Patent ID: 9526664
Filing Date: 2016-12-27
CPC Classification: A61G,Y10S

Claim Text:
1. A powered vehicle comprising: a frame; a seat mounted on the frame; a pair of drive wheels positioned on opposing sides of the frame; a drive motor assembly operatively coupled to at least one of the drive wheels for powering rotation of the drive wheel about a drive wheel axis and for powering movement of the vehicle across a ground plane; a mounting plate pivotably coupled to the frame, the mounting plate being coupled to the drive motor assembly; at least one anti-tip assembly comprising a suspension arm pivotably mounted to the frame at a suspension arm pivot axis, said suspension arm extending from said suspension arm pivot axis outwardly from the frame, said suspension arm pivot axis vertically spaced above the ground plane, the at least one anti-tip assembly further including an anti-tip wheel assembly coupled to the suspension arm, the anti-tip wheel assembly including an anti-tip wheel that is in contact with the ground plane during normal operation of the powered vehicle and having a rotational axis about which the anti-tip wheel rotates; and a resilient link operatively connected to the mounting plate and the suspension arm so as to operatively connect the drive motor assembly to the suspension arm, wherein, in response to torque created by the motor in rotating the drive wheel, the drive motor assembly pivots about the motor pivot axis, causing through the operative connection of the resilient link the suspension arm to pivot about the suspension arm pivot axis, and causing a corresponding movement of the anti-tip wheel, wherein the resilient link includes a first link member and a second link member, wherein a pin is one of the first and second link members and a slot is the other of the first and second link members, where the pin is moveable in the slot in response to torque created by the motor in rotating the drive wheel.