Patent Application
20100078912
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relatives to a trailer and, more particularly, to a bicycle trailer can be adapted as a baggage barrow when separated from a bicycle.
2. Description of the Related Art
A conventional bicycle trailer includes a carrier that is selected from a case or a frame made of plural rods for holding objects like goods or baggage, two wheels separately mounted at two lateral sides and near the rear of the carrier, and a connecting member with one end thereof coupled to the front of the carrier. A free end of the connecting member is adapted to be coupled to a bicycle, such that the trailer and the bicycle are linked. In use, the front of the carrier linked to the bicycle through the connecting member is away from the ground without contact. Hence, the carrier of the conventional bicycle trailer can be pulled behind the bicycle to move along a road with the wheels turning.
Nevertheless, said conventional bicycle trailer has several drawbacks. For example, a position of the carrier relative to the ground is fixed and can't be adjusted according to a user's need in different situations, so that the conventional bicycle trailer only provides a use for transportation by bicycles. Thus, inconvenience of using the conventional bicycle trailer is provided. Besides, if the position of the carrier relative to the ground is too low, the carrier will easily hit rocks and break while the conventional bicycle trailer is moving. On the other hand, if the position of the carrier relative to the ground is too high, the conventional bicycle trailer will overturn easily because of its highly disposed center-of-gravity position. Hence, there is a need for an improvement over the conventional bicycle trailer.
It is therefore the primary objective of this invention to provide a bicycle trailer that overcomes the problems of the prior art described above to allow the bicycle trailer to be used as a baggage barrow when separated from bicycle.
The secondary objective of this invention is to provide the bicycle trailer that can avoid damage thereof by adjusting positions of wheels of the bicycle trailer.
The bicycle trailer in accordance with an aspect of the present invention includes a carrying frame, two adjusting modules and two wheels. The carrying frame is adapted to receivehold objects. The adjusting modules mounted at two opposite sides of the carrying frame respectively. Each adjusting module includes a pivoting member pivotably coupled to an corner of the carrying frame, an adjusting member movably mounted on the carrying frame and aligned with the pivoting member to move close to or away from the pivoting member and a connecting bar with two ends thereof respectively fixed to the adjusting member and one end of the pivoting member. The two wheels are coupled to the other ends of the pivoting members of the two adjusting modules respectively. Consequently, positions of the wheels relative to the carrying frame are adjustable through the adjusting modules, and this make the bicycle trailer to have several different uses.
In an example, the pivoting member is an L-shaped arm with a bent portion thereof forming a combining portion and has a first end and a second end, with each combining portion being coupled to the corner of the carrying frame, with both first ends being fixed to the connecting bars and both second ends being fixed to axial centers of the two wheels. Accordingly, the wheels can be driven to move by turning of the pivoting members.
In an example, the adjusting member has a movable seat movably mounted on a rod of the carrying frame, with the rods where the movable seats of the two adjusting modules mounted being at the two opposite sides of the carrying frame, and a positioning element combing with the movable seat to fix the movable seat at a position on the rod of the carrying frame, with the other end of the connecting bar being fixed to the movable seat. Accordingly, the movable seat can be positioned close to or away from the pivoting member and the pivoting member can be driven to turn by horizontal movement of the movable seat, so that positions of the wheels relative to the carrying frame can be adjusted.
In an example, the bicycle trailer further includes a linking arm coupled to the carrying frame, with the linking arm being at the front side of the carrying frame and the wheels being at the back side of the carrying frame. Accordingly, the bicycle trailer can be linked to a bicycle through the linking arm.
In an example, the linking arm is a bent rod corresponding to the contour of the carrying frame and the linking arm has a linking portion on one end thereof which is adapted to be coupled to the bicycle. Accordingly, the linking portion can be engaged with the bicycle while the linking arm will not contact with parts of the bicycle.
In an example, the bicycle trailer further includes a fastening module mounted between the linking arm and the carrying frame, with the linking arm being pivotably coupled to the carrying frame through the fastening module. Accordingly, the linking arm can be easily lapped over the carrying frame or not.
In an example, the fastening module has a plurality of rings with each of which forming a flange and a pin, with two adjacent rings being mounted around the carrying frame and the linking arm respectively, with flanges of the two adjacent rings being aligned with and attached to each other, with the pin extending through the attached flanges. Accordingly, the linking arm and the carrying frame are reliably combined and the linking arm is able to pivot on the pin.
In an example, the fastening module further has a clasping element rotatably mounted on one end of the linking arm adjacent to the carrying frame, with the clasping element having a clasping portion selected from a C-loop which can engage with the carrying frame or not. Accordingly, a secure combination between the linking arm and the carrying frame is provided.
In an example, the bicycle trailer further includes a connector with two ends thereof fixed to the movable seats of the adjusting modules respectively. Accordingly, the movable seats can move synchronously.
In an example, the bicycle trailer further includes two shock absorbers with each of them mounted on the connecting bar. Accordingly, shock impulse is dampened.
Further scope of the applicability of the present invention will become apparent from the detailed description given hereinafter. However, it should be understood that the detailed description and specific examples, while indicating preferred embodiments of the invention, are given by way of illustration only, since various will become apparent to those skilled in the art from this detailed description.
The present invention will become more fully understood from the detailed description given hereinbelow and the accompanying drawings which are given by way of illustration only, and thus are not limitative of the present invention, and wherein:
In the various figures of the drawings, the same numerals designate the same or similar parts. Furthermore, when the terms “first”, “second”, “end”, “axial”, “portion”, “horizontal”, “colockwise” and similar terms are used hereinafter, it should be understood that these terms are reference only to the structure shown in the drawings as it would appear to a person viewing the drawings and are utilized only to facilitate describing the invention.
Referring initially to
The adjusting member 22 has a movable seat 221 and a positioning element 222. The movable seats 221 of the two adjusting modules 2 are respectively movably mounted on two rods 10 of the carrying frame 1, with the two rods 10 being at the two opposite sides of the carrying frame 1, and each movable seat 221 is aligned with the pivoting member 21 to move close to or away from the pivoting member 21. The positioning element 222 combines with the movable seat 221 to fix the movable seat 221 at a predetermined position on the rod 10 of the carrying frame 1. In this embodiment, the positioning element 222 is able to clamp the rod 10 of the carrying frame 1 to position the movable seat 221. Two ends of the connecting bar 23 are fixed to the first end 212 of the pivoting member 21 and the movable seat 221 of the adjusting member 22 respectively to link the pivoting member 21 and the adjusting member 22. Furthermore, there are two retaining blocks 11 respectively disposed on the rods 10 of the carrying frame 1 where the adjusting members 22 of the two adjusting modules 2 are mounted, with the adjusting member 22 being between each retaining block 11 and the pivoting member 21. Hence, a distance of the movable seat 221 moving along the rod 10 of the carrying frame 1 is limited by each of the retaining blocks 11. Besides, there is a connector 5 with two ends thereof fixed to the movable seats 221 of the adjusting modules 2 respectively, such that the movable seats 221 can synchronously move along the rods 10 of the carrying frame 1.
Still referring to
The linking arm 4 has a linking portion 41 on one end thereof, with the linking portion 41 being preferred a ring, a hook or the like. The linking arm 4 close to the other end thereof is combined with a rod of the carrying frame 1 through a fastening module 6, with the linking arm 4 and the wheels 3 being at the front side and the back side of the carrying frame 1 respectively. Furthermore, the fastening module 6 is mounted between the linking arm 4 close to the other end thereof and the rod of the carrying frame 1 to couple them. And the fastening module 6 has a plurality of rings 61 and a clasping element 62, with each ring 61 forming a flange 611. The two adjacent rings 61 are mounted around the carrying frame 1 and the linking arm 4 respectively, with flanges 611 of the two adjacent rings 61 being aligned with and attached to each other. A pin 63 extends through the attached flanges 611 to complete combination of the carrying frame 1 and the linking arm 4, so that the linking arm 4 can pivot on the pin 63. The clasping element 62 is rotatably mounted on the other end of the linking arm 4 without the linking portion 41, and the clasping element 62 has a clasping portion 621, which is preferred a C-loop and can be engaged with the carrying frame 1 to fix a position of the linking arm 4 relative to the carrying frame 1, or not engaged with the carrying frame 1 when the linking arm 4 pivots on the pin 63. Hence, a secure combination between the linking arm 4 and the carrying frame 1 is provided. Besides, the linking arm 4 is preferred a bent rod corresponding to the contour of the carrying frame 1, so that the linking arm 4 will not contact with a rear wheel 7 or other parts of a bicycle when the linking arm 4 is coupled to the bicycle (see
Referring now to
Referring now to
As has been discussed above, the positions of the wheels 3 relative to the carrying frame 1 can be adjusted by the adjusting modules 2 to change the distance between the carrying frame 1 and the ground. As a result, the bicycle trailer of the present invention indeed has several different uses.
Although the invention has been described in detail with reference to its presently preferred embodiment, it will be understood by one of ordinary skill in the art that various modifications can be made without departing from the spirit and the scope of the invention, as set forth in the appended claims.
