Pedal structure

Information

  • Patent Grant
  • 6453770
  • Patent Number
    6,453,770
  • Date Filed
    Wednesday, April 25, 2001
    23 years ago
  • Date Issued
    Tuesday, September 24, 2002
    22 years ago
  • Inventors
  • Examiners
    • Dinh; C. M
    Agents
    • Baxley; Charles E.
Abstract
A pedal structure includes a pedal body having a protrusion extending from an underside thereof. A passage is defined through the protrusion and a separation rib in the passage separates the passage into an upper portion for receiving a threaded rod and a lower portion for receiving a weight. A ridge extends from an inner periphery of the passage and a cover has a groove defined in an outer periphery thereof. The cover is engaged with the passage with the ridge engaged with the groove.
Description




FIELD OF THE INVENTION




The present invention relates to a pedal structure that has a passage for receiving a weight and a cover which has a groove in a periphery thereof and the groove receives ridges on an inner periphery of the passage so that the cover will not disengage from the pedal.




BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION




A conventional pedal for bicycles is shown in

FIGS. 1 and 2

and generally includes a pedal body


1


having a protrusion


11


extending from an underside thereof and a passage is defined through the protrusion


11


. A separation rib separates the passage into an upper portion


111


and a lower portion


112


. The upper portion


111


is to receive a threaded rod


15


and the lower portion


112


is to receive a weight


16


. A cover


17


is engaged with a plan inner periphery of the passage so as to close the passage and prevent the weight


16


from dropping from the lower portion


112


. The outer periphery


171


of the cover


17


and the inner periphery of the passage are plan surface so that the cover


17


is force-fitted with the inner periphery of the passage. When the pedal is tested as an impact test, an impact applied on the pedal could shank the cover


17


off the pedal body


1


, and the weight


16


drops from the lower portion


112


. The pedal then fails to pass the test and could not obtain the permission of production from the authority.




The present invention intends to provide a pedal structure wherein the cover has groove and a ridge extends from an inner periphery of the passage so that the cover is securely engaged with the passage by receiving the ridge in the groove.




SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION




In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a pedal structure and comprises a pedal body having a protrusion extending from an underside thereof and a passage is defined through the protrusion. A separation rib in the passage separates the passage into an upper portion for receiving a threaded rod, and a lower portion for receiving a weight. A ridge extends from an inner periphery of the passage and a cover is engaged with the passage. The cover has a groove defined in an outer periphery thereof so as to receive the ridge.




The primary object of the present invention is to provide a pedal that has a cover securely engaged with the passage so as to effectively prevent the weight from dropping from the passage.




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.











BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS





FIG. 1

is an exploded view to show a conventional pedal structure;





FIG. 2

is a cross sectional view to show the conventional pedal structure;





FIG. 3

is an exploded view to show a pedal structure of the present invention, and





FIG. 4

is a cross sectional view to show the pedal structure of the present invention.











DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT




Referring to

FIGS. 3 and 4

, the pedal structure of the present invention comprises a pedal body


4


which has a protrusion


41


extending from an underside thereof and a passage is defined through the protrusion


41


. A separation rib


412


in the passage separates the passage into an upper portion


410


and a lower portion


411


. A threaded rod


6


is received in the upper portion


410


and a weight


7


is received in the lower portion


411


. There is a section at an end of the passage where the separation rib


412


does not exist, the section has a ridge


413


extending from an inner periphery thereof. Two lugs


40


extend from the pedal body


4


in opposite with each other and a toe clip (not shown) is connected between the two lugs


40


.




A cover


5


has a groove


52


defined in an outer periphery thereof and the cover


5


is engaged with the section of the passage with the ridge


413


engaged with the groove


52


.




The cover


5


is securely positioned in the section of the passage by the engagement of the ridge


413


and the groove


52


so that when the pedal is impacted by a force, the cover


5


will not disengage from the pedal.




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.



Claims
  • 1. A pedal structure comprising:a pedal body having a protrusion extending from an underside thereof and a passage defined through said protrusion, a separation rib in said passage and separating said passage into an upper portion and a lower portion, a threaded rod received in said upper portion and a weight received in said lower portion, a ridge extending from an inner periphery of said passage; a cover having a groove defined in an outer periphery thereof and said cover engaged with said passage with said ridge engaged with said groove.
US Referenced Citations (10)
Number Name Date Kind
543844 Bliven Aug 1895 A
3563541 Sanquist Feb 1971 A
3943797 Jollie Mar 1976 A
4682771 Jean Jul 1987 A
5203827 Nestrud Apr 1993 A
5553515 Yang et al. Sep 1996 A
5662006 Angeltun Sep 1997 A
5785601 Kubesheski et al. Jul 1998 A
5833583 Chuang Nov 1998 A
6050154 Fan Apr 2000 A
Foreign Referenced Citations (2)
Number Date Country
9-2366 Jan 1997 JP
9-193872 Jul 1997 JP