Driving device

The arm-driven vehicle has a drive mechanism comprising a driving member. A movable chain attachment is secured to the driving member and the chain attachment has spaced apart fork legs and a rod member extending therebetween. A movable arm has one end operatively attached to a fork leg that is attached to the arm-driven vehicle. A movable gear is in operative engagement with the movable arm via a pin. A chain is in operative engagement with the movable chain attachment via a bar segment. The bar segment is rotatably attached to the rod member of the fork legs so that the vehicle may be driven forwardly by moving the driving member back and forth.

TECHNICAL FIELD 
The present invention relates to an arm-driven vehicle having a driving 
mechanism that may be moved back and forth to drive the vehicle in a 
forward direction. 
BACKGROUND AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
Conventional bicycles that are powered by the legs of the operator have 
been available for several centuries. However, arm-driven non-motorized 
vehicles that can easily be maneuvered and powered by the arms have often 
been too difficult and cumbersome to use. 
The vehicle of the present invention aims at providing an effective driving 
device, especially a gear device, for vehicles of the above-indicated 
type. A special purpose of the invention is to provide an arm-driven 
vehicle, which can be used both in connection with chain driving 
mechanisms that are movable sideways, and for chain driving mechanisms 
that are not. 
More particularly, the present invention relates to a driving mechanism 
having a gear device that is adapted to arm-driven vehicles. It comprises 
a movable chain attachment provided on the driving member of the vehicle, 
and a movable gear that is provided at the front of a fork leg disposed at 
the front of the vehicle. The vehicle of the present invention may be 
driven forwardly by moving a handle back and forth that, in turn, moves a 
chain back and forth. The chain is operatively attached to a wheel that is 
caused to rotate.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
The invention will now be described in more detail with reference to a 
first preferred embodiment as shown in the enclosed FIGS. 1-2. The 
arm-driven vehicle 50 of the first embodiment of the present invention 
comprises an elongate driving member 1 having one end attached to a ball 
bearing 2 that, in turn, is attached to a frame 3 of the vehicle 50. The 
frame 3 may have a stand section 48 so that a user may stand on the stand 
section while moving a handle 52 back and forth to drive the vehicle in a 
forward direction, as explained in details below. 
The frame 3 has a front wheel 19 and a rear wheel 20 that are both 
rotatably connected to the frame 3. In the first preferred embodiment of 
the present invention, the driving member 1 is movable back and forth so 
that an upper portion 22 of the driving member 1 may pivot about the ball 
bearing 2 to move a driving mechanism that rotates the wheel 19 to drive 
the vehicle 50 forwardly. The vehicle 50 has the steering handle 52 
attached thereto that may be used not only to steer the vehicle 50 but 
also to drive or power the vehicle. The steering handle 52 is attached to 
the driving member 1 so that when the steering handle 52 is pulled 
backwardly toward the frame 3, the driving member 1 is pushed forwardly to 
drive vehicle 50 in a forward direction. The driving member 1 is 
preferably not movable in a sideways direction, as described in detail 
below. 
A lower portion 24 of the driving member 1 has an attachment section 8, as 
best seen in FIG. 2. Fork members 11, 12 are attached to each end of the 
attachment section 8. The fork members are substantially parallel to one 
another and extend away from the ball bearing 2. A lateral rod member 9 
extends between the fork members 11, 12 so that the rod member 9 is spaced 
apart from the attachment section 8. A bar segment 6 defines a central 
opening 26 that has the rod member 9 slidably inserted therein so that the 
bar segment 6 may slide sideways along and rotate about the rod member 9. 
The bar segment 6 has two opposite ends 28, 30 that are rotatably attached 
to end portions 32, 34, respectively, of an elongate chain 7. 
The frame 3 has a downwardly extending fork 14 that is rotatably attached 
to an inner end 36 of an elongate movable arm 13. The movable arm 13 may 
move relative to the fork 14 when the vehicle 50 is in use. An outer end 
38 of the movable arm 13 is attached to a pin 10 that protrudes in a 
direction that is substantially perpendicular to the movable arm 13. It is 
to be understood that the movable arm 13 may be non-rotatably secured to 
the fork 14. A movable gear 5 is both shiftably and rotatably attached to 
the movable arm 13 and may slide sideways on the pin 10 and rotate about 
the pin 10, as desired. A pair of protective discs 15, 16 are attached to 
the movable gear 5 and disposed on each side of the movable gear 5 so that 
the protective discs may move with the movable gear 5 on the pin 10. It is 
to be understood that the protective discs may have any suitable shape 
such as round, square or any other suitable shape. The protective discs 
prevent the chain 7 from disengaging or jumping off the movable gear 5. 
The protective discs also reduces the risk of injury to the user and 
others that may be close to the driving mechanism during the operation 
thereof. The movable gear 5 also functions without the protective discs 
15, 16. 
The gear assembly 4 has a plurality of cogs of different sizes and a shift 
mechanism so that the chain 7 can be moved from one cog to another cog to 
change the gear ratio of the gear assembly 4. The gear assembly 4 is in 
operative engagement with a hub 17 of the wheel 19 and the hub is 
constructed so that the gear assembly 4 drives the wheel 19 when the gear 
assembly 4 is moved in a clockwise direction by the chain 7. In this way, 
when the driving member 1 is moved forwardly toward the movable gear 5, 
the chain 7 is pulled forward also and the gear assembly 4 is turned 
clockwise to rotate the wheel 19. It is important to note that when the 
driving member 1 is moved backwardly, the free wheel of the gear assembly 
4 permits the wheel 19 to continue rotating in a clockwise direction 
although the gear assembly 4 and the chain 7 move in a counter clockwise 
direction. In this way, the driving member 1, and thus the chain 7, are 
moved back and forth and the wheel 19 is driven forwardly every time the 
driving member 1 is shifted forwardly. When the chain 7 is moved from one 
cog to another cog of the gear assembly 7, it is not necessary to also 
shift the driving member 1 in a sideways direction. The driving member 1 
is not permitted to move sideways, only back and forth. Instead, the bar 
segment 6 and the movable gear 5 are moved sideways to follow the sideways 
movement of the chain 7. In the preferred first embodiment, the gear 
assembly 4 has a first width and the attachment section 8 has a second 
width. The first width is substantially similar to the second width. 
FIG. 3 is a second alternative embodiment of the arm-driven vehicle 60 of 
the present invention. The vehicle 60 has a frame 62 with a plate 64 that 
the user can stand on during the operation of the vehicle 60. A handle 66 
is attached to a movable arm 68 that is rotatably attached to a pivot 
member 70. The handle 66 is movable back and forth via a rod member 67 
about the pivot member 70. The handle 66 may also be used to the steer the 
vehicle 60. The vehicle 60 has a front wheel 72 and a back wheel 74. The 
front wheel 72 has an outer rim 73. A fork member 76 extends between the 
frame 62 and a central hub 78 of the front wheel 72. A movable arm 80 is 
rotatably attached to a pivot pin 82 that is attached to a bottom portion 
of the fork member 76. A front end 84 of the movable arm 80 is attached to 
a pivot arm 86 that has a gear 88 rotatably attached to the pivot arm 86. 
A lower portion 90 of the movable arm 68 has an attachment mechanism 92. 
The attachment mechanism may include two substantially parallel extensions 
94, 96 (best seen in FIG. 4) that each have an opening defined therein for 
receiving a pivot member 98. A chain connector 100 has one end that is 
pivotably attached to the pivot member 98. An opposite end of the chain 
connector is pivotally connected to chain links 102, 104 of a chain 106. A 
gear assembly 107 is in operative engagement with the hub 78. The gear 
assembly 107 is a closed gearing system so that the chain 106 does not 
move sideways when a first gear is changed to a second gear in the gear 
assembly 107. In the preferred second embodiment, the gear assembly 107 
includes an external cog that is in operative engagement with an internal 
gear shifting mechanism. This is a significant difference compared to the 
first embodiment shown in FIG. 1 because there is no need for the movable 
gear 88 nor the chain connector 100 to move sideways. 
While the present invention has been described in accordance with preferred 
compositions and embodiments, it is to be understood that certain 
substitutions and alterations may be made thereto without departing from 
the spirit and scope of the following claims.