VEHICLE PROPULSION SYSTEM

摘要

A human-powered vehicle (106) includes a driven wheel (180, 602) with a cantilevered hub (184, 386, 508, 625, 684), and a hand-operable crank (114, 264, 358, 621) for vehicle propulsion. In a wheelchair the hand cranks are supported on towers (108, 258, 356, 622) that are lowerable to fit under a desk or table. With the vehicle at rest, cranking motion of the crank in a first rotational direction propels the vehicle forward and cranking motion of the crank in a second rotational direction propels the vehicle backward. With the vehicle in forward motion, cessation of crank rotation allows free rotation of the wheel, and crank torque applied in a sense opposing forward vehicle motion applies a braking force to the wheel. An electric vehicle includes a transmission wheel hub (512) that provides similar functions with an electric drive (950), such as for a wheelchair (672).