357results about "Off-road vehicles" patented technology

A recreational off-highway vehicle includes side-by-side passenger and driver seats held within a chassis that is approximately 50 inches wide. The seats sit low in the chassis and are covered by a roll cage. Grab handles are positioned on the sides of the passenger seat. Select large round tubing protects the vehicle, while rectangular tubing frames the portions of the vehicle beneath body panels. The vehicle is powered by an engine rearward of the seats that is connected to a transaxle. The engine and transaxle are isolation mounted together with a portion of the air intake assembly. The vehicle is suited for rough terrain travel.

A vehicle speed control system for a vehicle having a plurality of wheels, the vehicle speed control system comprising one or more electronic control units configured to carry out a method that includes applying torque to at least one of the plurality of wheels, detecting a slip event between any one or more of the wheels and the ground over which the vehicle is travelling when the vehicle is in motion and providing a slip detection output signal in the event thereof. The method carried out by the one or more electronic control units further includes receiving a user input of a target speed at which the vehicle is intended to travel and maintaining the vehicle at the target speed independently of the slip detection output signal by adjusting the amount of torque applied to the at least one of the plurality of wheels.

An axle assembly includes a first and a second electric motor which drive a gearbox assembly substantially therebetween. The electric motors drive the gearbox assembly which drives the vehicle wheels through a first and second axle shaft located along a first axis. The electric motors are located along axes which are substantially transverse to the first axis. The electric motors drive the gearbox assembly which includes a first stage gear reduction, a second stage gear reduction and a third stage gear reduction. A relatively lightweight and compact axle assembly is thereby provided which will benefit from an electric motor of reduced size.

A shear band that may be used as part of a structurally supported wheel is provided. More particularly, a shear band constructed from resilient, cylindrical elements attached between inextensible members is described. In certain embodiments, the shear band may be constructed entirely or substantially without elastomeric or polymer-based materials. Multiple embodiments are available including various arrangements of the cylindrical elements between the members as well as differing geometries for the cylindrical elements.

A recreational off-highway vehicle includes side-by-side passenger and driver seats held within a chassis that is approximately 50 inches wide. The seats sit low in the chassis and are covered by a roll cage. Grab handles are positioned on the sides of the passenger seat. Select large round tubing protects the vehicle, while rectangular tubing frames the portions of the vehicle beneath body panels. The vehicle is powered by an engine rearward of the seats that is connected to a transaxle. The engine and transaxle are isolation mounted together with a portion of the air intake assembly. The vehicle is suited for rough terrain travel.

An all-terrain vehicle (ATV) equippable with a plurality of ground-engaging wheels or a plurality of ground-engaging track assemblies providing traction on the ground. The ATV is designed to facilitate its use whether it is equipped with the ground-engaging wheels or the ground-engaging track assemblies. A powertrain, a steering system, a suspension, a braking system, a body, and / or other components of the ATV have features which take into account that the ATV can be equipped with either the ground-engaging wheels or the ground-engaging track assemblies.

An adjustable mounting assembly capable of mounting an operator display interface to the ROPS of a work vehicle that has front and rear implements, such as the front loader and rear excavator of a backhoe. The adjustable mounting assembly can have a telescoping compound slide assembly with at least one movable rail and slider. The moveable rail and slider can translate to move a display mount linearly between the front or rear of the vehicle. A display bracket can rotate about a generally vertical axis. Detents or other positioning elements can be provided on the rails and slider as well as at preset angular orientations of the display mount. The adjustable mounting assembly thus allows the vehicle operator to readily adjust the display interface to be viewable when in the front and rear facing seating orientations of the vehicle.

An off-road vehicle includes a frame and four wheels that support the frame. Two seat assemblies are disposed side by side on the frame. The seat assemblies are separated from each other to define a space therebetween. An engine powers the wheels. The engine defines an air intake port that communicates with a combustion chamber. An air intake system delivers air to the intake port. At least a portion of the air intake system extends through the space.

An axle assembly includes a first and a second electric motor which drive a gearbox assembly substantially therebetween. The electric motors drive the gearbox assembly which drives the vehicle wheels through a first and second axle shaft located along a first axis. The electric motors are located along axes which are substantially transverse to the first axis. The electric motors drive the gearbox assembly which includes a first stage gear reduction, a second stage gear reduction and a third stage gear reduction. A relatively lightweight and compact axle assembly is thereby provided which will benefit from an electric motor of reduced size.

An all terrain vehicle has a cooling pump that is driven off a balancer shaft. The balancer shaft, in turn, is driven off a crankshaft. The cooling pump is preferably recessed inside of an outer surface of a crankcase cover member. Additionally, a lubricant pump is also driven off the balancer shaft and arranged inwardly from the cooling pump. The cooling pump is arranged to one side of the all terrain vehicle while a variable speed transmission is arranged to the other side of the all terrain vehicle.

An all terrain vehicle has a lubrication system that draws from an oil pan and lubricates the main bearings and the piston. A drive shaft for the vehicle is positioned outside of the oil pan such that the oil pan's lateral dimension may be decreased. Additionally, a lubricant pump pickup is located within a recess in the bottom of the oil pan such that the pick-up is at about the same vertical height as the lower surface of the crankcase. The vehicle is also shiftable from two-wheel drive to four-wheel drive. The shifting mechanism is located within the crankcase or transmission case. A locking collar selectively engages or disengages two of the four wheels from the output.

An all terrain vehicle comprises a frame supported by at least a left wheel and a right wheel. The left wheel and the right wheel being connected to said frame by a left suspension and a right suspension respectively. The independently suspended wheels preferably are drive wheels. The wheels are driven by an engine through a transmission. The transmission is connected to the left wheel by a left half shaft and to the right wheel by a right half shaft. Constant velocity couplings are used to coupling the half shafts to the respective wheels and to the transmission. The constant velocity couplings connecting the two half shafts to the transmission are joined in a single housing. The housing includes a body portion and a gear portion. The two portions can be integrally formed. A left cage and a right cage are mounted within a left axial bore and a right axial bore formed in the body portion. The cages are secured for rotation with the body portion but can move axially within the respective bores. The two half shafts similarly are secured for rotation with the cages. The half shafts can be connected to the cages with respective inner members. The two bores can be combined or separated by a dividing wall.

An all-terrain vehicle including: a first seat arranged on the vehicle; a second seat arranged behind the first seat; a first floor arranged in front of the first seat; a second floor arranged between the first seat and the second seat; an engine having at least a part arranged between the first floor and the second floor; and an exhaust pipe connected to the engine and having a first vertical pipe portion extending downward from a connecting portion to the engine and a horizontal pipe portion extending backward below the second floor.

An all-terrain vehicle includes a first seat arranged on the vehicle and a second seat arranged behind the first seat. The vehicle includes a first floor arranged in front of the first seat and a second floor arranged between the first seat and the second seat wherein an engine is at least partially arranged between the first floor and the second floor with an exhaust pipe connected to the engine and having a first vertical pipe portion extending downward from a connecting portion to the engine and a horizontal pipe portion extending backward below the second floor.

An off-road vehicle has a frame. A pair of front wheels and a pair of rear wheels support the frame. The frame supports at least two seats. An engine powers the off-road vehicle and has a crankshaft. A transmission has an output shaft driven by the crankshaft. The output shaft drives the front and rear wheels. Each seat has a front end, a rear end and a bottom end. The crankshaft is positioned between the output shaft and the rear wheels. The crankshaft and the output shaft are disposed between a generally vertically extending first plane including the front end of the seat and a generally vertically extending second plane including the rear end of the seat. The crankshaft and the output shaft also are disposed below a generally horizontally extending third plane.

An automatic transmission assembly having a transmission unit including a plurality of gear pairs, a shift drum, a pair of clutches; and a controller. The controller performs a preliminary upshifting action in advance for angularly moving the shift drum depending on a next gear position in an upshifting direction while rotary drive power is being maintained at a given gear position, and when an upshifting command is output, the controller engages one of the clutches simultaneously with the command. When a downshifting command is output, the controller performs a preliminary downshifting action in advance based on the downshifting command. The partially neutral positions are provided between predetermined angular positions on the shift drum for temporarily reducing the angular speed of the shift drum when the shift drum is being angularly rotated.

An all-terrain vehicle has a removable foot board arrangement. The foot boards are removably mounted to a mounting fixtures. The mounting fixtures are removably mounted to a set of corresponding mounting brackets. The mounting brackets are secured to the frame of the all-terrain vehicle. The foot boards extend outward beyond an outermost portion of the rims of the front wheels and serve as side guards.

An all terrain vehicle comprises a frame supported by at least a left wheel and a right wheel. The left wheel and the right wheel being connected to said frame by a left suspension and a right suspension respectively. The independently suspended wheels preferably are drive wheels. The wheels are driven by an engine through a transmission. The transmission is connected to the left wheel by a left half shaft and to the right wheel by a right half shaft. Constant velocity couplings are used to coupling the half shafts to the respective wheels and to the transmission. The constant velocity couplings connecting the two half shafts to the transmission are joined in a single housing. The housing includes a body portion and a gear portion. The two portions can be integrally formed. A left cage and a right cage are mounted within a left axial bore and a right axial bore formed in the body portion. The cages are secured for rotation with the body portion but can move axially within the respective bores. The two half shafts similarly are secured for rotation with the cages. The half shafts can be connected to the cages with respective inner members. The two bores can be combined or separated by a dividing wall.

Apparatuses, systems, and methods for increasing ground clearance of vehicles are shown and described. High clearance axles can provide increased ground clearance so that the vehicle can travel over large obstacles. When a vehicle is driven over rough terrain, the axles can maintain proper alignment of the wheels mounted to the axle. The disclosed embodiments can be installed by either original equipment manufactures or aftermarket.

A system and method for encouraging a user of a recreational vehicle to wear safety equipment is described. The helmet contains a microprocessor and sensors to determine if the helmet is worn. The helmet communicates with the vehicle and the vehicle either disables operation or allows limited operation if the helmet is not worn. On motorized vehicles, the motor operation is restricted. On human powered vehicles mechanical resistance may limit operation.

An off-road vehicle includes a frame and a plurality of wheels. An engine powers the wheels. An air intake system supplies air to the engine. The air intake system has an air inlet through which ambient air enters the intake system. The air inlet is positioned higher than the wheels. An air intake duct extends rearward to the engine from the air inlet. At least a portion of the air intake duct is positioned lower than the tops of the wheels.

The different illustrative embodiments provide a method, apparatus, and computer program product for generating alerts. Responsive to an occurrence of an event, a current gaze zone in a plurality of gaze zones associated with a current view of an operator is identified. A desired gaze zone in the plurality of gaze zones is identified for the event. The desired gaze zone contains a source location for the event. A determination is made whether the current gaze zone is inside the desired gaze zone. Responsive to a determination that the current gaze zone is outside the desired gaze zone, an alert is generated.

Embodiments of the invention provide a speed control system for a vehicle, comprising: means for automatically causing a vehicle to operate in accordance with a target speed value, means for receiving information relating to movement of at least a portion of a vehicle body or at feast a portion of a body of an occupant relative to a vehicle, and means for adjusting automatically the value of the target speed value in dependence on said information.

In an all terrain vehicle, an engine unit is at least partially disposed under a seat. An exhaust pipe includes a first portion, a second portion and a third portion. The first portion is connected to a rear surface of the engine unit, and extends rearward therefrom. The second portion is connected to the first portion, and has a U-shaped configuration. The third portion is connected to the second portion, and extends forward therefrom. A muffler is connected to the exhaust pipe. The muffler is arranged such that the first portion and the third portion at least partially overlap with an area located between two tangent lines of the muffler. The tangent lines of the muffler are perpendicular or substantially perpendicular to a tangent line shared by the first portion and the third portion.

A method for operating a speed control system of a vehicle having a plurality of wheels is provided. The method comprises receiving one or more electrical signals representative of vehicle-related information. The method further comprises determining, based on the one or more electrical signals representative of vehicle-related information, that one or more of the wheels of the vehicle have overcome an obstacle or are about to overcome an obstacle and that therefore a reduction in an applied drive torque to one or more of the wheels of the vehicle by a powertrain subsystem (applied drive torque) will be required to maintain the speed of the vehicle at a target set-speed of the speed control system. The method still further comprises automatically commanding the application of a retarding torque to one or more of the wheels of the vehicle to counteract the effect of an overrun condition in the powertrain subsystem from increasing the speed of the vehicle. A system for controlling the speed of a vehicle comprising an electronic control unit configured to perform the above- described methodology is also provided.

The power transmission system of an engine is mounted on an all-terrain vehicle and has a crankshaft driven by the engine and the crankshaft is arranged in such a way as to extend in a direction of width of a vehicle body. The rotation of the crankshaft is transmitted to a primary shaft via a centrifugal clutch. The primary shaft is provided with a primary pulley having a variable groove width and a secondary shaft is provided with a secondary pulley coupled to the primary pulley via a V belt and having a variable groove width. The rotation of the secondary shaft is transmitted to an output shaft via a forward / backward switching mechanism. The output shaft transmits engine power to an axle which is arranged parallel to the output shaft and is coupled to the driving wheels via gears.