Electric bicycle and battery lift mechanism and battery carrying device thereof

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10351013-B2
Application number	US-201715726300-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Oct 5, 2017
Priority date	Dec 18, 2015
Publication date	Jul 16, 2019
Grant date	Jul 16, 2019

Abstract

An electric bicycle and a battery lift mechanism and a battery carrying device thereof are disclosed. The battery lift mechanism includes a bracket, a carrier for carrying a battery, an upward-force device coupling with the carrier, and a locking device selectively in an unlocked state or a locked state. The carrier is movable relative to the bracket along an up-down path; the upward-force device is capable of applying an upward force to the carrier. When the locking device is in the locked state, the locking device interferes with the battery to limit the relative movement between the battery and the bracket. When the locking device is in the unlocked state, the interference between the locking device and the battery is removed, so that the upward-force device drives the carrier carrying the battery to move upward relative to the bracket.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A battery lift mechanism, comprising:
a bracket;
a carrier for carrying a battery, the carrier movable relative to the bracket along an up-down path;
an upward-force device coupling with the carrier, the upward-force device applying an upward force to the carrier; and
a locking device being selectively in an unlocked state or a locked state,
wherein when the locking device is in the locked state, the locking device interferes with the battery to limit a relative movement between the battery and the bracket; when the locking device is in the unlocked state, the interference between the locking device and the battery is removed, so that the upward-force device drives the carrier carrying the battery to move upward relative to the bracket.

2. The battery lift mechanism of claim 1 , wherein the upward-force device is a gas spring comprising a cylinder and a rod; the rod is capable of extending relative to the cylinder due to pressure activation of the cylinder to drive the carrier to move upward.

3. The battery lift mechanism of claim 1 , wherein the bracket has a restraining portion for restraining a lateral movement of the battery with respect to the bracket.

4. The battery lift mechanism of claim 1 , wherein the locking device comprises a lock body, a tongue, and an interfering unit; the tongue is capable of extending out or retracting into the lock body in response to the locked state or the unlocked state of the lock body; when the lock body is in the locked state, the tongue extends outward to push the interfering unit forward to interfere with the battery; when the lock body is in the unlocked state, the tongue retracts into the lock body to release the interference of the interfering unit with the battery.

5. The battery lift mechanism of claim 4 , wherein the interfering unit comprises an engaging member and an elastic unit; when the lock body is in the locked state, the tongue extends outward to push the engaging member against the battery and compress the elastic unit; when the lock body is in the unlocked state, the tongue retracts and the elastic unit provides a restoring force to drive the engaging member away from the battery.

6. The battery lift mechanism of claim 1 , further comprising a stopper rotatable relative to the bracket to selectively block or unblock the up-down path, wherein the locking device comprises an engaging member and a lock body selectively in the locked state or the unlocked state; when the lock body is in the locked state, the engaging member interferes with the stopper to restrict a rotation of the stopper, so the stopper blocks the up-down path; when the lock body is in the unlocked state, the interference between the engaging member and the stopper is released, so the stopper is rotatable relative to the bracket to unblock the up-down path.

7. The battery lift mechanism of claim 6 , wherein the engaging member has two protrusions; when the lock body is in the locked state, the two protrusions interfere with the battery and the stopper, respectively; when the lock body is in the unlocked state, the interferences of the engaging member with the battery and the stopper are released simultaneously.

8. The battery lift mechanism of claim 6 , further comprising a cushion disposed on the stopper, wherein when the stopper blocks the up-down path, the cushion is pressed against the battery.

9. An electric bicycle, comprising:
a frame comprising an upper tube and a lower tube, the upper tube having a front end, an upper surface, a lower surface, and a through hole penetrating the upper tube, the lower tube connected to the lower surface of the upper tube, the upper tube having a longitudinal axis; and
a battery lift mechanism mounted on the frame, the battery lift mechanism comprising:
a bracket mounted on the lower tube;

a carrier for carrying a battery, the carrier movable relative to the bracket along an up-down path, the up-down path intersects the longitudinal axis of the upper tube with a predetermined angle;
an upward-force device coupling with the carrier, the upward-force device capable of driving the carrier to move upward relative to the bracket;
a stopper movably disposed neighboring to the through hole to selectively block or unblock the up-down path; and
a locking device disposed on the front end of the upper tube, the locking device being selectively in an unlocked state or a locked state,
wherein when the locking device is in the unlocked state, the locking device is separated from the stopper to allow the stopper to be away from the up-down path and the upward-force device drives the carrier carrying the battery to move upward relative to the bracket, so that a top end of the battery passes through the through hole at the predetermined angle to protrude from the upper surface of the upper tube;
wherein when the locking device is in the locked state, the locking device interferes with at least one of the battery and the stopper to block the carrier carrying the battery to move upward along the up-down path.

10. The electric bicycle of claim 9 , wherein the battery has a longitudinal axis and a cross section perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the battery; the cross section is smaller than the through hole in size; when the carrier carrying the battery moves along the up-down path, the longitudinal axis of the battery maintains parallel to the up-down path.

11. The electric bicycle of claim 9 , wherein the upward-force device is a gas spring comprising a cylinder and a rod; the rod is capable of extending relative to the cylinder due to pressure activation of the cylinder to drive the carrier to move upward.

12. The electric bicycle of claim 9 , wherein the locking device comprises a lock body and an engaging member; the lock body is selectively in the locked state or the unlocked state, and the engaging member has two protrusions; when the lock body is in the locked state, the two protrusions of the engaging member interfere with the battery and the stopper, respectively, to restrict the movement of the battery and the rotation of the stopper, so the stopper blocks the up-down path.

13. An electric bicycle, comprising:
a frame comprising an upper tube, a lower tube, and a seat tube, the upper tube having a longitudinal axis, the upper tube having a front end, an upper surface, a lower surface, a rear end opposite to the front end along the longitudinal axis, and a through hole penetrating the upper tube, the rear end of the upper tube connected to the seat tube, the front end of the upper tube directly connected to an upper portion of the lower tube, and a lower end of the lower tube connected to the seat tube; and
a battery disposed on the frame, the battery movable along an up-down path, the up-down path intersecting the longitudinal axis of the upper tube with a predetermined angle, the up-down path being substantially parallel to a longitudinal axis extending from the upper portion to the lower end of the lower tube and passing through the through hole, the battery having a longitudinal axis,
wherein when the battery is to be removed from the frame, the battery moves upward along the up-down path, the longitudinal axis of the battery maintains substantially parallel to the up-down path, and the battery passes through the through hole at the predetermined angle to be removed from the upper surface of the upper tube.

14. The electric bicycle of claim 13 , wherein the battery has a cross section perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the battery; the cross section is smaller than the through hole in size.

15. The electric bicycle of cl

Assignees

• Darfon Electronics Suzhou Co Ltd
• Darfon Electronics Corp

Inventors

• Shieh Yu-Chang

Classifications

• B62K19/40 Primary

  for attaching accessories, e.g. article carriers, lamps · CPC title

• B60L50/64

  Constructional details of batteries specially adapted for electric vehicles · CPC title

• H01M50/262

  with fastening means, e.g. locks · CPC title

• H01M50/264

  for cells or batteries, e.g. straps, tie rods or peripheral frames · CPC title

• B60L2200/12

  Bikes · CPC title