Patent Application
20220041247
The present disclosure relates to a bike and a belt tensioner thereof and, more particularly, to a bike and a belt tensioner thereof to allow a belt to connect to a rear wheel and to be tightened from the same side of a chain stay or a seat stay.
A conventional bike has a chain stay, rear wheel, ring, pedals, cranks and circular belt. The rear wheel is mounted on the chain stay. The pedals are mounted to the cranks. The cranks are connected to the ring. The circular belt connects the ring and the rear wheel. When a user presses the pedals with his/her feet, the pedals drive the ring to rotate such that the circular belt circulates and drives the rear wheel to rotate, causing the bike to move.
The conventional bike requires the circular belt to extend to above and below the chain stay in order to connect to the rear wheel from above and below the chain stay. However, constituent elements of the bike are densely distributed in the vicinity of the point located on the lower side of the chain stay and positioned proximate to the rear wheel. As a result, there is no space for allowing the circular belt to pass, and the bike would have to be designed with an expensive opening to allow the belt to pass through. Consequently, the design cost of the conventional bike is high to enable the circular belt to connect smoothly to the rear wheel from the lower side of the chain stay.
Therefore, it is imperative to provide a bike that allows a circular belt to extend only from above a chain stay so as to connect to a rear wheel.
It is an objective of the present disclosure to provide a belt tensioner that allows a belt to connect to a rear wheel and to be tightened from the same side of a chain stay or a seat stay.
In order to achieve the above and other objectives, the present disclosure provides a belt tensioner for use with a bike. The bike comprises a frame and a belt. The frame comprises a chain stay or a seat stay. The chain stay and the seat stay respectively comprises a top surface and a bottom surface. The belt tensioner comprises a tensioner skeleton, a roller and a tension regulator. The tensioner skeleton is pivotally connected to the chain stay or the seat stay. An included angle is formed between the tensioner skeleton and the chain stay or the seat stay. The roller is pivotally connected to the tensioner skeleton and is in contact with the belt. The tension regulator presses against the belt and thus adjusts a tension of the belt. The tension regulator is disposed at one end of the tensioner skeleton, and the end of the tensioner skeleton is positioned distal to the bottom surface. Part of the belt is in contact with the tension regulator. The vertical height of the contact part of the belt is greater than the height of the top surface of the chain stay.
In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the tensioner skeleton further comprises a first link and a second link. The first link is disposed at the chain stay or the seat stay and has a first extension direction. The second link comprises a first end. The first end is pivotally connected to the first link. When the first end is pivotally connected to the first link, the second link has a second extension direction. An included angle is formed between the first extension direction and the second extension direction.
In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the second link comprises a second end, and the second end is pivotally connected to the roller.
The tension regulator further comprises a positioning holder and an elevating stud. The positioning holder is connected to the tensioner skeleton. The elevating stud moves along the positioning holder. The elevating stud is able to increase the tension of the belt by moving upward to press against the belt.
In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the second link further comprises a through hole, and the elevating stud passes through the through hole to press against the belt.
In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the belt tensioner stretches the belt along the second extension direction such that the belt extends obliquely from the bottom surface to the top surface. Part of the belt is in contact with the tension regulator. The vertical height of the contact part of the belt is greater than the height of the top surface when the tension regulator presses against the belt.
In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the included angle ranges from 10 to 80 degrees.
Another objective of the present disclosure is to provide a bike that allows a belt to connect to a rear wheel and to be tightened from the same side of a chain stay or a seat stay.
In order to achieve the above and other objectives, the present disclosure provides a bike comprising a frame and a belt. The frame comprises a chain stay and a seat stay. The chain stay and the seat stay respectively comprises a top surface, a bottom surface and a connection surface. Two opposing ends of the connection surface are connected to the top surface and the bottom surface, respectively. According to the present disclosure, the bike further comprises a belt tensioner, and the belt tensioner is disposed at the chain stay or the seat stay. The belt tensioner comprises a tensioner skeleton, a roller and a tension regulator. The tensioner skeleton is disposed on a connection surface. The roller is pivotally connected to the tensioner skeleton and in contact with the belt. The tension regulator presses against the belt and thus adjusts a tension of the belt. The tension regulator is disposed at an end of the tensioner skeleton, and the end of the tensioner skeleton is positioned distal to the bottom surface. Part of the belt is in contact with the tension regulator. The vertical height of the contact part of the belt is greater than the height of the top surface of the chain stay when the tension regulator presses against the belt.
In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the bike comprises a lateral platform, and the belt extends from the top surface to the lateral platform so as to connect to the rear wheel.
Objectives, features, and advantages of the present disclosure are hereunder illustrated with specific embodiments, depicted with drawings, and described below.
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Furthermore, the user can rotate the second link 12 so as to adjust the overall height of the tensioner skeleton 10 such that the roller 30 varies in height and thus presses against or moves away from the belt 140. Therefore, the present disclosure is effective in changing the tension of the belt 140. Therefore, the present disclosure is effective in changing the tension of the belt 140.
Furthermore, the location of the tensioner skeleton 10 is not limited to the chain stay 111; for example, the first link 11 of the tensioner skeleton 10 can be pivotally connected to the seat stay 112, the second link 12 can be towards the chain stay 111, and the roller 30 contacts with the belt 140, and the vertical height of the contact part of the belt 140 is greater than a height of the top surface of the chain stay 111.
The present disclosure provides a bike and a belt tensioner to allow a belt to extend from above and thereby connect to a rear wheel. The present disclosure dispenses with the need to require the belt to connect to the rear wheel from below and thereby saves cost otherwise incurred in the structural design. Furthermore, the belt tensioner 1 adjusts the tension of the belt.
Although the present disclosure is disclosed above by embodiments, the embodiments are not restrictive of the present disclosure. Changes and modifications to the embodiments made by persons skilled in the art without departing from the spirit of the present disclosure must be deemed to fall within the scope of the present disclosure. Accordingly, the legal protection for the present disclosure should be defined by the appended claims.
