Electric wheel

This non-provisional application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. § 119(a) on Patent Application No(s). 106138670 filed in Taiwan, R.O.C. on Nov. 8, 2017, the entire contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference.

The disclosure relates to a wheel, more particularly to an electric wheel.

Generally, an electric wheelchair has a battery module, and the electrical energy provided by the battery module is able to be transformed into the kinetic energy for driving the electric wheelchair, which is a more appropriate option for those who are physically incapable to self-propel a manual wheelchair.

In the prior art, the battery module is usually disposed on the back of a chair seat or within wheel hubs of the electric wheelchair.

One embodiment of the disclosure provides an electric wheel, adapted to a wheel shaft. The electric wheel includes a wheel body, a battery holder, and at least one battery module. The wheel body has a wheel hub configured to be rotatably disposed on the wheel shaft. The battery holder includes a base and at least one first electrical connector which are connected to each other. The base is configured to be connected to the wheel shaft and disposed side by side to the wheel hub. The base has an outer surface facing away from the wheel shaft. The at least one battery module includes at least one battery storage and at least one second electrical connector electrically connected to each other. The at least one battery storage has an inner surface in contact with the outer surface of the base, and the at least one second electrical connector is detachably mounted on the at least one first electrical connector.

According to the electric wheel as discussed above, the battery holder is disposed side by side to the wheel hub, allowing the battery module to be disposed next to the outer side of the wheel body.

In addition, the outer surface of the base contacts the inner surface of the battery storage, which enhances the structural strength of the battery module and the battery holder and ensures the electrical connection between the second electrical connector and the first electrical connector.

The present disclosure will become better understood from the detailed description given herein below and the accompanying drawings which are given by way of illustration only and thus are not intending to limit the present disclosure and wherein:

FIG. 1 is a partial perspective view of a wheelchair having an electric wheel according to a first embodiment of the disclosure;

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the electric wheel in FIG. 1 ;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of a first electrical connector and a second electrical connector in FIG. 2 ;

FIG. 4 is an exploded view of the wheelchair in FIG. 1 when a battery module is detached from a battery holder;

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of the electric wheel in FIG. 1 when a hook is released;

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of an electric wheel comprising a battery module and a battery holder according to a second embodiment of the disclosure;

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of a fixing part of an electric wheel in a fixing position according to a third embodiment of the disclosure;

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of the fixing part of the electric wheel in a released position according to the third embodiment of the disclosure;

FIG. 9 is a perspective view of a fixing part of an electric wheel in the fixing position according to a fourth embodiment of the disclosure;

FIG. 10 is a perspective view of the fixing part of the electric wheel in the released position according to the fourth embodiment of the disclosure;

FIG. 11 is a perspective view of an electric wheel comprising a battery module and a battery holder according to a fifth embodiment of the disclosure; and

FIG. 12 a front view of a battery module according to a sixth embodiment of the disclosure.

In the following detailed description, for purposes of explanation, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the disclosed embodiments. It will be apparent, however, that one or more embodiments may be practiced without these specific details. In other instances, well-known structures and devices are schematically shown in order to simplify the drawing.

Please refer to FIG. 1 to FIG. 4 . FIG. 1 is a partial perspective view of a wheelchair having an electric wheel according to a first embodiment of the disclosure. FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the electric wheel in FIG. 1 . FIG. 3 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of a first electrical connector and a second electrical connector in FIG. 2 . FIG. 4 is an exploded view of the wheelchair in FIG. 1 when a battery module is detached from a battery holder

As shown in FIG. 1 , this embodiment provides two electric wheels 10 a , and the two electric wheels 10 a are adapted to be disposed on a wheel shaft 11 a and respectively located on two opposite sides of a chair 12 a so as to form an electric wheelchair. The electric wheel 10 a includes a wheel body 100 a , a battery holder 200 a , a battery module 300 a and a driving module 400 a.

The wheel body 100 a has a wheel hub 110 a pivoted on the wheel shaft 11 a . The battery holder 200 a includes a base 210 a and a first electrical connector 220 a which are connected to each other. The base 210 a is, for example, a barrel-shaped object. The base 210 a is disposed on the wheel shaft 11 a , and is located side by side to a side far away from the chair 12 a of the wheel hub 110 a . The base 210 a has an outer surface 211 a facing away from the wheel shaft 11 a . The first electrical connector 220 a includes a first seat 221 a , a hook 222 a , an elastic member 223 a , a button 224 a , two pillars 225 a and two electrical terminals 226 a . The first seat 221 a is connected to the base 210 a . The hook 222 a includes a pivoting part 2221 a , a press part 2222 a and a hooking part 2223 a . The pivoting part 2221 a is located between and connected to the press part 2222 a and the hooking part 2223 a , and the pivoting part 2221 a is pivoted to the first seat 221 a . Two opposite sides of the elastic member 223 a are respectively pressing against the press part 2222 a and the first seat 221 a so as to maintain the hooking part 2223 a in a fixing position. The button 224 a is in contact with a side of the press part 2222 a opposite to the elastic member 223 a . Two pillars 225 a are disposed on the first seat 221 a , and each of the pillars 225 a has a first slot 2251 a . The electrical terminals 226 a are respectively located in the first slots 2251 a.

In this embodiment, the shape of the battery module 300 a is a ring-shaped object. The battery module 300 a includes a battery storage 310 a and a second electrical connector 320 a . The battery storage 310 a is electrically connected to the second electrical connector 320 a , and the battery storage 310 a has an inner surface 311 a . The second electrical connector 320 a includes a second seat 321 a and two electrical pins 322 a . Two opposite sides of the second seat 321 a are connected to the two ends of the battery storage 310 a . The second seat 321 a has two second slots 3211 a , two annular inner walls 3212 a , and a fixing slot 3213 a . The two second slots 3211 a are respectively surrounded by the two annular inner walls 3212 a , and the two electrical pins 322 a are respectively located in the two second slots 3211 a.

The outer surface 211 a of the base 210 a is surrounded by and in contact with the inner surface 311 a of the battery storage 310 a . The second seat 321 a is detachably disposed on the first seat 221 a , and the electrical pins 322 a are detachably plugged into the first slots 2251 a so as to electrically connected to the two electrical terminals 226 a , and such that the two pillars 225 a are respectively located in the two second slots 3211 a and respectively pressed by the annular inner walls 3212 a . That is, the pillars 225 a protect the portions where the two electrical terminals 226 are in contact with the two electrical pins 322 , and the annular inner walls 3212 a become the secondary protection for the electrical terminals 226 and the electrical pins 322 , thereby preventing water from entering into the electric wheel 10 a . The press part 2222 a of the hook 222 a is maintained in position by the elastic member 223 a , such that hooking part 2223 a is maintained in the fixing position of hooking the fixing slot 3213 a.

The driving module 400 a includes a rotor 410 a and a stator 420 a . The rotor 410 a is disposed on a side near the base 210 a of the wheel hub 110 a . The stator 420 a is disposed on a side near the wheel hub 110 a of the base 210 a , and is electrically connected to the first electrical connector 220 a . The stator 420 a is configured to produce the magnetic effect with the rotor 410 a for driving the rotor 410 a to rotate with respect to stator 420 a and driving the wheel body 100 a and wheel hub 110 a to rotate.

Please further refer FIG. 5 with former figures together. FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of the electric wheel in FIG. 1 when a hook is released. When the battery module 300 a runs out of energy, it can be detached by pressing the button 224 a . In detail, when the button 224 a is pressed, the hooking part 2223 a is tilted by the button 224 a , such that the hooking part 2223 a is forced to be detached from the fixing slot 3213 a to be in a released position. By doing so, the second electrical connector 320 a is allowed to be detached from the first electrical connector 220 a . That is, the battery module 300 a is able to be detached from the battery holder 200 a . Then, when the batter module 300 a is detached and recharged, it can be reloaded when the hooking part 2223 a is in the released position. When the batter module 300 a is in position, the second electrical connector 320 a is mounted on the first electrical connector 220 a , and then the button 224 a is released so that the elastic member 223 a would spring the press part 2222 a of the hook 222 a moving upward to make the hooking part 2223 a to hook the fixing slot 3213 a . At this moment, the battery module 300 a is fixed in position on the battery holder 200 a.

In this embodiment, the battery holder 200 a is disposed side by side to the wheel hub 110 a , thus the battery module 300 a is able to be disposed on the outer side of the wheel body 100 a . Therefore, the battery capacity of the battery module 300 a is allowed to be increased because the space along the radial direction of the wheel shaft is not limited by the wheel hub, such that the electric wheel can be equipped with larger battery module without largely increasing the overall size.

In addition, by the cooperation of the hook 222 a , the elastic member 223 a and the button 224 a , the battery module 300 a can be easily detached from the battery holder 200 a , which is beneficial for those who are physically incapable to change the battery module 300 a.

Moreover, the outer surface 211 a of the base 210 a is pressed and surrounded by the inner surface 311 a of the battery storage 310 a , which enhances the structural strength of the battery module 300 a and the battery holder 200 a and ensures the electrical connection between the second electrical connector 320 a and the first electrical connector 220 a.

In addition, the numbers of the battery storage 310 a , the second electrical connector 320 a , and the first electrical connector 220 a are not restricted. For example, please refer to FIG. 6 . FIG. 6 is a perspective view of an electric wheel comprising a battery module and a battery holder according to a second embodiment of the disclosure

This embodiment provides an electric wheel 10 b having a battery holder 200 b and a battery module 300 b . The battery holder 200 b includes three first electrical connectors 220 , and the battery module 300 b includes three battery storages 310 b and three second electrical connectors 320 b . A base 210 b of the battery holder 200 b is surrounded by the three battery storages 310 b together, and each of the three battery storages 310 b is connected to a second electrical connector 320 b . The three second electrical connectors 320 b are respectively mounted on the three first electrical connectors 220 b.

Since the battery module 300 b has three battery storages 310 b and the battery holder 200 b has three first electrical connectors 220 b respectively corresponding to the second electrical connectors 320 b on the 310 b , it permits user to carry one, two or three battery storages 310 b so as to adjust the battery capacity of the electric wheelchair according to actual requirements.

In addition, the numbers of the first electrical connectors 220 b , the battery storages 310 b and the second electrical connectors 320 b are not restricted. In some other embodiments, each number of the first electrical connector, the battery storage and the second electrical connector may be two, larger than three, or can be adjusted to another number according to actual requirements.

Furthermore, the present disclosure is not limited to the manner of disposing the battery module 300 a as discussed in the previous embodiments.

For example, please refer to FIG. 7 and FIG. 8 . FIG. 7 is a perspective view of a fixing part of an electric wheel in a fixing position according to a third embodiment of the disclosure. FIG. 8 is a perspective view of the fixing part of the electric wheel in a released position according to the third embodiment of the disclosure.

This embodiment provides a battery module 300 c having a second electrical connector 320 c . The second electrical connector 320 c includes a second seat 321 c and a protrusion 323 c . The protrusion 323 c protrudes from the second seat 321 c in a radial direction of the wheel shaft (e.g. the wheel shaft 11 a in FIG. 2 ). Moreover, this embodiment provides a first electrical connector 220 c including a fixing member 222 c . The fixing member 222 c includes a pivoting part 2221 c , a fixing part 2222 c and an operating part 2223 c . The pivoting part 2221 c is pivoted to the first seat 221 c , and the fixing part 2222 c is connected to the pivoting part 2221 c . The operating part 2223 c is connected to the fixing part 2222 c . The pivoting part 2221 c is pivotable about an axis P 1 parallel to the axis of the wheel shaft (e.g. the wheel shaft 11 a in FIG. 2 ), such that the fixing part 2222 c has a fixing position and a released position. When the fixing part 2222 c is in the fixing position, the protrusion 323 c is clamped and pressed by the fixing part 2222 c . The fixing part 2222 c is able to be moved to the released position by moving the operating part 2223 c . When the fixing part 2222 c is moved to the released position, it is detached from the protrusion 323 c . At this moment, the battery module 300 c is allowed to be detached along a direction D 1 .

Please refer to FIG. 9 and FIG. 10 . FIG. 9 is a perspective view of a fixing part of an electric wheel in the fixing position according to a fourth embodiment of the disclosure. FIG. 10 is a perspective view of the fixing part of the electric wheel in the released position according to the fourth embodiment of the disclosure.

This embodiment provides a battery module 300 d includes a second electrical connector 320 d including a second seat 321 d and a protrusion 323 d . The protrusion 323 d protrudes from the second seat 321 d in a radial direction of the wheel shaft (e.g. the wheel shaft 11 a in FIG. 2 ). The protrusion 323 d has two recessed slots 3231 d and two fixing holes 3232 d . The two fixing holes 3232 d are located between the two recessed slots 3231 d . Moreover, the first electrical connector 220 d further includes two fixing members 222 d . Each of the two fixing member includes a pivot shaft 2221 d and a fixing part 2222 d . The two pivot shafts 2221 d are pivoted to the first seat 221 d , and the two fixing parts 2222 d respectively protrudes from the two pivot shafts 2221 d in two radial directions of the two pivot shafts 2221 d . Thus, the two fixing parts 2222 d are respectively rotatable along two axes P 3 , P 4 of the two pivot shafts 2221 d so as to be moved to a fixing position and a released position. When the two pivot shafts are respectively located in the recessed slots, and the two fixing parts 2222 d are in the fixing position, the two fixing parts 2222 d are respectively fixed in the two fixing holes 3232 d , such that the protrusion 323 d is fixed to the first seat 221 d . The two fixing parts 2222 d can be moved to the released position, when the two fixing parts 2222 d are moved to the released position along the two axes P 3 and P 4 , the two fixing parts 2222 d are respectively detached from the two fixing holes 3232 d , such that the pivot shafts are able to be removed from the two recessed slots in a direction D 2 .

Moreover, the shape of the battery holder is not restricted. For example, please refer to FIG. 11 . FIG. 11 is a perspective view of an electric wheel comprising a battery module and a battery holder according to a fifth embodiment of the disclosure.

This embodiment provides an electric wheel 10 e including a battery module 300 e in a square ring shape and a battery holder 200 e in a square shape. The electric wheel 10 e further includes two first magnets 500 e and two second magnets 600 e . The two first magnets 500 e are disposed on the first seat 221 e of the battery holder 200 e , and the two second magnets 600 e are disposed on the battery storage 310 e . The two second magnets 600 e and the first magnets 500 e are attractive to each other for connecting the first electrical connector 220 e and the second electrical connector 320 e.

Furthermore, the number of the battery module is not restricted. For example, please refer to FIG. 12 . FIG. 12 a front view of a battery module according to a sixth embodiment of the disclosure.

This embodiment provides two battery modules 300 f , 300 g which are different in size, the battery modules 300 g is sleeved on the battery module 300 f . Since the space along the radial direction of the wheel shaft (e.g. the wheel shaft in FIG. 2 ) of the battery holder 200 f is not limited. Therefore, it is possible to dispose more battery module on the battery holder 200 f according to the requirement of the battery capacity.

According to the electric wheel as discussed above, the base of the battery holder is disposed side by side to the wheel hub so that the battery module is able to be disposed on the outer side of the wheel body. Therefore, it is easily to change the battery module for those physically incapable people, and the battery capacity of the battery module is allowed to be increased because the space along the radial direction of the wheel shaft is not limited by the wheel hub. As a result, it is possible to dispose more battery module on the electric wheel without largely increasing the overall size.

In addition, the battery module can be easily detached from the battery holder, which is beneficial for those who are physically incapable to change the battery module.

Moreover, the structural strength of the battery module and the battery holder ensures the electrical connection between the second electrical connector and the first electrical connector.

Furthermore, in some other embodiments, because the electric wheel can have more than one battery modules to the increase the battery capacity according to actual requirements.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and variations can be made to the present disclosure. It is intended that the specification and examples be considered as exemplary embodiments only, with a scope of the disclosure being indicated by the following claims and their equivalents.