This invention relates to a moving apparatus provided with a drive wheel driven by human power (strength) and a movement control method for such a moving apparatus, and more particularly to a moving apparatus provided with a driving force assist device using chargeable secondary battery as drive source and adapted to carry out traveling by making use of drive force from the drive force assist device in addition to a human power in dependency upon traveling state, and a movement control method for such a moving apparatus.
Hitherto, as a moving apparatus adapted so that the drive wheel is driven by human power to carry out traveling, bicycles are widely used.
In the bicycles, a person who operates the bicycle rides on the saddle to rotate the crank through the pedals by leg-power of the driver (operator) or force applied onto the pedal by the driver (hereinafter referred to as step-on force as occasion may demand) to transmit, to the drive wheel, rotation of the crank through the drive force transmission mechanism such as chain, etc. so that traveling is carried out.
In such cases that bicycle adapted for carrying out traveling only by human power as mentioned above comes to the ascending slope (rising hill), it would become difficult to carry out traveling only by human power. In view of the above, there has been proposed a bicycle provided with driving force assist device (unit) driven by the electric motor which assists leg-power or step-on force of the driver. Such a bicycle comprises, as shown in FIG. 46, a torque sensor 1 for detecting leg-power (step-on force) of the driver, a rotation sensor 2 for confirming rotation of the pedal, and a control unit 3 for controlling a driving force assist unit 4 on the basis of detection outputs of the torque sensor 1 and the rotation sensor 2. The control unit 3 detects the number of rotations of the pedal by detection output from the rotation sensor 2, and detects leg-power (step-on force) of the driver on the basis of detection output from the torque sensor 1, whereby when it is detected that the number of rotations of the pedal is below a predetermined value and the step-on force is a predetermined value or more, it drives the driving force assist unit to conduct a control so as to apply driving force which is one half (xc2xd) of the step-on force to the drive wheel.
Meanwhile, since torque sensors used in the conventionally proposed bicycles with the driving force assist mechanism are torque sensors using the mechanical elements, the configuration thereof is complicated and they are difficult to be assembled into the crank shaft or chain, or the main shaft of the drive wheel. Moreover, since such torque sensors using the mechanical elements are large-sized and are heavy in weight, a portion of the step-on force of the driver is consumed and a portion of the driving force (power) of the electric motor is consumed. For this reason, the traveling efficiency is not good.
In addition, the torque sensors using the mechanical elements have delay in detection of the rotation torque. As a result, it is difficult to quickly detect leg-power (step-on force) of the driver in dependency upon the traveling state to quickly drive the driving force assist unit in dependency upon the traveling state.
An object of this invention is to provide a novel moving apparatus and a movement control method for such a moving apparatus which can eliminate or solve the problems that the conventionally proposed bicycles with driving force assist mechanism have.
Another object of this invention is to provide a moving apparatus with driving force assist mechanism and a movement control method for such a moving apparatus in which consumption of the drive source is reduced so that efficient traveling can be carried out.
A further object of this invention is to provide a moving apparatus and a movement control method for such a moving apparatus which can quickly assist suitable driving force when there results the state where assistance of driving force is required.
A still further object of this invention is to provide a moving apparatus and a movement control method for such a moving apparatus in which light weight is realized and consumption efficiency of driving force is good.
A moving apparatus proposed in order to attain objects as described above comprises a drive wheel operated by human power, and a driving force assist unit for additionally applying driving force to the drive wheel in addition to human power in dependency upon traveling state. This moving apparatus comprises a traveling information detecting mechanism for detecting, in a non-contact manner with respect to a rotating portion, rotation speed of the rotating portion to detect traveling state, a driving force assist mechanism for applying, to the drive wheel, driving force corresponding to speed change information that a person who operates the moving apparatus intends to provide, which is detected on the basis of traveling information detected by the traveling information detecting mechanism, and an electric power source for driving the driving force assist mechanism.
The moving apparatus according to this invention detects by the traveling information detecting mechanism that traveling only by human power becomes difficult to drive the driving force assist mechanism in dependency upon its detection output to thereby assist driving force, thus permitting realization of smooth traveling.
The traveling information detecting mechanism constituting the moving apparatus according to this invention detects rotation speed of the rotating portion in a non-contact manner with respect to the rotating portion to detect traveling state. Accordingly, it is possible to suppress consumption of driving force (power) of the rotating portion. Further, since the driving force assist mechanism assists, on the basis of speed change information that a person who operates the moving apparatus intends to give, which is obtained from the traveling information detecting mechanism, driving force corresponding to the speed change information, it is possible to quickly assist a portion of driving force for movement that the person who operates the moving apparatus provides. Thus, smooth traveling can be ensured.
Moreover, since an electric motor constituting the driving force assist mechanism of the moving apparatus according to this invention is adapted so that rotor is integrally attached with respect to the traveling wheel (drive wheel), it is possible to directly rotate the traveling wheel. Thus, loss of the driving force can be reduced.
Further, in the above-mentioned electric motor, radiating means for radiating heat that drive coil of the stator produces is provided at the stator side.
Furthermore, in the moving apparatus according to this invention, there is provided a display unit for carrying out remaining traveling distance display of the moving apparatus on the basis of voltage of the secondary battery which drives the electric motor constituting the driving force assist mechanism, thereby making it possible to easily grasp the travelable distance.
In addition, in the moving apparatus according to this invention, in the case where the state of the road surface on which this moving apparatus moves has a necessity of assisting a portion of driving force for moving the moving apparatus, the electric motor is caused to be driven. On the other hand, in the case where the state of the road surface on which the moving apparatus moves has no necessity of assistant driving force for moving the moving apparatus, the electric motor is caused to function as generator, thereby making it possible to reduce power consumption of the secondary battery. This permits the moving apparatus to carry out long distance traveling.
Still further objects of this invention and more practical merits obtained by this invention will become more clear from the description of the embodiments which will be described below.