Brakes – Vehicle – Positive lock
Reexamination Certificate
2001-08-10
2002-08-13
Rodriguez, Pam (Department: 3613)
Brakes
Vehicle
Positive lock
C188S024180, C188S069000, C180S210000, C280S282000, C070S228000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06431328
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a parking lock device for a three-wheeled vehicle suitable for lowering manufacturing costs and maintenance costs.
2. Description of the Background Art
A parking lock device for an oscillating type three-wheeled vehicle is disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 1989-23356. The three-wheeled vehicle includes one front wheel mounted on the front body, and two wheels mounted on the rear body. The front body and the rear body are joined to be rolled freely by a joint part. The rear body is provided with a rear-wheel lock mechanism for locking the rear wheel by a brake or the like, whereby at the time of parking, rolling movement of the front body and the rear body is locked to lock (brake) the rear wheels.
A description will be made with reference to
FIGS. 15 and 16
which correspond to
FIGS. 1 and 2
of the aforementioned Patent Publication.
FIG. 15
shows the main parts in the original FIG.
1
. Reference numerals used indicate those used in the aforementioned Patent Publication.
FIG. 15
is a side view of main parts of a conventional three-wheeled vehicle. An oscillating type three-wheeled vehicle
200
is a vehicle in which a front body
201
on the front wheel side and a rear body
202
on the rear wheel side constitute a vehicle body. An oscillating joint
203
is mounted vertically movably by means of a pin
201
a
at the rear of the front body
201
. A rear frame
204
is mounted at the rear of the oscillating joint
203
. A rear wheel
205
and a brake arm
206
of a brake for braking the rear wheel
205
are arranged on the rear frame
204
side. A lock operating lever (not shown) for carrying out the parking lock is provided in the vicinity of a handle of the front body
201
. A single operating cable
207
is connected to the oscillating joint
203
and the brake arm
206
from the lock operating lever.
FIG. 16
is a sectional view of a conventional oscillating joint, in which a support shaft
211
is rotatably mounted on a lower case
208
and an upper case (not shown) of the oscillating joint
203
. A stopper plate
212
is mounted on the front end of the support shaft
211
. A stopper pole
213
and a swing arm
214
are mounted in a manner free to swing on a lower case
208
for locking the rotation of the stopper plate
212
. An inner (wire)
215
of the operating cable
207
is connected to the end of the swing arm
214
, and the outer tube side of the operating cable
207
is divided into an outer
216
and an outer
217
with respect to the single inner (wire)
215
.
7
In the art of the aforementioned Patent Publication, mounting locations of the operating cable
207
on the body are a point
218
on the oscillating joint
203
and a point
219
in the vicinity of the brake arm
206
. Since the points
218
and
219
are subjected to relative rolling movement by the oscillating joint
203
, the operating cable
207
is twisted in a short distance (distance DA) between the points
218
and
219
to impose a burden to the operating cable
207
. Accordingly, it is contemplated that in a case where miniaturization of the body is studied, if the dimension of the oscillating joint
203
is simply reduced, the twisting of the operating cable
207
becomes further increased, resulting in a shorter life of the operating cable
207
, which poses restriction when miniaturization is taken into consideration.
Further, in
FIG. 16
, since the operating joint
207
has its midpoint connected to the oscillating joint
203
, a plurality of parts are mounted in order that the outer tube side is divided (into the outer
216
and the outer
217
), and the swing arm
214
is connected to the inner wire
215
, which makes the construction of the operating cable
207
complicated, bringing forth an increase in manufacturing costs, and requiring many steps for the maintenance for mounting and dismounting or replacement of the operating cable
207
.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is therefore an object of the present invention, in a parking lock device for a three-wheeled vehicle, to miniaturize the body without receiving great restriction to reduce the weight, and to simplify the construction to lower part costs and maintenance costs.
For achieving the aforesaid object, the present invention provides a parking lock device for a three-wheeled vehicle in which a front body having a front wheel mounted thereon and a rear body having rear wheels mounted thereon are joined by a substantially laterally extending shaft and a bearing to thereby connect the front body and the rear body to be relatively rollable. By drawing a cable at the time of parking, the relative rolling between the front body and the rear body can be locked, and the rotation of the rear wheels can be locked. The front body is provided with a parking lever for drawing said cable. The rear body is provided with a rear-wheel lock mechanism for locking the rear wheels. A joint part between said shaft and said bearing is provided with a roll lock mechanism for locking the relative rotation between said shaft and said bearing. A front half part of the cable is extended over between said parking lever and said rear-wheel lock mechanism, and a rear half part of the cable is extended over between said rear-wheel lock mechanism and said roll lock mechanism.
Since the front half part of the cable is extended over between the front body and the rear body, the twisting of the cable caused by the relative rolling between the front body and the rear body is absorbed in a long distance as compared with the prior art. Thereby, even if the joint part is miniaturized, the excessive load is not applied to the cable to enable extension of the service life of the cable.
According to the present invention, the front half part of said cable is constituted by a first cable, and the rear half part of said cable is constituted by a second cable separate from the first cable. The first cable and the second cable can be made simple in construction. For example, if general cables are used, parts costs can be reduced considerably. Further, maintenance costs of cables can be lowered.
Further scope of applicability of the present invention will become apparent from the detailed description given hereinafter. However, it should be understood that the detailed description and specific examples, while indicating preferred embodiments of the invention, are given by way of illustration only, since various changes and modifications within the spirit and scope of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from this detailed description.
REFERENCES:
patent: 4356876 (1982-11-01), Watanabe et al.
patent: 4487282 (1984-12-01), Wakatsuki et al.
patent: 4534439 (1985-08-01), Shimazaki et al.
patent: 5269195 (1993-12-01), Kitagawara
patent: 5386742 (1995-02-01), Irikura et al.
patent: B1123356 (1989-05-01), None
Ozeki Takashi
Tagami Takuya
Birch & Stewart Kolasch & Birch, LLP
Honda Giken Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha
Rodriguez Pam
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