Patent ID: 7338061

Claim:
A wheeled vehicle for operation along a path on a generally horizontal surface, where said wheeled vehicle includes a stabilizer having at least three wheels, where at least one of said three wheels is a front stabilizer wheel and at least one of said three wheels is a rear stabilizer wheel, and a carriage having at least one wheel, where said stabilizer and said carriage are linked by a two axis joint, where said two axis joint includes an approximately vertical yaw axis that is fixed to said stabilizer, an approximately horizontal and transverse pitch axis that is fixed to said carriage, and a connecting structure that hinges at said yaw axis and at said pitch axis, thus to enable that said stabilizer turns relative to said carriage, yet serving to lock said stabilizer and said carriage together in regard to relative roll motion, where said two axis joint causes linkage that causes said carriage to follow travel of said stabilizer, like a trailer, where said rear stabilizer wheel is mounted to allow it to pivot about an approximately vertical axis that is fixed to said stabilizer at a point that is significantly rearward of said yaw axis, where control of a vehicle turning operation includes causing said pivot such that forward motion causes said rear stabilizer wheel to exerts force that causes said stabilizer to turn, with said carriage being guided from said yaw axis to follow a turning path, where rearward position of said rear stabilizer wheel causes said rear stabilizer wheel to significantly extend from said wheeled vehicle toward an outside of a turn so as to enable a counteracting force that acts to counteract a roll tendency caused by radial acceleration of a turning said wheeled vehicle, and where said connecting structure is configured such that said pitch axis is displaced from said yaw axis to enable a load distribution such that downward force at said pitch axis causes a torque that suppresses pitch tendencies of said stabilizer that occur in a turning condition, such that roll stabilization is effective.