GB2332655A

GB2332655A - A bicycle seat with two halves each rotatable about an axis

Info

Publication number: GB2332655A
Application number: GB9727489A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Peter Whitely Swaffer
Original assignee: DODDLE Ltd
Current assignee: DODDLE Ltd
Priority date: 1997-12-23
Filing date: 1997-12-23
Publication date: 1999-06-30
Also published as: GB9727489D0

Abstract

The bicycle saddle consists of left and right buttock - supporting parts 1 which are mounted for independent rotation about a fixed pivot pin 3 mounted on the saddle stem 2. Figure 2 shows that each supporting part has a sleeve (4), surrounding the pin, with an inward projection in the form of a rib (5) extending into a groove (8) formed along the pin, so that the sleeve, and therefore the supporting parts, can only turn through a limited angle. The supporting parts may have apertures (Figure 3) and be formed with a internal housing (7, Figures 3 and 4) for a spring (6) which, when not being pushed down by a rider's legs, turns the parts in a direction such that a front portion is raised and a rear portion lowered. Figure 5 shows a modification in which a flexible moulding (10) provides both the left and right supporting parts the opposite ends of which can turn independently about the pivot pin.

Description

A SEAT This invention relates to a seat for the user of a pedal-operated device such as a bicycle, a tricycle, a stationary exercise machine, or a water-borne craft.

Users of such devices often experience discomfort of the buttocks and upper parts of the legs due to friction between them and a usually small area of the seat.

According to the present invention, there is provided a seat including left and right buttock-supporting parts each mounted to turn independently of the other about an axis which, when the seat is in use, is substantially horizontal and transverse to the direction in which the user is facing, and limiting means by which the turning of each buttock-supporting part is limited to an angle substantially less than 90".

The angle of turning is preferably limited to less than 45 , better still about 30 or even substantially less than 30".

With such a construction, the area of contact between the seat and the user can be made much greater than is the case with conventional seats for pedal-operated devices and it is thought that the user's discomfort should be much reduced.

The buttock-supporting parts are preferably mounted for rotation on respective pins, or on opposite end parts of a single pin, mounted on a central support. which may be a tubular column which is fitted to the pedal-operated device in the same manner as a saddle stem of a conventional bicycle.

The limiting means may then consist of a recess in each of the pins, or in each of the end parts of the single pin, into which projects a substantially narrower inward projection on a sleeve on which the pertaining buttock-supporting part is mounted (such an arrangement is illustrated in the accompanying drawings). Alternatively, the same effect can be achieved by having an outward projection on each pin, or on opposite end parts of the single pin, projecting into a recess in the sleeve of each buttock-supporting part.

Spring means are preferably provided which tend to tum each buttock-supporting part in a direction such that a front portion thereof is raised and a rear portion thereof is lowered. The spring means may consist of two sheet metal springs (one for each buttock-supporting part) each of which has one end lying in a recess in the pertaining one of the above mentioned pins, or in the pertaining end parts of the single pin, and elsewhere presses upwardly on the pertaining buttock-supporting part.

Examples in accordance with the invention are described below with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 shows a perspective view of a bicycle saddle mounted on a saddle stem, Figure 2 shows a side view of another saddle with one of two buttock supporting parts thereof turned with respect to the other, Figure 3 shows a ptan view of a buttock-supporting part of a third saddle, Figure 4 shows a side view of a detail of the saddle according to Figure 3, and Figure 5 shows a perspective view of a fourth saddle.

The saddle shown in Figure 1 has a part 1 (shown on the right) for supporting the left buttock of a user and a sirnilar such part 1 for supporting the right buttock. The two parts can turn independently of one another about an axis which, when the saddle is in use, is horizontal and at right angles to the direction in which the user is facing, this axis being the axis of a single fixed pin 3, or it could just as well be two separate pins, mounted on a saddle stem 2. By means not shown in Figure 1, the angle through which each buttock-supporting part can turn is limited and each such part is automatically turned so that the front portion of it is raised when it is not being pushed down or held down by the user, and the rear portion thereof is consequently lowered.

Figure 2 shows that the saddle stem 2 is tubular. The pin 3, or each of the pins if there are two, is formed with a recess in the form of a groove 8, which runs along each end part of the single pin, or along each pin if there are two, and is surrounded by a sleeve 4 along the entire length of which an inward projection in the form of a rib 5 extends, which projection extends into a groove 8 but is narrower than that groove so that the sleeve can turn through an angle a little less than 30". The buttock-supporting parts 1 are mounted fixedly on the sleeves 4 so that they too can turn, independenrlt of one another, only through an angle less than 30".

The buttock-supporting part 1 shown in Figure 3 is in the form of a rectangle with rounded corners and has six apertures through it. It and the sleeve 4 are constituted by a one-piece moulding of suitable plastics material, which includes, near the top of the saddle stem 2 (here shown as square in cross-section), a housing 7 for a sheet metal spring 6, one end of which projects into a recess 9. Figure 4 shows another part of the sheet metal spring 6 bearing upwardly on the roof of the housing 7, whereby the part 1 is automatically turned as described with reference to Figure 1.

Figure 5 shows a modification in which a moulding 10 provides both left and right buttock-supporting parts, the material of the moulding being so flexible that the opposite ends of it can independently turn about a single pivot pin 3. Means to limit the turning movement and to restore each buttock-supporting part after it has been turned by the user's legs may be provided as in the examples according to Figures 1 to 4.

Claims

CLAIMS 1. A seat including left and right buttock-supporting parts each mounted to turn independently of the other about an axis which, when the seat is in use, is substantially horizontal and transverse to the direction in which the user is facing, and limiting means by which the turning of each buttock-supporting part is limited to an angle substantially less than 90".
2. A seat according to claim 1 in which the limiting means limits the turning of each buttock-supporting part to an angle less than 45".
3. A seat according to claim 1 or 2 in which the buttock-supporting parts are mounted for rotation on respective pins, or on opposite end parts of a single pin, mounted on a central support.
4. A seat according to claim 3 in which the central support is a tubular column.
5. A seat according to claim 3 or 4 in which each buttock-supporting part is mounted on a sleeve which surrounds one of the pins, or one of the end parts of a single pin, and the limiting means consists of a recess in one of the two members, sleeve and pin, receiving a substantially narrower projection on the other of said members.
6. A seat according to claim 5 in which the projection is on the sleeve and extends substantially the entire length thereof.
7. A seat according to any preceding claim having spring means which tend to tum each buttock-supporting part in a direction such that a front portion of said part is raised and a rear portion thereof is lowered.
8. A seat according to claims 3 and 7 in which the spring means consists of two sheet metal springs (one for each buttock-supporting part) each of which has one end lying in a recess in the pertaining pin, or in the pertaining end part of the single pin, and elsewhere presses upwardly on the pertaining buttock-supporting part.
9. A seat substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to Figure 1, Figure 2, Figures 3 and 4 or Figure 5 in the accompanying drawings.