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EP-4739569-A1 - STABILIZING SYSTEM FOR A VEHICLE AND A VEHICLE COMPRISING SUCH A STABILIZING SYSTEM

EP4739569A1EP 4739569 A1EP4739569 A1EP 4739569A1EP-4739569-A1

Abstract

The present invention relates generally to the field of vehicles, in particular to the field of human-powered vehicles, more specifically it relates to a stabilizing system for a vehicle and a corresponding vehicle with such a stabilizing system.

Inventors

  • AVISROR, Yoel

Assignees

  • Avisror, Yoel

Dates

Publication Date
20260513
Application Date
20240704

Claims (13)

  1. 1 . Stabilizing system ( 10) for a vehicle ( 1 ) , comprising at least one auxiliary wheel (12) able to change position with respect to the vehicle (1 ) by moving up and down (y-axis), left and right (x-axis), closer to the vehicle ( 1 ) or more away from the vehicle ( 1 ) (z-axis) or by changing the angle with respect to the central plane of the vehicle (1 ) such that each auxiliary wheel (12) is able to engage with or disengage from the ground, wherein the change of the position and/or the engagement with and/or disengagement from the ground is controllable by one or more control modules.
  2. 2. Stabilizing system (10) according to claim 1 , wherein each auxiliary wheel (12) is able to change position with respect to the vehicle ( 1 ) and/or engage with or disengage from the ground in an independent manner.
  3. 3. Stabilizing system (10) according to claims 1 or 2, wherein the change of the position and/or the engagement with and/or disengagement from the ground is controllable by one or more control modules using control parameters that can be either detected and processed in an automatic manner or input by the driver of the vehicle.
  4. 4. Stabilizing system (10) according to claims 3, wherein the control parameters are the cadence or the cycle rate of pedalling, presence of skidding, braking, any type of mechanical malfunction, the direction of pedalling, tilting angle a of the vehicle ( 1 ) , speed of the vehicle ( 1 ) , any change thereof or any combination thereof.
  5. 5. Stabilizing system (10) according to claim 4, wherein at least a first control mode, in particular a high-speed mode, with a first set of control parameters and a second control mode, in particular a low- speed mode, with a second set of control parameters are employed to control the engagement and/or disengagement of the at least one auxiliary wheel (12).
  6. 6. Stabilizing system (10) according to claim 4 or 5, wherein any of the control parameters and/or the driver’s interaction with the stabilizing system (10) is used to trigger the stabilizing system (10) to go into a safe position, said safe position being characterized in that each auxiliary wheel (12) is engaged with the ground and the vehicles main wheels (7) and all auxiliary wheels (12) are positioned essentially straight to the longitudinal direction of the vehicle ( 1 ) .
  7. 7. Stabilizing system ( 10) according to any of the claims 1 to 6, comprising means to limit the range of motion of the at least one auxiliary wheel (12) along the y-axis and/or x-axis and/or z-axis and/or to limit the change in angle with respect to the central plane of the vehicle ( 1 ) such that a minimum distance between the at least one auxiliary wheel (12) and any part of the vehicle frame (3) is maintained.
  8. 8. Stabilizing system (10) according to any of the preceding claims, comprising at least one releasable coupling mechanism, preferably a clutch, to releasably couple the steering movement of a vehicle ( 1 ) to the stabilizing system (10).
  9. 9. Vehicle (1 ) comprising a stabilizing system (10) according to any one of the claims 1 to 8.
  10. 10. Vehicle ( 1 ) according to claim 9, wherein it is a bicycle.
  11. 1 1 . Vehicle ( 1 ) according to claim 9 or 10, wherein it comprises a closed, semi-closed or convertible cabin (2).
  12. 12. Vehicle ( 1 ) according to any of the claims 9 to 1 1 , comprising at least one drive unit to manipulate the vehicle’s steering and/or manipulate the vehicle’s drivetrain, in particular its propulsion and its braking, and at least one control unit to control said at least one drive unit.
  13. 13. Vehicle ( 1 ) according to claim 10, comprising a crank set (23) wherein the crank arm (24) is mounted eccentrically to the crank wheel (25) with respect to the axis of rotation of the crank wheel (25).

Description

Stabilizing system for a vehicle and a vehicle comprising such a stabilizing system Technical Field The present invention relates generally to the field of vehicles, in particular to the field of human-powered vehicles. Examples of such vehicles comprise namely bicycles or similar devices, in particular with an electrical motorization (so called e-bikes). This invention is however not limited to any particular device and it can generally be implemented in any suitable vehicle. More specifically, the present invention relates to a novel stabilizing system for a vehicle and a vehicle comprising such a stabilizing system. Background of the invention It is generally known that bicycles lack lateral stability when stationary or when inertial forces act obliquely to the upright axis of the bicyle and that they can normally only remain upright when moving forward and the gyroscopic effect of the turning wheels provides sufficient stability against tilting. Experimentation and mathematical analysis have shown that a bicycle stays upright when it is steered to keep its centre of mass over its wheels. Several factors, including geometry, mass distribution, and gyroscopic effect contribute in varying degrees to the self-stability of the bicycles. In particular, when a bicycle is used by adults who need to carry children and/or luggage on an everyday basis in an urban environment, this stability matter becomes a very an important issue that can be a limiting factor to replacing the use of cars by bicycles and thus contribute to the ecological traffic transition. It is namely known that bicycles are not stable and are not always safe to ride. They tend to slip in various situations and under difficult circumstances. In addition, the speed and weight of the load upon the bicycles tend to increase when users use them as a substance for conventional transportation. In view thereof, bicycles have the most vulnerable users due to their construction. Increasing the daily cycling distance results in highly severe accidents and more deaths while the market’s demand grows exponentially. The crash rate is unfortunately 3 times higher than for cars per 1 '000 km. The costs of bicycle injuries and deaths from crashes typically exceed $100 billion worldwide. So is e.g. the risk of a deadly accident by bicycle in Switzerland estimated to be around 1 1 .8 times higher than by car, according to the statistical info from the Swiss Federal Roads Office. Summary of the invention There is therefore a need for a solution to support lateral stability of bicycles and side impact without the need of the rider to touch the ground. In addition, there is also a need for solving the problem that steering of a bicycle on uneven surfaces and/or on bad turf conditions and with low gripping can result in falling. In addition, there is also a need for a proactive support when exceeded leaning occurs but said support needs to be adaptable to different driving conditions, in particular to high speed conditions and low speed conditions. However, a system providing such support should only engage when support is actually required and be as little noticeable to the driver as possible when no support is required as to not impair the known advantages of bicycles, e.g. manoeuvrability. These and other problems are solved by means of the present invention that comprises a proactive stability control for a vehicle, in particular for a bicycle, more specifically for an e-bicycle. More particularly, the present invention comprises a side support solution for high saddle pedalling transport that is based on 1 , 2 or more additional or auxiliary wheels placed sideways from the main wheels of the vehicle and that can move either simultaneously or individually in various situations with various degrees of freedom in three different axes (X, Y and Z), that means: up and down, forward and backward, laterally (closer to the vehicle and more away from the vehicle ) or changing the direction with respect to the bicycle, i.e. changing the angle with respect to the central plane of the vehicle. It is important to mention that this option does not rule out challenging sporty riding for the users and allow riding in a new riding experience dimension. Therefore, the object of the invention is specifically obtained by a stabilizing system for a vehicle, comprising at least one auxiliary wheel able to change position with respect to the vehicle by moving up and down (y-axis), left and right (x-axis), closer to the vehicle or more away from the vehicle (z-axis) or by changing the angle with respect to the central plane of the vehicle such that each auxiliary wheel is able to engage with or disengage from the ground, wherein the change of the position and/or the engagement with and/or disengagement from the ground is controllable by one or more control modules. In this stabilizing system, each auxiliary wheel is able to change position with respect to the vehicle and/or engag