Patent ID: 8011458

Claim:
A vehicle capable of making a small radius turn, comprising: a frame; a left drive wheel and a right drive wheel, both coupled to the frame; two independent left and right drive units, the left drive unit coupled to the left drive wheel via an axle and the right drive unit coupled to the right drive wheel via another axle; a steering device coupled to the frame; a speed control member coupled to the frame; and a mechanical control assembly coupled to the left and right drive units that is configured to actuate the left and right drive units based on a steering input received from the steering device and a speed input received from the speed control member; the mechanical control assembly being configured such that if the speed control member is shifted from (a) a forward position in which the left drive wheel is rotating in a forward direction at a first forward speed and the right drive wheel is rotating in a forward direction at a second forward speed that is less than the first forward speed as a result of the steering device being in a first right turn position to (b) a reverse position while the first right turn position of the steering device is maintained, then the left drive wheel will rotate in a reverse direction at a first reverse speed and the right drive wheel will rotate in a reverse direction at a second reverse speed that is less than the first reverse speed.