GB2303673A

GB2303673A - Bicycle gearshift display

Info

Publication number: GB2303673A
Application number: GB9515074A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Harald Kreher
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1995-07-22
Filing date: 1995-07-22
Publication date: 1997-02-26
Anticipated expiration: 2015-07-22
Also published as: GB9515074D0; GB2303673B

Abstract

A bicycle having gearing with a plurality of front chain rings and a plurality of rear sprockets is provided with sensors for sensing the combination in engagement with the chain. The output of the sensors is relayed to a computer which is pre-programmed with information relating to the chain rings and sprockets required to give particular gear. The computer is connected to a display 2 which includes three display windows, a central window 4 displaying the "current" chain ring and sprocket in use, a left hand window 6 representing the next lower gear chain ring/sprocket combination and a right hand window 8 representing the next higher gear chain ring/sprocket combination. The arrangement enables the appropriate gear to be selected by a cyclist, as required. Also described is a label for attachment to a bicycle and displaying the combination of sprockets and chain rings for each gear.

Description

CYCLE This invention relates to a cycle and particularly, although not exclusively, relates to a bicycle. In one embodiment, the invention provides a device for aiding appropriate gear selection on a cycle.

Cycles, for example mountain, racing, trekking or touring bicycles, tricycles and tandems are usually provided with a multiplicity of rider selectable gear options. To this end, a cycle may include, for example, two, three or four alternative chain rings of different diameters and five to eight rear sprockets. The chain rings are fixed relative to the pedals and are arranged to be rotated thereby and the rear sprockets are fixed relative to the rear wheel of the cycle. A cycle chain extends between the chain rings and rear sprockets and may be engaged, using gear shift levers, with selected chain rings and sprockets for selecting gear combinations on the cycle. Where a cycle includes three chain rings and eight rear sprockets, there are twenty four possible gear combinations.

It may not be easy for a cyclist to remember the chain rings and rear sprockets to select, in turn, to move smoothly through the gear combinations from the lowest to the highest and vice versa. In order to rank gear combinations accordingly, a rider must first know the exact gear ratios of all chain ring and rear sprocket combinations possible on his/her bike. The gear ratios are determined in relation to the number of cogs on the chain rings and rear sprockets respectively. For example, on a cycle having three chain rings and eight rear sprockets, the appropriate chain ring and sprocket combinations to move from the lowest "first gear", to the highest "twenty-fourth" gear may be as shown in Table 1 below, wherein chain ring No. 1 is the smallest chain ring with chain ring No. 3 being the biggest; and sprocket No.

1 is the biggest sprocket with sprocket No. 8 being the smallest.

TABLEI chain ring sprocket gear ratio combination "number" gear "number" realtranked number 1 1 0.785 1 1.1 1 1 2 0.916 2 1.2 2 1 3 1.057 3 1.3 3 1 1.142 9 2.1 4 1 4 1.22 4 1.4 5 2 o 1.333 10 2.2 6 1 5 1.375 5 1.5 7 3 1 1.5 17 3.1 8 3 3 1.523 11 23 9 1 6 1571 6 1.6 10 3 2 1.75 18 3.2 11 1 4 1.777 12 2.4 12 1 7 1.833 7 1.7 13 1 8 2 S 1.8 14 1 5 2 13 2.5 14 3 3 2 19 33 14 1 6 2.285 14 2.6 15 3 4 2.333 20 3.4 16 3 5 2.625 21 3.5 17 o 7 2.666 15 2.7 18 2 8 2.909 16 2.8 19 3 6 3 22 3.6 20 3 7 3.5 23 3.7 21 3 8 3.818 24 3.8 22 It will be noted in Table 1 that on moving from real/ranked gear combination number 3 to number 4, the chain must be moved by its first gear shift lever from chain ring number 1 to ring number 2 and must be moved by its second gear shift lever from sprocket number 3 to number 1. Other combinations are obtainable in a similar manner.

In the event that a cyclist cannot remember appropriate chain ring and sprocket combinations to move smoothly through the gears, the cyclist may guess on the appropriate chain ring and sprocket positions (going by combination "number" as listed in column 4 in Table 1) with the likely consequence that an inappropriate or undesired gear will be selected. For example, a lower gear than appropriate may be selected, resulting in the cycle jerking and losing speed. Besides being potentially dangerous and strenuous on rider and material, such inappropriate gear selection may be frustrating to the cyclist.

It is an object of the present invention to address the abovementioned problems.

According to the invention, there is provided a device for assisting appropriate gear selection on a cycle, the device comprising display means for relaying gear selection information to a cyclist and securement means for securing the device to a cycle so that it can be viewed by the cyclist.

The display means is preferably arranged, in use, to display information relating to a gear combination above and below a current gear. In this event, a cyclist may view the display and select an appropriate higher or lower gear at any time.

Preferably, the display means includes means arranged to display information relating to the chain ring(s) of a gear combination above and below a current gear combination and/or the sprocket(s) of a gear combination above and below a current gear.

Said display means is preferably arranged to display a plurality of numerals. The device is preferably arranged to display a plurality of groups of numerals. Suitably, one respective group of numerals is arranged to provide information relating to a gear combination above a current gear and one respective group of numerals is arranged to provide information relating to a gear combination below the current gear. Preferably, each group comprises at least two, preferably only two, numerals. Said display means is, therefore, preferably arranged to display at least six numerals.

Said display means may include one, or preferably a plurality of, display element(s) each of which may be arranged to display a plurality of numerals. For example, said display means may be digital, suitably electronically controlled, including updatable display elements.

Alternatively, the display means may include numerals which are generally not changeable. Means defining such numerals preferably comprises ink or the like, or any other relatively permanent means of distinguishing numerals. The numerals may be printed on a label means.

The display means may have a display surface area in the range 2cm2 to 25cm2. Preferably, one dimension of the surface is in the range 2 cm to 5cm and another dimension, in a direction perpendicular to said one dimension, is in the range 2cm to 5cm. Preferably, at least one dimension is less than 4cm, more preferably less than 3cm.

The device may include sensor means for sensing the current gear of the cycle. The sensor means may be associated with user-operable gear change means of various/any type. Alternatively, the sensor means may be associated with chain ring(s) and/or sprocket(s) of the cycle gears. In this event, the sensor means may include means for viewing, for example optical means, the chain rings(s) and/or sprocket(s) for determining their arrangement at a moment in time.

Said display means of the device may be controllable by a processor means, for example in the form of a computer. Where the device includes sensor means, said sensor means are preferably arranged to communicate with the processor means. The processor means may then process information provided by said sensor means and communicate relevant information to said display means.

Said securement means is preferably arranged to secure the device in a position forward of the seat of the cycle. Said securement means is preferably arranged to secure the device to a frame part, for example the handlebars or the cross-bar of the cycle.

Said securement means is preferably arranged to be releasably secured to the cycle. Releasable securement may be achieved using an adhesive means or a mechanical means, for example a clip or the like.

Protector means is preferably provided for protecting the device, more particularly the display means thereof from adverse weather conditions, for example the wet. Said protector means may comprise a plastics outer surface on the display means or other relevant covering/protecting means.

Said display device may be arranged to display information relating to the ratio and/or ranking between the current gear and the gear above and/or below the current gear.

The invention extends to an assembly comprising a cycle to which is secured a device for relaying gear selection information to a cyclist, the device being arranged so that a display means of the device can be viewed by the cyclist when riding the cycle.

The invention extends to a kit for assembly of a device for assisting appropriate gear selection on a cycle, the kit comprising a display member and a plurality of display elements arranged to be mounted on the display member.

The kit preferably includes instructions for assembly of a device customised to a particular type of cycle and a particular combination of chain rings and sprockets.

The invention extends to a method of modifying a cycle for assisting appropriate gear selection thereof, the method comprising securing to the cycle a device which includes a display means for relaying gear selection information to a person on the cycle.

Specific embodiments of the invention will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying diagrammatic drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a schematic front elevation of a display of a cycle computer including a gear selection device; Figure 2 is a front view of another gear selection device; and Figure 3 is a front view of a further gear selection device.

In one embodiment, a bicycle is provided with sensors for sensing the actual gear combination number in use at any moment in time. In a bicycle having two gear shift levers, a respective sensor may be associated with each lever to assess its position and to derive information from this as to the gear combination number in use.

Alternatively, respective optical sensors may be associated with the chain rings and sprockets to assess which of them is in use in order to derive information relating to the gear combination number in use.

The information relating to the gear combination number in use is relayed to a small computer mounted at a suitable position on the bicycle. The computer is preprogrammed with information relating to the chain ring numbers and sprocket numbers required to give particular gear combination numbers and resulting particular ranking according to gear ratios. The computer is connected to a display 2 shown in figure 1 which includes three display windows wherein central window 4 displays the "current" chain ring and sprocket in use (the first number representing the chain ring number and the second number representing the sprocket wheel number), left-hand window 6 represents the next lower gear chain ring/sprocket combination and right-hand window 8 represents the next higher gear chain ring/sprocket combination.

The computer used to control output on the display 2 may also be arranged to provide a cyclist with other information. For example, it may be arranged to measure and display speed, average speed, distance, time etc. The computer may be adapted so that a cyclist can pre-program it with appropriate details relating to gear combinations for a particular bicycle.

As an additional feature, the display 2 may be arranged to display exact gear ratios in use to the cyclist, relative difference in gear ratios and/or distance covered.

The display 2 may be positioned towards the centre of the handlebars or on the cross-bar of a bicycle but, in any case, it is arranged so that the display can easily be viewed by a cyclist. Thus, it will be appreciated that provision of a device as described according to the first embodiment, may provide continuously updated information to a cyclist as to the appropriate chain ring/sprocket combination to select.

In a second embodiment, a gear selection device is in the form of an adhesive label 10 shown in figure 2. The device shown includes three rows of two digit combinations. The first number of each two digit combination represents the chain ring number and the second number represents the sprocket number. The combinations are arranged to define consecutive gear combinations. On moving from the left to right across the top row and then across the subsequent rows, chain ring and sprocket numbers for successively lower gear ratios are provided. Thus, the combination "36" means chain ring number 3/sprocket number 6 which defines a relatively high gear; and the combination "13" means chain ring number 1/sprocket number 3 which defines a relatively low gear.

The label 10 does not refer to the two highest gear combinations 38 and 37 or the two lowest 12 and 11 (see Table 1) so the size of the label 10 may be minimised but the size of the digits may be maximised - it is presumed that a cyclist will readily learn how to select the two highest and two lowest gear ratios by virtue of his/her intuitive understanding of ranking gears as listed in column 4 in Table 1.

The label 2 may be arranged to be secured on a central upwardly facing part of the handlebars of a bicycle. To this end, label suitably has a width of about 5cm and a length of about 2cm.

In a third embodiment, a gear selection device is in the form of an adhesive label 12 (Figure 3) arranged to be secured to a cross-bar of a bicycle. To this end, the label may have a width of less than 4cm and a length of 2.5cm to 5cm or more.

The labels of the second and third embodiments are suitably generally weather resistant. They may be made of a weather-resistant material or coated with such a material. Preferred coating materials include transparent plastics sheet or tape. Also, the labels (or parts of them) may be provided in fluorescent or other bright colours so as to aid viewing thereof under poor light conditions (or to highlight particular parts of the label eg. favourite or most commonly used chain ring-sprocket combinations. The user may custonise emphasis by means of highlighting).

In a fourth embodiment, labels the same as or similar to those of figures 2 or 3 may be secured to a clip or other device so as to allow the labels to be releasably secured to a bicycle, for example the frame thereof. Clips may be made out of plastics material and be arranged to protect the labels and to releasably secure them to a bicycle.

The labels of the second to fourth embodiments may be pre-printed by a manufacturer and thereby customised for use in relation to a particular type of bicycle. In a fifth embodiment, however, a kit may be provided whereby a cyclist can customise his/her own device. Such a kit could include: a) a list of all gear ratios possible related to chain ring and sprocket sizes. The cyclist could use the list to determine the combinations of chain rings and sprockets to order the gear ratios from the lowest to the highest; b) pre-printed gear combination stickers, for example, comprising numbers ranging from 11 through to 18, 21 through to 28 and 31 through to 38 so that all possible two digit combinations are available to be selected. The gear combination stickers may be self-adhesive and have a size in the range of 4mm x 3mm to 6mm x 6mm.

c) a large adhesive label arranged to accommodate the stickers mentioned under point b) to build up a label in the form shown in figures 2 or 3. The large adhesive label may have indents or other means for indicating where gear combination stickers should be placed; d) highlighter labels including a selection of symbols to refer to, for example, a cyclist's favourite mountain gear or cruising gear. The highlighter labels are suitably transparent or translucent and arranged to be releasably stuck over or adjacent to the gear combination stickers; e) a casing or other means for protecting the stickers and/or incorporating a clip or other means for securing the device to a bicycle.

Using the kit described, a cyclist can readily customise his/her own device.

Any of the aforementioned embodiments could be arranged to provide information relating to the difference in gear ratio between successive gear combinations. For example, in the figure 2 and 3 embodiments, the spacing between successive two digit combinations could be adjusted so that the space is proportional to the difference in gear ratio. For example, referring to Table 1, if the relative difference in gear ratio between real/ranked gear number 6 and 7 is smaller than the ratio between real/ranked gear number 7 and 8, the two digit combinations could be spaced as follows: 31 15 22 (wherein there is a bigger space between the combinations "31" and "15" than between the combinations "15" and "22").

In the first embodiment, the difference in gear ratios could be represented by, for example, the provision of a single "+" when the difference in gear ratio between two gears is greater than a first predetermined amount, the provision of two "++" when the difference is greater than a second predetermined amount and so on.

The reader's attention is directed to all papers and documents which are filed concurrently with or previous to this specification in connection with this application and which are open to public inspection with this specification, and the contents of all such papers and documents are incorporated herein by reference.

All of the features disclosed in this specification (including any accompanying claims abstract and drawings), and/or all of the steps of any method or process so disclosed, may be combined in any combination, except combinations where at least some of such features and/or steps are mutually exclusive.

Each feature disclosed in this specification (including any accompanying claims, abstract and drawings), may be replaced by alternative features serving the same, equivalent or similar purpose, unless expressly stated otherwise. Thus, unless expressly stated otherwise, each feature disclosed is one example only of a generic series of equivalent or similar features.

The invention is not restricted to the details of the foregoing embodiment(s). The invention extends to any novel one, or any novel combination, of the features disclosed in this specification (including any accompanying claims, abstract and drawings), or to any novel one, or any novel combination, of the steps of any method or process so disclosed.

Claims

1. A device for assisting appropriate gear selection on a cycle, the device comprising display means for relaying gear selection information to a cyclist and securement means for securing the device to a cycle so that it can be viewed by the cyclist.

2. A device according to Claim 1, which is arranged in use to display information relating to a gear combination above and below a current gear.

3. A device according to Claim 1 or Claim 2, wherein the display means includes means arranged to display information relating to the chain ring(s) of a gear combination above and below a current gear combination and/or the sprocket(s) of a gear combination above and below a current gear.

4. A device according to any of Claims 1 to 3, wherein said display means is arranged to display a plurality of numerals.

5. A device according to any of Claims 1 to 4, which is arranged to display a plurality of groups of numerals.

6. A device according to Claim 5, wherein one respective group of numerals is arranged to provide information relating to a gear combination above a current gear and one respective group of numerals is arranged to provide information relating to a gear combination below the current gear.

7. A device according to any preceding claim, wherein said display means has a display surface area in the range 20 cm 2 to 25cm2.

8. A device according to any preceding claim, including sensor means for sensing the current gear of the cycle.

9. A device according to any preceding claim, wherein said display means is controllable by a processor means.

10. A device according to Claim 8 and Claim 9, wherein said sensor means is arranged to communicate with the processor means.

11. A device according to any preceding claim, wherein said securement means is arranged to secure the device in a position forward of the seat of the cycle.

12. A device according to any preceding claim, wherein said securement means is arranged to be releasably secured to the cycle.

13. An assembly comprising a cycle to which is secured a device for relaying gear selection information to a cyclist, the device being arranged so that a display means of the device can be viewed by the cyclist when riding the cycle.

14. A kit for assembly of a device for assisting appropriate gear selection on a cycle, the kit comprising a display member and a plurality of display elements arranged to be mounted on the display member.

15. A method of modifying a cycle for assisting appropriate gear selection thereof, the method comprising securing to the cycle a device which includes a display means for relaying gear selection information to a person on the cycle.

16. A device substantially as herein before described with reference to the accompanying diagrammatic drawings.

17. An assembly substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying diagrammatic drawings.

18. A kit substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying diagrammatic drawings.

19. A method substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying diagrammatic drawings.