Mechanical improvements to a personal vehicle

Abstract

Improvements to personal vehicles including self-propelled and balancing personal vehicles. Ready detachability of a seat, footrest, seat back, control unit, wheels and caster assembly is provided using quick disconnect mechanisms.

1 . A belt tensioning mechanism for tensioning a belt that transmits torque from a motor to a rotary member having an axis of rotation, the belt tensioning mechanism comprising: 
 a. a motor having a roller for engaging the belt;    b. a cam plate having a slot ridge for receiving the motor, a rotation ridge disposed eccentrically with respect to the slot ridge, and a plurality of circumferential sprocket teeth; and    c. transmission plate fixed with respect to the axis of rotation of the rotary member, the motor having a rotational orientation defined with respect to the transmission plate, the transmission plate having a substantially elliptical cam plate rotation shelf for receiving the cam plate rotation ridge such that a lateral position of the motor with respect to the transmission plate may be changed by rotation of the cam plate while the rotational orientation of the motor remains substantially constant.    
     
     
         2 . A self-pulling mechanism for a wheel having a tapered axle bore and a hub, the mechanism comprising: 
 a. an axle having a taper corresponding to the bore of the wheel and a threaded end;    b. a retaining ring seated on an inside groove of the hub of the wheel; and    c. a wheel nut having a threaded bore corresponding to the threaded end of the axle such that upon tightening the wheel is retained on the axle and upon loosening a force is applied to the retaining ring for removing the wheel from the axle.    
     
     
         3 . A method for informing the user of a personal vehicle of a current mode of operation of the personal vehicle, the method including displaying on a display monitor an icon corresponding to the current mode of operation.  
     
     
         4 . A vehicle for carrying a payload, the vehicle comprising: 
 a. a support for bearing the payload;    b. a ground-contacting module coupled to the support;    c. a motorized drive arrangement coupled to the ground-contacting module for powered operation of the vehicle, and    d. a power module including battery packs, each pack held in place by a retaining latch such that power from a battery pack is always interrupted when its retaining latch is open.    
     
     
         5 . A self-pulling mechanism in accordance with  claim 2 , further comprising a wheel nut retention clip for retaining the wheel nut against rotation with respect to the hub.  
     
     
         6 . A self-pulling mechanism in accordance with  claim 2 , wherein the hub includes a retaining snap ring capable of being snapped into an annular groove behind the wheel nut.