JPH0435396B2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] (Industrial application field) The present invention relates to a folding bicycle.

(Prior art) Bicycles are widely used as a convenient means of transportation in big cities, and the number of bicycles continues to increase.Therefore, the need for bicycle storage has become an urgent issue, especially in areas such as station squares. Making the most effective use of the available space has become an important issue.

In order to solve this problem, a bicycle whose width is reduced by folding the handlebars and pedals has already been proposed (for example, see Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 52-25342).

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) In the above-mentioned conventional folding bicycle, a pair of left and right handles are foldably pivoted on both sides of the handle post, and fixed cylinders slidably provided on both sides of the handle post are supported in the left and right direction. By moving it to
The handles were either folded or fixed in use.

That is, by moving the fixed tube outward to the left and right and engaging the handle, the handle is fixed in the operating state, and by moving the fixed tube inward and disengaging from the handle, the handle is fixed. It was foldable.

Therefore, in the folded state, the handle rotates freely, making it impossible to stably maintain the folded state.

As a result, when entering or exiting a bicycle, the handlebars that have been carefully folded open unexpectedly, causing an inconvenience such as the bicycle catching on the bicycle next to it and causing it to fall.

Furthermore, since there are a pair of left and right fixed tubes, the operation of moving the fixed tube must be performed twice, which is troublesome.

Therefore, the present invention provides that even when the handle is in use,
To provide a folding bicycle that can reliably maintain the folded state even when folded and is easy to fold.

(Means for Solving the Problems) In order to achieve the above object, the present invention takes the following measures. That is, the present invention is characterized in that a rotating main shaft 14 is rotatably supported on the head 1 at the front of the bicycle body, the front wheel 2 is attached to the lower end of the rotating main shaft 14, and A support stand 15 is attached to the upper end of the driving shaft 14, and a pair of left and right handles 3 are attached to the support stand 15 via a pair of left and right pivot parts.
In a folding bicycle that is pivotably supported for backward convergence and folding, the support base 15 includes a wedge piece that is located between the pair of left and right handles 3 and removably engages with the inner end of the handle 3. 18, and a first stop surface 19a that engages the handle 3 when the handle 3 is opened for use, and a first stop surface 19a that engages the handle 3 when the handle 3 is folded into a rearwardly converging state. A second stopper surface 19b is formed on the inner end of the handle 3, and when in use,
A third stopper surface 19c that engages with the wedge piece 18 and the first stopper surface 19a to maintain the use state, and a third stopper surface 19c that engages with the wedge piece 18 and the second stopper surface 19b when in the focused state,
A fourth stopper surface 19d is formed to maintain the focused state, and the wedge piece 18 has two positions: a position where it engages with the third or fourth stopper surface 19c, 19d of the handle 3, and a position where the engagement is released. The point is that it is installed so that its position can be changed and fixed freely.

(Function) According to the present invention, when the handle 3 is in the open use state, the third stopper surface 19c of the handle 3 is connected to the support base 1.
5 engages with the first stopper surface 19a and the wedge piece 18,
Maintain the state of use. From this state, handle 3
To fold it, the wedge piece 18 is moved to release the engagement with the third stopper surface 19c. This disengagement allows the handle 3 to be focused backwards and folded.

In the folded state, the fourth part of the handle 3
The stopper surface 19d engages with the second stopper surface 19b of the support base 15. Then, by returning the wedge piece 18 to its original position, the wedge piece 18 engages with the fourth stopper surface 19d of the handle 3 and maintains the folded state.

To change from this folded state to the use state, it is sufficient to release the engagement between the wedge piece 18 and the fourth stopper surface 19d.

(Example) Hereinafter, an example of the present invention will be described based on the front view.

In Fig. 1, both the left and right handles 3, 3 are
This is folded to form a bundle in the rear direction, and is fixed integrally with the front wheel 2 in the same direction. The pedals F and F on the left and right sides of the vehicle are folded vertically and run along the sides of the vehicle, allowing a bicycle in a normal riding position to move in and out through an extremely narrow distance. The width of the vehicle body can be shortened, and each of the above-mentioned folding configurations can be equipped with regular wheels that do not wobble when the front wheels are manually operated at the rear end, achieving the desired purpose. This shows each possible effect.

In general, the rear end of a bicycle is located at a lower position than the height of the human body and the position of the shoulders and arms, so the pushing force P caused by the forward hand pushing operation on the rear end force application point T is the forward component force Px and the downward component force Py. (See Figures 3 to 5).

Therefore, when pushing the bicycle rear end T forward by hand, the front part of the bicycle body tries to rotate upward about the rear wheel axis 11 due to the downward force Py. The front wheel 2 tries to wobble slightly from the ground K, but on the other hand, there is a frictional engagement contact between the front wheel tire and the ground, so this engagement becomes a stopping point. The forward force Px acting simultaneously causes the front wheels 2 to suddenly change direction.

This causes the vehicle body to suddenly change direction, causing the bicycle without handlebar support to lose its stable center of gravity, touching an adjacent bicycle, and causing the bicycle to fall.

Also, when manually operating the rear end of the bicycle to tow it backwards, the pulling force P caused by this operation is divided into a backward component force -Px and a downward component force Py with respect to the point of force T, and ( (See Figure 5) The relationship is exactly opposite to that of manual pushing, and a similar disaster will occur.

The occurrence of this disaster is caused by the sudden and rapid change in tilt of the front wheels, which causes the weighted body of the vehicle to undergo a sudden and accelerated tilting movement from side to side. This sudden change in the tilting of the vehicle body cannot be stopped by a person's manual arm strength at the rearmost end T of the vehicle body, and the vehicle body cannot be maintained in its normal position.

According to this embodiment, when the bicycle body is tilted slightly to the left or right side by supporting the rear end T of the bicycle body with the hands completely removed from the handlebars, a gravitational moment acts and the front wheel and handlebar coaxially rotate. In the moving body A, either the front wheel 2 provided with a small mass difference Δμ or the handle converging body B, whichever has a larger mass, is tilted slightly downward.

In this embodiment, the front wheel mass M ₂ and the handle bundle mass M ₁ formed by this mass difference Δμ can be either large or small, but it is preferable to make the front wheel mass M ₂ larger. It becomes possible to carry out operations that are compatible with human physiological senses.

If this relationship is explained using the schematic diagrams of FIGS. 6 to 8 showing plan views of the bicycle, the following three aspects will be realized.

When the vehicle body is slightly tilted in the W direction (to the left in the drawing) with the support of the rear end T, if the front wheels 2 and the steering wheel focusing body B are perfectly balanced and there is no mass difference Δμ, then the two Leaning uniformly with the vehicle body, the front wheels 2 do not exhibit any change in direction. (See Figure 6) Next, when increasing the mass _M2 by giving a mass difference Δμ to the two front wheels, the front wheels 2 will exhibit a deflection in the W direction that is greater than the inclination of the vehicle body. .
(See Figure 7) Also, when increasing this mass M ₁ by giving a mass difference Δμ in the direction of the steering wheel focusing body B, the focusing body B shows a deflection in the W direction that is greater than the inclination of the vehicle body. . (See FIG. 8) In this embodiment, the conditions shown in FIG. 7 are adopted in providing the mass difference Δμ.

In this embodiment, when the rear end manual operation is used to tilt the vehicle body alternately between leftward W and rightward (-W) with a small left and right width, the front wheels 2 will also sway from side to side, but since the mass difference Δμ acting on the front wheel-handle rotation body A is minute,
The left and right swing width of the front wheels 2 is small, the swing motion is slow, and the speed change, that is, the acceleration is also small.

In this way, when the vehicle body slightly sways to the left or right, the front wheels slowly change their wheels due to slight sway with low acceleration.

In a state where the vehicle body does not lose the gravitational balance to the left and right, and in a state that is close to this equilibrium with slow acceleration and almost no acceleration, the attitude of the front wheels when attempting to change direction is determined by rear end manual control. For the operator, front wheel 2
This is the only opportunity to change the direction of the tire track, giving the correct direction to the tire and moving it through a narrow gap.
This opportunity allows us to sufficiently capture delicate manual operations from the rear end of the vehicle body, with a small amount of manual strength equivalent to the strength of a person's arm, and within the limits of human agility. becomes.

This delicate manual operation is performed at the rear wheel ground contact point 1.
This is achieved by using the rear end T as a fulcrum and giving the vehicle body a tilt to the left or right that is adjusted from the rear end T.

Of course, in this case, the aforementioned downward force Py acts,
Since the front wheel 2 becomes slightly floating and the amount of friction with the ground surface is reduced, this turning operation becomes easier, creating an environment in which correct operation can be performed more delicately.

Due to the mass difference Δμ, the front wheel 2, which is slightly unbalanced with the handlebar focusing body B, undergoes a slow direction change rotation due to the slight gravitational moment due to its own weight as a self-starting force. The fact that the front wheel 2 also slows down and exhibits a small change in movement width when the vehicle body oscillates in a small width from side to side, allowing for steady progress, is due to this narrow gap space where a group of bicycles are closely lined up. In addition, it shows a remarkable effect when carrying out rear end manual operation for loading and unloading.

Next, in this example, the gradual change in direction of the front wheel due to the left and right sway of the bicycle body is
This wheel-rolling operation of the vehicle body follows the front wheels that are slightly deflected, making it possible to enter and exit the vehicle body along a slightly curved line. There is no need to create an extra space that is longer than the equivalent space, and even if the storage area at the rear end of the bicycle group is narrow, the desired purpose can be achieved. , In this respect as well, it is an advantageous effect in the case of cramped bicycle parking spaces in big cities.

The left and right folding handles 3, 3 of this embodiment are as follows:
These roots 13, 13 are each independently pivoted at the upper end of the rotation main shaft 14 of the front wheel-handle coaxial rotation body A, and can rotate approximately 1/4 circle symmetrically on the left and right. None, when the handles are spread left and right and fixed, the first mode is that driving operation is possible by supporting the handles, and the handles 3, 3, which are spread left and right, are set relative to the rotating body axis C-C. When the bicycle body is converged in the rearward direction, fixed in the direction of the front wheel 2, and folded, a second mode is achieved in which the bicycle body can be arranged and stored in a storage space with a narrow width.

For the formation of the first and second modes deformed in this way, it is appropriate to provide a stopper structure as follows, for example. That is, the support base 15 is provided with a wedge piece 18 that is located between the pair of left and right handles 3 and removably engages with the inner end of the handle 3. a first stop surface 19a that engages the handle 3 when opened; and
A second stopper surface 19b is formed which engages with the handle 3 when folded into a rearwardly focused state.

At the inner end of the handle 3, when in use,
A third stopper surface 19c that engages with the wedge piece 18 and the first stopper surface 19a to maintain the use state, and a third stopper surface 19c that engages with the wedge piece 18 and the second stopper surface 19b when in the focused state,
A fourth stopper surface 19d is formed to maintain the focused state.

The wedge piece 18 is provided in a position where it engages with the third or fourth stopper surface 19c, 19d of the handle 3, and a position where it releases the engagement. (FIGS. 9 to 12) That is, in the frame-shaped support 15 fixed to the upper end of the rotation main shaft 14 of the front wheel-handle coaxial rotation body A, the rotation main shaft 14 is rotated by vertical manual operation of the upper end knob 16. The spring 17 slides while being guided up and down along the
A wedge piece 18 is provided at the lower end that acts as a stopper in a constant downward motion due to elastic pressure, and when pushed up to an upper position by operating the knob 16, the wedge piece 1
8 and the handle stopper surfaces 19c, 19d are dissociated, and the left and right handles 3, 3 are allowed to freely rotate approximately 1/4 circle (see FIG. 11).

In a state where this rotation is allowed, the left and right handles 3, 3 are expanded to the left and right, the knob 16 is released, and the wedge piece 18 is positioned downward by the action of the spring 17. and the stopper surface 19c are tightly engaged with the stopper (see Fig. 12), and a first aspect of the handle that expands from side to side is formed in an immovable fixed relationship with the coaxial rotating body A (see Fig. 9). ), and the wedge piece 18 is pushed up to the upper position by operating the knob 16,
When both the left and right handles 3, 3 are brought together backwards, the knob 16 is released, and the wedge piece 18 is positioned downward by the action of the spring 17, the wedge piece 18 and the stopper surface 19d
are in locking engagement (see FIG. 12) to form a folded handle bundle B in a rigid, immovable fixed relationship with the coaxial pivot body A. (1st
(See Figure 13) In general, the left-right width of the bicycle saddle D is the width required for seating, so this left-right width will cause problems when getting in and out of narrow spaces (Figure 13). reference).

In this embodiment, the horizontally mounted saddle D itself is rotated on the front and rear support shafts 5, and folded so as to stand vertically on the side opposite to the bicycle pedal chain part E side. (See Figure 14) In this vertical screen state, the left and right widths of the saddle D run along the top and bottom sides of the folding vehicle body, so in a narrow space, it may be difficult to put in and take out the saddle. Be in a position that does not cause discomfort.

In addition, in this embodiment, the saddle D itself works as an eccentric weight, so in this folded position, the weight of both the weight of the saddle D as a weight and the weight of the pedal chain portion E is reduced. is the center line N of the car body
- In the N position, the vehicle can be arranged in a balanced manner so that it straddles the left and right sides, and when manually operating the rear end to swing the vehicle left and right, it is possible to perform slight swing movements without seeing any bias, and the front This creates favorable conditions for correct direction change of the wheels.

Next, the force axis G where the pedal pressure driving force acts on the pedal
, the pedal pressure active section and the pedal pressure play section are alternately repeated every time the crank S rotates once, and this operation appears periodically.

During the tread pressure operation section, this force axis G is in a relationship where the tread pressure driving force presses exclusively against the inner surface 8 of the mold recess provided in the crank tip 7, so that the vehicle body receives sufficient driving force to roll the wheels. , On the other hand, in the treading play section, the support of the force shaft G is sufficient to simply have enough strength to support the body weight, so the hooking pawl H device is simple and not bulky, regardless of the extremely small installation location at the crank tip 7. As a result, regarding the pedal section E, which will be described later, the structure that allows the pedal to be folded has a remarkable effect of not being bulky.

The hanging claw H device used here is suitably a rotating claw that is loaded with a spring and has elasticity.

Next, if the pedal force axis of this embodiment is in the first outward horizontal mode, the pedal depression force will be applied to the impact-fixing inner surface 8 of the crank tip 7 in the direction of depression, and this force will be exerted in the direction of movement. Since this relationship completely transmits the following information, it is possible to apply sufficient pedal force to drive the vehicle.

On the other hand, in the opposite direction of the pedal pressure, the latch H prevents the pedal part F, which is pivotally attached to the pedal crank tip 7, from naturally drooping, and this latch H has a sufficient latch to support the body weight. Since the force axis G is prevented from rising and returning, the bicycle can be ridden just like a regular bicycle, both when the pedals are driven and when the pedals are playing.

However, since a general bicycle pedal part is configured to protrude outward from both the left and right sides of the bicycle body, this poses an obstacle in dealing with the narrow storage space in which it must be stored.

In this embodiment, when the pedal force axis G is in the second mode in which it lies down and becomes parallel to the side surface of the vehicle body, the two supporting frame plates 10, 10 which are freely rotated on the pedal force axis G are opposed to each other. , the first and second pedal treads I and J, which are constructed parallel to the force axis G, can revolve around the pedal force axis G, so that the pedal With respect to the force axis G, the first pedal tread I, which has a large mass, is always positioned at the bottom, and the second pedal tread J, which has a small mass, is always placed at the top, forming a vertical plane pedal posture. They will approach in parallel.

In the left and right pedal sections F and F, which are in the second mode as described above, the first pedal foot I, which has a large mass, is placed at the lower position, but this first pedal foot I is affected by the work of its own weight. , the pedal section F on either the left or right side occupies the lowest and most stable position,
The pedal cranks S, S on the left and right sides of the vehicle body are firmly maintained in a stable, immovable state in the vertical direction.

This is due to the fact that the center of gravity of the first pedal foot I, which has the greater mass, occupies the lowest position (represented by distance l) which is the longest downward position from the axis 20 of the pedal cranks S, S. This is because the two pedal parts F, F form a stable state in their vertical positional relationship with each other.

In the drawings, Φ indicates the center of gravity of the pedal crank mechanism of this embodiment.

In this way, the posture in which the left and right pedal parts F and F are stably held in the vertical position will reproduce this stable holding posture again even if the pedal crank rotates when the vehicle body is moved in and out. As a result, the raising and lowering of the force axis G allows manual operation to be most easily adapted to the hand instinct, and the pedal force section G can be raised and folded as a horizontal rotation without twisting, making it ideal for manual operation in narrow spaces. It shows a very useful effect.

In this embodiment, the operator's arm strength is applied at the rear end T of the vehicle body to cause the vehicle body to swing from side to side using the ground point 12 as a fulcrum, and to operate the front wheels. By moving the center of gravity of the vehicle body closer to the rear wheel axle center 11, the limited and constant pushing force P resulting from arm muscle strength is reduced to a small forward force by increasing the downward force Py. Power
Being able to operate in Px,
While preventing unnecessary shaking and tilting of the vehicle body,
For a bicycle body that is balanced in gravity from side to side, delicate left-right swing operations for changing the direction of the front wheel can be performed in an extremely narrow width space. The same applies to the backward operation using the pulling force P.

(Effects of the Invention) According to the present invention, it is possible to reliably maintain the used state and the folded state of the handle, and the operation for changing both states becomes extremely simple.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Fig. 1 is a plan view of the present invention showing the bicycle in a folded state, Fig. 2 is a left side view of the front wheel-handle coaxial rotating body A, and Fig. 3 shows the bicycle in a folded state. 4 is a left side view of the present invention, and FIG. 4 is a vector diagram showing the forward direction force P on the rear end T of the bicycle and this component force relationship. FIG. 5 is a vector diagram showing the backward direction force P on the bicycle rear end T and this Vector diagrams showing component force relationships, Figures 6 to 8 are diagrams showing different changes in the front wheels 2 depending on how the mass difference Δμ is given, and Figures 9 to 12 are FIGS. 13 and 14 are diagrams illustrating the mechanism for forming the first and second fixed modes of both the left and right handles 3, 3. Fig. 15 is a schematic drawing showing the state in which the width is deformed.
FIG. 16 is a plan view of the left pedal part in the first folding mode (however, arrow Z indicates the forward running direction of the bicycle), and FIG. ), FIG. 17 is a cross-sectional schematic diagram of the left crank tip 7 taken along a plane perpendicular to the radial direction of the crank (excluding the pedal force axis G), and FIG. Fig. 19 is a cross-sectional schematic diagram of the left crank tip 7 cut along a plane parallel to the radial direction (excluding the pedal force axis G), and Fig. 19 shows the pedal-crank in the second embodiment with the pedal part F folded. FIG. 1... Head, 2... Front wheel, 3, 3... Handle, 14... Rotating main shaft, 15... Frame type support,
18... Wedge piece, 19a... First stopper surface, 19b...
...Second stopper surface, 19c...Third stopper surface, 19d...
...Fourth stopper surface.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A rotating main shaft 14 is provided at the front head 1 of the bicycle body.
is rotatably supported, the front wheel 2 is attached to the lower end of the rotation main shaft 14, and a support stand 15 is attached to the upper end of the rotation main shaft 14.
In a folding bicycle in which a pair of left and right handles 3 are pivotally supported through a pair of left and right pivot parts so that they can be folded backwards, the support base 15 includes a pair of left and right handles 3 located between the pair of left and right handles 3. A wedge piece 18 that removably engages with the inner end of the handle 3 is provided, and a first stopper surface 19a that engages with the handle 3 when the handle 3 is opened for use; A second stopper surface 19b is formed that engages the handle 3 when the handle 3 is folded into a rearward converging state, and the inner end of the handle 3 has a stopper surface 19b that, when in use,
A third stopper surface 19c that engages with the wedge piece 18 and the first stopper surface 19a to maintain the use state, and a third stopper surface 19c that engages with the wedge piece 18 and the second stopper surface 19b when in the focused state,
A fourth stopper surface 19d is formed to maintain the focused state, and the wedge piece 18 has two positions: a position where it engages with the third or fourth stopper surface 19c, 19d of the handle 3, and a position where the engagement is released. A folding bicycle characterized in that the position of the folding bicycle can be changed and fixed at will.