JPS63315390A - Brake lever device for bicycle - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] This bulletin contains application data before electronic filing, so abstract data is not recorded.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] [Industrial application field]

The present invention relates to a bicycle brake lever device, and more particularly to one integrally equipped with a position-adjustable gear shift operation lever.

[Conventional technology]

An example of a system in which a gear shift operation lever is integrally attached to a brake bracket so that brake operations and gear shift operations can be performed safely while holding the handle grip is shown in Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 57-42158. be. In this conventional example, a support shaft is provided in the middle part of the brake bracket and is perpendicular to the pivot of the brake lever, and a shift lever main body having a bifurcated arm portion is rotatably supported on the support shaft.

[Problems to be solved by the invention]

However, in the above-mentioned conventional example, the following problem occurred because the support shaft supporting the gear shift lever body was fixed at a fixed position on the brake bracket. In other words, as shown in Figure 1 of the above publication,
When looking at the brake lever from the side, the arm part of the gear shift lever body extends into the space between the handle grip and the brake lever, and this becomes an obstacle, making it difficult to grasp the base of the handle grip. I practically couldn't do it. Recently, bicycles called so-called mountain pikes have been offered on the market, but since these bicycles are ridden off-road, it is important to keep a strong grip on the handlebar grips even when applying the brakes. In this case, while holding the handle grip with your thumb and index finger, you operate the brake lever with the other three fingers on the little finger side, and in fact, this method of operation is recommended. In this case, in the configuration shown in the above publication, the arm part of the gear shift lever body becomes an obstacle as described above, and the user has to pass his or her index finger through the space between the bases of the handle grip and the brake lever to remove the handle grip. Unable to grip the vehicle, he was forced to use extremely unstable methods of gripping the steering wheel and operating the brakes when driving off-road. On the other hand, the gear shift lever has conventionally only been supported by a support shaft installed at a fixed position on the brake bracket, so due to the size and habit of the occupant's hands,
It was difficult to say that it was easy to operate for everyone, depending on their preference. This invention was devised under the above circumstances, and allows users with different hand sizes, habits, and preferences to easily operate the brakes and shift gears safely. It is an object of the present invention to provide a brake lever device integrated with a speed change lever that is configured to perform the following operations.

[Means to solve the problem]

In order to solve the above problem, the present invention takes the following technical measures. That is, in the brake lever device of the present invention, a brake lever extending in a direction along the handlebar grip is supported so as to be able to vibrate at the base of a brake bracket fixed to a handlebar, and the brake lever device is provided with an intermediate portion of the brake bracket. A support arm extending in the opposite direction to the brake lever is integrally formed, and multiple spherical protrusions or recesses with a through hole in the center are provided in the longitudinal direction of the support arm, and the lever shaft is equipped with a gear shifting mechanism. A spherical recess or a spherical recess that slidably fits into a selected one of the spherical protrusion or the spherical recess of the support arm and has a screw hole at the base of the gear shift lever device that rotatably supports the lever body. A spherical convex portion is provided, and a screw having an outer diameter smaller than the inner diameter is passed through the through hole of the support arm, and
The present invention is characterized in that the speed change lever device is attached to the support arm by screwing this screw into the threaded hole in the base of the speed change lever device.

[Effect]

The gear shift lever device is attached to a support arm that is integrally provided with the brake bracket. The upper surface of this support arm is provided with a plurality of spherical recesses or spherical protrusions each having a through hole in the center. The base of the gear shift lever is slidably fitted into a selected one of the spherical recess or the spherical protrusion via a screw, and is rotatable through 360 degrees with respect to the support arm using the screw as a rotation axis. It is. That is, the rotational position of the speed change lever can be freely set in any direction. On the other hand, since the screw has an outer diameter smaller than the inner diameter of the through hole of the support arm, it is possible to move freely within the gap between the screw and the through hole. In other words, when the screw is loosened, the base of the gear shift lever fits into the spherical recess or spherical protrusion of the support arm.
It can be slid and tilted freely. Furthermore, since the support arm is provided with multiple spherical recesses or spherical protrusions, by fitting the base of the gear shift lever device into the selected one, the gear shift lever device can be moved to a desired position in the opposite direction to the brake lever. It can also be adjusted to Moreover, since the mounting is done with screws, the position adjustment work is extremely easy.

【Effect of the invention】

As described above, the shift lever device in the brake lever device of the present invention can adjust the distance between the lever body and the thumb of the hand gripping the handle grip, as well as adjust the angle and rotational position of the rotation axis of the lever body. Therefore, it is possible to set the optimal position and direction depending on the passenger's hand size and finger length, or preference as to which part of the handle grip 7 should be gripped. can. Also, in the case of Mountain Pike's brake lever device,
The position of the gear shift lever device can be set so that the lever arm does not overlap the space between the handle grip and the brake lever when viewed from the side, which allows safe braking while gripping the base of the handle grip. Operation becomes possible. In addition, since the gear shift lever device can be pre-assembled to the brake bracket, just by attaching the brake lever device of the present invention to the handlebar, the gear shift lever device is also assembled at the same time, making it possible to assemble the bicycle. Improves sex.

[Explanation of Examples]

Embodiments of the present invention will be specifically described below with reference to the drawings. This example is an example in which the present invention is applied to a brake lever device for a mountain pike, and is made by Furukawa. The brake bracket 1 is constructed by fitting a ring part 2 with a slit formed at its base onto the outer periphery of the handlebar 3, and reducing the diameter of the ring part 2 with a screw 4.
It is fixed to the handle par 3. The brake bracket 1 is formed with a cavity 5 whose surface facing toward the tip of the handlebar 3 is open, and a support shaft 7 is supported so as to span between side walls 6 that sandwich the cavity 5. On the other hand, the brake lever 8 is supported at its base end inserted into the cavity 5 so as to be able to vibrate. On one side of the tip of the brake bracket 1, an outer cable wal of one end of the brake cable Wa is received and supported via a member 9, and an outer cable w is received and supported via a member 9.
The inner cable wa2 pulled out from Al is introduced into the cavity 5 and fixed to a portion of the base end of the brake lever 8 that is offset from the support shaft 7 toward the distal end of the brake bracket 1. The other end of the brake cable Wa is connected to a brake body (not shown), and the inner cable wa2 is constantly pulled toward the brake body by a return spring built into the brake body. Therefore, the brake lever 8 is connected to the inner cable wa' in the normal state.
It is biased in the counterclockwise direction in FIG. 1 around the support shaft 7 by the tensile force of l, and comes into contact with the stopper inside the cavity 5, and the distance from the handle grip 10 is maximized as shown in FIG. Stop in that state. When the brake lever 8 is swung clockwise in Figure 1, the inch cable wa
2 is pulled against the elasticity of the return spring, and the resulting relative axial movement between the inch cable wa2 and the outer cable wa1 is transmitted to the brake body,
The brake body is actuated in the braking direction. When the operating force on the brake lever 8 is released, the brake body is moved toward the brake release side by the return spring, and the inch cable wa2 is pulled toward the brake body, whereby the brake lever also returns to the natural state shown in FIG. 1. The above is a general configuration of a brake lever device, but in the present invention, a speed change lever device is further added as follows. In the middle part of the brake bracket l, there are shown figures 2 and 3.
As clearly shown in the figure, a support arm 11 extending in the opposite direction to the direction in which the brake lever 8 extends is integrally formed, and the shift lever device is attached to the support arm 11 so that its position and direction can be adjusted. It will be done. As shown in FIGS. 2 to 5, on the upper surface of the support arm 11, spherical recesses 12 are provided in series at three locations in the longitudinal direction, and a through hole 13 is provided in the center of each of the spherical recesses 12. is the opening. Note that the inner diameter of this through hole 13 is set larger than the outer diameter of a bolt 14 for installation, which will be described later. In the gear shift lever device, the spherical convex portion 16 provided on the back side of the lever base 15 is connected to the spherical concave portion 12 of the support 7-m 11.
The bolt 14 inserted into the through hole 13 from the lower surface of the support arm 11 is screwed into the screw hole 22 drilled in the center of the spherical convex portion 16, so that the support arm 1
1 in a slidable or fixed manner. Since the spherical convex portion 16 and the spherical four portions 12 have spherical surfaces, they can basically slide relative to each other in any direction, and can rotate relative to each other in a so-called ball joint shape. As a result, the speed change lever device can rotate 360 degrees around the lever shaft 17 with respect to the support arm 11, and the lever shaft 17 itself is tilted in all directions with respect to the upper surface of the support arm 11. Therefore, it is possible to tilt in any direction with respect to the upper surface of the support arm 11. Further, as shown in the fourth section, the gear shift lever device includes a lever main body 19 in which a base boss portion 18 is rotatably supported on a lever shaft 17 that projects from a lever base 15. The lever body 19 has an irregular cross section (
A known method in which a washer 24 and a friction member 21, which are non-rotatably fitted onto a shaft (usually having an oval cross-section) and a friction member 21, are pressed by a bolt 23 screwed into an axial threaded hole 22 of a lever shaft 17. This provides a certain amount of resistance to its rotation. The lever body 19 is moved against the tensile force of a return spring of a transmission (not shown) connected to the lever body 19 via the operating cable wb.
This is to maintain the rotation angle at a desired angle. The lever stand 15 also includes, as shown in FIG.
An outer receiver 27 having a through hole 29 extending tangentially to the outer periphery of the boss portion 18 is integrally formed.
The cylindrical port 28 that receives the outer cable wbl of the operation cable wb at one end is screwed into the through hole 29, so that one end of the outer cable wbl is supported by the outer receiver 27, and the inner cable is pulled out from the outer cable wbl. Wb2 is cylindrical bolt 28
It passes through the through hole 29 and is fixed to the lever body 19 by being wrapped around the outer periphery of the boss portion 18 . When the lever body 19 is rotated, the outer cable wbl
The inner cable wb2 can be pulled or let out against the outer cable wb
The transmission is operated by the relative movement in the axial direction between the inner cable wb2 and the inner cable wb2. Since the support arm 11 is provided with three spherical recesses 12, the position of the speed change lever device can be changed to 3vI positions in the longitudinal direction of the support arm 11. That is, by simply loosening and removing the bolt 14, fitting the spherical convex portion 16 of the lever base 15 of the shift lever device into the other spherical concave portion of the support arm 11, and then tightening the bolt 14 again, the shift lever can be easily removed. The position of the device 1fL, specifically the position in the extending direction of the handlebar, can be adjusted. As a result, the lever body 19 can be set in a state where it is easiest to operate, for example, with the thumb, depending on the size and habit of the occupant's hands, or the preference of which part of the handle grip to grip. Furthermore, since the inner diameter of the through hole 13 is larger than the outer diameter of the bolt 14, when the bolt 14 is loosened, the bolt 14 can move within the through hole 13 within the range shown by the imaginary line in FIG. As shown in the figure, the rotational position of the speed change lever device can also be adjusted with the center of the sphere forming the spherical recess 12 as the rotational center. In FIGS. 4 and 5, reference numeral 30 indicates a washer interposed between the head of the bolt 14 and the lower surface of the support arm 11. Furthermore, since the shift lever device is fitted to the support arm 11 via the bolt 14, the bolt 14 is fitted to the support arm 11.
4, the support arm 11 can be rotated 360 degrees around the bolt 14. Therefore, the rotational position of the speed change lever device about the lever shaft 17 can be adjusted as desired. As described above, the gear shift lever device that is integrally attached to the brake lever device of this example not only adjusts its position in the extending direction of the handlebar, but also rotates around the center of the sphere of the spherical recess 12 of the support arm 11. a rotational position, and
The rotational position around the lever axis can also be easily adjusted. Therefore, various postures required for the gear shift lever device can be obtained, and the user can set the posture of the gear shift lever device as desired according to the size and shape of his or her hands or preference. be able to. As a result, the ease of operating the gear shift lever device while holding the handle grip becomes dramatically better than in the past. Of course, the scope of the invention is not limited to the embodiments described above. In the embodiment, the lever base 15 of the speed change lever device is provided with a spherical convex portion 16 and the support arm 11 is provided with a spherical concave portion 12. A configuration may also be provided in which a spherical convex portion is provided. In addition, although the gear shift lever device in the embodiment is shown as one that simply provides a certain amount of frictional resistance to the lever body, the type of the gear shift lever device does not matter; therefore,
It is also possible to adopt a known shift lever device incorporating a positioning mechanism called a so-called click mechanism or a cable traction force reduction mechanism using a one-way clutch.The gist of the present invention lies in the structure of the shift lever device itself. Rather, the problem lies in the attachment and position adjustment mechanism of the gear shift lever device relative to the brake lever device.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a plan view of an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a plan view of a brake bracket, FIG. 3 is an enlarged sectional view taken along the line ■-■ in FIG. A sectional view taken along the TV line, and FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing the constituent parts in an exploded state. 1...Brake bracket, 3...Handlebar,
8... Brake lever, lo... Handle grip, 11... Support arm, 12 Spherical recess, 13...
Through hole, 14...screw (installation is by bolt), L...speed lever device.

Claims (1)

[Claims] (1) In a brake bracket that is fixed to the handlebar, a brake lever that extends in the direction along the handlebar grip is supported so as to be able to vibrate at its base, and the brake lever is attached to the middle part of the brake bracket in the opposite direction to the brake lever. The extending support arm is integrally formed, and a plurality of spherical convex portions or spherical concave portions with a through hole in the center are provided in the longitudinal direction of the support arm,
a base of a speed change lever device in which a speed change lever main body is rotatably supported on a lever shaft;
A spherical recess or a spherical convex portion having a threaded hole is provided, and a screw having an outer diameter smaller than the inner diameter is passed through the through hole of the support arm, and this screw is screwed into the threaded hole at the base of the speed change lever device. A bicycle brake lever device, characterized in that the gear shift lever device is attached to a support arm.