These and other features of the disclosed example can be understood from the following specification and drawings, the following of which is a brief description.
An example amphibious vehicle 10 includes a towing configuration of
The vehicle 10 changes from the towing configuration to the boating configuration to move through water. A water tight hull 54 on the underside of the vehicle 10 displaces an appropriate amount of water to maintain the buoyancy of the vehicle 10 within water. An outboard motor 50 propels the vehicle 10 when in the boating configuration.
A cargo area 22 transports cargo 26 when the vehicle 10 is in the towing configuration or the boating configuration. Example cargo 26 includes an All Terrain Vehicle (ATV) 28, which is another type of vehicle suitable for towing the vehicle 10.
The tongue 14 and the wheels 30 are moveable between an extended position for towing and a retracted position for boating.
The wheel 30 can be moved from an extended position to a retracted position, when the hull 54 is supported by either the wheel 30 or a buoyancy force caused by water on the hull 54. To retract the wheel 30, the operator rotates a handle on the hand winch 42 in a first direction, which increases tension on the cable 62. Other examples may include a hydraulic ram or hydraulic ram coupled with a cable and pulley assembly and a hydraulic power pack in place of the hand winch 42. Slack in cable 62 is taken up by the cable 62 winding on the cable drum of winch 42. The cable to spring link bracket 99 contacts a stop on the pulley bracket 100, which prevents further rotation of the handle on the hand winch 42.
Tension in the cable 62 overcomes forces caused by the weight of the hull 54 on the wheel 30 and force from the gas spring cable 63 on the support arm 66. Accordingly, the operator is able to remove a system locking member 58, such as a pin, enabling raising movements of the wheel 30. The operator then rotates the handle on the hand winch 42 in a second direction, which releases the cable 62 providing slack in the system and enabling the gas spring actuator 70 to extend. The gas spring actuator 70 is biased toward an extended position. Other examples may include a spirally wound spring or other spring loaded device in place of the gas spring actuator 70.
A second cable 63 loops over pulleys 74, 74A attached to the gas spring actuator 70. The gas spring actuator 70 moves the pulley 74 as it extends, which pulls the second cable 63. Pulling the second cable 63 rotates the support arm 66 and one of the attached wheels 30 upward into the corresponding wheel well 38. In this example, the gas spring actuator 70 movement maintains about a 1:2 ratio relative to the amount of wheel 30 retraction. The wheels 30 only move as slack in the cable 62 is made available. Thus, the operator controls the speed of the movement by controlling the speed of rotation of the handle on the hand winch 42. Sliding doors 46 are slidable over the wheel well 38 after retracting the wheel 30 into the wheel well 38.
To move back to an extended position, an operator opens the sliding doors 46 on the sides of the vehicle 10. The operator then rotates the handle on the hand winch 42 in the first direction, opposite the second direction, to overcome the biasing force exerted by the gas spring actuator 70 and any forces caused by the wheel 30 contacting the earth which will in turn raise the hull 54. The operator will hit a hard stop once the cable to spring link bracket 99 contacts the pulley bracket 100. Once the hard stop has been contacted the operator will no longer be able to rotate the handle on the hand winch 42 in the first direction. The operator then replaces the locking member 58, this allows the operator to give some slack in the cable 62 while the locking member 58 maintains the position of the wheels 30. Support arm 66 rotates as the wheel 30 lowers.
A leaf spring 78 forms a portion of the suspension system when the wheels 30 are in the extended position. The leaf spring 78 enhances the towing performance of the vehicle 10 when used in the trailer configuration.
In the illustrated example boating configuration, the wheels 30 retract fully into the wheel wells 38 enabling a sliding door 46 to close and to cover each wheel well 38. The sliding door 46 moves along a pair of extruded channels 82 on the hull 54, as shown in
The example vehicle 10 includes additional features for changing between the towing configuration and the boating configuration. For example, as shown in
In this example, pins 92 inserted through holes in the brackets 90 contact the braces 94 locking the bolt 91 in a notch in a slot 95 of brace 94 which in turn locks the tongue 14 in the towing position. The brackets 90, the braces 94, or both may include additional holes for locking the tongue 14 in other positions, such as positions that locate the coupler 86 at different heights relative to ground level to accommodate differing tow vehicle 18 ball heights.
To move the tongue 14 from the trailer configuration to the boating configuration, the operator backs the vehicle 10 into a body of water. The buoyancy of the water raises portions of the vehicle 10, which increases the load exerted downward through the coupler 86 and lessens load on the wheels 30. At a certain point, the water and the coupler 86 may share the entire load of the vehicle 10. The proportion of which vehicle 10 is supported by the coupler 86, wheels 30 and water depends on several factors, some of which include the angle of the ground as vehicle 18 and vehicle 10 enter the water, height of hitch on vehicle 18, and the distribution and weight of cargo 26 in vehicle 10.
The load of the vehicle 10 exerted on the hitch of the vehicle 18 through the coupler 86 will often inhibit manually decoupling the coupler 86 from the vehicle 18. With the pins 92 removed, the operator releases hydraulic pressure inside the cylinders 34 using a manually controllable valve located on a hydraulic pumping unit 88. The escaping hydraulic fluid allows the cylinders 34 to retract, which facilitates controlled rotation of the tongue 14 about a pivot point 98 until the transom 87 hull area of vehicle 10 is supported by either buoyancy of the transom 87 hull area of vehicle 10 or the ground while the rest of the vehicle 10 weight is supported by any combination of wheels 30 and buoyancy of the forward area of the hull 54. At that point, the load from the vehicle 10 on the coupler 86 is only that of the weight of the tongue 14, brackets 94 and hydraulic cylinder rods 34.
The operator then manually decouples the coupler 86 from the vehicle 18 and by lifting tongue 14 causes the tongue 14 to rotate towards the transom 87 of the vehicle 10. The bolts 91 guide the respective braces 94 through the slots 95 as the tongue 14 rotates toward a stowed position. A locking pin 92 holds the tongue 14 in the stowed position near the vehicle 10. In the tow or stowed position, the cylinders 34 nest between respective braces 94, as shown in
The wheels 30, which may or may not support a portion of the load of vehicle 10, can be moved by the operator to a retracted position, which will in turn allow the water under vehicle 10 to support the load of vehicle 10 instead of the wheels 30. The operator can also now close the sliding doors 46 in preparation for boating. The vehicle 10 can be decoupled from the vehicle 18 on land using a tongue jack, for example. Vehicle 10 may also be lowered to the ground on land while coupled to vehicle 18 in a similar fashion as described above. The operator is free to move the wheels 30 and the hitch 14 between retracted and extended positions at any time. For example, when on land, the operator may store the vehicle 10 so that it rests on the hull 54 instead of the wheels 30.
To couple the vehicle 10 to the vehicle 18, such as when moving the vehicle 10 from the boating configuration to the towing configuration, the operator removes the locking pin 92 and rotates the tongue 14 away from the transom 87 toward a horizontal position. The tongue 14 pivots about a pivot axis 98 located near the bottom of the transom 87 when moving between the stowed and tow position. Once the operator manually couples the coupler 86 to the hitch on vehicle 18 the operator must then pressurize the cylinders 34 using the hydraulic hand pump 88. Pressurizing the cylinders 34 extends the cylinders 34, which forces the tongue 14 to rotate towards the tow position. The degree of rotation of the tongue 14 is limited by the slots 95 in braces 94. Once the edges of the slots 95 contact the bolt 91, the tongue 14 cannot rotate any further away from the transom 87. At this point, holes in brackets 90 and braces 94 will be aligned allowing pin 92 to be inserted, locking the location of the brace 94 and therefore the angle of the tongue 14 to the brackets 90 in a position suitable for towing. In another example, the operator uses an electric pump to extend the hydraulic cylinders 34. In such a position, the coupler 86 exerts some downward force on the vehicle 18.
In the example tongue 14 of
Referring now to
After unloading the ATV 28, the operator could use the ATV 28 to tow the vehicle 10 to another location. To do so, the operator turns the vehicle 10 in the water so that the tongue 14 is facing the land. The operator removes the pins 92 and then rotates the tongue 14 so that the coupler 86 couples the ball on the ATV 28. In this motion the hydraulic cylinders 34 are free to extend as the operator rotates the tongue 14 away from the transom 87. The tongue 14 may or may not be in the tow position at this time. If the tongue 14 is not in the tow position the operator then pressurizes the hydraulic cylinders 34 using the pump 88 (
Although a preferred embodiment of this invention has been disclosed, a worker of ordinary skill in this art would recognize that certain modifications would come within the scope of this invention. For that reason, the following claims should be studied to determine the true scope and content of this invention.
The application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/839,810, which was filed on 24 Aug. 2006.
Number | Date | Country | |
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60839810 | Aug 2006 | US |