Tool-less pedal assembly
AssigneeHuffy Corporation
InventorsMark A. Laipple, Robert L. Diekman
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A pedaled vehicle includes a frame, a wheel rotatably coupled to the frame, a crank assembly operatively coupled to the wheel and having a bore, a pedal received in the bore, and a spring clip for securing the pedal to the crank assembly. The spring clip includes at least one flexible tab or leg capable of flexing between a first configuration, where the spring clip allows a shaft of the pedal to pass through the bore, and a second configuration, where the pedal shaft is prevented from being removed from the bore. A method for coupling a pedal to a vehicle in a tool-less manner is also disclosed.
Claims20
A pedaled vehicle, comprising:
- a frame;
- at least one wheel rotatably coupled to the frame;
- a crank assembly operatively coupled to the at least one wheel for moving the vehicle and having a bore;
- a pedal having a shaft configured to be received in the bore of the crank assembly;
- and
- a spring clip for securing the pedal to the crank assembly, the spring clip including at least one flexible tab or leg capable of flexing between a first configuration and a second configuration,
- wherein when the flexible tab or leg is in the first configuration, the pedal shaft is allowed to pass through the bore of the crank assembly, and when the flexible tab or leg is in the second configuration, the pedal shaft is prevented from being removed from the bore of the crank assembly.
A method of coupling a pedal to a vehicle in a tool-less manner, comprising:
- flexing a tab or leg of a spring clip to a first configuration so that the spring clip is in a tensioned state;
- inserting a shaft of the pedal into the bore of the vehicle when the spring clip is in the first configuration;
- and
- reducing the tension in the spring clip so that the tab or leg moves to a second configuration, the shaft of the pedal inserted into the bore of the vehicle being restricted from moving out of the bore when the spring clip is in the second configuration.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.