GB2574011A

GB2574011A - A mudguard

Info

Publication number: GB2574011A
Application number: GB1808343.6A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Peter Lambert Joshua
Original assignee: Chicken Cyclekit Ltd
Current assignee: Chicken Cyclekit Ltd
Priority date: 2018-05-22
Filing date: 2018-05-22
Publication date: 2019-11-27
Anticipated expiration: 2038-05-22
Also published as: GB2574011B; GB201808343D0

Abstract

A mudguard 10 for releasably connecting to a bicycle comprises a pair of elongate stays 14, a stay clamp 16 connected to one end of the elongate stays 14 and for connecting to an axle component 18 of a wheel 20 of the bicycle 12, and a fender 22 connected to the opposite end of the elongate stays 14 to the stay clamp 16. The elongate stays 14 are parallel to each other at the point of connection to the fender 22. Preferably, the mudguard 10 further comprises a plurality of shims 24 located between the elongate stays 14 and the fender 22 allowing adjustment of the fender position relative to a wheel of the bicycle. The axle component 18 of the wheel may be a modified through-axle or a quick release skewer nut. In either case the exterior surface of the axle component 18 and the interior surface of the clamp 16 may be splined to resist relative movement in use.

Description

DESCRIPTION

A MUDGUARD

This invention relates to a mudguard for releasably connecting to a bicycle.

It is common on a bicycle to have a mudguard for each wheel. Each mudguard is usually fitted to the frame of the bicycle and is located close to and above a wheel of the bicycle to protect the rider of the bicycle from mud and water being sprayed onto the rider of the bicycle as the wheels of the bicycle rotate. Such mudguards can be large or small and are sometimes removed entirely, since they add weight to the bicycle and also can look unsightly on a bicycle. Some bicycle enthusiasts like to have the option of using or removing a mudguard, and so there is a need for a removable mudguard that can be easily fixed to a bicycle wheel but can also be removed quickly and easily if the mudguard is not required. Such an easily releasable mudguard needs to have flexibility in its design, since it will need to fit to many different bicycles and have adjustability in its fitting and positioning on the bicycle in question.

It is therefore an object of the invention to improve upon the known art.

According to the present invention, there is provided a mudguard for releasably connecting to a bicycle, the mudguard comprising a pair of elongate stays, a stay clamp connected to one end of the elongate stays and for connecting to an axle of a wheel of the bicycle, and a fender connected to the opposite end of the elongate stays to the stay clamp, wherein the elongate stays are parallel to each other at the point of connection to the fender.

Owing to the invention, it is possible to provide a mudguard that can be fitted to a bicycle wheel and can also be easily adjusted. The mudguard is designed to be connected to an axle of a wheel of a bicycle with a stay clamp and the provision of the stays such that they are parallel at the point where they connect to the fender of the mudguard means that the height of the mudguard can be easily adjusted by an end user without the fender becoming angled with respect to the wheel of the bicycle. The stays being parallel means that any height changes can be made by adjusting the height in the same manner at each of the individual stays.

Preferably the mudguard further comprises a plurality of shims located between the elongate stays and the fender. The provision of shims allows the height of the fender relative to the point of connection to the wheel axle to be easily adjusted, without altering the angle of the fender relative to the wheel. The shims are essentially washers that are used to space apart the fender from the end of the elongate stays. The shims preferably all have the same uniform thickness and the end user simply has to use the same number of shims on each elongate stay in order to select the height adjustment that they require for the fender of the mudguard relative to their bicycle wheel.

Advantageously, the fender includes two slots located therein, each elongate stay being located in a respective slot of the fender. By using a slot in the fender to connect each stay to the fender, more flexibility in the positioning of the mudguard is provided. Each stay passes through a respective slot in the fender and the provision of a slot allows the exact positioning of the stay to be adjusted before the fender is tightened onto the stay. This allows the end user to make small adjustments to the positioning of the fender relative to the position of their bicycle wheel.

Ideally, the fender comprises an elongate body portion and two protrusions located on one side of the elongate body portion, each elongate stay connected to the fender via a respective protrusion. Preferably, each of the two slots is located in a respective protrusion located on one side of the elongate body portion. The protrusions on the side of the elongate fender body allow for easy fitting of the stays to the fender and also allow a good positioning of the fender over the centre of the user’s wheel, once the mudguard is fitted to the user’s bicycle. The slots can be located in the protrusions and the user can easily adjust the position of the fender to provide the optimum position with respect to the user’s wheel.

Embodiments of the present invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:Figure 1 is a side view of a mudguard on a bicycle wheel,

Figure 2 is a perspective view of the mudguard,

Figure 3 is a top plan view of a fender of the mudguard, and

Figure 4 is a longitudinal cross-section through an axle of the mudguard.

Figure 1 shows a mudguard 10 for releasably connecting to a bicycle

12. The mudguard 10 comprises a pair of elongate stays 14, a stay clamp 16 connected to one end of the elongate stays 14 and for connecting to an axle 18 of a wheel 20 of the bicycle 12, and a fender 22 connected to the opposite end of the elongate stays 14 to the stay clamp 16. The elongate stays 14 are parallel to each other at the point of connection to the fender 22. The mudguard 10 is designed to be easily connected to and disconnected from the wheel 20 of the bicycle 12 and is mounted on the axle 18 of the wheel 20.

The axle 18 extends outwards from the side of the wheel 20 by a greater distance than is conventional for a bicycle axle and this is achieved either by a specific longer axle being fitted to the bicycle wheel 20 or an extension being connected to the existing axle and/or wheel fitting on which the mudguard 10 can be mounted. The stay clamp 16 can be tightened onto the axle 18 using an Allen key which is used to rotate a tightening screw and bolt arrangement which grips the stay clamp 16 onto the axle 18. The mudguard 10 is connected to and released from the axle 18 in this way.

The mudguard 10 further comprises a plurality of shims 24 located between the elongate stays 14 and the fender 22. The shims 24 allow the height of the fender 22 relative to the point of connection to the axle 18 to be easily adjusted. The shims 24 are washers that are used to space apart the fender 22 from the end of the elongate stays 14. The shims 24 all have the same uniform thickness and the end user simply has to use the same number of shims 24 on each stay 14 in order to select the height adjustment that they require for the fender 22 of the mudguard 10 relative to their bicycle wheel 20.

Figure 2 shows a perspective view of the mudguard 10. The fender 22 comprises an elongate body portion 28 and two protrusions 30 located on one side of the elongate body portion 28. Each elongate stay 14 is connected to the fender 22 via a respective protrusion 30. The protrusions 30 provided on the side of the fender body 28 allow for easy fitting of the stays 14 to the fender 22 and also allow a good positioning of the fender 22 over the centre of the user’s wheel 20, once the mudguard 10 is fitted to the user’s bicycle 12. In manufacture, the fender 22 is formed as a single piece of moulded plastics.

The mudguard 10 is able to accommodate the vast majority of bicycle frames allowing the opportunity to fit a quickly assembled and disassembled mudguard 10 even in the situation where the bicycle frame has no specific mudguard eyelets. The mudguard 10 provides a system that can be fitted using existing bicycle hardware, without expensive tooling and taking as little time to assemble and disassemble. The mudguard 10 utilizes the axle hardware of a bicycle, replacing the quick release (QR) skewer nut with another nut, which has a built-in splined mounting body or by replacing the existing through axle (TA) in disc brake bikes, with an axle that has a built-in mounting body.

In the preferred embodiment, the mudguard 10 is in four main parts, the fender 22, the stays 14 (which includes the stay connecter 16), the stack shims 24 and the mounting body 18. The fender 22 is formed from chromoplastic material for strength and rigidity and has slotted and indented stay mounting points (the protrusions 28). The stays 14 are formed from hollow aluminium alloy for strength and rigidity with an aluminium stay connector 32 for connecting to the fender 22 and a U-clamp 16 which is a slotted compression clamp for interfacing with the axle mounting body. The stack shims 24 are formed from plastics material and the QR mounting body or through axle with mounting body are formed from aluminium.

The fender 22 is bolted to the stays 14 using two M5x28mm hex key bolts that thread directly into the aluminium connectors 32 at the top of each stay 14. These connectors 32 are parallel with each other along the same axis, with flat interfacing sections perpendicular to the mounting axis. This guarantees a secure and safe fitment. The mounting point on the fender 22 is recessed and slotted to allow adjustments to be made when the fender 22 is fitted. The shims 24 are 2.5 mm alloy spacers, with a 17mm ±0.lmm OD and 5mm ±0.2mm ID. These allow radial adjustment to be made. The U-Clamp system 16 utilises a slotted compression system, with the stays 14 bonded directly to the clamp 16. The slotted clamp 16 is splined on its internal face to provide a secure interface with the chosen mounting body. Compression is made using a MS hex bolt and nylon lock nut.

Figure 3 shows a top plan view of the fender 22. The fender 22 comprises an elongate body portion 28 and has two protrusions 30 located on one side of the elongate body portion 28. Each elongate stay 14 is connected to the fender 22 via a respective protrusion 30. The fender 22 also includes two slots 26 located therein, where each elongate stay 14 is located in a respective slot 26 of the fender 22. Each of the two slots 26 is located in a respective protrusion 30 located on the side of the elongate body portion 28. The fender 22 is formed from a single piece of moulded plastics.

By using a slot 26 in the fender 22 to connect each stay 14 to the fender 22, more flexibility in the positioning of the mudguard 10 is provided. Each of the stays 14 passes through a slot 26 in the fender 22 and the provision of a slot 22 allows the exact positioning of the stay 14 to be adjusted before the fender 22 is tightened onto the stay 14. This flexibility allows the end user to make small adjustments to the positioning of the fender 22 relative to the position of the bicycle wheel 20. The slots 22 are perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the fender 22.

Figure 4 shows a longitudinal cross-section through one embodiment of the axle 18. The axle 18 comprising a first elongate portion 18a for passing through a bicycle wheel 20 and a second extending portion 18b connected to one end of the first elongate portion 18a and for connecting to the stay clamp

16. The diameter of the first elongate portion 18a is less than the diameter of the second extending portion 18b. The axle 18 shown in Figure 4 is a through axle 18 which is designed to replace the normal axle that is present for a bicycle wheel 20. Once the axle 18 has been fitted to a bicycle 12, then the mudguard 10 can be clamped to the axle 10.

A second way in which the mudguard 10 can be used on a bicycle 12 is different from that discussed in relation to Figure 4. If the bicycle 12 is fitted with a quick release system, rather than a conventional through axle, then the fitting is achieved by replacing the quick release bolt with a custom made bolt that includes the necessary external extension from the internal axis of the bicycle wheel 20. In a quick release system, the user of the bicycle 12 is able to remove a wheel 20 from the bicycle 12 by operation of lever activated bolt that is located on the wheel axis. The bolt is extended to provide the necessary surface on which the mudguard 10 is mounted.

The stay clamp 16 is provided with an Allen key tightening system that grips the stay clamp tightly onto the axle 18 of the wheel 20 to which the mudguard 10 is mounted. When the user wishes to use the mudguard 10, then they ensure that the stay clamp 16 is sufficiently open that the clamp 16 can be slipped over the axle 18, and locate the stay clamp 16 in position on the axle extension. The user then uses an Allen key to tighten the stay clamp 16 onto the axle 18. The stay clamp 16, once tightened onto the axle 16, ensures that the mudguard stays in position and does not move relative to the bike frame or wheel 20.

As can be seen from the Figures, in the preferred embodiment of the mudguard 10, the pair of elongate stays 14 form a Y-shape, with the stays 14 being in close contact along a portion of their length. The stays 14 are structured in this manner to ensure the most rigid structure, with the stays 14 in close contact at the end which connects to the stay clamp 16. The stays 14 then divide and continue up until the connectors 32 and the shims 24, where the elongate stays 14 are now spaced apart and parallel at the point at which they connect to the fender 22 at the top of the mudguard 10.

Claims

1. A mudguard (10) for releasably connecting to a bicycle (12), the mudguard (10) comprising:

• a pair of elongate stays (14), • a stay clamp (16) connected to one end of the elongate stays (14) and for connecting to an axle (18) of a wheel (20) of the bicycle (12), and • a fender (22) connected to the opposite end of the elongate stays (14) to the stay clamp (16), wherein the elongate stays (14) are parallel to each other at the point of connection to the fender (22).

2. A mudguard according to claim 1, and further comprising a plurality of shims (24) located between the elongate stays (14) and the fender (22).

3. A mudguard according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the fender (22) includes two slots (26) located therein, each elongate stay (14) being located in a respective slot (26) of the fender (22).

4. A mudguard according to claim 1,2 or 3, wherein the fender (22) comprises an elongate body portion (28) and two protrusions (30) located on one side of the elongate body portion (28), each elongate stay (14) connected to the fender (22) via a respective protrusion (30).

5. A mudguard according to claims 3 and 4, wherein each of the two slots (26) is located in a respective protrusion (30) located on one side of the elongate body portion (28).

6. A mudguard according to any preceding claim, and further comprising an axle (18) comprising a first elongate portion (18a) for passing through a bicycle wheel (20) and a second extending portion (18b) connected to one end of the first elongate portion (18a) and for connecting to the stay clamp (16), the diameter of the first elongate portion (18a) being less than the diameter of the second extending portion (18b).

7. A mudguard according to any preceding claim, wherein the pair of elongate stays (14) form a Y-shape, with the stays (14) being in close contact along a portion of their length.