JP2011156904A - Folding bicycle - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a folding bicycle that is compact in the storage state thereof. <P>SOLUTION: A linkage part 8 includes a rotating shaft 8a around which a first frame 6 and a second frame 7 rotate. The rotating shaft 8a is located closer to the ground, with which a front wheel 2 and a rear wheel 3 come in contact, than an intersection of the shaft center of the first frame 6 and the shaft center of the second frame 7. By disposing the rotating shaft 8a at this position, in the storage state of the folding bicycle 1, the shaft center of the first frame 6 and the shaft center of the second frame 7 further approach parallelism, thereby compacting (slimming) until the rear wheel 3 comes in contact with the first frame 6. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2011,JPO&amp;INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a folding bicycle.

  Conventionally, for example, as disclosed in Patent Document 1, a first frame in which a front wheel is provided on one side in the longitudinal direction and a saddle is provided on the other side in the longitudinal direction, a rear wheel is provided on one side in the longitudinal direction, and a handle is provided on the other side in the longitudinal direction. And a folding bicycle composed of a second frame. The folding bicycle of Patent Document 1 has three rotating portions near the intersection of the first frame and the second frame. The first is a main turning part that can be turned in the direction in which the front and rear wheels are brought closer in the traveling direction of the folding bicycle, and the second is a handle that can be turned in a direction that brings the handle closer to the front wheel. The third part is a saddle frame turning part that can be turned in a direction to bring the saddle closer to the rear wheel. By rotating each of the three rotating portions, the folded bicycle can be switched between a storage state and a traveling state.

JP 2003-34283 A

  The folding bicycle of Patent Document 1 includes a rotating unit (main rotating unit) that can be rotated in a direction in which the distance between the front wheel and the rear wheel is reduced, and a rotating unit (handle in a direction in which the handle is closer to the front wheel). The frame rotation part). Therefore, when the folded bicycle is stored, the distance is increased by the distance between the two rotating portions in the traveling direction of the folded bicycle. A rotating part (main rotating part) that can be rotated in a direction to bring the distance between the front wheel and the rear wheel closer, and a rotating part (saddle frame rotating part) that can be turned in a direction to bring the saddle closer to the rear wheel. The same can be said about.

  Therefore, the present invention is proposed to provide a folding bicycle that can be made more compact in the stored state than before.

  In order to solve the above technical problem, the feature configuration taken in the present invention includes a front wheel and a rear wheel, a saddle on which a user can be seated, a handle for determining a traveling direction by the operation of the user, A first frame provided with the front wheel on one side in the longitudinal direction and the saddle on the other side in the longitudinal direction; a second frame provided with the rear wheel on one side in the longitudinal direction and the handle on the other side in the longitudinal direction; Folding is performed by having a linkage having a moving shaft and linking the first frame and the second frame, and the first frame and the second frame rotating about the rotation shaft. The form can be changed to a running state in which the bicycle can run and a stowed storage state, and the first frame and the second frame overlap in a side view when the folded bicycle is in the stowed state. That.

  According to this characteristic configuration, when the folding bicycle is changed between the traveling state and the storage state, the folding bicycle can be changed only by rotating around the rotation axis. Therefore, the first frame and the second frame are closer to each other and can be overlapped in the storage state as compared with the conventional case. Therefore, it can be made more compact (slim) than in the past.

It is a side view (side view) of the folding bicycle which concerns on this embodiment, and is a figure at the time of driving | running | working state of a folding bicycle. It is a perspective view of the folding bicycle concerning this embodiment. It is a side view (side view) of the folding bicycle which concerns on this embodiment, and is a figure at the time of folding bicycle. It is a figure which shows the structure of the chain and sprocket of the folding bicycle which concern on this embodiment.

  A folding bicycle according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to the drawings.

  A folding bicycle 1 according to the present embodiment includes a front wheel 2 and a rear wheel 3, a saddle 4 on which a user can sit, a handle 5 held by both hands of the user, a front wheel 2 and a longitudinal direction on one side in the longitudinal direction. A first frame 6 provided with a saddle 4 on the side, a second frame 7 provided with a rear wheel 3 on one side in the longitudinal direction and a handle 5 on the other side in the longitudinal direction, a first frame 6 and a second frame 7, And a linking unit 8 that links the two. The front wheel 2, the first frame 6, and the saddle 4, the rear wheel 3, the second frame 7, and the handle 5 have a substantially X shape in a side view when the folding bicycle 1 is running.

  The linking portion 8 has a rotation shaft 8 a serving as a rotation center between the first frame 6 and the second frame 7. The rotation shaft 8a is located on the ground side where the front wheel 2 and the rear wheel 3 are grounded with respect to the intersection of the axis of the first frame 6 and the axis of the second frame 7. By providing the pivot shaft 8a at such a position, the axis of the first frame 6 and the axis of the second frame 7 can be brought closer to each other in parallel when the folding bicycle 1 is stored. Therefore, it can be made compact (slimmed) until the rear wheel 3 comes into contact with the first frame 6. Further, since the axis of the first frame 6 and the axis of the second frame 7 can be made more parallel, the saddle 4 and the handle 5 can be brought close to each other until they overlap in the side view of the bicycle 1 and stored. It can be made compact (slimmed) in the state. In other words, it has a substantially I shape in a side view when the folded bicycle 1 is stored.

  The rear wheel 3 is in contact with the first frame 6 when the folding bicycle 1 is stored. Accordingly, the rear wheel 3 becomes unrotatable in the retracted state, and when the folding bicycle 1 is made to stand on its own, the folding bicycle 1 can be moved unintentionally due to the inclination of the ground or the like without providing a lock mechanism for prohibiting the rotation of the rear wheel 3. Never move. Further, since there is no need to provide a lock mechanism that prohibits the rotation of the rear wheel 3, there is a risk that the lock mechanism of the rear wheel 3 will operate unintentionally and the rear wheel 3 will not be able to rotate when the folding bicycle 1 is running. Because there is no, there is more consideration for user safety.

  In addition, the front wheel 2 can rotate even when the folding bicycle 1 is stored. Therefore, by tilting the folding bicycle 1 in the storage state, the front wheel 2 functions as a caster and can move without lifting the folding bicycle 1.

  The first frame 6 has a front wheel 2 provided on one side in the longitudinal direction and connected to the linkage portion 8 on the other side, and a saddle 4 provided on one side in the longitudinal direction and linked to the other side. The first frame 6b for saddles connected to the unit 8 is configured. Both the front wheel first frame 6a and the saddle first frame 6b have a cylindrical shape. By changing the insertion length of the front wheel first frame 6a into the linkage portion 8, the lengths of the front wheel 2 and the linkage portion 8 can be changed. Moreover, the insertion length to the saddle 4 and the connection part 8 can be changed by changing the insertion length to the connection part 8 of the 1st frame 6b for saddles.

  The second frame 7 has a rear wheel 3 provided on one side in the longitudinal direction and a second wheel frame 7a connected to the linkage portion 8 on the other side, and a handle connected to the linkage portion 8 on the one side in the longitudinal direction. And 5. Both the rear wheel second frame 7a and the handle 5 have a cylindrical shape. By changing the insertion length of the rear wheel second frame 7a into the linkage portion 8, the lengths of the rear wheel 3 and the linkage portion 8 can be changed. Further, by changing the insertion length of the handle 5 into the linkage portion 8, the insertion length of the handle 5 and the linkage portion 8 can be changed.

  In this manner, the lengths up to the front wheel 2, the rear wheel 3, the saddle 4 and the handle 5 can be changed with the linkage portion 8 as the center. Therefore, the length between the saddle 4 and the ground can be changed according to the height of the user, and the length between the handle 5 and the ground, which could not be adjusted with a conventional bicycle, can be changed. The size of the corresponding folding bicycle 1 can be set.

  The second frame 7 includes a pedal 11 that transmits a rotational force to the rear wheel 3 when the user rotates manually, and a pedal side that rotates the rotational force of the pedal 11 on the same axis as the rotation axis of the pedal. A chain 12 is provided for transmission from the sprocket 13a to the rear wheel sprocket 13b that rotates on the same axis as the rotation axis of the rear wheel 3.

  The chain 12 includes a first chain 12a and a second chain 12b, and an associated sprocket 13c that links the first chain 12a and the second chain 12b to the second frame 7 between the rear wheel 3 and the pedal 11. Is provided. As described above, since the linkage sprocket 13c is provided separately from the pedal side sprocket 13a and the rear wheel side sprocket 13b, the number of teeth of each sprocket can be reduced and the size can be reduced. Therefore, even if the folding bicycle 1 has a limited mounting space, a plurality of sprocket ratios can be easily configured, and a more compact folding bicycle 1 can be provided.

  The folding bicycle 1 of the present embodiment is a three-wheeled bicycle in which the front wheel 2 is two wheels and the rear wheel 3 is one wheel. By setting it as the three-wheeled folding bicycle 1, the three-wheeled contact with the ground can stand the folding bicycle 1 without support. Therefore, a member such as a stand can be omitted at the time of folding, and the compact folding bicycle 1 can be provided.

  Moreover, the folding bicycle 1 of this embodiment can change the advancing direction when a user moves weight to right and left with respect to the advancing direction. The folding bicycle 1 of this embodiment cannot change the advancing direction by turning the handle 5 as in the prior art, and can provide a new bicycle driving mode to the user.

  As an additional note, the present invention is superior to Patent Document 1 (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2003-34283) described above in the following points.

  The structure of the folding bicycle described in Patent Document 1 is a cable steering system in which the operation of the handle is converted into an axial retracting force of the cable and transmitted again as the operating force of the front wheel in order to transmit the operation of the handle by the user to the front wheel. Modules have been proposed. By applying such a cable steering module to a folding bicycle, a frame configuration in which the handle and the front wheel are separated can be realized.

  However, the folding bicycle disclosed in Patent Document 1 uses a cable to transmit the operation of the handle to the front wheels. Therefore, it is difficult to accurately transmit the detailed operation of the handle by the user to the front wheels, and there remains a problem in operability when the folding bicycle is running.

  In addition, if the cable is disconnected for any reason, it will not be possible to change the direction of travel of the folded bicycle.Therefore, measures such as increasing the radial length of the cable and arranging the cable to bend as much as possible are provided. It is necessary to consider ensuring reliability. However, in a bicycle having a folding function, the cable may hinder the folding operation, and the operability during folding may be impaired. Furthermore, it is conceivable that the cable is bent and disconnected at the time of folding.

  On the other hand, according to the present invention, the user can change the traveling direction by moving his / her body weight to the left and right with respect to the traveling direction. Therefore, the above-described problem of Patent Document 1 cannot occur.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Folding bicycle 2 ... Front wheel 3 ... Rear wheel 4 ... Saddle 5 ... Handle 6 ... First frame 6a ... Front wheel first frame 6b ... Saddle second One frame 7 ... second frame 7a ... rear wheel second frame 8 ... linkage 8a ... rotating shaft 11 ... pedal 12 ... chain 12a ... first chain 12b ... Second chain 13a ... Pedal side sprocket 13b ... Rear wheel side sprocket 13c ... Linked sprocket

Claims (9)

Front and rear wheels,
A saddle that the user can sit on,
A handle for determining a traveling direction by the user's operation;
A first frame provided with the front wheel on one longitudinal side and the saddle on the other longitudinal side;
A second frame provided with the rear wheel on one longitudinal side and the handle on the other longitudinal side;
A linkage portion having a pivot shaft for linking the first frame and the second frame;
By rotating the first frame and the second frame about the rotation shaft as a rotation center, the form can be changed to a traveling state in which a folded bicycle can travel and a storage state in which it can be stored.
A folding bicycle in which the first frame and the second frame overlap in a side view of the folding bicycle in the storage state.   2. The folding bicycle according to claim 1, wherein the rotation shaft is located on a ground side where the front wheel and the rear wheel are in contact with a ground with respect to an intersection of an axis of the first frame and an axis of the second frame.    The folding bicycle according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the rear wheel abuts on the first frame when the folding bicycle is in the stored state.   The folding bicycle according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the front wheel is rotatable in the storage state of the folding bicycle.   5. The first frame according to claim 1, wherein a length between the front wheel and the linkage portion and a length between the linkage portion and the saddle can each be changed. Folding bike.   The said 2nd frame can change the length between the said rear wheel and the said connection part, and the length between the said connection part and the said handle, respectively. Folding bike. The second frame is provided with a pedal for transmitting a rotational force to the rear wheel when the user rotates manually, and a chain for transmitting the rotational force of the pedal to the rear wheel. ,
The chain includes a first chain and a second chain, and the second frame between the rear wheel and the pedal is provided with a linkage sprocket that links the first chain and the second chain. Item 7. The folding bicycle according to any one of items 1 to 6.   The folding bicycle according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein one of the front wheel and the rear wheel is a single wheel, and the other of the front wheel and the rear wheel is a two-wheel vehicle.   The folding bicycle according to any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein the user can change a traveling direction of the folding bicycle by moving his weight.

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