GB1190265A - Miniature Vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

1,190,265. Collapsible vehicles; motor vehicles. PORTACAR CO. Ltd. 14 April, 1967 [15 April, 1966], No. 16703/66. Headings B7B and B7H. A miniature vehicle, particularly adapted to transport one persion, comprises a unit 1 consisting of an assembly of a motor 2, a transmissions means, road wheels 7, 8, a braking system and a steering mechanism, a foot rest 17 mounted on the front of the unit and a driver's seat 20 on top of the unit to provide a driving position in which a driver sits with his legs over the front of the unit with his feet on the rest 17, the motor, other mechanical drive components and the steering mechanism and the controls therefor being provided below the level of the driver's seat. The foot rest 17 is pivoted to a pair of tubes 15 which are slidably mounted on the unit 1 to permit folding of the foot rest against the tubes 46 of the unit 1 and an extendible handle 18 is provided. The front wheels 8 or rear wheels are steerable through linkage (Fig. 3, not shown) by a handlebar 9 and at least one non-steerable wheel 7 is driven from the engine 2 through a centrifugal clutch 3 and a chain and sprocket drive 4, 5, 6. Alternatively the vehicle may have a single front or rear wheel and the motor may be an electric or other motor. The wheels may be sprung. A combined cover and bonnet 29 is hinged to the foot rest and acts as a cover for the unit when it is not in use and the foot rest is folded and acts a shield for a driver when raised. It as may have headlamps at the front and a windscreen 30 and dashboard 28 at the rear. In further modifications (Figs. 8, 9, not shown) the rear wheels are driven through individual slipping clutches.