Abstract:
A vehicle which includes a lower chassis section including a means for rollably supporting the vehicle&#39;s weight on land, and a means for hydrodynamically supporting the vehicles weight on water, an upper passenger compartment section including a passenger compartment for housing at least one passenger and a frame for attaching drive line components thereto; a suspension section sandwiched between said passenger compartment and said chassis section, said suspension section including suspension elements for absorbing and smoothing bumps and irregularities encountered on road surfaces wherein said suspension elements include gas filled cushions extending around the periphery of said vehicle, wherein said cushions being disposed between said passenger compartment and said chassis section.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
         [0001]    The present invention relates to motorized vehicles and in particular relates to amphibious motorized vehicles.  
         BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0002]    Motor vehicles have become one of the most popular modes of transportation and for the most part motor vehicles that are currently being sold are for use on land only. In the past there have been some amphibious vehicles designed and built and in particular the 1960&#39;s German produced “Amphicar” is one of the most well known amphibious vehicles that had some market success.  
           [0003]    The military in particular has always had a need for amphibious vehicles and in particular amphibious vehicles have been used for both troop and equipment transport from water onto the land. The difficulty with amphibious vehicles is that the engineering requirements for adequate performance on land are often contra indicated to the requirements of a water based vehicle and compromises must be made in order to obtain some minimal standard of performance on land and water. One of the major obstacles that amphibious vehicles have faced is the unwanted resistance created by the road wheels immersed in water. Most road vehicles have sophisticated suspension systems allowing from anywhere between 6 to 18 inches of wheel travel within the wheel well in order to absorb major road bumps as the vehicle is travelling over a land surface. As a result when the vehicle is immersed in water, the springs or biassing portion of the suspension tends to push the wheels downward into the water creating a greater obstacle in the water when the vehicle is immersed. In order to overcome this problem, often very expensive and complicated mechanical retractable wheels and other systems have been used to elevate the wheels out of the water. This often leads to very sophisticated and expensive designs which become impracticle.  
           [0004]    Amphibious vehicles to date that have had some market success generally have had very poor performance in water. This is likely as a result of the wheel resistance problem in the water and the complicated suspension systems required in order to provide both on land performance as well on water performance.  
           [0005]    The inventor believes that the poor performance of amphibious vehicles in water environments has essentially lead to the demise of amphibious vehicles in the eyes of the public. Therefore, it would be desirable to have an amphibious vehicle which had good on road performance as well as on water performance and that would eliminate the on water suspension problems that have existed to date.  
           [0006]    One object of this invention is provide for an amphibious vehicle in which the drag created by the road wheels is minimized while yet retaining adequate road performance.  
           [0007]    It is another object of this invention to provide for an amphibious vehicle which provides good on road and on water performance in a safe and economical manner.  
           [0008]    It is further an object of this invention to provide for a unique amphibious suspension system that minimizes drag, increases safety, decreases manufacturing costs and provides a solution to the long plagued problem of amphibious vehicles.  
         SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0009]    The present invention an amphibious vehicle for use on land and on water comprises:  
           [0010]    a) a lower chassis section including a means for rollably supporting the vehicle&#39;s weight on land, and a means for hydrodynamically supporting the vehicles weight on water;  
           [0011]    b) an upper passenger compartment section including a means for housing at least one passenger and a means for attaching drive line components thereto;  
           [0012]    c) a suspension section sandwiched between said passenger compartment and said chassis section, said suspension section including a suspension means for absorbing and smoothing bumps and irregularities encountered on road surfaces or on water;  
           [0013]    d) said drive line including a drive means for propelling said vehicle on land or on water.  
           [0014]    Preferably wherein said suspension means includes a resilient member sandwiched between said passenger compartment and said chassis section.  
           [0015]    Preferably said resilient member includes gas filled cushions extending around the periphery of said vehicle, wherein said cushions being disposed between said passenger compartment and said chassis section.  
           [0016]    Preferably wherein said resilient members include air filled cushions extending around the periphery of said vehicle, wherein said cushions being disposed between said passenger compartment and said chassis section.  
           [0017]    Preferably wherein said rolling means including wheels housed within wheel wells, wherein a clearance between said wheels and said wheel wells remains substantially constant.  
           [0018]    Preferably wherein road or water irregularities are smoothed and absorbed by compression or expansion of said air filled cushions.  
           [0019]    Preferably wherein said wheel wells are water tight preventing water from entering into a chassis cavity.  
           [0020]    Preferably wherein front wheels are operatively adapted to turn for effecting steering control on land.  
           [0021]    Preferably wherein said front wheel wells include deflector plates disposed behind each wheel for operatively deflecting water away from front wheel wells and to cooperatively turn in unison with said front wheels thereby minimizing the resistance to travelling through water.  
           [0022]    Preferably wherein said drives means includes engine and transmission components hung from said passenger components by said attaching means wherein said engine and transmission disposed within a suspension cavity and chassis cavity defined by said suspension and chassis sections.  
           [0023]    Preferably wherein said hydrodynamic means includes a flexible outer covering being a flexible membrane covering said chassis for preventing water entry into said vehicle and defining a water entry hull.  
           [0024]    Preferably wherein said drive means includes a marine stern drive which is adapted to be lowered into water and propelling said vehicle on water.  
           [0025]    Preferably wherein said drive means includes conventional drive components for turning said front wheels for propelling said vehicle on land.  
           [0026]    Preferably wherein said air filled cushions are sandwiched between lower cushion supports attached to said chassis and upper cushion supports attached to said passenger compartment. 
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0027]    The present invention will be described by way of example only with reference to the following drawings:  
         [0028]    [0028]FIG. 1 is a schematic side elevational view of the present invention an amphibious vehicle.  
         [0029]    [0029]FIG. 2 is a schematic top plan view of the present invention an amphibious vehicle.  
         [0030]    [0030]FIG. 3 is a schematic front elevational view of the present invention an amphibious vehicle.  
         [0031]    [0031]FIG. 4 is a schematic rear elevational view of the present invention an amphibious vehicle.  
         [0032]    [0032]FIG. 5 is a schematic partial prospective view of the chassis portion of the present invention an amphibious vehicle.  
         [0033]    [0033]FIG. 6 is a schematic perspective partial view of the passenger compartment of the present invention.  
         [0034]    [0034]FIG. 7 is a schematic perspective view of the suspension section of the present invention.  
         [0035]    [0035]FIG. 8 is a schematic perspective view of the chassis portion of the present invention.  
         [0036]    [0036]FIG. 9 is a schematic perspective view of the passenger compartment section.  
         [0037]    [0037]FIG. 10 is a schematic perspective view of the suspension section together with the chassis section.  
         [0038]    [0038]FIG. 11 is a schematic rear perspective view of the present invention showing the tilting roof mechanism.  
         [0039]    [0039]FIG. 12 is a front perspective schematic view of the present invention an amphibious vehicle.  
         [0040]    FIGS.  13  is a exploded view of the passenger compartment detached from the suspension section and the chassis section of the present invention.  
         [0041]    [0041]FIG. 14 is a schematic side elevational view of the amphibious vehicle shown reacting to a bump or raised road surface section.  
         [0042]    [0042]FIG. 15 is a schematic cross-sectional view taken through the rear axle with the tires travelling over a flat road surface. The cross section taken along lines  15 - 15  shown in FIG. 5.  
         [0043]    [0043]FIG. 16 is a schematic cross-sectional view of the rear suspension shown travelling over raised road surface or a bump in the road, cross section taken along lines  15 - 15  of FIG. 5.  
         [0044]    [0044]FIG. 17 is a schematic cross-sectional view taken through the rear axle with the tires travelling over a flat road surface. The cross section taken along lines  15 - 15  shown in FIG. 5.  
         [0045]    [0045]FIG. 18 is a schematic cross-sectional view of the rear suspension shown travelling over raised road surface or a bump in the road, cross section taken along lines  15 - 15  of FIG. 5.  
         [0046]    [0046]FIG. 19 is a schematic bottom plan view of the amphibious vehicle showing front wheels in straight and turned attitudes.  
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT  
       [0047]    The present invention shown in FIGS. 1 through 16 is an amphibious vehicle shown generally as  100  and consists of the following major sections, namely chassis section  102 , suspension section  202  and the passenger compartment section  302  as best depicted in FIGS.  1  and shown in exploded fashion in FIGS. 6, 7 and  8 .  
         [0048]    Chassis Section  
         [0049]    Referring now particularly to FIG. 5 which is the schematic partial perspective view of the chassis section  102 . Chassis section  102  includes the following major components, namely a ladder frame  109  which is comprised of longitudinal frame members  110  and lateral frame members  112 . Chassis section  102  further includes lower cushion supports  114 , front wheel wells  116 , housing front wheels  118 , rear wheel wells  120 , housing rear wheels  122 , shocks  124 , stiffening members  128  and also shown is a steering control arm  126  for effecting steering response of front wheels  118 .  
         [0050]    A person skilled in the art will recognize that ladder frame members  112  of ladder frame  109  connect front wheel wells  118  and rear wheel wells  122  to ladder frame  109  and as well lateral frame members  112  and longitudinal frame members  110  connect lower cushion supports  114  to ladder frame  109 . In addition, there are stiffening members  128  located in strategic locations where extra stiffening is required for the support of various drive line and suspension components.  
         [0051]    Shocks  124  are connected via a lower shock flange  150  to axles  156  and at the upper sections via upper shock flanges  240  to upper cushion supports  204 . Other than the shocks  124  the items depicted in FIG. 5 of chassis portion  102  represent the unsprung weight of amphibious vehicle  100 . There are other items which are connected to chassis  102  which have been omitted for clarity sake which also contribute to the unsprung weight of chassis  102 .  
         [0052]    The stem drive portion  314  is mounted onto the rear portion of chassis  102 . Stern drive  314  in the raised position is hung mounted to the passenger compartment  302  to reduce the unsprung weight.  
         [0053]    Ladder frame  109  together with lower support cushions  114  defines a chassis cavity  130  centrally located and surrounded by longitudinal frame members and lateral frame members  112  as well as other stiffening members  128 .  
         [0054]    Referring now to FIG. 15 which is a schematic cross-sectional view through the one of the rear axles and showing a typical suspension arrangement for amphibious vehicle  100 . Suspension  119  includes cushion  205 , upper cushions supports  204 , shocks  124  connected with an upper shock flange  240  to upper cushion support  204  and to an axle  156  with lower shock flange  150 . Rear wheel  122  includes tire  158  mounted onto a wheel rim  160  housed within a rear wheel well  120  and is isolated from water with a water proof seal  162 . Rear wheel  122  is mounted onto axle  156  which also has rigidly mounted thereon a brake rotor together with brake caliper  154  to effect braking.  
         [0055]    The distance between rear wheel well  120  and the top of tire  158  is defined as clearance  170  which is significantly less than in traditional vehicles since suspension travel does not occur between the rear wheel well  120  and the tire  158 . The suspension travel extends between the extended position  242  shown in FIG. 15 and the compressed position  243  shown in FIG. 16. The entire rear wheel well  120  and rear wheel  122  move upwardly and downwardly in unison together with ladder frame  109 . Therefore, clearance  170  remains substantially constant even when tire  158  encounters a bump or when the vehicle is immersed in water.  
         [0056]    Suspension Section  
         [0057]    Suspension section  202  is best viewed in FIG. 7 and also in FIG. 10. Suspension section  202  includes cushions  205  which are essentially air filled bladders which extended around the periphery of amphibious vehicle  100 . Cushions  205  include lateral cushions  208  at the forward and optionally at the rearward section of suspension section  202  and longitudinal cushions  206  which extend along the outer periphery from front to back of amphibious vehicle  100  as shown in the drawings.  
         [0058]    As best viewed in FIG. 10 cushions  205  are sandwiched between upper cushion supports  204  which rigidly connect the passenger compartment  302  to the suspension section  202  and at the bottom cushions  205  are supported by lower cushions supports  114  which connect the chassis section  102  to the suspension section  202 .  
         [0059]    Therefore, a person skilled in the art will see that the amphibious vehicle  100  consists of essentially three distinct portions, namely passenger compartment  302  as shown in FIG. 6, suspension portion  202  shown in FIG. 7 and chassis portion  102  shown in FIG. 8. The three sections are sandwiched together wherein the passenger compartment  302  is rigidly connected to the upper cushion supports  204  and the chassis section  102  is rigidly connected to the lower cushion supports  114 . Suspension section  202  defines a suspension cavity  230  centrally located within and bounded by cushions  205  around the outer periphery.  
         [0060]    Referring now to FIG. 10, suspension  202  as well as chassis  102  are covered with a flexible outer covering  232  which is a flexible outer membrane providing for a water proof covering encasing ladder frame  109  chassis section  102  as well as suspension  202  such that when amphibious vehicle  100  enters the water it provides for a water proof seal preventing water from entering into chassis cavity  130  or suspension cavity  230 . Note that suspension cavity  230  is essentially an extension of and is in open communication with chassis cavity  130 . In other words, suspension cavity  230  and chassis cavity  130  combined provide for a large cavity or opening beneath passenger compartment  302 . Flexible outer covering  232  is securely connected to upper cushion supports  204  and encases the entire outer portions of suspension section  202  and the chassis section  102 . A person skilled in the art will recognize that the non encased exposed portions are those components within front wheel wells  116  and rear wheel wells  122  and as well stern drive  314 . Flexible covering  232  is designed to provide for a water tight seal preventing water from entering into the chassis cavity  130  and the suspension cavity  230 . Flexible covering  232  forms a water tight hull around the mechanical components which flexes with the deflections of the chassis.  
         [0061]    Passenger Compartment  
         [0062]    Passenger compartment  302  includes front windshield  304 , headlights  306 , side windows  308 , tilting roof  3   10  and entry platform  312  as best shown in FIGS. 1 and 2.  
         [0063]    Part of passenger compartment  302  extends into chassis cavity  130  as well as suspension cavity  230 . For example as shown in FIG. 13, engine  340  is connected to passenger compartment  302  and is located within the space defined by chassis cavity  130  and suspension cavity  230 . Engine  340  is part of the sprung weight of the vehicle and is fluidly connected to the drive components via forward drive shaft  342  and rear drive shaft  344 . Additionally, the floor of passenger compartment  302  as well as the seats and instrumentation and other components extend into chassis cavity  130  and suspension cavity  230 .  
         [0064]    As shown in FIG. 11, passenger compartment  302  includes a tilting roof  310  which can be opened as shown in FIG. 11. Passenger compartment  302  has a rear entry which is assessable from an entry way platform  312 . Optionally, passenger compartment  302  may include trunk compartment  320  having a trunk door  322 .  
         [0065]    In Use  
         [0066]    Amphibious vehicle  100  can be driven on land and/or can be launched into the water and utilized as a motorized land or floating vessel.  
         [0067]    On land amphibious vehicle  100  is driven by an engine  340  which is connected to passenger compartment  302  and situated within chassis cavity  130  and suspension cavity  230 . Engine  340  is mechanically coupled to the front wheels via forward drive shaft  342  and this would be coupled to a differential (not shown) to drive front wheels  118  of amphibious vehicle  100 .  
         [0068]    There is no reason why this vehicle could not also be all wheel driven, however in the preferred embodiment shown in the drawings, the vehicle is front wheel driven, wherein front wheels  118  are driven through a traditional drive line which is well known in the art via engine  340  and forward drive shaft  342 . Standard components would be used in order to complete the drive line making this vehicle a front wheel drive vehicle.  
         [0069]    A person skilled in the art will note that front wheels  118  as well as rear wheels  122  have very small clearance  170  between front wheel wells  116  and the front wheels  118  and as well between the rear wheel wells  120  and the rear wheels  122 . Referring now to FIGS. 15 and 16, this is defined as clearance  170  and regardless of whether the vehicle is travelling over a rough surface, this clearance  170  remains substantially unchanged. Suspension travel occurs between the chassis  102  and the passenger compartment  302 , wherein the suspension  202  consists of gas filled cushion  205  extending around to outer periphery of chassis  102 . Therefore, shock  124  extends between axle  156  and upper cushion support  204  and as the vehicle encounters a raised road surface or bump as shown as  192  in FIG. 16 as well as in FIG. 14, cushion  205  deforms as shown in cross-section view in FIG. 16 and in a side elevational view in FIG. 14 creating a bulging  244  which places cushion  205  into compressed position  243 .  
         [0070]    Normally cushion  205  is in the extended position  242  as shown in FIG. 15. Bulging  244  occurs when vehicle  100  encounters a raised road surface  192  as shown in FIG. 16 and in FIG. 14. The mechanical components found within rear wheel well  120  as shown in FIG. 15 and  16  are isolated from chassis cavity  130  by using water proof seals  162  where axle  156  extends through rear wheel well  120 . In this manner the entire frame  109  together with wheel rim  160 , tire  158  and rear wheel  122  deflects upwardly deforming cushion  205  into the compressed position  243  as shown in FIG. 16 when a raised road surface  192  is encountered.  
         [0071]    A person skilled in the art will note that the entire passenger compartment  302  is riding as though on a cushion of air created by cushion  205 . It is critical that cushion  205  remain gas tight to prevent air from leaking out and/or special valving can be included (not shown in the drawings) to control entry and exit of air from cushion  205  and thereby be able to control the stiffness of the suspension.  
         [0072]    A person skilled in the art will realize that by utilizing the presently invented chassis construction  102  as shown, that water proofing the drive line components becomes much simpler because the clearance  170  between the wheels and the wheel wells can be made much smaller then on conventional suspension systems. Therefore the road clearance  159  can be made much smaller than conventional cars. The advantageous of this system is evident particularly when the vehicle is used as a floating vessel.  
         [0073]    Amphibious vehicle  100  can also be launched into water and used as a motorized vessel. In this case stern drive  314  is lowered into a drive position and through a selective transmission, power is diverted from forward drive shaft  342  to rear drive shaft  344  which in turn powers stern drive  314  turning propeller  315 . Amphibious vehicle  100  floats readily and flexible outer covering  232  covers the entire outer surface of chassis  102  and suspension  202  ensuring that water does not enter into chassis cavity  130  and suspension cavity  230 . Water can enter into wheel wells  120  and  116 , and around front wheel deflection plates  199 , wheel deflection plates  199  operate to cover the wheel well opening and yet accommodate side to side movement of front wheels during steering operations, thereby minimizing water resistance as vehicle  100  travels along the water. The number of suspension components has been minimized within the wheel wells. The suspension arrangement described above, defining road clearance  159  or the distance between the bottom of chassis  102  and the tire surface is significantly less than a traditional vehicle and therefore the amount of tire restricting the movement of water and therefore the restriction of movement of amphibious vehicle  100  through water has been minimized.  
         [0074]    In addition, cushions  205  provide for positive buoyancy of amphibious vehicle  100  should there be a breach or a leak or a break that occurs in flexible outer covering  232  ensuring that the vehicle may continue to float through the water even if there is water entering into chassis cavity  130  and suspension cavity  230 .  
         [0075]    It should be apparent to persons skilled in the arts that various modifications and adaptation of this structure described above are possible without departure from the spirit of the invention the scope of which defined in the appended claim.