JPH0550958A - Saddle support device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To efficiently absorb impact in wide range from small to large. CONSTITUTION:A hydraulic damper 4 containing gas is housed in a guide cylinder 3 coupled in and fixed onto a support frame 1, a saddle 2 is mounted onto the casing 8 of the damper 4, one end of the piston rod 11 of the damper 4 is concurrently fixed onto the guide cylinder 3, and a guide member 6 housed in the guide cylinder 3 is combined with a slide member 17 connected to the casing 8 by means of keys 6a and 17a while relative rotation is being regulated between the guide cylinder 3 and the casing 8, so that impact is absorbed by means of gas pressure within the damper 4 and the fluid resistance of oil O passing through a piston orifice 14.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a saddle supporting device, and more particularly to a saddle supporting device suitable for supporting the saddle of a female bicycle or a mountain bike.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, saddles for bicycles, mountain bikes, etc. are attached to a supporting frame (main frame) via a seat post as a rigid body, and the impact is mainly absorbed by a metal spring and a tire provided on the saddle. Was done by.

[0003]

However, in the structure in which the saddle is supported by the seat post as a rigid body as described above, for example, a bicycle requiring a soft cushion, such as a female car, or the mountain bike described above, is used. In the case of a vehicle subject to a large impact, there is a problem in that the impact absorbing ability is insufficient, a satisfactory ride comfort cannot be obtained, and the supporting frame must be formed with high strength so as to withstand a large impact force.

The present invention has been made in view of the above conventional problems, and an object thereof is to provide a saddle support device capable of efficiently absorbing a wide range of impacts from small impacts to large impacts.

[0005]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention has a casing of a gas-filled damper slidably fitted in a guide cylinder, and a piston rod of the damper extending into the guide cylinder. Fix one end of the to the guide tube,
A rotation restricting means for restricting mutual rotation is interposed between the guide cylinder and the casing, and one of the guide cylinder and the casing is attached to a support frame, and a saddle is attached to the other of them. It is characterized by being installed.

[0006]

In the saddle support device constructed as described above, the saddle is elastically held by the gas pressure enclosed in the damper, while the shock applied to the saddle is damped by the fluid resistance in the damper.

[0007]

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

1 to 3, 1 is a main frame of a bicycle, 2 is a saddle of the bicycle, and 2 is a saddle.
It is supported by the main frame 1 via a guide cylinder 3 and a gas-filled hydraulic damper 4. The guide tube 3 is the main frame 1
The damper 4 is fitted and fixed in the hollow interior of the above, and the damper 4 is housed and held in the guide cylinder 3. The lower end opening of the guide cylinder 3 is the lid body 5.
A guide member 6 having a bottomed cylindrical shape is housed in the inner bottom portion of the guide cylinder 3 which is closed by the lid 5. The guide member 6 has a slit 6a extending in the axial direction in a part of the circumferential direction thereof (FIG. 2), and the spring pin 7
The position is fixed with respect to the guide cylinder 3.

On the other hand, the damper 4 has a casing 8 to which the saddle 2 is attached, a rod guide 9 fixed inside the lower end of the casing 8, a piston 10 slidably mounted in the casing 8, and a piston 10. From the rod guide 9
And a piston rod 11 extending therethrough. A seal member integrated with the rod guide 9 is provided between the rod guide 9, the casing 8 and the piston rod 11.
The upper chamber 13a and the lower chamber 13b in the casing 8 which are sealed by 12 and are partitioned by the piston 10 are provided as sealed chambers. Then,
Gas G and oil O are enclosed in the upper chamber 13a, and oil O is enclosed in the lower chamber 13b.
An orifice 14 is provided which connects 13a and the lower chamber 13b, and the oil O can flow through the orifice 14.

The piston rod 11 of the damper 4 has a small-diameter portion 11
One end of which is a is inserted through the guide member 6 and the lid 5 of the guide cylinder 3 and is taken out to the outside of the guide cylinder, and between the step and the guide member 6 connected to the small diameter portion 11a. It is fixed to the guide cylinder 3 by utilizing the interposed washer 15 and the split pin 16 fitted to the piston rod outside the lid 5. Further, the slide member 17 is inserted into the lower end portion of the casing 8 of the damper 4 with the piston rod 11 inserted therethrough.
Are connected. The slide member 17 is caulked to the casing 8 and is prevented from rotating with respect to the casing 8 by a spring pin 18. The slide member 17 is slidably fitted into the guide member 6 by engaging an engaging projection 17a provided in a part of the circumferential direction of the slide member 17 with the slit 6a of the guide member 6, whereby the casing is formed. The rotation of the guide tube 8 and the guide tube 3 are mutually restricted. On the other hand, the casing 8 is provided at the upper open end of the guide tube 3.
An annular bearing 19 for slidably guiding is fitted,
The casing 8 is guided by the bearing 19 and the guide member 6 that receives the slide member 17, and the piston rod 11
It is designed to move relative to. The casing 4
A stopper ring 20 for restricting the movement of the piston 10 is formed so as to bulge inward on the inner surface in the axial direction of the guide member 6, and the inner bottom portion of the guide member 6 is made of an elastic body capable of contacting the lower end of the slide member 17. 21 are stored.

The operation of the saddle support device constructed as above will be described below.

In the state where no one rides on the saddle 2,
The damper 4 is in an extended state as shown in FIG. When a person rides on the saddle 2 in this extended state, the load applied to the saddle 2 lowers the casing 4 and the piston 10 relatively moves upward. Then, due to the relative upward movement of the piston 10, the upper chamber
The gas G in 13a is compressed, the casing 4 is lowered to a balanced position, and the saddle 2 is held at the balanced position. That is, the saddle 2 is elastically held by the gas pressure, and the riding comfort becomes comfortable.

On the other hand, when a large shock is applied to the saddle 2,
The casing 4 breaks the above-mentioned balance and further descends, and as a result, the oil O in the upper chamber 13a becomes the orifice of the piston 10.
The shock force is attenuated by the fluid resistance of the oil O at this time after passing through 14 and being jetted to the lower chamber 13b, and the damped force is passed through the piston rod 11, the guide member 6, and the guide tube 3 to the main frame 1 Be transmitted to. Therefore, the ride comfort is improved even when a large impact is applied, and the rotation of the casing 4 with respect to the guide cylinder 3 is restricted by the engagement of the slide member 17 and the guide member 6.
Will not rotate, and the impact will not impair steering stability. Here, when the impact applied to the saddle 2 is extremely large, the casing 4 reaches the stroke end in the contraction direction, but in this embodiment, as shown in FIG.
At the stroke end, the lower end of the slide member 17 collides with the elastic body 21, so that the elastic body 21 also absorbs the impact force, and the safety is further enhanced. The impact force transmitted from the main frame 1 to the saddle 2 is similarly attenuated by the casing 4 moving in the reverse order.

Although the saddle 2 is attached to the casing 8 of the damper 4 and the guide tube 3 is attached to the support frame 1 in the above embodiment, the relationship between the two is reversed, that is, the saddle 2 is attached to the guide tube 3. The casing of the damper 4 may be attached to the support frame 1 together with the attachment. Further, in the above embodiment, as a means for restricting the relative rotation between the guide cylinder 3 and the casing 8 of the damper 4, the relationship between the guide member 6 provided on the guide cylinder 3 and the slide member 17 connected to the casing 8 of the damper 4 is used. Was used,
The present invention is not limited to this restricting means. For example, the casing 8 may be extended and the extended portion may be directly connected to the guide tube 3 so as not to rotate. In this case, the guide member 6 and the slide member 17 can be omitted. Further, in the above embodiment, the gas-filled hydraulic damper 4
However, a damper that does not enclose oil O but encloses only gas G may be used. In this case, the orifice of piston 10
A damping force can be obtained by the fluid resistance of the gas G flowing through 14. Further, the mechanism for obtaining this damping force is not limited to the orifice, and for example, a disc valve mechanism often used in a shock absorber can be used.

[0015]

As described above in detail, according to the saddle support device of the present invention, the saddle is elastically supported by the gas pressure by the gas-filled damper, and a wide range of impact is applied to the saddle. As a result, the ride comfort is improved, and the force transmitted to the support frame is also reduced, so that it is not necessary to form the support frame with such high strength, which is advantageous in terms of cost.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view showing the structure of a saddle support device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line AA of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view showing an operating state of the present saddle support device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Support frame 2 Saddle 3 Guide cylinder 4 Gas-containing hydraulic damper (gas filled damper) 6 Guide member 6a Slit 8 Casing 10 Piston 11 Piston rod 14 Orifice 17 Slide member 17a Engagement protrusion

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A casing of a gas-filled damper is slidably fitted in a guide cylinder, and one end of a piston rod of the damper extending into the guide cylinder is fixed to the guide cylinder to form a guide cylinder. A rotation restricting means for restricting mutual rotation is provided between the casing and one of the guide cylinder and the casing is attached to the support frame, and a saddle is attached to the other of the guide barrel and the casing. Characteristic saddle support device.