A Swing Arm Assembly For A Vehicle

Claims:We claim: 1. A swing arm assembly (100) for a straddle type vehicle, said vehicle comprising an electrical machine (106) and a corresponding gearbox unit (110) mounted to a wheel (108) of said vehicle, characterized in that, a swing arm (102) having a first end (1022) pivoted at a frame of said vehicle and a second end (1024) mounted to a housing (104) of at least one of said electrical machine (106) and said gearbox unit (110).

2. The swing arm assembly (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein said electric machine (106) is mounted to one side of said wheel (108) and said gearbox unit (110) is mounted to other side of said wheel (108).

3. The swing arm assembly (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein said wheel (108) is any one of a front wheel (108) and a rear wheel (108).

4. The swing arm assembly (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein said vehicle is any one selected from a group comprising a motorcycle, a scooter, a moped, an electric bicycle and the like.

5. The swing arm assembly (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein said vehicle is any one of a series hybrid vehicle, a parallel hybrid vehicle and an electric vehicle.

6. The swing arm assembly (100) as claimed in claim 1 is retrofit to existing vehicle frames.

, Description:Field of the invention:

[0001] The present invention relates to a swing arm assembly for a straddle type vehicle.

Background of the invention:

[0002] In a two wheeler vehicle with the motor mounted along the rear wheel axis, the motor and the gearbox are mounted on the same side of the wheel, wherein the motor needs an additional supporting structure for mounting. This leads to multiple disadvantages, for example, the additional structure used to mount the motor adds weight, and the motor and gearbox being on the same side induces problems with weight distribution.

[0003] According to a patent literature, IN/PCT/2000/145/CHE, a vehicle drive wheel assembly is provided. The patent literature relates to a scooter wheel driven by a motor housed in an end of a swing arm disposed opposite to an end, pivotably attached to the scooter body, in which a motor shaft is directly engaged to a transmission mounted within the wheel.

Brief description of the accompanying drawings:

[0004] An embodiment of the disclosure is described with reference to the following accompanying drawing,

[0005] Fig. 1 illustrates an exploded view of a swing arm assembly on a wheel, according to an embodiment of the present invention, and

[0006] Fig. 2 illustrates a front view of the swing arm assembly, according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Detailed description of the embodiments:

[0007] Fig. 1 illustrates an exploded view of a swing arm assembly on a wheel, according to an embodiment of the present invention. The swing arm assembly 100 is provided for a straddle type vehicle. The vehicle comprises an electrical machine 106 and a corresponding gearbox unit 110 mounted to the wheel 108 of the vehicle. A swing arm 102, 112 has a first end 1022, 1122 pivoted at a frame (not shown) of the vehicle and a second end 1024, 1124 mounted to a housing 104 of at least one of the electrical machine 106 and the gearbox unit 110. The housing 104 of the electrical machine 106 is mounted on the bearing assembly (not shown). A rotor shaft of the electrical machine 106 passes through the wheel 108 and gets coupled to a gearbox unit 110 on the other side. Beside the gearbox unit 110, a brake unit 114 is shown comprising disc mount, a caliper and disc itself.

[0008] In another embodiment, two swing arms 102, 112 are used with respective first end 1022, 1122 and the second end 1024, 1124 mounted to the vehicle frame and housing 104.

[0009] In accordance to an embodiment of the present invention, the wheel 108 is any of a front wheel 108 and a rear wheel 108.

[0010] The vehicle is any one selected from a group comprising a motorcycle, a scooter, a moped, an electric bicycle and the like. Further, the vehicle is any one of a series hybrid vehicle, a parallel hybrid vehicle, an electric vehicle and the like.

[0011] Fig. 2 illustrates a front view of the swing arm assembly, according to an embodiment of the present invention. The swing arm 102 is connected/mounted to the housing 106 of the electrical machine 104 and the second swing arm 112 is shown mounted to the housing 106 of the gearbox unit 112.

[0012] The swing arm assembly 100 is retrofit to existing vehicle frames.

[0013] In accordance to an embodiment of the present invention, the swing arm assembly 100 comprises of at least one swing arm 102, 112.

[0014] In accordance to the present invention, the swing arm assembly 100 uses the electrical machine housing 104 as a load bearing member. The electrical machine 106 which is an electric motor is mounted along the axis of the rear wheel 108 of the vehicle on one side, while the gearbox unit 110 is mounted on the other side. Alternatively, the electric machine is offset from the axis of the wheel 108. The gearbox unit 110 is either a single-stage or a multi-stage unit. Further, the gearbox unit 110 uses a planetary gear system or non-planetary gear system. The load of the vehicle and of the road (due to uneven surface such as hump, potholes, ice, gravel, etc.) is distributed across the housing 104, the swing arm 102 which is mounted to the housing 104 on one end 1024, and to the vehicle frame/chassis on the other end 1022. The gearbox unit 110 too is mounted between the wheel 108 and the other swing arm 112. The load is transferred/distributed across the gearbox unit 110 and to the swing arm 112. A suspension for the vehicle 100 could be a monoshock or a dual shock system. The entire swing arm assembly 100 is possible to be retrofit to any existing chassis of a two wheeler or straddle type vehicles. The electrical machine 106 is powered by a battery.

[0015] In accordance to another embodiment, the electrical machine 104 and the gearbox unit 110 are mounted to the same side of the wheel 108.

[0016] The gearbox unit 110 and the electrical machine 106 being mounted on the opposite sides of the wheel 108 helps distribute weight evenly on both sides of the wheel 108. As, the housing 104 used as a load bearing member, the need for an additional mounting structure is eliminated. This helps in weight reduction, also making the wheel 108 assembly compact. Moreover, the swing arm assembly 100 can be retro-fit onto a chassis of any two wheeler or straddle type vehicles, irrespective of the size of the electrical machine 106 and the wheel 108.

[0017] It should be understood that embodiments explained in the description above are only illustrative and do not limit the scope of this invention. Many such embodiments and other modifications and changes in the embodiment explained in the description are envisaged. The scope of the invention is only limited by the scope of the claims.