US 11,945,497 B2
Vehicle steering wheels system
Gérard Noël, Sainte-Julie (CA); and Alexandre Noël, Sainte-Julie (CA)
Assigned to GN TECHNOLOGIES Inc., Sainte-Julie (CA)
Filed by GN Technologies Inc., Sainte-Julie (CA)
Filed on Mar. 10, 2023, as Appl. No. 18/120,304.
Claims priority of provisional application 63/319,108, filed on Mar. 11, 2022.
Claims priority of application No. CA 3178011 (CA), filed on Sep. 30, 2022.
Prior Publication US 2023/0286581 A1, Sep. 14, 2023
Int. Cl. B62D 13/02 (2006.01); B60G 15/12 (2006.01); B62D 13/04 (2006.01)
CPC B62D 13/02 (2013.01) [B60G 15/12 (2013.01); B62D 13/04 (2013.01)] 20 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A steering axle to be mounted to a vehicle having a longitudinal axis, the steering axle comprising:
an axle structure on which is mounted a left steerable wheel and a right steerable wheel, each of the left steerable wheel and the right steerable wheel being rotatable about a respective wheel rotation axis;
a left steering piece rotatably mounted to the axle structure and adapted to have the left steerable wheel mounted thereto, the left steering piece being rotatable around a first-steering piece rotation axis;
a right steering piece rotatably mounted to the axle structure and adapted to have the right steerable wheel mounted thereto, the right steering piece being rotatable around a second steering rotation axis; and
a central piece rotatably mounted to the axle structure about a pivot axis, the central piece having an interface for interfacing with the left steering piece and the right steering piece that does not correspond to the circular arc around the pivot axis, wherein,
a) when the central piece is in a first position, the central piece steers the left steering piece and the right steering piece around their respective steering rotation axis such that the wheel rotation axes are in a parallel orientation and the steerable wheels are straight and parallel to the longitudinal axis of the vehicle, and
b) when the central piece is in a second position rotated by a first angle from the first position, the central piece steers the left steering piece and the right steering piece such that i) the left steering piece is steered by a first angular shift relative to the parallel orientation, and ii) the right steering piece is steered by a second angular shift relative to the parallel orientation, wherein the first angular shift differs from the second angular shift, whereby the steerable wheels are steered in a non-parallel configuration.