Patent ID: 6386304
Filing Date: 2002-05-14
Classification: A63G,A63H,B62K,Y10T

Abstract:
An electric vehicle, comprising:a vehicle frame; a rear wheel assembly including an axle attached to said vehicle frame and a pair ofan rear wheels mounted on opposite ends of said axle; a steering assembly including a steering shaft extending vertically through said vehicle frame and rotatably mounted thereto, and a steering handle mounted at an upper end of said steering shaft; a front wheel assembly including a base member attached to a lower end of said steering shaft, a pair of front wheels mounted on opposite sides of said base member, and transmission means operatively associated with said front wheels and configured for propelling the vehicle by driving said pair of front wheels when the steering shaft is rotated in an oscillating manner; and an electric drive assembly including an electric motor, a driving disc connected to an output shaft of said electric motor, a driven disc coaxially mounted on said steering shaft, and a driving arm having a first end rotatably connected to said driving disc adjacent a peripheral edge thereof and a second end rotatably connected to said driven disc adjacent a peripheral edge thereof for converting rotary movement of the driving disc to oscillating movement of the driven disc, and means for selectively connecting and disconnecting the driving arm to the driven disc, wherein the vehicle is adapted to be manually propelled when the driving arm is disconnected from the driven disc and the steering handle is rotated in an oscillating manner by a user, and the vehicle is adapted to be electrically propelled by the electric motor when the driving arm is connected to the driven disc.