Patent Application
20240262464
This application derives priority from New Zealand patent application number 777124 filed on 11 Jun. 2021 with WIPO DAS code 73A4 incorporated herein by reference.
Broadly described herein are motor assisted paddlecraft. More specifically, paddlecraft such as kayaks and other traditionally manually operated paddlecraft are described modified to include a motor and optionally an actuation system to assist the paddling action of a user of the paddlecraft. Associated networking options and methods are also described.
With the miniaturisation of motors and improvements in battery technology, aiding users of traditionally manually operated items such as bicycles are becoming commonplace. Using e-bikes as an example, the rider must still pedal to create motion however the motor in an e-bike assists the rider to one extent or another in driving motion. E-Bikes have illustrated the success possible from e-assist technologies to both existing riders and to open biking up to many people who would otherwise not have biked or would otherwise have struggled to bike distances now possible with e-assistance.
Paddlecraft present an opportunity to also assist the paddler via a motor. There are however intrinsic problems with paddlecraft not present on e-bikes. For example, water complicates motor driven movement e.g. cavitation issues and inefficiencies; how best to drive movement through a different medium (water); and, on paddlecraft, the user's hands are generally occupied hence, unlike on a bike, it is hard to actuate the motor and also perform the paddling action. Feet in paddlecraft may already be used for other actions such as steering or balancing and hence are not free to undertake other actions.
In order to control the extent of power assist on e-bikes for example, the obvious and practised methodology is to use a knob or a keypad device since the hands or fingers are somewhat free and able to push a button. In paddlecraft, pushing buttons would cause a halt or at least distraction from paddling. In addition, if a paddler wanted to increase or decrease speeds or direction, the paddle becomes secondary to the motor as movement becomes dominated by the motor and not the user to find and control the device that alters the speed/direction.
A sensor that measures gestures or movements e.g. paddling may be preferable. One patent publication, US2011/0201238 describes a sensor system on a surfboard that has a switch that is operable without disrupting an surfer's normal postures and gestures conventionally associated with paddling the surfboard. The switch operates a jet-pump propelling motion of the surfboard. The user of the board however must wear a wireless controller with a trigger switch on the operator's hand operable by the thumb or fingers of the same hand without disturbing operator balance or concentration, an associated lightweight battery and wireless transmitter mounted nearby but out of the way (e.g., on the operator's forearm), configured for safety to run the motor only while the operator actively holds the switch in an “on” position. This approach requires additional parts to allow operation and still requires the user to independently switch the assist on or off e.g. via the thumb switch.
Motors attached to paddlecraft are provided in the art to produce motorised craft however, the motor is not used to assist the paddler paddling but rather to take over driving movement. For example, there are water sport motors on the market, most of which attach to a rudder or are in the form of an outboard motor with complex mounting and steerage arrangements. These devices are not assisted paddling devices and are essentially motor boats with no sensation of control of motion by the user in the way a manually operated paddlecraft operates. One example is described in U.S. Pat. No. 8,276,536 which is a kayak with a propeller on the rudder that operates independent of the paddler based on pre-programmed set speeds defined by a controller in the kayak. US 2007/024,9241 describes an engine driven jet motor on a kayak that again has a speed set independent of paddler action. Other examples of such motorised craft can be found in patent publications U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,131,875, 9,718,528 and 6,478,639.
Motor placement is also an issue from art motors. Motor damage is a problem—externally mounted motors are prone to being knocked as they strike rocks, stones, sand or other items in water or on land over which the paddlecraft is moved e.g. a river bed. Solutions such as shrouding of propellers is fraught with issues due to cavitation and associated inefficiencies.
There is also a balance in paddlecraft between adding power to assist with paddling—ideally the power assist is only to a point where the paddler can more easily reach comfortable displacement speeds. Beyond this point, the addition of power is inefficient as the marginal increase in power does not yield a proportionate increase in speed. It is therefore important not to provide too much power assist otherwise the sensation of paddling is diminished or at the very least inefficient and a waste of power used.
It may be useful to address at least some of the above drawbacks of art paddlecraft or at least provide the public with a choice.
Further aspects and advantages of the motor assisted paddlecraft will become apparent from the ensuing description that is given by way of example only.
Described herein are paddlecraft such as kayaks and other traditionally manually operated paddlecraft modified to include a motor and optionally an actuation system to assist the paddling action of a user of the paddlecraft. Associated networking options and methods of use or the paddlecraft are also described.
In a first aspect there is provided a paddlecraft comprising an motor driven propeller that assists with paddlecraft movement, the motor driven propeller being located in an elongated channel within a paddlecraft base and in contact with and propelling water therethrough when the paddlecraft is on water, the motor driven propeller driving water flow from an inlet side to an outlet side of the motor driven propeller via the elongated channel to drive movement of the paddlecraft.
In a second aspect, there is provided a paddlecraft comprising a motor driven propeller configured to assist with paddlecraft movement, the motor driven propeller being in contact with and propelling water therethrough when the paddlecraft is on water, and at least one movement sensor located only on the paddlecraft; wherein, motor driven propeller actuation is driven by a user when the at least one movement sensor senses paddling movement by the user.
In a third aspect, there is provided a network comprising:
In a fourth aspect, there is provided a method of assisting a paddlecraft user to generate motion by:
One selected advantage of the above described paddlecraft includes the ability to assist the paddler and do this in a ‘hands-free’ manner so that the paddler may paddle in a normal manner and does not have to actuate the motor by moving their hands from the paddle or from a normal paddling action. Further advantages are described below.
Further aspects of the motor assisted paddlecraft will become apparent from the following description that is given by way of example only and with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:
As noted above, described herein are paddlecraft such as kayaks and other traditionally manually operated paddlecraft modified to include a motor and optionally an actuation system to assist the paddling action of a user of the paddlecraft. Associated networking options and methods of use or the paddlecraft are also described.
For the purposes of this specification, the term ‘about’ or ‘approximately’ and grammatical variations thereof mean a quantity, level, degree, value, number, frequency, percentage, dimension, size, amount, weight or length that varies by as much as 30, 25, 20, 15, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, or 1% to a reference quantity, level, degree, value, number, frequency, percentage, dimension, size, amount, weight or length.
The term ‘substantially’ or grammatical variations thereof refers to at least about 50%, for example 75%, 85%, 95% or 98%.
The term ‘comprise’ and grammatical variations thereof shall have an inclusive meaning—i.e. that it will be taken to mean an inclusion of not only the listed components it directly references, but also other non-specified components or elements.
The term ‘paddlecraft’ and grammatical variations as used herein refer to craft that would normally be manually hand or paddle propelled water borne craft but, in the embodiments, described are provided with motor assistance to drive movement, the motor assistance dependent on the user still manually paddling the paddlecraft. Non-limiting examples of paddlecraft comprise: canoes, kayaks, rowing boats, ski kayaks, stand-up paddleboards (SUPs), rafts, surfboards and kneeboards i.e. water craft where a paddle or the user's arms are used to propel the user over the water. Foiling boards and watercraft are included herein as well. For ease of reference, kayaks may be referred to directly however, this should not be seen as limiting as the same apparatus and methods described herein may be applied to other types of paddlecraft.
Terms such as front, forward, fore, rear, aft, side, top, deck and bottom, base or hull and grammatical variations thereof as used herein, in the context of paddlecraft, refer to aspects of the paddlecraft relative to a user paddling the paddlecraft when the user faces forwards in the primary direction of travel—that is, the paddlecraft front, fore or forward is the direction which the paddler is facing and the direction they will mainly travel i.e. towards the paddlecraft nose or bow. The paddlecraft rear or aft is the direction behind the paddler towards the paddlecraft tail or stern, the sides are the kayak sides generally parallel in direction to the direction of travel (forwards or backwards). The paddlecraft top is the upper surface of the paddlecraft which the paddler sits above or lies on. The paddlecraft base or bottom is the water facing underside of the paddlecraft. Note that, for a rower, the paddler faces backwards during normal rowing movement however, the rowing boat still comprises a front, forward or fore end (that is located in the direction of normal movement) and a rear, or aft (that is located opposite the normal direction of movement).
In a first aspect there is provided a paddlecraft comprising a motor driven propeller that assists with paddlecraft movement, the motor driven propeller being located in an elongated channel within a paddlecraft base and in contact with and propelling water therethrough when the paddlecraft is on water, the motor driven propeller driving water flow from an inlet side to an outlet side of the motor driven propeller via the elongated channel to drive movement of the paddlecraft.
For ease of description, the term ‘propeller’ is used hereafter unless otherwise noted to refer to the motor driven propeller described above.
The propeller may be located at the deepest point of the elongated channel.
The propeller may be recessed in the elongated channel so that at least 80% of the propeller lies within an envelope defined by a hull exterior of the paddlecraft. In one embodiment, 80, or 85, or 90, or 95, or 100% of the propeller lies within an envelope defined by the hull exterior of the paddlecraft.
The propeller outermost point may be either flush with the hull exterior or slightly proud of the hull shape.
The elongated channel in the paddlecraft may direct water to and from the propeller.
The elongated channel may be moulded into a hull or base of the paddlecraft.
The elongated channel may be located about the rear half or rear third of the paddlecraft. In one embodiment, the location of the elongated channel and propeller particular may be approximate the position of a cargo hatch in the top of the paddlecraft.
As noted above, the elongated channel may be elongated with a length to width ratio of approximately 15:1 to 5:1 or approximately 10:1 e.g. 50 mm wide and 500 mm long.
The propeller may be located towards the front of the elongated channel (front being towards the nose or bow of the paddlecraft). In one embodiment, the motor driven propeller may be located towards the front third of the elongated channel.
In one embodiment, the elongated channel may comprise a front section and a rear section and a propeller located intermediate the front section and rear section. The front section may act as a water inlet and the rear section may act as a water outlet.
The rear section may be longer than the front section. In one embodiment, the front section may comprise approximately 10-40% or around 20% of the elongated channel length. The rear section may comprise approximately 60-80% or around 70% of the elongated channel length. The propeller itself may comprise around 10% of the elongated channel length.
The elongated channel as a whole may have a smooth concave shape recessing smoothly from the hull exterior face into a deepest point within the elongated channel.
The deepest point of the channel may be generally centrally located about the elongated channel width.
The front section of the recess may have a part ovoid shape that increases in depth from the hull surface to the deepest point of the whole elongated channel, this deepest point being approximate the propeller inlet.
The degree of slope from the elongated channel sides to the deepest point of the front section may be relatively steeper than the degree of slope from the elongated channel sides to the deepest point of the rear section.
The rear outlet may be tapered in width, narrowing towards the rear end of the rear section from a maximum width at or about the propeller.
The rear section depth may decrease from a maximum depth about the propeller to a depth proximate the hull exterior at the distal end of the rear section of the elongated channel.
The depth of the elongated channel in the rear section may shallow out at a less acute angle than the front section angle.
The rear section may have a relatively flat planar region along the elongated channel base between the elongated channel sides and along a portion of the rear section.
The elongated channel may comprise flow features such as notches, trips, fins. These flow features may be used to alter the flow characteristics of water in the elongated channel and therefore changes the water turbulence. This may be a way to alter propelling efficiency.
The paddlecraft above may comprise a single motor driven propeller and not multiple propellers.
In an alternative embodiment, the paddlecraft may comprise a primary motor driven propeller and at least one secondary motor driven propeller. The at least one secondary motor driven propeller may be of a lower output than the primary motor driven propeller; may be located in a different position on the paddlecraft to the primary motor driven propeller, and may be actuated using a different controller to a controller used to actuate the primary motor driven propeller. Optionally, where a secondary motor driven propeller is used, the secondary motor driven propeller may be located about a forward elongated channel in the paddlecraft hull or at the rear of the paddlecraft beyond the primary propeller elongated channel.
Turning of the paddlecraft may still be reliant on the paddlecraft user e.g. paddle to one side or use of a foot operated rudder. Alternatively, the propeller may turn to assist or even fully govern paddlecraft turning movement. In a further alternative, turning action by the user such as successive strokes on one side of the paddlecraft may cause the paddlecraft rudder (if used) to also turn and therefore remotely assist with turning or at least assist a normal foot operated rudder movement.
The motor may be an electric motor driven by a battery that powers the propeller. Wiring may pass from the propeller to the kayak interior. Alternatively, wireless transmission may be used to communicate a signal to the propeller. In a further embodiment, the motor, or battery, or wiring if used, may be located outside the kayak interior and no hull penetration may occur.
In one embodiment, for example, paddlecraft speed may be detected by a movement sensor that senses relative movement between the water and paddlecraft. The extent of relative movement may be used to adjust propeller speed. By measuring speed in this manner, propeller speed adjustment may be completed externally to the kayak interior and hence avoid penetrations in the hull. One advantage of optimising propeller thrust in this way may be to also optimise battery performance which in turn may lead to use of a smaller battery and hence reduced weight.
A battery, controller if used, and other associated motor parts, may be located about the propeller inside the paddlecraft interior. Access to these parts may be via a cargo hatch in the paddlecraft.
The motor driven propeller motor may be a variable speed motor. The motor speed may be at least in part determined by a users' paddling characteristics.
In one embodiment, the variable speed motor may operate with a profile that provides an initial high thrust and then tapers off the thrust provided as the paddlecraft nears an optimal speed.
The optimal speed may be a speed defined by a settable profile structure with addition of key measures to achieve e.g. stroke cadence, acceleration, and velocity.
AI learning may be utilised to adjust the optimal speed to suit a particular user or type of paddler user e.g. novice, intermediate or expert paddler. The type of profile may be selected prior to paddling via a programmable profile that the operator can select and use, in which the developed thrust can be tailored to utilise the battery optimally for the operator experience and optimization of battery store.
The water line, during operation of the paddlecraft motor driven propeller, may be below the propeller and water is drawn above the waterline and through the paddlecraft elongated channel during propeller operation, water being ejected below the waterline again as the water is ejected from the elongated channel.
The above is not essential and the propeller may be entirely above the waterline, partly above the waterline or, below the waterline. The inventors have found that the propeller location relative to the waterline does not impact on propeller action.
In a second aspect, there is provided a paddlecraft comprising a motor driven propeller configured to assist with paddlecraft movement, the motor driven propeller being in contact with and propelling water therethrough when the paddlecraft is on water, and at least one movement sensor located only on the paddlecraft; wherein, actuation of the motor driven propeller is configured so that actuation is driven by a user when the at least one movement sensor senses paddling movement by the user.
Propeller actuation may occur without use of touch buttons or controls and purely by paddle movement about the at least one movement sensor by the user.
The at least one movement sensor may in one embodiment be a 3D tracking/gesture recognition sensor. The at least one movement sensor may use the principles of electrical near field sensing to sense hand or arm motions and gestures of the paddler. One example of a type of movement sensor may be that produced by Microchip technology LLC and described in patent publication WO2019169116A1.
The at least one movement sensor may be located on or about the paddlecraft where a user moves a paddle relative to the paddlecraft e.g. on the side(s) of the paddlecraft approximate the user's arms or wrists.
The at least one movement sensor may use near field directional motion control to sense at least one paddle characteristic by the user selected from: paddle movement, paddle movement direction, paddle movement cadence, paddle movement speed.
In one embodiment, the at least one movement sensor may be used to actuate the propeller to: actuate propeller motion on or off; turn the motor driving the propeller on or off; alter the speed of the propeller and therefore the amount of thrust provided by the propeller; adjust the propeller direction; and combinations thereof.
In one embodiment, when the user paddles forwards, the at least one movement sensor causes propeller forward thrust to occur. An increase in the user paddling cadence and/or paddling force may cause an increase in propeller thrust assistance while a decrease in the user paddling cadence and/or paddling force may cause a decrease in propeller thrust assistance.
Reverse paddling by the user may cause the propeller to stop. Optionally, successive reverse paddling strokes by the user may cause the propeller to reverse thrust movement. Reverse thrust may be either at one speed or at a speed commensurate with the rate of reverse paddling cadence and/or paddling force by the user.
In a further embodiment, paddling by the user on one side of the paddlecraft only may cause the paddlecraft to actuate a turning mechanism. For example, if the paddlecraft has a rudder, paddling on one side may actuate the rudder to turn and therefore cause the paddlecraft to also turn.
The user of the paddlecraft may not need to wear any special equipment, sensors, controllers or other devices to cause the at least one movement sensor to actuate and function. Simple movement of the users arms or hands are detected by the at least one movement sensor.
Some manual adjustment or touch operation may still be catered for but an aim may be to allow the user to paddle normally and experience assistance from the motor driven propeller without needing to move their hands (or feet) from normal paddle movement or action.
In terms of manual or touch operations, the at least one movement sensor may optionally have a touch pad to perform selected functions when not paddling e.g. manual toggle on/off of power to the movement sensor or motor, manual adjustment of the extent of power assist, manual adjustment of duration of power assist per stroke, signalling to a network and so on.
The at least one movement sensor and related controller may further be used to optimise propeller performance. For example, the movement sensor may sense stroke rate as noted above and the controller also may sense battery level and the extent of propeller energy input adjusted not only to suit paddler cadence or speed but also to lengthen battery life and hence the duration of paddle assist time. A sudden and rapid user cadence may then cause a change in battery usage to encourage extra propeller drive/thrust and hence elevated battery use. This function may be like the varied levels of battery assist seen in e-bikes from economy modes to turbo modes.
In one embodiment, the paddlecraft, when not paddled, may have a manual override that allows the user to force the motor driven propeller to run continuously or run periodically without paddler involvement. This feature may be used for example during fishing to drag a fishing line through the sea slowing without needing to paddle as well.
In one embodiment, the paddlecraft may comprise two or more motor driven propellers. The first or primary motor driven propeller may be used for normal propulsion to aid paddling in the manner substantially as described above. The second (or further motor driven propellers), may be used to fix the paddlecraft in position e.g. whilst the user is fishing e.g. to provide thrust against a current or wind. The second or further motor driven propeller may be controlled by the user via a different controller to the primary motor driven propeller. For example, control may be via the users foot or a button or buttons on or proximate to the fishing rod so that the user can attend to fishing without needing to move their hands from the rod.
In a third aspect, there is provided a network comprising:
In the context of multiple paddlecraft, a network may be used for example by a guide to locate paddlecraft and their users and to adjust the speed of travel of a paddlecraft user or users. This may helpful keep a group together where there are differing ability and fitness levels.
In one embodiment the network may be a star/tree network in which at least one paddlecraft movement sensor is linked to a small subset of other paddlecraft sensors, and the links between these paddlecraft movement sensors are hierarchical.
In an alternative embodiment, the paddlecraft movement sensors may be linked via a mesh network which is a local network topology in which the movement sensor nodes (i.e. bridges, switches, and other infrastructure devices on the paddlecraft movement sensor) connect directly, dynamically and non-hierarchically to as many other movement sensor nodes/paddlecraft as possible in the network and the movement sensors cooperate with one another to efficiently route data to and from other paddlecraft movement sensors in the mesh network. The mesh network may operate via a flood means where a signal is passed throughout the movement sensor node network.
This lack of dependency on one node/paddlecraft may allow for every paddlecraft (node) to participate in the relay of information. Mesh networks dynamically self-organize and self-configure, which may reduce installation overhead. The ability to self-configure enables dynamic distribution of workloads, particularly in the event a few nodes should fail. Control like this in a mesh network may be useful in the context of paddlecraft as one or more paddlecraft may not be visible to other paddlecraft e.g. around a bluff or rocky point, however, via the mesh network, a signal may be transferred to the distant paddlecraft using other paddlecraft in the mesh network to make a connection.
In addition one further variation to the above, a foiling wing system may be embedded in the structure of the paddlecraft hull. The foil wing of the system may be lowered or raised based on sensed speed and output from a separate speed sensor and/or the at least one movement sensor already described above.
In a fourth aspect, there is provided a method of assisting a paddlecraft user to generate motion by:
In the above method, the extent of thrust generated by the propeller may be dependent on the user paddling and the cadence and/or power of paddle movement by the user. The propeller and motor itself may not operate automatically unless the user paddles and generates at least some forward power themselves.
The user paddle, during paddling, moves about or near the at least one movement sensor.
The above described paddlecraft and method of use provide a number of benefits over the art. Some examples include:
The embodiments described above may also be said broadly to consist in the parts, elements and features referred to or indicated in the specification of the application, individually or collectively, and any or all combinations of any two or more said parts, elements or features.
Further, where specific integers are mentioned herein which have known equivalents in the art to which the embodiments relate, such known equivalents are deemed to be incorporated herein as if individually set forth.
The above described motor assisted paddlecraft are now described by reference to specific examples.
In this example a first embodiment of a motor assisted kayak is shown and described with reference to
In use, the person operating the kayak 1, sits in the paddler opening 6, and begins normal paddling action forwards. As the paddlers arms, hands or the paddle moves past the movement sensor 8 or movement sensors 8, the movement is sensed and the controller than actuates propeller 13 movement to assist paddling movement. When the paddler cadence increases, the movement sensor 8 senses a movement rate increase and the movement sensor may or a controller attached, may then increases the thrust provided by the propeller 8 commensurate with the cadence of the paddler. Conversely, if the paddler reduces cadence, the propeller 8 speed may reduce. If the paddler reverses their paddle stroke, the movement sensor may observe this change in movement direction and may then act to halt propeller 8 movement or even reverse propeller 8 movement.
As may be appreciated, the paddlecraft need not only be a kayak and the same design principles may be applied to other paddlecraft.
As noted above, the paddlecraft may comprise a movement sensor, a controller and a motor that drives propeller movement.
As shown in the flowsheet, movement sensor 500 may sense several inputs. The inputs 501a, b, c, d, e may for example be, paddlecraft motion (yes or no), paddlecraft speed (e.g. via a GPS device), paddler cadence i.e. the rate of paddling or frequency of paddle movement past the movement sensor, the direction of motion (i.e. forwards or backwards); the force applied during each stroke (e.g. as measured from a power gauge on the paddle itself). Many other inputs may be included and these options may be used alone or together and/or with other inputs.
Thee measured inputs may then be passed to a controller 502 and a first 503 decision made by the controller 502 as to the direction of motion. If the motion is not in a forwards direction by the paddler, the action taken may be stop propeller movement 504. Subsequent decisions may then be measured again by the movement sensor 500 to determine if forward motion then restarts or if further reverse movement occurs which may then actuate reverse propeller movement. If forwards motion is occurring, a next decision 505 may be taken to determine the speed of movement for example by comparing the measured cadence to a known set of paddler characteristics and correlating the cadence to a predetermined propeller power output. This predetermined correlation may be linear or non-linear e.g. at low cadence to provide greater propeller thrust than at a higher cadence. Propeller movement is actuated 506 and further sensor 100 inputs taken made and the cycle of control continued again.
Aspects of the motor assisted paddlecraft have been described by way of example only and it should be appreciated that modifications and additions may be made thereto without departing from the scope of the claims herein.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 777124 | Jun 2021 | NZ | national |
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/NZ2022/050067 | 6/3/2022 | WO |
