Adjustable footrest for a vehicle

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10220903-B2
Application number	US-201415100481-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Nov 28, 2014
Priority date	Nov 29, 2013
Publication date	Mar 5, 2019
Grant date	Mar 5, 2019

Abstract

A vehicle has a frame defining a longitudinal centerplane, at least one front wheel and at least one rear wheel, an engine operatively connected to at least one of the wheels, a transmission, a brake assembly operatively connected to at least one of the wheels, and a straddle-type seat. Left and right rails disposed vertically lower than the seat extend forwardly and downwardly on a left and right side respectively of the longitudinal centerplane. A left footrest connected to the left rail is selectively disposed in one of at least a first and a second left footrest position. A right footrest connected to the right rail is selectively disposed in one of at least a first and a second right footrest position. A foot-operated actuator is connected to one of the left and right footrests. The actuator is operatively connected to one of: the brake assembly and the transmission.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A vehicle comprising:
a frame defining a longitudinal centerplane of the vehicle;
at least one front wheel connected to the frame;
at least one rear wheel connected to the frame;
an engine supported by the frame and operatively connected to at least one of the wheels;
a transmission operatively connecting the engine to the at least one of the wheels;
a brake assembly operatively connected to at least one of the wheels;
a straddle seat connected to the frame;
a left rail being connected to the frame and disposed vertically lower than the seat, the left rail extending forwardly and downwardly on a left side of the longitudinal centerplane;
a right rail being connected to the frame and disposed vertically lower than the seat, the right rail extending forwardly and downwardly on a right side of the longitudinal centerplane;
a left footrest being connected to the left rail and selectively disposed in one of at least a first left footrest position and a second left footrest position, the left rail being connected to the frame forwardly of the left footrest and rearwardly of the left footrest in each of the first and second left footrest positions;
a right footrest being connected to the right rail and selectively disposed in one of at least a first right footrest position and a second right footrest position, the right rail being connected to the frame forwardly of the right footrest and rearwardly of the right footrest in each of the first and second right footrest positions;
a foot-operated actuator being connected to one of the left footrest and the right footrest, the actuator being operatively connected to one of: the brake assembly and the transmission; and
a linkage rod connecting the actuator to the one of the brake assembly and the transmission, the linkage rod being selected from a plurality of linkage rods including at least a first linkage rod and a second linkage rod,
the first linkage rod being selected when the one of the left footrest and the right footrest is disposed in the corresponding one of the first left footrest position and first right footrest position; and
the second linkage rod being selected when the one of the left footrest and the right footrest is disposed in the corresponding one of the second left footrest position and second right footrest position.

2. The vehicle of claim 1 , wherein:
the left rail extends forwardly, downwardly and leftwardly; and
the right rail extends forwardly, downwardly and rightwardly.

3. The vehicle of claim 1 , wherein:
a front end of the left rail is disposed vertically lower than a rear end thereof; and
a front end of the right rail is disposed vertically lower than a rear end thereof.

4. The vehicle of claim 1 , wherein:
a front end of the left rail is disposed laterally outwardly of a rear end thereof; and
a front end of the right rail is disposed laterally outwardly of a rear end thereof.

5. The vehicle of claim 1 , wherein:
the left rail is connected to the frame below a rotation plane; and
the right rail is connected to the frame below the rotation plane,
the rotation plane containing respective rotation axes of at least one of the at least one front wheel and at least one of the at least one rear wheel.

6. The vehicle of claim 1 , wherein:
in each of the first and second left footrest positions, the left footrest extends leftwardly from the left rail; and
in each of the first and second right footrest positions, the right footrest extends rightwardly from the right rail.

7. The vehicle of claim 1 , wherein:
the left footrest is displaceable leftwardly from the first left footrest position to the second left footrest position; and
the right footrest is displaceable rightwardly from the first right footrest position to the second right footrest position.

8. The vehicle of claim 1 , wherein:
the left footrest is displaceable forwardly, leftwardly and downwardly from the first left footrest position to the second left footrest position; and
the right footrest is displaceable forwardly, rightwardly and downwardly from the first right footrest position to the second right footrest position.

9. The vehicle of claim 1 , wherein:
a portion of the left footrest is disposed above a rotation plane in the first left footrest position and below the rotation plane in the second left footrest position; and
a portion of the right footrest is disposed above the rotation plane in the first right footrest position and below the rotation plane in the second right footrest position,
the rotation plane containing respective rotation axes of at least one of the at least one front wheel and at least one of the at least one rear wheel.

10. The vehicle of claim 1 , further comprising a steering assembly comprising:
a steering column rotatably connected to the frame and operatively connected to at least one of the wheels for steering the vehicle; and
a handlebar connected to the steering column and selectively disposed in one of at least a first handlebar position and a second handlebar position, the handlebar including a left grip and a right grip,
wherein:
each of the left and right grips is displaceable longitudinally forwardly from the first handlebar position to the second handlebar position.

11. The vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the engine has a crankshaft,
the left footrest being disposed longitudinally rearward of the crankshaft in at least one of the first and second left footrest positions; and
the right footrest being disposed longitudinally rearward of the crankshaft in at least one of the first and second right footrest positions.

12. The vehicle of claim 1 , wherein:
the transmission has a transmission output shaft operatively connected to at least one of the wheels;
the left footrest is disposed longitudinally forward of the transmission output shaft in at least one of first and second left footrest positions; and
the right footrest is disposed longitudinally forward of the transmission output shaft in at least one of the first and second right footrest positions.

13. The vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the at least one front wheel includes a left front wheel and a right front wheel, and when the vehicle is steered in a straight-ahead direction:
the left footrest is disposed laterally inwardly of a center of the left front wheel; and
the right footrest is disposed laterally inwardly of a center of the right front wheel.

14. The vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the at least one front wheel includes a left front wheel and a right front wheel, and when the vehicle is steered in a straight-ahead direction:
the left footrest is disposed laterally between the longitudinal centerplane and the left front wheel; and
the right footrest is disposed laterally between the longitudinal centerplane and the right front wheel.

15. The vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the at least one front wheel includes a left front wheel and a right front wheel, and when the vehicle is steered in a straight-ahead direction:
a front end of the left rail is disposed laterally inwardly of the left front wheel; and
a front end of the right rail is disposed laterally inwardly of the right front wheel.

16. The vehicle of claim 1 , wherein:
the left footrest disposed in the first left footrest position is longitudinally aligned with the right footrest in the first right footrest position; and
the left footrest disposed in the second left footrest position is longitudinally aligned with the right footrest disposed in the second right footrest position.

17. The vehicle o

Assignees

• Bombardier Recreational Products Inc

Inventors

• Lacasse-Jobin Pierre
• Ferland Martin

Classifications

• B62K21/12

  Handlebars; Handlebar stems · CPC title

• B62J25/00 Primary

  Foot-rests; Knee grips; Passenger hand-grips · CPC title

• B62K5/05

  characterised by a single rear wheel · CPC title

• B62M17/00

  Transmissions characterised by use of rotary shaft, e.g. cardan shaft · CPC title

• B62K11/02

  Frames (motorcycles or cycles with auxiliary engines characterised by position of engine B62M) · CPC title