JP2002178976A - Power-assisted bicycle - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a power-assisted bicycle capable of stably placing the parts of a disassembled body on a ground. SOLUTION: Two leg portions 70c are formed around the lower part of an assisting unit held on a rear frame 23, preferably at the lower part of a motor, in the cross direction of the body. When a body frame is disassembled, the parts of the rear frame 23 can be erected by themselves on the ground GR while being supported at three points, a rear wheel WR and the two leg portions 70c. As a result, the assembling/disassembling workability for the power-assisted bicycle is improved.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a battery-assisted bicycle, and more particularly, to a battery-assisted bicycle in which a disassembled frame structure of a vehicle body holding a battery-assisted unit can be made independent.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A foldable electric assisted bicycle can be transported in a folded state to a resort or shopping center by a private vehicle or the like, and can be used by opening it at a destination, which is very convenient. Such a foldable bicycle is disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H11-105758.
No. 6,086,045. In addition, in order to make it easier to transport electric assist bicycles on private vehicles,
There has been proposed an electric assist bicycle in which a bicycle frame can be divided. In this electric assist bicycle,
The body frame is divided into small parts, and the stand is stored and put on a private car or the like.

[0003]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION When disassembling the body frame of an electric assisted bicycle, the workability can be improved,
In order to prevent the body frame from becoming dirty or damaged, it is desirable that the disassembled body parts can be stably placed on the ground. However, such consideration is not given to conventional electric bicycles.

[0004] It is an object of the present invention to solve the above-mentioned problems of the prior art and to provide an electric assist bicycle in which parts of a disassembled vehicle body can be stably placed on the ground.

[0005]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the present invention relates to a battery-assisted bicycle having a body frame on which an assist unit is mounted, which can be divided.
A frame structure that holds an assist unit and supports one of a front wheel and a rear wheel; and a foot provided at a lower portion of the assist unit. The frame structure includes the front wheel or the rear wheel and the foot. Has a first feature in that is made independent. According to this feature, the frame structure that holds the assist unit of the disassembled vehicle body can be made independent on the ground, and the workability of disassembling and assembling the vehicle body can be improved.

Further, according to the present invention, the foot is a projection provided in a width direction of the assist unit, and the foot is provided at a motor portion held by the assist unit. There are second and third features in the point.
According to these features, the frame structure can be stably self-supported.

Further, the present invention has a fourth feature in that the foot portion is provided such that its lower end is located above the lowest ground portion of the vehicle body. According to this feature, there is an advantage that the minimum ground clearance of the vehicle body is not limited by the feet.

[0008]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a side view of an electric assist bicycle including a steering device according to an embodiment of the present invention. A body frame 2 of the electric assisted bicycle includes a head pipe 21 located in front of the vehicle body, a pipe-shaped front frame 22 extending substantially horizontally rearward from the head pipe 21, and a rear frame 23 connected to a rear end of the front frame 22. And The rear frame 23 is a split frame made of a pair of left and right aluminum die-cast products. The divided frame has a bifurcated structure having a connecting portion 231 near the front of the vehicle body. The connecting portion 231 is formed with a boss 232 extending diagonally rearward and upward from the connecting portion 231 to hold the seat post 3. .

The boss 232 is provided with an interference,
By tightening the clamper 233, the seat post 3 is securely held by the boss 232. By loosening the clamper 233, the seat post 3 can slide vertically with respect to the boss 232, and the height of the seat 4 mounted on the upper end of the seat post 3 can be adjusted. Also,
The seat post 3 can be pulled out from the boss 232 and completely separated.

The front fork 5 is rotatably held by the head pipe 21 via a shaft formed at an upper portion. A handle post 7 is connected via a joint 6 to an upper end of a shaft formed on an upper portion of the front fork 5, and a handle 8 as a part of a steering device is connected to an upper portion of the handle post 7. The joint 6 can be loosened by operating the knob 61, and this operation allows the handle post 7 to be folded around the joint 6. A front wheel WF is rotatably supported at the lower end of the front fork 5. The tip of a wire 82 extending downward from a brake lever 81 of the steering handle 8 is connected to a front brake 9 provided on the front wheel WF.

The rear frame 23 is connected to the front frame 22 by a hinge and lock device 24. By releasing the lock of the lock device 24, the vehicle body can be folded around the hinge as a pivot. Further, by releasing the connection of the hinge, the front frame 22 and the rear frame 23 can be separated from each other.

The appearance of the rear frame 23 in a side view is such that the portion near the front of the vehicle body is wide and the width is narrowed toward the rear. A rear wheel WR as a drive wheel is supported between the rear ends of the pair of left and right rear frames 23. A wire 83 extends from the left portion of the handle 8 to the rear of the vehicle body. One of the wires 83 is a rear brake wire 83 connected to the rear brake 10 provided on the rear frame 23.
2 is a transmission wire 831 connected to a transmission 85 provided near the rear end of the rear frame 23.
It is. The wire 83 is fixed to the lower portion of the front frame 22 by the bands 84 and 84 while being extended rearward.

In the rear frame 23, the rear brake wire 832 is distributed to the left side of the vehicle body, and the transmission wire 831 is distributed to the right side. The rear brake wire 832 and the transmission wire 831 distributed to the left and right extend rearward in the rear frame 23.

An electric assist unit (assist unit) 1 disposed behind the extended portion of the seat post 3 at a wide portion of the rear frame 23, that is, a lower portion near the front.
Is suspended. The assist unit 1 has a rear frame 23
The rear frame 23 is fixed together by the fastening bolts 25 and the bolts 27 in the left and right divided portions when the rear frame 23 is assembled. The assist unit 1 is provided with an electric motor for assisting treading force arranged at the lowermost part thereof, and a foot (boss) 7 according to the present invention.
0c. The two foot portions 70c are provided in the width direction, and the rear assembly in which the rear frame 23, the rear wheel WR, and the assist unit 1 are integrated is mounted on the stand 3
5 in a folded state, the three-point support (two feet 70c
And the rear wheels WR). The foot 70c is configured such that its lower end does not become lower than the minimum ground clearance H from the ground GR of the bicycle.

[0015] Above the motor of the assist unit 1,
A crankshaft 11 is arranged. Cranks 12 are fixed to left and right ends of the crankshaft 11, respectively.
A pedal 13 is provided at the tip of the second pedal. The pedal 13 is used in a state that the pedal 13 extends horizontally in the left-right direction of the vehicle body. However, a hinge is adopted at a connecting portion between the pedal 13 and the crank 12 so that the pedal 13 can be folded along the crank 12 when not in use. .

The pedaling force input from the pedal 13 and the assisting force generated by the motor M so as to reduce the pedaling force in accordance with the pedaling force are combined via a transmission device including gears in the assist unit 1, and the output thereof is It is taken out as the rotation of a drive sprocket (not shown in FIG. 4, denoted by reference numeral 33) covered by the sprocket cover 14.
A chain 15 (not shown in FIG. 1) for transmitting the rotation of the drive sprocket to the rear wheel WR is provided.

The electric motor is provided in a space surrounded by the wide portion of the rear frame 23 and the connecting portion 231, and a bolt 25 (or a boss supporting the bolt) connecting the pair of right and left rear frames 23 to each other at the rear. A battery box 16 containing a battery serving as a power source for M and other electrical components is mounted. In order to join the portions of the rear frame 23 divided into right and left, the bolts 25 and 27 as well as bolts 26 arranged near the connection with the front frame 22 are used.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the rear frame 23 as viewed from the front left side of the vehicle body, and FIG. 3 is a plan view of the same. In both figures, the rear frame 23 includes a left portion 23L and a right portion 23R, and the boss 25B through which the bolts 25 and 27 can be inserted.
L, 25BR, 27BL, and 27BR are provided. A boss for supporting the knock pin is also formed in the fastening portion 26, but is not shown in FIGS. Boss 25BL,
A hanger portion 7 formed at the upper end of the assist unit 1 is provided between the 25BR and the bosses 27BL and 27BR.
0b (see also FIG. 4) is disposed so as to be sandwiched therebetween, and attached together with the left portion 23L and the right portion 23R of the rear frame 23.

On the upper surface of the rear frame 23, seats 234, 235, 236 for attaching the battery box 16 are provided.
And a seat 237 for mounting the rear brake 10
L, 237R are formed. A mounting seat 238 for mounting a power switch for supplying a current from a battery to the assist unit 1 and the like is formed at a front portion of the seat post boss 232 on the upper surface of the rear frame 23.

A power switch operated by a key K is mounted on the seat 238. The battery box 16 has a seat 234,
235, 236, the left part 2 of the rear frame 23
It is housed between 3L and right part 23R.

Further, a boss 241 which is one part of a hinge and a boss 28 which rotatably supports a pin (not shown) of a lock device are provided at the front end of the rear frame 23, that is, at the mating surface with the front frame 22. It is formed. A pivot pin 242 is inserted into the boss 241, and a washer 2
43 and a retaining ring 244 are mounted. A hook on the front frame 22 side that constitutes a part of the hinge is engaged with the pin 242.

FIG. 4 is a side view of a main part showing a mounting positional relationship between the rear frame 23, the battery box 16 and the assist unit 1. In FIG. 4, hangers 70 a, 70 for connecting the assist unit 1 to the rear frame 23 are provided around the case body 70 of the assist unit 1.
b is formed. Bosses are formed at the tips of the hangers 70a and 70b, respectively.
5 and 27 respectively penetrate. These bolts 25,2
7 further passes through the boss 25BL of the rear frame 23 and fastens the hangers 70a, 70b to the rear frame 23,
Thereby, the assist unit 1 is suspended on the rear frame 23.

As described above, since the fixing portion of the assist unit 1 to the rear frame 23 and the fastening portion between the left and right divided portions of the rear frame 23 are integrally provided at one place, the number of parts can be reduced. At the same time, the space for providing the fixing portion and the fastening portion can be reduced, and the size of the rear frame 23 can be reduced at this portion.

A pedal input gear 30 is connected to the crankshaft 11 via a one-way clutch (not shown).
The pedaling force input gear 30 meshes with the small gear 31a of the composite gear 31. On the other hand, a large gear 32a of an auxiliary power gear (assist gear) 32 is provided on the pinion 29 of the motor M so as to mesh with the small gear 32b, which rotates integrally with the large gear 32a. Mesh with each other. The large gear 31 b of the composite gear 31 meshes with an output gear 34 fixed to the shaft of the driving sprocket 33. Case body 70 and assist gear 32 of assist unit 1
Is desirably manufactured from a resin molded product for weight reduction, and a helical gear is preferable from the viewpoint of quietness and the like.

An axle 331 for supporting the rear wheel WR is provided at the rear end of the rear frame 23. The axle 331 is connected to the driven sprocket 3 via a one-way clutch (not shown).
32 are combined. The chain 15 is stretched between the driving sprocket 33 and the driven sprocket 332.

Thus, the rotation of the motor M is controlled by the pinion 2
The pedaling force transmitted from the crankshaft 11 is transmitted to the composite gear 31 via the pedaling force input gear. The pedaling force and the auxiliary power are combined by the combined gear 31 and transmitted to the driving sprocket 33, and further transmitted to the rear wheel WR via the driven sprocket 332. The controller 37 arranged at the front part in the case 70 controls the rotation of the motor M based on the pedaling force value input from the pedaling force detecting means (not shown).

A pivot 36 for rotatably supporting a main stand 35 made of an aluminum molded product is attached to a lower rear portion of the main body case 70. At the lower end of the main body case 70, the foot (boss) 70c is provided. The foot 70c is a projection for allowing the rear portion of the bicycle including the rear frame 23 to stand on its own when the front frame 22 and the rear frame 23 are separated. And the rear wheel WR can stand on the ground independently.

The boss 2 provided at the front end of the rear frame 23
A lock pin 39 having a lock lever is inserted through 8, 28. A bolt 391 is provided so as to be rotatable about the lock pin 39, and the bolt 391 has a nut 39.
2 is screwed. The bolt 391 is passed through a groove of the engaging portion 40 formed so as to protrude from the front frame 22, and one surface of the nut 392 contacts the engaging portion 40 to form a tightening surface.

Lock pin 39 to which bolt 391 is attached
The center portion of the nut 39 is eccentric with respect to the hole of the boss 28, and by rotating the lock lever 38, the nut 39
The contact strength between 2 and the engaging portion 40 is adjusted. Nut 39
The maximum value of the contact strength between the tightening surface 2 and the engaging portion 40 can be determined by the amount of rotation of the nut 392. As shown, when the lock lever 38 is rotated to a position along the rear frame 23, the nut 392 and the engagement portion 40 are in strong contact, and the front frame 22 and the rear frame 23 are strongly connected. You.

On the other hand, the lock lever 38 is
When the nut 392 is rotated in a direction away from the lock member 39, that is, in a direction perpendicular to the vehicle body, the nut 392 is biased in a direction away from the engagement portion 40 by a distance corresponding to the amount of eccentricity (front of the vehicle body) due to the eccentric shape of the lock pin 39. As a result, the contact strength between the nut 392 and the engaging portion 40 is reduced. When the bolt 391 is rotated around the lock pin 39 when the contact strength is weakened, the engagement between the nut 392 and the engagement portion 40 can be released,
The front frame 22 and the rear frame 23 can be folded around the hinge 24.

FIG. 5 shows a rear assembly in which the rear frame 23, the rear wheel WR, and the assist unit 1 are integrated, separated from the vehicle body frame, and self-standing on the ground GR by using the feet 70c. . FIG. 6 is a main part view of FIG. 5 as viewed from the front of the rear assembly, that is, from the left side of the figure. In addition, the code | symbol shown in figure shows the same or equivalent to the same code | symbol of FIG.

As is apparent from the figure, according to the present embodiment, the rear assembly separated from the vehicle body frame includes the rear wheel WR
And two right and left feet 70c formed in the lower part of the assist unit 1 in the width direction of the vehicle body, so that it can be made independent on the ground GR. The foot 70c is preferably provided below the motor M, as shown in FIG. The reason for this is that when the post-assembly is free standing, the heavy motor M
Is the lowest, and the stability of independence increases. In addition, as shown in FIG.
Is preferably higher than the minimum ground clearance H of the electric assisted bicycle. The reason is that the foot 70c does not limit the minimum ground clearance of the bicycle.

Although the above embodiment is an example in which the assist unit 1 is fixed to the rear frame 23, the present invention is not limited to this.
The present invention can also be applied to a structure supported by the second embodiment. In this case, the front assembly can be made independent on the ground with the front wheel and the foot 70c.

[0034]

As is apparent from the above description, according to the first to fourth aspects of the present invention, the divided frame structure of the electric bicycle can be made independent, so that the workability of dividing and assembling the electric bicycle can be improved. Can be improved. Further, since the divided frame structure does not roll on the ground, the frame structure does not become dirty or damaged.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, since the foot portion is provided in the width direction of the assist unit, the frame structure can be stably self-supported. Further, according to the third aspect of the present invention, since the foot portion is provided at the motor portion of the assist unit, the heavy motor is at the lowest position when the frame structure is self-standing, so that the self-standing can be stabilized. become. Further, according to the invention of claim 4, there is an advantage that the minimum ground clearance of the vehicle body is not limited by the feet.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side view of an electric assist bicycle according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a rear frame as viewed from the front left.

FIG. 3 is a plan view of a rear frame.

FIG. 4 is a side view of a main part around an assist unit.

FIG. 5 is a side view in which the disassembled frame structure is made independent.

FIG. 6 is a front view of a main part of the frame structure of FIG. 5;

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Assist unit, 2 ... body frame, 3 ... seat tube, 7 ... handle post, 8 ... steering handle, 11 ... crankshaft, 13 ... pedal, 16 ... battery box, 22 ... front frame, 23 ... rear frame, 70c ... foot.

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. An electric assist bicycle in which a body frame on which an assist unit is mounted is configured to be able to be divided, a frame structure holding the assist unit and supporting one of a front wheel and a rear wheel, and a lower part of the assist unit. An electric assist bicycle comprising: a foot provided; wherein the front or rear wheel and the foot enable the frame structure to be self-supporting. 2. The device according to claim 1, wherein the foot portion is a protrusion provided in a width direction of the assist unit.
The electric assisted bicycle according to 1. 3. The electric assist bicycle according to claim 1, wherein the foot is provided at a motor portion held by the assist unit. 4. The battery-assisted bicycle according to claim 1, wherein the foot portion is provided such that a lower end thereof is located above a lowest ground portion of the vehicle body.