Vehicle Body Leaning Mechanism for Tread Width Adjustment
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Solution Overview
Problem
Vehicles with a high height-to-tread ratio, when designed as one-person vehicles with three or four wheels, experience instability during travel due to a relatively smaller tread width, which can lead to unstable turning and increased risk of overturning.
Innovation Solution
A vehicle body leaning mechanism that adjusts the leaning angle based on steering input and vehicle speed, increasing the tread width by laterally leaning the vehicle body, thereby enhancing stability and reducing the risk of overturning.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Use of energy by moving object
If the vehicle is designed as a one-person vehicle with three or four wheels to achieve miniaturization and fuel saving, then the vehicle size is reduced and energy consumption is decreased, but the stability of the vehicle deteriorates due to a relatively smaller tread width
Solution Approach 1:
The vehicle body is configured to be capable of leaning laterally, changing its orientation dynamically in response to steering input. This dynamic leaning capability allows the vehicle to adjust its stability characteristics in real-time, compensating for the inherently smaller tread width of miniaturized vehicles and improving overall stability without increasing vehicle size or energy consumption.
Solution Approach 2:
The leaning angle of the vehicle body is changed as a parameter to improve stability. By adjusting the leaning angle based on steering angle and vehicle speed, the effective tread width is increased, thereby improving vehicle stability while maintaining the miniaturized design and low energy consumption characteristics.
2Stability of the object's composition
If the vehicle body is leaned laterally to improve stability at turning, then the turning stability is improved, but the device complexity increases due to the need for additional leaning mechanisms
Solution Approach 1:
The leaning mechanism is integrated with the existing steering system, combining two functions (steering and leaning) into a coordinated system. The leaning angle is controlled based on steering angle and vehicle speed, merging the control logic and reducing the need for completely separate control systems, thereby limiting the increase in device complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The leaning mechanism serves multiple functions: improving turning stability, enhancing straight-line traveling stability, and compensating for the high height-to-tread ratio. This multi-functionality justifies the added complexity by providing comprehensive stability improvements across all operating conditions.
3Volume of moving object
If the height of the vehicle is relatively high as compared to the tread, then the vehicle can accommodate necessary components and cabin space, but the traveling stability deteriorates due to the high center of gravity
Solution Approach 1:
The vehicle body leans dynamically to counteract the destabilizing effect of the high center of gravity. By changing the leaning angle in response to steering input and vehicle speed, the system actively compensates for the high height-to-tread ratio, improving traveling stability while preserving the cabin space and component accommodation enabled by the higher vehicle height.
Data Source
Figure 1~2
Figure 3~4
AI summary
In order to provide a vehicle in which traveling can be stabilized and the risk of overturning can be reduced, a vehicle 10 is provided with a pair of first suspension arms 51, a pair of second suspension arms 52 connected to the pair of first suspension arms 51 via a pair of joints, a pair of shock absorbers 55 for connecting the pair of first suspension arms 51 and pair of second suspension arms 52, a pair of forks 67 provided so as to allow turning about a steering axis with respect to the pair of second suspension arms 52, a pair of front wheels 12L and 12R arranged on the pair of forks 67, a vehicle body 15 to which the pair of front wheels 12L and 12R are provided, and a leaning part for leaning the vehicle body 15. The tread width increases as the vehicle body 15 is leaned by the leaning part.