JPH0439111Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

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

This invention relates to a structure that biases the operating force of a brake lever used on a bicycle or the like.

[Prior art]

Conventionally, brake means such as caliper brakes that brake a braked member such as a wheel are provided with a brake return spring, and the repulsive force of this brake return spring is generated when an inner wire built in an outer wire slides. Considering the resistance and play of various parts, a considerably large force was required to return the brake lever operating lever. However, if the spring force of the brake return spring is increased, the tightening force of the operating lever must also be applied stronger, which may cause the inner wire to break, the nipple to come off, or malfunction. It was hot. Furthermore, even if the repulsive force of the brake return spring is strengthened, the operating lever cannot return sufficiently, and in proportion to the magnitude of the repulsive force, a greater force is required to assemble and adjust the brake, which reduces work efficiency. There is a disadvantage that it is inferior. Therefore, for example, in the brake operating device disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 63-173781, a lever return spring S is provided on the operating lever side as well, working in the same direction as the brake return spring, as shown in FIG. A configuration is disclosed. However, with the above configuration, when tightening the operating lever to apply braking pressure, the brake lever must be operated against the combined spring force of the lever return spring and the brake return spring, and moreover, the brake lever must be operated against the combined spring force of the lever return spring and the brake return spring. Since the repulsive force increases approximately in proportion to the stroke of the brake lever, a particularly large operating force is required at the angular position of the brake lever where braking force is exerted. Furthermore, pushing the inner wire back in the return direction with the return force of the lever return spring creates extra resistance than pulling it with the brake return spring, and increasing the spring force of the lever return spring will further increase the above-mentioned drawbacks. Therefore, improvements have been strongly desired in this type of technical field from the viewpoint of operation and safety.

[Problem that the invention attempts to solve]

This invention was devised as a result of intensive research in view of the above-mentioned drawbacks, and the position of the coil spring stretched between the fixed member and the operating lever is changed from the position of the coil spring provided at the fixed position of the fixed member and the operating lever. The main problem is to reduce the operating force of the brake lever by displacing it with respect to the landing point and applying force in both the braking direction and the return direction.

[Means for Solving the Problems] In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention provides a system in which a brake means that is biased in the return direction to brake a braked member such as a wheel is pivoted to a fixed member fixed to a handle. In a brake lever biasing structure in which a spring is provided in a brake lever that performs braking against the biasing force in the return direction of the brake means by rotation of the operating lever that is attached, and urges rotation of the operating lever, (a) (b) A straight line connecting the application points on both sides of the spring at a midway position of the rotation trajectory of the operation lever. The pivot points of the fixed member and the operating lever are lined up at the top, resulting in a neutral position in which the biasing force of the spring does not act on the operating lever. We are taking technical measures to ensure that the system is energized.

[Effect]

During the rotational stroke of the operating lever, the spring reaches a neutral position where the point of action of the coil spring on the fixed member side and the operating point on the operating lever side are aligned on the same line as the pivot point between the fixed member and the operating lever. In this position, the biasing force of the coil spring acts in the direction of the rotation axis of the control lever, so no biasing force acts on the control lever. When the operating lever is rotated from the neutral position in the tightening direction or return direction of the operating lever, at least one point of action of the spring is displaced in the rotational direction of the operating lever, thereby biasing the operating lever in the rotational direction. . Therefore, when the operating lever rotates in the tightening direction, the biasing force of the spring acts to reduce the gradually increasing biasing force of the brake means in the return direction. Furthermore, when the operating lever rotates in the return direction, the biasing force of the coil spring acts to strengthen the gradually weakening biasing force of the brake means in the return direction.

【Example】

Preferred embodiments of the brake lever biasing structure of this invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. Brake lever 1 of the first embodiment shown in FIG.
A bracket-shaped fixing member 2 is fixed to the handle H of the bicycle by wrapping a tightening band 4 around it, and the proximal end side of an operating lever 3 is pivotally attached to the fixing member 2 about a pivot P1. This operating lever 3 includes a brake means 20 and a brake wire 30 for braking a rim or the like (not shown) which is a braked member of the front wheel or rear wheel.
The clamping force of the operating lever 3 is transmitted to the brake means 20 as a braking force. That is, the caliber brake 20 shown as an example of a brake means includes a pair of brake arms 22, 23 attached to a center bolt 21, brake shoes 24, 25 provided on each of the brake arms 22, 23, and the above-mentioned. The illustrated example for returning the brake arms 22, 23 includes a spectacle-shaped brake return spring 26. One end of the outer wire 33 of the brake wire 30 is attached to the fixing member 2 side by the lever-side outer receiving part 2A, and the other end is connected to one arm (Y-shaped in the illustrated example) via the arm-side outer receiving part 27. is attached to the arm 22). In addition, the inner wire 3 of the brake wire 30
1 is fixed to an engaging element 32 at its base end, and the engaging element 32 is engaged with a hole in the operating lever 3, and the extending tip is connected to the other arm (in the illustrated example, C-shaped) through a fixture 28. It is fixed to the arm 23). In the known brake structure for a bicycle shown as an example as described above, the coil spring 10 biased in the contraction direction of the brake lever 1 is attached to the fixed member 2.
and the operating lever 3. This coil spring 10 has one end connected to it by a pin 11 that penetrates and is fixed on the side wall surface 2A of the fixed member 2 at the inside of the proximal end near the handle H, and the connection point P2 is used as one point of action of the spring. ,
The other end of this coil spring 10 passes through the mounting piece 3A of the operating lever 3 and is connected by a fixed pin 12, making the connection point P3 the other point of action of the spring. When the brake is not applied, the line connecting the connection points P2 and P3 does not include the pivot point P1, and is arranged so as to be deviated in the direction of the operating lever 3 when the brake is not applied. Next, the action of this coil spring 10 is
To explain with reference to the schematic diagram in the figure, the coil spring 10 moves the connection point P2 as the operating lever 3 rotates from point a (solid line position in Figure 1) to c point (dotted line position in Figure 1). As a fulcrum, the connection point P3 draws an arcuate trajectory from point a to point c. Then, at point b approximately in the middle, connecting points P2, P
3 and the pivot point P1 are aligned on the same straight line L, which is a neutral position. Therefore, in this neutral position, the coil spring 1
A biasing force of 0 does not work in the rotational direction of the operating lever 3. As the operating lever 3 rotates, the connection point P3 of the coil spring 10 deviates from the straight line L and c
Point direction (tightening direction) or point a direction (return direction)
When the coil spring 10 is rotationally displaced, the coil spring 10
The biasing force biases the operating lever 3 in the tightening direction C in the direction of point c and in the return direction A in the direction of point a. Note that the biasing force exerted by the coil spring 10 on the operating lever 3 is set to be smaller than the biasing force (maximum value) used by the return spring 26 of the caliper brake 20 to return the operating lever 3 to its original state. is assumed. For convenience of explanation, the operation of the biasing structure of the brake lever will be described below, with changes in various frictional forces and biasing forces being abstracted and provisional numerical values assigned to each biasing force. Now, the return spring 26 of the caliper brake 20
The return force of is 2 kg, and the spring force exerted on the rotation of the operating lever 3 of the coil spring 10 is 1 kg,
Braking pressure E from fingers applied to operating lever 3
is 10Kg. According to this, when a braking force of 10 kg is applied to the operating lever 3, the force of the return spring 2 kg and the spring force of the coil spring 10 in the return direction of 1 kg resist from point a to point b, so 10 kg - 2 kg - 1 kg A braking force of =7Kg acts on the caliper brake 20. In this case, since the repulsive force of the return spring is in the process of gradually increasing, the force that opposes the braking force is actually small. Then, from point b to point c, the spring force of the coil spring 10 works in the opposite direction, so it is 10Kg-2Kg.
A braking force of +1Kg=9Kg acts on the caliper brake 20. In this way, the biasing force of the coil spring 10 is reduced to a braking pressing force between point b and point c, where the brake shoes 24 and 25 of the caliper brake 20 contact the rim and the repulsive force of the return spring 26 becomes maximum. can be added to. Next, when the braking pressure from the fingers is no longer applied after braking, the maximum repulsive force of 2 kg of the return spring 26 resists the biasing force of the coil spring 10 of 1 kg while returning from point c to point b. and operation lever 3
is urged in the returning direction with a returning force of 2Kg - 1Kg = 1Kg. Here, the biasing force of the return spring 26 in the return direction gradually weakens as it returns, but the biasing force of the coil spring 10 in the braking direction becomes O on the straight line L that is the neutral position, and when this is further exceeded, the coil spring 10 The biasing force of changes to the return direction, so
The urging force of the coil spring 10 in the return direction is added to the gradually weakening spring force of the return spring 26 (2 kg+
1Kg=3Kg), the operating lever 3 can be reliably returned to its original state. In this way, the biasing force of the coil spring 10 can increase the braking force that resists the repulsive force of the return spring 10 when applying brake pressure, and can increase the returning force when the repulsive force of the return spring 10 weakens after braking. can. The coil springs 10 may be installed as a pair on the left and right outside of the brake lever 1 as in the above embodiment, or may be installed only on one side. The brake lever 1 whose cross section is shown in FIG. 4 shows the case where this coil spring 10 is built into the hollow part of the brake lever 1, and the other structure is the same as that of the previous embodiment, so it is the same as that shown in FIG. 3. It acts on In the various embodiments described below, the coil spring 10 and other biasing structures may of course be built into the brake lever. The biasing structure of the brake lever of the second embodiment shown in FIG. ' is connected to the connecting point P3 on the operating lever 3 side, and the end face of the side wall of the fixed member 2 in contact with the roller 5 is set as an arc-shaped cam surface 6, and the roller 5 is connected to the cam surface 6.
A different embodiment is shown in which the slide slides along the . In this case, the cam surface 6 is set to have an arcuate shape smaller in diameter than the locus drawn by the connecting point P3 of the coil spring 10. The action of this coil spring 10 is shown in a schematic diagram in FIG. In this case, the movement of the coil spring 10 is basically the same as that shown in FIG. 2, and the connection point P3 is displaced from point a to point c using the connection point P2 as a fulcrum. However, in this embodiment, the coil spring 10 can be largely displaced in the rotational direction of the operating lever 3 by sliding of the rollers, so that the biasing force can be further increased. Next, in the brake lever biasing structure of the third embodiment shown in FIG.
An example of the case of displacing from the neutral position together with 3 is shown. In this case, one end of a rod-shaped actuating member 7 is connected to the operating lever 3, and this actuating member 7
The middle portion thereof is coaxially pivoted at a pivot point P1, and has an arcuate engagement portion 7A at the other end. A connector 8A at the tip of a driven piece 8 pivotally connected to the fixed member 2 is engaged with this engaging portion 7A. This driven piece 8 is rotatably pivoted P4 to the fixed member 2 at its midpoint, so that when the actuating member 7 rotates, the end 7B of the actuating member 7 interlocks with the operating lever 3 and the end of the driven piece 8. It is configured to be displaced in the same direction as the portion 8B. Since both ends of the coil spring 10 are connected to the end 7B of the actuating member 7 and the end 8B of the driven piece 8, the coil spring 10
The action of is displaced as shown in FIG. This also allows the coil spring 10 to act in the same manner as in the previous embodiment. 9 to 11 show different embodiments in which the brake lever biasing structure shown in the first to third embodiments is used for a brake lever for a drop handle. Here, since the configuration is the same as in each of the above embodiments except for the shape of the brake lever, the same configurations are given the same reference numerals and the explanation thereof will be omitted. Although the above embodiment has been described using a coil spring as an example, the structure of the spring itself is not particularly limited as long as the direction in which the spring acts and the point of action of the spring are the same. It may also be a combination of springs themselves, or a combination of springs with links or other members. Further, the braking means operated by this brake lever is not limited to the above-mentioned embodiment, and may be a disc brake or any other means that can be returned to the standby position by means of a return spring.

【Effect of the invention】

In this invention, compared to conventional brake levers in which a spring is provided that biases only the return direction, the spring's biasing force can be switched between two directions: the return direction and the braking pressure direction. So,
The operating force can be reduced compared to the conventional brake lever with a return spring attached to it. In particular, in relation to the return spring of the brake means, the urging force of the spring functions effectively in response to the changing urging force of the return spring, so that the spring force can be utilized rationally.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side view showing a first embodiment of the biasing structure for a brake lever according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a rear view thereof, FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram showing the action of a spring in the first embodiment, and FIG. The figure shows a modification of the first embodiment in which a spring is built into the brake lever, FIG. 5 is a side view of the second embodiment of the invention, and FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram showing the action of the spring. , FIG. 7 shows the third embodiment of this invention.
FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram showing the action of the spring, FIG. 9 is a side view when the spring of the first embodiment is used in the drop lever, and FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram showing the action of the spring.
FIG. 11 is a side view when the spring of the embodiment is used for a drop lever, FIG. 11 is a side view when the spring of the third embodiment is used for the drop lever, and FIG. 12 is a side view showing a conventional configuration. 1...brake lever, 2...fixing member, 3...
...Operation lever, 5...Roller, 6...Cam surface, 7...
... Operating member, 8... Follower piece, 10... Coil spring, 20... Brake means, 30... Brake wire, H... Handle.

Claims (1)

[Claims for Utility Model Registration] (1) A brake means for braking a braked member such as a wheel by being biased in the return direction by rotation of an operating lever pivotally connected to a fixed member fixed to a handle. In a brake lever biasing structure that includes a spring in the brake lever that applies braking against the biasing force in the return direction of the means and biases the rotation of the operating lever, one point of action of the spring biased in the approach direction is fixed. The fixed member and the other point of action are connected to the operating lever, and the pivot points of the fixed member and the operating lever are lined up on a straight line that connects the acting points on both sides of the spring at a midway position in the rotation locus of the operating lever. A brake lever biasing structure characterized in that the spring has a neutral position in which the biasing force of the spring does not act on the operating lever, and that each spring is biased in the rotational direction of the operating lever from the neutral position. (2) The spring is made of a coil spring, and the coil spring biased in the contraction direction is stretched between the fixed member and the operating lever, and the operating lever is tightened from a neutral position halfway through the rotational stroke of the operating lever. The brake according to claim 1, wherein when the brake is rotated in the direction or the return direction, at least one connection point of the coil spring is displaced in the rotational direction of the operating lever, thereby biasing the operating lever in the rotational direction. Lever biasing structure. (3) A roller is interposed between the coil spring and the connection between the fixed member or the operating lever, and the roller slides along a cam surface formed on the fixed member to increase the amount of displacement of the spring. A brake lever biasing structure according to claim (1). (4) When the coil spring rotates the operating lever from the neutral position in the tightening direction or the returning direction, both points of action of the coil spring are displaced in the rotational direction of the operating lever, biasing the operating lever in the rotational direction. The brake lever biasing structure according to claim (2), characterized in that: (5) One end of the coil spring interlocks with the operating lever and connects with the outer end of the actuating piece which is pivotally connected at the pivot point of the fixed member and the operating lever, and the other end of the coil spring interlocks with the operating piece. 5. The brake lever biasing structure according to claim 4, wherein the driven piece is pivotally connected to the inner end and has a middle portion connected to the tip of the driven piece which is pivotally connected to the fixed member. (6) The brake lever biasing structure according to claim (1), wherein the coil spring is housed in the hollow of the fixing member and the operating lever.