Claims
- 1. An adjustable bicycle seat support, comprising:
a seat post capable of attachment in telescopic and vertically adjustable relation to a frame member of a bicycle; a retaining mechanism configured and arranged releasably to hold said post in one of a plurality of fixed vertical positions relative to said frame member, said retaining mechanism being operable to release said post to accomplish a change in elevation of said post while said retaining mechanism remains at a fixed distance from said frame member; and a release mechanism, safely operable while a rider is in the act of riding said bicycle, said release mechanism being operable to release engagement of said retaining mechanism from said post, whereby to permit an adjustment in elevation of said post with respect to said frame member.
- 2. The seat support of claim 1, wherein:
said release mechanism is constructed and arranged to permit a change in seat elevation without requiring a rider to remove his hands from a handlebar of said bicycle.
- 3. The seat support of claim 1, wherein:
said retaining mechanism is carried on a tubular member that is adapted for telescopic registration in said bicycle frame member.
- 4. The seat support of claim 1, wherein:
said retaining mechanism is carried on structure associated with a frame of said bicycle.
- 5. The seat support of claim 1, further comprising:
alignment structure adapted to maintain a seat in an approximately forward facing direction during changes of elevation of said seat.
- 6. The seat support of claim 5, said alignment structure further being adapted to resist displacement of said post beyond an upper and a lower bound.
- 7. The seat support of claim 5, said alignment structure comprising:
a channel formed in said post; and indexing structure configured and arranged for sliding reception in said channel as said post is raised and lowered.
- 8. The seat support of claim 7, wherein:
said channel and said indexing structure operate in harmony to limit a maximum displacement of said post.
- 9. The seat support of claim 1, said retaining mechanism being constructed and arranged with said post to permit a change in elevation of said seat, between fixed positions, of less than about ¼ inch.
- 10. The seat support of claim 3, wherein:
said post carries structure to interface for holding by said release mechanism at a high seat position and at a low seat position; with said post retained at said high seat position by said release mechanism, said tubular member can be vertically adjusted with respect to said frame member and fixed in a position to locate a seat at a rider's desired high seat position; and operation of said release mechanism permits said post to move to said low seat position under the influence of a rider's weight.
- 11. The seat support of claim 10, wherein:
said post is holdable, by structure carried by said retaining mechanism, at only a high position and a low position; and the distance between said high seat position and said low seat position is a fixed increment between about 2 and about 5 inches.
- 12. An adjustable bicycle seat support, comprising:
a seat post; a retaining mechanism configured and arranged releasably to hold said seat post in one of a plurality of vertical positions relative to a bicycle, and a release mechanism, safely operable while a rider is in the act of riding said bicycle, said release mechanism being operable to release engagement of said retaining mechanism from said post, whereby to permit a telescoping adjustment in elevation of said post.
- 13. The seat support of claim 12, wherein:
said release mechanism is constructed and arranged to permit a change in seat elevation without requiring a rider to remove his hands from a handlebar of said bicycle.
- 14. The seat support of claim 12, further comprising:
alignment structure adapted to maintain a preferred orientation of said post during changes in elevation of said post.
- 15. The seat support of claim 14, wherein:
holding structure of said retaining mechanism can be withdrawn from engagement with receiving structure of a post while indexing structure of said retaining mechanism remains in engagement with alignment structure of said post.
- 16. The seat support of claim 15, wherein:
structure of said retaining mechanism is adapted for progressive engagement with receiving structure of a seat post, whereby to resist wobble of a held seat post.
- 17. The seat support of claim 14, wherein:
said alignment structure operates in harmony with structure of said retaining mechanism to define a maximum and a minimum height to which said seat post may be adjusted.
- 18. The seat support of claim 12, wherein:
a holding interface between said seat post and said retaining structure can be overridden, by a rider, to effect an increase in seat post elevation without actuating a release mechanism.
- 19. The seat support of claim 12, wherein:
said retaining mechanism is structured to permit an increment of change in vertical height, at which a seat post may be held, of less than about ⅛ inch.
- 20. An adjustable bicycle seat support, comprising:
a retaining mechanism carried on a tubular member that is adapted for telescoping registration with a bicycle frame member; a seat post slidingly disposed in said tubular member, said retaining mechanism being configured and arranged releasably to hold said seat post in one of a plurality of positions with respect to said tubular member; and a release mechanism, operable to release engagement between structure of said retaining mechanism and structure of said post, whereby to permit adjustment in position of said seat post.
RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application claims the benefit under 35 U.S.C. 119(e) of the filing date of Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/296,908, filed Jun. 11, 2001, for “BICYCLE SEAT ELEVATION ADJUSTER”.
Provisional Applications (1)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
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60296908 |
Jun 2001 |
US |