JP3328397B2 - Foldable motorcycle - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a foldable motorcycle.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Bicycles and motorcycles are lightweight and handy vehicles, and their popularity is high. However, the total length is about 2 m. For example, when it is necessary to transport to a remote place, a van or light truck having a large storage space or a loading bed is required. Also, they cannot be carried as baggage on trains and buses. In that regard, foldable bicycles and motorcycles (hereinafter collectively referred to as "foldable motorcycles") are free from such concerns, are suitable for transportation, and have less parking space in daily use than before. I'm done.

[0003] The applicant of the present invention has disclosed in
Proposed a "foldable motorcycle." This is characterized in that the handle post can be folded rearward and the body frame is shortened in conjunction with this, and the form can be easily changed from the use state to the folded state or from the folded state to the use state. .

[0004]

However, even in the case of the foldable motorcycle disclosed in the above publication, a certain amount of manual work is required to change from the folded state to the use state. The work is not easy for a child or a woman who is unfamiliar with the work, and the work time is long. On the other hand, for example, when the user moves to a cycling course by a passenger car and takes out the foldable motorcycle from the trunk room on the cycling course, there is naturally a demand to test-drive the course as soon as possible. However, the conventional foldable motorcycle needs to be changed to a use state, and thus it is difficult to satisfy the demand.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a foldable two-wheeled vehicle which is automatically changed to a use state with almost no work performed by an operator, and in which the change operation can be completed in a very short time.

[0006]

In order to achieve the above object,
Claim 1 is a CFC that rotatably supports the front wheel (27).
To fork (7) and the front fork (7)
A rotatably supported head pipe (5);
The front fork at a position above the IP (5)
(7) A handlebar supported at the upper end so as to be tiltable backward
Strike (9), and extending rearward from the handle post (9).
Rotate sub-frame (11a) and rear wheel (32)
A rear body frame (12) pivotally supported, and the rear
The body frame (12) is connected to the upper part of the front end so that it can tilt backward.
Saddle post (17) and the rear body frame
(12) Between the front end and the sub-frame (11a)
The first link (24) spanned over the sub-frame
Between the saddle post (17) and the saddle post (17).
Body length constituted by the passed second link (21)
In the frame structure of a motorcycle that can be contracted in the hand direction,
The head pipe (5) and the rear body frame (12)
Between the vehicle body and the vehicle body
(4) and the inside of the vehicle body longitudinal frame (4).
A resilient means (2) for storing elastic energy by a contraction operation of the longitudinal frame of the vehicle body, and a lock / unlock for locking a movable portion to a non-movable portion during folding and releasing the lock arbitrarily. And a mechanism.

[0007] The second aspect of the present invention is the above-mentioned handle post (9).
A pair of handle grips (4
3, 43) and the handle post (9) can be moved up and down.
Slide pipes (11) attached to the
Handle (43, 43) and slide pipe
(11) and a pair of third links (48, 4).
8) The handle mechanism of the foldable motorcycle constituted by
, A series of upright movements of the handle post (9)
As the slide pipe (11) moves downward,
The folded hand is connected via the third link (48, 48).
The dollar grips (43, 43) are deployed to the use state
It is preferable that a folding handle mechanism is attached to the handle post (9) .

[0008]

[Action] When the lock is released, the motorcycle is automatically deployed to a usable state by the action of the resilient means. At that time, the handle grip is automatically brought into the position of use.

[0009]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. The drawings should be viewed in the direction of reference numerals.
FIG. 1 is a side view of a two-wheeled vehicle according to the present invention in a use state, in which a foldable two-wheeled vehicle 1 includes a gas spring (spring means).
2, a body longitudinal frame 4 comprising an inner cylinder 3a and an outer cylinder 3b, a head pipe 5 fixed to the end of the inner cylinder 3a of the body longitudinal frame 4, and rotatably supported by the head pipe 5. A front fork 7, a handle post 9 attached to the upper end of the front fork 7 via a pivot 8 so as to be able to swing back and forth, and a slide pipe for sliding a joint between the handle post 9 and the front fork 7. 11, a folding handle mechanism 40 attached to the upper end of the handle post 9,
A rear body frame 12 having one end fixed to the rear end of the vehicle body longitudinal frame 4 (falling portion 13, rear fork portion 1)
4 and a cross frame 15. ), A lock / unlock mechanism 50 incorporated in the falling portion 13, a saddle post 17 mounted on the upper portion 15 a of the cross frame portion 15 via a pivot 16, and mounted on the cross frame portion 15. It comprises a front sprocket 18 and a plurality of links and equipment described below.

Each of the links described below has a pivot at each end. The first link 21 connects the sub-frame 11 a extending rearward from the slide pipe 11 and an intermediate portion of the saddle post 17. The second link 22 and the third link 23 connect the intermediate portion of the saddle post 17 and the rear fork portion 14, and are formed as one long link by the relay bracket 25 as shown. The fourth link 24 connects the sub-frame 11 a of the slide pipe 11 and the front part 15 b of the cross frame part 15.

Reference numeral 27 denotes a front wheel, 28 and 28 denote pedals, 29 denotes a chain, 31 denotes a rear sprocket, 32 denotes a rear wheel, and 33 denotes a saddle.

FIG. 2 is a supplementary explanatory diagram of FIG. 1 for explaining the movable portion and the non-movable portion in FIG.
The hatched (//) inner cylinder 3a, head pipe 5, and front fork 7 can retreat toward the rear wheel 32. The saddle post 17 and the saddle 33 with hatching (xx) can be tilted clockwise in the figure. Further, the slide pipe 11, the handle post 9, and the handle mechanism 40 can retreat together with the inner cylinder 3a and can tilt clockwise in the drawing. Furthermore, the first hatched (||)
The links 21 to 24 tilt as required.
Therefore, the remaining outer cylinder 3b, the rear body frame 12,
The rear sprockets 18, 31 and the rear wheel 32 are non-movable parts that do not move.

FIG. 3 is a front view of the foldable handle mechanism (in use) of the present invention. The foldable handle mechanism 40 includes a horizontal pipe 41 fixed to the upper end of the handle post 9,
Curved guide plate 4 fixed on this horizontal pipe 41
2 and left and right handle grips 43, 4 of the horizontal pipe 41
3 and a spring 44 built into the handle grip 43
, A slide button 46 for forcibly moving the tapered member 45 from the outside, and a rocker fixed to the handle grip 43 and swinging the horizontal pipe 41 via a pin 47a. L locked as possible
It comprises a L-shaped lever 47, a tie rod 48 connected to one end of the L-shaped lever 47, the slide pipe 11 locked to the other end of the tie rod 48, and a spring 49 for pushing down the slide pipe 11.

In FIG. 3, the handle post 9 is fixed to the front fork 7 by the slide pipe 11 covering the pivot 8 at the lower end of the handle post 9.
The handle grip 43 is fixed to the horizontal pipe 41 because the taper member 45 is engaged with the horizontal pipe 41. When the slide buttons 46, 46 are moved by the left and right thumbs in the directions indicated by the arrows, the tapered members 45, 45 are disengaged from the horizontal pipe 41, and the handle grips 43, 43 can be swung in the directions indicated by the arrows.

FIG. 4 is a front view of the handle mechanism (non-use state) of the present invention. When the handle grips 43, 43 are raised from the horizontal, the L-shaped levers 47, 47 rotate about the pins 47a, 47a. , Tie rods 48,48
The slide pipe 11 is pulled up through. Then, the slide pipe 11 comes off the pivot 8. In this state, the handle post 9 can be tilted about the pivot 8 to the rear of the drawing.

FIG. 5 is a view showing a lock / unlock mechanism of the present invention. The lock / unlock mechanism 50 includes a handle 51 attached to the falling portion 13 of the rear body frame, and a lock penetrating the upper portion of the handle 51. A release button 52, a stopper claw 54 swingably locked to the rear of the vehicle body longitudinal frame 4 by a pin 53, and a leaf spring 55 for urging the stopper claw 54 are provided.
a can be hung on the stopper claw 54, and the lock release button 52 can be pressed to swing the stopper claw 54 to a position indicated by an imaginary line, thereby making the boss 43a free.

FIG. 6 is a sectional view taken along the line 6-6 in FIG. 1. The relay bracket 25 is formed by bending the left and right sides of the plate into a U-shape.
The second links 22 and 22 are housed in a and 25a, and these links 22 and 22 and the expanding spring 57 are so-called skewed by an elongated pin 58.

FIGS. 7 (a) and 7 (b) are operation diagrams of FIG. 6. When the second links 22 and 22 of FIG. 6 are gripped with the right or left hand and approached as shown in FIG. 7 (a), As shown in FIG.
The links 22, 22 can be bent with respect to the relay bracket 25.

FIG. 8 is a view showing the folding state of the foldable motorcycle according to the present invention. In the folded state, the handle grip 43 is oriented in the same direction as the handle post 9, and the handle post 9 falls around the pivot 8, and 17
Falls, the inner cylinder 3a retreats, and the handle grip boss 4
3a is engaged with the stopper claw 54. For example, in FIG. 1, the total length is 1100 mm and the total height is 810 mm, but in FIG. 8, the total length is 860 mm and the total height is 540 mm. In the folded state, the gas spring 2 is compressed and elastic energy is sufficiently stored.

The operation of deploying the foldable motorcycle having the above configuration from the folded state to the use state will be described below.
For example, the motorcycle 1 in the folded state shown in FIG. 8 is transported by a passenger car or the like, and is lowered at the destination. Then, the handle 51 in FIG. 8 is grasped, and the unlock button 52 is pressed with the thumb (see FIG. 5).
Then, the stopper claw 54 comes off, the handle grip 43 becomes free, and the gas spring 2 starts to extend.

FIG. 9 is a view of the folding two-wheeled vehicle according to the present invention in the course of development, and the front wheel 27, the front fork 7, and the pivot 8 move forward when the gas spring 2 extends. On the other hand, the rear body frame 12 does not move. Therefore, the first to fourth links 21 to 24 are pulled, and especially the fourth to fourth links 21 to 24 are pulled.
The link 24 rotates clockwise to rotate the handle post 11 counterclockwise, so that the first link 21 raises the saddle post 17, and the second link 22 and the third link 23 try to be aligned. As described above, the handle post 9 and the saddle post 17 are raised by the front fork 7 moving forward. At this time, slide pipe 1
Although 1 is pressed by the spring 49, it hits the upper end of the front fork 7 and does not move any further. However, when the handle post 9 is sufficiently raised and aligned with the front fork 7, the slide pipe 11 becomes slidable.

FIG. 10 is an operation diagram of the handle mechanism of the present invention. When the handle post 9 is aligned with the front fork 7, the slide pipe 11 indicated by a solid line starts to descend, and the tie rods 48, 48 are pulled down. Then, the handle grips 43, 43 in the upright state are connected to the L-shaped lever 4.
With the rotation of 7, 47, it swings as shown by the arrow, reaches the position of the imaginary line, and the tapered members 45, 45 mesh with both ends of the horizontal pipe 41 as shown in FIG. Handle grip 43, 4
3 is characterized in that it swings about 90 ° from the standing state to the use state without any manpower at the end of the deployment operation.

That is, the motorcycle 1 of the present invention automatically expands from the folded state in FIG. 8 to the use state in FIG. 1 simply by pressing the lock release button 52. The time for this is a few seconds at most.

The resilient means may be a coil spring or a rubber spring, in addition to the gas spring of the present embodiment. Good. The motorcycle 1 is not limited to the bicycle of the present embodiment, but may be a motorcycle with an engine.

[0025]

As described above, the present invention is provided with a resilient means for storing elastic energy in a foldable motorcycle and a lock / unlock mechanism for locking or releasing a movable portion to or from a non-movable portion. Only by unlocking, the motorcycle can be automatically deployed to the use state thereafter, and the folding motorcycle can be brought to the use state extremely easily and quickly.

Since the handle grip is also automatically extended to the position of use, the motorcycle can be used immediately, which is extremely convenient.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side view of a folding motorcycle according to the present invention in use.

FIG. 2 is a supplementary explanatory diagram of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a front view of the folding handle mechanism (in use) of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a foldable handle mechanism of the present invention (not used).
Front view of

FIG. 5 is a diagram of a lock / unlock mechanism according to the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a sectional view taken along line 6-6 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 7 is an operation diagram of FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a folding state of the folding motorcycle according to the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a view of the folding motorcycle according to the present invention in an unfolded state.

FIG. 10 is an operation diagram of the handle mechanism of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Foldable motorcycle, 2 ... Resilient means (gas spring), 3a ... Inner cylinder, 3b ... Outer cylinder, 4 ... Body longitudinal frame, 5 ... Head pipe, 7 ... Front fork, 8 ... Pivot, 9 ... Handle post , 11 ... slide pipe,
12 ... rear body frame, 17 ... saddle post, 21-
24 ... first to fourth links, 40 ... foldable handle mechanism, 43 ... handle grip, 50 ... lock / unlock mechanism, 52 ... lock release button, 54 ... stopper claw.

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (58) Field surveyed (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) B62K 15/00 B62K 21/16

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] 1. A flow for rotatably supporting a front wheel (27).
Head fork (7) and the front fork (7) rotatably supported.
Pipe (5) and the front at a position above the head pipe (5).
C supported at the upper end of the fork (7) so as to be tiltable rearward
Handle post (9) and a sub-frame extending rearward from the handle post (9).
(11a) and a rear body frame rotatably supporting a rear wheel (32)
(12) and the rear body frame (12) can be tilted rearward to the upper front end.
The saddle post (17) connected to the front end of the rear body frame (12) and the subframe
The first link (2
4), the sub-frame (11a) and the saddle post (1).
7) and the second link (21) spanned between
The frame of the constructed two-wheel vehicle that is contractible in the longitudinal direction
In the structure, the head pipe (5) and the rear body
It is fixed between the frame (12) and expands and contracts in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle
A vehicle body longitudinal frame (4), a resilient means (2) inside the vehicle body longitudinal frame (4) for storing elastic energy by a contraction operation of the vehicle body longitudinal frame, A lock / unlock mechanism that can be locked and optionally unlocked, and the motorcycle is automatically deployed in a usable state by the action of the spring means only by releasing the lock. Foldable motorcycle featuring. 2. The upper end of the handle post (9) is swingable.
Pair of handle grips (43, 43)
And a handle movably mounted on the handle post (9).
A ride pipe (11), each of the handle grips (43, 43) and the slide
A pair of third links connected to the id pipe (11)
(48, 48) and configured collapsible motorcycles by Ha
In the handle mechanism, the handle post (9) slides by a series of standing motions.
As the pipe (11) moves downward, the handle handle (43, 43) in the folded state is expanded to the use state via the third link (48, 48). The foldable motorcycle according to claim 1, wherein the foldable motorcycle is attached to (9) .