Vehicle fenders – Buffer or bumper type – With grille or radiator guard
Reexamination Certificate
2001-03-19
2002-10-08
Gordon, Stephen T. (Department: 3612)
Vehicle fenders
Buffer or bumper type
With grille or radiator guard
C293S102000, C293S117000, C296S205000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06460907
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a straddle type four-wheeled all-terrain vehicle (sometimes abbreviated to “ATV”) provided on its front part with a protective front guard and a winch for towing and, more specifically, to a winch supporting structure incorporated into a straddle type four-wheeled all-terrain vehicle.
The present invention also relates to a straddle type four-wheeled all-terrain vehicle having a body frame, a front carrier mounted on the body frame so as to permit loading baggage thereon from the front side thereof, a handlebar for steering front wheels, a seat or straddle type seat disposed behind the handlebar, a rear carrier disposed behind the saddle, a front fender disposed below the front carrier so as to cover the front wheels, and a front guard formed by assembling pipe members as principal components and, more specifically, to the front guard mounted on a front part of the body of the straddle type four-wheeled all-terrain vehicle.
2. Description of the Related Art
A straddle type four-wheeled all-terrain vehicle (hereinafter referred to simply as “vehicle”) often travels rugged places. A winch included in the vehicle is used for towing a heavy matter or hauling the vehicle out of a marshy place by fastening one end of a tow rope to a fixed object, such as a tree, and winding the tow rope.
FIG. 13
shows a conventional straddle type four-wheeled all-terrain vehicle
270
(hereinafter referred to simply as “vehicle
270
”) provided with a winch
271
. Usually, the winch
271
is supported on a special winch supporting structure
272
disposed in front of a front guard
273
. The winch
271
is protected by a winch guard
274
.
The conventional vehicle
270
provided with the winch
271
has the following problems to be solved.
(1) Part of the winch projecting forward from the body of the vehicle is a nuisance to operations for controlling the vehicle and it is possible for the winch to collide against an obstacle and to be damaged.
(2) The winch supporting structure must be strongly built, needs many parts and is heavy and expensive.
(3) The winch projecting forward from the vehicle spoils the appearance of the vehicle.
(4) A vehicle provided with a winch and a vehicle not provided with any winch have different constructions, respectively. Therefore, a winch supporting structure must be specially added to a vehicle originally not provided with any winch when incorporating a winch to the same vehicle, which is difficult and increases the cost of the vehicle greatly.
Moreover, generally, the front guard of the aforesaid vehicle is strongly built by assembling large-diameter pipe members so that the same may not be damaged when the same collides against rocks or branches of trees because the vehicle travels places of rough terrain.
As shown in
FIGS. 14A and 14B
, a conventional front guard
251
is a unitary structure formed by uniting together big pipes of the same large outside diameter and is joined to a front end part of a body frame
255
.
FIG. 14B
shows the front guard
251
shown in
FIG. 14A
disconnected from the front end part of the body frame
255
. The front guard
251
is provided in its upper part with a lateral frame
252
.
FIG. 15
shows a front guard
261
integrally combined with a grille
262
. The grille
262
is surrounded by side frames
263
and a lateral frame
264
. The side frames
263
and the lateral frame
264
are formed by welding together big pipe members.
Conventional front guards are disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Publication Nos. Hei 5-58365 and Hei 3-14780. Both of the front guards are unitary structure formed by welding together big pipe members of the same outside diameter and are joined to a front end part of a body frame with bolts.
The conventional front guards, however, have the following problems.
(1) Although a part to be joined to the body frame of the vehicle must be strongly built of big pipe members, the front guard has a needlessly large weight if other parts, such as parts for protecting the front fender and headlights, of the front guard are formed of big pipe members of the same outside diameter as that of the pipe members forming the part to be joined to the body frame, which is an obstruct to the reduction of the body weight of the vehicle.
(2) Parts for protecting the front fender and the headlights of the front guard are frames respectively having complicated shapes, which are difficult to fabricate by assembling big pipe members and needs a high manufacturing cost.
(3) The front guard of a unitary structure formed by integrally uniting together big pipe members takes much time and needs difficult work for joining the same to and removing the same from the body frame of the vehicle, must be accurately formed and is costly.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention has been made in view of the aforesaid problems and it is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a straddle type four-wheeled all-terrain vehicle provided with a winch supporting structure capable of supporting a winch thereon such that the winch or a member associated with the winch does not project forward from a body of the vehicle, of limiting increase in the number of parts, weight and cost to the least possible extent and of facilitating mounting the winch thereon.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a front guard for a straddle type four-wheeled all-terrain vehicle, formed in a relatively lightweight construction and capable of being easily fabricated at a low cost and of effectively reducing body weight.
According to a first aspect of the present invention, a straddle type four-wheeled all-terrain vehicle includes: a body frame having a front end part; a front guard joined to the front end part of the body frame; and a winch unit including an electric winch and a guide roller mechanism for guiding a tow rope, the electric winch and the guide roller mechanism being arranged longitudinally from a rear toward a front in that order in a lower part of a space in the front guard.
In the straddle type four-wheeled all-terrain vehicle according to the present invention, the guide roller mechanism and the electric winch are disposed in the space in the front guard and none of the parts of them project outside from the front guard. Therefore, the winch and the guide roller mechanism do not obstruct operations for controlling the straddle type four-wheeled all-terrain vehicle. The straddle type four-wheeled all-terrain vehicle does not need any additional guard members specially for protecting the winch and the guide roller mechanism. The winch and the guide roller mechanism do not spoil the appearance of the straddle type four-wheeled all-terrain vehicle. The front guard joined to the front end part of the body frame is able to protect the winch and the guide roller mechanism from rocks and branches of trees.
Preferably, the body frame has right and left lower frame members each having a front end. The front guard has right and left lower members joined to the front ends of the right and left lower frame members of the body frame and extending forward from the front ends of the right and left lower frame members, right and left front members extending upward from the right and left lower members, and a lower cross member extending between the right and left lower members. A winch support member for supporting the electric winch is joined to the lower cross member of the front guard.
Since the winch supporting member is joined to the lower cross member, i.e., the load-bearing member, of the front guard, increase in the number of parts and weight can be limited to the least extent and it can be produced easily. Since the winch supporting member is provided to the lower cross member of the front guard, a winch can be incorporated into a vehicle originally not provided with any winch without requiring any additional members.
In the straddle type four-wheeled all-terrain vehicle according to the present invention, it is desirable that a guide roller
Coletta Lori L.
Gordon Stephen T.
Kawasaki Jukogyo Kabushiki Kaisha
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