Bicycle rental system with multiple ways of renting and returning bicycles

#The present invention relates to a bicycle rental system, and more particularly to a bicycle rental system having different ways of renting and returning bicycles.

#A conventional bicycle rental system sets up a plurality of rental stations in the city. Each of the rental stations has a plurality of docks to park bicycle, and people may operate the dock to rent or return a bicycle. A power line and a network should be connected to all the docks for the rental procedure. Such rental system has advantages, including easy management of the system and the bicycles. But it also has some disadvantages, for example, it needs a high cost to build up the rental stations, and the user has to find the rental station to rent and return the rental bicycles.

#Another conventional bicycle rental system needs no rental stations. All the rental bicycles have a code. The user operates a mobile device, such as smartphone, which is installed with a specific APP, to scan the code on the rental bicycle for renting and returning the rental bicycle. Such system has some advantages, such as the user may rent the return bicycles in any place, and some disadvantages, such as the rental bicycle will not be operated when the code is damaged.

#The present invention will be best understood by referring to the following detailed description of some illustrative embodiments in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which

#FIG. 1 is a sketch diagram of a preferred embodiment of the present invention;

#FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the rental bicycle of the preferred embodiment of the present invention;

#FIG. 1 shows a bicycle rental system of the preferred embodiment of the present invention, which includes a plurality of rental bicycles 10, a plurality of docks 20, a network 30, and a control system 40. It also shows that some of the rental bicycles 10 are rented and returned with the docks 20, and some of them are rented and returned without the docks 20.

#As shown in FIG. 2, each of the rental bicycles 10 has a locking apparatus 50, which includes a locking member 52 and a locking board 56. The locking member 52 has a latch 54, and the locking board 56 has a slot 58. The latch 54 could be moved out of the locking member 52, or received in the locking member 52. The locking member 52 is mounted on a frame of the rental bicycle 10, and precisely, it is mounted on a head tube of the frame of the rental bicycle 10. The locking board 56 is mounted on a front fork of the rental bicycle 10, so that the locking board 56 is turned along with a handlebar of the rental bicycle 10 to align the slot 58 with the latch 54.

#Each of the rental bicycles 10 further includes a bicycle locking device 60. The bicycle locking device 60 has a cable connected to the frame of the rental bicycle 10 and a pin on a distal end of the cable. The pin of the bicycle locking device 60 is able to be inserted into the locking member 52 to move the latch 54 out and engage the slot 58 of the locking board 56. As a result, the front fork of the rental bicycle 10 is locked and unable to turn.