever touched the ground, each auxiliary wheel may both rotate freely around its axis for reducing friction to the ground and creating torque that acts to counteracts the unwanted swaying motions and thereby contributing to the fixation of the vehicle body; and/or

at least one interlocking mechanism or device arranged to link this vehicle body to other vehicle bodies, preferably with already stabilized vehicle bodies, and/or to other vehicles or objects so that this vehicle body is limited to most of its inherent free rotation; If this way applied, this vehicle body will almost only swaying around a certain position, then the whole vehicle must generally depend on the operation of other vehicles, whether it acts the active or passive role; and/or

at least one mobile counterweight arranged which is responsible for counteracting the inherent free rotation of this vehicle body; namely that whenever the vehicle body is rotated in a certain direction, almost instantly, one or more mobile counterweights will be properly moved either forward or backward (the horizontal) for generating torque with the opposite direction to counteract unwanted motion and thereby immobilizing the vehicle body; this process can be manually controlled and/or mechanized by a separate motorized drive arrangement and fully automatically by integrating a control loop, similar to the self-balancing control technology for the inverted pendulum mechanism except that the motorized drive used to move the mobile counterweight forward or backward instead of rotating the wheels; and/or

at least one mobile propulsion-generating device arranged, which may be a propeller motor (aircraft-type propeller) and/or jet engine and/or sail (generally something to catch the wind), on the condition that, increasing or decreasing the strength of the thrusts, and/or the proper distribution of the setpoints of the thrusts generated by these devices on the vehicle body will act counteract the inherent free rotation of this vehicle body; namely that whenever the vehicle body is rotated in a certain direction, almost instantly, one or more of these mobile devices will be properly thrust adjusted and/or moved in the vertical, either upward or downward compared with the axis around which maybe the vehicle body rotates, for generating torque with the opposite direction to counteract unwanted motion and thereby immobilizing the vehicle body; this process, if it takes place continuously, may be fully automated by integrating with a motorized drive and control loop, similar to the self-balancing control technology for the inverted pendulum mechanism except that the motorized drive used to move these devices either lifting or lower instead of rotating the wheels; and/or

integrating the self-balancing control technology for the inverted pendulum mechanism (this technology is included here for reference only); this method if combined with the method of lowering the vehicle body’s center of gravity mentioned above may achieve the purpose of fixing the vehicle body with very high reliability, but note that it is necessary to reverse the direction of rotation of the motorized drive, because this time, the basis of the self-balancing of the vehicle according to the invention relied on the operating principle of the physical pendulum (herein discussing the ordinary/non-inverted pendulum); and/or

integrating the balancing maintenance system relied on the operating principle of the gyroscope (this technology is included here for reference only).

Perhaps not absolutely fix the vehicle body to a certain posture, these methods also help the above-mentioned vehicle models qualify as self-balancing vehicles. Among them, the method of lowering the center of gravity has the outstanding advantage because it makes the vehicle body not only balance itself naturally (without any support) but also hard to overturn, and if combined with other methods, these models will become more perfect.

Advantageous Effects of Invention

The vehicle models according to the present invention are all feasible to be put into practice, with many advantages as: compact structure, low friction, energy saving, less occupying ground surface, flexible maneuvering and easy to change the moving direction, easy to design symmetrically (through the said vertical plane), easy to reverse the move, may be operated independently or easily combined into groups of different sizes, etc. and especially, if intentionally lowering the vehicle body’s center of gravity compared with the wheels’ axes then it gets difficult to overturn in any direction. In design, if forced to increase the size of the diameter of the wheels, this is not a disadvantage at all, because the large diameter also offerring certain advantages such as reducing the rotational speed of the wheels, reducing the resistance in traversing irregular surfaces, etc.
For realizing the invention, the best practices should be

It is preferable to give priority to the mass distribution of the vehicle body more superior than that of the wheel, because the more superior the vehicle body’s mass, the more stable the vehicle body, and conversely, the smaller the wheels’ mass the easier it to rotate the wheels, so the overall result is that, the more flexible the whole vehicle’s motion.

The lower the vehicle body’s center of gravity, the much further stable the vehicle body;

The larger the distance of the wheels (track), the more difficult to overturn the vehicle; and being hardly overturned if its two outermost sides are designed to have a convex shape; and

To reduce friction, bearings or rollers can be arranged between the vehicle bodies and the wheels.

Because the applications of the invention may be very diverse so the shapes of the components shown in the drawings are symbolic only. They are simplified, and maybe a bit exaggerated, for illustrating to the text or emphasizing the main characteristics that should be stated, and should not be considered as instances of design. Each figure represents an embodiment and consists of two integral component images where the top shows before and the bottom shows after assembling. In the figures, there may be some additional shapes to further explain some properties such as the arrows showing the direction of travel, the axes, and the transverse streak where contains the contact traces between the wheels and the ground, and the drawings share all the reference numerals: 1 for vehicle body; 2 for wheel (the wheel of the vehicle); 3 for axle (if any); and 4 for auxiliary wheel (if any).

is the introduction of a simple vehicle to be able to balance in transverse;

shows a vehicle owns a single horizontal contiuous axle;

shows a self-balancing vehicle owns separate horizontal axles and installed of auxiliary wheels;

shows a self-balancing vehicle owns axes inclined in the same vertical plane;

shows a self-balancing vehicle owns axes inclined not in the same vertical plane;

is the introduction of a simple vehicle without any axle;

shows a self-balancing vehicle without any axle, owns a single inclined axis;

shows a self-balancing vehicle without any axle, owns many wheels and the vehicle bodies overlap;

shows a self-balancing vehicle without any axle, owns axes that can be changeable the inclined angle; and

shows that a vehicle can include the hub and hubless wheels.

The invention may be implemented in a wide range of embodiments. Several embodiments described below, taken with the accompanying drawings, are intended to be merely exemplary to assist in a better understanding of this disclosure and none of them are intended to be a limitation of the scope of the present invention in any way.

In one embodiment shown in , a vehicle includes two wheels coupled on the ends of a horizontal continuous axle, and a vehicle body is suspended in the middle of this axle, in such a way that the wheels are in rollable contact with the ground for supporting the vehicle's weight while the vehicle body is completely not in contact with the ground and rotatable relative to both two wheels. In this case, with a circular shape and mass distributed evenly, the vehicle body is rotatable fully. In addition, one of this vehicle model's clear standout features should be emphasized, and also a common advantage of all vehicle models according to the present invention, that is its very flexible mobility: maneuver, easy to change the direction of travel, just by controlling the speed and rotary direction of the wheels, even the ability to move forward or backward is the same if it is designed with symmetry.

In another embodiment shown in , a vehicle includes three wheels coupled to a single horizontal continuous axle and two vehicle bodies are alternately suspended in the middle to this axle, wherein all the vehicle bodies and the wheels and the axle are possible to rotate relative to each other. Owning multiple wheels can help distribute payload evenly and propulsion power flexibly if a motorized drive is available, besides, owning multiple separate vehicle bodies may make to diversify the features or uses of the vehicle. The two sides have convex shapes, the width of each wheel is large significantly compared with its diameter size, and the vehicle body’s center of gravity is lower than the axes of the wheels, that are all intentional factors contributing to the vehicle being able to balance by itself and hardly toppled. In addition, with mesh construction of wheel along with the vehicle bodies not in contact with the ground allows the largest possible wheel width design to cover the entire the vehicle bodies, that both have a protective effect and ensure that the vehicle bodies can still interact with the surrounding environment by direct observation or through cameras, sensors, etc. This model can be considered as a good example of self-balancing, and therefore, maybe regard it as a type of true self-balancing vehicle, which is qualified to compete with many existing vehicles in reality.

In another embodiment shown in , a self-balancing vehicle owns two wheels coupled with two separate axles whose axes are contained in the same horizontal straight line, and these axles are fixed to the sides of one vehicle body whose center of gravity is significantly lower than the axes of these axles themselves. In this case, the large width size along with the low center of gravity of the vehicle body, two wheels’ outermost sides have convex shapes, that are all intentional factors contributing to the vehicle being able to balance by itself and hardly toppled, and although it is probable that the vehicle body rotates fully, it mostly just sways around the equilibrium position. The vehicle body is also equipped with two auxiliary wheels, taken with attached shock absorber mechanisms, mounted in front and rear at a certain distance from the axes of the wheels of the vehicle, in a way that the mass of the whole vehicle acting mainly the wheels of the vehicle compared with very little or negligible or even zero for the auxiliary wheels. In operating, depending on the amplitude of the oscillation of the vehicle body large or small, but to counteract, the force exerted to the ground by the auxiliary wheel is also strong or weak respectively to make the oscillation being gradually damped thus stabilizing the vehicle body.

In another embodiment shown in , a self-balancing vehicle includes two symmetrically inclined wheels coupled to the ends of one single continuous axle whose middle segment is horizontal and lower than the ends, and a vehicle body suspended to the middle segment of this axle, wherein the wheels or the vehicle body may all rotate around each of their own axle, i.e. there are possibilities of independent rotation between the vehicle body and the wheels, and in this case, the wheels’ axes and the axis around which the vehicle body directly rotates are in the same vertical plane. In operating, the stated components can be oscillated back and forth from the first position and maybe cause the stated axes to no longer be in the vertical plane, but basically, they just sway in the vicinity of this plane. Particularly for the vehicle body, because its axis of rotation along with its own center of gravity are lower than the wheels’ axes so it mostly just sways freely around the equilibrium position and eventually balances by itself. This embodiment is suitable for the vehicle body with low center of gravity, the lower the better, and can be considered as a example for the design of the camber angles of the wheels, similar to that applied to existing vehicles in reality.

In another embodiment shown in , a self-balancing vehicle owns one vehicle body whose sides is fixed to two separate axles whose axes are contained in the same horizontal straight line, and all of them, also on the sides but higher, coupled with two other separate axles, together with two wheels, whose axes tilted symmetrically forward in the direction of travel. In this case, the wheels may rotate around their own axles while the vehicle body, whose center of gravity is lower significantly and intentionally, may rotate around the axes of the axles fixed to it, and thus there are possibilities of independent rotation between the vehicle body and the wheels. Here, to a certain extent, the posture in which the first axles’ axes and the later axles’ axes are not in the same vertical plane will always be maintained (remain) because the vehicle body mostly just sways around its equilibrium position, and this is also the main reason contributing to the vehicle being able to balance by itself. This embodiment is suitable for the vehicle body with low center of gravity, the lower the better, and can be referred to design the toe angles of the wheels, similar to that applied to existing vehicles in reality.

Through the two embodiments 4 and 5 mentioned above, it can be seen that an embodiment having parallel axes on the vertical plane, and/or being parallel to the vertical plane itself (outside), is actually possible as long as they are in the vicinity of this plane and to a certain extent.

In one embodiment shown in , a vehicle includes one tubular vehicle body being nested inside two hubless wheels whose axes are contained in the same horizontal straight line. This embodiment does not have any axle, but the components behave to each other in the same way for a vehicle with axle: the wheels are directly in rollable contact with the ground to support the vehicle body, while the vehicle body are completely not in contact with the ground and rotatable independently of the wheels, by sliding on their rims. Here, besides contributing to the vehicle being able to balance by itself, the width of the wheel being significantly large also has other purposes maybe, such as smoothing the road (similar to road roller).

In another embodiment shown in , a self-balancing vehicle includes one vehicle body, which is shaped like a flat floor with an intentionally low center of gravity, being nested inside two hubless wheels, which are both conical in shape and different in diameter and have axes lying on the same inclined straight line (not parallel to the ground). This embodiment does also not have any axles and the components behave to each other in the same way for a vehicle with axles: the wheels are directly in rollable contact with the ground to support the vehicle body, while the vehicle body are completely not in contact with the ground and rotatable independently of the wheels, by sliding on their rims. Here, similar to that in fact, a physical pendulum is still possibility of swaying around the equilibrium position when its pivot is tilted slightly to a certain degree; and it is possible that, the possession of the wheels with unequal diameters makes to increases the vehicle’s flexibility or responds to particular terrain conditions, etc.

In another embodiment shown in , a self-balancing vehicle includes two vehicle bodies on top of each other (overlapping), one nested and slideable inside the other, all nested inside the rims of five hubless wheels whose axes are contained in the same horizontal straight line. In this case, both vehicle bodies are rotatable independently of the wheels, where the outermost vehicle body may be fully rotatable while the innermost vehicle body mostly just sways around its equilibrium position; and it is possible that, the more the number of wheels then, the less the payload distributed per wheel, the more regular the payload distributed along the vehicle body, the smaller the cross-sectional size of each wheel, the more flexible the distribution of thrust, etc.

In another embodiment shown in , a self-balancing vehicle includes three separate vehicle bodies connected by two joints to be rotatable relative to each other, all are nested inside the rims of three hubless wheels, where each wheel directly supports each vehicle body and two adjacent vehicle bodies have only one degree of freedom, i.e. they are just rotatable relative to each other around a single horizontal axis. In this case, because the vehicle bodies all have intentionally low center of gravity so they mostly just sway around the equilibrium position, i.e. they always tend to maintain by themselves to a certain posture, and also means that, the wheels may be tilted relative to each other around the stated joints, which can be considered as their axes are all in the same vertical plane. In essence, this embodiment is similar to the embodiment 4 mentioned above, but the difference here is that the value of camber angles can be changed, for all three wheels (together with three vehicle bodies, of course), depending on the terrain surface conditions that the wheels are directly in contact when used in practice.

It can be seen that, it is also actually possible for another embodiment with a similar structure to that of the embodiment 9 mentioned above but having the difference that it owns the parallel axes on the vertical plane (instead of creating camber angles), and/or being parallel to the vertical plane (outside), and/or intersecting with the vertical plane (similar to toe angles stated in the embodiment 5), if the joints (connect the vehicle bodies together) are properly arranged (e.g. vertical, instead of horizontal as in the embodiment 9) and as long as the stated axes are in the immediate vicinity of this plane to a certain extent.

In one embodiment shown in , a vehicle includes one tubular vehicle body, whose outermost sides are supported by two wheels together with two separate axles, and whose middle part is supported by one hubless wheel which is nested in. This is an embodiment that uses a combination of the wheels with and without hub, both with and without axles, and their axes are all aligned.

Derived from the need in reality, perhaps the designs opposite to this vehicle model is not excluded, such as including two vehicle bodies that their outermost sides are arranged with two hubless wheels, while on their opposite sides (in the middle of the vehicle) together supported by one wheel with hub coupled with one single axle.

Similar to the wheeled machines circulating in reality, the vehicle models according to the invention can be applied to almost any activity that involves moving on the ground, which may be related to fields like transportation (as transporting of people, cargo,…), infrastructure construction (building roads and bridges,...), agriculture (harvesting products, mowing lawns,...), military, space exploration, etc. (with such overarching meanings hereafter collectively represented by the phrase “for ground operations”), and can be manufactured in any form, including industrial methods.

Claims

A vehicle for ground operations, the vehicle comprising:
at least two hub wheels for supporting the vehicle's mass;
at least one vehicle body for accommodating transported objects; and
one or more separate axles for coupling to the hub wheels and vehicle bodies; together the axles, hub wheels and vehicle bodies form a machine, characterized in that, the axles’ axes and the hub wheels’ axes are contained in the same straight line, and the hub wheels are in rollable contact with the ground, and the vehicle bodies are not in contact with the ground and rotatable independently of the hub wheels.
A vehicle for ground operations, the vehicle comprising:
at least two hub wheels for supporting the vehicle's mass;
at least one vehicle body for accommodating transported objects; and
one or more separate axles for coupling to the hub wheels and vehicle bodies; together the axles, hub wheels and vehicle bodies form a machine, characterized in that, the axles’ axes and the hub wheels’ axes are contained in the same vertical plane, and the hub wheels are in rollable contact with the ground, and the vehicle bodies are not in contact with the ground and rotatable independently of the hub wheels.
A vehicle for ground operations, the vehicle comprising:
at least two hubless wheels for supporting the vehicle's mass; and
at least one vehicle body for accommodating transported objects; the vehicle bodies are nested inside the rims of the hubless wheels to form a machine together, characterized in that, the hubless wheels’ axes are contained in the same straight line, and the hubless wheels are in rollable contact with the ground, and the vehicle bodies are not in contact with the ground and rotatable independently of the hubless wheels.
A vehicle for ground operations, the vehicle comprising:
at least two hubless wheels for supporting the vehicle's mass; and
at least one vehicle body for accommodating transported objects; the vehicle bodies are nested inside the rims of the hubless wheels to form a machine together, characterized in that, the hubless wheels’ axes are contained in the same vertical plane, and the hubless wheels are in rollable contact with the ground, and the vehicle bodies are not in contact with the ground and rotatable independently of the hubless wheels.
A vehicle for ground operations, the vehicle comprising:
at least one hub wheel and one hubless wheel for supporting the vehicle's mass;
at least one vehicle body for accommodating transported objects; and
one or more separate axles for coupling to the hub wheels and the vehicle bodies; together the axles, wheels and vehicle bodies form a machine in such a way that the vehicle bodies are either nested inside the rims of the hubless wheels or suspended on the axles or both at the same time, and characterized in that, the axles’ axes and the wheels’ axes are contained in the same straight line, and the wheels are in rollable contact with the ground, and the vehicle bodies are not in contact with the ground and rotatable independently of the wheels.
A vehicle for ground operations, the vehicle comprising:
at least one hub wheel and one hubless wheel for supporting the vehicle's mass;
at least one vehicle body for accommodating transported objects; and
one or more separate axles for coupling to the hub wheels and the vehicle bodies; together the axles, wheels and vehicle bodies form a machine in such a way that the vehicle bodies are either nested inside the rims of the hubless wheels or suspended on the axles or both at the same time, and characterized in that, the axles’ axes and the wheels’ axes are contained in the same vertical plane, and the wheels are in rollable contact with the ground, and the vehicle bodies are not in contact with the ground and rotatable independently of the wheels.
A vehicle for ground operations, the vehicle comprising:
at least two hub wheels for supporting the vehicle's mass;
at least one vehicle body for accommodating transported objects; and
one or more separate axles for coupling to the hub wheels and vehicle bodies; together the axles, hub wheels and vehicle bodies form a machine, characterized in that, the axles’ axes and the hub wheels’ axes are contained in the same straight line, and the hub wheels are in rollable contact with the ground, and the vehicle bodies are not in contact with the ground and have interdependent rotatable relationships with the hub wheels.
A vehicle for ground operations, the vehicle comprising:
at least two hub wheels for supporting the vehicle's mass;
at least one vehicle body for accommodating transported objects; and
one or more separate axles for coupling to the hub wheels and vehicle bodies; together the axles, hub wheels and vehicle bodies form a machine, characterized in that, the axles’ axes and the hub wheels’ axes are contained in the same vertical plane, and the hub wheels are in rollable contact with the ground, and the vehicle bodies are not in contact with the ground and have interdependent rotatable relationships with the hub wheels.
A vehicle for ground operations, the vehicle comprising:
at least two hubless wheels for supporting the vehicle's mass; and
at least one vehicle body for accommodating transported objects; the vehicle bodies are nested inside the rims of the hubless wheels to form a machine together, characterized in that, the hubless wheels’ axes are contained in the same straight line, and the hubless wheels are in rollable contact with the ground, and the vehicle bodies are not in contact with the ground and have interdependent rotatable relationships with the hubless wheels.
A vehicle for ground operations, the vehicle comprising:
at least two hubless wheels for supporting the vehicle's mass; and
at least one vehicle body for accommodating transported objects; the vehicle bodies are nested inside the rims of the hubless wheels to form a machine together, characterized in that, the hubless wheels’ axes are contained in the same vertical plane, and the hubless wheels are in rollable contact with the ground, and the vehicle bodies are not in contact with the ground and have interdependent rotatable relationships with the hubless wheels.
A vehicle for ground operations, the vehicle comprising:
at least one hub wheel and one hubless wheel for supporting the vehicle's mass;
at least one vehicle body for accommodating transported objects; and
one or more separate axles for coupling to the hub wheels and the vehicle bodies; together the axles, wheels and vehicle bodies form a machine in such a way that the vehicle bodies are either nested inside the rims of the hubless wheels or suspended on the axles or both at the same time, and characterized in that, the axles’ axes and the wheels’ axes are contained in the same straight line, and the wheels are in rollable contact with the ground, and the vehicle bodies are not in contact with the ground and have interdependent rotatable relationships with the wheels.
A vehicle for ground operations, the vehicle comprising:
at least one hub wheel and one hubless wheel for supporting the vehicle's mass;
at least one vehicle body for accommodating transported objects; and
one or more separate axles for coupling to the hub wheels and the vehicle bodies; together the axles, wheels and vehicle bodies form a machine in such a way that the vehicle bodies are either nested inside the rims of the hubless wheels or suspended on the axles or both at the same time, and characterized in that, the axles’ axes and the wheels’ axes are contained in the same vertical plane, and the wheels are in rollable contact with the ground, and the vehicle bodies are not in contact with the ground and have interdependent rotatable relationships with the wheels.
A vehicle as in any one of Claims 1-6 inclusive, further comprising at least one vehicle body that has an interdependent rotatable relationship with one or more of the wheels.
A vehicle as in any one of Claims 1-13 inclusive, in which at least one vehicle body that has a possibility of maintaining a certain posture by virtue of one or some or all of the following:
lowering the mass of the vehicle body so that the height of its center of gravity is less high than the height of the intersection of at least one axis around which the center of gravity is rotatable and a vertical straight line which passes through the center of gravity, or of the intersection of at least one axis around which the center of gravity is rotatable with the plane on which the center of gravity can oscillate (i.e. the plane along the vehicle's direction of travel and perpendicular to the vertical plane containing the said axis) that measured from the ground; and/or
at least one auxiliary wheel arranged, with or without shock absorbers, whose axis is parallel and at a certain distance away from the axes of the wheels of the vehicle in the direction of travel, so that the mass of the entire vehicle body acts mainly on the wheels of the vehicle compared with a little or even no effect on the auxiliary wheels; and/or
at least one interlocking mechanism arranged, so that it creates mechanical linkages between the vehicle body to other vehicle bodies of the same vehicle and/or to other vehicles or objects; and/or
at least one mobile counterweight arranged, so that changing its position on the vehicle body has the effect of creating torque with the opposite direction to counteract the inherent free rotation of the vehicle body; and/or
at least one mobile propeller motor arranged, so that changing the strength of the thrust produced by it, and/or changing its position on the vehicle body, has the effect of creating torque with the opposite direction to counteract the inherent free rotation of the vehicle body; and/or
at least one mobile jet motor arranged, so that changing the strength of the thrust produced by it, and/or changing its position on the vehicle body, has the effect of creating torque with the opposite direction to counteract the inherent free rotation of the vehicle body.