Patent Application
20140245857
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a control system, more particularly, to a vehicle control system.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Generally, a cable applied to a brake or derailleur of a vehicle such as bicycle or motorcycle is constructed of a plurality of wires, and an outmost sheath is disposed around substantially an entire length of the cable. The brake or derailleur can be controllably driven through the cable driven by a brake lever or shift lever.
The cable, generally, is made by wringing so that it has a twisted circumferential surface, and the cable is telescoped by the outmost sheath along the entire length thereof. As such, it can causes great frictional resistance between the cable and the inner surface of the outmost sheath so as to disadvantage the operation and control of the brake; as the cable and the outmost sheath which always contact each other are used for a long time, the cable and/or the outmost sheath can be abraded and should be replaced. Additionally, water and dust can come into the gap between the cable and the outmost sheath easily, so that the cable is damped and rusted easily, and is not durable.
Besides, in some conventional structures, the outmost sheath is disposed around the cable between the brake lever (or shift lever) and a fixation portion of a bicycle, and disposed around the cable between the brake (or derailleur) and a fixation portion; however, the middle portion of the cable is completely exposed. This conventional structure might be operated with frictional resistance which is not very great; however, it still has problems of water and dust coming into the gap between the cable and the outmost sheath to cause damping and rusting to the cable, and the completely-exposed portion of the cable cannot be effectively isolated from water and dust and is without any protective member therearound, so that the cable is damped and rusted more easily and has very poor durability.
The present invention is, therefore, arisen to obviate or at least mitigate the above mentioned disadvantages.
An object of the present invention is to provide a vehicle control system, in which a center line of the vehicle control system can be prevented from being damped and rusted so that the center line can function well and the durability of the vehicle control system is enhanced, and the friction caused due to the axial movement of the vehicle control system can be reduced so that the operated device can be operated easily, smoothly and precisely.
To achieve the above and other objects, a vehicle control system is for mounting to a vehicle, the vehicle has an operable portion, at least two fixation portions for holding the vehicle control system and an operated device, the operated device includes a brake, derailleur or fluid control device, and the vehicle control system includes a center line, a first sleeve and an outmost sheath.
Two ends of the center line are connected respectively to the operable portion and the operated device, and the operated device is controllably operated by the operable portion via the center line. The first sleeve is disposed around the center line, continuously extending between the operable portion and the operated device, and is slidable relative to the center line. The outmost sheath is disposed around the first sleeve, disposed between the operable portion and one of the fixation portions, and disposed between the operated device and the other fixation portion.
The present invention will become more obvious from the following description when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, which show, for purpose of illustrations only, the preferred embodiment(s) in accordance with the present invention.
As shown in
Referring further to
Two ends of the center line 10 are connected to the operable portion 1 and the operated device 3 respectively. The operated device 3 is controllably operated by the operable portion 1 via the center line 10. For example, the center line 10 may be a brake wire, and a brake can be driven by the brake wire to make a brake through moving a brake lever to pull the brake wire. The center line 10 may be made of wires which are wrung and has a twisted circumferential surface, or the center line 10 may be made of a single wire and has a smooth circumferential surface.
The first sleeve 20 is disposed around the center line 10, continuously extends between the operable portion 1 and the operated device 3, and is slidable relative to the center line 10. Preferably, a thin layer having self-lubricating property is disposed at least on inner and outer circumferential surfaces of the first sleeve 20. The thin layer may be made of polytetra fluoroetylene (PTFE, teflon), phenol (PHENOL), ultra-high-molecular-weight polyethylene (UHMW-PE), polypropylene (PP), polyetherether ketone (PEEK), polyphenylene sulfide (PPS) or polychlorotrifluoroethene (PCTFE). The first sleeve 20 may be wholly made of one of the aforementioned self-lubricating materials, or just the inner and outer circumferential surfaces of the first sleeve 20 are provided with two of the aforementioned self-lubricating materials respectively. Preferably, the first sleeve 20 is continuously disposed around substantially an entire length of a section of the center line 10 between the operable portion 1 and the operated device 3, so that the frictional resistance between the center line 10 and the first sleeve 20 having self-lubricating property can be reduced so as to make a motion such as brake easily, smoothly and precisely.
The second sleeve 30 is disposed around the first sleeve 20. In this embodiment, the second sleeve 30 is disposed around substantially an entire length of the first sleeve 20. However, according to various requirements, the second sleeve 30 may be longer or shorter than that the first sleeve 20 in length. Preferably, the second sleeve 30 is made of plastic material such as polyurethane (PU) or polyethelyne (PE) (preferably) so that the second sleeve 30 is pretty stress-proof, vibration-proof, corrosion-proof, abrasion-proof, weather-proof, pliable, light-weight, tensile and bendable. However, the second sleeve 30 may be made of suitable metal or composite material. In this embodiment, the frictional resistance between the first sleeve 20 and the center line 10 is smaller than that between the second sleeve 30 and the first sleeve 20. As such, as the operable portion 1 drives the center line 10 moving axially, the second sleeve 30 is relatively uneasy to move relative to the first sleeve 20, while the center line 10 is relatively easy to move relative to the first sleeve 20, thus reducing the frictional resistance of the axially-moving center line 10 so that the operated device 3 can be operated easily, smoothly and precisely.
Preferably, a lubrication matter 70 such as lubrication oil or the like is disposed between the first sleeve 20 and the center line 10, which can further reduce the frictional resistance between the center line 10 and the first sleeve 20. Additionally, the lubrication matter 70 may further encompass the center line 10 so as to prevent the center line 10 from damping and rusting and enhance the durability of the center line 10. Furthermore, the second sleeve 30 and the first sleeve 20 are slidable relative to each other, and the second sleeve 30 and the outmost sheath 40 are also slidable relative to each other. As a result, as the center line 10 moves axially to, probably, slight led the first sleeve 20, there will be little frictional resistances between the second sleeve 30 and the first sleeve 20 and between the second sleeve 30 and the outmost sheath 40, thus smoothing the movement of the center line 10 and facilitating the assembly of the center line 10, the first sleeve 20 and the second sleeve 30, and providing adequate and sufficient space for bend and deformation of all parts when they are fabricated so that the frictional resistances due to the contact among the center line 10, the first sleeve 20 and the second sleeve 30 are reduced as the vehicle control system is bent or deformed.
The outmost sheath 40 is disposed around the second sleeve 30, disposed between the operable portion 1 and one of the fixation portions 2, and disposed between the operated device 3 and the other fixation portion 2 (as shown in
Preferably, the third sleeves 50 are disposed respectively around two ends of the center line 10 near the operable portion 1 and the operated device 3, and disposed around portions the center line 10 near the fixation portions 2. It is noted that the third sleeves 50 may be selectively disposed respectively in any required positions. For example, the third sleeves 50 may be disposed around the two ends of the center line 10 near the operable portion 1 and the operated device 3. The third sleeves 50 are preferably axially-deformable and preferably made of plastic material or rubber. Generally, a distal end of the center line 10 near the operated device 3 is connected to the operated device 3 and exposed in the atmosphere, so that water and dust can come into the vehicle control system (the sleeves and sheath) to corrode and jam the vehicle control system, and this can degrade the operation and control performance of the vehicle control system; however, the third sleeves 50 can prevent the entering of water and dust into the vehicle control system 100, so that the center line 10 can be prevented from being damped and rusted and the center line 10 can function well. Since the third sleeves 50 are axially-deformable so that they are suitable to dispose in various spaces. It is noted that the center line 10 may be arranged with only one third sleeve 50 disposed around one end thereof.
It is noted that the structure of the vehicle control system 100 may be suitably modified. For example, the first sleeve 20 is disposed around the center line 10, and no second sleeve is disposed around the first sleeve 20; or a portion between the two fixation portions 2 of the center line 10 is sequentially telescoped with the first sleeve 20 and the second sleeve 30, or sequentially telescoped with the first sleeve 20, the second sleeve 30 and an outmost sheath (may be the aforementioned outmost sheath or an additional outmost sheath). Since the portion between the two fixation portions 2 of the center line 10 is sequentially telescoped with at least the first sleeve 20, the center line 10 can be prevented from being damped and rusted sufficiently and the center line 10 can function well. However, the disposal of the third sleeves 50 can be omitted.
As shown in
Given the above, through the vehicle control system of the present invention, the center line can be prevented from being damped and rusted so that the center line can function well and the durability of the vehicle control system is enhanced, and the friction caused due to the axial movement of the vehicle control system can be reduced so that the operated device can be operated easily, smoothly and precisely.
Although particular embodiments of the invention have been described in detail for purposes of illustration, various modifications and enhancements may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Accordingly, the invention is not to be limited except as by the appended claims.
