Patent Document

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application claims priority to provisional patent application Ser. No. 61/546,144 filed on Oct. 12, 2011, and entitled “Environment Adaptive Electric Vehicle with Lock On Security and Control Saddle.” The contents of this application are fully incorporated herein for all purposes. 
    
    
     TECHNICAL FIELD 
     The present disclosure relates to an automotive vehicle. More particularly, the present disclosure relates to an automotive vehicle design that can be readily adapted to a variety of environments. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     The use of automotive vehicles is well known in the art. Current vehicles are designed for operation on conventional highways and require continual manual control. These conventional vehicles must be sufficiently heavy and strong to protect human occupants from accidents. These accidents can come from any direction and at any time. 
     Conventional vehicles also employ conventional tires with rotating axles. Most conventional vehicles also use some variation of the H chassis design. Both of these features limitation on designing a safe vehicle. It is an object of the present disclosure to improve upon the safety of conventional vehicles by eliminating the use of conventional tires and chassis designs. It is also an object of the present disclosure to provide an automotive vehicle that can be adapted to a wide variety of transportation environments. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The vehicle of the present disclosure introduces an entirely new class of transportation vehicle. The vehicle adapts to its environment much as a human adapts to its environment. The vehicle is not limited to any one environment. The kind of environment that is being referenced is any kind of surface transportation system environment. The vehicle adapts its body parts to the system it is operating in. The vehicle has a computer, multiple sensors, GPS input, odometer, acceleration/velocity measurement controls, an energy source, an internal steering mechanism, receivers and transmitters. These make up the senses, muscles, communications, nervous system, and brains of the vehicle. However, unlike in other vehicles or machines, how all these devices are used depends upon the surface transportation environment it is currently operating within. 
     It is an object of this disclosure to provide an electric powered vehicle that uses batteries, ultra capacitors, fuel cells or that receives electric energy direct from the guide way. It could also use any other form of energy and engine to power the vehicle. 
     It is also an object of this disclosure to provide an operating environment for a vehicle that is on a guide way with completely restricted access and that uses a single guiderail or security beam to route the vehicle down the center of the guide way. This provides a totally automated environment. 
     A further object is to provide a system with a passive guide way (has no moving parts) and that provides a two tiered (double layer) guiderail beam for vehicles to use when they want to exit the guide way to go to another guide way or an interchange or side spur. 
     An object of this disclosure is to design the physical anatomy of a vehicle around its environment with some additional capabilities for use in other environments. 
     A still further object is to provide a vehicle that can be adapted to operate as an automobile on conventional roads. The vehicle can also be adapted to operate in a local environment such as a subdivision, apartment complex community or a town center shopping mall or on an automated system that has no conventional automobiles. In such an environment roads are single lane, one way, and flat typically with no other features. This environment could have a lot of variables and could require a variety of adaptations as subdivision, apartments and commercial developments could have considerable variability. 
     It is also an object of this disclosure to provide a vehicle chassis with a strong backbone or center beam. This permits all vehicles in the system to be aligned over the security beam so in the event of an accident all the vehicles line up along a central axis. 
     The present disclosure also provides vehicles with bumpers that allow for a wide degree of compression. 
     These and other objects are achieved by providing a vehicle that is preferably powered with in-wheel motors and that are mounted on non rotating axles. A solid continuous skirt beam protects the perimeter of the vehicle. The vehicle can be an ultra-light vehicle that will sometimes be operating on conventional roads. On-board sensors and controls will adapt to help keep the vehicle safer from accidents, but in the event of a broadside (T-Bone, the most fatal kind of accident and the most common) accident at intersections the vehicle has a tripping device to help neutralize the momentum advantage of the other vehicle due to weight advantage. If the other vehicle is moving fast enough the vehicle will roll and slide rather than take the impact from the most vulnerable situation. The vehicle doors are gull wing and open automatically. This avoids the head room problem and difficulty getting in and out of a smaller vehicle. The doors operate from the center of the vehicle. This allows the extra headroom. 
     Various embodiments of the invention may have none, some, or all of these advantages. Other technical advantages of the present invention will be readily apparent to one skilled in the art. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING 
       For a more complete understanding of the present disclosure and its advantages, reference is now made to the following descriptions, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which: 
         FIG. 1A  is a top plan view of the vehicle of the present disclosure. 
         FIG. 1B  is a is a side elevational view of the vehicle of the present disclosure. 
         FIG. 2  is a rear elevational view of the vehicle of the present disclosure. 
         FIG. 3A  is a sectional view taken along line  3 A- 3 A of  FIG. 4B   
         FIG. 3B  is a sectional view taken along line  3 B- 3 B of  FIG. 4B . 
         FIG. 4A  is a top plan view of the vehicle of the present disclosure. 
         FIG. 4B  is a side elevational view of the vehicle of the present disclosure. 
         FIG. 4C  is a detailed view taken from  FIG. 4A . 
         FIG. 5  is a front elevational view of the vehicle of the present disclosure. 
         FIG. 6A  is a sectional view taken along line  6 A- 6 A of  FIG. 7B . 
         FIG. 6B  is a sectional view taken along line  6 B- 6 B of  FIG. 7   b.    
         FIG. 7A  is a top plan view of the vehicle of the present disclosure. 
         FIG. 7B  is a is a side elevational view of the vehicle of the present disclosure. 
         FIG. 8  is a detailed view of the seat of the present disclosure. 
     
    
    
     Similar reference numerals identify similar parts throughout the several views of the drawings. 
     
       
         
               
             
               
               
             
           
               
                   
               
               
                 Parts List 
               
               
                   
               
             
             
               
                   
               
             
          
           
               
                 20 
                 System 
               
               
                 21 
                 Guide Way 
               
               
                 22 
                 Chassis (center beam) 
               
               
                 23 
                 Security Beam 
               
               
                 24 
                 Skirt Beam 
               
               
                 26 
                 Body Side Brace 
               
               
                 28 
                 Wheel Well Space 
               
               
                 32 
                 Floor Deck 
               
               
                 34 
                 Axle Assembly 
               
               
                 36 
                 Shock Absorber 
               
               
                 38 
                 Wheel 
               
               
                 42 
                 Wheel Well Strut 
               
               
                 44 
                 Skin of Compression Bumper 
               
               
                 46 
                 Front Bumper Assy 
               
               
                 48 
                 Rear Bumper Assy 
               
               
                 52 
                 Side Bumper Assy (front) 
               
               
                 54 
                 Side Bumper Assy (rear) 
               
               
                 56 
                 Front Shock Absorber 
               
               
                 58 
                 Rear Shock Absorber 
               
               
                 62 
                 Front Air Bag Storage 
               
               
                 63 
                 Airbags 
               
               
                 64 
                 Front of Frame 
               
               
                 65 
                 Continuous Structural Frame 
               
               
                 66 
                 Passenger Seat 
               
               
                 68 
                 Seat Shock Absorbers 
               
               
                 72 
                 Wheel Well 
               
               
                 74 
                 Tire Lock Pin 
               
               
                 76 
                 Tip of Vehicle and Bumper 
               
               
                   
                 Nose 
               
               
                 78 
                 Rear Vehicle Bumper Socket 
               
               
                 82 
                 Shoulder Height Skirt Beam 
               
               
                 84 
                 Center Head Beam 
               
               
                 86 
                 Gull Wing Door 
               
               
                 88 
                 Door Mounted Skirt Beam 
               
               
                 92 
                 Axle Pocket 
               
               
                 94 
                 Axle Arm and Wheel Mount 
               
               
                 96 
                 Axle Mounting Pin 
               
               
                 98 
                 In-Wheel Motor 
               
               
                 102 
                 Steering Pin 
               
               
                 104 
                 Saddle 
               
               
                 106 
                 Saddle Piston 
               
               
                 108 
                 Piston Bearings 
               
               
                 110 
                 Saddle Sensors 
               
               
                 112 
                 Solenoid 
               
               
                 114 
                 Batteries (Ultra Capacitors) 
               
               
                 116 
                 Crash Guard 
               
               
                 118 
                 Roll Guard 
               
               
                 120 
                 Front Roll Bar 
               
               
                 122 
                 Steering Rod 
               
               
                 124 
                 Wheel Bracket 
               
               
                 126 
                 Steering Yoke 
               
               
                 128 
                 Steering Yoke Hinge Bracket 
               
               
                 132 
                 Precision Steering Worm Gear 
               
               
                 134 
                 Precision Steering Worm 
               
               
                   
                 Mounting Rod 
               
               
                 136 
                 Hinge Bracket for Fine 
               
               
                   
                 Steering Arm 
               
               
                 138 
                 Corrective Steering Cog 
               
               
                 142 
                 Correction Steering Cog 
               
               
                 144 
                 Precision Screw Gear and 
               
               
                   
                 Motor 
               
               
                 146 
                 Computer/Receiver/ 
               
               
                   
                 Transmitter/GPS 
               
               
                 148 
                 DVR 
               
               
                 152 
                 Bumper Sensors 
               
               
                 156 
                 Cameras 
               
               
                 158 
                 Camera (rear) 
               
               
                 162 
                 Screw Gear and Motor 
               
               
                 166 
                 Legrest 
               
               
                 168 
                 Seat Cushion Rotator 
               
               
                 172 
                 Seat Cushion 
               
               
                 174 
                 Back Support Rotator 
               
               
                 176 
                 Back Support 
               
               
                 178 
                 Vehicle Handicap Platform 
               
               
                 182 
                 Seat Controls 
               
               
                 184 
                 Seat Belt 
               
               
                 186 
                 Chest Belt 
               
               
                 188 
                 Arm Rest 
               
               
                 190 
                 Joystick 
               
               
                   
               
             
          
         
       
     
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     The foundation or backbone of the vehicle  20  is the chassis or center beam  22 . Center beam  22  runs from the tip of the vehicle  20  to the back excluding the compressible bumpers. Beam  22  can be any shape, an I-beam, a square tube, a circle, triangle or U channel. In these figures center beam  22  is a U channel placed upside down. On the guide way the only likely accident would involve vehicle  20  running into a fixed object or into the back of another vehicle. Beam  22  is strong enough that it will not collapse at any impact speed. There is a front bumper assembly  46  and rear bumper assembly  48 . In the preferred embodiment, each bumper assembly ( 46  and  48 ) allows up to two feet of movement during a collision. Every vehicle  20  has the same hard rubber bumper nose  76  that lines up with and fits into the bumper socket  78  at the rear of vehicle  20 . 
     A skirt beam  24  surrounds the entire vehicle floor and base perimeter in the same plane as the chassis. Skirt beam  24  is a continuous solid rim. Body side braces  26  provide support and bracing from the skirt  24  to the center beam  22 . Brace  26  stops at center beam  22  because that is what Brace  26  is being braced off of. A wheel well strut  42  completes the wheel well space  28 . Vehicle  20  has air bags  63  stored in front air bag storage area  62 . If vehicle  20  has a minor collision (such as a 20 MPH impact, or a force that moves the front bumper  46  in maybe 6 inches) the bumper  46  springs back out via front shock absorber  56  and no airbag has released. In the event of a higher impact collision air bags  63  are activated and inflate. The harder the impact, the more the air bags  63  are compressed and the faster and stronger they will deploy. 
     The axle assembly  34  is comprised of an axle pocket  92  attached to the center beam  22  on one end and the wheel well strut  42  on the other end. Axle arm and wheel mount  94  support the wheel assembly  38 . One end is pinned into the axle pocket  92 , with axle mounting pin  96 . The axle arm  94  can swivel down around pin  96 . The other end of the axle arm  94  is mounted in a shock absorber  36  Shock absorber  36  is mounted to the skirt beam  24 . Axle arm  94  preferably does not rotate. 
     Wheel assembly  38  comprises an in-wheel motor  98  that fits on over axle arm  94  and is secured in place and is able to pivot in a horizontal plane around the steering pin  102  The wheel  38  rotates around an in-wheel motor hub. 
     One embodiment of the vehicle steering mechanism is shown in  FIGS. 6 and 7 . As illustrated, a steering rod  122  is connected on each end to a steering rod wheel bracket  124  which is attached to the inside surface of the in-wheel motor  98 . Steering rod  122  has a precision steering worm gear  132  in its center. A screw gear and motor  144  rotates against the worm gear  132  to move the steering rod  122  either direction to move the front wheels  38  based on instructions from the computer  146  which receives electronic input from saddle sensors  110  when vehicle  20  is operating on the guide way. 
     Screw gear and motor  144  are mounted on the precision steering worm mounting rod  134  which is attached by the hinge bracket for fine steering worm  136  to the steering yolk  126 . Steering yolk  126  is made up of three rods connected on their ends with steering yolk hinge brackets  128 . The center rod of the steering yolk  126  supports a corrective steering cog  138 . Cog  138  can be moved quickly in either direction by the corrective steering cog gear and motor  142  based on instructions from the computer  146  which receives electronic input from saddle sensors  110  if vehicle  20  is operating on a guide way. In normal driving conditions the rods of the steering yolk  126  would be all squared up. Precision steering worm gear  132  would be centered up and the front wheels  38  would be perfectly lined up for straight ahead movement. As vehicle saddle  104  tracked the direction of the guide way guide beam it would send electronic data to computer  146  which would operate the precision screw gear and motor  144 . This operates vehicle  20  smoothly. In the event something requires rapid adjustment such as vehicle  20  losing traction due to something slippery on the guide way then the first precision steering assembly is disengaged and the second corrective steering cog gear and motor  142  are activated. This dual-mechanism configuration allows vehicle  20  to make steering corrections more rapidly. 
     If vehicle  20  is operating on a conventional street and bumper sensors  152  can detect an approaching vehicle on a collision path. If this occurs, then the corrective steering cog gear and motor  142  may be activated along with acceleration of the in-wheel motors  38  so as to avoid collision or move the impact away from vehicle occupants. 
     Continuing now with the vehicle descriptions. The reason the axle assembly  34  is fastened on its ends into the skirt beam  24  without a disruption is for maintaining the integrity of skirt beam  24 . Another objective is to support the axle arm  94  on both sides of vehicle  20 . In current vehicles  20  the wheels are mounted on the very end of a rotating axle. There is no support for the axle at the end. This places more bending moment on the axle. By placing skirt beam  24  on one end and the axle pocket  92  on the other, wheel  38  is supported on both ends of the axle arm  94 . Wheel well  72  provides adequate clearance for the wheels  38  to turn in either direction. If vehicle  20  is a heavier vehicle, such as a mass transit vehicle or a heavy freight vehicle, then this support of the end of the axle with the skirt beam  24  could make a big difference and allow the vehicle  20  to be much lighter. The in-wheel motor  38  rotates about the axle arm  94 . 
     For further protection of vehicle occupants a shoulder height skirt beam  82  creates a cage at the upper level of a person&#39;s body and head. It is interrupted by the gull wing door  86  but is reinforced by a door mounted shoulder height skirt beam  88 . The gull wing door  86  is hinged from the center head beam  84 . The figures illustrate how the vehicle can have a lot of head room for getting in and out of vehicle  20 . Vehicle  20  would automatically open and close the doors. The vehicle occupant doesn&#39;t have to touch a thing. The center head beam  84  is another significant structural frame member. Additional protection is provided by front roll guard (or bar)  120  and rear roll guard (or bar)  122 . Together the chassis center beam  22 , skirt beam  24 , axle assembly ( 92 ,  94 ,  96 , and  36 ), body side braces  26 , shoulder height skirt beam  82 , center head beam  84  and roll bars ( 120  and  122 ) provide occupant protection and can create a faraday cage effect to protect against lightning. 
     The bottom or floor of vehicle  20  is a floor deck  32  that fills in between all these horizontal chassis and axle structures. Floor deck  32  must provide thermal insulation, road noise insulation, and especially electromagnetic field and electric radiation insulation. The transfer of electric through the saddle  104  into capacitors  114  will create strong fields beneath vehicle  20 . Saddle  104  will provide a significant shield. Floor deck  32  also serves as a reinforcement plate to stiffen skirt beam  24 . Floor deck  32  will be made of layers of honeycomb structures filled with urethane and diaelectric compounds. Wheel well  72  covers the upper half of the tire to complete the sound, thermal, field and radiation protective insulation. 
     A single passenger seat  66  is also shown, but there could be any number of passengers. Passenger seat  66  rests on shock absorbers  68  that further isolate the occupant from roadway bumps or potholes. 
     On the guide way vehicle  20  is guided by the saddle  104 . Saddle  104  is supported by a saddle piston  106  that is moved down for switching purposes by a solenoid  112  sliding in piston bearings  108 . The saddle  104  sees the guide way beam with sensors  110 . 
       FIG. 8  illustrates a stand up/sit down handicap assist seat to help passengers who have weak knee muscles, back problems, shoulder, arm joint or muscle problems who have difficulty maneuvering into and out of a vehicle or any kind of chair. Passengers who need access and egress assistance is not limited to older people or to people in wheel chairs. There are many people who have old injuries or have various joint problems and arthritis. Some people are overweight. Some have weak knees. In  FIG. 8  the stand up/sit down handicap assist seat is fastened to the vehicle handicap platform  178 . Vehicle  20  has appropriate mechanical levers and mechanisms for lifting platform  178  slowly and safely into and out of vehicle  20 . When vehicle  20  arrives at a destination, the gull wing doors  86  open, platform  178  slides out of vehicle  20  and flat on the outside landing surface. Upon command the seat cushion rotator  168  rotates the seat cushion  172  forward around the rotator  168 . Seat cushion rotator  168  itself is moved up by the leg rest  166  so as the passenger stands up the leg room is being increased. Simultaneously, as the seat cushion rotator  168  rotates forward, the back support rotator  174  is rotating backward. As such, the back support  176  remains upright and vertical. When the passenger is standing steady the waist seat belt  184  and chest strap  186  can be released. Chest strap (or belt)  186  keeps the passenger from pulling forward. The passenger controls the seat with controls built into a armrest  188 . 
     When a passenger wants to get into a vehicle the process is reversed. Obviously, passengers must request a vehicle equipped with the stand up/sit down handicap assist seat. For a passenger to use the seat it is outside the vehicle and standing extended upright. The passenger stands with their back to the chair  66 . Thereafter, they fasten the seat and chest belts ( 184  and  186 ). Seat cushion rotator  168  rotates back while the back support rotator  174  rotates forward. Finally the passenger adjusts the leg support  166  up or down to get comfortable leg room. 
     When vehicle  20  is being driven on conventional streets it will be vulnerable to collisions that can not occur on an elevated guideway. The most frequent and fatal type of collision is caused at intersections when vehicles might run a light and hit another vehicle broadside. Since vehicle  20  is likely to be a lightweight vehicle, this kind of collision could be much worse than in traditional automobiles. In order to give the vehicle  20  some resistance and to equalize the momentum it is equipped with crash guards.  FIG. 4A  shows four crash guards  116  on the right sides of the vehicle and mounted on or near the perimeter skirt beam  24  When vehicle  20  is not in motion these would be locked in a resting position to avoid accidental release. If the traveling vehicle is struck on the driver side by another vehicle, all eight crash guards  116  are released with great force.  FIG. 4C  is a detailed view of a crash guard  116 . The crash guards  116  have sharp prongs ( 116 ( a )-( b )) that dig into the asphalt. Prong  116 ( a ) is nearest the outer edge of vehicle  20  and  116 ( b ) prong is toward the inside. They rotate about a hinge bracket  116 ( c ). As the EAEV is pushed sideways by a colliding vehicle the crash guards are released and offer resistance. 
     This creates the effect of a much heavier vehicle. If the colliding vehicle strikes on the driver side and is going fast enough then the crash guards  116  on the passenger side dig in on prong  116 ( b ) and on the driver side they dig in on prong  116 ( a ). This causes the driver side to lift and flip the vehicle into a roll. This is the preferred result. Instead of vehicle  20  and the left side of the driver&#39;s head having to absorb the momentum of the other vehicle on the side window the energy is converted into lifting vehicle  20  and rolling it over. The goal is to absorb the energy over a longer distance. In  FIG. 5  a roll guard  118  is shown. If it is preferred the vehicle roll over on its side and slide then that is what the roll guard  118  does. When the crash guards  116  are deployed the roll guard  118  pops up to stop the vehicle  20  on its side. The second object is to change the angle of attack of the impact on the vehicle occupants. If vehicle  20  is turned on its side and the occupants are strapped in their seats the impact is coming from the bottom of the seat and not from the side of the head. This situation is not ideal, but could be effective enough to save some lives in many accidents. 
     These are all physical characteristics. What kind of controls does the vehicle have? How does a customer communicate with and operate the vehicle? Vehicle customers will come in contact with many vehicle variations, different instrument panels, different looking gauges and controls, different sizes, and different types. It could be very confusing to someone who does not own their own vehicle. First of all, the vehicle  20  would have few instruments if any at all. There may be a touch screen, a panic button, emergency button, and a joystick  190  ( FIG. 4B ). There is no need for controls. The customer communicates with vehicle  20  through the system master scheduling operation center. Before a customer can use the system they must open an account for billing, identification, and to receive system software onto any personal device they will be using when they travel whether cellphone, ipod, palm pilot, blackberry, lap top or whatever. The customer is known only by the communication device. The actual name of the traveler does not matter, this protects privacy. The customer may text or the customer may use verbal communication. For verbal communication the customer uses voice recognition software on their own phone or equipment and NOT voice recognition software at a call center of the master scheduling operations center. This way it does not matter what language is used or how heavy an accent may be. The communications are simple. Text or say the destination and desired arrival time. The system comes back with questions such as how do you wish to travel and provides choices. The customer may ask for a cost and travel time estimate. The customer does not need to know anything about the vehicle. The operations center knows all about the vehicle and can explain anything the customer needs to know to travel in that vehicle. 
     The EAEV is an environmentally adaptive vehicle. This means a single physical embodiment equipped with some basic equipment for receiving and sending data from devices such as: GPS receiver and transmitter, sensors, video cameras, radar, wireless receiver, transmitter, odometer, equipped with some sort of information processing; a computer, and basic control output devices; steering, throttle and braking can use that same input, process it or interpret it in different ways and provide different output to controls based upon the kind of surface transportation infrastructure it is on. 
     When vehicle  20  is on an elevated guideway infrastructure it sets its speed at 120 mph. When it gets off on a public street with manually powered cars vehicle  20  monitors its speed according to speed limits provided by the GPS. When vehicle  20  gets off of the guideway into a single family subdivision it sets its speed at 10, 12, 15, or 17 mph just depending on what it is told by the local wireless information. Observe that in all three instances the velocity information originates from the same device, but the information is applied differently depending on the system it is on. On the elevated guideway vehicle  20  receives directional information from sensors  110  in the saddle  104 . On a highway with manually operated vehicles, vehicle  20  receives directional control from a joystick  190  operated by a vehicle occupant. On a local single family paved street perhaps only six feet wide vehicle  20  receives its directional control from GPS input or instructions from land based devices. In this instance the instructional message is received from three different sources, but execution on the information is performed by the same steering device. There is another way the vehicle  20  could be controlled in a single family residential subdivision which is by memorizing the plat or road layout. As a vehicle exited the elevated guideway into a subdivision a device at the entrance could transmit all the local subdivision information. That information could come from a scheduling operations center just as well. Vehicle  20  is notified whenever it moves onto a different surface transportation infrastructure and makes the appropriate adjustments. 
     The scheduling operations control center is also gate keeper. Let&#39;s say someone gives an address into an exclusive community. Unless the gate keeper has authorization for that vehicle to enter that community it will not allow the access. The Gatekeeper also decides access based on the type of vehicle, the width, or height of the vehicle. In a Town Center Shopping Mall the freight delivery guideways are restricted to use by delivery vehicles and no private vehicles would be allowed. There is no need for a physical gate. Weight restrictions are also enforced by the gatekeeper. An overweight vehicle will not be allowed to move onto the system. 
     Although this disclosure has been described in terms of certain embodiments and generally associated methods, alterations and permutations of these embodiments and methods will be apparent to those skilled in the art. Accordingly, the above description of example embodiments does not define or constrain this disclosure. Other changes, substitutions, and alterations are also possible without departing from the spirit and scope of this disclosure.

Technology Category: b