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Abstract

“IMPROVEMENTS INTRODUCED IN AN ELLIPTICAL DRIVE MECHANISM AND A STEERING MECHANISM, APPLICABLE TO VELOCIPEDES IN GENERAL,” more specifically, it is about elliptical velocipedes (1) of the bicycle, tricycle, and scooter type, with said velocipedes having a tubular crossmember (2A) where the basic components are mounted, namely: fork (2b), handlebar mounting (2c), front wheel, rear wheel, center sprocket, and cranks, as well as an elliptical drive mechanism (M1) and a steering mechanism (M2). The structural frame (2) has a crossmember (2A), whose end is aligned with the imaginary center of the rear wheel, a tubular transverse shaft with tubular connections (3a) installed on its end portions, while a guide rod (3) that functions as a path for the sliding of the respective block (4) is attached to each of said connections. Each rod (3) is parallel to the crossmember (2A), while each sliding block (4) constitutes a platform whose lower bottom portion can be attached to a crank arm, which is, in turn, installed on the center sprocket of the velocipede (1), which drives a chain (5) that is responsible for transmitting motion to the ratchet mechanism. The lower surface of each plate (4) has at least two pairs of mountings (4a) with cross-sections in the shape of an inverted “L” on the side edges of the plate (4a), and they have pulleys (7) whose sections correspond to the sections of each guide rod (3). Because of the fact that the blocks (4) are mounted on the ends of the crank arms, sliding of said shoes on each guide rod (3) is in reverse, and, on account of the fact that the aforementioned rods (3) are linked to the transverse shaft, they produce an alternating upward and downward angular motion, thereby causing rotary motion of the cranks and, consequently, rotation of the center sprocket, the chain (5), and the ratchet mechanism, which, in this instance, is mounted on the front wheel, so as to constitute the elliptical drive mechanism (M1).

First Claim