Machine element or mechanism – Control lever and linkage systems – Hand operated
Reexamination Certificate
2000-03-20
2001-10-09
Bucci, David A. (Department: 3682)
Machine element or mechanism
Control lever and linkage systems
Hand operated
C074S489000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06298744
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1) Field of the Invention
The invention herein relates to a brake lever structure for the synchronized control of front and rear wheel brakes comprised of a braking structure installed between a brake lever and a brake lever mount and, furthermore, the braking structure is capable, when the brake lever pulls the linkage component, of simultaneously actuating pull rods movably conjoined to the two sides of the linkage component which are drawn back and travel in parallel towards the guide holes of the brake lever mount; furthermore, when a vehicle equipped with the invention herein is ridden, if any of the two brake cables become severed, the cable remaining intact is still capable of effectively actuating either the front wheel brake or the rear wheel brake and as such, the braking structure is not only capable of maintaining the synchronized application of the front and rear wheel brakes and at an equalized force, but also of ensured braking capacity even when a brake cable is no longer intact to enhance braking stability and performance and thereby provide greater safety.
2) Description of the Prior Art
A conventional brake lever for synchronized front and rear wheel braking such as the type introduced under U.S. Pat. No. 5,845,539 and indicated in FIG.
1
and
FIG. 2
is comprised of a brake lever
1
on a motorcycle or bicycle and, furthermore, the said brake lever
1
is installed to a brake lever mount
2
; wherein, front and rear guide holes
211
and
212
are formed at the front end of the said brake lever mount
2
to provide for the insertion of a front and a rear brake cable W
1
and W
2
; front and rear slots
2111
and
2121
are respectively formed at the upper ends of the front and rear guide holes
211
and
212
, and a hidden slot
22
is formed at the rear end of the said brake lever mount
2
; a linkage slot
11
is formed at the cable pulling position of the brake lever
1
and, furthermore, a figure-8 shaped link plate
12
is movably conjoined to a pull rod
14
and inserted into the linkage slot
11
, when the front and rear wheel brake cables W
1
and W
2
are drawn simultaneously for brake application and, furthermore, utilizing the seesawing motion of the pull rod
14
as well as the unique ascending and descending movement capability of the figure-8 shaped link plate
12
, if the front and rear wheel braking action is imbalanced or the front and rear wheel brake cables W
1
and W
2
become slightly slackened, correction by the pull rod
14
and the figure-8 shaped link plate
12
enable a simultaneous braking action at the front and rear wheels; however, in actual utilization, the structure of the said brake lever
1
is inadequate in terms of performance and can be further refined and improved, with the general shortcomings summarized below.
1. Although the conventional braking structure consists of a figure-8 shaped link plate
12
movably conjoined onto the pull rod
14
and is capable of providing, by means of the seesawing motion of the pull rod
14
, for the correction and maintaining of synchronized braking by the front and rear wheel brakes, when the said braking structure is in the process of brake actuation, since the pull rod
14
sways to the left and right in a seesawing state during braking, while capable of synchronizing front and rear wheel brake application, the front and rear brake cables W
1
and W
2
are not drawn upon equally, with the resulting shortcoming being an imbalanced application at the front and rear brakes that causes the sudden stopping of the vehicle and a subsequent leaning over that adversely affects riding safety.
2. Since the conventional braking structure achieves correction by means of the pull rod
14
and the figure-8 shaped link plate
12
, when one of the brake cables are severed, the brake lever
1
can only draw back the pull rod
14
no longer connected to a brake cable (the pull rod
14
without braking capability) such that when the brake lever
1
is pressed down once again, the pull rod
14
still connected to a brake cable actuates brake application, but the limited pulling distance of the brake cable precludes the attainment of effective braking performance, which results in compromised riding safety.
Therefore, the inventor of the invention herein conducted extensive research and design efforts to improve the conventional product which, following numerous testing and refinement, culminated in the successful development of a brake lever structure for the synchronized control of front and rear wheel brakes of the present invention that completely eliminates the shortcomings of the prior art and, furthermore, offers significantly increased practical performance.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The primary objective of the invention herein is to provide a brake lever structure capable of maintaining synchronized braking and at an equalized braking force comprised of a braking structure installed between the brake lever and the brake lever mount and, furthermore, consists of a coupling element extending from the end of the brake lever and a linkage component that is movably conjoined to the coupling element, with a bolt inserted to assemble the brake lever to the brake lever mount; a front and a rear wheel brake cable are respectively inserted into a front and a rear guide hole of the brake lever mount and then inserted and secured into the pull rods of the linkage component; when the brake lever pulls the linkage component of the braking structure, each of the pull rods at the two sides of the linkage component draw back the two cables which travel together in parallel within the front and rear guide holes of the brake lever mount and as such, the braking structure is not only capable of maintaining the synchronized application of the front and rear wheel brakes and at an equalized force, but also of ensured braking capacity, enhancing braking stability and performance and thereby providing greater safety.
Another objective of the invention herein is to provide a brake lever structure capable of ensured braking capacity even when one of the two brake cables is severed that is comprised of a braking structure installed between the brake lever and the brake lever mount and, furthermore, a structurally innovative stop rib protruding from the top end of the rear guide hole of the brake lever mount such that if the rear brake cable is severed, since the pull rod of the rear brake braking structure becomes engaged against the stop rib, the angle of the brake lever and the link rod is thereby fixed, allowing the pulling of the front brake cable to achieve braking application; as such, since the brake lever is capable of drawing back the pull rod still connected to the unsevered cable to actuate braking action, positive braking performance and safety is ensured even if one of the two brake cables is no longer intact.
To enable a further understanding of the technological means, functions, and objectives of the present invention, the brief description of the drawings below is followed by the detailed description of the invention herein.
REFERENCES:
patent: 4279174 (1981-07-01), Ross
patent: 4644816 (1987-02-01), Cockburn
patent: 4785683 (1988-11-01), Buckley et al.
patent: 4850241 (1989-07-01), Buckley et al.
patent: 4914971 (1990-04-01), Hinkens et al.
patent: 5669268 (1997-09-01), Tsai
patent: 5778729 (1998-07-01), Tsai
patent: 5845539 (1998-12-01), Huang
patent: 6085611 (2000-07-01), Valdez
patent: 6164153 (2000-12-01), Scura
Bucci David A.
Dougherty & Troxell
Kim Chong H.
LandOfFree
Brake lever structure for the synchronized control of front... does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.
If you have personal experience with Brake lever structure for the synchronized control of front..., we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Brake lever structure for the synchronized control of front... will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-2555736