Patent Application
20080284238
The present invention is directed to bicycles and, more particularly, to a bicycle wheel rim with colored portions.
Bicycling is becoming an increasingly popular form of recreation as well as a means of transportation. Moreover, bicycling also has become a very popular competitive sport for both amateurs and professionals. Whether the bicycle is used for recreation, transportation or competition, the bicycle industry is constantly improving the various components of the bicycle. For example, bicycle wheels have been extensively redesigned over the past few years to be lightweight and more aerodynamic as well as to be simple to manufacture and assemble.
There are many different types of bicycle wheels currently available on the market. The most basic type of bicycle wheel comprises a hub portion, a plurality of spokes, and an annular rim. The hub portion is attached to a part of the bicycle frame for relative rotation. The inner ends of the spokes are coupled to the hub portion, and the outer ends of the spokes are coupled to the rim. A pneumatic tire is mounted to the outer peripheral portion of the rim.
The rim typically comprises a ring-shaped rim body formed from a lightweight metal such as aluminum. Some rims are formed from a composite material. However, regardless of the material used to construct the rim, the appearance of the rim is very important. The typical rim has a single uniform color determined by the materials used to construct the rim. For example, standard aluminum rims are uniformly silver in color, and some anodized aluminum rims have a dark gray or black color. For aesthetic purposes, it is desirable to have some variety in the coloration of the rim, but manually applying color to the rim can be very labor intensive.
The present invention is directed to various features of a bicycle wheel rim. In one embodiment, a bicycle wheel rim comprises a ring-shaped wheel rim body having a rotational axis. A colored surface is formed by dipping the rim body in a coloring agent so that a first color difference portion and a second color difference portion are formed on opposite sides of the rim body. Additional inventive features will become apparent from the description below, and such features alone or in combination with the above features and their equivalents may form the basis of further inventions as recited in the claims.
Drive unit 105 comprises a chain 95, a front sprocket assembly 99f coaxially mounted with a crank 96 having pedals PD, an electrically controlled front derailleur 97f attached to a seat tube 102a of frame 102, a rear sprocket assembly 99r coaxially mounted with rear wheel 106r, and an electrically controlled rear derailleur 97r. Front sprocket assembly 99f comprises two coaxially mounted sprockets, and rear sprocket assembly 99r comprises ten sprockets mounted coaxially with an axle of rear wheel 106r. Front derailleur 97f moves to two operating positions to switch chain 95 between the two front sprockets, and rear derailleur 97r moves to ten operating positions to switch chain 95 among selected ones of the ten rear sprockets.
A handlebar stem 111 is mounted to the upper portion of front fork 98, and a drop-style handlebar 112 is mounted to a front portion of handlebar stem 111. A combined brake and shift control device 113f is mounted to the left side of handlebar 112 to control the operation of front derailleur 97f and front brake 107f, and a combined brake and shift control device 113r is mounted to the right side of handlebar 112 to control the operation of rear derailleur 97r and rear brake 107r. An electronic control unit 110 provides the appropriate electrical signals to front derailleur 97f an rear derailleur 97r in response to the operation of the shift control devices in combined brake and shift control devices 113f and 113r in a known manner.
Front wheel 106f comprises a hub axle 120 defining a rotational axis R, a wheel hub 124 supported to hub axle 120 for rotation around rotational axis R, a ring-shaped rim body 128, a plurality of spokes 130 that attach wheel hub to rim body 128 in a conventional manner, and a tire 132 fitted around the outer circumference of rim body 128. Rear wheel 106r also has a conventional structure, including conventional structure that supports the plurality of rear sprockets 99r. Since the relevant features are directed to rim body 128, a further description of the other structures shall be omitted.
In this embodiment, rim body 128 is constructed from, e.g., an aluminum alloy, but other materials may be used.
The resulting rim body 128 with a continuous arcuate colored portion 158 is shown in
If desired, rim body 128 may be considered aesthetically complete at this time. However, if desired, step S600 in
While the above is a description of various embodiments of inventive features, further modifications may be employed without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. For example, the size, shape, location or orientation of the various components may be changed as desired. Components that are shown directly connected or contacting each other may have intermediate structures disposed between them. The functions of one element may be performed by two, and vice versa. The structures and functions of one embodiment may be adopted in another embodiment. It is not necessary for all advantages to be present in a particular embodiment at the same time. Every feature which is unique from the prior art, alone or in combination with other features, also should be considered a separate description of further inventions by the applicant, including the structural and/or functional concepts embodied by such feature(s). Thus, the scope of the invention should not be limited by the specific structures disclosed or the apparent initial focus or emphasis on a particular structure or feature.
