JPH02230B2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] This invention normally allows you to ride a normal bicycle by rotating the pedals, but when climbing a hill, the left and right pedals are alternately swung in opposite directions by switching to the climbing gear. The present invention will be described below with reference to an embodiment of a bicycle that can be pedaled to climb hills much more easily than conventional bicycles.

FIG. 1 shows a bicycle equipped with a switching device according to the invention, and FIGS. 3 and 4 show a first embodiment of the switching device.

A support body 2 having an inverted U-shaped front shape and having left and right support rods 2a and 2b is fixed to a top tube 1 which is a part of the frame of the bicycle shown in FIG.

The lower part of the left support rod 2a supports a left crankshaft 5a to which a crank 4a of a left pedal 3a is firmly fitted. The left crankshaft 5a passes through the left side plate 6a of the gear housing 6, and a left bevel gear 7a is firmly fitted to the right end facing into the box, and 8 in the figure indicates a bearing.

The lower part of the right support rod 2b supports the right crankshaft 5b of the crank 4a for the right pedal 3b, and the crankshaft 5b also passes through the right side plate of the gear housing 6 and faces into the box. A bevel gear 7b is firmly fitted to the portion located at . The inner ends of the left and right crankshafts are supported by radial bearings 10 in the cup 9 of the other crankshaft.

In addition, the left and right bevel gears 7a, 7b have bearings 11 connected to the boss 6c of the gear housing.
A pinion gear 12 supported at 3 is engaged with the pinion gear 12, and the end 11a of the journal projects outside the gear housing. Note that this protruding end 11a is actually constituted by a nut screwed onto the male threaded end of the journal, and an engagement groove 14 is formed in the left side.

A latch 15 made of an L-shaped bell crank is provided on the outer periphery of the gear housing, which engages and disengages the engaging groove 14 of the journal, and also engages and disengages the receiving portion 24a of the left support rod 2a, which will be described later. The base of the latch 15 is supported by a front-back pin 17 on a pair of front and rear bearings 16a and 16b provided on the outer periphery of the housing.

The gear housing is provided with a hold mechanism that holds the switched latch in place. That is, the gear housing has a centrally directed recess 18 in which a compression spring 19 presses the outer surface of the spring receiving cap 20 against the latch to hold the latch.

The switching lever 21 is used to engage and disengage the latch 15 from the engagement groove 14 of the journal, but also from the receiving portion of the left support rod. This switching lever 21 is attached to a bearing portion 22 provided at the upper part of the left support rod 2a by a pin 23 extending in the front and rear direction. The left support rod 2a has a gap 24 extending left and right so that the lower part of the switching lever 21 and the slider and latch, which will be described later, can be operated.
The lower end of this gap serves as the receiving portion 24a for the latch. It should be noted that this gap is not necessarily necessary if the left support rod has an appropriate shape.

The support body 2 is provided with a rail 25 extending in the left-right direction, and the slider 26 is fitted onto this rail, and a pin 2 protruding from the front surface of the slider is fitted onto the rail 25.
7 is engaged with the lower end vertically elongated hole 28 of the switching lever 21.

Therefore, when the slider 26 is moved to the left by operating the switching lever 21, the slider 26 is moved to the left.
6, the actuating portion consisting of the trochanter 29 and the like pushes aside the standing left piece 15a of the latch 15 and passes through, rotating the latch 15 90 degrees to the left in FIG. As a result, the right piece 15b of the latch 15 is disengaged from the engagement groove 14 of the journal, while the left piece 15a enters the gap 24 of the left support rod 2a, and the receiving part 2
4a, thereby locking the gear housing to the left support rod 2a.

If you operate the switching lever 21 in the opposite direction from this state,
The slider 26 is on the right side 15b where the latch stands up.
The right piece 15b of the latch 15 is inserted into the engagement groove 14 of the journal.
The left piece 15a comes out of the gap 24 of the left support rod, and the gear housing is unlocked. In addition, the code|symbol 30 is a trochanteric axis.

Reference numeral 31 designates a sprocket wheel for a chain having a conventional ratchet mechanism, and is firmly fitted to a ratchet wheel 33 rotatably provided on the right crankshaft 5b by means of a bearing 32. Therefore, the ratchet wheel 33 has two rows of teeth 3 on the left and right.
4a, 34b are formed on the outer periphery, and to each tooth,
Each pawl 36a, 36b of the pawl rod 35a, 35b whose base is firmly fitted to the left and right crankshafts 5a, 5b (however, 3
6b (not shown) is adapted to engage. This rotational force of the sprocket wheel 31 is transmitted to the rear sprocket 38 by a chain 37.

The above describes the first embodiment of the present invention, and the method of operation thereof will be explained below.

[For conventional driving]

On flat terrain or on gentle uphill slopes, the bicycle is pedaled in the same way as a conventional bicycle.

In this case, move the switching lever 21 as shown in FIG.
On the other hand, while engaging with the journal part engagement groove 14 of No. 2,
Remove the other piece 15a from the gap 24 of the left support rod 2a. In this state, the pinion gear 12 is fixed to the gear housing 6 by the latch 15 and cannot rotate, so the left and right bevel gears 7a and 7b are integrated via the pinion gear 12, and therefore the left and right crankshafts 5a , 5b are integrally connected.

Therefore, when the pedals are depressed, the left and right crankshafts are rotated together with the gear housings in the same direction, and the bicycle can be driven by depressing the pedals in the same manner as in the conventional bicycle, as shown in FIG.

[For switching travel]

When approaching an uphill road, operate the lever 21 to the position shown by the chain line in Figure 3. As a result, the slider 26 is moved to the left in the figure, and the latch 15 is moved to the left in the figure.
One of the latch pieces 15b standing up is pushed away by the trochanter 29 and rotated to the left, and the other latch piece 15b comes out of the groove 14 of the journal. One piece 15a of the rotated latch 15 then enters the gap 24 of the left support rod 2a and locks into the left support rod 2a.

In this state, the gearbox cannot rotate because the latch 15 is engaged with the left support rod 2a.
However, since the pinion gear 12 is unlocked, it can rotate. For example, when the crankshaft 5a is rotated by the left pedal, the rotational force is transmitted to the right crankshaft 5 via the left bevel gear 7a, pinion gear 12, and right bevel gear.
b, and the direction of rotation is opposite to that of the left crankshaft.

Therefore, when the left pedal is depressed and rotated forward, the right pedal is rotated upward and forward, and then by depressing this raised right pedal, the left and right pedals are rotated as shown in Figure 2. The bicycle can be pedaled by sliding the pedals alternately, making it much easier to climb up hills than with a conventional bicycle.

5 to 8 show a second embodiment.

This embodiment differs from the first embodiment in the locking mechanism of the gear housing, and since the other structures are the same as those of the first embodiment, a description thereof will be omitted.
In this embodiment, a collar 41 having a groove formed on the outer periphery and clutch teeth 42 formed on the right side surface is fitted onto the left crankshaft 5a by spline fitting or a sliding key 43. Although it rotates together with the coaxial shaft 5a, it can move in the axial direction of the coaxial shaft. Clutch teeth 44 that engage with the collar clutch 42 are formed on the end face of the crankshaft boss of the gear housing 6 or on the outer end face of the outer race 8a' of the bearing 8a supporting the crankshaft 5a to the gear housing as shown. The outer race 8a' is fixed to the boss of the gear housing.

A bearing 45 is protruded from the inside of the left support rod 2a, and the center portion of the clutch 47 is tightly fitted onto a longitudinal shaft 46 supported by the bearing 45. A semicircular yoke 48 is formed at the lower end of the clutch 47, and opposing pins 49, 4 provided at both ends of the yoke 48 are formed at the lower end of the clutch 47.
9 is engaged in the groove of the collar 41, and clutch teeth 50 are formed on the right side of the upper end. (50a is a toothless part to make it easier to engage the clutch). The lower end of the switching lever 21 is firmly fitted to one end of the clutch shaft 46, and by rotating this lever forward and backward, the clutch teeth 42 of the collar are connected to the clutch teeth 4 of the housing bearing.
4, the upper clutch teeth 50 of the clutch 47 are engaged with and disengaged from the teeth 52 of a clutch 51 appropriately fixed to the gear housing.
That is, when the collar clutch teeth 42 engage the housing bearing clutch teeth 44,
The upper clutch teeth 50 of the clutch 47 are discontinuous with the clutch teeth 52 of the housing, and vice versa, the upper clutch teeth 50 of the clutch engage the clutch teeth 52 of the housing to lock the housing.

The second embodiment is operated as follows.

[For normal driving]

By operating the switching lever 21, the collar clutch 42 is brought into engagement with the clutch tooth 44 of the housing bearing (the upper clutch tooth 50 of the clutch 47 is therefore not engaged with the tooth 52 of the housing clutch 51).

Therefore, the rotation of the left crankshaft 5a is controlled by the key 4.
3. From the collar 41 which is stopped, the clutch 42,
44 to the gear housing 6, which rotates together with the left crankshaft 5a. Thus, the rotation of the housing is transmitted to the right crankshaft 5b by the right bevel gear 7b, and the right crankshaft is rotated in the same direction as the left crank. Further, the rotation of the right crankshaft is transmitted to the gear housing by the right bevel gear, causing the housing to rotate together with the right crankshaft, and this rotation is transmitted to the left crankshaft via the clutches 42 to 41 and the collar 41. , the left crankshaft rotates together with the right crankshaft. That is, the left and right crankshafts 5a and 5b are integrally connected, and the bicycle can be pedaled in the same way as a conventional bicycle.

[For switching travel]

In this case, the switching lever 21 is tilted to the right in FIG. 5 to the chain line position.

As a result, the collar 41 is moved to the left in the figure, and the collar clutch 42 is disengaged from the clutch 44 on the housing side.
The upper clutch 50 of 7 engages the gear housing clutch 52 and the gear housing is locked.

Therefore, the rotation of one crankshaft is transmitted from the bevel gear of that shaft to the pinion gear 12, and then to the other crankshaft via the other bevel gear,
Moreover, the rotation directions of the left and right crankshafts are opposite.

In other words, the operation is as shown in FIG. 3 described above, and thereby it is possible to easily climb up a slope.

As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to drive in the conventional rowing manner on flat land, but when a slope is reached, the left and right pedals can be rowed in such a way that they alternately slide in opposite directions by operating a lever. We can provide bicycles that are easy to climb.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

The figures show embodiments of the present invention, and FIG. 1 is a side view of a bicycle equipped with the switching device of the present invention, FIG. 3 is an enlarged sectional view of the switching device taken along the line - in FIG. 1, and FIG. 4 is a front view of the same device.
5 is a side view showing another embodiment of the switching device, FIG. 6 is a longitudinal sectional view taken along the line of FIG. 5, FIG. 7 is a view showing clutches 50 and 52, and FIG. FIG. In the figure, 1... Bicycle frame (top tube), 2... Support body, 2a, 2b... Left and right support rods, 3a, 3b... Pedal, 4a, 4b... Crank, 5a, 5b... Crank shaft , 6...Gear housing, 7a, 7b...Bevel gear, 8...Bearing, 9...Cup, 10...Bearing,
11... Projection of journal, 12... Pinion gear, 13... Boss, 14... Engagement groove, 15...
Latch, 16... Bearing, 17... Pin, 18...
Recess, 19... Spring, 20... Cap, 21...
...Switching lever, 22...Bearing section, 23...Pin, 2
4...Gap, 24a...Receiving part, 25...Rail, 26...Slider, 27...Pin, 28...
...Long hole, 29... Trochanter, 30... Trochanter axis, 31...
...Sprocket wheel, 32...Bearing,
33... ratchet wheel, 34a, 34b... ratchet teeth, 35a, 35b... pawl rod, 36a, 36b...
... Ratchet pawl, 37 ... Chain, 38 ... Rear wheel sprocket, 41 ... Collar, 42 ... Clutch, 43 ... Sliding key, 44 ... Clutch, 4
4a... Missing tooth portion, 45... Bearing, 46... Shaft, 4
7... Clutch rod, 48... Yoke, 49... Protruding shaft, 50... Upper clutch, 50a... Missing tooth portion,
51... Housing clutch lever, 52... Clutch.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A support body having a pair of left and right support rods is attached to the frame of the automobile, and each of the left and right pair of support rods independently supports each crankshaft of the left and right pedals, and the opposing ends of the left and right crankshafts are pass through the left and right side plates of the gear housing, and the left and right bevel gears are firmly fitted to each end facing into the gear housing, and the journal is supported by the gear housing by a bearing, and meshes with the left and right bevel gears. A gear housing lock mechanism is provided in which a pinion gear is provided in the gear housing, and a switching lever is attached to the support body, and the rotation of the gear housing is blocked or released from blocking by forward/reverse operation of the switching lever. A bicycle characterized in that a support rod and a gear housing are provided with a support rod and a gear housing.