JP2001018873A - Bank sensor for motorcycle - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a bank sensor for a motorcycle bendable when in contact with an obstacle in any direction. SOLUTION: A motorcycle is provided with footrest devices 16 for a rider on both sides of a body. The footrest devices 16 have a foot rest 17 for the rider. A bank sensor 20 is provided under a tip of the footrest 17 for the rider. The bank sensor 20 is provided with an elastic body 22 without directionality bendable in any direction.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to a bank sensor for a motorcycle.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In general, a motorcycle has a pair of left and right footrests near a pivot shaft provided at a lower center portion of a vehicle body frame. These footrests have the effect that the rider puts both feet while riding and balances when running sports.

When the footrest comes into contact with the ground at the time of running at a corner or a bank, it is bent upward near the mounting bracket so that the lower end of the footrest does not catch on the road surface.

[0006] A bank sensor is usually provided at the lower end of the footrest. The bank sensor is, for example, a bar made of metal protruding downward from the lower end of the footrest. When the vehicle body is banked (inclined), it comes into contact with the ground first and then vibrates when it comes into contact with the ground via the footrest. Is transmitted to the rider or a contact sound is emitted to inform the rider of the bank limit of the vehicle body.

[0005]

Since the conventional bank sensor is fixed to the footrest, the rider feels uncomfortable when the bank sensor hits a protruding object on the road surface during banking. In view of this, for example, as disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 1-179087, a bank sensor can be bent rearward.

However, in the above-described conventional example, the bank sensor functions effectively only when the vehicle body is moving forward. For example, when the vehicle body is moved backward in a narrow alley, the bank sensor hits a curb or a plant on the road. Does not bend forward. In addition, the folded portion at the skirt of the rider's trousers may catch on the bank sensor. However, with the conventional bank sensor structure, the catched folded portion is hard to come off.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and has as its object to provide a bank sensor for a motorcycle that can be bent even when an obstacle comes in contact from all directions.

[0008]

A bank sensor for a motorcycle according to the present invention is provided with a footrest device for placing an occupant's foot on both sides of a vehicle body as described in claim 1 in order to solve the above-mentioned problems. In the motorcycle provided with the above, the footrest device has a rider footrest, a bank sensor is provided at the lower end of the rider footrest, and the bank sensor does not have a bending direction that can be bent in any direction. It has an elastic body.

According to another aspect of the present invention, the elastic body is a coil spring.

Further, in order to solve the above-mentioned problems,
According to a third aspect of the present invention, the elastic body is a cylindrical rubber column.

Furthermore, in order to solve the above-mentioned problem, as described in claim 4, a metal grounding member is detachably provided at an end of the elastic body.

[0012]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a left side view showing an example of a motorcycle to which the present invention is applied. As shown in FIG. 1, the motorcycle 1 has a body frame 2, and an engine 3 is mounted on a lower front portion of the body frame 2. A fuel tank 4 is provided above the engine 3, and an operation seat 5 is provided behind the fuel tank 4.

A head pipe 6 is provided in front of the body frame 2.
The head pipe 6 is provided with a steering mechanism 7.
Is provided. The steering mechanism 7 is provided with a pair of left and right front forks 9 and a handlebar 10 for rotatably supporting the front wheel 8, and the handlebar 9 steers the front wheel 8 to be able to rotate left and right.

On the other hand, a pivot shaft 11 is erected at the center lower portion of the body frame 2, and a swing arm 12 is pivotally mounted on the pivot shaft 11 so as to swing around the pivot shaft 11, and a rear end of the swing arm 12 is provided. To rear wheel 1
3 is rotatably supported.

A cylinder 3a is arranged above the engine 3, and an exhaust pipe 14 constituting an engine exhaust system is connected to a front side of the cylinder 3a. Further, a carburetor 15 constituting an engine intake system is disposed behind the cylinder 3a.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged left side view around the pivot shaft 11. As shown in FIG. 2, a footrest device 16 for placing an occupant's foot is provided below and below the pivot shaft 11. The footrest device 16 includes a rider's footrest 17, a passenger's pillion footrest 18, and a mounting bracket 19 that holds these footrests 17 and 18 and is attached to the vehicle body frame 2. It is similarly provided at the same position (not shown).

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the footrest device 16, and FIG. 4 is a front view of the footrest device 16. As shown in FIG. 3 and FIG.
A bank sensor 20 is provided at the lower part of the tip of the. The bank sensor 20 is protruded downward from the lower end of the rider footrest 17 and first comes into contact with the ground when the vehicle body is banked (inclined), and transmits vibration at the time of ground contact to the rider via the footrest 17. It is configured to notify the rider of the limit of the bank of the vehicle body by emitting a contact sound.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a first embodiment of the bank sensor 20 (a), and FIG.
It is a figure showing the second embodiment of (b). 5 and 6
As shown in FIG. 3, each of the bank sensors 20 (a, b) includes a mounting base 21, elastic bodies 22, 23, and a grounding member 24.
It is composed of

The mounting base 21 is common to both embodiments and has, for example, a general hexagonal bolt shape. The screw portion 21a of the hexagonal bolt-shaped mounting base 21 is configured to be connectable to the lower end of the tip of the rider footrest 17, and one end of elastic bodies 22, 23 is fixed to the head 21b of the hexagonal bolt-shaped mounting base 21. On the other end of the elastic bodies 22 and 23, a ground member 24 made of metal and having, for example, a spherical shape is provided.
(Common to both embodiments) is detachably fixed.

The elastic members 22 and 23 are made of a rod-shaped material that can be bent in any direction, that is, have no bending direction. In the first embodiment, the coil spring 22 is used as the elastic member. ,
In the second embodiment, a cylindrical rubber column 23 is used as an elastic body.

Next, the operation of the present embodiment will be described.

For example, when the motorcycle 1 travels in a bank (inclined) to make a curve while traveling forward, as shown in FIG. 4, the grounding member 24 of the bank sensor 20 provided at the lower end of the tip of the rider's footrest 17 is turned on. First, the ground is touched to the ground, vibrations at the time of touchdown are transmitted to the rider through the rider footrest 17, and a contact sound is emitted to inform the rider of the bank limit of the vehicle body.

Here, the grounding member 24 of the bank sensor 20
Since the elastic body, that is, the coil spring 22 in FIG. 4 is provided between the mounting member 21 and the mounting base 21, even if the bank angle slightly increases or the bank sensor 20 hits a protruding object on the road surface during banking, for example, the arrow in FIG. Since the bank sensor 20 is bent in the direction indicated by the arrow, no discomfort is given to the rider.

Further, since the elastic bodies 22 and 23 can be bent in any direction, that is, a rod-shaped material having no bending direction, in this embodiment, the coil spring 22 or the rubber pillar 23 is used, so that the elastic bodies 22 and 23 are detailed. Although not shown, for example, when the vehicle body is moved backward in a narrow alley or the like, if the bank sensor 20 hits a curb or a plant on the road, the bank sensor 20 bends forward, so that no problem occurs.

Further, although not shown in detail, even if the folded portion on the skirt of the rider's pants is hooked on the bank sensor 20, the bank sensor 20 bends in all directions. Easy.

On the other hand, when the coil spring 22 is used as an elastic body, the strength of the spring 22 can be easily set by appropriately setting the initial tension, the wire diameter, the center diameter, and the like.
Moreover, since it has a mechanical appearance, the appearance is improved.

On the other hand, when the cylindrical rubber column 23 is used as the elastic body, the cost and weight can be reduced more than the coil spring 22. Further, the bank sensor 20 can be made inconspicuous by using black rubber.

Since the metal grounding member 24 is detachably provided at the ends of the elastic bodies 22 and 23, it is possible to prevent the elastic bodies 22 and 23 from directly grounding, and to extend the life of the bank sensor 20. It can be maintained, and when the grounding member 24 is worn down, only the grounding member 24 needs to be replaced, and the replacement is easy.

[0030]

As described above, according to the bank sensor for a motorcycle according to the present invention, in a motorcycle provided with a footrest device for placing an occupant's foot on both sides of a vehicle body,
The footrest device has a footrest for a rider, and a bank sensor is provided at a lower portion of the tip of the rider's footrest.The bank sensor has an elastic body having no bending direction that can be bent in any direction. The bank sensor can be bent even when an obstacle comes in contact from any direction.

Further, since the elastic body is a coil spring, the strength of the spring can be easily set and the appearance is improved.

Further, since the elastic body is a cylindrical rubber column, cost and weight can be reduced.

Furthermore, since the metal grounding member is detachably provided at the end of the elastic body, the life of the bank sensor is extended and the replacement of the grounding member is facilitated.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a left side view of a motorcycle showing an embodiment of a bank sensor for a motorcycle according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged left side view around a pivot shaft of the motorcycle shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a footrest device.

FIG. 4 is a front view of the footrest device.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a first embodiment of a bank sensor.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing two embodiments of a bank sensor.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Motorcycle 2 Body frame 11 Pivot shaft 16 Footrest device 17 Footrest for rider 20 Bank sensor 21 Mounting base 22 Coil spring (elastic body) 23 Rubber pillar (elastic body) 24 Grounding member

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A motorcycle having a footrest device for placing an occupant's foot on both sides of a vehicle body, wherein the footrest device 16 has a rider's footrest 17, and a bank sensor 20 is provided at a lower end of a tip of the rider's footrest 17.
And the bank sensor 20 is provided with an elastic body having no bending direction that can be bent in any direction. 2. The motorcycle bank sensor according to claim 1, wherein said elastic body is a coil spring. 3. The motorcycle bank sensor according to claim 1, wherein said elastic body is a cylindrical rubber column. 4. A metal grounding member 24 is detachably provided at an end of each of the elastic members 22 and 23.
Motorcycle bank sensor according to the description.