Batman Movie Comes to Life via New Ford Patent that Allows Car to Deploy Motorcycle (But Less Cool and Probably Not Feasible Yet)
Ford has filed for a patent where there is a motorcycle built into a car, and can be deployed as a separate vehicle. The patent application was originally filed on 18th October 2017 but was only published on 26th April this year.
(All images taken from Ford)
The reason for this peculiar invention is because of restrictions in available/affordable parking spaces and the problem of traffic congestion. Thus, the car and bike form a sort of “multimodal transportation apparatus”, with the concept of “driving a vehicle to a location at which the vehicle can be parked, and then riding/driving away from the vehicle to a final destination using further transportation.”
Description of this system states that the electric motorbike will be connected to the car by a rail system, with the motorbike making up the centre console of the car with the seat (232) serving as either an armrest or storage area within the car.
The car’s infotainment system (230) is also part of the motorcycle and can still serve the bike when the vehicle is individually deployed. Amenities of the infotainment system feature an on-board system, GPS navigation, Bluetooth connectivity and radio.
When necessary, the hood of the car will lift up and actuators (a component of a machine responsible for moving and controlling a mechanism or system) will release the motorcycle. Meanwhile, the gap left behind by the motorcycle (where the central console is) will be sealed up by rubber.
Reminiscent of the Batpod, isn’t it?
This is not the first time Ford came up with a quirky idea and patented it either. Previously, they had filed for a patent where a car can be separated into a one-wheel bike (read: unicycle).
For a more detailed but extremely mind-boggling read, visit the U.S Patent and Trademark Office website here .
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