JPH0714149Y2 - Bicycle gear shift lever device - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the device] [Industrial applications]

The present invention relates to a gear shift operation lever device for a bicycle, and more particularly, to a device configured to reduce the production cost of a lever main body or a lever device and increase the production efficiency.

[Prior art]

A gear shift operation lever device for operating a bicycle transmission is configured to rotate a lever body (operation lever) that is rotatably assembled to a bicycle frame.
It is configured to control a transmission that is linked by an operation cable. The lever main body, which is a main component of the gear shift operation lever device, is usually a tubular base portion rotatably fitted and supported by a lever shaft fixedly provided on a bicycle frame, and a radius from the tubular base portion. It has a structure including an arm portion that extends outward in the direction and serves as a finger hook portion when the lever is operated. And, as disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 59-38193 and Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 59-126795, the outer peripheral portion of the cylindrical base is
An operation cable winding groove for winding the operation cable at the time of lever rotation operation in the cable pulling direction is formed so as to extend along the circumferential direction at the lever axial direction intermediate portion, and the base end of the arm portion. Near the section
A bottomed nipple holding hole for accommodating and holding the nipple at one end of the operation cable is provided. Further, an operation cable insertion hole connected to the operation cable winding groove is formed on the bottom surface of the nipple holding hole. By the way, such a lever body is usually formed by a molding process because of its complicated shape. In the case of metal, it is die-casting, and in the case of resin, it is injection molding. And the like. This is because the molding process can easily form even a complicated shape. The mold used to mold the lever body is a movable mold (hereinafter, referred to as an upper mold for convenience of description) and a fixed mold (hereinafter, this will be referred to as a lower mold for convenience of description). Different from the general two-way punched structure consisting of two dies, the three dies consisting of the upper die and the lower die and one horizontal die. A structure having a direction-draining structure or a structure having a total of four molds provided with the two horizontal molds, for example, a structure having a four-direction structure as shown in FIGS. 10 and 9 is used. Further, among them, in most cases, a four-direction punched structure is often used. This is because the operation cable take-up groove and nipple holding hole provided at the lever axial middle portion of the outer peripheral portion of the tubular base,
The operation cable insertion hole is in the radial direction (lateral direction) of the tubular base.
It cannot be formed unless it is a mold that can be pulled out into the upper and lower halves.
In addition to the above, a die c for pulling out in the lateral direction is required. Further, in most cases, the formation range of the operation cable winding groove and the nipple holding hole is 180 degrees in the circumferential direction of the tubular base.
This is because two molds c for pulling out in the lateral direction are required on the left and right sides because they extend over a range of ° or more. Further, the above horizontal mold is usually assembled to the lower mold, but since it is necessary to perform the mold clamping and the mold opening in this horizontal mold, the horizontal mold c
For example, in the case of a molding die having a four-way punching structure, as shown in phantom lines in FIGS. 10 and 9, it is attached to the lower die b so as to be capable of reciprocating between predetermined strokes in the lateral direction. is there.

[Problems to be solved by the device]

However, in the case of the molding die with the three-way punching structure or the four-way punching structure, the structure is more complicated than that of the two-way punching structure, and when assembling the horizontal die to the lower die, Needless to say, the manufacturing cost is higher than that of the two-way punching structure, since the work for performing the mold clamping and the mold opening is also required. Therefore, in molding the lever body,
If a mold having a two-way punching structure can be used, the manufacturing cost of the mold itself can be kept low, and as a result, the production cost of the lever body can be reduced. In addition, in a mold with a three-way punching structure or a four-way punching structure,
As mentioned above, it is necessary to secure a lateral movement space for clamping and opening the horizontal mold, but this reduces the number of one mold unit that can be set on the lower mold. Means that. That is, the number of lever bodies that can be formed by one molding was small, and the production efficiency was poor. The present invention has been devised under the circumstances described above, and provides a gear shift operation lever device for a bicycle, wherein the lever body can be molded by a mold having a two-way punching structure. Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to reduce the production cost of the lever body or the lever device and to enhance the production efficiency thereof.

[Means for solving problems]

In order to solve the above problems, the present invention takes the following technical means. That is, the bicycle gear shift operation lever device of the present invention has a tubular base portion having an operation cable winding groove and a nipple holding hole for accommodating and holding the nipple at one end of the operation cable, and a radial direction from the tubular base portion. A gear shift operation for a bicycle, in which a lever body including an outwardly extending arm portion is supported by rotatably fitting a central hole of the tubular base portion to a lever shaft fixedly provided with respect to the bicycle frame. In the lever device, in the portion where the operation cable winding groove of the tubular base portion is formed, the tubular base portion has a small-diameter shape that projects in the proximal direction of the lever shaft along the same direction as the lever shaft. By providing a portion, and forming a step on the outer periphery of the end of the tubular base, by disposing a washer member having a diameter larger than the small-diameter portion on the distal end surface side of the small-diameter portion of the tubular base, this While forming the operation cable winding groove between the washer member and the stepped portion, on the end surface of the tubular base portion or the base end portion of the arm portion on the one end side in the one lever axial direction or the base end side, An operation cable insertion groove connected to the operation cable winding groove is formed, and the nipple holding hole has one end connected to the operation cable insertion groove, and one end thereof is the cylindrical base portion or the arm. It is characterized in that it is formed in a groove shape that is open to the end face on the front end side or the base end side in the lever axial direction at the base end portion of the portion.

[Action and effect]

In the bicycle gear shift operation lever device according to the present invention, between the step portion formed on the outer periphery of the end of the tubular base portion and the washer member disposed on the tip end surface side of the small diameter portion of the tubular base portion, An operating cable winding groove can be formed as a concave groove. In other words, in the bicycle gear shift operation lever device according to the present invention, the tubular base portion for forming the operation cable winding groove may be processed only by forming the small diameter portion. Since the small-diameter portion is formed so as to project along the same direction as the lever shaft as described above, in the molding of the lever main body, the lever axial direction (the axial direction of the central hole of the tubular base) is formed. It can be formed by a metal mold for pulling out, specifically, a metal mold whose pulling direction is toward the front end side or the base end side in the lever axis direction. That is, the mold used for forming the operation cable winding groove may be a mold whose pulling direction is the lever axis direction, rather than a mold whose pulling direction is the radial direction of the tubular base as in the conventional case. Further, the nipple holding hole is formed in a groove shape whose one end opens to the tip end side in the lever axial direction at the base end portion of the cylindrical base portion or the arm portion or the end surface on the base end side. The operation cable insertion groove that connects with the take-up groove is formed on the tip end side or the end face on the base end side in the lever axial direction at the base end portion of the cylindrical base portion or the arm portion. Needless to say, this is the above-mentioned lever shaft. It becomes a concave groove that opens to the end face on the front end side or the base end side in the direction. Therefore, the nipple holding hole and the operation cable insertion groove can also be formed by a die for pulling out in the lever axial direction when molding the lever body. In the sideward or base end side mold, the operation cable insertion groove can be formed by a mold whose extraction direction is the lever axial direction front end side or the base end side, respectively. Further, the operation cable insertion groove needs to be connected to the operation cable winding groove at one end and the nipple holding hole at the other end in the circumferential direction of the cylindrical base portion, respectively.
This can also be performed without using a die for pulling out the cylindrical base portion in the radial direction in molding the lever body. That is, in the case where the small diameter portion and the operation cable insertion groove are both formed in one of the two dies whose removal direction is the tip end side and the base end side direction in the lever axis direction, If the one die is formed such that the small-diameter portion forming die portion and the operation cable insertion groove forming die portion are continuous in the circumferential direction of the cylindrical base portion, the operation cable insertion groove and the operation cable winding Can be connected to the groove. On the other hand, when one of the two molds forms a small-diameter portion and the other mold forms an operation cable insertion groove, the small-diameter portion forming die portion and the other of the one die are formed. So that the operation cable insertion groove forming die portion of the die is continuous in the circumferential direction of the cylindrical base portion and overlaps in the lever axial direction (or overlaps in the circumferential direction of the cylindrical base portion and continuous in the lever axial direction. ,), If each of the above molds is formed,
This is because the operation cable insertion groove and the operation cable winding groove can be connected. In addition, one of the two dies that is pulled out toward the tip side and the base end side in the lever axis direction is used to form a nipple holding hole on the end surface of the tubular base portion on the tip side or the base end side in the lever axis direction. In the case of forming both the concave groove provided for and the operation cable insertion groove, the mold portion of the concave groove and the operation cable insertion groove forming die portion of the mold are arranged in the circumferential direction of the cylindrical base portion. If the one mold is formed so as to be continuous, the operation cable insertion groove and the nipple holding groove can be connected. On the other hand, of the two molds, in the case of forming the concave groove in one mold and the operation cable insertion groove in the other mold, one of the concave groove forming mold portion and the other mold. The operation cable insertion groove forming die portion of the die is continuous in the circumferential direction of the tubular base portion and overlaps in the lever axial direction (or is overlapped in the circumferential direction of the tubular base portion and continuous in the lever axial direction. By forming each of the above-mentioned molds, the operation cable insertion groove and the nipple holding hole can be connected. As described above, in the present invention, the operation cable winding groove, the nipple holding hole, and the operation cable insertion groove can be formed by a mold whose pulling direction is the lever axial direction in the molding of the lever body. That is, the molding die used for molding the lever main body may have a two-way punching structure in which two metal molds are drawn in the pulling direction toward the tip end side and the base end side in the lever axial direction. Therefore, the cost of manufacturing the molding die itself used for molding the lever main body is lower than that of the conventional method in which a molding die having a three-way punching structure or a four-way punching structure must be used for molding the lever body. The production cost of the main body can be reduced. Also, in the case of a molding die having a three-way punching structure or a four-way punching structure, the die for pulling out in the radial direction of the tubular base is
Since a moving space for closing and opening the mold had to be provided, the number of mold units that could be set was reduced accordingly. However, in the present invention, since the above-mentioned radial die of the cylindrical base is not required, the set number of one molding die unit can be made larger than in the conventional case, and the production efficiency can be improved.

[Explanation of Examples]

In this example, the present invention is applied to a lever device of a type that is attached to a handle pipe, which is found in a Mauteng bike vehicle mainly used for off-road traveling on a mountain road or the like. The lever device attached to such a Mauteng bike vehicle is provided in the vicinity of the handle grip as shown in FIG. 2 so that the lever operation can be performed without speaking the hand from the handle. Hereinafter, the lever device of this example will be described with reference to the drawings. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a lever shaft 4 is projectingly provided on a pedestal portion 3 of the clip band 2 fixed to the handle pipe 1, and a lever main body 5 rotates on the lever shaft 4. Supported as possible. As shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, the lever body 5 accommodates and holds the operation cable winding groove 6 for winding the inner wire W of the operation cable around the outer peripheral portion and the nipple 15 at one end of the inner wire W. Nipple holding hole 7
And a cylindrical base portion 8 having an arm, and an arm portion 9 extending from the cylindrical base portion 8 outward in the radial direction and serving as a finger-holding portion when operating the lever.
It has and. The lever main body 5 is rotatably assembled to the handle pipe 1 by rotatably fitting the inner small diameter hole portion 8b of the central hole 8a of the tubular base portion 8 to the lever shaft 4. There is. A friction plate 10 that is fitted onto the lever shaft 4 so as not to rotate relative to the lever shaft 4 is incorporated in the outer large diameter hole portion 8c of the central hole 8a of the cylindrical base portion 8. The tightening bolt 11 that is screwed to the 4a is mounted on the friction plate 10 via the pressing plate 12.
Is pressed against the bottom wall of the outer large diameter hole 8c. Then, this pressing force acts as a force for pressing the base end side surface of the tubular base portion 8 against the side surface of the base end large diameter portion 4b of the lever shaft 4, and a predetermined frictional resistance is given to the rotation of the lever main body 5. It has become so. That is, the lever main body 5 can be stopped at a desired rotation position against the force of pulling the operation cable (inner wire W) toward the transmission. Now, in this example, as shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, on the lower surface side of the tubular base portion 8, along the same direction as the axial direction of the lever shaft 4, the base end side direction of the lever shaft 4 is formed. A small-diameter portion 13 projecting inward is provided, whereby a step portion 14 is formed on the outer periphery of the lower end portion of the tubular base portion 8. Then, the pedestal portion 3
The operation cable winding groove 6 is formed by interposing a washer member 16 having a diameter equivalent to that of the large-diameter portion of the tubular base portion 8 between and the tubular base portion 8. That is, since the small-diameter portion 13 is provided so as to reach the base end in the lever axial direction of the tubular base portion 8, the step portion 15 and the small-diameter portion 13 that are formed along with the small-diameter portion 13 are formed. A concave groove can be formed by the large-diameter washer member 16. Further, in the case of this example, one end of the nipple holding hole 7 is opened to the end face on the tip end side in the lever axial direction at the base end portion of the tubular base portion 8 or the arm portion 9, as well shown in FIG. It is formed in a groove shape. In other words, a concave groove is provided on the end face on the tip side in the lever axial direction, and the nipple holding hole 7 is constituted by this. As shown in FIGS. 2, 4, and 5, the nipple holding hole 7 and the operation cable are formed on the end face of the base end of the cylindrical base 8 or the arm 9 on the base end side in the lever axial direction. An operation cable insertion groove 17 for connecting the take-up groove 6 is provided. The operation cable insertion groove 17 is formed such that the side surface on the side of the cylindrical base portion is continuous with the outer peripheral side surface of the small diameter portion 13, whereby one end of the cylindrical base portion in the circumferential direction is wound up with the operation cable. It can be connected to the groove 6. Further, the operation cable insertion groove 17 is formed such that the other end thereof overlaps the nipple holding hole 7 in the circumferential direction of the tubular base portion 4 and the lever axial direction, so that the other end is the bottom surface of the nipple holding hole 7. Is connected to. By the way, the lever body 5 is formed by molding due to its complicated shape, but the operation cable winding groove 6, the nipple holding hole 7, and the operation cable insertion groove 17 are formed as described above. In the example lever device,
The lever body 5 can be molded with a molding die having a two-way punching structure. That is, in the operation cable winding groove 6, the step portion 14 and the washer member 16 cooperate with each other to form the operation cable winding groove 6. Therefore, when forming the operation cable winding groove 6, The cylindrical base portion 8 of the lever body 5 may be provided with the small diameter portion 13 only. And this small diameter portion 13
Is formed so as to reach the base end of the tubular base 8 in the lever axial direction. Therefore, in the molding of the lever main body 5, the pulling direction is the lever axial direction (the axial direction of the central hole 8a of the tubular base 8). It can be formed by a die, specifically, a die whose pulling direction is toward the base end side in the lever axial direction. Therefore, in the molding of the lever main body 5, there is no need for a die for drawing the tubular base portion 8 in the radial direction for forming the operation cable winding groove 6 as in the conventional case. In addition, the nipple holding hole 7 has the cylindrical base portion 8 as described above.
Or, the operation cable insertion groove 17 is formed by a concave groove provided on the end surface of the base end portion of the arm portion 9 on the tip side in the lever axial direction. It is a groove that opens to the end face on the base end side. Therefore, these can also be formed in the molding of the lever main body 5 by a mold whose extraction direction is the lever axial direction. Specifically, the operation cable insertion groove 17 has the extraction direction in the lever axial direction base end side. With the facing mold, the nipple holding hole 7
Can be formed by a die whose extraction direction is directed toward the tip end side in the lever axial direction. Further, in the molding of the lever main body 5, even when the operation cable winding groove 6 and the operation cable insertion groove 17 are connected to each other, it is not necessary to use a mold whose drawing direction is the radial direction of the tubular base portion. , The die is formed so that the small diameter portion forming die portion and the operation cable insertion groove forming die portion in the die whose pulling direction faces the lever axial direction base end side are continuous in the circumferential direction of the tubular base portion. If we form Further, in molding the lever body 5, the operation cable insertion groove
Even when connecting the 17 and the nipple holding hole 7, the operation cable insertion groove forming mold part of the mold in which the drawing direction is directed toward the base end side in the lever axis direction and the mold in which the drawing direction is directed toward the tip end side of the lever shaft. In order to form the concave groove forming die portion for forming the nipple holding hole 7 in the above in the circumferential direction of the cylindrical base portion and overlap in the lever axial direction (or vice versa), Once formed, that is all that is needed. In this way, the operation cable winding groove 6, the nipple holding hole 7, and the operation cable insertion groove 17 are formed by the lever main body 5
Molding can be done with a mold whose pulling direction is the lever axial direction, and in order to connect these, a mold whose pulling direction is the radial direction of the cylindrical base is also required when molding the lever body. Never becomes. Therefore, as described above, in molding the lever main body 5,
It is possible to use a molding die having a two-way punching structure, which is constituted by only two molds whose pulling direction is the lever axis direction. As a result, the manufacturing cost of the molding die used for molding the lever main body 5 is lower than that of the conventional case where a molding die having a three-way punching structure or a four-way punching structure must be used. The production cost of the lever device can be reduced. Moreover, in the molding die used for molding the lever main body 5, the drawing direction is the radial direction (lateral direction) of the cylindrical base portion, as in the molding die having the four-direction drawing structure as shown in FIGS. 9 and 10.
It is not necessary to secure a moving space for clamping and opening the horizontal molds c, c, which is to be set, so that the set number of one mold unit can be increased. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 6, the number of lever bodies 5 that can be formed by one molding is larger than that of the conventional one as shown in FIG. 9, and the production efficiency is improved. By the way, the scope of the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and, for example, as shown in FIG. 7, the washer member 16 is provided at each edge portion along the outer peripheral side surface of the small diameter portion 13. And a groove forming block 18 extending in the circumferential direction of the cylindrical base portion and covering the base end portion of the small diameter portion 13 to form the step portion 14 and the operation cable winding groove 6 are used. May be. In this case, the operation cable winding groove can be formed closer to the front end side in the lever axial direction than in the case of the above-described embodiment, and the height of the groove forming block 18 is changed to change the operation cable winding groove. It is possible to easily change the position of the winding groove in the lever axial direction. Further, in the above embodiment, the washer member is provided separately,
For example, the pedestal portion 3 may be used as a washer member. In this case, the number of parts is small, which is advantageous in cost. Further, as shown in FIG. 8, the concave groove provided for forming the nipple holding hole 7 is aligned with the small-diameter portion 13 and the operation cable insertion groove 17, and the base end side of the tubular base 8 in the lever axial direction. It may be provided on the end face of the. In this case, the positions of the operation cable winding groove and the nipple holding hole can be brought close to the base end of the tubular base portion. In other words, the lengths of the small diameter portion and the recessed groove in the lever axial direction should be reduced. Since it is possible to increase the strength of the tubular base or lever body. Further, the small-diameter portion is formed so as to extend from the lever axial direction intermediate portion of the cylindrical base portion to the lever axial direction tip, and the operation cable insertion groove is provided on the end surface of the tubular base portion on the lever axial direction tip side. Needless to say, various modes can be considered as to which side in the lever axial direction the small diameter portion, the operation cable insertion groove, and the nipple holding hole are provided with respect to the tubular base portion. When the small-diameter portion is formed so as to extend from the lever axial middle portion of the tubular base portion to the lever axial distal end, if the pressing plate 12 is used as a washer member, the number of parts increases. Instead, it is convenient. Further, in the above embodiment, the present invention is applied to the lever device of the type that is attached to the handle pipe, but the present invention can also be applied to the lever device of the type that is attached to the lower pipe. Needless to say. Further, the structure of the lever device is not particularly limited, and it goes without saying that the structure can be applied to a lever device having a click mechanism incorporated therein without any problem.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a vertical sectional view of a lever device according to an embodiment of the present invention,
2 is an exploded perspective view of the lever device according to the embodiment, FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a lever body of the lever device according to the embodiment, and FIG. 4 is a bottom view of the lever body according to the embodiment, FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken along the line VV of FIG. 3, and FIG. 6 is an upper die of a molding die used in molding the lever body according to the embodiment. FIG. 7 is a diagram schematically showing the lower mold b when viewed from the plane in a state where the mold is opened, FIG. 7 is a vertical cross-sectional view of the second embodiment, and FIG. 8 is a reverse view of the lever body according to the third embodiment. FIG. 9 is a perspective view showing the lower mold in a state in which the upper mold is opened and the lower mold of the molding mold that has been conventionally used in molding the lever body is schematically shown in FIG. FIG. 10 is a diagram schematically showing an example of a molding die having a four-way punching structure and explaining its operation. 1 ... Bicycle frame (handle pipe), 4 ... Lever shaft, 5 ... Lever body, 6 ... Operation cable winding groove, 7 ... Nipple holding hole, 8 ... Cylindrical base, 8a ...
Center hole (cylindrical base), 9 ... Arm part, 13 ... Small diameter part, 14 ... Step part, 15 ... Nipple, 16 ... Washer member, 17
…… Operation cable winding groove, W …… Operation cable (inner wire).

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] 1. A cylindrical base having an operation cable winding groove and a nipple holding hole for accommodating and holding a nipple at one end of the operation cable, and an arm extending from the cylindrical base outward in the radial direction. A shift gear operating lever device for a bicycle, comprising: a lever main body that is provided by rotatably fitting a central hole of the tubular base portion to a lever shaft that is fixed to a bicycle frame. In the formation portion of the operation cable winding groove of the cylindrical base portion, the cylindrical base portion is provided with a small-diameter portion projecting toward the base end side of the lever shaft along the same direction as the lever shaft. By forming a step on the outer circumference of the end of the cylindrical base and disposing a washer member having a diameter larger than that of the small-diameter portion on the tip surface side of the small-diameter portion of the tubular base, the washer member and the step are formed. Between the above While forming the working cable winding groove, the operation cable insertion groove connected to the operation cable winding groove is formed on the end surface on the distal end side or the base end side in the lever axial direction at the base end portion of the cylindrical base portion or the arm portion. The nipple holding hole is formed so that its bottom surface is connected to the operation cable insertion groove, and one end of the nipple holding hole is at the tip end side in the lever axial direction at the tubular base portion or the base end portion of the arm portion. A bicycle gear shift operation lever device, characterized in that the gear shift operation lever device is formed in a groove shape that opens to the end face on the base end side.