Land vehicles – Wheeled – Occupant propelled type
Reexamination Certificate
2002-02-21
2002-11-12
Lerner, Avraham (Department: 3611)
Land vehicles
Wheeled
Occupant propelled type
C280S256000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06478322
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Technical Field
This invention relates generally to a bicycle having a rotating force transmitting mechanism with an oscillating fulcrum point. More particularly, the invention relates to the bicycle wherein a crank lever is arranged between a sprocket and a pedal lever to transmit force applied to the pedal lever to the sprocket and the oscillating fulcrum point of the pedal lever is slidable and wherein a sliding part is provided with a dust-resistant means to prevent dust and the like from being entered therein and to remove the dust, if entered, therefrom.
2. Related Art
The conventional bicycle is operated such that the crank-like pedals fixed at both sides of a shaft of the sprocket with a phase difference of 180° are stepped on by a rider. The pedal lever is rotated around the shaft of the sprocket to attain rotating force of the sprocket and this rotating force of the sprocket is transmitted to the rear wheel through the chain.
However, in recent development of the bicycle, there has been proposed to provide a bicycle having a driving force generating device with an oscillating fulcrum point, whereby the rider is less fatigued with a riding as compared with the conventional bicycle, and desired propulsion force can be attained.
FIG. 1
schematically shows a configuration of the related art bicycle having the driving force generating device with an oscillating fulcrum point. In
FIG. 1
, a bicycle
60
having the rotating force transmitting mechanism with the oscillating fulcrum point is constructed such that a front wheel
61
acting as a moving wheel and a rear wheel
62
acting as a driving wheel are attached to a pair of delta-shaped frames
63
,
64
; a handle
65
is attached to a front frame
63
; and a saddle
66
is fixed to a rear frame
64
.
A wheel shaft
61
a
of the front wheel
61
is rotatably attached to extremity ends of a fork section
67
a
formed at the lower part of a handle frame
67
. Connecting portion
63
a
constituting the front frame
63
is extended longitudinally in a reverse direction to a direction that the bicycle is headed, from a holding part
63
c
holding the handle frame
67
rotatably.
Connecting portion
63
b
also constituting the front frame
63
is extended in a rearward and downwardly slanting direction from the holding part
63
c
. The extremity ends of these connecting portions
63
a
,
63
b
are connected to a saddle frame
64
c
. The saddle frame
64
c
constitutes the rear frame
64
and is substantially in parallel with the handle frame
67
. The saddle
66
is fixed to this saddle frame
64
c.
Respective connecting portions
64
a
and
64
b
constituting the rear frame
64
are extended from the connecting portions
63
a
and
63
b
. The extremity ends of these connecting portions
64
a
,
64
b
are connected to each other to hold the wheel shaft
62
a
of the rear wheel
62
horizontally. Respective gears
75
R and
75
L (not shown) are attached and fixed to both ends of the wheel shaft
62
a
.
FIG. 1
illustrates the configuration of the bicycle in which only the gear
75
R at the right side toward a direction which a bicycle is headed, is shown.
The gear
75
R is engaged with a gear train, not shown, and the crank
76
R is fixed for transmitting its rotating force to the gear
75
R through the gear train. A crank pin
77
R is fixed to a position displaced in respect to a shaft
78
R of the crank
76
R. A right side pedal lever
72
R holds rotatably the crank pin
77
R so that the crank
76
R may be rotated with the crank pin
77
R.
The right side pedal lever
72
R attaches a right side pedal
71
R rotatably at a front end thereof. The pedal lever
72
R attaches a roller
73
R pivotally at a rear end thereof. The roller
73
R is freely slid in a sliding part
74
R formed near the wheel shaft
62
a.
The pedal lever
72
R acts as a lever oscillating upwards and downwards with the roller
73
R pivoted at the pedal lever
72
R being applied as a fulcrum point.
When the rider steps on the pedal
71
R acting as a force applying point, the pedal
71
R is moved in a counter-clockwise direction along a locus S approximating to a flat ellipse shape. At the same time, the pedal lever
72
R is moved upwards and downwards in a predetermined angle with the roller
73
R being applied as a fulcrum point.
This motion allows the crank
76
R to rotate in a counter-clockwise direction around the shaft
78
R through the crank pin
77
R acting as a lever force applying point of the pedal lever
72
a
. At this time, the roller
73
R acting as a fulcrum point for the pedal lever
72
R is slid (moved) laterally within the sliding part
74
R.
While the crank
76
R is rotated, the rotating force of the crank
76
R is transmitted to the gear
75
R through the gear train. A clockwise directional rotation of the gear
75
R causes the wheel shaft
62
a
of the rear wheel
62
to rotate for obtaining propulsion force of the bicycle
60
. The propulsion force enables the bicycle
60
to run.
Since a left-side pedal lever
72
L (not shown) is provided with the same driving force transmitting mechanism as that of the right side pedal lever
72
R described above, a rider steps on the pedals
71
R and
71
L (not shown) alternatively by his (her) right and left feet to obtain propulsion force for the bicycle
60
. Thereby, the bicycle
60
may run.
In the configuration of the aforesaid bicycle
60
, a sliding part
74
R formed on an end of the connecting portion
64
b
, is opened. Therefore, the foreign particles such as dust are prone to enter the sliding part
74
R when the bicycle
60
is set outside or it is fallen to the ground. Entering of the foreign particles causes the sliding part of bicycle
60
to be injured. The foreign particles in the sliding part cause a faulty locus Q of motion of the pedal of the bicycle
60
.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The object of the present invention is to provide a bicycle in which a sliding part is provided with a dust-resistant means to keep foreign particles such as dust from entering the sliding part and to remove the foreign particles, if entered, therefrom so that a smooth locus Q of motion of the pedal can be assured.
In carrying out the invention in one preferred mode, we provide a bicycle comprising a frame constituting a chassis, a steering means attached to the frame, a seat means for seating a rider attached to the frame, a pair of moving wheels rotatably arranged at the frame on a front side and a rear side thereof, said rear moving wheel acting as a driving wheel, a sprocket arranged near a bottom bracket point in the frame, driving force transmitting means for transmitting rotating force of the sprocket to the rear moving wheel, a pair of pedal levers having a phase difference of 180° with respect to each other to oscillate alternatively up and down, a crank lever arranged between the sprocket and the pedal lever so as to transmit force of the pedal lever to the sprocket, a sliding part for acting as an oscillating fulcrum point of the pedal lever and dust-resistant means provided with the sliding part.
A sliding pin arranged at one end of the pedal lever is slid within the sliding part while the pedal lever is oscillated. The force accompanied by the oscillation of the pedal lever is transmitted to the rear wheel through the sprocket.
In the present invention, force applied to the pedal by the rider is transmitted to the rear wheel under utilization of the crank lever, the sprocket and the chain. The force of the pedal lever is transmitted to the sprocket through the crank lever. The oscillating fulcrum point of the pedal lever is moved, not fixed, laterally in the sliding part.
As the pedal lever is stepped on by the rider, the oscillating fulcrum point is moved laterally, so that even when the locus of motion of the pedal is different in reference to the first half period (from the upper dead center to the lower dead center) and the second half period (from the lower dead center to the upper lower center), a smooth motion of the pedal is obtained.
The sliding part
Fujiwara Nobuhiro
Mamiya Atsushi
Lerner Avraham
Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal
Sony Corporation
Winner Tony
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