Horizontal Crankshaft Engine Layout for ATV Ergonomics
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Solution Overview
Problem
All-terrain vehicles (ATVs) often have uncomfortable seating for shorter riders due to wider engine widths, which can make it difficult for them to reach the floorboards, compromising ergonomics and performance.
Innovation Solution
The design includes a frame with a horizontally oriented crankshaft and a single cylinder engine positioned to reduce the width, along with a continuously variable transmission and a cooling assembly, and an exhaust system with an angled exhaust tube to optimize space and ergonomics, allowing for a narrower seating area.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Power
If a multi-cylinder engine is used to increase power, then the engine width increases, but the seating comfort and rider accessibility deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The patent transitions from a conventional vertically-oriented engine configuration to a horizontally-oriented crankshaft configuration. This dimensional change allows the engine to generate the same power output while occupying less lateral space, thereby reducing seat width requirements and improving rider accessibility to floorboards without sacrificing power output.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent employs an asymmetric engine layout with the crankshaft oriented horizontally and cylinders arranged in a compact configuration. This asymmetric arrangement optimizes the engine's footprint, concentrating the power-generating components in a way that minimizes the lateral width while maintaining power output, thus resolving the contradiction between power and seating comfort.
2Shape
If a wider seat is used to accommodate the engine width, then the engine width is accommodated, but the rider comfort and accessibility to floorboards deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The patent reorients the engine from a vertical configuration to a horizontal crankshaft configuration, changing the dimensional distribution of the engine components. This allows the engine to maintain its width characteristics while reducing the lateral space requirement, enabling a narrower seat that improves rider comfort and floorboard accessibility.
3Device complexity
If the exhaust port extends rearwardly and the intake port extends forwardly, then the engine layout is conventional, but the space utilization and ergonomics deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The patent inverts the conventional exhaust and intake port orientations. Instead of the exhaust port extending rearwardly and the intake port extending forwardly, the exhaust port extends forwardly and the intake port extends rearwardly. This inversion, combined with the horizontal crankshaft orientation, optimizes space utilization and improves ergonomics by better positioning the exhaust system and reducing interference with rider space.
Data Source
AI summary
An ATV is disclosed having a frame and a plurality of wheels. A power train is defined by an engine, transmission and front and rear final drives. The engine is mounted to the frame skid plate by way of die cast legs. The transmission may include a CVT, which includes a cooling system to cool the interior of the CVT. The cooling system include a fan positioned on the driven clutch causing a reverse suction air flow, back through the drive clutch, with the air exhausting at the front of the engine.