JPH09123978A - Automatic speed change gear operation device for bicycle - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To attain smooth cycling according to loads without having a feeling of physical disorder in gear changing operation by controlling a gear changing operation drive part which is provided with a running speed detecting part and a motor which processes the output of a torque detecting part for detecting human power as torque with a microcomputer and operates the speed change gear of a rear wheel. SOLUTION: At a running speed detecting part which detects running speed, when a rear wheel 2 which a bicycle runs rotates, a magnet 39 which is fixed at a spoke 2a rotates with the rear wheel 2 and a lead switch 40 detects its rotation. A torque detecting part detects torque by human power which is transmitted through a pedal 10 and a crank arm 9 of the bicycle. A gear changing operation drive part C is provided with a motor for gear changing operation which operates the speed change gear in a hub of the rear wheel 2. A controller 17 processes the output of the running speed detecting part and the torque detecting part with a microcomputer, controls the gear changing operation drive part C, controls the power of a battery 16, and supplies it to a motor 15 for electric auxiliary power.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an automatic gear shift operation device for a bicycle, which performs a gear shift operation according to a traveling speed.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As an automatic gear shift operation device for performing a gear shift operation by a speed detection sensor, for example, there is a bicycle electric gear shift device disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 3-16316.

[0003]

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention]
The bicycle electric transmission of No. 6316 has the following problems. (1) Since the gear shift operation is performed only by detecting the traveling speed, when the rider's load is applied to the pedal, the pedal is suddenly lightened as a result of shifting to the low side at a low speed on an uphill road. Feeling often occurs. (2) Since the gear shift operation is performed only by detecting the traveling speed, the gear may be shifted to the top side and become heavy when accelerating and trying to climb a slope at a stretch, such as when going from a downhill to an uphill. . (3) There is anxiety and discomfort that a gear shift operation is performed against the rider's wishes, such as shifting gears unnecessarily frequently in response to minute changes in the running state, for example, speed changes due to coasting. It was

[0004]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, in the present invention, a traveling speed detecting section for detecting a traveling speed, a torque detecting section for detecting human power transmitted through a pedal as torque, A speed change operation drive unit including a speed change operation motor for operating a rear wheel transmission; a controller for controlling outputs of the traveling speed detection unit and the torque detection unit by a microcomputer to control the speed change operation drive unit; An automatic gear shift operation device for a bicycle is configured by a battery that serves as a power source for the operation drive unit and the controller.

Further, according to the present invention, in the above-mentioned automatic speed change operation device of the first invention, the traveling speed detecting means is constituted by magnets fixed to the spokes of the wheels and a detecting portion for detecting the rotation of the magnets. Good.

Further, in the present invention, in the above-described automatic gear shift operation device of the first invention, the traveling speed detecting means may be a crankshaft rotation sensor for detecting the rotational speed of the crankshaft.

Further, according to the present invention, in the above-described automatic gear shift operation device of the first invention, the start of the bicycle after stopping may be always performed in a low state.

Further, in the present invention, in the above-described automatic gear shift operation device of the first invention, the gear shift of the bicycle may be performed when the driving torque of the rider becomes close to the minimum value.

Further, in the present invention, in the above-described automatic gear shift operation device of the fifth invention, the gear shift point may have a hysteresis region with respect to the traveling speed.

Further, according to the present invention, in the above-described automatic shift operating device of the fifth aspect, the shift point may have a hysteresis region with respect to the torque of human power.

Further, in the present invention, in the above-described automatic gear shift operation device of the fifth invention, the gear shift point may use both the traveling speed and the torque of human power as parameters.

[0012]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is an overall side view showing a state in which the automatic gear shift operating device of the present invention is mounted on an electric bicycle, and FIG. 2 is a plan view showing a cross section of a part of a transmission system of a hanger portion of the bicycle, and FIG. FIG. 4 is a plan view showing another transmission system in the housing of FIG. 2 in a partial cross section, and FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view of the torque detection unit of FIG.

In the figure, 1 (see FIG. 1) is a bicycle front wheel, 2 is a rear wheel, 3 is a vehicle body (frame), 4 (see FIGS. 1 to 3) is a housing provided on a hanger portion, 4a (see FIG. 2). Is a side cover of the housing 4, 5 is a crank shaft rotatably provided in the center of the housing 4 via bearings 6, 7, 8 (see FIG. 2), 9 is a crank arm, and 10 is a pedal.

Reference numeral 11 denotes a front gear (front sprocket) rotatably provided on the crankshaft 5 via a bearing 7;
2 is a rear gear (rear sprocket) provided on the rear axle 13,
Reference numeral 14 denotes a chain extending over the front gear 11 and the rear gear 12. Reference numeral 15 denotes a motor for electric auxiliary power, reference numeral 16 denotes a battery serving as a power source of the motor, and reference numeral 17 denotes a controller which controls the power of the battery 16 and supplies the power to the motor 15.

2 to 4 show an example of a transmission system for driving the front gear 11 from the crank arm 9 and the motor 15. Reference numeral 5a denotes a spline shaft portion provided on the crank shaft 5, and 18 denotes the spline shaft. A drive disc fitted into the portion 5a, and 19 is a driven disc rotatably provided on the crankshaft 5 so as to sandwich the U-shaped spring plates 20A and 20B (see FIG. 4) with the drive disc 18. , 21 are spring plates 20A, 20B projecting from the driven disk 19.
Is a stop pin at one end of the.

Reference numeral 22 is an output gear rotatably provided to the housing 4 and the crankshaft 5 via the bearings 6 and 7, and 23 is an inner circumference of the output gear 22 and a driven disk 19. A one-way clutch inserted between the boss and the boss. Further, 24 is a slide cup which encloses the drive disc 18 and is slidable in the axial direction with respect to the crankshaft 5, and 24 a is a sliding engagement portion with the drive disc 18.
Reference numeral 4b is a cam portion for engaging the cam portion 19a provided on the driven disk 19 and pushing the slide cup 24 to the left side in FIG.

Reference numeral 25 is a coil spring fitted to the crankshaft 5 between the slide cup 24 and the bearing 8,
Reference numeral 26 denotes a potentiometer fixedly provided in the housing 4 so that the contact 26a is engaged with the wall surface of the slide cup 24. An output signal of the potentiometer 26 is introduced into the controller 17 to drive the motor 15 It is designed to be controlled.

Further, 15a is an output shaft of the motor 15, which is 27
Is a gear fixed to the shaft 15a, 28 (see FIG. 3) is a gear meshing with the gear 27, 29 is a shaft, 30 is a gear meshing with the gear 28, and is provided on the shaft 32 via a one-way clutch 31. . Reference numeral 33 is a bearing of the shaft 32. 34 is a gear integrally formed with the shaft 32, and 35 is a gear meshing with the gear 34, which is fixed to the shaft 36. Reference numeral 37 is a bearing provided at both ends of the shaft 36, and 38 is a gear fixedly attached to the shaft 36 so as to mesh with the output gear 22.

Next, the operation of the bicycle with auxiliary power constructed as described above will be described. Pedal 1 for crank arm 9
When the crankshaft 5 rotates by stepping on 0, the rotation is transmitted to the drive disc 18 that is spline-fitted with the spline shaft portion 5a, and further, from this drive disc 18, the spring plates 20A, 20B, the pin 21, the driven circle. The rotation is transmitted to the front gear 11 via the plate 19, the one-way clutch 23, and the output gear 22. When the front gear 11 rotates, the rear gear 12 rotates via the chain 14, so that the rear wheel 2 rotates and the bicycle runs. In this case, the output gear 22
When the gear rotates, the gears 28 and 30 meshing with the gear also rotate, but the rotation of the gear 30 is prevented from being transmitted to the shaft 32 by the action of the one-way clutch 31.

When the torque applied to the crankshaft 5 increases while the bicycle is running, the U-shaped spring plates 20A and 20B between the drive disk 18 and the driven disk 19 bend and the cam portions 19a and 24b. As a result of the sliding of and, the slide cup 24 moves to the left in FIG. 2 and pushes the contact 26a of the potentiometer 26, so that the potentiometer 26 outputs a signal and the motor 15 passes through the controller 17. To drive. When the motor 15 rotates, the front gear 11 is auxiliary driven by the motor 15 via the gears 27, 28 and 30, the one-way clutch 31, the shaft 32, the gears 34 and 35, the shaft 36, and the gears 38 and 22.

In the present embodiment, the above-mentioned electric bicycle is equipped with an automatic gear shift operation device, and the traveling speed detecting section A for detecting the traveling speed is, as shown in FIG. 1, a spoke of a rear wheel 2. While fixing the magnet 39 to one of 2a,
The magnet 39 is attached to the chain stay 3a of the bicycle frame 3.
A reed switch 40 is provided as a detector for detecting the rotation of the. With this configuration, when the bicycle travels and the rear wheels 2 rotate, the magnets 39 fixed to the spokes 2a move to the rear wheels 2.
Since the reed switch 40 detects the rotation, the traveling speed of the bicycle can be detected.

As another running speed detecting means, FIG.
As shown in FIG. 3, a crankshaft rotation sensor 41 that opposes the tip of the output gear 22 is fixedly provided in the housing 4. With this configuration, when the crankshaft 5 rotates and the output gear 22 rotates, the unevenness of the tooth tip can be counted by the crankshaft rotation sensor 41 as the number of pulses proportional to the traveling speed.

Further, the torque detecting portion B for the torque due to human power transmitted through the pedal 10 and the crank arm 9 of the bicycle can be constituted by the slide cup 24 and the potentiometer 26 mentioned above. That is, if the torque due to human power transmitted via the pedal 10 is small, the output signal from the potentiometer 26 is small,
If the torque by human power is large, potentiometer 2
The output signal from 6 also becomes large.

Further, C shown in FIGS. 1 and 5 is a gear shift operation drive unit having a gear shift operation motor 42 for operating the hub internal transmission D of the rear wheel 2, 43 is its case, and 44 (FIG. 5).
Is a pinion gear fixed to the shaft of the motor 42,
Is a second gear meshing with the pinion gear 44, 46 is a small diameter third gear fixed to the shaft of the second gear 45, 47 is a large diameter fourth gear meshing with the third gear 46, 48 is its shaft, and 49 is A reel pulley fixed to the shaft 48, 50 is a speed change operation wire wound around the pulley 49, and 51 is a wheel fixed to the shaft 48, and a large number of projections are distributed on the outer periphery thereof. Reference numeral 52 is a proximity switch provided on the outer periphery of the wheel 51.

Further, FIG. 6 shows a hub internal transmission D provided in the hub 2b of the rear wheel 2 and a gear shift operation device thereof.
53 is a shift rod slidably provided in the rear axle 13,
54 is a cam for operating the shift rod 53, 55 is its shaft, 56 is a reel fixed to the shaft 55, and 50 is a speed change operation wire wound around the reel 56.

FIG. 7 is a control system diagram of the controller 17 which controls the shift operation drive unit C by processing the outputs of the traveling speed detection unit A and the torque detection unit B by a microcomputer.
Inputs to the controller 17 include the input signals of the crankshaft rotation sensor 41, the proximity switch 52, the potentiometer 26, and the reed switch 40 described above. Based on the input signals, the shift motor 42, the auxiliary power motor 15
Is driven. In the figure, 57 is a motor driver, and 58 is a display LED.

Since the device of the present invention is constructed as described above,
The torque due to human power is obtained by a potentiometer 26 that detects the movement of the slide cup 24 that is displaced by the bending of the spring plates 20A and 20B provided on the crankshaft 5, and the speed of the bicycle is the reed switch 40 or the crankshaft rotation sensor described above. 41 according to the torque value and the speed, and the shift operation drive unit C
The motor 42 is driven. The rotation of the motor 42 is transmitted to the reel pulley 49 via a speed reducer composed of gears 44, 45, 46, 47.

The rotation of the reel pulley 49 causes the speed change operation wire 50 to move as shown by arrows A and B in FIG. 6, thereby rotating the cam 54 as shown by arrows C and D, thereby causing the shift rod 53 to move in the direction of arrow. By operating like E and F, shift control of the hub internal transmission D is performed.

FIG. 8 shows time (t) on the abscissa and torque (T) generated by pedaling at the time of starting on the ordinate.
3 shows a torque waveform curve M represented by
As can be seen from this characteristic curve, a large torque is required at the time of starting the bicycle. Therefore, in the present invention, the starting after the bicycle is stopped is always performed in the low state.

Further, the valley portion M between the respective waveforms of the waveform curve M of FIG.
_{Since 1} has a small torque T, in the present invention, shifting of the bicycle is performed when the rider's drive torque T becomes close to the minimum value M ₁ .

Further, FIG. 9 is a table showing the relationship between the running speed and the torque at each shift stage, where the running speed of the bicycle is plotted on the abscissa and the human-powered driving torque is plotted on the ordinate.
Is a hysteresis region provided in the present invention, arrow N ₁ indicates a start-up and sudden acceleration state, arrow N ₂ indicates a running state after start, arrow O indicates a deceleration state due to climbing, and arrow P indicates a gentle slope. An acceleration state is shown, an arrow Q indicates a gentle deceleration state, and an arrow R indicates a braking or slight acceleration state.

As shown by the arrow N ₁ in FIG. 9, a large driving torque is required at the time of starting the vehicle, so that if the driver immediately shifts up, the pedal effort becomes unnecessarily large. By providing a hysteresis region with respect to the torque of human power, it is prevented from shifting up even if the speed slightly increases. Further, as indicated by an arrow N ₂ , in the traveling state after starting, the drive torque is reduced and the speed is increased, so in this case, the gear is shifted up according to the speed.

When decelerating due to the uphill as indicated by the arrow O,
Since the vehicle is naturally decelerated due to the increase in the running resistance, there is no hysteresis region in this case, and the downshift is performed according to the decrease in the speed or the increase in the driving torque. Further, during the gradual acceleration / deceleration indicated by arrows P and Q, there is no hysteresis region, and the gear shifting operation is performed according to the speed and the driving torque.

Further, as indicated by an arrow R, in the braking or slight acceleration state, if the gear shift operation is frequently performed in a state where the driving torque is small, the traveling feeling is impaired. Therefore, a large hysteresis region is set in the velocity coordinate direction. To prevent frequent shifts. That is, in the present invention, the shift point has both the traveling speed and the torque of human power as parameters.

Since the device of the present invention is constructed as described above,
When the speed is 0, there is no input pulse from the wheels, so the transmission D is in the low gear. When the driver depresses the pedal to start, an output is obtained from the potentiometer 26, which is a human force detection sensor, according to the input driving torque at that time. When the wheel rotates, a pulse is input to the controller 17 according to the rotation, and the speed is calculated from this pulse interval. If the vehicle is accelerating, the transmission D is shifted up according to the speed at that time. Similarly, during deceleration, the transmission D is downshifted according to the speed at that time. Set to the low position when stopped.

While the bicycle is running, the shift is increased as the speed increases. However, when the driving torque of the human power is equal to or higher than a predetermined value, the vehicle does not upshift even when the vehicle reaches a predetermined speed because it is on a slope or during rapid acceleration. Further, when the driving torque due to a larger human power is detected, the shift down is performed from the shift position at that time. On the other hand, when the driving torque due to human power becomes small due to the sudden acceleration, uphill slope, etc.,
Gradual acceleration or coasting etc. will occur and shift up will be performed. Further, when there is a very gradual acceleration / deceleration, a hysteresis region is provided in which the gear shifting operation is not performed even if the speed reaches a predetermined value, and the discomfort caused by the frequent gear shifting operation is removed. The timing of gear shifting is performed when the force is the least applied during pedaling. As for the operation amount of the speed change wire 50, the proximity switch 52 detects the amount of rotation of the reel pulley 49 by a proximity switch 52 provided on a wheel 51 coaxial with the reel pulley 49, and the controller 17 counts the number of pulses thereof. 42 is controlled by driving or stopping. Also, the crankshaft rotation sensor 4
It goes without saying that the traveling speed may be detected from the crank rotational speed calculated from 1 and the current traveling position.

[0037]

Since the device of the present invention is constructed as described above, the following operational effects can be obtained. (1) Since the speed change operation is performed according to the running speed together with the output from the human power torque detection sensor, the load on the person should be reduced by downshifting during a heavy load such as climbing or starting at a slope. You can (2) Since the shift operation is performed according to the traveling speed together with the output from the human power torque detection sensor, it is possible to shift up at an appropriate timing during acceleration and the traveling resistance can be set to an appropriate value. (3) Since there is a hysteresis region corresponding to the traveling speed and the driving torque, even if a very gentle acceleration / deceleration frequently occurs, the gear does not shift, and the discomfort of the gear shifting operation is eliminated. (4) Since the timing of the gear shifting operation is performed at the valley of the drive torque where the pedal is not applied with the most force, smooth running can be performed without any discomfort in the gear shifting operation. (5) Since the timing of the gear shifting operation is performed at the valley of the drive torque where the pedal is not exerted the most force, the operation of the gear shifting device is smooth, and the torque required for the gear shifting operation motor is small. And power saving can be achieved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an overall side view showing a state in which an automatic gear shift operating device of the present invention is mounted on an electric bicycle.

FIG. 2 is a plan view showing a cross section of a part of a transmission system of a hanger portion of an electric bicycle equipped with the device of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a plan view showing another transmission system in the housing of FIG. 2 in a partial cross section.

FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view of the torque detector of FIG.

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view showing the inside of a shift operation drive unit of the device of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a partial cross-sectional view showing the relationship between the gear shift operation end portion of the device of the present invention and the internal transmission of the rear wheel hub.

FIG. 7 is a control system diagram of the device of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a drive torque waveform diagram showing the relationship between torque generated by human power and time when the bicycle starts.

FIG. 9 is a chart showing a relationship between a human-powered driving torque at each shift speed and a traveling speed in the device of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 front wheel 2 rear wheel 3 vehicle body (frame) 4 housing 4a side cover 5 crankshaft 6,7,8 bearing 9 crank arm 10 pedal 11 front gear (front sprocket) 12 rear gear (rear sprocket) 13 rear axle 14 chain 15 motor 16 Battery (Battery) 17 Controller 18 Drive Disk 19 Driven Disk 19a Cam Part 20A, 20B Spring Plate 21 Stop Pin 22 Output Gear 23 One-way Clutch 24 Slide Cup 24a Sliding Engagement 24b Cam Part 25 Coil Spring 26 Po Tension meter 26a Contact 27, 28 Gear 29 Shaft 30 Gear 31 One-way clutch 32 Shaft 33 Bearing 34, 35 Gear 36 Shaft 37 Bearing 38 Gear A Running speed detector 39 Magnet 40 Reed switch 41 Rotation sensor B Torr Detecting unit C Gear change operation drive unit D Hub internal transmission 42 Gear change operation motor 43 Case 44 Pinion gear 45 Second gear 46 Third gear 47 Fourth gear 48 Shaft 49 Reel pulley 50 Gear change operation wire 51 Wheel 52 Proximity switch 53 Shift rod 54 cam 55 axis 56 reel 57 motor driver 58 display LED

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuing on the front page (72) Inventor Toshiharu Furukawa 3-1-1 Nakazuma, Ageo-shi, Saitama Prefecture Inside the Bridge Cycle Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Yuki Sato 3-1-1 Nakazuma, Ageo-shi, Saitama Bridge Cycle Co., Ltd.

Claims (8)

[Claims] 1. A traveling speed detecting section for detecting a traveling speed,
A torque detection unit that detects the human power transmitted via the pedal as torque, a gear shift operation drive unit that includes a gear shift operation motor that operates a rear wheel transmission, and outputs of the traveling speed detection unit and the torque detection unit. An automatic gear shift operation device for a bicycle, comprising: a controller that processes by a microcomputer to control a gear shift operation drive unit; and a battery that serves as a power source for the gear shift operation drive unit and the controller. 2. The bicycle according to claim 1, wherein the traveling speed detecting means comprises a magnet fixed to a spoke of a wheel and a detecting portion detecting a rotation of the magnet. Automatic shift operation device. 3. The automatic gear shift operating device according to claim 1, wherein the traveling speed detecting means comprises a crankshaft rotation sensor for detecting the rotational speed of the crankshaft. 4. The automatic gear shift operation device according to claim 1, wherein the start of the bicycle after the bicycle is stopped is always performed in a low state. 5. The automatic gear shift operating device according to claim 1, wherein the gear shifting of the bicycle is performed when the driving torque of the rider approaches a minimum value. 6. The automatic gear shift operation device according to claim 5, wherein the shift point has a hysteresis region with respect to the traveling speed. 7. The automatic shift operating device for a bicycle according to claim 5, wherein the shift point has a hysteresis region with respect to the torque of human power. 8. The automatic gear shift operating device according to claim 5, wherein the gear shift point has both traveling speed and human torque as parameters.