Patent ID: 11884320
Assignee: HYDRO-GEAR LIMITED PARTNERSHIP
Field: Transport (Mechanical engineering)
Classification: CPC B | IPC B

Claim 8:
9. A vehicle comprising:
a left drive unit independently powering a left driven wheel, and a right drive unit independently powering a right driven wheel, wherein the vehicle is capable of moving in a plurality of forward directions, a plurality of reverse directions, a clockwise zero turn motion, and a counter-clockwise zero turn motion;
a joystick configured to provide instructions for the left and right drive units, the joystick being pivotable about a pivot point from a neutral pivot position through a plurality of non-neutral pivot positions offset from the neutral pivot position, each non-neutral pivot position corresponding to a speed of the vehicle and a direction of the vehicle, the joystick further being twistable in a clockwise direction and a counter-clockwise direction about a joystick axis from a neutral twist position;
at least one controller in electrical communication with the joystick, the left drive unit, and the right drive unit, wherein the at least one controller is configured to:
send a first set of instructions to the left and right drive units when the joystick is in a first non-neutral pivot position and the neutral twist position; and
send a second set of instructions to the left and right drive units when the joystick is in the first non-neutral pivot position and has been twisted from the neutral twist position to a first twisted position, wherein each of the first set of instructions and the second set of instructions cause a different direction of vehicle travel relative to each other.