Articulatable Off-Road Vehicle Chassis with Rockable Cradle
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Solution Overview
Problem
Off-road vehicles, particularly those used by the aged or disabled, face instability and safety issues when traversing rough and inclined terrain due to their size and design, which limits access to such areas.
Innovation Solution
An off-road vehicle design featuring articulatable chassis members with a rockable cradle that isolates the driver's movement from the vehicle's articulation, maintaining stability through a gimbal-like action, and incorporating six wheels for enhanced traction and balance, along with adjustable components for optimal weight distribution and electric drive motors.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Stability of the object's composition
If a relatively large off-road vehicle is used to provide stability on rough terrain, then stability and safety are improved, but accessibility for aged or disabled people deteriorates due to size and complexity
Solution Approach 1:
The vehicle chassis is divided into two articulatable members that can move independently, allowing the vehicle to navigate rough terrain while keeping the cradle stable. This segmentation enables small size for accessibility while maintaining stability through independent chassis movement
Solution Approach 2:
The rockable cradle acts as an intermediary between the driver and the articulating chassis. It isolates the driver from chassis movements through a gimbal-like mechanism, providing stability for the driver while allowing the chassis to adapt to terrain, thus enabling accessibility without sacrificing stability
2Strength
If the vehicle chassis is made rigid to maintain structural integrity, then strength is improved, but the ability to traverse rough ground safely deteriorates due to increased overturning risk
Solution Approach 1:
The chassis members are made dynamically articulatable rather than statically rigid. This allows the chassis to adapt its configuration to the terrain, distributing forces safely and preventing overturning while maintaining structural integrity through controlled movement rather than rigid resistance
3Device complexity
If the cradle is fixed to the chassis to simplify the structure, then device complexity is reduced, but the isolation of driver movement from vehicle articulation deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The rockable cradle serves as an intermediary element between the driver and the articulating chassis members. This additional component, while increasing structural complexity, provides the necessary isolation to keep the driver upright and stable by allowing the cradle to rock independently from chassis movements, thus resolving the contradiction between complexity and stability
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The design ensures stability and safety for drivers on uneven and sloped ground, allowing for confident navigation of rough terrain while maintaining an upright position, with the ability to adapt for various applications beyond traditional off-road use.
Implementation Method 1
the cradle being rockable about an elevated axis generally transverse to the wheel axes... the cradle, which acts in a manner similar to a gimbal and retains the center of gravity of the vehicle generally over the center of the vehicle
Data Source
AI summary
An off-road vehicle comprising a pair of articulatable chassis members each swivelably connected at or near one end thereof by a generally upright trailing yoke therebetween, each chassis member including means for mounting respective forward, middle and rearward wheel means thereon, the center of the yoke including means for swivelably receiving the trailing end of a rockable cradle for supporting a driver of the vehicle, the cradle being rockable about an axis generally transverse to the wheel axes, the leading end of the cradle forming a leading yoke connected to respectively opposite ends of a pair of pivotable struts, the other end of each strut being pivotally connected to a respective leading part of one of the pair of chassis members, the arrangement being such that independent vertical movement of the or each wheel means is generally isolated from the cradle and hence the driver of the vehicle.