1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to bicycle saddles and more particularly, to a shell for a bicycle saddle.
2. Description of the Related Art
It is well known that a bicycle saddle includes a shell that forms the basic configuration of the saddle, a resilient pad covering the top of the shell for making the saddle more comfortable, a protective layer covering the resilient pad, and a supporting frame attached to the bottom of the shell for being mounted to a seat post of a bicycle.
Because the shell for the bicycle saddle must have strong structural strength to serve as a support, it is usually made of material with a sufficient hardness. For improvement of comfort, some conventional shells for bicycle saddles have specific configurations that may increase the elasticity of the shells, thereby reducing the sensation of hardness given by the saddles to the riders and improving the saddles' ability of absorbing vibration.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,341,308 B2 disclosed a shell for a bicycle saddle, which has an elongated groove extending along an imaginary longitudinal axis of the shell, such that the shell has two elastic wings located by two sides of the groove and capable of swinging elastically. However, such configuration design is not quite effective in improving the elasticity of the shell.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,692,801 disclosed a shell for a bicycle saddle, which has two sockets for insertion of two ends of the supporting frame. The two sockets are shaped as cantilevers extending from two opposite inner surfaces of the shell respectively, thereby capable of swinging elastically so as to improve the shell's ability of absorbing vibration. However, the connecting areas between the sockets and the inner surfaces of the shell are too small to be strong enough in structure, so the sockets are liable to be fractured. Besides, the inner surfaces of the shell are supported by the supporting frame through the sockets, so the section from the sockets to a rear edge of the shell is almost inflexible.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,544,936 disclosed a shell for a bicycle saddle, which also has sockets similar to that mentioned in the aforesaid U.S. Pat. No. 5,692,801 for insertion of two ends of the supporting frame and increasing the elasticity of the shell. The shell has relatively larger connecting areas between the sockets and the inner surfaces, and therefore the sockets are less possible to be fractured, but this design may cause higher material cost in manufacturing.
The present invention has been accomplished in view of the above-noted circumstances. It is an objective of the present invention to provide a shell for a bicycle saddle, which has great elasticity and structural strength.
To attain the above objective, the present invention provides a shell for a bicycle saddle, which comprises a body provided with a top surface, a bottom surface, a groove opened through the top surface and the bottom surface, a narrow anterior portion for fitting between a cyclist's crotch, a wide posterior portion for supporting the cyclist's buttocks, and two sockets for insertion of a supporting frame therein. The narrow anterior portion has a front edge. The wide posterior portion has a rear edge and two lateral edges extending from two ends of the rear edge substantially toward the front edge. The body is defined with an imaginary longitudinal axis which substantially passes through the front edge, the rear edge and the groove and divides the wide posterior portion into a left region and a right region. The groove is provided at the wide posterior portion with a longitudinal section and a transverse section. The longitudinal section has a front end and a rear end and extends from the front end substantially along the imaginary longitudinal axis toward the rear edge to the rear end. The transverse section extends from the rear end of the longitudinal section to the left region and the right region of the wide posterior portion so that the wide posterior portion has two elastic wings adjacent to the groove. The two sockets are located at the left region and the right region of the wide posterior portion, respectively. Each of the sockets has a connecting sheet connected with the rear edge and one of the lateral edges of the wide posterior portion and extending to a position under the bottom surface, and an insertion block connected with the connecting sheet. A space is provided between each of the sockets and the bottom surface.
As a result, the groove not only makes the left region and the right region of the wide posterior portion swingable elastically at outer sides thereof, but also provides the two elastic wings capable of swinging elastically to the left region and the right region at inner sides thereof. In addition, the two sockets are also swingable elastically. Therefore, the shell for the bicycle saddle provided by the present invention has great elasticity. Besides, resulted from the feature that the two sockets are connected with the rear edge and the lateral edges of the wide posterior portion, the sockets can be configured to be relatively smaller in size but connected with the wide posterior portion firmly, thereby having great structural strength, less possibility of fracture, and cost saving in material. Furthermore, the wide posterior portion is supported by the supporting frame through the two sockets at the junctures of the rear edge and the two sockets; this means the supporting frame fulcrums the wide posterior portion at the rear edge thereof. Such configuration design makes almost the whole wide posterior portion elastic, and also improves the elasticity of the narrow anterior portion.
Further scope of applicability of the present invention will become apparent from the detailed description given hereinafter. However, it should be understood that the detailed description and specific examples, while indicating preferred embodiments of the invention, are given by way of illustration only, since various changes and modifications within the spirit and scope of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from this detailed description.
The present invention will become more fully understood from the detailed description given herein below and the accompanying drawings which are given by way of illustration only, and thus are not limitative of the present invention, and wherein:
Referring to
The shell 1 comprises a body 10 which may be made of rigid material or semi-rigid material. In this embodiment, the body 10 is made of fiber reinforced plastic. As shown in
The body 10 is provided with a top surface 16, a bottom surface 18, and a groove 20 opened through the top surface 16 and the bottom surface 18. As shown in
Referring to
Resulted from the groove 20, the wide posterior portion 14 is provided at outer sides of the left and right regions 143, 144 with two outer wings 145 capable of swinging elastically. Besides, each lateral edge 141 of the wide posterior portion 14 is shaped as an arc and defined with a convex point 141a which is the most distant point of the lateral edge 141 from the imaginary longitudinal axis L2, and an anterior section 141b and a posterior section 141c extending from the convex point 141a substantially toward the front edge 124 and the rear edge 142 respectively, as shown in
Resulted from the longitudinal section 22 and the transverse section 24 of the groove 20, the wide posterior portion 14 is provided at inner sides of the left and right regions 143, 144 with two elastic wings 146 adjacent to the groove 20 and capable of swinging elastically, as shown in
Besides, the transverse section 24 of the groove 20 has a convex edge 242 facing the rear end 224 of the longitudinal section 22, as shown in
The extending section 26 of the groove 20 extends from the front end 222 of the longitudinal section 22 substantially along the imaginary longitudinal axis L2 to the narrow anterior portion 12, thereby not only increasing the elasticity of the two elastic wings 146 but also making the narrow anterior portion 12 a little swingable elastically at two sides of the extending section 26. In this embodiment, the extending section 26 is increasing in width first and then decreasing in width from the front end 222 of the longitudinal section 22 toward the front edge 124; besides, the extending section 26 is decreasing in width substantially from the imaginary boundary line L1 toward the front edge 124; such configuration design increases the elasticity of the shell.
Such as a shell for a bicycle saddle according to a second preferred embodiment of the present invention shown in
As shown in
As shown in
As shown in
The invention being thus described, it will be obvious that the same may be varied in many ways. Such variations are not to be regarded as a departure from the spirit and scope of the invention, and all such modifications as would be obvious to one skilled in the art are intended to be included within the scope of the following claims.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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102148293 A | Dec 2013 | TW | national |
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Number | Date | Country | |
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20150175228 A1 | Jun 2015 | US |