JPH0754063Y2 - Roof equipment for small vehicles - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Object of the Invention] (Industrial field of application) The present invention relates to a roof device for a small vehicle, and more particularly to a roof device for a small vehicle having a balloon roof which is inflated by compressed air to form a roof shape. Regarding

(Prior Art) For motorcycles and tricycles for all-weather scooter vehicles,
Some are equipped with a roof overlying the rider's head, mainly to avoid rain.

Conventionally, this kind of roof is provided in an arch shape between a windshield standing upright in front of the rider and a body behind the rider, and both sides of the rider are open. Such a conventional roof is composed of a hard plastic plate or a waterproof sheet.

However, the roof made of hard plastic is liable to be injured when the head of the rider hits, the center of gravity of the vehicle becomes high, and the wind is easily received seriously, which adversely affects the maneuverability of the scooter vehicle. Has the drawback of giving. Further, in the case of a roof made of a sheet, there is a problem that a skeleton for maintaining the shape of the roof becomes an obstacle, the structure is complicated and the cost is increased.

Further, since the conventional roof covers the rider's head, it gives a cramped feeling when riding, and lacks comfort when the weather is fine. Therefore, it is desirable to remove the roof as necessary. However, since the roof made of hard plastic is relatively large, it is extremely difficult to mount the removed roof on the vehicle and drive it. In this respect, a seat roof is convenient because it can be folded, but since the roof skeleton is left above the rider's head, it is not possible to eliminate the cramped feeling when riding, and the seat is used during sudden rain. There is a problem in that the roof made of steel cannot be stretched quickly.

Therefore, there has been proposed a roof device including a foldable balloon roof that is inflated by compressed air from an air tank and covers the rider's head.

(Problems to be solved by the invention) The roof device proposed at present has an air tank that stores compressed air inside, and when compressed air is supplied from the air tank, it rises from the rear of the vehicle body and rises above the rider's head. A foldable balloon roof having a roof shape that covers the front end of the roof is locked to a windshield in front of the vehicle body.

However, since the proposed roof device is provided with the exhaust valve only at the rear of the vehicle body, it is possible to discharge the air in the balloon roof in an inflated state and to discharge the air at the tip of the balloon roof when folding. It is not easy, and it becomes difficult to fold and store the balloon roof.

The present invention has been made in consideration of the above circumstances, and the air in the balloon roof can be discharged very easily.
An object of the present invention is to provide a roof device for a small vehicle in which the balloon roof can be folded and stored easily.

[Constitution of device]

(Means for Solving the Problems) In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the present invention provides an air tank that stores compressed air inside and a windshield that extends from the rear of the vehicle and is locked from the air tank. In a roof device of a small vehicle having a roof-shaped foldable balloon roof that is inflated by the compressed air to cover the rider's head, a windshield side end of the balloon roof is provided with an internal air at the time of folding. Is provided with a locking portion that also functions as an exhaust portion.

(Operation) When the locking portion is released when the balloon roof is folded, the locking portion also serves as the exhaust portion, so that the air inside the balloon roof is discharged from the exhaust portion to the outside. Therefore, the air is prevented from stagnating at the end portion on the windshield side and is quickly discharged to the outside, so that the balloon roof can be easily folded and the balloon roof can be easily stored. .

(Embodiment) An embodiment of a roof device for a small vehicle according to the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

In FIG. 2, the scooter 1 has front wheels 3 having a relatively small diameter steered by a steering wheel 2 and rear wheels 5 having a relatively small diameter driven by an engine unit 4 arranged in the front-rear direction.
It consists of two or three wheels.

A steering shaft 6 is connected in an orthogonal direction to the steering wheel 2 at an axially intermediate portion thereof, and the steering shaft 6 is rotatably supported by a head pipe 7. A front fork 8 is connected to the steering shaft 6. Further, the rear wheel 5 is suspended by a unit swing type engine unit 4 and a rear cushion unit 9.

The front end of a main frame 10 is fixed to the head pipe 7, and the main frame 10 is largely curved downward and extends rearward to buffer and support the engine unit 4 and the rear cushion unit 9. A step board 12 is attached to the bottom of the main frame 10 via a substrate 11, and a front portion of the step board 12 is connected to a footrest floor 13 that is inclined forward and upward.

The footrest floor 13 is formed integrally with the leg shield 14, and a front cover 15 covers the front of the steering shaft 6. At the top edge of the front cover 15,
A windshield 16 is erected upright from the front of the handle 2 and slightly tilted rearward and upward.

On the other hand, a seat 17 is erected on the rear end of the main frame 10, and the seat 17 has a small diameter for the front and rear wheels 3 and 5, so that the ground clearance is set low. By tilting it forward as shown by the alternate long and short dash line, the seat
It is configured so that the lower part of the seat of 17 can be opened.

The seat 17 has a backrest 18 standing upright at the rear of the seat 17.
The rider R seated on 17 leans on the backrest 18 and takes a riding posture in which the toes are placed on the footrest floor 13. A storage box 19 is disposed behind the backrest 18 of the seat 17 and accommodates a helmet 20 and the like.

A roof storage box 21 is arranged on the storage box 19, and a balloon roof 22 covering the rider R's head is provided between the roof storage box 21 and the upper end of the windshield 16. The balloon roof 22 is an air balloon that maintains a predetermined roof shape (for example, an L shape in FIG. 2) by being filled with air therein, and its rear end is fixed to the roof storage box 21 and has a front end. The part is detachably locked to the upper end of the windshield 16.

In order to supply compressed air to the balloon roof 22, the front cover 15 in front of the steering shaft 6 has
An air tank 24 storing compressed air is arranged inside, and the air tank 24 and the rear end of the balloon roof 22 are connected to an air supply pipe.
Connected by 25. The compressed air supplied from the air tank 24 is supplied to the inside of the balloon roof 22 from the storage box side end 22a of the balloon roof 22 through the air supply pipe 25. An exhaust valve for discharging the air inside the balloon roof 22 to the outside when the balloon roof 22 is folded is provided at the end portion 22a of the balloon roof 22 on the storage box side.
26 are provided.

As shown in FIGS. 1 (A) to (C), the windshield-side end 22b of the balloon roof 22 is provided with a locking portion 27 that also serves as an exhaust portion capable of discharging the internal air during folding.
The locking portion 27 has a fitting portion 29 that can be fitted into a plurality of engaging holes 28 provided in the upper end portion of the windshield 16, and the fitting portion 29
An exhaust valve 30 is provided at the tip of 29. The locking portion 27 is provided with a cap 31 that is airtightly fitted and fixed to the exhaust valve 30. The cap 31, the exhaust valve 30, and the fitting portion 29 form a locking portion 27 that engages the windshield side end portion 22b of the balloon roof 22 with the upper end portion of the windshield 26, and is provided inside when the balloon roof 22 is folded. An exhaust unit for discharging air is configured.

In this embodiment, when installing the balloon roof 22, the folded balloon roof 22 is taken out from the storage box 21, and the fitting portion 29 provided on the locking portion 27 of the windshield side end portion 22b is fitted to the window. The cap 31 is fitted and fixed to the engagement hole 28 provided at the upper end of the shield 16 and fitted to the exhaust valve 30 provided at the tip of the fitting part 29.
As a result, the windshield side end 22b of the balloon roof 22 is locked to the upper end of the windshield 16. The end 22a of the balloon roof 22 on the side of the storage box is always airtightly fixed to the bottom of the storage box 21.

Next, when compressed air is supplied from the end portion 22a of the balloon roof 22 on the side of the storage box through the air supply pipe 25 from the air tank 24, the balloon roof 22 inflates to form a roof shape covering the head of the rider R, and the compressed air inside the The roof shape is maintained by pressure. Further, by supplying compressed air to the locking portion 27, the locking portion 27 is firmly fixed to the windshield side end 22a.

When the balloon roof 22 is folded and stored in the storage box 21, the exhaust valve 26 provided at the end 22a of the storage box is opened to discharge the compressed air in the balloon roof 22 to the outside and at the same time the windshield. Side edge 22b
The cap 31 provided on the locking portion 27 is removed from the exhaust valve 30, and the compressed air in the balloon roof 22 is discharged from the exhaust valve 30 to the outside.

Since the balloon roof 22 is normally folded and stored in the storage box 21 from the end 22a on the side of the normal storage box, the air inside the windshield tends to be trapped on the side 22b, but the exhaust provided on the side end 22b of the windshield is provided. Since the air inside can be discharged from the valve 30, the air inside the balloon roof 22 can be discharged easily and quickly, and the balloon roof 22 can be easily folded and stored in the storage box 21.

Further, since the locking portion 27 also serves as the exhaust portion, the operation of removing the locking portion 27, that is, the operation of removing the cap 31 from the exhaust valve 30 also serves as the exhaust operation, and the exhaust operation is performed separately from the removal operation. There is no need to do it, and handling is simple and easy.

[Effect of device]

According to the present invention, the windshield side end portion of the balloon roof is provided with the engaging portion which also serves as the exhaust portion capable of discharging the internal air during folding, so that the air inside the balloon roof is easily and promptly discharged during folding. It is possible to fold and store the balloon roof easily and easily.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 (A) is a front view showing a roof device for a small vehicle according to the present invention, FIGS. 1 (B) and (C) are cross-sectional views taken along the line BB in FIG. 1 (A), and FIG. The figure is a side view showing a scooter having the above embodiment. 16 …… windshield, 21 …… storage box, 22 ……
Balloon roof, 22a …… Storage box side edge, 22b ……
Windshield side end, 24 …… air tank, 25 …… air supply pipe, 27 …… locking part, 28 …… engaging hole, 29 …… fitting part, 30
…… Exhaust valve, 31 …… Cap.

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] 1. An air tank having compressed air stored therein,
A roof device for a small vehicle including a foldable balloon roof that extends from the rear of the vehicle body, is locked to a windshield in the front of the vehicle body, and is inflated by the compressed air from the air tank to cover the rider's overhead. A roof device for a small-sized vehicle comprising a windshield-side end portion of the balloon roof, which is provided with a locking portion that also serves as an exhaust portion capable of discharging internal air during folding.