WO1996000679A1

WO1996000679A1 - Bicycle

Info

Publication number: WO1996000679A1
Application number: PCT/NL1995/000216
Authority: WO
Inventors: Mathias Jacobus Isabella Buck; Leonardus Laurentius Johannes CÜPPERS
Original assignee: Mathias Jacobus Isabella Buck; Cueppers Leonardus Laurentius
Priority date: 1994-06-28
Filing date: 1995-06-16
Publication date: 1996-01-11
Also published as: JPH10502034A; AU2631795A; NL9401074A; EP0796195A1

Abstract

A bicycle consisting of a bicycle frame, a crankshaft, cranks and pedals, whereas the bicycle contains devices that have the pedals make a single to and fro translation between a fully outer position and a fully inner position during one full cycle of the crankshaft. The bicycle has an ergonomic improvement since the bicycle is more adjusted to the natural movements of human legs during the enforcement of the pedals.

Description

Bicycle

The invention relates to a bicycle, consisting of a bicycle-frame, a crankshaft, cranks and pedals. Such a bicycle is generally known, for instance racing. bicycles, mountain bikes, all terrain bikes (ATB) and regular male and female bicycles. Bicycles are known as a means of transport for people and also often fulfill a recreative function. The distance which can be traveled with a bicycle and the speed that can be achieved are limited, since the bicycle is driven by human force and a man's performance is limited.

There is a big need for a bicycle to cover a longer distance or to increase the speed. This is reflected by the big effort people are spending to obtain a bicycle with lesser weight and lesser frictional resistance during the movement of the bicycle. The invention aims to provide a bicycle to cover longer distances or to further increase the speed.

Surprisingly this goal was achieved, since the bicycle according to the invention comprises means to move the pedals in a single to and fro translation from a fully outer position to a fully inner position and vice versa within one full turn of the crankshaft. In this way the bicycle will have a better ergonomic in relation to the known bicycle, since the bicycle is adapted to the natural movement, made by human legs while moving the bicycle pedals. Therefore it is possible to cover longer distances on the bicycle, to reach higher speeds or even to achieve both while the individual doesn't get more tired or even gets less tired compared to riding a known bicycle.

Another advantage of the bicycle according to the invention is that the person riding the bicycle experiences less wear of the joins in the legs. Yet another advantage is that the persons riding the bicycle will have less complaints with regard to their bottom, since there are less shearing forces to their bottom in comparison to the known bicycle. A bicycle-frame generally consists of a system of pipes. The center line of the pipes form a face, which is called the face of the bicycle-frame. The to and fro translation of the pedals, once every full turn of the crankshaft means that the pedals sequentially move to the outer side of the bicycle, reach the outer side, move to the inner side of the bicycle and reach the inner side. The translation to the outer side of the bicycle is a translation which moves the pedal further away from the face of the bicycle frame. The translation to the inner side of the bicycle is a translation opposite to the translation to the outer side of the bicycle. The devices preferably have the pedals make a to and fro translation along a line, perpendicular to the face of the bicycle frame. The way in which the devices have the pedals make the translating movement can in many ways be dependent on the position and direction of the pedals. The devices can, for instance, enforce a translation to the outer side of the bicycle, while the pedalis moving towards the seat and enforce a translation to the inner side of the bicycle while the pedal moves further away from the seat. It is also possible that the translation to the outer side of the bicycle is made while the pedal moves further away from the seat and the translation to the inner side while the pedal moves closer to the seat, etc. It depends on the person which way of translation will have the best results. The most optimum way of moving the pedals can be determined by testing. For example by having the person riding the bicycle and meanwhile measure the energy produced by that person. It is for instance all depending on the position of the legs, the knee joints and the pelvis. The devices preferably have the pedals make a translation from the fully inner side to the fully outer side mainly when the pedal moves further away from the bicycle seat. In a preferable situation, at least 60 % of the translation from the fully inner position to the fully outer position is carried out while the pedal moves further away from the bicycle seat, more preferable is at least 80 % and even more preferable is at least 90 %. In this way, very good results are achieved with the majority of the people, especially professional bicyclists. Even better results will be achieved if the pedal reaches the fully outer position at the moment the pedal is in the farthest position away from the bicycle seat. In this position, the leg of the person riding the bicycle is in the most stretched position that can be achieved during a cycle of the crankshaft. Even better results will be achieved if the pedal reaches the fully inner position at the moment the pedal is in the closest position to the bicycle seat. In this position, the leg of the person riding the bicycle is in the least stretched position that can be achieved during a cycle of the crankshaft. The devices preferably have the pedals make a to and fro translation in a smooth movement without any sudden speed changes. Good results will be achieved when the to and fro translation is carried out as a harmonic vibration. The distance between the fully inner position and the fully outer position of the pedals at which good results will be achieved, depends on, amongst others, the size of the bicycle and the build of the person riding the bicycle, such as length of the legs and the distance between the hip joints. Preferably, the distance between the inner position and the outer position of the pedals is 3- 40 mm. Herewith, a person with an average build can achieve good results. More preferable is a distance of 4-20 mm between the inner and outer position of the pedals and even more preferable is a distance of 5-15 mm.

The devices to give the pedals a to and fro translation every full turn of the crankshaft is well known within the mechanical engineering. Good results will be achieved if the devices are made out of a screwed connection or an eccentric to translate the rotation of the crankshaft or the rotation of a pedal- body around a pedal-shaft in the to and fro translation.

The invention is also related to a pedal which contains the devices to give the pedals the to and fro translation. The advantage of such a pedal is that they can be easily mounted on existing bicycles. The invention is also related to a crankshaft which has the devices to give the pedals the to and fro translation. An advantage of such a crankshaft is that it can be made as a robust crankshaft, resulting in less wear of the crankshaft and the reliability of a bicycle with such a crankshaft is greater.

Another advantage of the crankshaft is that the devices needed to give the pedals the to and fro translation only give a little increase in the force of inertia from the structure made out of the crankshaft, cranks and pedals. Herewith even a longer distance can be achieved with the bicycle without the person getting more tired.

The invention will be further explained using some figures, not to be regarded as a limitation.

Figure 1 shows the schematic of the bicycle according to the invention. Figure 2 and 3 show a pedal which has the devices according to the invention to give the pedals a to and fro translation. The devices are made out of a cam and slot for the cam. The pedal is in the fully outer position.

Figure 4 shows the pedal from figure 3. The pedal is now in the fully inner position.

Figure 1 shows a schematic front view of a bicycle according to the invention consisting of a frame 1 , a crankshaft 2, cranks 3a and 3b and pedals 4a and

4b. A-A is the face of the bicycle-frame. Pedal 4a is positioned in the fully outer position and is also the farthest away from the seat. Pedal 4b is positioned in the fully inner position and also the closest to the seat. The feet of the person riding the bicycle rest on faces B of the pedals which are perpendicular to the face of the figure.

Figure 2 shows a side view of a pedal according to the invention with a pedal- shaft 1 and a pedal-body 2. The foot of the person riding the bicycle rests on face B which is perpendicular to the figure.

Figure 3 shows a pedal in view A-A from figure 2 with a pedal-shaft 1 and a pedal-body 2. The foot of the person riding the bicycle rests on face B of the pedal-body. The pedal-shaft contains a slot 3 to receive a cam 4, which has a solid connection with the pedal-body. During riding the bicycle, the pedal makes a full turn around the pedal-shaft per full turn of the crankshaft, in which the operation of the slot in the pedal-shaft and the cams force the pedal to make a to and fro translation. The pedal contains a nut 5 to lock the pedal in any desired position to the crank. Herewith, the pedal can be positioned to the crank in a way that the pedals reach the fully outer position and the fully inner position at any desired moment.

It is important that the foot of the biker rests on face B of the pedal, only then the pedal will make the to and fro translation in the desired phase during the turn of the crankshaft. The pedal of a race bicycle normally contains devices to fix the biker foot to face B of the pedal. It is also possible to have the pedal at the opposite side of face B made heavier, so the pedal will always be in the desired position due to the gravity force. An advantage of this is that such a pedal can easily be used on a regular ladies or men's bicycles, on which there are normally no devices present to fix the foot to a pedal-face.

An advantage of the pedal according to figure 2 and 3 is that the devices which force the to and fro translation are enclosed in the pedal, which prevents the devices from getting dirty, they can easily be lubricated and they don't hinder the person riding the bicycle.

Figure 4 shows the pedal from figure 1 that has moved over a distance of 10 mm from the fully outer to the fully inner position

It is also possible that the pedal-body contains the slot to receive one or more cams which are fixed to the pedal-shaft. Furthermore it is also possible that the crankshaft contains a similar system of a slot and one or more cams, where the crankshaft contains the slot and the cam has a fixed connection with the crankshaft body of the frame. If the crankshaft contains the devices, the foot can rest against any side of the pedal, since the to and fro translation in the desired phase is forced by the turn of the crankshaft, independent from the position of the foot.

The invention will be further described with examples, not to be regarded as a limitation.

Comparison example A and example 1

With the help of a Tunturi (TM) Pro Ergo Racer ergometer, supplied by the company Tunturi in Finland, a maximum test was carried out with 4 people of approximately 18 years of age, all trained bicyclists. During the maximum test the starting power of 150 Watts was increased every 3 min. 30 sec with steps of 50 Watts to a maximum of 350 Watts. For every test person, there was a continuous Hf-registration (registration of the Hart frequency) and after every step 10 microliter blood was taken from the test persons to determine the amount of lactate with a fotometer. After that, the power was again increased by 50 Watts every 3 min. 30 sec. until the test person reached his maximum power.

In comparison example A the ergometer was equipped with the known normal pedals, so the pedals would not make the to and fro translation. In example 1 , the ergometer was equipped with the pedals according to the invention as showed in figure 2 and 3. The distance between the fully inner and fully outer position was 10 mm. The pedals reached the fully outer position when the pedals were the farthest away from the seat. The fully inner position was reached when the pedals were the closest to the seat. The average values of the results of the 4 test persons is given in table 1 and 2. Table 1. Hf-registration and amount of lactate during the maximum test for comparison example A and example 1

Power (Watts) hartfrequency (1/min) amount of lactate (mMol/liter)

A 1 A 1

150 123 120 3.1 2.6

200 142 131 2.6 1.9

250 156 145 2.7 3.3

300 172 158 5.2 4.5

350 186 172 10.1 8.4

The results show that the use of the pedals according to the invention (example 1 ) result in a lower hartfrequency and a less amount of lactate in the blood, compared to the use of the known pedals. This means that the test persons will be less tired due to the use of the pedals from the invention.

Table 2. the maximum power that test person achieved for comparison example A and example 1

Maximum power (Watt) A 1

367 427

The results show that the test persons reached a higher maximum power by the use of the pedals according tothe invention. This means for example that with the pedals according to the invention, one can reach higher speeds. The results from the maximum test show further for instance that the bike is very useful for sports where the biker is close to or completely at his maximum power as there are indoor track races, endurance, triatlon and during ATB and cross country races.

Claims

1. Bicycle that contains a bicycle frame, a crankshaft, cranks and pedals, characterised by that the bicycle contains devices to have the pedals make a single to and fro translation between a fully inner position and a fully outer position during every full turn of the crankshaft.

2. Bicycle according to claim 1 , characterised in that the devices have each pedal make the translation mainly or completely from the fully inner position to the fully outer position when the pedal moves further away from the seat.

3. Bicycle according to claim 2, characterised in that each pedal reaches the fully outer position at the moment the pedal is the farthest away from the seat.

4. Bicycle according to claim 2 or 3 , characterised in that each pedal reaches the fully inner position at the moment the pedal is the closest to the seat.

5. Bicycle according to claim 1-4, characterised in that the distance between the fully outer position and the fully inner position of the pedals measures 3-40 mm.

6. Bicycle according to claim 5, characterised in that the distance measures 5-15 mm.

7. Bicycle according to any one of the claims 1-6, characterised in that the devices are made of a screwed connection or of an eccentric that translates the turn of the crankshaft or the turn of a pedal-body around a pedal-shaft, into a to and fro translation.

8. Pedal characterised in that the pedal contains devices to have it make the to and fro translation, like the bicycles according any one of the claims 1-7.

9. Crankshaft characterised in that the crankshaft contains devices to move the pedals in the to and fro translation, like the bicycles according any one of the claims 1-7.

10. Pedal according to claim 8, characterised in that the devices are made out of a slot in the pedal-shaft to receive at least one cam, which has a fixed connection with the pedal-body.