PREAMBLE TO THE DESCRIPTION
The following specification particularly describes the invention and the manner in which it is to be performed.
FIELD OF INVENTION
The present invention is related to the design and development of a dual control clutch of a vehicle for the people with disability which helps them to drive the vehicle comfortably. This inventon is intended to provide a mobility solution by modifying the manual transmission vehicles (manual control of gear and clutch) so that people with disability can also drive the vehicle. A device named “Dual Clutch Control” is 10 developed which has two points control of clutch by hand instead of leg so that the driver (person with one leg disability) can steer with both the hands and can control clutch with one hand (left/right hand with the left/right hand drive cars) at same time. One of the controls for clutch is provided at the gear lever which can be used while shifting the gear and another one with the steering column which can be used in 15 traffic for controlling the vehicle as required for synchonizing the speed during speed breakers, heavy and slow moving trafic and emergency conditions. One special part has been desinged inorder to realize both the controlling operations of the clutch simulteneously, named as “Force Tuner”. Using the given invention, disabled peoples can become able to drive the vehicles easily.
BACK GROUND OF INVENTION
Today there is a high percentage of people have their own vehicle to travel from one place to another. But there are many people in the society who are disabled and not able to drive the vehicles easily. For such disabled peoples, several modifications have been done in the vehicles but even though they are facing difficulties in driving. 5 There are many commercial manufacturers in the market who modify vehicles for people with double leg amputees. The vehicles with automatic gear control are available which do not require clutch operation but these vehicles with automatic gear control are very expensive and cannot be adapted to existing vehicles and manual gear control cars. 10
A common design for the manually actuated clutch incorporates a lever located on one side of the steering wheel. This system still requires use of one leg and hands to operate gears and steering which is difficult for disabled person.
The electronic actuated clutch has been gaining popularity over the manual for a one major reason it is simpler to operate and requires less input. Such as Syncro Drive Clutch and Duck clutch by eLap. But these electronic clutch systems have limitations and it is not useful for the all types of disabled person as it provides single point control of clutch.
Hence to overcome limitations of the current clutch systems for disabled person we have designed and developed a dual control of clutch system for vehicle which can
be used by disabled people to drive the vehicles without any difficulty and with more safety.
OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION
The objective of the present invention is to design and develop a Four Wheeler (Car) driving assistant system with dual control of clutch for the disabled people which assist them to drive a vehicle without any difficulty.
Another objective of the present invention is to design and develop a Four Wheeler (Car) driving assistant system with dual clutch control for the disabled people which provides more safety to the driver.
Another objective of the present invention is to design and develop a Four Wheeler 10 (Car) driving assistant system with dual clutch control for the disabled people which requires less force for its operation.
Further objective of the present invention is to design and develop a Four Wheeler (Car) driving assistant system with dual clutch control for the disabled people which can be operated at more than one point as per the comfort of the driver.
Next objective of the present invention is to design and develop a Four Wheeler (Car) driving assistant system with dual clutch control for the disabled people which has less number of movable parts and has more stability.
Another objective of the present invention is to design and develop a Four Wheeler (Car) driving assistant system with dual clutch control for the disabled people which occupy less space in the vehicle.
Another objective of the present invention is to design and develop a Four Wheeler (Car) driving assistant system with dual clutch control for the disabled people which is 5 more reliable and this is achieved by designing a special part known as Force turner.
Next objective of the present invention is to design and develop a Four Wheeler (Car) driving assistant system with dual clutch control for the disabled people which have less cost compared to present systems available in the market.
Further objective of the present invention is to design and develop a Four Wheeler 10 (Car) driving assistant system with dual clutch control for the disabled people which has less maintenance and has longer life.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWAING
The Wheeler (Car) driving assistant system with dual control of clutch for disabled (one leg disability) as per the preferred embodiment is herein described and 15 illustrated in the accompanying drawings where in,
Fig. 1 illustrates isometric view of assembly (engaged) with each part numbered part name is shown in below table
Pulley
Bearing
Fig. 2 illustrates isometric view of assembly with operating accessories with some extra parts as mentioned in below table.
Part no:
Part Name
Steel Wire
Fig. 3 illustrates exploded view of assembly wherein each part used in the 5 mechanism has been shown with its part number (part numbers are same as in Fig. 1). It gives clear representation of the parts used in the assembly.
Fig. 4 illustrates force tuner with its cover tightened with M5x25 nut and bolt. Thus when it is required to uninstall, the force tuner cover can be unfastened and force tuner can be removed easily.
Fig. 5 illustrates unengaged clutch without showing the wires, steering and gear lever.
DETAIL DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWAING 5
The 4 Wheeler (Car) driving assistant system with dual control of clutch for disabled (one leg disability) here in described with numerous specific details so as to provide a complete understanding of the invention. However these specific details are exemplary details and should not be treated as the limitation to the scope of the invention. Throughout this specification the word “comprise” or variations such as 10 “comprises or comprising”, will be understood to imply the inclusions of a stated element, integer or step, or group of elements, integers or steps, but not the exclusions of any other element, integer or step or group of elements, integers or steps.
The given system is developed for the driving assistance to the disabled people. The 15 system with Dual clutch control is developed which has two points control of clutch by hand instead of leg. One of the controls for clutch is provided at the gear lever which can be used while shifting the gear and another one with the steering column which can be used in traffic for controlling the vehicle as required for synchonizing the speed during speed breakers, heavy and slow moving trafic and emergency 20 conditions. One special part has been desinged inorder to realize both the controlling
operations of the clutch simulteneously, named as Force Tuner. The description of drawings is explained below.
Arrangement of main compomnents in the dual control clutch (figure 1 and figure 2) - The main components of the device comprises of Force Tuner, Roller, Pulleys and Bowden Cable. The iron frame 1 is made by square tubes of 1x1 inch. Part 12 is 5 clutch, mounted on the frame 1 and can freely rotate about the horizontal circular rod. The rod 8 is welded with the clutch near to the clutch pedal pad. The rod 8 is fixed in the inner bore of the bearing of the roller 9 so that the roller can eaisily rotate about the rod axis. The clutch is connected to the Force Tuner 11 with the help of rod 8 and roller 9. The roller 9 rolls and slides in the slot provided in the Force Tuner 11 so as to 10 compensate the difference in arc made by clutch 12 and force tuner 11 while rotating about their central axes respectively. The Force Tuner 11 rotates on the axis of bearing 10. The rod 9 is fixed on the inner bore of bearing 10 on one side and welded to square tube 7 on the other side. Thus the square tube 7 is supporting the Force Tuner 11. The roller 9 can slide in the slot provided in the Force Tuner 11. Force 15 Tuner 11 is provided with a steel wire 20 (refer figure 2) which is connecting it with pulley 13. The whole pulley system (containing 3 pullies, one rod and one bearing) arrangement is fixed on rod 2 and these three pullies rotate with this rod. The Force Turner is connected to pulley 13 by the steel wire 20 as shown in figure 2. The steel wire 20 wraps in pulley 13 when clutch is disengaged. The pulley 14 is connected to 20 handle 17 via Bowden cable 18 as illustrated in figure 2. The handle 17 is mounted
on gear lever with the help of brackets and bearing 19. The pulley 3 is connected to handle 16 via Bowden cable 15. The handle 16 is fixed on steering column.
DESCRIPTION OF MECHANISM
The Force Tuner 11 serves as the most essential part of assmbly. It provides mechanical advantage for the control of clutch so as to reduce the force required to 5 press the clutch pedal. The mechanical advantage is calculated as the ratio of output force to the input force.
Here, input force is the force required to press the clutch pedal which is around 200 newton [2]. Effort required to pull the force tuner is calculated by the moment balance equation. 10
……..(i)
Where, F = Force required to press clutch pedal; E = Effort required to pull the Force Tuner; e1 (Distance of rod 9 from axis of rotation of Force Tuner) = 10 cm; e2 (Distance of point where Effort is applied to axis of rotation of Force Tuner) = 20 cm. Now putting values in the Equation (i), we get effort as 15
Therefore mechanical advantage will be :
Thus mechanical advantage will help the driver to easily pull the handle with one hand only and hence there is less strain.
Working of mechanism: Pulling down the handle streches the bowden cable which in turn rotates the pulley 14 or pulley 3 depending upon which control has been 5 applied. The rotation of the pulley 3 makes the rod 2 to rotate. As the rod 2 starts rotating the pulley 13 wraps the steel wire 20 in its grooved circumference setting the force tuner 11 in motion. As Force tuner 11 rotates about the bearing 10 engaging roller 9 in motion.The roller 9 can slide in the slot provided in the force tuner 11 lever. As center of rotation of Force Tuner 11 and clutch 12 are different hence they make 10 different arcs. Therefor, roller slider mechanism is used to rotate both force tuner and clutch on different axes. When the force tuner 11 rotates, the roller 9 slides continously in the slot making the radius of force tuner 11 variable. Hence the roller 9 makes sure that the both clutch 12 and force tuner 11 make same arc. Thus mechanical advantage obtanied makes the clutch puch force to almost half of its 15 required force hence fulfilling the purpose of installing the force tuner 11. Hence clutch 12 depressed downward when force tuner is pulled. When the driver releases the handle, the clutch tends to move upward due to restoration force of spring and the clutch plate until it reaches its initial position. In this way the given device works and help disabled peaple to drive vehicle comfortably without any risk and any 20 difficulty.
DESCRIPTION OF CLUTCH CONTROLLING OPERATIONS
Control 1 using handle at the gear lever; The handle 17 provided at the gear lever is similar to the handle used for clutch in two wheelers. Bowden cable 18 is used to connect the pulley 3 and the handle 18 at the gear lever. The cable 18 is wrapped in 5 the grooved circumference of pulley 3 and has been provided tension so that movement of handle is completely transferred to the pulley 3. When the handle 17 at the gear lever is pressed it will pull the cable 18 with it. This pulling action will stretch the cable 18 and it will unwrap itself from pulley 3 making it to rotate. The rotation of pulley 3 will make the rod 2 to rotate which in turn will rotate the pulley 13. The pulley 10 13 which is now set in rotational motion will wrap the steel wire 20 around its grooved circumference. As soon as the steel wire 20 will start wrapping around pulley 13, it will set Force Tuner 11 in motion and make it to rotate around bearing 10. The rotation of Force Tuner 11 will set roller 9 in motion and push the clutch 12 downward making it to rotate and hence clutch will be unengaged and will remain in its position 15 until the driver releases the handle.
Now when the driver releases the handle 17 clutch 12 will tend to move to its original position due to the restoration force of torsion spring and clutch plate. Now the whole mechanism will be reversed. The clutch 12 will move upwards and make the Force tuner 11 to rotate anticlockwise, hence unwrapping the steel wire 20 from the pulley 20 13. The pulley 13 will now set in rotational motion and make the rod 2 to rotate,
12
making the pulley 3 to rotate in the reverse direction. Now pulley 3 will wrap the cable 18 around it and the position of the handle 17 will be restored.
Control 2 using handle at the steering column; There is a handle 16 provided under the steering column which is connected to the pulley 14 through another Bowden Cable 15. This Bowden cable is wrapped in the pulley 14 and has been provided 5 tension so that the movement is completely transferred to the pulley 14 when the handle 16 is pulled. When the driver pulls the handle the cable gets stretched. Due to the stretching action of cable it will pull itself from the pulley 14 making it to rotate and unwrap the cable from its circumference. The rotation of pulley 14 will rotate rod 2, hence setting the pulley 13 in motion. Now rotation of pulley 13 will make the steel 10 wire 20 (wire connecting pulley 13 and Force Tuner) to wrap in its circumference. The moment when steel wire start wrapping around pulley 13, it pulls the Force Tuner hence setting the roller 9 in motion. The Force Tuner begins to rotate about bearing 10 and pushes the clutch pedal downward hence disengaging it.
Now when the driver releases the handle 16 clutch will tend to move to its original 15 position due to the restoration force of torsion spring and clutch plate. Now the whole mechanism will be reversed. The clutch 12 will move upwards and make the Force tuner 11 to rotate anticlockwise, hence unwrapping the steel wire from the pulley 13. The pulley 13 will now set in rotational motion and make the rod 2 to rotate, making the pulley 3 to rotate in the reverse direction. Now pulley 3 will wrap the cable 15 20 around it and the position of the handle 16 will be restored.
13
Referring figure 4 illustrates force tuner with its cover tightened with M5x25 nut and bolt. Thus when it is required to uninstall, the force tuner cover can be unfastened and force tuner can be removed easily.
Referring figure 5 illustrates unengaged clutch without showing the wires, steering and gear lever where in; 5

CLAIMS
1. The given invention represents design and development of a four wheeler driving assistant system with dual clutch control which assists disabled person to drive the vehicle without any difficulty. This specially designed system is mainly consists of force tuner with its cover tightened with M5x25 nut and bolt, iron frame, clutch 5 which is mounted on iron frame, horizontal circular rod which is welded with the clutch, roller with inner bearing, a square tube which supports the force turner, pulleys, steel wire which connects force turner with pulleys, bowden cable and a handle which is mounted on gear lever.
2. Four Wheeler driving assistant system for disabled with dual clutch control as 10 claimed in claim 1, uses force turner which maintains the mechanical advantage with the clutch and reduces the effort for application of clutch.
3. Four Wheeler driving assistant system for disabled with dual clutch control as claimed in claim 1, in the 4 Wheeler driving assistant system for disabled with dual clutch control, among two clutch control points one is installed at the gear lever 15 and other at the steering column and it can be installed at any location accessible by the driving person as per the comfort and type of disability.
4. Four Wheeler driving assistant system for disabled with dual clutch control as claimed in claim 1, consists of a iron frame made by square tubes of 1x1 inch which supports all the parts like clutch mounted on it. This frame can also be 20 made up of high grade steel.
15
5. Four Wheeler driving assistant system for disabled with dual clutch control as claimed in claim 1, have clutch mounted on frame and welded with a horizontal circular rod near clutch pedal pad which freely rotates about the rod as per the operation by the driver.
6. Four Wheeler driving assistant system for disabled with dual clutch control as 5 claimed in claim 1, in the 4 Wheeler driving assistant system for disabled with dual clutch control, the clutch is connected to the force turner with the help of rod and a roller which rolls and slides in the force turner slot with the help of bearing. The bearing can be varies as per the requirement of sustainable force of rotation.
7. Four Wheeler driving assistant system for disabled with dual control of clutch as 10 claimed in claim 1, uses the mechanical linkages with cables for the operation of system. These can be operated using the electronic controls and sensors also.
8. Four Wheeler driving assistant system for disabled with dual clutch control as claimed in claim 1, in the 4 Wheeler driving assistant system for disabled with dual clutch control, the force turner is connected to pulleys by a steel wire which wraps 15 and unwraps on the pulleys when clutch engages and disengages. This steel wire can be of any size as per the strength requirement of wire to operate the clutch.
9. Four Wheeler driving assistant system for disabled with dual clutch control as claimed in claim 1 where in it consists of a Bowden cable which connects the pulley with the handle which is fixed on steering column and gear lever. 20
10. Four Wheeler driving assistant system for disabled with dual clutch control as claimed in claim 1 where in; the force turner lever can be manufactured in several sizes as per requirement.