Bicycle frame with passive seat tube pivot joint
AssigneeTrek Bicycle Corporation
InventorsReggie Lund, Christopher Pomering
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A bicycle frame assembly that includes an upper frame member and a lower frame member that each extend between a head tube and a dropout. A seat tube extends between the upper frame member and the lower frame member. The seat tube is preferably connected to a bottom bracket of the lower frame member and is connected by a pivot to the upper frame member so that the seat tube can deflect from a rest position without altering an orientation of a top tube to a bottom tube of the upper and lower frame members, respectively.
Claims19
A bicycle frame assembly comprising:
- a forward frame triangle comprising:
- a top tube having a first end connected to a head tube and a second end;
- a bottom tube having a first end connected to the head tube and a second end;
- a bottom bracket connected to the second end of the bottom tube;
- and
- a flexible, unitary seat tube extending in an upward direction from the bottom bracket;
- a pair of seat stays connected to the top tube and extending in a rearward direction beyond the forward frame triangle;
- and
- a rotable coupling connecting the seat tube to the forward frame triangle proximate the top tube at a location nearer a bicycle seat than the bottom bracket.
A bicycle frame assembly comprising:
- an upper frame member that includes a top tube and a pair of seat stays and that extends between a dropout and a head tube;
- an opening formed in the upper frame member;
- a lower frame member that includes a bottom tube, a bottom bracket, and a chain stay, and that extends between the dropout and the head tube;
- a flexible, unitary seat tube extending from the lower frame member toward the upper frame member and passing through the opening in the upper frame member;
- and
- a rotable coupling connecting the seat tube to the upper frame member proximate the opening so that more of the seat tube is located between the rotable coupling and the bottom bracket than extends beyond the upper frame member.
A method of allowing deflection of a seat tube, comprising:
- connecting a flexible, unitary seat tube to a bottom bracket;
- connecting the seat tube to an upper frame member with a rotable coupling located at an overlapping intersection of a seat tube and the upper frame member so that the seat tube can deflect from alignment along an line between the bottom bracket and the rotable coupling;
- and
- forming the upper frame member with a pair of seat stays and a top tube.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.