Patent Application
20070137410
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to bicycle handlebars, more particularly, to a contouring pad for shaping a bicycle handlebar.
2. Description of the Related Art
Riding a racing bicycle and gripping a rigid unshaped handlebar for an extended time can cause fatigue and even numbness of the hands and arms. For creating a more comfortable bicycle handlebar, U.S. Pat. No. 5,280,735 has been disclosed an apparatus for shaping a bicycle handlebar. The apparatus has pads placed on the handlebar and enclosed thereon by tapes wrapped about the forms. Thus the shape of the handlebar can be customized to the needs of the bicycle rider. The pads may be moved and the tape rewrapped thereover when desired.
Such an apparatus mentioned above has a problem that for being made only from a single material, the pads would be too soft or hard to achieve the effect that the apparatus wants to provide.
Thus, it would be desirable to provide a contouring pad that has a suitable character for creating and shaping a more comfortable bicycle handlebar.
According to the present invention, a contouring pad for shaping a bicycle handlebar includes a backing member made of a first resilient material having a predetermined hardness to form the whole contour of the pad. The backing member has at least an accommodating portion therein. A liner member made of a second resilient member having a hardness being less than that of the first resilient material is retained in the accommodating portion.
In a preferred embodiment the backing member has an inner surface conforming with the outer surface of a bicycle handlebar and an outer surface conforming with at least a portion of the human hand.
In another preferred embodiment the accommodating portion of the backing member is a chamber. The liner is shaped according to the contour of the chamber for being received therein.
These and further features of the present invention will be apparent with reference to the following description and drawings, wherein:
The backing member 20 can be made of a first resilient material which has a suitable hardness such as rubber, urethane foam, or polyurethane foam to form the whole contour of the pad 10. In the present embodiment, the backing member 20 is made of polyurethane foam.
The backing member 20 has an inner surface 22 conforming with the outer surface of the bicycle handlebar 90 and an outer surface 24 conforming with at least a portion of the human hand. In the present embodiment, the accommodating portions are chambers 26, 28 formed on the portions of the inner surface 22 corresponding to the positions of the bicycle handlebar gripped by human hand when riding a racing bicycle.
The liner members 30, 32 can be made of a second resilient material which is softer than the first resilient materials such as plastic gel. In the present embodiment, the liner member 30, 32 are made of polyurethane gel. The liner member 30, 32 are shaped to correspond to the chambers 26, 28 and are received therein.
A third pad embodiment 70 in accordance with the present invention is shown in
The backing member 72 has an inner surface 76 with a recess 78 to receive the liner member 74. The recess 78 has a bottom wall 80 provided with a plurality of openings 82. The liner member 74 has a top surface 84 with a plurality of protrudes 86. The liner member 74 is received in the recess 78 in such a way that each of the protrudes 86 pierces respectively through each of openings 82.
As mentioned above, for having the backing member with a suitable hardness to form the whole contour of the pad, and the liner members having a hardness less than that of the backing member received in the portions of the backing member corresponding to the positions of the bicycle handlebar that are gripped by a rider's hand when riding a racing bicycle, the pad 10 can create and shape a more comfortable bicycle handlebar.
