US20080000848A1

US20080000848A1 - Bicycle Rack

Info

Publication number: US20080000848A1
Application number: US11/428,399
Authority: US
Inventors: Ming-Sung Chiu
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2006-07-02
Filing date: 2006-07-02
Publication date: 2008-01-03

Abstract

A bicycle rack is provided, which is portable and space saving, and easy for assembling and disassembling. The bicycle rack includes a plurality of tubular members and a plurality of connecting members. The tubular members are shaped in straight, L-shaped and U-shaped tubes. The ends of the tubular member are provided with elastic button clips. The connecting members are shaped in L-shaped, T-shaped, three-headed and four-headed tubes, wherein each end of the connecting members is provided with a plurality of apertures corresponding to the elastic button clips. The elastic button clip of the tubular member is coupled with the aperture of the connecting member, thereby providing the bicycle rack with a plurality of interlaced holding spaces for bicycles.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a bicycle rack, and more particular to a bicycle rack having a plurality of holding spaces formed by the assembly of a plurality of tubular members and a plurality of connecting members.
2. The Prior Arts
Although bicycles are not the principal means of transportation, they do not consume petroleum fuels and do not produce air pollution. Riding bicycles to replace motor vehicles for a short commute can reduce air pollution. Meanwhile, riding a bicycle is a very good exercise to improve health, and suitable for the urban people. Thus bicycle riding have become a popular sport in recent years.
There are many advantages for bicycle riding, such as producing no air pollutant, a good transportation means for a short distance, and an excellent exercise to improve health. However, urban bicycle riders have to solve problems with bicycle parking. Although outdoor parking does not occupy limited indoor space, it does have the following problems: First of all, owing to the lack of planned bicycle parking, bicycles are frequently stolen. Secondly, if there is no canopy provided for these bicycles, these bicycles can be easily damaged by long-term exposure to sun and rain. If the bicycles are parked in the corridor or staircase inside an apartment building, it would block the passageway and escaping route in an emergency situation for other residents, all of which violate building safety code. Thus, indoor bicycle parking is a better choice.
Compared to outdoor parking, indoor parking is better but it still raises a problem. The problem that needs to be solved is that indoor bicycle parking takes up precious space, especially when there is more than one bicycle to park. Further concerns with indoor bicycle parking includes the need to hold bicycles in relatively stabilized position, and the need to avoid toppling of the parked bicycle which can injure people.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Some of the problems the present invention attempts to solve are to decrease the space occupied by bicycles as the bicycles are parked indoor, and to improve the stability of bicycle parking so as to avoid bicycles from toppling and causing injuries.
According to the present invention, the bicycle rack comprises a plurality of tubular members and a plurality of connecting members. The tubular members are shaped in straight, L-shaped or U-shaped tubes, wherein each tubular member accommodates elastic button clips at its ends. The connecting members comprise L-shaped connecting members, T-shaped connecting members, three-headed connecting members or four-headed connecting members, wherein each connecting member is provided with a plurality of apertures at the ends thereof, and the apertures are corresponding to the elastic button clip. The elastic button clip of the tubular member is coupled with the aperture of the connecting member. Thus the tubular members and the connecting members provide the bicycle rack with a plurality of interlaced holding spaces that holds front wheels of the bicycles.
A primary objective of the present invention is to provide a bicycle rack whose structure comprises a plurality of tubular members and a plurality of connecting members. The tubular members and connecting members are easy to assemble and disassemble and can be used anywhere.
Another objective of the present invention is to provide a bicycle rack, which provides a plurality of interlaced holding spaces. Each holding space provides a space to hold a front wheel of a bicycle. Therefore the bicycle rack provides the interlaced parking space for bicycles so that the space occupied is minimized.
A further objective of the present invention is to provide a bicycle rack with improved safety and holds a bicycle firmly so as to avoid the injury caused by toppling of the bicycle.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art by reading the following detailed description of a preferred embodiment thereof, with reference to the attached drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 shows a bicycle rack according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is an exploded view of the bicycle rack according to the embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged perspective view of tubular members and a connecting member according to the embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4A shows a sectional view of the assembled tubular members and the connecting member which are shown in FIG. 3;

FIG. 4B shows how the tubular members and the connecting member, which are shown in FIG. 3, are assembled; and

FIG. 5 shows the bicycle rack and a bicycle held thereon according to the embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, a bicycle rack 1 according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention comprises a plurality of tubular members 10 and a plurality of connecting members 20.
Referring to FIG. 3, each end of the tubular member 10 is provided with an elastic button clip 11. The elastic button clip 11 is secured inside the hollow part of the tubular member 10. The elastic button clip 11 is approximately U-shaped, and provides a protruding push button 12 and a protruding buckle jut 13. Each end of tubular member 10 provides at least two through holes 14 corresponding to the push button 12 and the buckle jut 13. The push button 12 and the buckle jut 13 are fitted into the through holes 14 of the tubular member 10 and projected out of the outer surface of the tubular member 10. Referring to FIGS. 4A and 4B, press the push button 12 and insert the elastic button clip 11 into the tubular member 10. When the elastic button clip 11 is inserted to an appropriate place, the push button 12 and the buckle jut will protrude through the through holes 14 and out of the surface of the tubular member 10. Therefore, the tubular member 10 and the elastic button clip 11 are connected together. The tubular members 10 comprise straight tubular members 101, L-shaped tubular members 102 and U-shaped tubular members 103 according to the preferred embodiment.
The connecting member 20 is provided with a plurality of apertures 21 at the ends thereof. The aperture 21 is corresponding to the push button 12 of the elastic button clip 11. Press the push button 12 and insert the tubular member 10 into the connecting member 20. When the tubular member 10 is inserted into an appropriate place, the push button will protrude through the aperture 21 and out of the surface of the connecting member 20. Therefore, the tubular member 10 and the connecting member 20 are connected together. The connecting members 20 comprise L-shaped connecting members 201, T-shaped connecting members 202, three-headed connecting members 203 and four-headed connecting members 204 according to the preferred embodiment.
Referring to FIGS. 1 and 5, the bicycle rack 1 assembled provides a plurality of interlaced holding spaces 30. The bicycle rack 1 includes seven holding spaces 301, 302, 303, 304, 305, 306, and 307, and each holding space 30 can hold a front wheel 21 of a bicycle 2 according to the preferred embodiment.
Contemplated bicycle rack 1 is relatively easy to disassemble when it is not in use. Pressing the push button 12 relieves the holding between the push button 12 and the aperture 21. Thus the connecting member 20 is disassembled from the tubular member 10. In a similar way, pressing the push button 12 relieves the holding between the push button 12, the buckle jut 13 and the through holes 14. Thus the elastic button clip 11 is disassembled from the tubular member 10. Therefore, one can disassemble the tubular members 10 and the connecting members 20 one by one.
Although the present invention has been described with reference to the preferred embodiment thereof, it is apparent to those skilled in the art that a variety of modifications and changes may be made without departing from the scope of the present invention which is intended to be defined by the appended claims.

Claims

1. A bicycle rack, comprising:

a plurality of tubular members shaped in straight, L-shaped and U-shaped tubes, and provided with elastic button clips at the ends thereof; and

a plurality of connecting members shaped in L-shaped, T-shaped, three-headed and four-headed tubes, and provided with a plurality of apertures corresponding to the elastic button clips at the ends of the tubular members;

wherein the elastic button clip of the tubular member is coupled with the connecting member through the aperture to provide the bicycle rack with a plurality of interlaced holding spaces that holds a front wheel of a bicycle.

2. The bicycle rack as claimed in claim 1, wherein the tubular member is provided with at least two through holes; an outer surface of the U-shaped elastic button clip is provided with a push button and a buckle jut corresponding to the through holes of the tubular member; the push button and the buckle jut protrude through the through holes and out of the surface of the tubular member as the tubular member connects with the elastic button clip; pressing or releasing the push button makes the buckle jut be contracted under the surface or protruded out of the surface of the tubular member respectively; and the aperture of the connecting member is corresponding to the push button.

3. The bicycle rack as claimed in claim 1, wherein the bicycle rack is provided with seven holding spaces.