Patent Application
20080284237
The present invention relates to a bicycle wheel rim assembly having flat spokes which of which has one end snapped to notches of the hub and the other end of each spoke is fixedly connected to the rim.
A conventional bicycle rim assembly generally includes a rim and a hub is located at a center of the rim, a plurality of spokes are connected between the hub and the rim. The two ends of the spokes are locked at the hub and the rim so as to have proper tension to maintain the wheel rim. A plurality of pads are located at the rim and the spokes extend through the pads and are fixedly connected by a nut. The hub is cooperated with fixing members to be fixedly connected the spokes to the hub. The spokes are made by metal and includes a consistent and small diameter and it requires a lot of processes to fix the spokes to the rim and the hub. Due to the small diameter, a certain number of spokes are required to maintain the shape of the rim and the more the spokes are installed, the higher the resistant force is generated when the wheel rotates.
The present invention intends to provide a bicycle wheel rim assembly which includes a hub with notches so that the spokes are easily snapped with the notches, and the other end of each spoke have two threaded sections which are fixedly connected to the rim. Each spoke is flat and a width thereof gradually increases in radial direction from the hub.
The present invention relates to a bicycle wheel rim assembly which comprises a rim with a hub located at a center of the rim. A plurality of notches are defined in the hub. A plurality of spokes are connected between the hub and the rim, wherein each spoke is a flat board and has a first end engaged with one of the notches and a plurality threaded sections extend from a second end of each spoke, the threaded sections are fixed to the rim.
The present invention will become more obvious from the following description when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings which show, for purposes of illustration only, a preferred embodiment in accordance with the present invention.
Referring to
A plurality of spokes 30 are connected between the hub 10 and the rim 20, wherein each spoke 30 is a flat board and a first end of each spoke 30 has a sphere 311 which is engaged with one of the notches 13 and the recess 14. A U-shaped member is partially merged in a second end of each spoke 30 and two legs of the U-shaped member extend out from the second end of each spoke 30. The two legs include two threaded sections 321 which extend from the second end 32 of each spoke 30 and are securely connected with the holes 21 of the rim 20. Each spoke 30 includes a flat body portion 312 and a width of the flat body portion 312 gradually increases in the radial direction from the first end toward the second end thereof. The flat board of each of the spokes 30 and the rim 20 are located at the same plane.
The U-shaped member is made by metal and the flat board of each spoke 30 can be made by plastic, fiberglass or composite material. The spokes 30 includes larger cross sectional compared with the conventional spokes so that the shocks from ground can be absorbed more efficiently by the spokes 30. The sphere 311 and the flat body portion 312 are made integrally and the integral structure provides the spokes 30 proper flexibility which effectively maintains the shape of the rim 20. The sphere 311 can be easily engaged with the notch 13 and the recess 14 so as to reduce the assembly time required.
While we have shown and described the embodiment in accordance with the present invention, it should be clear to those skilled in the art that further embodiments may be made without departing from the scope of the present invention.
