The invention relates to a bicycle equipped with a rear seat for a child.
The most common way to transport a child on a bicycle is to install a special seat generally attached to the seat tube or to the baggage carrier. In this type of configuration, the center of gravity of the child is longitudinally at the level of the axle of the rear wheel, even slightly behind. This causes a pitching-up moment.
The seat is installed above the rear wheel, ordinarily with a diameter of 26 inches (660 mm), and is elevated, thus creating—at the slightest imbalance—a moment that has a tendency to lay the bicycle on its side.
The combination of these two moments makes the bicycle difficult to handle and unstable as soon as it inclines laterally or pitches up. This instability is particularly critical for an adult of small stature when the latter is pushing the bicycle, for example to go up a curb with the child installed on the bicycle.
The invention proposes a solution that makes it possible to eliminate the pitching-up moment and to reduce the moment that has the effect of laying down the bicycle.
The invention proposes in effect a solution aiming at improving the stability of bicycles equipped with a seat or seats for transporting a child by realigning and lowering the center of gravity of the child by means of a particular frame structure, optionally or preferably in combination with a choice of reduced wheel diameters and/or an increase in the spacing of the pedals.
The invention will be more easily understood upon examination of the following description in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:
More particularly, the invention proposes realigning the weights by advancing the child seat inside the wheelbase of the bicycle (compare
Consequently, it involves solving the two problems presented above:
The adoption of a rear wheel of smaller diameter (for example 20 inches: 500 mm) makes it possible to lower the seat. It also makes it possible to move the wheel axle back while minimizing the increase in the overall length of the bicycle. A free space (V in
However, the installation of a child seat in this space is normally not possible because the feet of the child are found inside the envelope (e in
The invention proposes to solve this problem by modifying the load-bearing structure 10 of the bicycle that links the upper end of the seat tube 4 to the rear wheel axle 14, a structure often referred to as rear fork or seat stay (10 and 10′ in
According to an embodiment, there is adapted for this purpose, behind the seat tube, a frame, for example a tubular quadrilateral (9 in
The quadrilateral 9 thus defines a passage that makes it possible for the feet 31 of the child 13 to be located inside the load-bearing structure or rear frame of the bicycle.
According to an aspect of the invention, the intersection 32 between the base 24 and the back 25 of the child seat (see
According to another embodiment illustrated in
Furthermore, to increase the available width for the feet 31 of the child, it is advantageously possible to enlarge the distance between the pedals 29 (d in
The invention therefore makes it possible to realign the child seat inside the wheelbase and also offers the feature of doing it without significantly increasing the overall length of the bicycle. Actually, the bicycle can be provided with a wheel 5′ of 22 inches or less at the rear and also at the front.
The gain in length between a bicycle equipped with two wheels of 700 mm in diameter and a bicycle equipped with a wheel of 22 inches in the front and 20 in the rear represents: 700*2/2−(20+22)*25.4/2=166 mm. The overall length of the bicycle increases therefore less than the elongation of the wheelbase.
An example of a bicycle with tubular structure is presented in perspective in
An example of a bicycle where the containment zone 16 is an integral part of the load-bearing frame is presented in
In summary, the invention relates to a bicycle equipped with a seat for a child in which the seat is positioned behind the adult, directed forward, and in which the placement for the feet of the child is found inside the portion of the load-bearing structure of the bicycle connecting the seat tube to the rear wheel axle, a portion thus forming a modified seat stay.
The seat of the bicycle is positioned, so that in use, the feet of the child are found inside the envelope (e′,
The heels of the adult during pedaling pass, at least partially, to the outside of the feet of the child and of the structure of the modified seat stay 9 and 10′ thanks to a separation (d′) of the pedals 29 that is greater than that of a standard bicycle, for example about 200 mm and preferably greater than 225 mm.
According to another aspect of the invention, the intersection 32 between the base 24 and the back 25 of the child seat is found at less than 750 mm, preferably less than 700 mm, from the axle 33 of the crankset.
According to another aspect of the invention, the base 24 of the child seat is at less than 700 mm, preferably less than 675 mm, from the ground.
The bicycle can be equipped with a second child seat. The length cannot exceed 2,000 mm, preferably 1,900 mm.
The diameter of the rear wheel is preferably less than the diameter of the front wheel.
According to an embodiment, the front wheel has a diameter of between 450 and 750 mm, preferably 500 to 700 mm, and/or the rear wheel is between 390 and 520 mm.
The bicycle can have a tubular frame 9 that is part of the load-bearing structure, whose plane is perpendicular to the plane of the bicycle and slantways in relation to the ground, incorporated between the seat tube and a seat stay structure connected to the axle of the rear wheel, said tubular frame allowing the feet of a child seated in said seat to pass through.
The bicycle can comprise a panel or a system of panels made of sheet metal 16, incorporated between the seat tube and a seat stay structure 10′ connected to the axle 14 of the rear wheel, said sheet metal structure at least partially delimiting a space able to receive the feet of the child.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
2011/0715 | Dec 2011 | BE | national |
Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
PCT/EP2012/074991 | 12/10/2012 | WO | 00 |
Publishing Document | Publishing Date | Country | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
WO2013/083849 | 6/13/2013 | WO | A |
Number | Name | Date | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
1858743 | Langstreth | May 1932 | A |
2787970 | Bennett | Apr 1957 | A |
3016967 | Rehfeld | Jan 1962 | A |
3256034 | Condray | Jun 1966 | A |
3802598 | Burger et al. | Apr 1974 | A |
3873127 | McNichol et al. | Mar 1975 | A |
4022488 | Likas | May 1977 | A |
4045077 | DeVone | Aug 1977 | A |
4183418 | Dudas | Jan 1980 | A |
4313511 | Soo Hoo | Feb 1982 | A |
D294778 | Lynch | Mar 1988 | S |
4792040 | Wagstaff, III | Dec 1988 | A |
4932572 | Ippolito et al. | Jun 1990 | A |
5161430 | Febey | Nov 1992 | A |
5234143 | Mahvi et al. | Aug 1993 | A |
5297846 | Rafter | Mar 1994 | A |
5358267 | Wakefield | Oct 1994 | A |
5470092 | Fardy | Nov 1995 | A |
5622374 | Rudeen et al. | Apr 1997 | A |
5863058 | Jinks | Jan 1999 | A |
6076539 | Richardson | Jun 2000 | A |
6092820 | Evans | Jul 2000 | A |
6227557 | Perret | May 2001 | B1 |
6443469 | Cross et al. | Sep 2002 | B1 |
7144024 | Falkner et al. | Dec 2006 | B2 |
7845664 | Rodgers | Dec 2010 | B2 |
8382135 | Raike et al. | Feb 2013 | B1 |
20010038190 | Provencher | Nov 2001 | A1 |
20030102657 | Kuo | Jun 2003 | A1 |
20040245741 | Falkner et al. | Dec 2004 | A1 |
20070235977 | Cleland | Oct 2007 | A1 |
Number | Date | Country |
---|---|---|
MU8402701 | Feb 2006 | BR |
CH220389 | Mar 1942 | CN |
4331510 | Mar 1995 | DE |
102010005916 | Aug 2011 | DE |
1047562 | Dec 1953 | FR |
2583367 | Dec 1986 | FR |
Entry |
---|
International Search Report, dated Apr. 3, 2013, from corresponding PCT application. |
Number | Date | Country | |
---|---|---|---|
20140346751 A1 | Nov 2014 | US |