JPH0137993Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed explanation of the idea] [Industrial application field]

This invention relates to the improvement of a bicycle gear shift operating lever device, and more specifically, it has a small lever body, and the so-called so-called bicycle gear shifting lever device is designed to sequentially lock the small lever body at rotation angles corresponding to the gear shifting positions of an external transmission. This invention relates to a device conveniently incorporating a click mechanism.

[Prior art and its problems]

Conventionally existing bicycle gear shift levers equipped with a so-called click mechanism have an approximately fan-shaped click plate with a number of click holes arranged circumferentially arranged in accordance with the number of gears to be shifted, which protrudes from the side of the bicycle frame. The lever shaft is mounted in a non-rotatable manner on the lever shaft, and an engaging member such as a steel ball is embedded in the inner side wall of the operating rod of the operating lever rotatably supported on the lever shaft. , is configured with a spring that presses the operating lever inward in the lever axial direction, and when the operating lever is rotated, the engaging member engages with the click hole in sequence at every predetermined angle, thereby causing the transmission to operate. It is always guided to the optimum position for each sprocket. However, with the above-mentioned click mechanism consisting of a fan-shaped click plate and a steel ball that engages in the click hole provided in the fan-shaped click plate in the axial direction, the click plate or the speed change operation lever must be large in size. There is a problem in that a large protective cover is required to cover the click mechanism, which further increases the size of the operating lever device as a whole. Therefore, the conventional shift lever device with a click mechanism is only used in so-called junior bicycles, and is not used for shifting gears in full-scale sports cars manufactured with a focus on weight reduction, miniaturization of parts, and simplification of appearance. In lever devices, the need to avoid increasing the size of the lever body is a major factor, making it difficult to incorporate a click mechanism easily. This idea was devised under the above circumstances, and the problem to be solved was the creation of a disc-shaped base for winding wire, which could be attached to a full-scale sports car, and To provide a speed change operation lever device having a structure in which a click mechanism can be incorporated without any problem even in a speed change lever device having a small lever body equipped with a finger hook arm extending radially outward.

[Means to solve the problem]

In order to solve the above problem, this invention takes the following technical measures. In a lever body comprising a disc-shaped base having a wire winding groove formed on the outer periphery and a finger hook arm extending radially outward from the disc-shaped base, the center hole of the disc-shaped base is connected to the lever support base. In a bicycle gear shift operation lever device configured to be rotatably fitted onto a protruding lever shaft, a cylindrical annular wall concentric with the lever shaft is provided on the inner surface of the disc-shaped base. The engaging body, which is biased radially outward by a spring, is held in a holding hole formed in the axially intermediate part of the lever in the cylindrical annular wall. , a cylindrical inner wall is provided that surrounds the outer periphery of the cylindrical annular wall, is in sliding contact with the outer periphery of the cylindrical annular wall, and has an outer end reaching the inner surface of the disc-shaped base; A plurality of engaging recesses are provided in which the engaging body can be elastically engaged and disengaged sequentially as the engaging body moves.

[Action and effect]

When the lever body is rotated, the cylindrical annular wall formed on the inner surface of the disc-shaped base of the lever body rotates while slidingly contacting the cylindrical inner wall formed on the lever support base. That is, the cylindrical annular wall relatively rotates inside the fixed cylindrical inner wall. The cylindrical annular wall holds an engaging body that is biased outward in the radial direction, while the cylindrical inner wall has a plurality of engaging recesses, so that the engaging body is held in the plurality of engaging recesses. By elastically engaging one of them, the lever main body is sequentially locked with a sense of moderation at each predetermined rotation angle. As a result, even if the lever is operated roughly, the lever will be locked at the rotation angle corresponding to each shift stage of the transmission, allowing anyone to easily guide the transmission to the correct shift position. I can do it. In addition, in the present invention, the locking mechanism of the lever main body as described above is provided with a cylindrical annular wall that protrudes further inward from the inner surface of the disc-shaped base and a cylindrical annular wall that surrounds the cylindrical annular wall. Since it is provided at a portion displaced from the inner surface of the disc-shaped base toward the lever support base between the cylindrical inner wall formed on the lever support base, it is necessary to increase the outer diameter of the disc-shaped base itself. There is no. Therefore, even if the outer diameter of the cylindrical annular wall and the inner diameter of the cylindrical inner wall surrounding it are increased to increase the strength and durability of the locking mechanism, the size of the lever body exposed to the outside is smaller than the conventional one. It can be made as small as the street. In order to quickly and accurately change gears with such a small lever, it is necessary to increase the lever rotation angle corresponding to a certain amount of wire pulling, and to do this, a wire winding groove is formed. It is required to keep the outer diameter of the disc-shaped base small, and the present invention can fully satisfy this requirement. That is, the outer diameter of the disk-shaped base itself can be kept small, and
This is because the locking mechanism is not incorporated inside the disc-shaped base in the radial direction, so the wire winding groove can be made deep and the bottom diameter of the wire winding groove can be made small. Furthermore, in the present invention, the lever body is not only supported on the lever shaft protruding from the lever support base, but also the outer peripheral surface of the cylindrical annular wall protruding inside the disc-shaped base. Since it is rotatably supported by sliding contact with the cylindrical inner wall formed on the lever support base side, the support stability of the lever body is extremely excellent. There is no wobbling in the support of the lever body due to repeated vibrations, and stable function can be maintained for a long period of time.

[Explanation of Examples]

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be specifically described with reference to the drawings. In this example, a lever body 2 is supported on one or both of the opposite sides of a block-shaped lever support base 1 attached to the upper surface of a bicycle frame F. A circular concave portion 3 is formed on the side surface of the lever support base 1, and the inner wall of this concave portion constitutes a cylindrical inner wall 5 that accommodates and holds the outer periphery of a cylindrical annular wall 4 of the lever body 2, which will be described later. ing. The lever shaft 6 is provided at the center of the concave portion at the bottom of the concave portion 3 so as to protrude outward. In this example, for convenience of assembly, the lever shaft 6 is a flanged clamp having a threaded shaft 6a protruding from the bottom of the recessed portion 3 and an axial threaded hole 7 to be screwed into the threaded shaft. body 6b. On the other hand, the lever body 2 is basically equipped with a disk-shaped base 9 having a wire winding groove 8 formed on its outer periphery, and a finger-rest arm 10 extending radially outward from the disk-shaped base 9. The lever shaft 6 is rotatably supported by fitting the center hole 11 formed in the disc-shaped base 9 onto the lever shaft 6. Specifically, the outer end of the center hole 11 has a counterbore 11.
a is formed, and the flanged tightening body 6a
Pass through the center hole 11 so that the flange of the body is accommodated in the counterbore 11a, and then the tightening body 6
Tighten a to the screw shaft 6a. At this time, by interposing a friction member 12 between the flange portion and the counterbore portion 11a, a certain amount of frictional resistance is applied to the rotation of the lever body 2. Note that the end of the wire winding groove 8 formed on the outer periphery of the disc-shaped base 9 is connected to a wire fastening means (not shown), such as a nipple fastening means, provided at the base of the arm part 10. . Inner surface 9 of the disc base 9 of the lever body 2
A cylindrical annular wall 4 concentric with the lever shaft 6 is formed integrally extending inward in the axial direction of the lever shaft. The outer diameter of this cylindrical annular wall 4 is the same as that of the cylindrical inner wall 5.
corresponds to the inner diameter of lever body 2.
When rotated, this cylindrical annular wall 4 becomes cylindrical inner wall 5
Rotates relatively while sliding in contact with. In the present invention, a locking mechanism 13 is configured between the cylindrical annular wall 4 and the cylindrical inner wall 5 that rotate relative to each other inside the lever support base 1 to lock the lever body at every predetermined rotation angle. be done. This locking mechanism 13 is provided with a holding hole 14 in a portion of the cylindrical annular wall 4 that is further displaced inward from the inner surface 9a of the disc-shaped base 9, and the thickness of the cylindrical annular wall is inserted into the holding hole 14. A steel ball 15 as an engagement member having a larger outer diameter is loosely mounted, and this steel ball 15
is always biased radially outward by a spring 16, and a plurality of engaging recesses 17 are provided at approximately equal intervals in the cylindrical inner wall 5, in which the steel balls 15 can successively engage. In this example, the spring 16 is
It consists of a C spring whose one end 16a is locked to the inner periphery of the cylinder annular wall 4 and which is loaded into the annular space 18 between the lever shaft 6 and the cylinder annular wall 4. Further, the engagement recess 17 is constructed by providing a plurality of through holes at approximately equal intervals in an annular plate member 19 fitted to the inner surface of the cylindrical inner wall 5. In the above configuration, when the lever body 2 is rotated, the locking mechanism 13 causes the lever body 2 to rotate.
are sequentially locked at each predetermined rotation angle, that is, at each central angle between the plurality of engagement recesses 17 with a sense of moderation. More specifically, when the steel ball 15 urged toward the cylindrical inner wall 5 engages in the engagement recess 17, the lever body is locked with a click sound. As mentioned above, the end of the wire connected to the transmission is fixed to the lever body 2 while being wound around the wire winding groove 8, so that the wire can be moved by an amount proportional to the amount of reciprocating rotation of the lever body 2. To be wound up or unwound. Of course, the spacing between the engagement recesses 17 is determined so that when the lever main body is rotated at an angle corresponding to the center angle thereof, the transmission is accurately guided to each shift position. As described above, in the bicycle shift operation lever device of the present invention, there is a space between the cylindrical annular wall protruding from the inner surface of the lever body and the cylindrical inner wall formed on the lever support base so as to surround the cylindrical annular wall. Since the locking mechanism that locks the relative rotation of the cylindrical annular wall with respect to the cylindrical inner wall at predetermined angle intervals is disposed inwardly from the inner surface of the lever body, the size of the lever body can be changed as a result. In particular, the click mechanism could be practically incorporated without increasing the size of the disc-shaped base. Since there is nothing other than the center hole in the radially inner part of the disc-shaped base of the lever body, the bottom diameter of the wire winding groove formed around the center hole can be substantially reduced. As a result, the rotation angle between each locking position by the click mechanism can be increased, and accurate and quick gear shifting operations can be easily performed. This means that the spacing between the plurality of engagement recesses formed on the inner wall of the cylinder can be increased, which makes it easier to process the engagement recesses and enables more accurate and delicate positioning of the engagement. It becomes possible to set the matching recess. This also leads to being able to guide the transmission more precisely. In addition, in the present invention, the lever body is not simply rotatably supported via the lever shaft, but the cylindrical annular wall is in sliding contact with the cylindrical inner wall on the lever support base side. Since the lever body is rotatably supported, the support stability of the lever body is excellent, and stable function and performance without backlash can be maintained for a long period of time.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

The drawings show an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view thereof, and FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along the line - in FIG. 1... Lever support base, 2... Lever body, 4...
... Cylinder annular wall, 5 ... Cylinder inner wall, 6 ... Lever shaft,
8...Wire winding groove, 9...Disc-shaped base, 10
...Finger hook arm section, 14...Retaining hole, 15...
Steel ball (engaging member), 16... spring, 17... engaging recess.

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] In a lever body comprising a disc-shaped base having a wire winding groove formed on the outer periphery and a finger hook arm extending radially outward from the disc-shaped base, the center hole of the disc-shaped base is connected to the lever support base. In a bicycle gear shift operation lever device configured to be rotatably fitted onto a protruding lever shaft, a cylindrical annular wall concentric with the lever shaft is provided on the inner surface of the disc-shaped base. The engaging body, which is biased radially outward by a spring, is held in a holding hole formed in the axially intermediate part of the lever in the cylindrical annular wall. , a cylindrical inner wall is provided that surrounds the outer periphery of the cylindrical annular wall, is in sliding contact with the outer periphery of the cylindrical annular wall, and has an outer end reaching the inner surface of the disc-shaped base; A bicycle gear shift operation lever device, characterized in that a plurality of engagement recesses are provided in which the engagement body can be elastically engaged and disengaged sequentially as the gear is moved.