TW202415584A - Multi-stage variable speed control system for electric assisted bicycle - Google Patents

Abstract

A multi-stage variable speed control system for an electric bicycle at least includes a processor, a sensing unit, a front-driving unit and a rear-driving unit. Moreover, the sensing unit senses a pedaling force, and sends a sensing signal to the processor. The processor determines and analyzes a setting value of the pedaling force. The processor uses an output signal to drive the front-driving unit or the rear-driving unit, so that a front derailleur or a rear derailleur controls a drive chain to derail and jump between a plurality of tooth-ring plates of a front tooth-ring plate group and a rear tooth-ring plate group to adjust a gear ratio, to achieve an automatic control of the multi-stage variable speed control.

Description

Electric bicycle multi-speed control system

The present invention relates to an electric assisted bicycle, and more particularly to an electric assisted bicycle electric motor (motor) combined with an electric transmission to achieve a multi-speed transmission function.

Regarding electric assisted bicycles, many people think that if you want to exercise, why do you need assistance? Of course, riding a bicycle is definitely better for health than riding an electric assisted bicycle. If you compare electric assisted bicycles with walking, riding a bicycle has a better training effect.

According to a research report, electric assisted bicycles can provide at least moderate intensity physical activity, which is lower than riding a regular bicycle, but higher than walking alone. Especially for people who have not ridden bicycles often in the past, electric assisted bicycles are an easier start and can improve the physical health (such as cardiopulmonary function) of those who lack exercise.

Currently, electric assisted bicycles are provided with a front gear set and a rear gear set with multiple speeds, wherein a front derailleur is provided on the front gear set and a rear derailleur is provided on the rear gear set. Through the front speed adjuster and the rear speed adjuster installed on the handlebars of the electric assisted bicycle, the front speed adjuster is used to control the front speed adjuster or the rear speed adjuster is used to control the rear speed adjuster to control the transmission chain to derail and jump off each gear set in sequence on the front gear set or the rear gear set, so as to adjust the gear ratio of the gear sets of the front and rear gear sets, so as to achieve multiple speed adjustment.

Therefore, when riding, if the rider wants to increase the speed, he will manually turn or dial the front or rear derailleur adjuster to adjust the gear ratio of the front or rear sprocket set. For example, the 52-tooth sprocket of the front sprocket set drives the 13-tooth sprocket of the rear sprocket set to increase the speed of the electric assisted bicycle. If the gear ratio is adjusted so that the 28-tooth sprocket of the front sprocket group drives the 28-tooth sprocket of the rear sprocket group, the speed of the electric assisted bicycle will be slowed down, but it can be easily ridden up the climbing section.

Since the adjustment of the gear ratio of the front or rear chainring is entirely based on the rider's personal pedaling feeling or experience to judge the resistance, and then adjust the gear ratio of the front or rear chainring by himself. This adjustment method is easier for riders who have been trained or have ridden multi-speed bicycles for a long time to know how to adjust. However, for riders who do not often ride multi-speed bicycles, they do not know how to adjust the gear ratio of the front or rear chainring.

Therefore, the present invention aims to solve the problem of how to automatically control and adjust the gear ratio of the front or rear sprocket set of the electric assisted bicycle at any time when riding the electric assisted bicycle.

Therefore, the main purpose of the present invention is to install a sensing unit on the pedaling structure of an electric assist bicycle, so that the sensing unit senses the pedaling force and automatically controls the gear ratio of the front gear chain set or the rear gear chain set of the electric assist bicycle according to the pedaling force, so as to achieve automatic control of the multi-stage speed adjustment of the electric assist bicycle.

To achieve the above-mentioned purpose, the present invention discloses a multi-speed control system for an electric bicycle, which is installed on an electric assist bicycle and is connected to a vehicle battery box, a motor, a pedaling structure, a front derailleur, and a rear derailleur to control the front gear chain set and the rear gear chain set. The control system includes: a processor, a sensing unit, a front drive unit, and a rear drive unit. The processor is electrically connected to the vehicle battery box and the motor, and contains an application program for judging and analyzing the set value of the pedaling force and controlling the drive and display. The sensing unit is electrically connected to the microprocessor to sense the pedaling force of the pedaling structure. The front drive unit is electrically connected to the processor, and is mounted on the electric assisted bicycle and is connected to the front transmission control. The rear drive unit is electrically connected to the processor, and is mounted on the electric assisted bicycle and is connected to the rear transmission control. The sensing unit senses the pedaling force and transmits the sensing signal to the processor, which determines and analyzes the set value of the pedaling force to output a signal to drive the front drive unit or the rear drive unit to drive the front transmission or the rear transmission to control the transmission chain to derail or jump out of the gear ring of the front gear plate group and the rear gear plate group to adjust the gear ratio, so as to achieve automatic control of multi-stage speed change control.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the pedaling force is resistance or pressure.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the processor is a central processing unit, a digital signal processor, a microprocessor or a microcontroller.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the sensing unit is a pedal force sensor or a three-axis force sensor.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the pedal force sensor is installed on the pedal of the pedal structure.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the three-axis force sensor is installed inside the pedal structure.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the front drive unit is a mechanical front shift adjuster lever, a front shifter rotating button or a front shifter rotating handle.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the front drive unit is an electronic drive motor.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the rear drive unit is a mechanical front shift adjuster lever, a front shifter rotating button or a front shifter rotating handle.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the rear drive unit is an electronic drive motor.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the control system further includes an operating unit, which is electrically connected to the microprocessor to input a speed change operation instruction to control the gear ratio of the front gear sprocket set or the rear gear sprocket set.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the operating unit is a push button or a touch button.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the control system further includes a display unit, and the display unit is electrically connected to the microprocessor.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the display unit is a liquid crystal display or a touch liquid crystal display.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the control system further includes a communication unit, which is electrically connected to the microprocessor and is connected to an external electronic device signal to perform data update or transfer operation control by the external electronic device.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the electronic device is a mobile phone, a driving recorder, a palmtop computer or a tablet computer.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the communication unit is a wireless module or a wired module .

In one embodiment of the present invention, the wireless module is a WIFI module or a Bluetooth module.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the wired module is a connector.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the connector is a mini USB, a Micro USB or a USB TYPE-C for connecting a transmission line to transmit signals or power.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the front gear chain plate assembly is composed of at least one or more than two gear chain plates.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the rear gear chain plate assembly is composed of at least two gear chain plates.

The technical content and detailed description of the present invention are now described as follows with reference to the drawings:

Please refer to Figures 1 and 2, which are schematic diagrams of the appearance of the electric assisted bicycle and the circuit block diagram of the multi-speed control system of the present invention. As shown in the figure: the multi-speed control system of the electric assisted bicycle (e-bike) of the present invention is a control system 100 installed on the electric assisted bicycle 200. The control system 100 automatically senses the resistance or pressure of the pedaling structure of the electric assisted bicycle 200 to control the front gear chain assembly 201 connected to the drive. The front derailleur 202 or the rear derailleur 204 of the rear gear plate assembly 203 controls the transmission chain 205 to jump and switch back and forth between the plurality of gear plates of the front gear plate assembly 201 and the rear gear plate assembly 203 to adjust the gear ratio of the gear plates of the front gear plate assembly 201 and the rear gear plate assembly 203 to adjust the riding resistance and the vehicle speed. For example, the third gear sprocket 2011c with 52 teeth (as shown in FIG. 5A ) of the front gear sprocket set 201 drives the seventh gear sprocket 2031g with 13 teeth (as shown in FIG. 5A ) of the rear gear sprocket set 203, thereby increasing the speed of the electric assisted bicycle 200. If the first gear sprocket 2011a with 28 teeth of the front gear sprocket set 201 drives the first gear sprocket 2031a with 28 teeth of the rear gear sprocket set 203, the speed of the electric assisted bicycle 200 is reduced, but the bicycle can easily climb a hill.

It is worth mentioning that, for example, when the front sprocket assembly 201 has three sprockets 2011a-2011c with different numbers of teeth (as shown in FIG. 5A ) and the rear sprocket assembly 203 has seven sprockets 2031a-2031g with different numbers of teeth (as shown in FIG. 5A ), the electric assist bicycle 200 has a 3×7 21-stage multi-speed shifting mode to provide the electric assist bicycle 200 with automatic speed adjustment according to different resistances, so that the rider can ride the electric assist bicycle 200 easily.

The control system 100 includes a processor 101, a sensing unit 102, a front drive unit 103, a rear drive unit 104, an operation unit 105, a display unit 106 and a communication unit 107. The control system 100 is installed on the electric assist bicycle 200 and is electrically connected to the vehicle battery box 300 and the motor 400.

The processor 101 is electrically connected to the vehicle battery box 300 and the motor 400, and contains an application program for determining and analyzing the resistance or pressure setting value and controlling the driving or display of each unit. In this figure, the processor 101 is a central processing unit (CPU), a digital signal processor (DSP), a microprocessor (MPU) or a microcontroller (MCU).

The sensing unit 102 is electrically connected to the microprocessor 101. The sensing unit 12 senses the pedaling force (such as resistance or pressure) of the pedaling structure 206 of the electric assisted bicycle 200 and outputs a signal to the processor 101. The processor 101 drives and controls the motor 400 to rotate, and at the same time drives the front drive unit 103 to control the front transmission 202 or drives the rear drive unit 104 to control the rear transmission 204 to control the transmission chain 205, so as to adjust the vehicle speed or resistance. In this figure, the sensing unit 102 is a pedal force sensor or a three-axis force sensor. The pedal force sensor is installed on the pedal 2061 of the pedal structure 206, and the three-axis force sensor can be installed inside the pedal structure 206.

It is worth mentioning that the motor 400 is installed at the center of the electric bicycle 200. The motor 400 is a center motor. The center motor has at least a coil structure (not shown) and a transmission group (not shown) driven by the coil structure. The transmission group is combined with the front gear chain set 201 and the pedal structure 206 (as shown in FIG. 1 ) of the electric bicycle 200. When the motor 400 is not rotating, the pedal structure 2016 drives the front gear chain set 201 to rotate, or when the motor 400 is driven, the motor 400 can drive the front gear chain set 201 to rotate.

The front drive unit 103 is electrically connected to the processor 101 and mounted on the electric assist bicycle 200 for control by the control system 100 or for manual control by the rider. The front drive unit 103 is control-connected to the front derailleur 202 to control the front derailleur 202 so that the transmission chain 205 is derailed and jumped out of the first inner gear 2011a (as shown in FIG. 5A ) to the third outer gear 2011c on the front gear chain set (at least one or more than two gear chains) 201. The front drive unit 103 is a mechanical front shifting adjustment lever, a front shifter rotating button, a front shifter rotating handle or an electronic drive motor.

The rear drive unit 104 is electrically connected to the processor 101 and mounted on the electric assist bicycle 200 for control by the control system 100 or for manual control by the rider. The rear-front drive unit 104 is control-connected with the rear transmission 204 to control the rear transmission 204 so that the transmission chain 205 is derailed and jumped from the first inner gear 2031a (as shown in FIG. 5A ) to the seventh outer gear 2031g, or derailed and jumped from the seventh outer gear 2031g (as shown in FIG. 5A ) to the first inner gear 2031a, so as to drive the rear wheel 206 to rotate. In this figure, the rear drive unit 104 is a mechanical front shift adjuster lever, a front shifter knob, a front shifter handle or an electronic drive motor.

The operating unit 105 is electrically connected to the microprocessor 101 to input a speed change operation instruction to control the gear change adjustment of the front gear chain set 201 or the rear gear chain set 203. In this figure, the operating unit 105 is a push button or a touch button.

The display unit 106 is electrically connected to the microprocessor 11. The display unit 106 is used to display the vehicle speed, the gear shift or the power of the vehicle battery box 300, or the working state of the motor 400. In this figure, the display unit 106 is a liquid crystal display or a touch liquid crystal display.

The communication unit 107 is electrically connected to the microprocessor 101. The communication unit 107 is signal-connected to an external electronic device (not shown) to update data or transfer operation control to an external electronic device (mobile phone, dash cam, palmtop computer or tablet computer). In this figure, the communication unit is a wireless module or a wired module. The wireless module is a WIFI module or a Bluetooth module; the wired module is a connector, which is a mini USB, Micro USB or USB TYPE-C for plugging in a transmission line to transmit signals or power.

Please refer to Figure 3-5B, which is a schematic diagram of the movement of the transmission and the front transmission before the present invention and the movement of the rear transmission, Figure 4A, and the corresponding control movement of the front gear plate group and the rear gear plate group; please refer to Figure 2 together. As shown in the figure: the transmission 202 of the present invention is installed above the front gear plate group 201, and the rear transmission 204 is installed on one side of the rear gear plate group 203. The transmission chain 205 is passed through the front gear plate group 201, the guide plate 2021 of the front transmission 202, the rear gear plate group 203 and the guide wheel group 2041 of the rear transmission 204 in sequence to form a multi-stage speed adjustment structure.

The front drive unit 103 and the rear drive unit 104 of the present invention can be manually adjusted in a manner similar to the current tradition, so the control principle of manually driving the front drive unit 103 or the rear drive unit 104 will not be described in detail. When the sensing unit 102 of the control system 100 senses different pedaling forces (resistance or pressure), the signal is transmitted to the processor 101. When the processor 101 analyzes and determines that the pedaling force reaches a specific setting value of a certain speed change, the processor 101 outputs a signal to drive the front drive unit 103 and the rear drive unit 104, so that the front drive unit 103 controls the guide plate 2021 of the front speed changer 202 to move (as shown by the arrow in FIG. 3 to the right or left), so that the transmission chain 205 is moved from the first gear chain plate 202 to the rear gear chain plate 203. 011a derails and jumps off to the third gear 2011c in sequence, and then the drive unit 104 controls the movement of the rear transmission 204, so that the transmission chain 205 derails and jumps off from the first gear 2031a of the rear gear set 203 to the seventh gear 2031g in sequence, thereby forming the third gear 2011c with 52 teeth of the front gear set 201 to drive the seventh gear 2031g with 13 teeth of the rear gear set 203, so that the rear wheel 207 of the electric assist bicycle 200 rotates faster to increase the vehicle speed.

When the transmission chain 205 is located on the third gear 2011c of the front gear set 201, the front drive unit 103 does not drive the front derailleur 202, but only drives the rear drive unit 104 to drive the rear derailleur 204 to control the transmission chain 205 to derail on the first gear 2031a of the rear gear set 203 and jump off to the seventh gear 2031g. Alternatively, when the transmission chain 205 is already located on the seventh gear 2031g of the rear gear plate assembly 203, the rear drive unit 104 does not drive the rear derailleur 204, but only drives the front drive unit 103 to drive the front derailleur 202 to control the transmission chain 205 to derail on the first gear plate 2011a of the front gear plate assembly 201 and jump off to the third gear plate 2011c. As for the rest of the multi-speed shifting control, as described above, the control system 100 controls the gear ratios of the front gear sprocket set 201 and the rear gear sprocket set 203 in response to different pedaling forces to achieve the multi-speed shifting adjustment control.

Furthermore, when the sensing unit 102 of the control system 100 senses different pedaling forces (resistance or pressure), the signal is transmitted to the processor 101. When the microprocessor 101 analyzes and determines that the pedaling force reaches a specific setting value of a certain speed change, the processor 101 outputs a signal to drive the front drive unit 103 and the rear drive unit 104, so that the front drive unit 103 controls the guide plate 2021 of the front speed changer 202 to move, so that the transmission chain 205 is derailed and jumps off from the third gear chain plate 2011c to the first gear chain in sequence. The rear transmission 204 is then controlled by the drive unit 104 to move, so that the transmission chain 205 is sequentially derailed from the seventh gear 2031g of the rear gear set 203 to the first gear 2031a, thereby forming the first gear 2011a of the 28-tooth of the front gear set 201 to drive the first gear 2031a of the 28-tooth of the rear gear set 203, so that the rear wheel 207 of the electric assist bicycle 200 rotates slower, and the relative speed of the vehicle is also slowed down, making pedaling easier and suitable for riding on a climbing road.

When the transmission chain 205 is located on the first gear 2011a of the front gear plate assembly 201, the front drive unit 103 does not drive the front derailleur 202, but only drives the rear drive unit 104 to drive the rear derailleur 204 to control the transmission chain 205 to derail on the seventh gear plate 2031g of the rear gear plate assembly 203 and jump off to the first gear plate 2031a. Alternatively, when the transmission chain 205 is already located on the gear disc 2031a of the rear gear disc assembly 203, the rear drive unit 104 does not drive the rear derailer 204, but only drives the front drive unit 103 to drive the front derailer 202 to control the transmission chain 20 to derail on the third gear disc 2011c of the front gear disc assembly 201 and jump off to the first gear disc 2011a. As for the rest of the multi-speed shifting control, as described above, the control system 100 controls the gear ratios of the front gear sprocket set 201 and the rear gear sprocket set 203 in response to different pedaling forces to achieve the multi-speed shifting adjustment control.

Furthermore, when the rider feels that the pedaling force (resistance or pressure) is difficult to bear or the sensing unit 102 fails, the rider can manually operate the front drive unit 103 or the rear drive unit 104 to control the front transmission 202 or the rear transmission 204 to perform multi-speed adjustment.

Furthermore, when the rider feels that the pedaling force (resistance or pressure) is difficult to bear or the sensing unit 102 fails, the rider can directly control the front drive unit 103 or the rear drive unit 104 through the operating unit 105 on the control system 100 to control the front transmission 202 or the rear transmission 204 to perform multi-speed adjustment.

However, the above is only a preferred embodiment of the present invention and is not intended to limit the patent protection scope of the present invention. Therefore, all equivalent changes made by using the contents of the description or drawings of the present invention are also included in the scope of protection of the present invention and are hereby stated.

100: Control system 101: Processor 102: Sensing unit 103: Front drive unit 104: Rear drive unit 105: Operation unit 106: Display unit 107: Communication unit 200: Electric assist bicycle 201: Front gear chain set 2011a: First gear chain set 2011b: Second gear chain set 2011c: Third gear chain set 202: Front derailleur 2021: Guide plate 203: Rear gear chain set 2031a: First gear chain set 2031b: Second gear chain set 2031c: Third gear chain 2031d: Fourth gear chain 2031e: Fifth gear chain 2031f: Sixth gear chain 2031g: Seventh gear chain 204: Rear derailleur 2041: Guide wheel assembly 205: Drive chain 206: Pedal structure 207: Rear wheel 300: Car battery box 400: Motor

FIG1 is a schematic diagram of the appearance of the electric assist bicycle of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a schematic block diagram of a circuit diagram of a multi-speed shift control system of an electric assisted bicycle of the present invention;

FIG3 is a schematic diagram of the movement of the transmission and the front transmission before the present invention;

FIG4A is a schematic diagram of a transmission according to the present invention;

FIG4B is a schematic diagram of the movement of the rear derailleur of FIG4A;

5A-5B are schematic diagrams showing the corresponding control actions of the front gear chain set and the rear gear chain set of the present invention.

100: Control system

101:Processor

102: Sensing unit

103:Front drive unit

104: Rear drive unit

105: Operation unit

106: Display unit

107: Communication unit

200: Electric assist bicycle

201:Front gear chain set

202: Front transformer

203: Rear gear chain set

204: Rear gearbox

205: Transmission chain

206: Trampling structure

207:Rear wheel

300: Car battery box

400: Motor

Claims (22)

A multi-speed shift control system for an electric bicycle is installed on an electric assisted bicycle and is connected to a vehicle battery box, a motor, a pedaling structure, a front derailleur, and a rear derailleur control system to control a front gear chain assembly and a rear gear chain assembly. The control system includes: A processor is electrically connected to the vehicle battery box and the motor, and contains an application program for judging and analyzing the set value of the pedaling force and controlling the drive and display; A sensing unit is electrically connected to the microprocessor to sense the pedaling force of the pedaling structure; A front drive unit is electrically connected to the processor and is installed on the electric assisted bicycle and connected to the front derailleur control system; A rear drive unit is electrically connected to the processor and installed on the electric assisted bicycle to be controlled and connected to the rear derailleur; The sensing unit senses the pedaling force and transmits the sensing signal to the processor, which determines and analyzes the set value of the pedaling force to output a signal to drive the front drive unit or the rear drive unit to drive the front derailleur or the rear derailleur to control the transmission chain to derail or jump on the multiple sprockets between the front sprocket set and the rear sprocket set to adjust the gear ratio, so as to achieve automatic control of multi-stage speed change control. A multi-speed control system for an electric bicycle as described in claim 1, wherein the pedaling force is resistance or pressure. A multi-speed control system for an electric bicycle as described in claim 1, wherein the processor is a central processing unit, a digital signal processor, a microprocessor or a microcontroller. A multi-speed shifting control system for an electric bicycle as described in claim 1, wherein the sensing unit is a pedal force sensor or a three-axis force sensor. As described in claim 4, the electric bicycle multi-speed control system, wherein the pedal force sensor is installed on the pedal of the pedal structure. A multi-speed control system for an electric bicycle as described in claim 4, wherein the three-axis force sensor is installed inside the pedaling structure. A multi-speed shift control system for an electric bicycle as described in claim 1, wherein the front drive unit is a mechanical front shift adjuster lever, a front shifter rotating button or a front shifter rotating handle. A multi-speed control system for an electric bicycle as described in claim 1, wherein the front drive unit is an electronic drive motor. A multi-speed shift control system for an electric bicycle as described in claim 1, wherein the rear drive unit is a mechanical front shift adjuster lever, a front shifter rotating button or a front shifter rotating handle. A multi-speed shift control system for an electric bicycle as described in claim 1, wherein the rear drive unit is an electronic drive motor. A multi-speed shifting control system for an electric bicycle as described in claim 1, wherein the control system further includes an operating unit, which is electrically connected to the microprocessor to input a speed shifting operation instruction to control the gear ratio of the sprocket of the front gear chain set or the rear gear chain set. A multi-speed shifting control system for an electric bicycle as described in claim 11, wherein the operating unit is a push button or a touch button. A multi-speed shifting control system for an electric bicycle as described in claim 1, wherein the control system further includes a display unit which is electrically connected to the microprocessor. A multi-speed control system for an electric bicycle as described in claim 13, wherein the display unit is a liquid crystal display or a touch liquid crystal display. The multi-speed control system of the electric bicycle as described in claim 1, wherein the control system further includes a communication unit, which is electrically connected to the microprocessor, and the communication unit is connected to the external electronic device signal to update data or transfer operation control to the external electronic device. A multi-speed control system for an electric bicycle as described in claim 15, wherein the electronic device is a mobile phone, a driving recorder, a palmtop computer or a tablet computer. A multi-speed shifting control system for an electric bicycle as described in claim 15, wherein the communication unit is a wireless module or a wired module. A multi-speed control system for an electric bicycle as described in claim 17, wherein the wireless module is a WIFI module or a Bluetooth module. A multi-speed control system for an electric bicycle as described in claim 17, wherein the wired module is a connector. A multi-speed control system for an electric bicycle as described in claim 19, wherein the connector is a mini USB, Micro USB or USB TYPE-C for connecting a transmission cable to transmit signals or power. As described in claim 1, the multi-speed control system of the electric bicycle, wherein the front gear chain assembly is composed of at least one or more than two gear chain plates. As described in claim 1, the multi-speed control system of the electric bicycle, wherein the rear gear chain assembly is composed of at least two or more gear chains.

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