PASSENGER VEHICLE WITH REAR STEERING WHEELS, WITH OR WHITHOUT SIAMESE WHEELS

Abstract: The invention deals with the wheels (1) of small passenger vehicles, i.e.: a) back wheels performing the steering functions; b) front wheels of big dimensions, as compared with the back ones; c) siamese wheels. With the innovation in a) the vehicle acquires an agility unknown in the traditional ones: this is particularly useful in narrow places. The innovation in b) above, adds comfort and safety also on roads in poor conditions. With the innovation above, it acquires the highest possible safety on roads in any conditions and also in case of a burst tyre.

Description: D E S C R I P T I O N Title: "PASSENGER VEHICLE WITH REAR STEERING WHEELS, WITH OR WITHOUT SIAMESE WHEELS". The present Invention has, as objective, notable technical innovations on the vehicles for transporting people and else, in general, and, in particular, on those that are circulating in very crowded urban and suburban areas. - The Invention is particularly suitable for small vehicles, two to three meters long. B A C K G R O U N D A R T Up to now the vehicles for transportation on road have had the front wheels steering ; wh i I e the back wheels, only sel¬ dom, have been given an extremely limited steering function, only complementary to the main one, performed by the front whee I s . Although this traditional approach be of universal applica_ tion, it has some negative aspects: ° In the front part of the traditional vehicles, the space is very I imited; the room necessary for turning the steering tyres increases considerably with the increas ^ ing of the tyres' diameter and of the steering angle; Therefore in order to leave the necessary space for the engine and other mechanical parts, as we I I as to the pa sengers' legs, it is in the practice to reduce the potej tial steering angle. -This choice reduces considerably, not only the parking abi I ity, but also the possibi I ity of turning with short radius in narrow places even at low speed. -This negative characteristic is more evident on sma I I vehicles (the ones more suitable to town), because, normal I y. they are also narrower and, therefore, they offer less space to al low safe steering on sharp bends. ° For the same reasons of limited existing space, the tyres' diameters are contained, -this makes the vehicles more sen_ sible to the roughness of the road, that is thus more suf¬ fered by the passengers. 0 In order to reduce the shaking due to the shorter diameter of the front wheels, it is the use to soften the suspensi¬ ons; thus decreasing the road holding. D I S C L O S U R E O F I N V E N T I O N The innovations that are the object of this Invention, have the scope of overcoming the above mentioned negative points and to make much more functional, safe and agi le the vehi¬ cles for town and surroundings. The first characteristic of the Invention consists in the fact that the front wheels are non steering, wh i le the back ones are steering. N ■ B . : by "non steering front wheels" are meant also the ones with very limited steering functions, in any case, with a steering angle lower than the one of the back wheels. The second characteristic of the invention consists in the fact that the front wheels can be much bigger, because "not beeng steering" they take, in any case, a very I imited room in the volume of the vehicle. -Therfore they offer more corn fort, in spite of the fact that the suspensions can be ra¬ ther stiff and therefore more safe. The third characteristic of the invention consists in the fact that the back wheels, steering, can have a diameter shorter than the front wheels. -This fact makes it possible to increase the steering angle of the back wheels, beyond 70° (seventy degrees) by each side, i.e.: more than 140° in tota I . The fourth characteristic consists in that the front wheels - that are more determinant for the road-holding in case of puncture or tyre burst - but, eventually, also the back wheels, can be siamese, i.e.: each wheel composed by two indipendent tyres, fitted on one only wheel . DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION ith the help of attached drawings. The above is more evident and can be better explained with the help of the drawings reported on the attachement . Fig. 1) at (1) shows the steering back wheels, wh i le the arrow (2) shows the forward direction of the vehicle. -The wheels diame ter can be equal or different as compared with the one of the front wheels; but, in the drawing is shown an example with shorter diameter, as this solution anables to achieve bigger steering angles. The type of back suspensions is uninf luent: Fig. 3) & 5) at (1 ) show suspensions comparable to the ones of cars; but, they can be simi I ar to the ones of motorcycles or a mix; Fig. 6); The back wheels can have one only tyre, as shown at Fig. 1), 3), 5) & 6) or have s i amese-tyres-whee I s of the type shown at Fig. 4) . Fig. 2) shows the out I i ne of a siamese wheel of big dimen¬ sions, as front fitted in Fig. 1) & 3). -The whole wheel is composed by two indipendent tyres - with or without tube - placed side by side, at a suitable distance; said tyres are fitted on an unique support (wheel) that has separate grooves, for each tyre. Theese wheels, when are used in the front of the vehicle as "non steering" give the fo I lowing advantages: ° They take up a very reduced space as compared with tradj_ t i ona I front steering wheels: this goes to the advantage of the interior ava i lable room and of the faci I ity to enter i nto i t . 0 They provide more comfort on bad or country roads, thanks to their larger diameter. ° In case of tyre burst or puncture, they avoid the skidding of the vehicle and consent to reach destination, without stopping and without the help of a spare tyre. This is a big advantage, comparing with the traditional steering front wheels that, in case of a sudden flat tyre, can cause disasters. 0 The road holding, due to the front siamese wheels and back steering, is highly increased on any type of road, even wet or snowed. 0 In case of strong rain, the siamese wheels have a very high ant i aquaplaning effect, due to the presence of the two tyres on each wheel .

Claims: C L A I M S 1) Road vehicle for transporting people and/or luggage and/or goods, comprising two front wheeles and two back wheels, characterised in that the steering wheels are the back ones instead of the front ones, that are mainly non steering. 2) Vehicle according to the Claim 1) above, characterized in that the front wheels are of big dimension, as com¬ pared with the back ones. 3) Vehicle according to the Claim 1) above, characterized by the use of siamese front wheeles and eventual ly of siamese back steering wheels

Inventors: VIGANO' GIORGIO, VIGANO', GIORGIO
Applicants: VIGANO GIORGIO, VIGANO', GIORGIO
Application year: 1999
Main classification: B62D9
IPC codes: B62D9