초록 ▼

The steering assembly is applicable to a human-driven vehicle having a chassis (1) mounted on self-orienting wheels (2). The steering assembly comprises a steering unit (50b) with a steering wheel (4) installed on a mobile support and maintained out of contact with the ground by elastic means at an

The steering assembly is applicable to a human-driven vehicle having a chassis (1) mounted on self-orienting wheels (2). The steering assembly comprises a steering unit (50b) with a steering wheel (4) installed on a mobile support and maintained out of contact with the ground by elastic means at an end (1b) of the chassis (1), and a control unit (50a) with a command member (7) in another end of the chassis. The units are connected by transmission devices (19, 20, 21). The command member (7) is manually operable to lower the steering wheel (4) against the force of said elastic means and to make the steering wheel (4) rotate with respect to a substantially vertical shaft when the wheel (5) is in contact with the ground to steer the vehicle. The elastic means automatically lift the steering wheel (4) when the manual operation of the command member (7) ceases.

대표청구항 ▼

1. A steering assembly for a human-driven vehicle, said vehicle having a chassis (1) mounted on a plurality of freely rotating wheels, wherein at least two of said freely rotating wheels are self-orienting wheels (2) located in an end region of the chassis (1), said steering assembly comprising: a s

1. A steering assembly for a human-driven vehicle, said vehicle having a chassis (1) mounted on a plurality of freely rotating wheels, wherein at least two of said freely rotating wheels are self-orienting wheels (2) located in an end region of the chassis (1), said steering assembly comprising: a steering wheel (4) installed on a wheel support (5) in the same end region of the chassis (1) as at least two self-orienting wheels (2);a manually operable lowering mechanism for moving said wheel support (5) between a lifted position, in which said steering wheel (4) is out of contact with the ground, and a lowered position, in which the steering wheel (4) is in contact with the ground; anda manually operable steering mechanism for making the wheel support (5) and the steering wheel (4) rotate with respect to a steer shaft (12);first elastic means arranged to pull the wheel support (5) towards said lifted position;a common command member (7) for said lowering mechanism and said steering mechanism, which can be manually operated to move the wheel support (5) towards the lowered position against a force of exerted by said first elastic means and to rotate the wheel support (5) with respect to said steer shaft (12); anda first movement transmission device (19) arranged to transmit lowering movements from the command member (7) to the wheel support (5) and a second movement transmission devices (20, 21) is arranged to transmit steering movements from the command member (7) to the wheel support (5), characterized in thatsaid command member (7) is located in a first end region (1a) of the chassis (1) and the wheel support (5) with the steering wheel (4) is located in a second end region (1b) of the chassis (1) opposite to said first end region (1a);the lowering and steering mechanisms comprises a first part connected to said command member (7) in said first end region (1 a) of the chassis (1) and a second part connected to the wheel support (5) in said second end region (1b) of the chassis (1), and said first and second movement transmission devices (19, 20, 21) transmit movements from said first parts of the lowering and steering mechanisms connected to the command member (7) to said second parts of the lowering and steering mechanisms connected to the wheel support (5); andthe first parts of the lowering and steering mechanisms are integrated in a control unit (50a) configured to be fixed to a push member (3) connected to the chassis (1) or to the chassis (1) in a position adjacent to said push member (3) in the first end region (1a), and the wheel support (5) with the steering wheel (4) and the second parts of the lowering and steering mechanisms are integrated in a steering unit (50b) configured to be fixed to the chassis (1) in the second end region (1b). 2. The assembly according to claim 1, characterized in that: the command member (7) can be manually pivoted with respect to a substantially horizontal lowering control shaft (14, 14a, 14b) and with respect to a substantially vertical steering control shaft (13);the first part of the lowering mechanism integrated in the control unit (50a) is configured and arranged to transform a rotation of the command member (7) with respect to said lowering control shaft (14, 14a, 14b) into an axial movement of a cable (19a) of said first movement transmission device (19), and the second part of the lowering mechanism integrated in the steering unit (50b) is configured and arranged to transform said axial movement of said cable (19a) of the first movement transmission device (19) into a movement of the wheel support (5) towards said lowered position against the force of the first elastic means; andthe first part of the steering mechanism integrated in the control unit (50a) is configured and arranged to transform rotations of the command member (7) with respect to said steering control shaft (13) into axial movements of cables (20a, 21a) of said second movement transmission device (20, 21), and the second part of the steering mechanism integrated in the steering unit (50b) is configured and arranged to transform said axial movements of said cables (20a, 21a) of the second movement transmission device (20, 21) into rotations of the wheel support (5) with respect to said steer shaft (12) to thus vary the orientation of the steering wheel (4) and steer the vehicle. 3. The assembly according to claim 2, characterized in that the command member (7) comprises at least one elongated rigid body (35a, 35b) having a distal end with a grip (7a, 7b) and a proximal end fixed to a lowering control shaft (14a, 14b) which is substantially horizontal and substantially perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the elongated rigid body (35a, 35b), said lowering control shaft (14a, 14b) is supported on a steering control support (8) fixed to a substantially vertical steering control shaft (13) such that the lowering control shaft (14a, 14b) can rotate about said steering control support (8), said substantially vertical steering control shaft (13) being supported on a first base body (15) of the control unit (50a) such that the substantially vertical steering control shaft(13) can rotate about said first base body (15) and said first base body (15) is configured to be fixed to said, push member (3) or to the chassis (1). 4. The assembly according to claim 3, characterized in that said first part of the lowering mechanism comprises at least one first gear wheel sector (60a, 60b) fixed to the lowering control shaft (14a, 14b) and meshed with a rack (61a, 61b) fixed to a first end of said cable (19a) of the first movement transmission device (19), and said first part of the steering mechanism comprises a second gear wheel sector (62) fixed to the steering control shaft (13) and meshed with a pinion (63) fixed to an auxiliary shaft (64), and a pulley (65) fixed to said auxiliary shaft (64) and on which there are fixed first ends of the cables (20a, 21a) of the second movement transmission device (20, 21) are fixed to said pulley (65). 5. The assembly according to claim 2, characterized in that the command member (7) comprises an elongated rigid body (35) having opposite ends with a pair of grips (7a, 7b) and an intermediate portion fixed to a steering control support (8) mounted such that it can rotate with respect to a substantially vertical steering control shaft (13) supported in a lowering control support (9), said lowering control support (9) is mounted rotatable with respect to a lowering control shaft (14) which is substantially horizontal and substantially parallel to the longitudinal direction of the elongated rigid body (35), said lowering control shaft (14) is supported in a first base body (15) of the control unit (50a), and said first base body (15) is configured to be fixed to said push member (3) or to the chassis (1). 6. The assembly according to claim 5, characterized in that said first part of the lowering mechanism comprises at least one lowering lever (23) mounted to rotate with respect to a pin (24) supported on the first base body (15) of the control unit (50a), said lowering lever (23) has a portion linked to the lowering control support (9) to be moved and another portion connected to a first end of said cable (19a) of the first movement transmission device (19), and said first part of the steering mechanism comprises a steering lever (36) mounted to rotate with respect to a shaft (37) supported in the lowering control support (9) of the control unit (50a), wherein said steering lever (36) has a first gear wheel sector (38) concentric with said shaft (37) and meshed with a second gear wheel sector (39) formed in the steering control support (8) and concentric with the steering control shaft (13), and is connected to first ends of the cables (20a, 21a) of the second movement transmission device (20, 21). 7. The assembly according to claim 1, characterized in that said second part of the lowering mechanism comprises a rocker support (6) mounted pivotable with respect to a substantially horizontal rocking shaft (16) supported on a second base body (17) of the steering unit (50b) configured to be fixed to the chassis (1), said steer shaft (12) with respect to which the wheel support (5) can rotate is supported on said rocker support (6), and an articulated arm (28, 30) linked to said second base body (17) and to the rocker support (6) is connected to a second end of said cable (19a) of the first movement transmission device (19), and said second part of the steering mechanism comprises a pulley (34) mounted to rotate together with the wheel support (5) about the steer shaft (12), wherein said pulley (34) has fixed thereto second ends of the cables (20a, 21a) of the second movement transmission device (20, 21). 8. The assembly according to claim 7, characterized in that the first elastic means comprise at least one coil spring (10) arranged between the rocker support (6) and said second base body (17) of the steering unit (50b). 9. The assembly according to claim 1, characterized in that said second part of the lowering mechanism comprises a shaft support (40) supported in a second base body (17) of the steering unit (50b) configured to be fixed to the chassis (1), the steer shaft (12) to which the wheel support (5) is fixed is supported such that the wheel support can rotate and slide axially with respect to said shaft support (40) between the lifted and lowered positions, and a second end of said cable (19a) of the first movement transmission device (19) is connected to at least one cam (43) mounted in the second base body (17) and arranged to press the wheel support (5) towards the lowered position, and said second part of the steering mechanism comprises a pulley (34) mounted on the shaft support (40) such that the pulley (34) can rotate about but not slide in parallel to the steer shaft (12), and at least one drive rod (41) parallel to the steer shaft (12) is fixed to the wheel support (5) and slidingly inserted in a hole (42) formed in said pulley (34), wherein said pulley (34) has fixed thereto second ends of the cables (20a, 21a) of the second movement transmission device (20, 21) and wherein said drive rod (41) transmits the rotations of the pulley (34) to the wheel support (5). 10. The assembly according to claim 9, characterized in that the first elastic means comprise at least one coil spring (18) arranged around said drive rod (41) between a stop (41a) joined to the end of the drive rod (41) and the pulley (34). 11. The assembly according to claim 1, characterized in that said first and second movement transmission devices (19, 20, 21) comprise flexible cable and sheath assemblies (19a, 19b; 20a, 20b; 21a, 21b). 12. The assembly according to claim 1, characterized in that a coin-operated locking device (45) is operatively housed in a first base body (15) of said control unit (50a) to allow the immobilization of the vehicle with respect to another vehicle with a similar coin-operated locking device, or with respect to an anchoring point fixed in relation to the ground. 13. A kit to be incorporated to pre-existing vehicles comprising at least a steering assembly according to claim 1.