A wheel support bearing assembly includes a wheel support bearing and a power unit. The power unit is that of an outer rotor design in which a stator is located at an outer periphery of the wheel support bearing and a rotor is located radially outward of the stator. A radial extension of the entire power unit is sized to be radially inward of a peripheral section of a brake rotor. An entirety of the power unit, excluding a mount part thereof to a hub flange, is sized to be situated in an axial range between the hub flange and a mount surface, on an inboard side of the wheel support bearing. The rotor includes an outer shell magnetic body, which is made from soft magnetic material and forms an outer shell of the power unit, and permanent magnets that are provided to the outer shell magnetic body.

A suspended undercarriage assembly connectable to a multi-member frame assembly of a track system includes a beam having a leading portion and a trailing portion, at least one support wheel assembly connectable to the beam, at least one of a leading resilient bushing assembly and a trailing resilient bushing assembly including a bushing having an opening defined therein and being shaped and dimensioned for promoting deformation of the bushing in at least one of a vertical direction and a lateral direction. The bushing is resiliently deformable to permit movement of the beam relative to the multi-member frame assembly in the vertical direction and in the lateral direction, and to resiliently bias the beam towards a rest position with respect to the multi-member frame assembly. A track system having the suspended undercarriage assembly is also provided.

An axle assembly for a vehicle. A movable housing is movably positioned within a closed channel defined by a central housing. The movable housing moves the axle assembly between a retracted configuration and an extended configuration. A mounting assembly may be coupled to and spaced from the movable housing and slidably positioned adjacent the central housing. A steering actuator is coupled to a steering arm and the mounting assembly such that the steering actuator moves as a unit. A track assist bracket may be fixedly coupled to the central housing and define a gap sized to slidably receive a mounting plate of the mounting assembly. A bushing may be disposed on each wall of a telescoping portion of the movable housing. A bellows may be provided to enclose exposed portions of the bushings in the extended configuration. Methods of adjusting the track of the axle assembly are also disclosed.

An expandable wheel (100) assembly attached to a vehicle includes a circular rim disc (200) operable to receive a plurality of drive members (300) about its circumference. The drive members (300) are pivotally connected to the rim disc (200) and expand outward from the rim disc (200) via sliding levers (500) when a rotational force is applied to the rim disc (200). As a result, the drive members (300) increase the ground clearance and enhance the ability for the vehicle to negotiate variable terrain while also increasing the top velocity of the vehicle. The expandable wheel (100) assembly contracts to a circumferential closed position when the rotational force is removed.

A vehicle wheel includes two annular rim members, at least one annular flange member disposed between the two rim members, a securing member that secures relative positional relationship between adjacent members among the two rim members and the at least one flange member, a plurality of body springs that each connects adjacent members among the two rim members and the at least one flange member, and a plurality of linking springs linked to the plurality of body springs so as to restrict relative displacement between the plurality of body springs. At least part of each body spring in a width direction of the vehicle wheel protrudes further to an outer side in a radial direction of the vehicle wheel than the rim members and the flange member, and the plurality of body springs is provided at intervals over an entire circumferential direction of the vehicle wheel.

A bicycle freewheel assembly is provided which is capable of being readily and reversibly switched from fixed-gear to freewheel operation, without the necessity of removing the wheel from the bicycle. The freewheel assembly is mountable on pre-existing freewheel hubs.

Aspects of the present disclosure relate to a sample collection assembly for a vehicle. The sample collection assembly includes a perforated ground-engaging member of the vehicle and an associated sample collector. For example, a perforated wheel may collect material from terrain under the vehicle as the wheel rotates (e.g., as may result from movement of the vehicle), which may fall through the perforation and into a sample collector disposed thereunder. In some examples, a ground-engaging member may include one or more grousers, paddles, or scoops, among other terrain interaction features, to further increase the amount of material that is collected. Such terrain interaction features may be unidirectional or bidirectional, thereby offering improved sample collection in one or both directions of operation, respectively. In examples, an image capture device or one or more other sensors may be used to monitor sample collection and/or to process data associated therewith.

Disclosed are a folding wheel and a portable appliance. The folding wheel includes: a wheel body, wherein the wheel body include two wheel plates that can be spliced with each other, and a notched area is formed therebetween when the two wheel plates are spliced with each other; a first connecting element disposed in the notched area; a first slide rail mechanism, at least part of which is disposed on the first connecting element, and remaining parts of which are disposed on respective wheel plates, wherein the first slide rail mechanism includes a first rail groove and a first rotating shaft inserted into the first rail groove, such that the two wheel plates can be spliced with or separated from each other along the first rail groove via the first rotating shaft, and can be flipped relative to the first connecting element via the first rotating shaft; the folding wheel is foldable, wherein when the two wheel plates are pulled away from each other, the two wheel plates slide away from each other along the first rail groove. The two wheels may be flipped, wherein when the two wheel plates are folded towards each other, the portable appliance with reduced folded size facilitates the user to pack or carry.

A vehicle includes a vehicle body, at least one wheel includes an annular tire that rotates to drive the vehicle body along a main driving direction, a wheel gear disposed on an inner surface of the tire, and an in-wheel actuator that is connected to the wheel gear and that rotates to rotate the tire, and positioning devices that are fixed to the vehicle body and that rotate the at least one wheel relative to the vehicle body to change positions of the at least one wheel relative to the vehicle body, the at least one wheel being coupled to at least one positioning device so as to be rotatable.

A vehicle includes a frame including a front frame part and a rear frame part. An elongated single wheel is rotatably connected to one of the front frame part and the rear frame part. The elongated wheel houses an expansion device including a linkage mechanism adapted to reconfigure a shape of the elongated wheel between a cylindrical shape in top view of the vehicle when the vehicle is traveling in a straight direction and a frustoconical shape in top view of the vehicle in a turning condition of the vehicle.