CARGO TWO-WHEELER

Abstract

A cargo bicycle for transporting a load via a rider. The cargo bicycle includes a front wheel, a rear wheel, a load bed arranged between the front wheel and the rear wheel, a rider seat; and a crank to facilitate the driving of the cargo bicycle by the rider, the crank having, in a longitudinal direction of the cargo bicycle, a crank axis arranged in substantially a same longitudinal position as a rear wheel axis of the rear wheel and away from the load bed.

Claims

1. A cargo bicycle for transporting a load via a rider, the cargo bicycle comprising: a front wheel; a rear wheel; a load bed arranged between the front wheel and the rear wheel; a rider seat; and a crank to facilitate the driving of the cargo bicycle by the rider, the crank having, in a longitudinal direction of the cargo bicycle, a crank axis arranged in substantially a same longitudinal position as a rear wheel axis of the rear wheel and away from the load bed.

2. The cargo bicycle of claim 1, wherein the rider seat is arranged, in the longitudinal direction of the cargo bicycle, behind the rear wheel axis and away from the load bed.

3. The cargo bicycle of claim 1, wherein: the crank axis is arranged, in the vertical direction of the cargo bicycle, in substantially a same height position as the rear wheel axis, and the crank axis coincides with the rear wheel axis.

4. The cargo bicycle of claim 1, wherein the cargo bicycle is operable between a scooter mode in which the rider seat and the crank are in a non-use position, and a bicycle mode in which the rider seat and the crank are in a use position.

5. The cargo bicycle of claim 4, wherein the crank is reconfigurable to form a standing platform operable for use in the scooter mode and the bicycle mode.

6. The cargo bicycle of claim 5, wherein the standing platform: in scooter mode comprises a pair of crank halves at a crank point that are oriented to form an angle of 0 degrees with respect to each other, and in bicycle mode the crank halves are oriented in opposite directions to form an angle of 180 degrees with respect to each other.

7. The cargo bicycle of claim 1, further comprising: an electrical drive, and a drive battery operable to apply electrical energy to the electrical drive, the drive battery being arranged adjacent to the front wheel so that the center of gravity of the drive battery is oriented in front of a center point of the load bed in the longitudinal direction of the cargo bicycle.

8. The cargo bicycle of claim 1, further comprising an omnidirectional load wheel moveable between a non-use position and a use position.

9. The cargo bicycle of claim 8, further comprising a control unit operable to cause movement of the omnidirectional load wheel between the non-use position and the use position in an automated manner.

10. The cargo bicycle of claim 8, further comprising a control unit operable to cause movement of the omnidirectional load wheel between the non-use position and the use position in an automated manner in response to the load on the load bed, and/or a front wheel tire pressure, and/or a rear wheel tire pressure, and/or a speed of the cargo bicycle.

11. The cargo bicycle of claim 8, further comprising: an electrical drive, and a control unit operable to cause driving of the cargo bicycler autonomously via the electrical drive and via the omnidirectional load wheel in the use position.

12. The cargo bicycle of claim 1, further comprising a control unit operable to facilitate loading and unloading of the load bed via an automated braking operation and/or by balancing out the cargo bicycle via automated movement of the omnidirectional load wheel in the use position.

13. A cargo bicycle for transporting a load via a rider, the cargo bicycle comprising: a front wheel; a rear wheel; one or more omnidirectional load wheels arranged on at least one side of the front wheel for movement between a non-use position and a use position; a load bed arranged between the front wheel and the rear wheel; a rider seat; a crank to facilitate the rider driving the cargo bicycle, the crank having, in a longitudinal direction of the cargo bicycle, a crank axis arranged in a longitudinal position behind a rear wheel axis of the rear wheel and away from the load bed.

14. The cargo bicycle of claim 13, further comprising: an electrical drive, and a drive battery operable to apply electrical energy to the electrical drive, the drive battery being arranged adjacent to the front wheel so that the center of gravity of the drive battery is oriented in front of a center point of the load bed in the longitudinal direction of the cargo bicycle.

15. The cargo bicycle of claim 14, further comprising a control unit operable to cause driving of the cargo bicycler autonomously via the electrical drive and via the one or more omnidirectional load wheels in the use position.

16. The cargo bicycle of claim 13, further comprising a control unit operable to cause movement of the one or more omnidirectional load wheels between the non-use position and the use position in an automated manner.

17. The cargo bicycle of claim 13, further comprising a control unit operable to cause movement of the one or more omnidirectional load wheels between the non-use position and the use position in an automated manner in response to the load on the load bed, and/or a front wheel tire pressure, and/or a rear wheel tire pressure, and/or a speed of the cargo bicycle.

18. The cargo bicycle of claim 13, further comprising a control unit operable to facilitate loading and unloading of the load bed via an automated braking operation and/or by balancing out the cargo bicycle via automated movement of the one or more omnidirectional load wheels in the use position.

19. The cargo bicycle of claim 13, wherein the cargo bicycle is operable between a scooter mode in which the rider seat and the crank are in a non-use position, and a bicycle mode in which the rider seat and the crank are in a use position.

20. A cargo bicycle for transporting a load via a rider, the cargo bicycle comprising: a front wheel; a rear wheel; a load bed arranged between the front wheel and the rear wheel; a rider seat; a crank to facilitate the rider driving the cargo bicycle, the crank having, in a longitudinal direction of the cargo bicycle, a crank axis arranged in a longitudinal position behind a rear wheel axis of the rear wheel and away from the load bed.

Description

DRAWINGS

[0024] One or more embodiments of this disclosure will be illustrated by way of example in the drawings and explained in the description hereinbelow.

[0025] FIG. 1 is a side view of a cargo bicycle driven by a rider operating the cargo bicycle in bicycle mode, in accordance with one or more embodiments.

[0026] FIG. 2 is a side view of the cargo bicycle of FIG. 1 in scooter mode.

[0027] FIG. 3 is a top view of the cargo bicycle of FIG. 2 in scooter mode.

[0028] FIG. 4 is a side view of a cargo bicycle driven by a rider operating the cargo bicycle in bicycle mode, in accordance with one or more embodiments.

DESCRIPTION

[0029] FIG. 1 through 3 show a cargo bicycle for transporting a load via a rider 10, in accordance with an embodiment. The cargo bicycle comprises a front wheel 1 and a rear wheel 2, and is thus, a bicycle. A load bed 3, which also comprises side walls in the illustrated embodiment, is arranged between the front wheel 1 and the rear wheel 2.

[0030] The cargo bicycle comprises a rider seat 4 which is situated behind the axis of the rear wheel 2, i.e., further away from the load bed 3 than the axis of the rear wheel 2, in the longitudinal direction of the cargo bicycle.

[0031] The cargo bicycle comprises a handlebar 9, which is situated in the vicinity of the rear wheel 2 in the longitudinal direction, for example, over the load bed 3 and/or between the load bed 3 and the axis of the rear wheel 2, preferably approximately in the region of the front end of the rear wheel 2 as shown in FIG. 1.

[0032] The cargo bicycle can be driven by the rider 10 via a crank 5, wherein the axis of the crank 5 is situated in the same longitudinal position as the axis of the rear wheel 2 in the longitudinal direction of the cargo bicycle. The axis of the crank 5 is also situated in the same height position as the axis of the rear wheel 2 in the vertical direction, so that the axis of the crank 5 coincides with the axis of the rear wheel 2.

[0033] The cargo bicycle is shown in FIGS. 1 and 4 in a bicycle mode in which the rider seat 4 and the crank 5 are in a use position.

[0034] The cargo bicycle is shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 in a scooter mode in which the rider seat 4 and the crank 5 are in a non-use position. In particular, the rider seat 4 is removed here. The crank 5 is reconfigured to form a standing aid 6 so that the rider 10 can stand with at least one leg on the standing aid 6. More precisely, in this case both crank halves form standing aids 6, which would be usable for one foot each, so that the standing aid 6 is usable on both sides of the cargo bicycle.

[0035] The standing aid 6 in scooter mode is formed in that both crank halves of the crank 5 point in the same direction, i.e., form an angle of 0 degrees with one another, whereas in bicycle mode (FIGS. 1 and 4) the two crank halves point in opposite directions, i.e., form an angle of 180 degrees with one another.

[0036] As shown in FIG. 4, the cargo bicycle can have a drive battery 7 for applying an electrical energy for an electrical drive, wherein the drive battery 7 is arranged close to the front wheel 1, so that the center of gravity of the drive battery 7 is situated in front of the center point of the load bed 3 in the longitudinal direction of the cargo bicycle.

[0037] The cargo bicycle of FIG. 4 has one or more load wheels 8 in addition to the front wheel 1 and the rear wheel 2. The one or more load wheels 8 are preferably omnidirectional wheels arranged on the left side and/or right side of the front wheel 1, preferably on the left side and right side. The one or more load wheels 8 can optionally be moved from a non-use position into a use position. For example, the one or more load wheels 8 can be moved from a non-use position into a use position in an automated manner by a control unit, in particular extended such that it touches the road surface, depending, for example, on the weight on the load bed 3 and/or the tire pressure of the front wheel 1 and/or the rear wheel 2 and/or the speed of travel of the cargo bicycle.

[0038] The cargo bicycle can have a control unit which is configured to drive autonomously without a rider on the cargo bicycle via electrical drive and via the one or more load wheels 8 in the use position, in particular in a following mode and/or in an autonomous driving mode.

[0039] The cargo bicycle can have a control unit which is configured to simplify a process of loading/unloading the load bed 3 via an automated braking operation and/or by balancing out the cargo bicycle via the one or more load wheels 8 in the use position.

LIST OF REFERENCE SIGNS

[0040] 1 Front wheel

[0041] 2 Rear wheel

[0042] 3 Load bed

[0043] 4 Rider seat

[0044] 5 Crank

[0045] 6 Standing aid

[0046] 7 Drive battery

[0047] 8 Load wheel(s)

[0048] 9 Handlebar

[0049] 10 Rider