Bicycle brake lever mechanism
AssigneeShimano Inc.
InventorsMasashi Nagano, Kazuhisa Yamashita, Yuji Nakashima, Masanori Sugimoto
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A bicycle brake lever mechanism having a bracket mountable to a bicycle handlebar, a lever mounted for pivotal movement to the bracket and a brake cable connector connected to the lever. The cable connector is connected to the lever via an adjusting mechanism for so that the return position of the brake lever relative to a lever bracket may be adjusted to accommodate various sized hands. Further, the adjusting mechanism allows for adjustment of a lever ratio A which is defined mathematically by the distance between the pivot point of the lever and the pivot point of the cable connector on the lever divided by the distance from a set point on the brake lever to the pivot point of the lever.
Claims12
A brake actuation lever mechanism for a bicycle brake system comprising:
- a base mountable to a bicycle handlebar having a partially hollow interior, and an aperture extending from a first end of said base to the hollow interior, a portion of said aperture defining an inner wire-support point;
- a lever handle having a lever portion and a body portion, said body portion mounted to said base for pivotal movement proximate the hollow interior, a position of said lever portion defining a return position;
- an adjustment mechanism supported on said body portion and being engagable with a portion of said base, said adjustment mechanism being configured for selective movement, said return position being adjustable in response to the selective movement of said adjustment mechanism;
- a u-shaped bracket disposed within said base hollow interior, said u-shaped bracket being connected to said adjustment mechanism and undergoing pivoting movement about said inner wire-support point along an imaginary arc whose center is said inner wire-support point in response to the selective movement of said adjustment mechanism.
A brake actuation lever mechanism for a bicycle brake system comprising:
- a base mountable to a bicycle handlebar having a partially hollow interior, said base formed with at least first and second generally co-planar surfaces, and an aperture extending from a first end of said base to the hollow interior;
- a lever handle having a lever portion and a body portion, said body portion mounted to said base for pivotal movement proximate the hollow interior and formed with a bore extending through said body portion;
- a rod provided with a cam proximate a mid-portion thereof and first and second ends, said rod extending through said lever handle bore, said cam rotatably disposed in said bore, said first end of said rod formed with an adjusting means and engagable with said base first surface, said second end engagable with said base second surface;
- a u-shaped bracket disposed within said base hollow interior having generally coaxially aligned apertures, said rod extending through said coaxial apertures, and couplable to the brake cable.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.