Note : Les descriptions sont présentées dans la langue officielle dans laquelle elles ont été soumises.
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THREE-WHEELED MOTOR VEHICLE WITH HEADLIGHTS
The present invention relates to a -three-wheeled
vehicle, and more particularly to a small three-wheeled motor
vehicle driven by an engine for normal highwary operation.
One of the problems wi-th three-wheeled motor vehicles
is that its small size has prevented easy selection of headlight
positions that do not adversely effect the aerodynamics, light
weight and mechanical strength of the vehicle.
According to the preferred embodiment of the present
invention., there is a single rear wheel and -the front portion
of the vehicle body has front fenders on lateral sides thereof
covering the two front wheels and their axles. The front
fenders have recesses in front slanted surfaces thereof close
to the center of the vehicle body, and headlights are disposed
respectively in the recesses directly above the front wheel
axles.
The above and further objects, details and advantages
of the present invention will become more apparent from the
followi.ng detailed description of preferred embodiments
thereoE, when read in conjunction with the accompanying
drawings.
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a three-wheeled
motor vehicle according to the preferred embodiment of the
present invention;
FIG. ~ is a plan view of the three-wheeled motor
vehicle shown in FIG. l;
FIG. 3 is a side elevational view of the three-
wheeled motor vehicle shown in FIG. l;
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FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken along line
IV - IV of FIG. 2;
FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view taken along line
V - V of FIG. 3;
FIG. 6 is a fragmentary perspective view, partly
broken awary, of a driver's compartment, showing a control
mechanism for a transmission in the three-wheeled motor vehicle
shown in FIG. l;
FIG. 7 iS a plan view illustrative of an arrangement
of the control mechanism shown in FIG. 6; and
FIG. 8 is a side elevational view showing the control
mechanism of FIGS. 6 and 7.
FIG. 1 through 3 show the appearance of a three-
wheeled motor vehicle constructed in accordance with the
pre~erred embodiment of the present invention. The three-
wheeled motor ~ehicle comprises a vehicle body 1, a pair of
laterally spaced front wheels 2 rotatably suppor-ted on the
vehicle body 1, and a single rear wheel 3 rotatably supported
on the vehicle body 1, and a single rear wheel 3 rotatably
supported on the vehcile body 1 and spaced rearward from the
front wheels 2. The vehcile body 1 has a front engine room
4 and a rear compartment 5. The vehicle body 1 also includes
a pair of wide front fenders 6 projecting laterally from the
engine room 4 in opposite directions away from each other.
~s shown in FIG. 2, the Eront fenders 6 cover the front wheels
2 and front wheel axles 2a connected to the front wheels 2.
The front fenders 6 have recesses 6b in which headlights 7
are disposed, respectively, as illustrated in FIG. 4.
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The vehicle body 1 has a door 8 including a windshield
9. As shown in FIG. 5, the door 8 covers most of the left
side of the compartment 5, the entire upper side of the compartment
5, and the upper portion of the right side of the compartmen-t
5, and is hinged to the upper edge 10 of a righthand side
wall of the vehicle body.
A V-type two-cylinder engine 11 is disposed in the
engine room 4 with the crank shaft extending laterally to
the vehicle body 1. The englne ll is mounted on the vehicle
body 1 by an engine mount structure (not shown). The engine
11 includes a lower integral transmission case 31 having an
output drive shaft operatively coupled to the front wheels
2. Accordingly, the drive system of the illustrated three-
wheeled motor vehicle is of the front-engine front-drive type.
The headlight attachment construction is illustrated
in FIG. 4 as well as FIGS. 1 and 2. As shown, the spacing
between the front wheels 2 is selected to be considerably
wider than the engine room 4. As described above, the front
fenders 6 project laterally from the engine room 4 in covering
relation ~o the front wheels 2 and the axles 2a. The headlight
a~tachment is the same on both sides and thereEore only one
side will be described in detail. The recess 6b is defined
at the portion of the front slanted surface 6a of each fron~
fender 6 that cove~s the axle 2a and extends from a position
di.rectly above the axle 2a toward the front ed~e of the front
fend~r 6. The front fender 6 has an opening 6c in the rearmost
end of the recess 6b directly above the axle 2a, with the
headlight 7 disposed in the opening 6c. The recess 6b is
covered with transparent cover 12 having shape smoo-thly contiguous
to upper surface of the front fender 6.
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With the above construction, the recesses 6b in
which lenses of the headlights 7 are exposed are located in
portions of the front fenders 6 that are relatively close
to the center of the vehicle body 1 and cover the axles 2a
of the front wheels 2. The recesses 6b are offset axially
of the axles 2a from the front wheels 2, and hence it is not
necessary to raise the front fenders 6 with a view to avoi.ding
interference between the.recesses 6b and the front wheels
2. This fact, together with that the headlights 7 are placed
in the openings 6c in the rear ends of the recesses 6b and
below the outer profile of the slanted surfaces 6a of the
front fenders 6, makes it possible to reduce the aerodynamic
drag on the front fenders 6.
The headlights 7 are positioned directly above the
axles 2~ over which the height of the slanted surfaces 6a
is substantially at maximum. The height of the headlights
7 above ground can therefore be as large as possible in a
limited range to provide a relatively large angle of illumination
with respect to a road surface.
As shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, a gear shift spindle
38 projects from the lefthand side of the transmission case
31. A gear selection change or shift can be made in response
to rotation of the gear shift spindle 38. As can readily
be understood, a wide variety of engines with transmissions
for motorcycles are usable for the illustrated engine
construction.
As illustrated in FIGS. 5 and 6, the compartment
5 of the monoco~ue vehicle body 1 has a lefthand side sill
39 and a righthand side body member 40 of a relatively increased
height. The door 8 is of a gull-wing type hinged to an upper
edge 10 of the side body member 40 and extends laterally to
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le side sill 39 for covering the compartment 5. As shown
in FIGS. 6 and 7, a shift lever 42 is disposed in the side
body member 40 at a position in front of a driver's seat 41
sb as not to in-terfere with the dEiver while gettiny into
or out of the compartment 5, the shift lever 42 having a knob
projecting into the compartment 5. Therefore, -the year shift
spindle 38 and the shift lever 42 are located on opposite
sides, i.e., lefthand and right hand sides, of the vehicle
body 1. A rod 43 extends laterally of the vehicle body 1
across the compartment 5 and has a righthand end connected
to a lower end of the shift lever 42. The lefthand end of
the rod 43 is coupled through a connector mechanism 44 to
the gear shift spindle 38 of the transmission in the engine
room 4. More specifically, the rod 43 is inserted in a tubular
attachment member 45 fixed to the floor of the compartment
-5 50 that the rod 43 is rotatably attached to the compartment
floor. The connector mechanism 44 is composed of crank members
38a, 43a fixed respectively to the gear shift spindle 38 and
the rod 43 and a tube-encased wire extending between and connected
to the crank members 38a, 43a.
~ n operation, actuation of the shift lever 42 turns
the rod 43 about its own axis to cause the connector mechanism
44 to turn the gear shift spindle 38 for thereby making a
gear shift in the transmission mechanism in the -transmission
case 31. Since the rod 43 and tubular attachment member 45
extends from one side to the other of the compartment transversely
of the vehicle body 1 and are fixed to the compartment floor,
the rod 43 and member 45 can also serve as a vehicle body
reinforcement for increasing the mechanical strength of the
vehicle body 1 against a torsional moment caused by external
forces imposed on the vehicle body 1.
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Al-though there have been described what is at present
considered to be the preferred embodiment of -the present inven-tion,
it will be understood that the invention may be embodied in
other specific forms without departing from the spirit or
essential characteristics thereof. The present embodiment
is therefore to be considered in all aspects as illustrative,
and not restrictive. The scope of the invention is indicated
by the appended claims rather than by the foregoing description.
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