Land vehicles – Wheeled – Occupant propelled type
Patent
1993-06-29
1995-03-14
Tyson, Karin L.
Land vehicles
Wheeled
Occupant propelled type
280259, 2803043, B62M 102
Patent
active
053971426
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
The invention relates to a bicycle, in particular an all-terrain bicycle, comprising frame, a front wheel, a rear wheel, a handle bar for steering the front wheel, a pedal unit, the front wheel, the rear wheel, the handle bar and the pedal unit being rotatably mounted on the frame, a transmission connecting the pedal unit to the rear wheel for transmitting a drive thereto, transmission means connecting the rear wheel to the front wheel for transmitting the drive to the front wheel.
Various bicycles are already known, in which in addition to the drive assembly for the rear wheel, a drive assembly is provided for the front wheel. A known all-wheel drive for the two wheels of a bicycle according to DE-OS 33 19 105 is provided with a multiple stage variable gear for the conversion of a driving Force, applied via a pedal lever or a motor with a reciprocating or revolving movement onto the wheel hub shafts of the wheels.
Furthermore, a force transmission--according to the DE-OS 38 31 890--is known, in which the rear wheel and if necessary the front wheel can be driven via a continuously adjustable force transmission through utilization of an oscillating swivel movement of a pedal lever.
Finally, drive arrangements with separate crank gears for the rear wheel and the front wheel of a bicycle are known, in which one crank gear is operated by the legs and the other by the hands. These known all-wheel drives are very costly, because they require many drive elements or gear elements for the transmission of the driving force onto the wheels.
It is an object of the present invention to create a bicycle, in particular an all-terrain bicycle, in which the rear wheel and the front wheel can be selectively driven together, and in which the drive arrangements require only a small number of drive elements.
This object of the invention is solved in a bicycle of the first-indicated type with a cardan joint comprising a driving shaft mounted on the frame for rotation about a central axis and a driven shaft mounted on the handle bar for rotation about a central axis, the driving shaft and driven shaft being universally movable in relation to each other from a position wherein the central axes thereof are in alignment with each other and the central axes extending parallel to the handlebar when in alignment. The transmission means comprises a transmission connecting the pedal unit to the rear wheel for transmitting a drive thereto, a transmission connecting the rear wheel to the driving shaft for transmitting the drive of the rear wheel to the driving shaft whereby a drive is imparted to the driving shaft, and a transmission connecting the driven shaft to the front wheel for transmitting the drive of the driving and driven shafts to the front wheel. The surprising advantage of this drive arrangement, connecting the drive elements of the rear wheel and of the front wheel, lies in the simultaneous drive of the front wheel in direct dependence on the rotational behaviour of the rear wheel, in which, independently of any translation changes through a switching device in the drive arrangement for the rear wheel, the force transmission takes place simultaneously onto the front wheel, in which through a high degree of efficiency a good utilization of the driving energy is achieved.
According to one feature of this invention, the handlebar is rotatable about a swivel axis and the driving shaft and driven shaft extend at respective sides of the swivel axis, the aligned central axes thereof extending perpendicularly to the swivel axis and the swivel axis intersecting the central axes at a common point of intersection. This effectively avoids impairment of the swivel movement of the front wheel on steering.
A further embodiment, wherein the transmissions connecting the rear wheel to the driving shaft and the driven shaft to the front wheel comprise roller chains, further comprises sprockets engaged by the roller chains and respectively affixed to the driving and driven shafts for rotation therewith. This is advantageous because thereby driv
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patent: 1139622 (1915-05-01), Yordi
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patent: 4895385 (1990-01-01), Becoat
patent: 5052705 (1991-10-01), Ringle
patent: 5158314 (1992-10-01), Farras Pinos
patent: 5184838 (1993-02-01), Becoat
WO 91/12167, Aug. 22, 1991 (PCT) Biannic et al.
Boehler Anne Marie
Tyson Karin L.
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