TWI869774B - Bicycle headset - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention provides a bicycle headset, which is installed between a front fork tube and a front frame, comprises a bottom lid, a bearing, a C-ring, a returning member, and a top lid. The bottom lid fixedly installed with the front frame has a supporting portion and an outer ring slot. The supporting portion is mounted and connected with the two ends of the outer ring slot. The returning member is compressed placed in the outer ring slot by against the two side of the support portion. The top lid mounted on the bottom lid has a pushing portion protruding toward the outer ring slot and compressing the return member when the top lid is rotated relative to the bottom lid.

Description

Bicycle headset

A bicycle headset, in particular a resettable bicycle headset.

The steering structure of a bicycle relies on the relative rotation of the frame and handlebars. It is mainly achieved by the headset assembly that is respectively installed on the front tube of the frame and the front fork tube connected to the handlebars. When the front tube of the frame is fixed to maintain the direction, turning the handlebars drives the front fork tube and the front wheel, so that the front fork tube can rotate relative to the front tube of the frame, thereby allowing the bicycle to achieve the steering function.

The structure of a common bicycle headset generally includes an upper headset and a lower headset. The upper headset and the lower headset are mounted on the front tube of the frame, and the clamping ring in the upper headset is fixed to the front fork tube and supported by a bearing to rotate the clamping ring so that the front fork tube can rotate relative to the front tube.

However, existing headset products and technologies do not have the function of automatically returning the handlebars of a bicycle to their original position relative to the frame when the handlebars are turned backward.

In view of the above, an object of the present invention is to provide a bicycle headset that can provide a function of automatically returning to a position relative to a bicycle frame when the handlebars of the bicycle are turned backwards.

According to one embodiment of the present invention, a bicycle headset is provided, which is arranged on a front fork tube and a front frame. The bicycle headset includes a lower cover, a bearing, a reset assembly and an upper cover. The lower cover is used to be installed on the front frame, and the lower cover has a supporting portion and an outer ring groove, and the supporting portion is in the outer ring groove. The bearing is placed in the lower cover. A clamping ring is placed on the bearing relative to the lower cover, and the clamping ring is used to be sleeved on the front fork tube. The reset assembly is placed in the outer ring groove of the lower cover and adjacent to the supporting portion of the lower cover. The upper cover fixes the pressing ring and is used to be sleeved on the front fork tube relative to the lower cover, and the upper cover has a pushing portion, which is accommodated in the outer ring groove of the lower cover and pushes the reset assembly.

According to an embodiment of the aforementioned bicycle headset, the upper cover has a buckle slot, and the bicycle headset further includes a gasket, which is placed in the buckle slot of the upper cover to fix the upper cover on the front fork tube.

According to another embodiment of the aforementioned bicycle headset, the reset assembly is two compression springs, and each compression spring is located between the pushing portion of the upper cover and the supporting portion of the lower cover.

According to another embodiment of the aforementioned bicycle headset, the number of the push parts of the upper cover is two, the number of the support parts of the lower cover is two, the push parts and the support parts are arranged at intervals from each other, and the reset group is composed of four compression springs, and each compression spring is located between each push part and each support part.

According to another embodiment of the aforementioned bicycle headset, the upper cover further has an elastic portion, and the elastic portion is between the pushing portion of the upper cover and the reset assembly.

According to another embodiment of the aforementioned bicycle headset, the elastic portion covers both sides of the pushing portion of the upper cover.

According to another embodiment of the aforementioned bicycle headset, the elastic portion covers both sides and the lower side of the pushing portion of the upper cover.

According to another embodiment of the aforementioned bicycle headset, the elastic portion completely covers the pushing portion of the upper cover.

According to another embodiment of the aforementioned bicycle headset, the lower cover has an inner groove, and the bearing is placed in the inner groove of the lower cover. The bicycle headset further includes a clamping ring, which is placed on the bearing relative to the lower cover, and the clamping ring is used to be sleeved on the front fork tube. The upper cover has a lower ring for fixing the clamping ring.

Thus, through the above-mentioned implementation method and the bicycle headset of the embodiment, the reset group is arranged in the outer annular groove of the lower cover, and the reset group is pressed by the pushing part of the upper cover and the supporting part of the lower cover at the same time. When the front fork tube is rotated by force and drives the upper cover, the pushing part of the upper cover turns to push one end of the reset group, and the other end of the reset group is against the supporting part of the lower cover. At this time, the reset group stores the compressed mechanical energy, and when it is released, it can provide the effect of enabling the upper cover to drive the front fork tube to reset.

In addition, the upper cover of the bicycle headset is further provided with an elastic portion covering the push portion. The elastic portion is connected to the push-reset assembly to stabilize the elastic expansion and contraction action of the reset assembly in the outer annular groove of the lower cover, thereby preventing the reset assembly from being displaced due to direct squeezing by the push portion of the upper cover.

Please refer to Figures 1 to 5, Figure 1 is a schematic diagram showing a bicycle headset 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention installed on a front frame 200 and a front fork tube 300, Figure 2 is a three-dimensional schematic diagram showing a bicycle headset 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention, Figure 3 is an exploded view of the bicycle headset 100 in Figure 2, Figure 4 is a cross-sectional schematic diagram of the bicycle headset 100 in Figure 2, and Figure 5 is another cross-sectional schematic diagram of the bicycle headset 100 in Figure 2. The bicycle headset 100 includes a lower cover 110, a bearing 120, a tightening ring 130, a reset assembly 140, an upper cover 150, and a gasket 160.

The lower cover 110 is a tapered ring structure, fixedly mounted on the inner wall of the front frame 200, and has a supporting portion 111, an outer annular groove 112 and an inner groove 113. The outer annular groove 112 is concavely disposed on at least a portion of a ring top surface of the lower cover 110, and the two ends of the outer annular groove 112 form the supporting portion 111. The inner groove 113 is concavely disposed on the inner wall of the lower cover 110. The outer annular groove 112 and the inner groove 113 are concentric circles when viewed from above.

In this embodiment, the type of the bearing 120 is not limited. The bearing 120 is a common bearing available on the market, and the bearing is placed in the inner groove 113 of the lower cover 110 so that the front fork tube 300 passes through it.

The clamping ring 130 is disposed in the space formed by surrounding the inner wall of the lower cover 110, and its lower edge is connected to the upper part of the bearing 120. A notch is provided in the ring wall of the clamping ring 130, so that the clamping ring 130 has elasticity to clamp the front fork tube 300 passing therethrough, so that when the front fork tube 300 is to be rotated, the front fork tube 300 can be rotated on the bearing 120 relative to the front frame 200 together with the clamping ring 130.

The reset assembly 140 includes at least one compression spring 141. In this embodiment, two compression springs 141 are correspondingly accommodated in the outer annular groove 112 of the lower cover 110, and one end of the two compression springs 141 respectively abuts against two sides of the supporting portion 111.

The upper cover 150 is an umbrella-shaped ring structure and is fixedly connected to the upper edge of the tightening ring 130, so that the front fork tube 300 can rotate with the upper cover 150 relative to the lower cover 110 through the bearing 120. The upper cover 150 has a push portion 151, a buckle groove 152 and a lower ring 153. The push portion 151 protrudes from a ring bottom surface of the upper cover 150 toward the outer ring groove 112 of the lower cover 110 and is accommodated in the outer ring groove 112. The other ends of the two compression springs 141 are respectively pressed against the lower ring groove 112. The two sides of the push portion 151 are in a partially compressed state when the two compression springs 141 are located in the outer ring groove 112 and are pushed against by the push portion 151 of the upper cover 150 and the supporting portion 111 of the lower cover 110. The lower ring 153 protrudes from the bottom surface of the upper cover 150 to fix the tightening ring 130.

Furthermore, the number of the compression spring 141 is not limited. When the number of the compression spring 141 is one, the outer annular groove 112 can omit the supporting portion 111 to form an annular groove. The compression spring 141 is accommodated in the outer annular groove 112 of the lower cover 110, and the two ends of the compression spring 141 respectively abut against the two sides of the pushing portion 151. The present invention further provides an embodiment in which the number of the compression spring 141 is four, which will be described in detail later.

Furthermore, in another embodiment, the number of the compression spring 141 is also one, and the difference from the above is that the two ends of the compression spring 141 are respectively against the two sides of the outer annular groove 112, and the push portion 151 is inserted between two yellow circles in the compression spring 141. In this way, when the upper cover 150 is assembled toward the lower cover 110, the push portion 151 can also prevent the compression spring 141 from popping out of the annular groove, thereby increasing the practicality of the bicycle headset 100.

The gasket 160 is embedded in the buckle groove 152 of the upper cover 150 to seal and compress the upper cover 150 so that the upper cover 150 can be stably connected to the front fork tube 300 relative to the lower cover 110 to prevent the upper cover 150 from loosening from the front fork tube 300. In this embodiment, the gasket 160 can be made of elastic and anti-skid material.

Please refer to Figure 6 and Figure 7 together. Figure 6 is a schematic diagram showing the first action of the upper cover 150, the reset assembly 140 and the lower cover 110 in the bicycle headphone assembly 100 in Figure 2, and Figure 7 is a schematic diagram showing the second action of the upper cover 150, the reset assembly 140 and the lower cover 110 in the bicycle headphone assembly 100 in Figure 2. When the front frame 200 is fixed, if the front fork tube 300 drives the upper cover 150 to rotate in the reverse direction, the pushing portion 151 of the upper cover 150 turns to push against one side of the compression spring 141 of the reset assembly 140. Since the other side of the compression spring 141 is adjacent to the supporting portion 111 of the lower cover 110 and cannot move, the compression spring 141 is forced to be compressed by the squeezing force of the pushing portion 151. At this point, if the compression spring 141 releases its force, it can push back the pushing portion 151 of the upper cover 150, so that the upper cover 150 drives the front fork tube 300 to reset in the forward direction.

In the same actuation situation, if the front fork tube 300 drives the upper cover 150 to rotate in the forward direction, the pushing portion 151 of the upper cover 150 turns to push against one side of the other compression spring 141 of the reset assembly 140, so that the compression spring 141 is compressed by the extrusion pressure load of the pushing portion 151. If the compression spring 141 releases its force, it can push back the pushing portion 151 of the upper cover 150, so that the upper cover 150 drives the front fork tube 300 to reset in the reverse direction.

Please refer to Figures 8 and 9, Figure 8 is an exploded view of a bicycle headset 100A according to another embodiment of the present invention, and Figure 9 is a cross-sectional view of the bicycle headset in Figure 8. The bicycle headset 100A includes a lower cover 110A, a bearing 120A, a tightening ring 130A, a reset assembly 140A, an upper cover 150A and a gasket 160A.

In the present embodiment, the lower cover 110A, the bearing 120A, the locking ring 130A, the reset assembly 140A, the upper cover 150A and the gasket 160A of the bicycle headset 100A are different from the bicycle headset 100 of the aforementioned embodiment in that the number of the push-pull portions 151A of the upper cover 150A is two, and the number of the push-pull portions 151A of the lower cover 150A is one. The number of the supporting parts 111A of the upper cover 10A is two, each of the pushing parts 151A and each of the supporting parts 111A are arranged at intervals from each other, and the reset assembly 140A is composed of four compression springs 141A, and each of the compression springs 141A is respectively located between each of the pushing parts 151A of the upper cover 150A and each of the supporting parts 111A of the lower cover 110A.

When the upper cover 150A is turned, the two pushing portions 151A of the upper cover 150A will symmetrically push two of the compression springs 141A of the reset assembly 140A, so that the two compression springs 141A are compressed and deformed at the same time, and their elastic restoring force will provide the upper cover 150A with a reset function at the same time.

Please refer to FIG. 10, which is a cross-sectional view of a bicycle headset 100B according to an embodiment of the present invention. The upper cover 150B of the bicycle headset 100B may further include an elastic portion 154B, the elastic portion 154B is located between the push portion 151B of the upper cover 150B and the reset assembly 140B, and the elastic portion 154B covers both sides of the push portion 151B of the upper cover 150B.

Please refer to FIG. 11, which is a cross-sectional view of a bicycle headset 100C according to another embodiment of the present invention. The upper cover 150C of the bicycle headset 100C may also include an elastic portion 154C, the elastic portion 154C is located between the push portion 151C of the upper cover 150C and the reset assembly 140C, and the elastic portion 154C completely covers the push portion 151C of the upper cover 150C.

Please refer to FIG. 12, which is a cross-sectional view of a bicycle headset 100D according to another embodiment of the present invention. The upper cover 150D of the bicycle headset 100D can also include an elastic portion 154D, the elastic portion 154D is located between the push portion 151D of the upper cover 150D and the reset assembly 140D, and the elastic portion 154D covers both sides and the lower side of the push portion 151D of the upper cover 150D.

It should be noted that the number of the supporting parts 111, 111A, the pushing parts 151, 151A, 151B, 151C, 151D, and the compression springs 141, 141A of the present invention is not limited, and any structure and principle similar to the present case are included in the scope of the present invention. In summary of the above embodiments and examples, the bicycle headset of the present invention can produce the following effects:

1. The reset group is arranged in the outer annular groove of the lower cover, and the reset group is pressed by the pushing part of the upper cover and the supporting part of the lower cover at the same time. When the front fork tube is rotated by force and drives the upper cover, the pushing part of the upper cover turns to push one end of the reset group, and the other end of the reset group abuts against the supporting part of the lower cover. At this time, the reset group stores the compressed mechanical energy, and when it is released, it can provide the effect of enabling the upper cover to drive the front fork tube to reset.

2. The upper cover of the bicycle headset is further provided with an elastic portion covering the push portion. The elastic portion is connected to the push-reset assembly to stabilize the elastic expansion and contraction action of the reset assembly in the outer annular groove of the lower cover, thereby preventing the reset assembly from moving out of position due to direct squeezing by the push portion of the upper cover.

100, 100A, 100B, 100C, 100D: Bicycle headset 110, 110A: Lower cover 111, 111A: Abutment 112: Outer ring groove 113: Inner groove 120, 120A: Bearing 130, 130A: Clamping ring 140, 140A, 140B, 140C, 140D: Reset assembly 141, 141A: Compression spring 150, 150B, 150C, 150D: Upper cover 151, 151A, 151B, 151C, 151D: Pushing part 152: Buckle groove 153: Lower ring 154B, 154C, 154D: elastic part 160: gasket 200: front frame 300: front fork tube

In order to make the above and other purposes, features, advantages and embodiments of the present invention more clearly understandable, the attached drawings are described as follows: Figure 1 is a schematic diagram showing the installation of a bicycle headset according to an embodiment of the present invention on a front frame and a front fork tube; Figure 2 is a three-dimensional schematic diagram showing a bicycle headset according to an embodiment of the present invention; Figure 3 is an exploded view of the bicycle headset in Figure 2; Figure 4 is a cross-sectional schematic diagram of the bicycle headset in Figure 2; Figure 5 is another cross-sectional schematic diagram of the bicycle headset in Figure 2; Figure 6 is a first actuation schematic diagram of the upper cover, reset assembly and lower cover in the bicycle headset in Figure 2; Figure 7 is a second actuation schematic diagram of the upper cover, reset assembly and lower cover in the bicycle headset in Figure 2; Figure 8 is an exploded view of a bicycle headset according to another embodiment of the present invention; Figure 9 is a schematic cross-sectional view of the bicycle headset in Figure 8; Figure 10 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a bicycle headset according to an embodiment of the present invention; Figure 11 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a bicycle headset according to another embodiment of the present invention; and Figure 12 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a bicycle headset according to yet another embodiment of the present invention;

100: Bicycle headset 110: Lower cover 111: Support part 112: Outer ring groove 113: Inner groove 120: Bearing 130: Pressure ring 140: Reset assembly 141: Compression spring 150: Upper cover 151: Push part 152: Buckle groove 160: Gasket

Claims (10)

A bicycle headset is provided on a front fork tube and a front frame, and comprises: a lower cover for installation on the front frame, the lower cover having an outer ring groove; a bearing member disposed in the lower cover; a reset assembly disposed in the outer ring groove of the lower cover; and an upper cover for sleeved on the front fork tube relative to the lower cover, the upper cover having at least one push portion, the push portion being accommodated in the outer ring groove of the lower cover and pushing against the reset assembly, wherein the upper cover has an elastic portion, the elastic portion being located between the push portion of the upper cover and the reset assembly. The bicycle headset as described in claim 1 further comprises: the upper cover having a buckle slot; and a gasket placed in the buckle slot of the upper cover so that the upper cover is fixed to the front fork tube. A bicycle headset as described in claim 1, wherein the reset assembly includes a compression spring, the compression spring is disposed in the outer ring groove, and the two ends of the compression spring respectively abut against the two sides of the push portion. The bicycle headset as described in claim 1, wherein the lower cover includes at least one supporting portion in the outer ring groove; the reset assembly includes two compression springs, each compression spring is located between the pushing portion of the upper cover and the supporting portion of the lower cover. A bicycle headset as described in any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the number of the push-pull parts of the upper cover is two or more, the lower cover includes two or more support parts, each of the push-pull parts and each of the support parts are arranged at intervals from each other, and the reset assembly includes a plurality of compression springs, and each of the compression springs is located between each of the push-pull parts and each of the support parts. A bicycle headset as described in claim 5, wherein the elastic portion covers both sides of the push portion of the upper cover or both sides and the lower side of the push portion. A bicycle headset as described in claim 5, wherein the elastic portion completely covers the push portion of the upper cover. A bicycle headset as described in any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein: the lower cover has an inner groove; and the bearing is placed in the inner groove of the lower cover. The bicycle headset as described in any one of claims 1 to 4 further comprises a clamping ring which is placed on the bearing relative to the lower cover, and the clamping ring is used to be sleeved on the front fork tube. A bicycle headset as described in claim 9, wherein the upper cover has a lower ring for fixing the clamping ring.

Images