JPH0872777A - Bicycle with automatic transmission - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To provide a bicycle with an automatic transmission to reduce a load on a driver in the traveling on an uphill road, against head wind, or the like when an overload is generated on a pedaling force. CONSTITUTION: A bicycle with a transmission is provided with a speed sensor 20, a gear position holding switch 50 and a control section 5 to input signals from the speed sensor 20 and gear position holding switch 50 while outputting an indicating signal to the transmission. While the control section 5 operates the transmission on the basis of the speed information from the speed sensor 20, the bicycle with the automatic transmission holds the transmission in a specified gear position on the basis of the signal from the gear position holding switch 50.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to an automatic transmission for a bicycle.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, some bicycle transmissions are provided with a plurality of speed change gears, a derailleur for connecting the plurality of speed change gears to a chain, and a speed change wire connected to the derailleur. . In this device, the gear lever attached to the distal end of the gear shifting wire is manually operated to actuate the gear shifting wire in the longitudinal direction to select the gear position.

However, such a transmission has a drawback in that the deceleration and the gear shifting cannot be performed simultaneously because the brake lever is gripped during deceleration. Therefore, a device for automatically performing a shift operation has also been devised. For example, Actual Kaihei 2-1339
There is one described in No. 91. This automatic bicycle shifter pulls a shift wire in its length direction by a thrust of a solenoid generated according to the number of rotations of a bicycle tire to shift gears.

[0004]

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION Problems to be Solved by the Invention
The automatic transmission described in Japanese Patent No. 991 determines the timing of gear shift according to the rotational speed of the wheels. For this reason, even when the bicycle travels uphill, the gear shift position simply corresponds to the vehicle speed as when traveling on a flat surface. Therefore, if the vehicle speed is high, the gear shift position for high speed (gear with heavy pedal operation force)
Will be controlled. Therefore, such an automatic transmission cannot give a light gear on the uphill unless the vehicle speed is reduced, which imposes an excessive burden on the driver.

The present invention has been made in view of the above matters, and provides a bicycle with an automatic transmission that reduces the burden on the driver during traveling when an overload is applied to the pedal effort, such as an uphill slope, headwind, or luggage load. To do this is a technical issue.

Further, it is a technical object to provide a bicycle with an automatic transmission having a good driving feeling. Another object of the present invention is to provide a bicycle with an automatic transmission that automatically shifts according to the vehicle speed and holds the transmission mechanism at the gear position selected by the driver.

[0007]

The present invention adopts the following means in order to solve the above problems. <Summary of the Invention> The present invention provides a bicycle having a speed change mechanism, a speed sensor, a gear position holding switch,
The control unit receives the signals from the speed sensor and the gear position holding switch and outputs an instruction signal to the transmission mechanism.

[Components] <Transmission mechanism> The transmission mechanism includes a plurality of speed change gears, a derailleur for chain-changing the plurality of speed change gears, a speed change wire connected to the derailleur, and a speed change wire. And a wire operating means for moving the.

It is preferable that the wire operating means moves (displaces) an intermediate portion of the speed change wire in the wire intersecting direction to operate the speed change wire. Further, the wire operating means may move the shifting wire in the length direction thereof.

<Speed Sensor> The speed sensor can be exemplified by a sensor for detecting the rotational speed of the wheel and a sensor for detecting the rotational speed of the pedal.

<Gear Position Holding Switch> The gear position holding switch can be exemplified by a mechanical switch or the like which outputs a signal when a driver operates a lever.

<Control Unit> The control unit operates the speed change mechanism based on the speed information from the speed sensor and holds the speed change mechanism at the designated gear position based on the signal from the gear position holding switch. Is configured. Here, the designated gear position may be a gear position at the time when a signal is input from the gear position holding switch, or a gear position arbitrarily selected by the driver.

Further, the control unit is configured to shift the gear when the vehicle is stopped or becomes extremely low speed in a state where the transmission is held at a gear position designated by a signal from the gear position holding switch. The mechanism can also be configured to return to control based on speed information.

The controller is a central processing unit (CP).
U), a read / write memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), an input / output device (I / O), and a bus connecting these may be configured.

[0015]

[Operation] Based on the signal from the speed sensor, the control unit
The transmission is controlled so that it operates according to the vehicle speed.

Further, the control section holds the transmission mechanism at a designated gear position based on a signal from the gear position holding switch. Here, the designated gear position may be one gear position selected by the driver from the plurality of gear positions by the gear position holding switch, or a signal from the gear position holding switch may be output. It may be the gear position at the time of output.

Further, when the vehicle is stopped or at an extremely low speed in a state where the speed change mechanism is held at a designated gear position, the control section sets the speed change mechanism to a gear position corresponding to the vehicle speed. Control.

[0018]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. The bicycle with an automatic transmission according to the present embodiment includes a plurality of shift gears 32, a rear derailleur 34 for changing the chain 8 to the plurality of shift gears 32, a shift wire 4 connected to the rear derailleur 34, and a shift wire. Four
Wire operating means 10 and manual operating means 9 for displacing (moving), speed sensor 20, gear position holding switch 50, crank rotation detecting sensor 90 for detecting crank rotation, speed sensor 20, gear position holding switch. 50, and a control unit 5 for receiving a signal from the crank rotation detecting sensor 90 and outputting a signal to the wire operating means 10.

One end of the shifting wire 4 is connected to the rear derailleur 34. In addition, the speed change wire 4
The other end of is connected to a gear lever 9 which is a manual operation means. By moving the rear derailleur 34 in the axial direction of the wheels, the chain 8 is switched between the plurality of speed change gears 32 mounted on the rear wheel shaft 31, and the speed is changed. The rear derailleur 34
Has a tension pulley 34a for adjusting the tension of the chain 8 and a jockey pulley. The chain 8 is hooked on the chain ring 46 on the front side.

The wire operating means 10 is connected to the connecting tool 11 and a connecting tool 11 that connects the shifting wire 4 so that the shifting wire 4 can move in the lengthwise direction in the middle of the shifting wire 4. The operation rope 12 for operating, the motor 13 for pulling or loosening the operation rope 12, and the power supply 7 for supplying electric power to the motor 13. Then, the motor 13 pulls or returns the shifting wire 4 in the right-angled (orthogonal) direction of the wire through the actuation rope 12 and the connecting tool 11. In addition, the motor 13
Is composed of an ultrasonic motor, and is not rotated by the operating force from the speed change wire 4 but is rotated only when a drive command is issued from the control section 5. In addition, the connecting tool 1
1 is an intermediate portion in the range in which the speed change wire 4 is stretched (the other end of the speed change wire 4 and the crankshaft 41).
It is attached to an intermediate portion in the range of the wire guide ring provided in the vicinity).

The speed sensor 20 is composed of a magnetic detector 21 attached to the seat stay 25 and a ferromagnetic material 22 attached to the spokes on the rear wheel side. Then, each time the ferromagnetic body 22 approaches the magnetic detection unit 21 (that is, each time the wheel makes one rotation) as the rear wheel 3 rotates, the magnetic detection unit 21 emits a pulse signal. .

The gear position holding switch 50 is provided in the vicinity of the gear lever 9 and outputs a signal as a mechanical contact switch operated by the driver.

The crank rotation detecting sensor 90 is composed of a photo interrupter for detecting the rotation of the crank 43. The photo interrupter is a crank 4
3 is equipped with a reflector, and a light emitting diode and a phototransistor facing the reflector.
Two sets of this photo interrupter are provided so that the rotations of the left and right cranks can be detected respectively.

The control unit 5 includes a central processing unit (CP
U), read / write memory (RAM), read only memory (ROM), input / output device (I / O),
These are connected by a bus. The I / O includes the speed sensor 20 and the gear position holding switch 50.
, Wire operating means 10 and crank rotation detecting sensor 9
0 is connected.

The RAM stores set values for each gear position shown in FIG. The setting value of this map is
Changes and adjustments can be made according to the specifications of the bicycle used and the speed change range desired by the driver. Or
In addition to the reference set value, a new set value may be read into the RAM.

An execution program, which will be described later, is stored in the ROM. The transmission of this embodiment is provided with a device that detects the position of the transmission gear and outputs a signal to the control unit 5.

Next, the operation process in the control unit 5 will be described. FIG. 3 is a flow of the execution program in the control unit 5. When the power is turned on by the driver's operation, the initial settings are made in step 101, and then the wheel speed is calculated based on the signal from the speed sensor 20 in step 102 to select the gear position corresponding to the vehicle speed. It Here, the selection of the gear position corresponding to the vehicle speed refers to FIG.
As shown in the map of (1), for example, when the vehicle speed becomes 5 km / h, the gear position is selected as the second speed, and when it becomes 10 km / h, the third position is selected. In addition, it is to select the second speed when the speed is 8 km / h in the third speed state and the first speed when the speed is 3 km / h in the second speed state.

Next, at step 103, it is judged if the gear position holding switch 50 is in the ON state, and the affirmative branch moves to step 104. The negative branch of step 103 releases the holding of the gear position in step 108, and when the crank rotation is detected by the signal from the crank rotation detection sensor 90 (the chain 8 is rotating), The transmission mechanism is controlled to the gear position selected in step 102, and the circulation routine of step 102 is started.

In step 104, it is judged whether or not the gear position is being held, the affirmative branch shifts to step 105, and the negative branch means that the gear position holding switch 50 is newly turned on. In step 107, the transmission mechanism is held in the gear position when the switch was turned on, and the circulation routine of step 102 is started.

In step 105, it is judged whether or not the wheel speed is less than 2 km / h, and the affirmative branch releases the gear position holding in step 106. Therefore, the first speed according to the map shown in FIG. Controlled to gear position. In this step 105, it may be determined whether or not the wheel speed has become zero (whether or not the vehicle has stopped). On the other hand, the negative branch of step 105 shifts to step 107 and step 107 is performed while the gear position is held.
It becomes the circulation routine of.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, when the gear position holding switch 50 is turned on during the control of the automatic transmission, the gear position at that time is held even if the speed changes. For this reason, even if the speed increases when the load of the pedal effort is large, such as when traveling uphill or heading wind, it is possible to travel in a light gear position and reduce the load on the driver. .

Further, when the gear position holding switch 50 is turned off while the gear position is held, or the vehicle stops or runs at an extremely low speed, the gear position holding mode is released and the gear position corresponding to the vehicle speed is released. To return to the automatic shift mode for selecting. Therefore, when the vehicle is started next time, the gear position is the first speed, so that the starting operation can be performed smoothly.

In this embodiment, the gear position holding switch 50 is held at the gear position at the time when the gear position holding switch 50 is turned on (a signal is output). However, the gear position holding switch 50 is held at any gear position selected by the driver. You may be able to hold. That is, if the gear position holding switch 50 selects the 2nd speed when the vehicle is traveling at the 3rd gear position, even if the vehicle speed changes, the 2nd speed is selected after the gear is automatically changed from the 3rd speed to the 2nd speed. The gear position will be maintained.

[0034]

According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a bicycle with an automatic transmission that reduces the burden on the driver during traveling when an overload is exerted on the pedal effort, such as an uphill slope or headwind.

Further, it is possible to provide a bicycle equipped with an automatic transmission having a good driving feeling. In addition, it is possible to provide a bicycle with an automatic transmission that automatically shifts according to the vehicle speed and holds the transmission mechanism at the gear position selected by the driver.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration in an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a state in which the transmission of the embodiment is attached to a bicycle.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart of an execution program in the control unit of the embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a map in which a vehicle speed and a gear position are associated with each other in the control unit of the embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 3 ・ ・ Rear wheel 4 ・ ・ Gear wire 5 ・ ・ Control unit (ECU) 7 ・ ・ Power supply 8 ・ ・ Chain 9 ・ ・ Manual operating means (gear lever) 10 ・ ・ Wire operating means 11 ・ ・ Connecting tool 12 ・ ・Operating rope 13 ・ Motor 20 ・ ・ Speed sensor 21 ・ ・ Magnetic detector 22 ・ ・ Magnetic body 25 ・ ・ Seat stay 31 ・ ・ Rear wheel shaft 32 ・ ・ Transmission gear 34 ・ ・ Rear derailleur 34a ・ ・ Tension pulley 41 ・ ・Crankshaft 43 · · Crank 44 · · Pedal 46 · · Chainring 50 · · Gear position holding switch 90 · · Crank rotation detection sensor

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Toshifumi Maehara 5-4-71 Higashi, Hanyu City, Saitama Akebono Brake Industrial Co., Ltd.

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A bicycle having a speed change mechanism, comprising: a speed sensor, a gear position holding switch, and a control unit for inputting signals from the speed sensor and the gear position holding switch and outputting an instruction signal to the speed change mechanism. The control unit operates the speed change mechanism based on speed information from a speed sensor, and holds the speed change mechanism at a designated gear position based on a signal from a gear position holding switch. Bicycle with gearbox. 2. The bicycle with an automatic transmission according to claim 1, wherein the control unit holds the transmission mechanism in a gear position at a time point when a signal is input from a gear position holding switch. 3. The control unit, when the vehicle is stopped or at an extremely low speed in a state where the transmission mechanism is held at a gear position designated by a signal from the gear position holding switch, 3. The mechanism is returned to control based on speed information.
Bicycle with automatic transmission described.