Claims
- 1. A wing mechanism for selectively exerting a downwardly directed force to a vehicle body, the wing mechanism comprising:
a wing member pivotably coupled to the vehicle body; a pair of wing tips moveably coupled to the wing member at opposing ends, the wing tips moveable between a retracted position wherein the wing tips are retracted within a cavity in the wing member and a deployed position wherein each of the wing tips extend outwardly from the perimeter of the wing member; and a drive assembly coupled to the wing tips for selectively moving the wing tips between the extended position and the retracted position.
- 2. The wing mechanism of claim 1 wherein the drive assembly is further coupled to the wing member to control rotational position of the wing member about the pivot coupling to the vehicle body.
- 3. The wing mechanism of claim 1 wherein the drive assembly comprises a pair of cams selectively moveable by a drive motor, each of the cams positioned relative to a respective one of the wing tips to engage a cam follower located on each wing tip to move the wing tip to the deployed position.
- 4. The wing mechanism of claim 3 wherein each wing tip is spring biased to the retracted position.
- 5. The wing mechanism of claim 4 wherein said drive assembly is further coupled to the wing member and arranged to move each cam in conjunction with moving the wing member about the pivot coupling to the vehicle body.
- 6. The wing mechanism of claim 5 wherein the wing member is spring biased to a vertically deployed position.
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application Serial No. 60/257,242, filed on Dec. 20, 2000.
Provisional Applications (1)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
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60257242 |
Dec 2000 |
US |