JPS631070B2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] The present invention relates to a disguised bicycle training device.

Bicycle tower ride, acceleration, downhill, traveling speed,
You are accustomed to the sensations you experience as a result of inertia and moments when shifting gears and speeds. The simulation of those sensations in the practice device is
There is a need to store energy when the tower rider exerts extra effort and release the stored energy when the tower rider desires to descend or take an easy step.

Such advantageous results are not achieved by the use of tension rollers, which have been repeatedly suggested in all devices known to the applicant. And the disadvantages of such a device are considerably exacerbated when the rollers support the weight of the tower occupant. Rollers cannot store significant amounts of energy;
Therefore, when pedaling was interrupted, the driven wheels of the bicycle came to a stop relatively quickly, and there was no sensation of going downhill. For example, the applicant has cited related prior art as U.S. Pat.
No. 3201121, No. 3905597, No. 4021034, No. 4082265,
I know No. 4082308. All of these patents relate to bicycles, each using a stand or other support means for at least the rear wheel of the bicycle.
U.S. Patent No. 2261846, U.S. Patent No. 3905597, U.S. Patent No. 4082265,
No. 4082308 also supports the front wheels. In the first four patents mentioned above, the rear wheels are supported by an axle. U.S. Patent No. 3905597, U.S. Patent No. 4082265, U.S. Patent No.
With the exception of one embodiment of No. 2261846, the front wheel rests on a surface supporting the stand.

U.S. Patent No. 2261846, U.S. Patent No. 3201121, U.S. Patent No.
All of the above patents except No. 4,021,034 have two rollers that are separated front and back and engage under the rear tires. U.S. Pat. No. 2,261,846 discloses a single roller directly below the rear axle.

In U.S. Pat. No. 3,201,121, the extension of the rear wheel lifting device is fixed and its tires engage a tension roller rotatably supported on a stand at the rear. However, the rollers are only adjusted to approach the tires before use. Only the spring-loaded brakes acting on the rollers can be adjusted prior to use to vary the braking pressure on the rollers during use of the device. In U.S. Patent No. 4,021,034,
An extension of the rear wheel lifting device is also fixed and its tire engages the tension roller in front of the tire. Adjustable jacks support the rollers against excessive downward deflection of the stand.

Hence, U.S. Patent Nos. 3,201,121 and 4,021,034.
No. 4021034 is similar to the present application only in that the rear wheel is not supported directly beneath it and in the arrangement of the tire driven elements, as shown in particular in No. 4021034. However, in the present invention, the weight of the tower rider is not placed heavily on the tire driven element as in U.S. Pat. No. 4,021,034;
No. 3201121 does not brake the driven element while it is being rotated. The present invention precludes the use of tension rollers altogether.

Incidentally, the applicant has also developed so-called wind load simulators (wind load simulators) such as small turbines or blowers.
Also known are practice devices supporting a pedal-actuated rear wheel that drives a lvad simulator, and a practice device supporting a pedal-actuated front wheel consisting of a cast aluminum large diameter plumb flywheel.

However, since both devices use tension rollers, the drawbacks mentioned above are unavoidable.

A solution to that problem is obtained by transmitting the rotational force of the driven wheels directly only to the rotating mass, so that when energy is stored its inertia can be easily detected by the tower occupant. The energy of the rotating flywheel is then utilized to drive the wheel for a considerable period of time after the foot pedal action has ceased.

The manner in which these novel results are obtained will be made clear in the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

In the present invention, the bicycle 10 is supported solely by the front wheel 12 resting on the surface 14 and the bendable stand 16 on the surface 14;
The stand lifts the rear wheel 18 so that the rear wheel 18 is raised above the surface 14 so that it can rotate freely by the occupant on the seat 20 activating the foot means including the pedals 22. There is. Although what follows is discussed in relation to a bicycle, the front wheel 12 is not necessary and the rear wheel 18 is not necessary.
does not necessarily have to be the rear wheel of the framework 23 that can support the seat 20; all that is necessary is to include a pedal 22 as a power transmission means on the frame for the driven wheel and a fork 25 (or a rear wheel of the framework 23). other parts of the vehicle) in any suitable manner, but not necessarily by wheels.

Stand 16 includes three U-shaped frame sections including a forward bottom section 24 provided with a bite 26 having a pair of upwardly rearwardly extending legs 28, 30; It includes a rear bottom portion 32 provided with a bight 34 having extending legs 36, 38, and a rear upper portion 40 provided with a bight 42 and a pair of downwardly forwardly extending legs 44, 46. 4
4 and 46 connect their front ends to legs 36 and 38, respectively.
It is rigidly connected in the middle of .

The legs 28 and 30 of the forward bottom section 24 each have downwardly and rearwardly extending short arms 48 and 50 rigidly connected between their ends, which arms are connected to the rearward bottom section 32 by pivot pins 52,54. legs 36, 38 so that the forward and rearward bottom portions 24, 32 are attached to pins 52, 54 to increase or decrease the distance between the bights 26, 34 for the methods and purposes described below.
It is designed to rotate relatively around the .

between the legs 28 and 30 of the front bottom portion 24, between the legs 36 and 38 of the rear bottom portion 32, in front of the bight 42 of the rear top portion 40, and in front of the bight 34 of the rear bottom portion 32; A rear wheel 18, spaced apart from the bight 26 of the section 24, is supported by the legs 28, 30 of the forward bottom section 24 above the arms 48,50. For this purpose, the upper end of the right leg 30 has a hook 56 for accommodating a nut or retaining means at the right end of the axle 58 of the rear wheel 18, and the left leg 28 has a hook 56 for accommodating a nut or retaining means at the opposite end of the axle 58. horizontal pipe 60
(Figure 8). The tube 60 is movable in and out along a split clamp 62 which is rigidly connected to the left leg 28 and is releasably held in place by a tightening bolt 64 forming part of the clamp 62. It's summery. Incidentally, instead of the nuts at both ends of the axle 58, both ends of the hub (see FIG. 8) through which the axle 58 is received and inserted may be accommodated in the hook 56 and the tube 60, respectively.

The front bottom portion 24 and the rear top portion 40 are interconnected by an elongated angled adjustment member 66 having its upper front end connected to the upper front end of the angled element 68; Element 68, on the other hand, is fixed at its lower end to left leg 28 above clamp 62. A transverse tube 70 rigidly connected to the upper end of the element 68 rotatably receives an inner tube 72 through which a bolt 74 provided with a manual crank 76 extends loosely. Bolt 74 is threaded into the upper end of adjustment member 66 and tube 72 is disposed on bolt 74 between crank 76 and stop nut 78.

A second element 80 is provided at the lower end of the adjustment member 66 and is inclined in the opposite direction to the element 68 and is rigidly connected to the left leg 44 . Toggle 8
2 is pivotally connected 84 to element 80, and a coil spring 86 interconnects toggle 82 and element 80 to deactivate the lower edge of a stop 88 (integral with toggle 82).
It is deformably pressed against the stopper 8
The upper edge of 8 engages element 80 when spring 86 is tensioned during use of the device by the occupant of seat 20.

Adjustment member 66 has a series of holes, each of which is adapted to selectively receive a pivot pin 90 rigidly connected to toggle 82. For example, hole 92
is used for a 20 inch diameter rear wheel 18, with hole 9
4 is used for a 24 inch diameter wheel and hole 96 is used for a 26 inch diameter wheel (as shown);
Hole 98 is used for 27 inch diameter wheels.

Behind the rear wheel 18 and above the surface 14, spanning between the legs 44 and 46 of the rear upper portion 40 is a crossbar or crossbar supported by a resilient vibration damping mounting piece 102 (FIG. 6). is rod 100. A rotatable relatively thin metal flywheel disc 104 located between the rear wheel 18 and the right leg 46
A circular energy storage inertial member consisting of
Pneumatic tire 108 consisting of a friction member on the rear wheel 18
An integrally formed driven element or cylindrical spindle 106 is provided which is engageable with the outer periphery of the disc 104 and has a diameter significantly smaller than that of the disc 104. The spindle 106 can freely rotate on the rod 100 between a pair of set collars 110 fixed on the rod.

An arcuate protective strip 112 partially surrounding the rear and lower portions of the disk 104 has its rear uppermost end rigidly connected to the bite 42 of the rear upper portion 40. The lowermost front end of the strip 112 is supported by a projection 114 that projects inwardly from the right leg 46. Immediately above the projection 114, the strip 112 connects the brake 1 made of a friction member such as a fiber that can engage with the outer periphery of the disk 104.
16 is supported.

The device of the invention can be equipped with additional safety devices. These include, for example, a flexible shield 118 covering the rear wheel 18 and supported by a bracket 120 on the adjustment member 66;
These include a long lateral stabilizer 122 attached to the cutting tool 26 of No. 4 and placed stationary on the surface 14 (FIGS. 1 and 2).

In operation, the vehicle 10 is associated with the stand 16 by placing the rear wheel 18 between the legs 28 and 30 and then inserting one nut of the axle 58 into the hook 56 where the tube 60
is placed on the nut on the opposite side of the axle 58 and fixed in position by tightening the bolt 64. The pin 90 of the toggle 82 is inserted into the appropriate hole 92-98 in the adjustment member 66 depending on the diameter of the rear wheel 18. Spring 86 normally holds tire 108 and spindle 106 apart to maintain stop 88 in engagement with element 80.

At this time, the weight of the occupant on the seat 20 overcomes the action of the spring 86, causing the toggle 82 to swing until the upper edge of the stopper 88 comes into engagement with the element 80. This eliminates any further downward buckling of the stand 16 so that the entire weight of the rider is supported by the stand 16 rather than by any other components such as the rollers lying beneath the rear wheel 18.

The action that occurs when a tower occupant gets on the seat 20 is to lower the pivot points 52 and 54 downward and move the bite 2
The front and rear bottom portions 24 and 32 are deflected while increasing the distance between 6 and 34. Although either or both of the bites 26 and 34 may move depending on the weight of the tower occupant, in most cases the stabilizer 122 attempts to remain stationary as the bite 34 slides rearward along the surface 14. .

In any event, the above action exerts a rearward force on the adjustment member 66, causing the toggle 822 to move toward the pivot point 8.
4 and 90 to reduce the distance between tire 108 and spindle 106. If the effective length of adjustment member 66 is correct, tire 108 will come into contact with spindle 106. However, since the crank 76 is easily accessible to the rider, the tire 108 and spindle 106 can be adjusted as needed to the extent that the tire 108 is fully inflated and to fit a particular tire size. can be operated to increase or decrease the force between. Protection of the tires is ensured by providing sufficient force to drive the spindle 106 by the rear wheel 18 without excessive slippage during the action of the pedals 22.

When the tower occupant disembarks, the spindle 106 due to the action of the spring 86 exerting a tension force on the toggle 82.
The transmission of driving force to the tire 10 is immediately released, and the tire 10
8 and spindle 106 are separated.

While the entire weight of the bicycle 10 and the rider is on the front wheel 12 and the toggle 82, there is no downward component of the rear wheel's force on anything directly below the rear wheel. Therefore, braking of the free rotation of rear wheel 18 is essentially limited by the inertia of the rear wheel and disc 104.

At this time, when the inertia of the disk 104 is first overcome, the tower rider feels the same acceleration as if he were accelerating on a flat road. As the tower rider pedals faster and faster, he approaches his maximum speed capability. Alternatively, the tower rider can reduce power and pedal at a constant speed to feign travel speed, or continue racing at his peak ability.

Pedaling can be interrupted at any time, and the moment of the disc 104 will then act to drive the rear wheel 18 for a significant period of time, giving the rider a sensation of going downhill.

Some tower riders have a tendency to unnecessarily apply the brakes on the bicycle 10 just before dismounting because of the sensation of actually riding on a tower. If the brakes are applied while the disk 104 is rotating at high speed, there is so much energy in the mass of the disk 104 that it will not be possible to stop the disk quickly through frictional operation. The spindle 106 continues to rotate relative to the rear wheel 18, causing undue damage to the tire 108. In this case, due to the resiliency of the vibration damping mounting piece 102, the spindle 106 is pulled downwardly in an attempt to drive the stationary rear wheel 18 until the disc 104 engages the brake shoe 116 and the disc 104 comes to a stop.

What cannot be overlooked is the open yoke-like front bottom section, rear bottom section and rear top section 24, which can accommodate all types of gear shifting, brakes and their control means, which vary considerably between normal bicycles. 32 and 40 novelties. The device also allows the hook 56 and tube 60 to accept a nut on the outer end of the axle 58 of any modern bicycle, so that it can be quickly and easily transferred from one bicycle to another without any modification to the bicycle. It is possible to switch to Hook 56 is sized to receive both a large and small nut on the outer end of axle 58.
Reversible tube 60 has an end 60a with a larger inner diameter and an end 60b with a smaller inner diameter to accommodate the nut sizes of the two regions of axle 58.

The clearance between the rear wheels 18 and the surface 14 is approximately the same for all wheel sizes, and the clearance decreases only very slightly when the occupant mounts the seat 20. The clearance directly below the rear wheel 18 is very important as it eliminates the stopping, pulling type loads inherent in many known devices. Therefore, a precisely balanced high-energy disc 104 is placed on the rear wheel 1.
The operator is given a feeling of acceleration, descent, high speed and travel speed, as long as very high speeds can be achieved for rotational speeds of 8, while the bicycle 10
It also gives you the feeling of smooth gear shifting. There is none of the pure effort of the dead-load sense that has been suggested up to this point.

Satisfactory test results of the present invention indicate 2Kg (4 1/2
22.8 cm (9 inches) in diameter and
A 1/4 inch thick steel flywheel disc 104 was used. The disk is 21
It was fixed to a spindle 106 with an outer diameter of mm (7/8 inch). Other 22.8 cm (9 inch) diameter disks 104 were tested, but significant efficiency was lost when the thickness was increased to 12 mm (1/2 inch) or decreased to 3 mm (1/8 inch). Ta. In this connection, the shape of the flywheel 104 is often not very important. As long as energy storage is the primary objective, it is the weight and the distance from the center of rotation of the flywheel 104 to the center of mass (the radius of rotation) that is important because of the close engagement between the spindle 106 and the tire 108. The speed of the center of mass of the flywheel 104 measured at the radius of rotation is the tire 1
It is considerably higher than the circumferential speed of 08.

For example, a 13.5 Kg (30 lb) bicycle operated by a 58.5 Kg (130 lb) rider has a kinetic energy of approximately 74.9 to 1198 Kg at speeds of 16 to 64 Km (10 to 40 mph). (535~8561
foot-pounds). With the improved system of the present invention, at the same rear wheel speed, the stored energy goes from about 111 Kgm (796 ft-lbs) to almost 1783 ft-lbs.
Kgm (12736 foot pounds).

Additionally, if the rear wheels 18 are equipped with a 12.7 cm (5 inch) blower and a 7.62 cm
If they are combined at a distance of (3 inches),
The energy thereby stored at the same rate would only range from about 24 to 96 foot pounds.

Still further, if a roller system such as that shown in U.S. Pat. )
It is slightly more than that.

Generally, flywheel 104 absorbs excessive energy as soon as the energy expended by the tower occupant exceeds the amount of work required to rotate rear wheel 18 and spindle 106. Excess energy thus absorbed by flywheel 104 causes a progressive increase in speed as driving force is continuously applied to pedal 22. If the energy applied to the flywheel 104 is then interrupted, the rear wheels 18 will supplement the deficit created by the interruption in the additional drive power provided to the rear wheels 18 through actuation of the pedals 22. In order to do this, it releases its stored energy and begins to rotate slowly.

The heavier the flywheel 104 and the greater its speed, the more energy is stored in the flywheel 104 and the less the speed change for any given amount of stored energy, therefore the present invention utilizes the flywheel 104 as described above. shall not be considered limited to the shape, type, size and weight of the However, if you choose a flywheel of reasonable weight, it will usually be made from solid metal.

In devices of the above-mentioned type and in all the devices shown by the prior art, it is possible to fully obtain all the maximum efficiencies similar to those obtained through the use of many bicycles when riding on the road. It is impossible to obtain. However, even if a flywheel effect is possible with the teachings of the prior art, the effect is insignificant compared to the effect obtained with the present invention.
Many modern bicycles are equipped with a gear shift mechanism that can be manually operated by the rider. If a slight imperfection in efficiency becomes detectable by the occupant of the device of the invention, he must shift to a lower gear, where the lack of perfection is not detected. It disappears.

The stand 16 can be bent into the state shown in FIGS. 9 and 10 (correspondingly, the cutting tool 42 becomes a conveying handle). This is primarily because the adjustment member 66, which is normally held in place by an undercut 90a of the pin 90 as shown in FIG. 6, is removable from the pin 90. Additionally, the stabilizer 122 includes a loop 124 that accommodates a stud 126 that is welded to the leg 30 adjacent to the bight 26.
This is because it has Stabilizer 122 receiving pin 129 welded to bit 26
Releasing the upper set collar 128 allows the stabilizer 122 to swing into the position shown in FIGS. 9 and 10.

Pivot points 52 and 54 enable the rear bottom portion 32 to lie horizontally with the rear upper portion 40 extending above it (there acting as a base).

The front bottom portion 24 swings downwardly and rearwardly to the lower rear bottom portion 32 by arms 48 and 50.
The adjustment member 66 is simply supported by the cutting tool 2.
6 and the stabilizer 122 rests across the leg 38 near the arm 48.
The adjustment member 66 is attached to the tube 7 before being placed on the bite 26.
The bracket 120 is rotated 180 degrees about the zero axis and the shield 118 is rotated 180 degrees around the
Please note that the element 80 is covered in a loop shape so as to extend between the element 80 and the element 80.

The pin at pivot point 52 has an undercut (not shown) similar to undercut 90a. Therefore, for easy disassembly for packaging or shipping, the rear bottom portion 32 can be removed from the pivot points 52, 54 to provide a disassembled section.
The spring 86 can also be easily removed and the adjustment member 66 can be separated from the element 68 by unscrewing the bolt 74 from the end of the member 66. Also, by removing the nut 130 on the stud 126, the stabilizer 12
2 can be removed from the front bottom portion 24.

As shown in FIG. 11, the efficiency of flywheel disk 104 can be improved by wrapping a replaceable band 132 around spindle 106 that engages tire 108. A suitable adhesive tape material may be used to securely adhere to the spindle 106. band 1
The outer surface of 32 should not be abrasive to tire 108, but should have some degree of slippage to prevent slippage as crank 76 is adjusted to create a negative space between tire 108 and band 132. Requires friction. In this manner, the force between the tire 108 and band 132 required to effect proper rotation of the spindle 106 and disk 104 is reduced, making pedaling easier and increasing downhill time.

By way of example, so-called plastic "duct tape", which is readily available on the open market, has been found suitable for band 132. It is usually reinforced with an internally embedded nylon mesh 134, and due to the elasticity of the band 132,
The pressing force of the tire 108 against the band 132 causes the mesh 134 to connect the tire 108 and the band 132.
to prevent relative sliding between the outer surface of the

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a side view of a conventional bicycle placed on a support stand according to the present invention; FIG. 2 is a vertical sectional view of the stand showing the rear part of the bicycle in phantom; FIG. Figure 4 is a diagram similar to Figure 2, showing the partial position when the rider rides the bicycle, and Figure 5 is a partial side view similar to Figure 4, showing the energy storage inertial disk. 6 is a cross-sectional view taken along irregular line 6--6 of FIG. 2, partially cut away and cut away to show details of the construction, and FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 7--7 of FIG. 6. FIG. 8 is a partially enlarged front view showing the attachment of the bicycle rear wheel, partially cut away and cut away for illustration; FIG. 9 is a side view of the stand in the bent position; FIG. 10 is a rear view of the stand in the folded position, and FIG. 11 is a partially enlarged perspective view showing the hub of the inertial disk with replaceable tire engagement band. 16...stand, 18...rear wheel, 22...pedal, 23...framework, 104...flywheel, 106...spindle, 132...
band.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A framework having a pedal means and a driven wheel having an axle and propelled in response to a pedal force exerted on the pedal means by a tower rider; a stand adapted to rest on; an energy source having a driven element spaced apart above and above the support surface by the driven wheel, extending therethrough and fixed and coaxially rotating; an inertial member for storage; mounting means for mounting the driven element on the stand for causing the inertial member and the driven element to rotate coaxially; and mounting means for mounting the driven element on the stand so as not to engage the driven wheel with the surface. connecting means suspended above said surface and held for rotation about an axis parallel to a common axis of said inertial member and driven element; said driven element rotates with said outer periphery of said driven wheel; The disguised bicycle training device is arranged to engage with each other so that rotational force of the driven wheel is transmitted to the driven element during rotation of the driven wheel by the pedal means. 2. The device according to item 1, comprising an adjustment member for moving the driven wheel and the driven element relatively toward or away from each other. 3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said mounting means includes resilient vibration damping means for supporting said driven element. 4. The driven wheel has a hub that accommodates an axle,
The device according to claim 1, wherein the connecting means has a housing member for housing one end of the axle, and the housing member is movable toward and away from the driven wheel so as to accommodate hubs with different shaft lengths. . 5. The axle is provided with driven wheel holding means at corresponding positions on both ends, and the connecting means accommodates one of the holding means and has end holes of different sizes to accommodate said holding means of different sizes. 2. The apparatus of claim 1, including a tube and further comprising release means for attaching said tube to said stand. 6. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said connecting means includes hook means for receiving one end of said axle. 7. The apparatus of claim 4, wherein said connecting means is provided with hook means for accommodating the other end of said axle. 8. The apparatus of claim 4, further comprising a release means for holding the housing member at one end of the axle so that it does not move relative to the stand.