JP2023016115A - chain storage structure - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide a chain storage structure capable of achieving simple and easy detachment of a pedal unit without removing a rear wheel from a frame.SOLUTION: A chain storage structure, in an automobile 10 capable of detaching a pedal unit, includes: a chain 18 engaging with a sprocket 17 integrally rotating with a driving wheel; and a chain case 22 storing the chain 18 and the sprocket 17 with the chain 18 wound around the sprocket 17 along the circumference thereof. The chain case 22 has a pair of shell members 23, 24 formed in a semicircular shape in side view of a bicycle 10 having a storage part for storing the chain 18.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a chain storage structure for storing a chain attached to a bicycle having a pedal attachment/detachment unit.

Conventionally, practice bicycles equipped with detachable units for detachable pedals have been developed and used. These have a structure in which the unit main body portion including the chain wheel and pedal crank can be attached to and detached from the bicycle main body with bolts or the like, and the pedal unit can be fixedly connected or released with bolts and nuts.

As a bicycle equipped with a detachable unit for pedals, for example, Patent Document 1 discloses that a connecting portion protruding from a bracket unit that supports a pedal crank is attached to a cylindrical portion extending downward from a body frame of a vehicle body. A detachable bicycle for riding practice, which includes a vertically elongated slit formed at the lower end of the tubular portion so as to extend along the longitudinal direction thereof, and a vertical slit formed in the tubular portion at a position above the slit. a through hole formed on the main body side; a ridge formed in a connecting portion of the bracket unit and fitted into the slit so as to be in contact with the inner surface of the slit in the vertical direction; a bracket unit side through hole formed in the connecting portion of the bracket unit at a position coinciding with the main body side through hole when the ridge is engaged, wherein the main body side through hole and the A bicycle for driving practice is disclosed in which the connecting portion of the bracket unit is detachably fixed to the cylindrical portion by a bolt and a nut that are inserted through a through hole on the bracket unit side.

According to Patent Literature 1, it is possible to provide a bicycle for riding training in which a bracket unit for supporting a pedal crank can be easily and quickly attached and detached, and which has excellent strength and durability.

JP 2018-062259 A

However, in a bicycle with a detachable pedal unit, such as the bicycle for riding practice in Patent Document 1, when the pedal unit is attached, the chain is also attached, so it is necessary to remove the rear wheel from the frame once. I had to make an adjustment. Since this work requires skill, it is generally necessary to ask a bicycle shop or the like to perform the work, which is costly and time-consuming.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a chain storage structure in which a pedal unit can be attached and detached simply and easily without removing the rear wheel from the frame. .

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a bicycle with a detachable pedal unit, a chain that engages with a sprocket that rotates integrally with a drive wheel, and a chain that is wound along the circumference of the sprocket. and a chain case for storing the chain and the sprocket. Further, the chain case may have a pair of shell members formed in a semi-circular shape in a side view of the bicycle having a housing portion for housing the chain.

The pair of shell members are joined to each other by a hinge portion at one end and are connected to each other by a connecting portion provided at the other end, thereby forming a circular shape in a state in which the chain is accommodated. good too.

Further, in the chain case, the accommodating portion may be designed so that the accommodating portion becomes narrower as it approaches the center of the semicircular shape, and presses the accommodated chain from both side surfaces. Further, the chain case may have a sponge member provided on the semi-circular circumferential portion of the accommodating portion.

According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a chain storage structure that allows the pedal unit to be attached and detached simply and easily without removing the rear wheel from the frame. Note that the effects described here are not necessarily limited, and may be any of the effects described in the present disclosure.

1 is a schematic diagram showing a configuration example of a bicycle according to an embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 1 is an enlarged schematic diagram showing a rear wheel of a bicycle according to one embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing a configuration example of a chain storage structure according to an embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing a configuration example of a chain storage structure according to an embodiment of the present invention; FIG. FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram showing an operation example of the chain storage structure according to one embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram showing an operation example of the chain storage structure according to one embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram showing an operation example of the chain storage structure according to one embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram showing an operation example of the chain storage structure according to one embodiment of the present invention;

Preferred embodiments for carrying out the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. It should be noted that the embodiments described below are examples of representative embodiments of the present invention, and the scope of the present invention is not limited thereby, and various combinations are possible within the scope of the gist of the present invention. , variations and modifications are possible.

<Example of bicycle configuration>
First, a configuration example of a bicycle according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2. FIG. FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing a configuration example of a bicycle according to this embodiment. FIG. 2 is an enlarged schematic diagram showing the rear wheel of the bicycle according to this embodiment.

As shown in FIG. 1, a bicycle 10 according to this embodiment includes, as an example, a bicycle body 11, a handlebar 12 attached to the upper front portion of the bicycle body 11, and a saddle attached to the upper portion near the center of the bicycle body 11. 13, and a front wheel 14 and a rear wheel 15 rotatably connected to the front and rear lower portions of the bicycle body 11, respectively.

The bicycle 10 also includes pedals 16 attached to the lower part near the center of the bicycle body 11 , a rear sprocket 17 , a chain 18 , a splittable chain cover 19 , a crank 20 supporting the pedals, and a chain ring 21 . It has In this embodiment, the pedals 16, the chain cover 19, the cranks 20 and the front chainring 21 constitute a pedal unit. The bicycle 10 is configured such that the pedal unit is detachable.

Further, as shown in FIG. 2, the rear wheel 15 is connected to the rear lower portion of the bicycle body 11 via a plurality of spokes so as to be rotatable around the rear wheel axle 21 . The front wheel 14 is also connected to the front lower portion of the bicycle body 11 via a plurality of spokes so as to be rotatable about the front wheel axis.

The chain 18 is attached between the front chainring 21 and the rear sprocket 17 attached to the rear wheel axle 21 and transmits power from the pedals 16 to the rear wheel 15 . The bicycle 10 can be fitted with a chain case 22 that houses the chain 18 around the rear sprocket 17 .

<Configuration example of chain storage structure>
Next, a configuration example of a chain storage structure according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 2 to 4. FIG. FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram showing a partially opened state of the chain case of the chain storage structure according to the present embodiment. FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram showing a closed state of the chain case of the chain storage structure according to the present embodiment.

The chain storage structure according to this embodiment includes a chain 18 that meshes with a rear sprocket 17 that rotates integrally with a rear wheel 15 that is a drive wheel, and a chain 18 that rotates around the rear sprocket 17. A chain case 22 for storing a chain 18 and a rear sprocket 17 in a wound state along the circumference is provided. Note that the drive wheels are not limited to the rear wheels 15 and may be the front wheels 14 . In this case, the chain case houses the chain and front sprocket.

As shown in FIG. 3, the chain case 22 is formed in a disk shape as a whole, and when viewed from the side of the bicycle 10 having a housing portion for housing the chain 18, the first shell members 23 are each formed in a semicircular shape. and a second shell member 24 .

A first connecting portion 25 and a second connecting portion 26 are formed at one end of each of the first shell member 23 and the second shell member 24 . The other ends of the first shell member 23 and the second shell member 24 are connected by a hinge portion 27 .

As an example, the first connecting portion 25 is formed with two screw receivers arranged in the circumferential direction of the first shell member 23 . As an example, the second connecting portion 26 is formed with two screw holes arranged in the circumferential direction of the second shell member 24 and corresponding to the respective screw receivers of the first connecting portion 25 . In the chain case 22, a connecting portion can be configured by screw holes, screw receivers, and screws.

When one end of the chain case 22 is to be closed, the first connecting portion 25 and the second connecting portion 26 are placed on top of each other to align the positions of the screw receivers and the screw holes. Screw on the receiver. As a result, the first connecting portion 25 and the second connecting portion 26 are double-locked with the two screws, so that even if one of the screws is loosened, the connection between them will not come off. , the chain case 22 can be used safely. The number of screw receivers and screw holes is not limited to two, and three or more may be formed, and may be formed in either the first shell member 23 or the second shell member 24 .

As shown in FIG. 3, the first shell member 23 and the second shell member 24 can be opened at one end by disconnecting the first connecting portion 25 and the second connecting portion 26 from each other. Also, as shown in FIG. 4, the first shell member 23 and the second shell member 24 can be closed at one end by joining the first connecting portion 25 and the second connecting portion 26 together.

Thus, the first shell member 23 and the second shell member 24, which are a pair of shell members, are joined to each other at one end by the first connection portion 25 and the second connection portion 26, and the hinge portion 27 provided at the other end. A circular shape can be formed in a state in which the chain 18 is accommodated by being connected to each other by the .

Also, the chain case 22 is designed so that the accommodating portion for accommodating the chain 18 becomes narrower as it approaches the center of the semicircular shape of the first shell member 23 and the second shell member 24, and the accommodated chain 18 is placed on both sides. It is formed into a structure that is pressed from. As a result, it is possible to suppress the generation of noise caused by the collision of the stored chains 18 with each other.

Further, the chain case 22 has a sponge member provided on the semi-circular circumferential portion of the accommodating portion for accommodating the chain 18 . As a result, it is possible to absorb the sound inside the accommodating portion and prevent the leakage of oil from the accommodating portion.

<Operation example of chain storage structure>
Next, an example of the chain storing operation of the chain storing structure according to the embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 5 to 8. FIG. 5 to 8 are schematic diagrams showing examples of the chain storing operation of the chain storing structure according to this embodiment.

As shown in FIG. 5 , when storing the chain 18 of the bicycle 10 in the chain case 22 , as an example, first, the chain 18 is removed from the chain ring 21 , and the rear sprocket located at the center of the frame 31 of the rear wheel 15 is mounted on the rear sprocket. Wrap chain 18 around 17 .

Next, as shown in FIG. 6, while holding down the chain 18 wound around the rear wheel axle 21, the accommodating portion of the first shell member 23 or the second shell member 24 is attached to the chain 18 so as to cover the outer circumference of the chain 18. I'm going to cover it.

As shown in FIG. 7, as an example, first, the receiving portion of the second shell member 24 is put on the chain 18 . Alternatively, the chain 18 may be covered with the first shell member 23 first, and then the accommodating portion of the second shell member 24 may be covered with the chain 18 .

Next, as shown in FIG. 8 , while pressing the second shell member 24 covering the chain 18 , the exposed chain 18 is covered with the receiving portion of the first shell member 23 .

A first connecting portion 25 and a second connecting portion 26 formed at one ends of the first shell member 23 and the second shell member 24 covering the chain 18 are double-locked to each other, and the first shell member 23 and the second shell member 24 are double-locked. The shell members 24 are joined together. Thereby, the first shell member 23 and the second shell member 24 can form a circular shape with the chain 18 accommodated therein.

As described above, according to the chain storage structure according to the present embodiment, when attaching and detaching the pedal unit to and from the bicycle 10, it is not necessary to remove the rear wheel 15, which facilitates attachment and eliminates the need to adjust the brakes of the bicycle 10. Therefore, there is no need to ask a bicycle expert such as a bicycle shop to attach or detach the pedal unit. Thus, according to the chain storage structure according to the present embodiment, the pedal unit can be attached and detached simply and easily without removing the rear wheel from the frame. In addition, since it is not necessary to specially design the frame for attachment and detachment of the chain, the degree of freedom in designing the frame increases.

In addition, even when the pedal unit is removed, the chain can be used as a balance bike. It eliminates the need to attach and detach the wheel, which greatly reduces labor and cost.

Note that the effects described in this specification are merely examples and are not limited, and other effects may also occur.

10 Bicycle 11 Bicycle body 12 Handlebar 13 Saddle 14 Front wheel 15 Rear wheel 16 Pedal 17 Rear sprocket 18 Chain 19 Chain cover 21 Rear wheel axle 22 Chain case 23 First shell member 24 Second shell member 25 First connecting part 26 Second connecting part 27 Hinge

Claims (5)

In a bicycle with a detachable pedal unit,
a chain that meshes with a sprocket that rotates integrally with the driving wheel;
a chain case that stores the chain and the sprocket while the chain is wound along the circumference of the sprocket;
Chain containment structure with 2. The chain storage structure according to claim 1, wherein said chain case has a pair of shell members formed in a semi-circular shape in a side view of said bicycle and having a housing portion for housing said chain. 3. The pair of shell members according to claim 2, wherein the pair of shell members are joined to each other by a hinge portion at one end and are connected to each other by a connecting portion provided at the other end to form a circular shape in a state in which the chain is accommodated. chain storage structure. 4. The chain storage structure according to claim 2 or 3, wherein said chain case is designed so that said accommodating portion becomes narrower as it approaches the center of said semicircular shape, and holds down said accommodated chain from both sides thereof. The chain storage structure according to any one of claims 2 to 4, wherein the chain case has a sponge member provided inside the semicircular circumferential portion of the accommodating portion.

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