Abstract:
An electric carrier with a motor controlled by correlative positions includes an operator possible to be a person, a sensor controlled by the operator and having a position reference member driven by and moving together with the operator and a sensing body producing signal at any movement of the position reference member, a spring connected to the position reference member and disfigured by the operator&#39;s driving so that the position reference member may return to its position and transmit force to an electric carrier to be mentioned below, a controller operating by signal coming from the sensing body, a motor driven by the controller and accordingly having functions of speed increasing and decreasing clockwise and counterclockwise rotation, and the electric carrier moved by the motor and with the operator synchronously. When the operator changes its position relative to the electric carrier, the sensor sends signal to the controller, which then controls the electric carrier change its speed to the same speed of the operator.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     This invention relates to an electric carrier with a motor controlled by a correlative position, particularly to one completely conforming humane driving capacity, with the speed of the electric carrier controlled by changing of the correlative position of the operator (such as a human person) and the thing controlled, and then the speed of the electric carrier may be altered in accordance with the speed of the operator. The electric carrier is moved by the motor, and there is a spring between the operator and the electric carrier, transmitting the force of the operator to the electric carrier. And the coefficient of the spring is chosen in such a way as the operator can control the electric carrier with a proper or no force. Then this electric carrier may have worthiness possible to be widely used in industries. 
     Generally speaking, conventional electric carriers with a motor controlled by the correlative positions nowadays have two ways of controlling its driving, an open route and a closed route. 
     The open route control, as shown in a block diagram of a flow chart in FIG. 1, has a controller for driving a motor, which directly moves an electric carrier. This kind of controlling way is simple and of low cost, but it can be applied to a narrow scope only. For example, if the electric carrier is a car running on land, the car can run very smoothly on a flat road, with the speed controlled by a controller coping with the car. But the car runs on an up or down slope, the motor cannot meet demand of the necessary speed, limited by the slope condition. Thus, the open route control mode is only suitable to an environment of little change or needing no particular condition. 
     As for the closed route control mode, referring to FIG. 2, has a difference that a speed meter is additionally provided in the open route control mode. The speed meter tests the speed of the motor and feeds the data to the controller controlling the motor so that the speed of the motor may be adjusted automatically to obtain stabilized speed of the motor. However, though the closed route control mode can guarantee to control the output of the motor, the object controlled is the motor, not the real thing to be controlled. Rigidity (such as the gap between gears) and load characteristic of the electric carrier may not be such as that calculated by theory, often produces large errors, so academies and scholars incessantly offer theory about motor control and its structure designs so as to acquire higher precision. But a new method may increase cost, not easily accepted by a non-consumer world. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     This invention has been devised to offer an electric carrier with a motor controlled by correlative positions, completely conforming to humane nature, having the driving speed of the electric carrier synchronous with that of the operator, obtaining worthiness widely applicable to various industries. 
     The main feature of the invention is an operator, possible to be a human person and a sensor controlled by the operator, a controller driven by signal produced by the sensor controlled by the operator, a motor controlled by the controller, and an electric carrier driven by the motor. When the correlative position (or speed difference) of the electric carrier and the operator changes, the sensor immediately senses it and sends signal to the controller, which then controls the speed of the electric carrier to be increased or decreased, adjusting the speed of the electric carrier that of the operator. Thus this kind of structure can permit the electric carrier move with the synchronous speed as that of the operator so as to be widely utilized by various industries. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS 
     This invention will be better understood by referring to the accompanying drawings, wherein: 
     FIG. 1 is a block flow chart of a conventional open route control; 
     FIG. 2 is a block flow chart of a conventional closed route control; 
     FIG. 3 is a block flow chart of a controlling a mode of an electric carrier with a motor controlled by the correlative positions in the present invention; 
     FIG. 4 is a diagram of a first embodiment of an electric carrier with a motor controlled by the corelative positions in the present invention, using two vehicles in motion; 
     FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a second embodiment of an electric carrier with a motor controlled by the correlative positions in the present invention, utilized in the handle of a golf electric car to be pulled to control the speed of the golf electric car; 
     FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the handle pulled in the opposite direction to that shown in FIG. 5; 
     FIG. 7 is a view of stationary conditions of a first example of a sensor in the embodiment in the present invention; 
     FIG. 8 is a view of dynamic changes and  1 / 0  points correlative conditions in FIG. 7; 
     FIG. 9 is a view of stationary conditions of a second example of a sensor in the embodiment in the present invention; 
     FIG. 10 is a view of dynamic changes and  1 / 0  points correlative conditions in FIG. 9; 
     FIG. 11 is a view of stationary conditions of a third example of a sensor in the embodiment in the present invention; 
     FIG. 12 is view of dynamic changes and  1 / 0  points correlative conditions in FIG. 11; 
     FIG. 13 is a view of stationary conditions of a fourth example of a sensor in the embodiment in the present invention; 
     FIG. 14 is a view of dynamic changes and  1 / 0  points correlative conditions in FIG. 13; 
     FIG. 15 is a view of stationary conditions of a fifth example of a sensor in the embodiment in the present invention; 
     FIG. 16 is a view of dynamic changes and  1 / 0  points correlative conditions in FIG. 15; 
     FIG. 17 is a graph of the speed set with the the first parameter and the position of the sensor shown in FIG. 7; 
     FIG. 18 is a graph of the speed set with the second parameter and the position of the sensor shown in FIG. 7; 
     FIG. 19 is a graph of the speed and the position of the sensor shown in FIG. 9; 
     FIG. 20 is a graph of the speed and the position of the sensor shown in FIG. 11; 
     FIG. 21 is a side view of the third embodiment of the present invention applied to a bike for controlling its speed; 
     FIG. 22 is a magnified side view of the sensor shown in FIG. 13 applied to a bike; 
     FIG. 23 is a view of the fourth example of the embodiment applied to a wheelchair for controlling its speed; 
     FIG. 24 is a front view of a magnetic switch used as a sensor in FIG. 23; 
     FIG. 25 is a side view of the magnetic switch used as a sensor in FIG. 23; 
     FIG. 26 is a front view of the dynamic changes of the magnetic switch shown in FIG. 24; 
     FIG. 27 is a perspective view of an embodiment in the present invention, showing springs added on the sensor when it is used for linear movement; 
     FIG. 28 is a front view of the embodiment in the present invention, showing springs added on the sensor when it used for circular movement; and, 
     FIG. 29 is a side view of FIG.  28 . 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     A first embodiment of an electric carrier with a motor controlled by correlative positions, as shown in FIG. 4, includes a vehicle as an operator  10 , another vehicle as an electric carrier  20 , a position reference member  40  controlled by the operator  10  and located between the both  10  and  20 , a sensor  41  affixed on the electric carrier  20 , a controller receiving signal from the sensor  41 , and a motor fixed on the electric carrier  20  and controlled by the controller. 
     The sensor  41  utilizes the correlative position of the electric carrier  20  and the main operator  10 , transmitting proper command to the controller, which then controls the speed of the motor to be increased or decreased. When the operator  10  moves forward, the sensor  41  is driven, and next the controller, and the motor to move the electric carrier  20 . In other words, the electric carrier  20  may be deemed as a subordinate, and when the correlative position between the operator  10  and the electric carrier  20  changes, the sensor  41  at once senses it and sends signal to the controller. Then the controller controls the speed of the subordinate to increase or decrease so that the speed of the operator and the subordinate may be synchronous. Although the subordinate can be considered to be a load the operator, the subordinate does not make up a load of the operator, and various practical things may be designed according to this idea. For example, the sensor, the controller, the motor may be such as to be used in the preferred embodiments described below. 
     Next, FIGS. 5 and 6 show a second embodiment of the invention, applied to a handle  31  of a golf electric car  30  for controlling the speed of the golf electric car. Its controlling mode is shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, includes a position reference member  40  (such as a carbon brush, a magnet, a photosensitive gate, a metal, etc.) pulling to move a handle  31 , a sensor  41  (such as a printed electric circuit, a magnetic switch, a photosensitive switch, or a metal sensor) sensing the position of the position reference member  40  and sending out signal, and a controller  42  receiving signal from the sensor  41 . The controller  42  may be a motor on the golf electric car to move the car. So the controller  42  may be considered to be a motor driver. Then FIG. 7 may be taken as a whole sensor, and for convenience of explanation, the position reference member  40  is considered as a carbon brush, and the sensor  41  a copper foil, and the carbon brush is a contact point (indicated as GND in FIG.  7 . If the controller  42  has three  1 / 0  points BIT 2 , BIT 1 , BIT 0  for sensing the carbon brush, and the carbon brush is designed to contact the copper foil, with the  1 / 0  point being low (0) or high(1), the three  1 / 0  points may have the five conditions (011), (001), (101), (100), and (110) as shown in FIG. 8, with the carbon brush being at a different position. Consequently the controller may have five increasing and decreasing ways and this ways are effected by relative coordination of the sensor  41  and the position reference member  40 . Accordingly the sensor  41  may have many different shapes, not limited to only one shape, and more than five controlling ways in increasing and decreasing the speed can be designed, as shown in FIGS. 9,  11 ,  12 ,  15 ,  19  and  20  and may present more than five controlling conditions to increase and decrease the speed, as shown in FIGS. 10,  12 , and  16 . Or as shown in FIG. 13, the sensor  41  may be made curve-shaped and still have five ways to increase or decrease the speed as shown in FIG.  14 . So different modes may have different ways to increase and decrease the speed to acquire comfortable feeling by utilizing different parameters. As in FIG. 18, with the horizontal axis being time and the vertical axis speed, if a user pulls the handle  31  of a golf electric car  30  and there are five ways of increasing and decreasing the speed as shown in FIG. 17, the motor of the electric golf car slowly starts to drive the car. On the contrary, if time T of the accelerating curve changes relative to speed V as shown in FIG. 18, the motor of the golf electric car  30  quickly starts. 
     To explain more minutely, utilizing alteration of the parameter (meaning inclination percentage of the relation between speed increasing and decreasing and time) can drive the motor slowly or quickly, and produce time change to acquire comfortable feeling in operating. 
     Basically, control of the aforesaid  1 / 0  point output signal can be accomplished by means of a micro processor, with a very high accuracy. At the same time, the micro processor can perform changes by different accelerating parameters, as shown in FIGS. 17, and  18 , and different accelerating parameters may produce accelerating speed curves of different inclination percentage. The electric carrier needing soft start may use the parameter shown in FIG. 17, and that needing a large start torque may use the parameter shown in FIG.  18 . In addition,  1 / 0  can be used to control clockwise or counterclockwise rotation of the motor, as shown in FIGS. 9 and 10, wherein the four  1 / 0  points have ten conditions, (0111), (0011), (1011), (1001), (1101), (1100), (1000), (11010), (0010), (0110). If the lowest bit BIT 0  being low  0  is used for controlling two directional motion, its accelerating curve is as such as shown in FIG. 19, wherein + and − of the vertical axis in the figure indicate clockwise and counterclockwise rotation of the motor. In the same principle, setting different parameters for different modes can acquire different increasing and decreasing ways of speed. 
     If the controller has five  1 / 0  points for sensing the position of the carbon brush as shown in FIGS. 11,  15  and  16 , the five points may have nine changes, (01111), (00111), (10111), (10011), (11011), (11001), (11101), (11100), and (11110). Setting of the parameter in coordination of the accelerating curve shown in FIG. 20 can acquire function for controlling clockwise and counterclockwise rotation of the motor. 
     As can be understood from the aforesaid description, if the operator is a person, (referring to FIG. 3 also) and the handle of the golf electric car is considered to be the sensor, the golf car can change its speed of the motor as that of the person by operating the handle, obtaining function of synchronous movement of the electric carrier with a person. 
     Besides, as shown in FIGS. 21 and 22, the speed controlling modes in the embodiment of the invention also can use a circular movement with coordination of the sensor shown in FIG. 13 or  15 . So only changing the parameter can obtain function of driving. For example, the design of the circular movement control can be applied to a bike  60 , utilizing relation of a pedal disc  61  and a disc  62  rotating together with the motor, letting the circular movement of the pedal disc  61  send an output to drive the motor in the multi-stage speed increasing and decreasing mode as shown in FIGS. 14 and 16. In practical design, the motor does not need counterclockwise rotation, as a bike runs only forward. So assistance by the motor can obtain function of supplementary movement for a bike, having a high practicality. This embodiment can also be applied to a wheelchair  7 , which has two hand-pushed wheels  70 , two rolling wheels  71 , two unmovable discs  73 , and two control discs  73  as shown in FIG.  23 . The relative position of the unmovable discs  72  and the control discs  73  is shown in FIG.  24 . The five  1 / 0  points may be replaced by five switches (such as non-contact magnetic switches), which are turned on by a magnet coming near the switches. So a magnet  74  can be placed at a special location of the magnetic switch as shown in FIGS. 24 and 25. Then if the magnetic switch has five  1 / 0  points and the control discs  73  in FIG. 24 have a bias to the corresponding discs, different magnets  74  can let different relative switches turn on. So only one or two magnetic switches coming near the magnet may be turned on because of the separate location angle of the switches. The dynamic changes and the  1 / 0  output are shown in FIG.  26 . Thus, setting the parameter can acquire effect of different speed control. 
     As can be understood from the aforesaid description, FIGS. 5,  21  and  23  show the operator or a person practically commands the speed, and its control flow chart is shown in FIG.  3 . Therefore, whether the control capacity is good or bad can be perceived by the person, and the person can set the parameter according to the practical condition. If the three examples shown in FIGS. 5,  21  and  23  are set as an auxiliary mode, the person (or the operator  10 ) should make the subordinate (or the electric carrier  20 , the golf electric car, or the hand-moved wheels  70  of the wheelchair) with his/her own force. In order to attain this, the position reference member  40  (such as a carbon brush) has to move together with the main operator  10 , as shown in FIG.  27 . And the sensor  41  (such as a sectional electric circuit board) has to move together with the subordinate (or the electric carrier  20 ), and springs  80  have to be provided between the sensor  41  and the subordinate, in spite of of linear or circular movement, as shown in FIGS. 27,  28  and  29 . On one hand, the object is to permit the position reference member  40  automatically return to its position, not to be prevented by the pulling force of the operator  10 , notwithstanding the pulling force being large or small. Then control stability may be secured. On the other hand, the pulling or pushing force of a person is to be transmitted to the electric carrier  20  (or the subordinate) via the springs  80 . Interpreting this with mathematical extremity idea, when the springs  80  have the limitlessly large elasticity, the position reference member  40  stays at the zero or does not move. Then the motor also does not operate, and the electric carrier  20  is completely moved by the operator  10 , forming a traditional vehicle without a power. On the contrary, if the springs  80  have limitlessly small elasticity, the position reference member  40  is totally controlled by the operator  10 , but the force of the operator  10  is impossible to be transmitted to the electric carrier  20 , which is then moved completely by the motor, becoming a real electric car. Thus choosing proper springs  80  (changing the coefficient K of the springs  80 ) can make a supplementing car movement. In the same way, the pushing wheels  70  of the wheelchair shown in FIG. 29 may be considered to be the operator  10 , and the rolling wheels  71  to be the subordinate (or the electric carrier  20 ), the same driving effect will be gotten. In designing the structure, if the springs can be pressed with a preset pressure value (or adjusting its coefficient) as shown in FIG. 27, a threaded rod  81  with the front and the rear end respectively provided with a right-hand threads  81 A and a left-hand threads  81 B can be used, and the lefthand and the right-hand thread  81 B and  81 A respectively carry a front and a rear stop plate  90  and  91  pushed by the springs  80 . When the threaded rod  81  is rotated, the stop plates  90 ,  91  are respectively shoved toward the center, compressing the springs  80 . With is design, a user himself can adjust the assisting force of the motor depending on the body strength at that time, very practical to use. 
     It should be emphasized that the central ideology of the present invention is based on a human person, not on comfortable operation by a human person, not as on the motor without life that is used in conventional electric carriers. If the present invention is wanted to drive the electric carrier, the operator only resists the elasticity of the springs fixed on the carrier, accomplishing the effect of assisting movement often mentioned above in the description of the invention. Therefore, this invention has worthiness possible to be widely utilized in the market (such as on electric wheelchairs, golf electric cars, etc.). Although this invention uses a motor as power source, it is inevitable, and a human person feels that the movement of the object is controlled completely by himself, satisfying demand of the personified operation. So it is evident that the present invention is superior to conventional ones, which lack in personified designs and are liable to produce errors in controlling. 
     While the preferred embodiments of the invention have been described above, it will be recognized and understood that various modifications may be made therein and the appended claims are intended to cover all such modifications which may fall within the spirit and scope of the invention.