JPS6240233B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a bicycle frame folding device, and more specifically, the front tube fixed to the head pipe constituting the down tube of the body frame and the rear tube fixed to the seat pillar can be folded by a hinge joint. and a hook protruding from the other joint part of the hinge joint and engaged with the engagement groove of the hook, which is attached to one joint part of the hinge joint so as to be rotatable while being biased in a predetermined direction. The hinge joint is closed by engaging a removable engagement member, and the engagement between the engagement groove and the engagement member is released by rotating an operating lever provided on the hook, and the hinge joint is closed. This invention relates to a bicycle frame folding device that can be opened.

This kind of bicycle frame folding device, as already provided by the present applicant in Japanese Patent Publication No. 1982-5650, is capable of freely folding the bicycle frame by simply operating an operating lever. This is an extremely useful folding device that can automatically and firmly assemble a vehicle body frame simply by restoring the folded vehicle body frame to its original state. However, in this folding device, it is necessary to maintain the operating state of the operating lever and maintain the hinge joint in the open state when folding the vehicle body frame, and a holding mechanism is required to maintain the operating state of the operating lever. It was essential. Therefore, it was inevitable that the structure of the folding device would become complicated.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned circumstances, and its main purpose is to provide a bicycle frame folding device of this type that does not require a holding mechanism to maintain the operating state of the operating lever. The purpose is to simplify the structure of the tatami device.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be explained based on the drawings. FIG. 1 shows a folding bicycle that employs a folding device according to the present invention. This bicycle has a down tube 11 of the body frame, a front tube 11a fixed to a head pipe 12, and a seat pillar 13.
The tubes 11a and 11b are joined by a hinge joint 20 so as to be foldable outward and rearward. As shown in FIGS. 2 to 5, the hinge joint 20 includes a front joint part 21 fixed to the end of the front tube 11a and a rear joint part 22 fixed to the end of the rear tube 11b. As such,
These joint portions 21 and 22 are rotatably connected at one side thereof by a support pin 23 that is inserted and attached in the vertical direction. Both joints 2
1 and 22, the engagement surface 2 of the front joint portion 21
A tapered recess 21b is formed approximately at the center of the rear joint portion 22, and a tapered protrusion 22b is formed at approximately the center of the engagement surface 22a of the rear joint portion 22. The protrusion 22b tapers into the tapered recess 21b, and the engaging surfaces 21a, 22a come into close contact with each other.

Thus, the hinge joint 20 is provided with a folding device 30 according to an example of the present invention. This folding device 30 includes a hook 32 formed integrally with an operating lever 31, a stopper pin 33 that can come into contact with the lower end surface of the hook 32, a spring 34 that biases the hook 32, and an engagement groove 32a of the hook 32. The engagement ring 35 is configured to be engageable with the engagement ring 35.

Operation lever 31 and hook 32 integrated therewith
is attached to the side of the front joint part 21 of the hinge joint 20 via a mounting bolt 36 so as to be rotatable in the vertical direction, and the stopper pin 33 projects below the hook 32 on the side of the front joint part 21. It is set up. The spring 34 is wound around the outer periphery of the mounting bolt 36, and has one end fixed to the upper end surface of the hook 32 and the other end fixed to a protrusion of the stopper pin 33, and is connected to the operating lever 31 and integrally therewith. By constantly biasing the hook 32 in the counterclockwise direction shown in the second figure, the lower end surface of the hook 32 is pressed against the stopper pin 33.
It is in contact with the As a result, the operating lever 31
The hook 32 integrated therewith is restricted from further rotation in the counterclockwise direction from the position shown in FIG. 2, but is allowed to rotate clockwise from this position. Further, the engagement ring 35 is provided to protrude from the side of the rear joint portion 22 via a mounting bolt 37. The engagement ring 35 is loosely fitted onto the mounting bolt 37 and is eccentrically attached to the mounting bolt 37, and is positioned so that it can be engaged with and detached from the engagement groove 32a of the hook 32 through its open end. are doing.

On the other hand, the engagement groove 32a of the hook 32 engages the engagement ring 35 and the mounting bolt 37 when the operation lever 31 and the hook 32 integrated therewith are rotated clockwise in the second figure against the spring 34. Matching groove 3
It is formed in a shape that guides it toward the open end side of 2a. Further, the tip end surface 32b of the hook 32 extending upward from the open end of the engagement groove 32a is caused to rearwardly release the engagement ring 35 and the mounting bolt 37 by the rotation return operation of the operating lever 31 and the hook 32 due to the return force of the spring 34. It is formed in a shape that guides it toward the side tube 11b.

On the other hand, the lower wall of the engagement groove 32a of the hook 32 projects a predetermined length from the distal end surface 32b of the distal end portion 32a1 toward the distal end side.

In the folding device 30 configured in this way,
By engaging the engagement groove 32a of the hook 32 and the engagement ring 35 and closing the hinge joint 20 as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the down tube 1 is closed.
1 is firmly assembled, and the bicycle is in a drivable state as shown in FIG. Further, by rotating the operating lever 31, the engagement between the engagement groove 32a and the engagement ring 35 is released, and the hinge joint 20 becomes in the open state shown in FIG. It can be folded between 11b and 11b.
Furthermore, by simply restoring the down tube 11, the engagement groove 32a and the engagement ring 35 are engaged, the hinge joint 20 is closed as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, and the bicycle is closed as shown in FIGS. It is restored as shown in .

FIG. 6 explains the operating state of the operating lever 31 and the hook 32 integrated therewith, the engagement ring 35, and the mounting bolt 37. FIG. 6A shows the engagement of the hook 32 corresponding to FIG. 2. Groove 32a and engagement ring 3
5. This shows the state of engagement with 5. Therefore, Figure 6A
In this state, the hinge joint 20 is closed and both tubes 11a and 11b of the down tube 11 are closed.
are definitely connected. In this state, when the operating lever 31 is rotated clockwise in the second figure against the spring 34, the engagement ring 35 and the mounting bolt 37 are guided by the engagement groove 32a of the hook 32 toward its open end. , reaches the lower end of the tip surface 32b of the hook 32 from the opening end, as shown in FIG. 6B.
During this time, both joint parts 21 and 22 of the hinge joint 20 rotate relatively around the support pin 23, and the hinge joint 2
0 is gradually opened, but in this embodiment, the tip 32a1 of the lower wall of the engagement groove 32a of the hook 32 is made to protrude by a predetermined length, so that when the engagement ring 35 moves to the tip surface 32b of the hook 32, The engagement ring 35 is attached to the tip 3 of the hook 32 as shown in FIGS. 7A and 7B.
It is pushed toward the open side at 2a1. Next, when the user releases the operating lever 31, the operating lever 31 and the hook 32 integrated therewith are rotated back in the second counterclockwise direction in the drawing due to the restoring force of the spring 34, come into contact with the stopper pin 33, and are stopped. During this time, the engagement ring 35 and the mounting bolt 37 are guided toward the rear tube 11b while slidingly contacting the tip end surface 32b of the hook 32, as shown in FIG. 6C. For this reason,
The joint parts 21 and 22 of the hinge joint 20 are further rotated relative to each other around the support pin to further open the hinge joint 20, and the engagement ring 35 is attached to the distal end surface of the hook 32 as shown in FIG. 6D. 32b. FIG. 6D corresponds to the state shown in FIG. 4, and in this state the down tube 11 can be easily folded.

When assembling a bicycle that has been folded in the down tube 11, both tubes 11a and 11b are assembled.
are relatively rotated in the direction in which the hinge joint 20 is closed. During this rotation, the hook 32 and the engagement ring 35, which had been separated from each other as shown in FIG.
The engagement ring 35 and the mounting bolt 37 are in contact with the upper end of the tip surface 32b of both tubes 11a, 11b.
As shown in FIGS. 6C and 6B, the operating lever 31 and the hook 32 integrated therewith are rotated in the clockwise direction in the second figure and come into sliding contact with the distal end surface 32b of the hook 32, as shown in FIGS. 6C and 6B. When the engagement ring 35 reaches the lower end of the tip surface 32b as shown in FIG. 6B, the operation lever 31 and the hook 3 integrated therewith are removed.
2 rotates back in the second counterclockwise direction in the figure, and during this time, the engagement ring 35 engages with the engagement groove 35a, and the hinge joint 2
0 is automatically closed and the bicycle is assembled.

In this way, in the folding device 30, the rotation operation of the operation lever 31 and the hook 32 integrated therewith and the subsequent automatic rotation return operation,
The hinge joint 20 is opened by disengaging the engagement groove 32a of the hook 32 and the engagement ring 35 and separating the hook 32 and the engagement ring 35. Therefore, there is no need for any special holding mechanism to maintain the rotational operating state of the operation lever 31 and the hook 32 integrated therewith, compared to conventional folding devices of this type in which this holding mechanism was indispensable. The structure becomes very simple. Further, although the folding device includes the above-mentioned holding mechanism, it has the same functions as this type of folding device.

Although this embodiment shows an example in which the operating lever 31 and the hook 32 are integrally formed, they may be formed separately and fixed to each other, or they may be engaged as an engaging member. Although an example has been shown in which a ring 35 is employed and this is attached with a mounting bolt 37, an engagement pin may be employed in place of the engagement ring 35 and this may be directly implanted. Furthermore, in this embodiment, the hook 32 and the stopper pin 33 are provided on the front joint part 21 of the hinge joint 20, and the engaging members such as the engaging ring 35 are provided on the rear joint part 21.
Although the example in which the engagement groove 32a is provided in
may be provided on the rear joint portion 22, and may be provided on the front joint portion 21 in consideration of the positional relationship of the engaging member 35.

As explained above, the present invention enables the vehicle body frame to be folded simply by operating a control lever, and to automatically assemble the vehicle body frame by simply restoring the folded vehicle body frame to its original state. The folding device is capable of releasing the engagement between the engagement groove of the hook and the engagement member by rotating the operating lever and then automatically returning the rotation. The feature lies in that the hinge joint is opened by separating the engaging member and the engaging member. Therefore, according to the present invention, there is no need for a special holding mechanism to maintain the operating state of the operating lever during folding work, and the structure can be simplified compared to conventional folding devices of this type. can.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a side view showing an example of a bicycle that employs a folding device according to the present invention, Fig. 2 is an enlarged side view of a joint of the same bicycle, Fig. 3 is an enlarged bottom view of the same, and Fig. 4 is a folding bicycle. FIG. 5 is an enlarged front view of the same when folding is completed. FIGS. 6 A to D are schematic explanatory diagrams showing the operating state of the folding device. FIGS. 7 A and B are FIG. 6 is a schematic explanatory diagram showing the operating state immediately before transition to the state shown in FIG. 6B. Explanation of symbols, 11...down tube, 11
a, 11b...Tube, 12...Head pipe, 13...Seat pillar, 20...Hinge joint,
21, 22...Joint part, 30...Folding device, 31
...Operation lever, 32...Hook, 32a...Engagement groove, 32b...Tip surface, 33...Stopper pin, 34...Spring, 35...Engagement ring.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1 A front tube fixed to a head pipe constituting a down tube of a vehicle body frame and a rear tube fixed to a seat pillar are foldably joined by a hinge joint, and one joint part of the hinge joint is biased in a predetermined direction. closing the hinge joint by engaging an engagement groove of a hook rotatably attached to the hook with an engagement member protruding from the other joint portion of the hinge joint and detachable from the engagement groove; In the bicycle frame folding device, the hinge joint can be opened by releasing the engagement between the engagement groove and the engagement member by rotating an operating lever provided on the hook, the engagement groove of the hook; is formed in a shape that guides the engaging member toward the open end side of the engaging groove when the operating lever is rotated, and the end surface of the hook that extends to one side from the open end of the engaging groove is The engaging member is formed in a shape that guides the engaging member toward the open side of the hinge joint when the operating lever returns to rotation, and the other side of the open end of the engaging groove protrudes a predetermined length toward the distal end from the distal end surface. A bicycle frame folding device characterized by: