Honda Giken Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha

Yoshito Hamasaki

Tadashi Hanaoka

Yasuto Shigematsu

Masaru Katayama

Yoshimitsu Ishida

Akira Iwasaki

Hiroaki Sue

A vehicle capable of turning a vehicle body with a relatively small turning radius and with a good operability in a turning operation. One of front and rear pairs of left and right wheels, to which a running torque produced by a vehicle driving source is not transmitted, is arranged for rotation concerning respective axes perpendicular to the ground. For turning the vehicle body, the one pair of left and right wheels are fixed at angular positions along tangential directions of an arc which passes the axes perpendicular to the ground of the one pair of left and right wheels. At these angular positions, a rotating torque is applied to the one pair of left and right wheels to turn the vehicle body substantially about the center point of the rotating axle for running the vehicle of the other pair of left and right wheels.

Vehicle equipped with turning mechanism

A four-wheel vehicle equipped with a space saving, relatively simple turning mechanism capable of turning a vehicle body with a sufficiently reduced turning radius. One of front and rear pairs of left and right wheels, to which a running torque produced by a driving force is not transmitted, are arranged for rotation concerning respective axes perpendicular to the ground. For turning the vehicle body, the one pair of left and right wheels are fixed at respective angular positions along tangential directions of an arc which passes the axes perpendicular to the ground of the one pair of left and right wheels and has the center near the center point of a rotating axle for running the vehicle of the other pair of left and right wheels. At these angular positions, rotating torques in different rotating directions from each other are applied to the other pair of left and right wheels, respectively, to turn the vehicle body on a neighborhood of the center point of the rotating axle for running the vehicle of the other pair of left and right wheels.

An impact energy absorbing mechanism for a steering device of a motor vehicle includes guides each having a generally U-shaped guide surface. Each guide is mounted to a steering column which is movable in the axial direction when the operator's body is thrown out onto a steering wheel due a collision of the vehicle. A retaining portion is provided integrally with the guide and at a predetermined distance from the guide surface. An absorbing plate is fixed at one end to the vehicle body and left free at the other end. The free end of the absorbing plate is inserted and retained in a gap defined between the guide surface and retaining portion of the guide, so that the absorbing plate is held in a generally U-shaped bent position along the guide surface. When the guide is moved together with the steering column, the bent portion of the absorbing plate is sequentially shifted while maintaining the shape which is defined by the guide, thereby absorbing impact energy.

Growing community of inventors

Wako, Japan

Yoshito Hamasaki