Why?

Simon Brooke <[email hidden]> wrote:
....
| Potentially more interesting is the hydraulic drive bikes various people
| play with every now and again. Sooner or later someone will make one
| work, and that should give you two wheel drive with continuously
| variable ratios and without, I would have thought, excessive drag.

Refs? This is a dream of a friend of mine, though he also wants a VTOL
microlight for commuting.

Could you make an impeller have a one-way property?

--
Patrick Herring, http://www.anweald.co.uk/ph

in message <[email hidden]>, Patrick Herring

(') said:

Simon Brooke <[email hidden]> wrote:
...
| Potentially more interesting is the hydraulic drive bikes various
| people play with every now and again. Sooner or later someone will
| make one work, and that should give you two wheel drive with
| continuously variable ratios and without, I would have thought,
| excessive drag.

Refs? This is a dream of a friend of mine, though he also wants a VTOL
microlight for commuting.

<URL:http://www.powerengine.com/aitx001hydbiksum.htm>
<URL:http://power-transmission.globalspec.com/Industrial-Directory/hydraulic_bicycle_drive>

This already works in the context of a motorcycle:

<URL:http://home.mira.net/~iwd/2x2x2/tech/222basics.html>

I believe the hydrabike is not as efficient as a chain-drive bike and it
does not have two wheel drive. However if the first problem could be
solved the second would be trivial.

Quoted message said:

Could you make an impeller have a one-way property?

Non-return valve in the line.

--
[email hidden] (Simon Brooke) http://www.jasmine.org.uk/~simon/

;; may contain traces of nuts, bolts or washers.

Quoted message said:

Hmmm. Collect the energy when the leg pushes hardest and release it when
the pressure eases?

When the pressure eases any force in the spring will be equally
distributed between the pedal and the chain ring i.e. it will push
back as hard as it will push forward, unless there is some sort of
ratchet so that stored energy can only be released forwards. Er, I
think. Perhaps.
Looks nice though.

cheers

Jacob