Electric Transportation Company

Phase Iii, Inc.

Montecito Research

Warren E Dennis

James R Ligman

Thomas M Ligman

A motion simulation chair incorporates a base providing elevated attachment points for a number of support cables. A seat support is carried within the base and engages a seat for an occupant at a top end. The seat support has companion attachment points for the support cables at a bottom end. A control system incorporates a forward vertical control element constrained for three axis motion about a control point. A horizontal control element displaced upward from the control point and extending rearward from the forward vertical control element, engages the seat support. A control stick operated by the user imparts motion to the forward vertical control element about the control point. Moving the horizontal control element alters the suspension angles of the cables providing a corresponding tilt of the seat support and seat for realistic simulation of motion resulting from inputs to a computer game by the control stick.

Motion simulation chair

Electric scooter

An electric drive assembly for driving a bicycle includes an electric power pack containing a battery or batteries, an electric motor, a drive wheel, a control circuit, a recharger and an electric switch in a common housing. A rack is installed about the rear wheel of the bicycle to support the power pack either with an operating orientation or backwards in a non-operating orientation for transportation. When the power pack is supported in its operating orientation, the drive wheel is engaged with the rear tire of the bicycle so that the drive wheel may frictionally drive the rear wheel of the bicycle; and the electric switch is aligned with and engagable by a switch actuator mounted on the rack. A control lever, which is mounted on the handlebar of the bicycle, may be operated to cause a control cable to pivot the switch actuator into engagement with the electric switch to close the circuit between the battery or batteries and the electric motor. A lid on the rack may be pivoted to an open position permitting the power pack to be lowered into the rack and may be pivoted to a closed position to engage the top wall of the power pack housing to retain a power pack in the rack. The power pack may be installed or removed quickly without the use of tools.

Electric drive assembly for bicycles

A control system for a multiphase induction motor includes microcontroller control means providing a variable frequency signal and deriving high side/low side phase signals from the variable frequency signal. Power is applied from an AC/DC converter to the motor by an output drive bridge with three pairs of high side/low side semiconductor switches, one pair for each phase. The high side and low side phase signals are applied through high side/low side driver means to control the switches and effectively apply a quasi-square waveform to the motor windings. The motor and the control system electronics are protected from excessive current levels by current sensing means. When the current exceeds a predetermined level, the microcontroller limits the power drawn by the motor by ramping down the variable frequency to lower the speed of the motor. In case the motor or control electronics overheat, a temperature sensor is monitored by the microcontroller to shutdown the motor. When the motor is started, current inrush is avoided by modulating the phase signals during a start up period. The duty cycle of the modulation is gradually increased in steps until a duty cycle of 100% is reached at the end of the starting period. The voltage level applied to the motor may be reduced. In one embodiment, a voltage controller generates a pulse of fixed width which controls the duty cycle of the converter to lower the voltage level to a particular voltage level when enabled by an enabling signal from the microcontroller. In a second embodiment, a binary signal from the microcontroller to the voltage controller selects a particular pulse width to select the voltage level applied to the motor when enabled by the enabling signal.

Growing community of inventors

Santa Barbara, CA, United States of America

Warren E Dennis