Honda Motor Co., Ltd.

Honda Giken Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha

Taiji Koyama

Toru Takenaka

Shinichiro Kobashi

Hideharu Izumi

Kazuya Kuwabara

Makoto Hirano

Hiroshi Gomi

Masao Sasaki

Hideo Shimizu

Hideaki Takahashi

Hisashi Katoh

Takashi Hirata

Takako Fujii

Yoshirou Koyama

Takeshi Koshiishi

Kazushi Hamaya

Hiroyuki Makino

Tatsuya Noda

Akio Koike

Tsutomu Koinuma

Kouji Okazaki

In a wheel for use in an omni-directional vehicle, gravel and other foreign matters are prevented from being trapped between free rollers forming the wheel, and traveling vibrations and noises are minimized at the same time. The wheel includes an annular member and a plurality of free rollers each rotatably supported by the annular member around a corresponding tangential line of the annular member, and a gap member is placed between each adjacent pair of the free rollers to fill a gap defined between the free rollers.

Wheel, and friction drive device and omni-directional vehicle using the same

A drive unit includes a main wheel having an annular member, and a plurality of driven rollers that are rotatably attached to the annular member, a plurality of first drive rollers and a plurality of second drive rollers, which are provided with the annular member between them and arranged such that they make contact with the outer peripheral faces of the driven rollers, a first holder and a second holder, which are arranged with the annular shaft between them and respectively hold the plurality of first drive rollers and the plurality of second drive rollers while allowing them to rotate, and a first drive unit and a second drive unit that rotationally drive the first holder and the second holder respectively; grooves are formed in the outer peripheral faces of the driven rollers at an angle to the circumferential direction thereof.

Drive unit

In a walking assistance device () including a main frame () supporting a power generator () and worn on a pelvic part of a user, the main frame is provided with an opening () in a middle part thereof, and an electronic unit () is received in the opening. As the electronic unit is placed in the middle part of the main frame which is relatively free from deformation, the electronic unit is protected from deformation or stress that could impair the reliability of the electronic unit. To achieve both an easy access to the electronic unit, and an attractive appearance, the opening may be provided with a lid () that selectively closes the opening from a side adjacent to the user, and the lid may be formed as a back support member for supporting a back part of the user. As the lid serves the dual purposes, the weight and cost of the device can be minimized. For the convenience of the handling of the lid, the lid may be supported by the main frame via a hinge () provided adjacent to an upper or lower part of the opening.

Walking assistance device

In a walking assistance device for providing a walking assistance force to a femoral part of a user, the walking assistance force generated by a power generator is effectively transmitted to the femoral part of the user while avoiding the user from experiencing any undue pressure or discomfort. The walking assistance device includes a rigid femoral support frame having a base end connected to an output end of an electric motor unit and a free end extending from the base end to a position opposite to a front part of the femoral part of the user, and a flexible belt attached to the free end of the femoral support frame to be releasably worn around a circumference of the femoral part of the user at a height corresponding to the free end of the femoral support frame.

Walking assistance device for providing a walking assistance force to a femoral part of a user

In a walking assistance device configured to apply a walking assistance force to a femoral part of a user, a walking assistance force provided by a power generator mounted on a pelvic support assembly is transmitted to a femoral part of the user via a femoral support assembly. The femoral support assembly includes a swing arm () having a base end connected to an output end of the power generator and a free end opposing a front part of the femoral part of the user, a femoral support member () pivotally connected to the free end of the swing arm and having a support surface engaging the front part of the femoral part of the user, and a femoral belt () passed around the femoral part of the user and having two ends attached to corresponding lateral ends of the femoral support member. Thereby, the femoral support member is enabled to accommodate changes and/or variations in the contour of the femoral part of the user. Ensure a comfortable fit and a reliable power transmission, the femoral belt may include a main belt portion () having a base end connected to one of the lateral ends of the femoral support member and a free end releasably connected to the other lateral end of the femoral support member, and an auxiliary belt portion () bifurcated from an intermediate part of the main belt portion and having a free end connected to the swing arm.

In an inverted pendulum type vehicle configured to travel on a ground surface while maintaining an upright posture under an inverted pendulum control, comprising a base frame supporting a propulsion unit, the propulsion unit including a main wheel configured to roll on the ground surface, and a seat unit provided on the base frame for supporting hips of a rider, the seat unit includes a saddle having at least a center located ahead of an axial line extending between a rotational center line of the main wheel and a gravitational center of the inverted pendulum type vehicle. Thereby, even when there is an obstacle on the ground surface behind the vehicle, the main wheel rolling on the ground surface is prevented from coming into contact with the obstacle, and the boarding of the rider on the vehicle is facilitated.

Inverted pendulum type vehicle

In a friction drive device comprising first free rollers and second free rollers contacting each other at the outer circumferential surfaces thereof to frictionally transmit power from the second free rollers to the first free rollers, in order to minimize the slippage between the first and second free rollers, minimize the power loss and cause the first free rollers to move as designed, an outer peripheral part of each first free roller defining an outer circumferential surface thereof has a different stiffness from that of an outer peripheral part of each second free roller defining an outer circumferential surface thereof.

Friction drive device and OMNI-directional vehicle using the same

Heat generated by a drive source of a friction drive device such as an electric motor is allowed to efficiently dissipate to the atmosphere, and the friction drive device and an omni-directional vehicle using the same is designed in a highly compact manner. Left and right electric drive devices are placed on a central axial line of left and right rotatable drive members, and external teeth members serving as output members of the electric drive devices are directly connected to the respective rotatable drive members in a torque transmitting and heat transmitting relationship.

Friction drive device and omni-directional vehicle using the same

[Task] To allow a wheel that provides a performance required for use in an omni-directional vehicle to be manufactured in an efficient manner. [Solution] An annular member () comprises a C-shaped main body () and a complementary member () defining an endless annular shape jointly with the main body (), a joint () between the main body () and complementary member () includes mating surfaces that are non-perpendicular to the cross sectional center line of the annular member, and the main body () and the complementary member () are fixedly joined to each other by using a threaded bolt () passed radially through the mating surfaces.

An inverted pendulum type moving body moving over a floor surface in a self standing manner, the inverted pendulum type moving body comprising: an information acquisition unit obtaining a state information indicating a current state of an another moving body; and a movement control unit controlling a movement of a self moving body, based on the state information, so that a state of the self moving body with respect to the current state of the another moving body satisfies a predetermined condition established so that the self moving body and the another moving body moves in alignment.

Inverted pendulum type moving body

A walking assistance device including a pelvic frame () extending from a lower back to each lateral side of a user, and a belly belt () for securing the pelvic frame in position. A power generator () is attached to each lateral side of the pelvic frame. A power transmitting arm () can be attached to an output member () of the power generator simply by hooking an upper part of a base end () of the power transmitting arm onto an upper groove () of the output member, and pushing a latch member or a slider () provided in a lower part of the base end onto a lower groove () of the output member. The user wearing the pelvic frame () can easily attach the power transmitting arm () to the output end of the power generator () by easily using a single hand without requiring help.

The omni-directional drive device comprises a main wheel () comprising an endless annular member rotatable around a center of cross section perpendicular to a corresponding tangential line, electric motors (R andL) for producing rotative forces around the rotation axis of the main wheel () and around the center of cross section perpendicular to a corresponding tangential line of the main wheel () and an arrangement (rotary members (R andL) fitted with free rollers (R andL)) for converting the rotational forces of the electric motors (R andL) to the rotational forces around the rotation center of the main wheel () and around the center (C) of cross section perpendicular to a corresponding tangential line of the main wheel ().

Omni-directional drive device and omni-directional vehicle using the same

Provided is a vehicle that can make tight turns without significantly changing an attitude of a rider, and is highly convenient in narrow places. A omni-directional one-wheeled vehicle comprises a vehicle body () and a secondary wheel () configured to contact a ground surface at a point displaced from a contact point of a driven road wheel ().

Omni-directional vehicle

Provided is an inverted pendulum mobile vehicle such as a single-passenger coaxial two-wheel vehicle which is capable of turning with a small turning radius without causing discomfort to a rider or a vehicle occupant or causing a cargo or the like on the vehicle from shifting or falling off from the vehicle. The vehicle comprises a wheel supporting frame (), a body frame () supported by the wheel supporting frame so as to be rotatable around a vertical axial line and carry a rider and or a cargo and a body coupler () that couples the body frame relative to the wheel supporting frame in a prescribed dynamic positional relationship. Thereby, even when the wheel supporting frame undergoes a rapid yaw movement either while traveling in a fore-and-aft direction or remaining stationary, the body frame that carries a vehicle occupant or a cargo is allowed to follow the yaw movement of the wheel supporting frame at a slower angular speed and/or acceleration/deceleration so that the vehicle occupant is prevented from experiencing discomfort and the cargo is prevented from shifting on the body frame or falling off from the vehicle.

Inverted pendulum mobile vehicle

A femoral support member () comprises a stiff frame () made of an elongated rectangular plate member curved so as to extend along an outer side and front of a femoral part of a wearer and a flexible belt () extending along a rear of the femoral part. The femoral support member allows a walking assistance force to be transmitted to the femoral part of the wearer in a favorable manner. Also, the pressure and stress on the wearer are minimized, and a favorable fit can be achieved.

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Wako, Japan

Taiji Koyama