GB2096552A

GB2096552A - Bicycle basket

Info

Publication number: GB2096552A
Application number: GB8209639A
Authority: GB
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1981-04-15
Filing date: 1982-04-01
Publication date: 1982-10-20
Also published as: GB2096552B; SE435159B; FR2504080A1; SE8102419L; DE3212904A1

Abstract

A bicycle basket 2, is hung on a bicycle handle-bar by hooks 1 and whose lower portion abuts a steering pivot or a bearing bush is capable of being mounted in a horizontal position, irrespective of whether the steering pivot is bent forwards or backwards. The bicycle basket 2 has a support 4, mounted below the hooks 1, to bear against the steering pivot or its bearing bush. The support 4 is longitudinally adjustable in a steering guide 6 on the side 3 of the basket 2 that faces the steering pivot. Preferably, the steering guide 6 has protrusions 13 that can engage corresponding notches 12 in the support 4, enabling the latter to be locked in several alternative positions. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Bicycle basket This invention concerns a bicycle basket which is capable of being substantially vertically mounted on a bicycle handle-bar, irrespective of whether said handle-bar is attached to a steering pivot which is bent forwards, bent backwards or is completely straight.

There are several, previous known, types of bicycle baskets, designed to be permanently or removably mounted on a bicycle, often on the handle-bar of the bicycle. Such bicycle baskets are usually hung by hooks onto the handle-bar proper in such a way that the part of the bicycle basket which faces the steering pivot of the bicycle, usually abuts said steering pivot or a bearing bush of the steering pivot.

This type of bicycle basket functions excellently and no appreciable tilt is detectable as long as the handle-bar is substantially straight or attached to a steering pivot that is not noticably bent, neither backwards or forwards.

However, on modern bicycles it is becoming increasingly common to use a steering pivot an upper portion of which is bent, usually forwards, thereby placing the handle-bar a considerable distance in front of the steering pivot itself or its bearing bush. In such cases the bicycle basket must be designed in a special way in order to enable it to be mounted in a substantially untilted manner. However, such a bicycle basket will only fit a single type of bicycle or, at least, only one combination of handlebar and steering pivot. As the number of possible combinations and types of bicycles are very large it is not practical to solve the problem in that way.

For that reason the obect of the present invention is to provide a bicycle basket which is capable of being hung, without any noticable tilt, on a handlebar of any shape, irrespective of whether said handle-bar is attached to a steering pivot which is bent forwards, bent backwards or is completely straight.

With this object in view, the present invention provides a bicycle basket that is hung on a handlebar by two hooks, characterized in that the bicycle basket has a support, mounted below the hooks, to bear against a bicycle steering pivot or a bearing bush of said steering pivot and that this support is adjustable longitudinally towards and away from the side of the bicycle basket facing the steering pivot.

Preferably, the support is adjustablyfitted in a steering guide on the side of the bicycle basket facing the steering pivot, the steering guide and the support having matching engagement units to enable the support to be adjusted to engage the steering guide in optional positions.

Moreover, the steering guide portion of the support may conveniently have two shanks which are capable of being sprung together. These advantageously have rows of notches on their surfaces which face away from each other and the steering guide preferably has two protrusions which are capable of engaging two optional shank notches, situated opposite each other.

The invention will be described further, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Figure l is a perspective view of a roughly sketched preferred embodiment of a bicycle basket according to this invention; Figure 2 is a cross section along the line A-A of Figure 1; and Figure 3 is a partial cross section along the line B-B of Figure 1, showing the basket support before its insertion into the bicycle basket.

As can be seen in Figure 1, a preferred embodiment of a bicycle basket 2 according to this invention has upturned arms mounted on the rear side of the basket 2 in the traditional way. The upper ends of the arms are shaped as hooks 1 to enable the bicycle basket 2 to be hung on a handle-bar of a bicycle (not shown). The shape of the arms and the hooks 1 form no part of this invention but, possibly, the arms should be bent slightly backwards in order to permit the bicycle basket 2 to be hung on a handle-bar mounted on a steering pivot which is bent backwards.

The design of the bicycle basket 2 itself also constitutes no part of the invention, the only requirement being that the rear surface of the bicycle basket 2 is designed in the way described below. However, according to this invention, the basket is preferably made from a suitable plastic material.

As mentioned in the introduction bicycle handlebars may be formed in a great number of ways. On one hand there are essentially straight handle-bars and, on the other hand, there are sharply bent handle-bars and, in addition, an infinite number of intermediate forms. Bicycle handle-bars are mounted on a steering pivot which is connected with the front wheel fork of the bicycle. This steering pivot can also be shaped in a number of different ways. It may be essentially straight, the handle-bar being mounted either behind the steering pivot or in front of it. Furthermore, the upper end of the steering pivot may be bent, the bend being either towards the rear or the front of the bicycle, thus making the position of the handle-bar vary longitudinally within a distance of at least 20 cm.All of these variations of the shape of the handle-bar and the steering pivot together means that a conventional bicycle basket, in the majority of the design alternatives mentioned above, would hang so obliquely as to make it almost impossibleto use.

According to the invention the rear side 3 of the bicycle basket 2 has a protruding support 4. The free end of the support 4, i.e. the end facing away from the rear side 3 of the bicycle basket 2, has a notch 5, suitably shaped approximately as a semicircle to bear against either the steering pivot or a bearing bush of the steering pivot. In the preferred embodiment of the invention, the support 4, is made to fit a slot in a steering guide 6 which is formed integrally with the rear side 3 of the bicycle basket 2. The support 4 is also adjustable, thereby enabling the portion of said support 4 which protrudes from the side 3 to be set within a comparatively large setting range.This makes it possible for the bicycle basket 2 to be hung on the handle-bar in a vertical position, irrespective of the shape of the handie-bar and, also, largely irrespective of the shape and position of the steering pivot used.

As can be seen in Figure 2, the steering guide 6 is formed integrally with the near side 3 of the bicycle 2. The steering guide 6 also has a slot 7 extending through its entire length and adapted to receive a setting portion 8 of the support 4 itself (see Figure 3).

In addition, the slot 7 is designed and dimensioned in such a way that the support 4 can be slid longitudinally in the slot 7 without any noticable play.

Figure 3 depicts the rear side 3 of the bicycle basket 2 as well as its steering guide 6 having the slot 7. The shape of the support 4 is also clearly illustrated. The free end of this support 4 has, as mentioned above, the notch 5, shaped approximately as a semicircle. Two shanks 9 protrude from the end part of the support 4 having the notch 5. These shanks 9 are separated by a notch 10 which, at its innermost end, i.e. close to the notch 5, has two widenings 11. By a flexure of the material in the areas of the widenings 11, the shanks 9 are, at least to some extent, made laterally flexible. The outside edges of the two shanks 9, which are preferably formed in the shape of a flat plate, also have rows of notches 12, designed to engage corresponding protrusions in the steering guide 6.Furthermore, protruding parts 14 between the notches 12 are designed to abut side-walls 15, inside the steering guide 6, when the two shanks 9 are in an unloaded state. Thus, by pressing the two shanks 9 together it is possible to slide the support 4 in the longitudinal direction of the shanks 9, thereby protrusions 13 to be brought into engagement with any particular notches 12 on the shanks 9. in this way the free end of the support 4 can be set at any required distance from the rear side 3 of the bicycle basket 2.

In an alternative embodiment (not illustrated), the support may be cylindrical yet still have a notch in its free end, analogous to the notch 5 described above.

In addition, such a cylindrical support may be threaded to fit a corresponding thread in a steering guide mounted on the rear side of the bicycle basket.

A further embodiment of the bicycle basket of the invention may include a two-piece support having an upper and a lower part hinged to each other, the upper part being pivotally fitted to the rear side 3 of the bicycle basket 2 along a line, parallel to the upper edge of said rear side 3. The lower edge of the lower part of the support has engagement units which can be snapped into corresponding mountings arranged, e.g. in one or two vertical rows, on the rear side 3 of the bicycle basket. By attaching the lower part of the support to an optionally chosen mounting position on the rear side 3 of the basket 2 the two parts of the support are thus adjustable to form different angles with each other. The joint between the two parts of the support will consequently be situated at varying distances from the rear side 3 of the basket. This joint preferably has a notch, analogouts to notch 5, as shown in Figure 3.

Claims

1. .A bicycle basket of the type that is hung on a bicycle handle-bar by two hooks, characterized in that the bicycle basket has, below the hooks, a support for bearing against a steering pivot of a bicycle or a bearing bush of said steering pivot, the support being adjustable longitudinally towards and away from the side of the bicycle basket facing the steering pivot.

2. A basket as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that the support is adjustablyfitted in a steering guide on the side of the bicycle basket facing the steering pivot, the steering guide and the support having matching engagement units to enable the support to be adjusted to engage the steering guide in optional positions.

3. A basket as claimed in claim 2, characterized in that a portion of the support which is adapted to slide into the steering guide has two shanks which are capable of being sprung together, in that the shanks have rows of notches on their surfaces which face away from each other; and in that the steering guide has two protrusions which are capable of engaging two optional shank notches, situated opposite each other.

4. A bicycle basket as hereinbefore described with reference to and as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.