FR2548619A1 - Plastics moulded bicycle pedal - Google Patents

Abstract

The main body (4) of the pedal is moulded of plastics and has a bored central section (41) to take the axis and two end sections with moulded grips. Two side frames (7,8) are of metal and link to the moulded section with snap fasteners. They have locating tubes (71c,81c) into the central section. One side frame has end sections (36,37) to grip around the ends of the pedal, with locating tags to grip into the cavities of the plastics moulding. The frames also locate the bearings.

Description

 The present invention relates to a bicycle pedal and more particularly to a bicycle pedal which is provided with a body, an axle and two bearings for supporting the body in a rotary manner on the axis.

 In the most ordinary of the various kinds of bicycle pedals, two side plates are fixed at the two axial ends of a tube by means of bearings so as to face each other and support members of the foot, mainly of rubber, are mounted at through the side plates at the front and rear, by means of anchor bolts being tightened by screwed nuts.

 Such a conventional pedal comprising various parts to be assembled is tedious to supervise and it takes a long time for assembly, resulting in a high manufacturing price.

 In addition, a pedal where the body is integrally molded using a synthetic resin has been proposed. In this case, the metal mold is of complex construction and is disadvantageous from the point of view of resistance, thus posing a problem in that the pedal, if the bicycle falls, can be broken by a lateral impact.

 The present invention relates to a pedal for a bicycle having a smaller number of parts, easy to assemble, of greater resistance compared to the pedal made of conventional synthetic resin, and capable of withstanding a lateral impact sufficiently when the bicycle falls .

 In more detail, the pedal according to the invention comprises a body composed of three parts, a main body and two lateral frameworks having bearing surfaces and coupling tubes respectively, the main body being formed of synthetic resin, the lateral frames being made of metal and arranged on the two lateral sides of the main body so that the coupling tubes are connected to integrate the main body into the lateral frames. As the side frames are thus separated from the main body, the metal mold for the main body of synthetic resin is simplified. Likewise, the lateral metal frameworks arranged on the two lateral sides of the main body increase the resistance against the lateral impact caused by a fall from the bicycle. Furthermore, the main body is simply and rigidly connected to the lateral frameworks by adjustment to pressure of the coupling tubes.

 In addition, in the present invention, the main body is traversed by a bore which extends axially to the axis of the pedal and the coupling tubes are fixed directly or. by a connection tube, in the drilling mainly using a pressure adjuster.

 On the opposite parts of the main body relative to the lateral frameworks are provided engagement means which can come into engagement when the coupling tubes are connected, and interrupt the relative movement of the main body relative to the lateral frameworks.

The invention will be better understood, and other objects, characteristics, details and advantages thereof will appear more clearly during the explanatory description which follows, made with reference to the appended schematic drawings given solely by way of example illustrating several embodiments of the invention and in which
- Figure 1 is a perspective view of a first embodiment of a pedal according to the invention;
- Figure 2 is a plan view of the first embodiment
- Figure 3 is a sectional view taken along line III-III of Figure 1;
- Figure 4 is a sectional view taken along the line IV-IV of Figure 1;
- Figure 5 is a plan view of a main body of the pedal according to the invention;
- Figure 6 is a side view of the main body of Figure 5 ;;
- Figure 7 is a sectional view taken along the line VII-VII of Figure 5;
- Figure 8 is a plan view of a side frame on the left side of Figure 2;
- Figure 9 is a side view of the side frame of Figure 8;
- Figure 10 is a sectional view taken along line XX of Figure 9;
- Figure II is a plan view of a side frame of the right side of Figure 2;
- Figure 12 is a side view of the side frame of Figure II;
- Figure 13 is a perspective view of a second embodiment of the invention;
- Figure 14 is a longitudinal sectional view of a central part of the second embodiment;
- Figure 15 is an exploded perspective view;
- Figure 16 is a perspective view of a third embodiment of the invention;
- Figure 17 is a side view of a modified example of the second embodiment;
- Figure 18 is a side view of a modified example of the third embodiment;
- Figure 19 is a perspective view of a fourth embodiment of the invention;
- Figure 20 is an exploded perspective view of the fourth embodiment;
- Figure 21 is a longitudinal sectional view, from which the flat-central part is omitted; and
- Figure 22 is a partially cut away side view of a modified example of the fourth embodiment.

 Referring to Figures 1 to 12, there can be seen a first embodiment of a pedal according to the invention, which mainly comprises a body 1, an axis 2 and two bearings 3 for supporting the body 1 in a rotary manner on axis 2, axis 2 being mounted on the pedal axis of the bicycle, mainly using screws.

 The body 1 comprises a main body 4 shown in Figures 5 to 7 and two side frames 7 and 8 shown in Figures 8, 9, 11 and 12, the main body 4 and the side frames 7 and 8 being integrally connected as the show figures 1 to 4.

 The main body 4 is made of synthetic resin, in the form of a framework as a whole as shown in FIG. 5 with, at its central part, a flat part 41. The flat part 41 connects a front framework part 42 comprising two parts lateral surface 42a and 42b which project outwards from the two longitudinal ends of the flat part 41 and extending obliquely towards the front and a connecting part 42c connecting the lateral surface parts 42a and 42b at the ends before; and a rear frame part 43 comprising two lateral surface parts 43a and 430 which project outwards and which extend obliquely towards the rear and a connection part 43c connecting the rear ends of the parts lateral surface 43a and 43b.

 The front and rear frame parts 42 and 43 have mounting plates 44 and 45 extending laterally for mounting the toe clips (not shown), the mounting plates 44 and 45 being interposed between the longitudinally intermediate parts of the parts lateral surface 42a and 42b and lateral surface portions 43a and 43b, with insertion holes 44a and 45a in which the mounting screws for the toe clips are inserted, and connected to elastically transformable support members for the foot 46 and 47 as shown in Figure 7.

 The front and rear frame parts 42 and 43 protrude towards the outside of the two longitudinal extremists of the flat part 41 so as to form, between the frame parts 42 and 43, engagement recesses 51 and 52 which form means for engaging the lateral frames 7 and 8 which will be described below.

 The lateral surface parts 42a, 42b, 43a and 43b on the lateral frameworks 42 and 43 are in the form of a framework as shown in FIGS. 6 and 7 respectively and form engagement protrusions 53 and 54 constituting the engagement means lateral frames 7 and 8 respectively. The connection parts 42c and 43c are provided, at the surface and at the back, with non-slip protrusions 48a, 48b and 49a, 49b which protrude outward respectively.

 As can be seen in Figures 6 and 7, the surface of the front frame part 42 is identical in shape to the back of the rear frame part 43 and the back of the first is identical to the surface of the latter, therefore even when the main body 4 rotates to reverse the surface and the back of the respective frame parts 42 and 43, the pedal body is adapted to maintain the shape of the upper surface unchanged. In addition, the terms "front frame part" and "rear frame part" are used for ease of description, and can of course be reversed when the main body 4 rotates. Similarly, in FIGS. 1 , 6 and 7, the reference numerals 5 and 6 denote reflectors which can be inserted into the connection parts 42c and 43c respectively.

 We will now explain the external frameworks 7 and 8 arranged on the two lateral sides of the main body 4 and which are integral with it.

 The lateral frameworks 7 and 8 are formed mainly of metal like an aluminum alloy and, as shown in FIGS. 8 to 12, include bodies 70 and 80 having coupling tubes 71 and 81 which have to fit into the bore. 41a at the flat part 41, front arms 72 and 82 which extend towards the front and rear arms 73 and 83 which extend towards the rear, which form one body with the other, the bodies 70 and 80 forming, at the central parts, bearing or support surfaces 74 and 84 for the bearings 3 respectively.

 The bodies 70 and 80 are formed to come into engagement with the engagement recesses 51 and 52 on the main body 4, so that the first engagement means consist of the recesses 51 and 52. The front and rear arms 72, 82 , 73 and 83, as shown in FIGS. 8 to 12, are provided with engagement grooves 72a, 82a, 73a and 83a to receive the front and rear framework parts 42 and 43 and with engagement recesses 72b, 82b, 73b and 83b can come into engagement with the engagement protrusions 53 and 54 on the main body 4 respectively, thereby constituting second engagement means.

 A coupling tube-71 on the lateral framework 7, as can be seen in Figures 8 and 11, is provided with a small diameter tube 71a through a shoulder 71b and as can be seen in the figure 4, it fits into the bore 41a of the main body 4 and then the tube 71a of smaller diameter is pressure adjusted in the other coupling tube 81, thereby connecting the lateral frameworks 7 and 8 integrally to the main body 4.

 In addition, the bearing faces 74 and 84 on the bodies 70 and 80 are assembled by pressure adjustment with ball bearings 75 and 85 in steel respectively.

The bodies 70 and 80 and the front and rear arms 72, 82, 73 and 83 have non-slip protrusions 76 and 86 which are integral with them.

 In the above construction, the main body 4 and the lateral frameworks 7 and 8 are assembled into body 1 of the pedal, which is rotatably supported on the axis 2 by bearings 3 so as to form the pedal according to the invention.

 The lateral frameworks 7 and 8 are arranged on the two lateral sides of the main body 4 and are fixed to the coupling tubes 71 and 81 by the bore 41a on the main body 4, the tubes 71 and 81 being pressure adjusted one to the other, so as to form the body 1 of the pedal, and the frames 70 and 80 come into engagement with the engagement recesses 51 and 52 on the main body 4, and the front and rear frame parts 42 and 43 and the engagement protrusions 53 and 54 on the main body 4 engage with the engagement grooves 72a, 82a, 73a and 83a and the engagement recesses 72b, 82b, 7t and 83b on the front and rear arms 72 and 82 of the lateral frameworks 7 and 8 respectively to thus connect the main body 4 to the lateral frameworks 7 and 8 without relative movement.

 The pedal body constructed as above is supported on the axis 2 so that the axis 2, as is known, is fixed in the coupling tubes 71 and 81 and supported by the ball bearings 3 interposed between them ball holders 75 and 85 contained in the bodies 70 and 80 and a raceway 21 at the base of the axis of the pedal and a ball holder 22 screwed to the front end thereof.

 Consequently, the body 1 according to the invention constructed as above can have a main body 4 of a simpler construction than the body of a conventional pedal completely formed of synthetic resin. As a result, the metal mold for the main body is made simpler, the metal lateral frames 7 and 8 mounted on the two lateral sides of the main body 4 have sufficient resistance against the impact caused by a fall from the bicycle and the he integral coupling of the tubes 71 and 81 makes it possible to monitor the distance between the bearings 3 with precision.

 Likewise, in the above embodiment, the front and rear arms 72, 82, 73 and 83 on the side frames 7 and 8 are more or less similar in shape to the side surface, to the front frame parts. and rear 42 and 43 on the main body 4 and exposed to the surfaces and backs of the two lateral sides of the main body 4. Such front and rear arms 72, 82, 73 and 83 can alternatively be constructed as shown in FIGS. 13 to 15 and 16.

 In FIGS. 13 to 15, a second embodiment of the pedal body according to the invention is shown, where the front arms 71A and 82A extending from the body of lateral frame 70A and 80A on lateral frameworks 7A and 8A are exposed relative to a main body 4A, the front arms 72A and 82A and the front frame part 42A extending forward from a central flat part 41A of the main body 4A to form a part d support of the foot at the front on a pedal body 1A, and of the rear arms 73A and 83A on the lateral frameworks 7A and 8A are hidden by a rear framework part 43A on the main body 4A, in other words , the rear frame part 43A is exposed relative to the rear arms 73A and 83A, thereby forming a rear support member for the foot on the body lA of the pedal using only the main body 4A.

 In more detail, bulged parts 10 and II towards the lateral frameworks 7A and 8A are provided on the front framework part 42A on its rear side and on the rear framework part 43A on its surface side as shown in the Figure 15, non-slip side protrusions ~ 12 are provided on the surface of the rear frame part 43A and the back of the front frame part 42A, non-slip protrusions 77 and 87 are provided only on the surfaces of the front arms 72A and 82A on the lateral frames 7A and 8A and non-slip protrusions 78 and 88 are provided only on the back of the rear arms 73A and 83A.

 The main body 4A, as in the first embodiment, has engagement recesses 51A and 52A, the front and rear frame parts 42A and 43A have engagement protrusions 55 and 56 and the side frames 7A and 8A have engagement portions 13 and 14 which can engage with the engagement protrusions 55 and 56 respectively.

 In addition, in the above description, the terms "front" and "rear" are used for ease of explanation, and they will reverse when the body of the pedal is rotated, for example the surface of the parts of the front frame 42A will be reversed to be the rear or back of the rear frame part 43A.

 Also in the second embodiment, as shown in FIG. 14, the coupling tubes 71A and 81A on the lateral frameworks 7A and 8A are smaller, in axial length, than the coupling tubes 71 and 81 of the first mode of construction and are not connected by a direct pressure adjustment but by a separate connection member 15 pressure adjusted on the coupling tubes 71A and 81A respectively, the body 80A on the lateral framework 8A having a cap 89.

In addition, the second embodiment is not different, by its basic construction, from the first embodiment, so the details are omitted and its components are designated by the same reference numerals.

 FIG. 16 shows a third embodiment of the invention, where rear arms 73B and 83B extending towards the rear of the bodies 70B and 80B on the lateral frameworks 7B and 8B are exposed relative to a main body 4B, the body 4B and the rear arms 73B and 83B form a rear member for supporting the foot on a pedal body 1B, the front arms 72B (not shown) and 82B on the side frames 7B and 8B are hidden by a part of front frame 42B which extends towards the front of a central flat part 41B on the main body 4B, in other words the front part 42B is exposed relative to the front arms 72B and 82B and the main body 4B simply forms a front support member of the foot on the body 1B of the pedal.

 In the third embodiment, unlike the second, bulging parts 16 and 17 are provided on the front frame part 42B on its surface side and on the rear frame part 43B on its back, on the main body 4B, non-slip protrusions 19 are provided on the surface of the front frame part 42B and the back of the rear frame part 43B, non-slip protrusions 77B (not shown) and 87B are provided only on the back of the arms front 72B and 82B on the side frames 7B and 8B and non-slip protrusions 78B and 88B are provided only on the surfaces of the rear arms 73B and 832 respectively.

 Similarly, in the second embodiment of Figures 13 to 15, as shown in Figure 17, the front and rear arms on the side frames 7A and 8A can protrude, on different levels relative to the bodies 70A and 80A respectively and in the third embodiment of Figure 16, as shown in Figure 18, they can protrude from the side frames 7B and 8B as above relative to the bodies 70B and 80B.

 Furthermore, the pedal according to the invention can be modified as shown in a fourth embodiment of FIGS. 19 to 22.

 The fourth embodiment has, basically, the same construction as the second embodiment shown in FIGS. 13 to 15 but it differs from it by the fact that on the lower surface of the front framework part 42C of the body main 4C and on the upper surface of the rear frame part 43C of this same body, there are provided elastic support members of the foot 30 and 31 which are elastically transformable in the pedaling direction of the cyclist, and inside support members for the foot 30 and 31 are provided with non-slip members 34 and 35 formed mainly of metal and having a certain number of non-slip protrusions 32 and 33.

 In more detail, the elastic support members of the foot 30 and 31, as shown in FIG. 20, are in the form of bands and are integral with the front and rear framework parts 42C and 43C respectively, projecting towards the bottom of the lower surface of the front frame part 42C and upwards of the upper surface of the rear frame part 43C and are provided, in intermediate width portions, with a number of windows 30a and 31a arranged longitudinally and through which the non-slip protrusions 32 and 33 can project from the surfaces of the elastic support members of the foot 30 and 31 respectively.

 The non-slip members 34 and 35, as shown in FIG. 20, form an end at one end with the front and rear parts of a side frame 8C and are retained at the other ends at the other side frame 7C by retaining parts 34a and 35a for a retention in recesses 79 formed on the lateral framework 7C, for fixing through the two lateral frameworks 7C and 8C in the manner of a bridge. In addition, the non-slip members 34 and 35 shown in the drawings are provided, on the opposite sides of the protrusions 32 and 33, with non-slip protrusions 36 and 37 which protrude upwards from the upper surface of the front frame part 42C. and down from the bottom surface of the rear frame portion 43C respectively.

 In FIG. 21, a toe clip T is mounted on the non-slip member 34 by bolts B and nuts N.

 As can be seen from the above, a foot support member 30 or 31 is provided on the rear side of the body 1C of the pedal and it is elastically transformed, in the pedaling direction, by the foot of the foot. cyclist to absorb any impact while pedaling.

Consequently, the cyclist places his foot on the pedal without feeling discomfort and he is also assured of always pedaling without sliding regardless of the magnitude of the load because the non-slip protrusions on the non-slip members 34 and 35 come into engagement with the cyclist’s foot in a comfortable way.

 Furthermore, the construction of the fourth embodiment can be applied to the first and third embodiments.

 Alternatively, the elastic support members of the foot 30 and 31 can, as shown in FIG. 22, form a body with the front frame part 42C and the rear frame part 43C and extend towards the rear of the lower surface of the former and forward of the upper surface of the latter.

 In addition, the components of Figures 19 to 22 common to those of Figures 13 to 15 are designated by the same reference numerals.

 Although several embodiments have been described, they are simply given by way of example of the invention and must in no case limit the scope thereof.

Claims (10)

 1.- Bicycle pedal provided with a body, an axis and two bearings supporting the body in a rotary manner on the axis, characterized in that said body (1) is formed of synthetic resin and it comprises a body main (4) having in its central part a fixing hole (41a) which extends coaxially to the axis (2) and to its front and rear parts, bearing surfaces of the foot and two lateral frameworks (7, 8) made of metal and provided with bodies (70, 80) having coupling tubes (71, 81) to be fixed in said bore and receiving faces of said bearings and with arms which extend longitudinally to the body, said tubes coupling on said frames having coupling means for connecting them to each other, said lateral frames being arranged on the two lateral sides of said main body so that said main body and each lateral frame form a body by coupling said tubes to each other, said main body and cha that lateral frame having at opposite positions with respect to each other, engagement means, when said coupling tubesUmet are coupled, coming into engagement to prevent said main body and each of said lateral frame from moving relative to each other other.  2. A pedal according to claim 1, characterized in that one of the coupling tubes has a tubular part of smaller diameter for fixing in the other of the coupling tubes by a staggered part, said tubular part of smaller diameter being adjusted to pressure in the other coupling tube, thus the first coupling tube is connected to the other.  3.- pedal according to claim 1, characterized in that the coupling means of the coupling tubes has a connection member for coupling said coupling tubes, said connection member being able to adapt in said coupling tubes , respectively.  4.- pedal according to claim 1, characterized in that the main body is provided with a central flat part (41), with a front frame part (42) extending towards the front of said flat part and a rear frame portion (43) extending backwards, each of said side frames having a front arm extending forward of said side frame body and a rear arm extending therefrom backwards, said front and rear frame parts on the main body being connected on the lateral sides near the front and rear arms respectively.  5. A pedal according to claim 4, characterized in that the surfaces and the backs of the front and rear arms on the lateral frameworks are exposed with respect to the front and rear framework parts of the main body and are provided with non-slip protrusions respectively.  6.- Pedal according to claim 4, characterized in that the surface of the front arm and the back of the rear arm on the side frame crack are exposed relative to the front and rear frame parts of the main body, the surface and the back exposed being provided with non-slip protrusions and the back of the front arm and the surface of the rear arm on each lateral frame are hidden by the front and rear frame parts of the main body, non-slip protrusions being provided on the external surfaces of the parts which respectively hide .  7. A pedal according to claim 4, characterized in that the surface of the rear arm and the back of the front arm on each lateral frame are exposed relative to the front and rear frame parts on the main body, the exposed surface and the back being provided with non-slip protrusions and the back of the rear arm and the surface of the front arm on each lateral frame being hidden by the front and rear frame parts of the main body, non-slip protrusions being provided on the external surfaces of the parts which hide respectively.  8.- Pedal according to claim 4, characterized in that the front and rear frame parts on the main body project outwards from the central flat part and between the front frame part and the frame part rear are provided engagement recesses for receiving the bodies of the side frames respectively to thereby prevent the main body and each of the side frames from moving relative to each other.  9.- pedal according to claim 1, characterized in that the main body is provided with a central flat part, a front frame part extending towards the front of said flat part and a part d 'rear frame extending backwards, elastically transformable support members of the foot being provided on the back of said front frame part and on the surface of said rear frame part.  10.- Pedal according to claim 1, characterized in that the body is provided with elastic support members of the foot elastically transformable in the direction of pedaling by a cyclist foot and non-slip members having a number of non-slip protrusions respectively, said non-slip members being arranged inside the elastic support members of the foot respectively, said elastic support members of the foot each having windows through which the non-slip protrusions on the non-slip members are exposed when the support members of the foot are elastically transformed.