CPC B62K 5/10 (2013.01) [B62D 9/02 (2013.01); B62D 61/065 (2013.01); B62D 61/08 (2013.01)] | 9 Claims |
1. A leaning vehicle, comprising:
a vehicle body that
leans in a leftward direction of the leaning vehicle when the leaning vehicle is turning left, and
leans in a rightward direction of the leaning vehicle when the leaning vehicle is turning right;
a plurality of wheels supported by the vehicle body, and including
one steerable front wheel and two rear wheels, the one steerable front wheel being swivelable around a first steering axis extending in an up-down direction of the vehicle body, or
two steerable front wheels and one or two rear wheels, the two steerable front wheels being swivelable around a second steering axis extending in the up-down direction of the vehicle body,
the two steerable front wheels or the two rear wheels being arranged side by side in a left-right direction of the leaning vehicle, to form a left-right pair of wheels;
a suspension mechanism that supports the left-right pair of wheels in such a manner that the left-right pair of wheels is movable in the up-down direction of the vehicle body relative to the vehicle body;
a steering mechanism that applies torque to the one or two steerable front wheels to swivel the one or two steerable front wheels around the first or second steering axis;
a steering controller that controls the steering mechanism; and
an up-down direction acceleration detector attached to the vehicle body or the suspension mechanism, to detect an acceleration in an up-down direction of the leaning vehicle or the up-down direction of the vehicle body, that is generated as one wheel in the left-right pair of wheels moves over a bump or a pothole in a road, wherein
the steering controller so controls the one or two steerable front wheels that the one or two steerable front wheels are in a free-steering state, so as to swivel around the first or second steering axis freely, based on the acceleration detected by the up-down direction acceleration detector.
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