Patent ID: 6125959
Filing Date: 2000-10-03
Classification: B62M

Abstract:
A manually assisted power apparatus for proportionally combining human-developed power with machine power, comprising:a manually-driven element;a motor;a differential gear mechanism having a plurality of axes and including a manually-driven member coupled to said manually-driven element, a motor-driven member coupled to said motor, and an output member, each being coupled to a respective one of the plurality of axes of said differential gear mechanism;a rotational speed detector in communication with the manually-driven and motor-driven members of said differential gear mechanism to respectively detect rotational speeds of said manually-driven and motor-driven members;a signal comparator in communication with said rotational speed detector to compare the detected rotational speeds; anda controller in communication with said signal comparator and the motor to control the speed of the motor such that the ratio of the respective detected rotational speeds remains constant.