Height adjustable seatpost assembly

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9511809-B2
Application number	US-71056310-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Feb 23, 2010
Priority date	Feb 23, 2010
Publication date	Dec 6, 2016
Grant date	Dec 6, 2016

Abstract

A height adjustable seatpost assembly is provided with first and second tubes, a ratchet mechanism and a drive source. The first and second tubes are telescopically arranged. The ratchet mechanism includes a ratchet tooth structure and a pawl structure. The pawl structure is engaged with the ratchet tooth structure in a lock position. The pawl structure is movably coupled with respect to the ratchet tooth structure in a movable position such that the first and second tubes are movably arranged relative to each other in at least one axial direction of the first and second tubes. The drive source moves the pawl structure between the lock position and the movable position in response to operation of the drive source. The drive source further axially moves the first and second tubes relative to each other in response to operation of the drive source.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A height adjustable seatpost assembly comprising:
first and second tubes being telescopically arranged;
a ratchet mechanism including a ratchet tooth structure and a pawl structure, the pawl structure being engaged with the ratchet tooth structure in a lock position, and the pawl structure being movably coupled with respect to the ratchet tooth structure in a movable position such that the first and second tubes are movably arranged relative to each other in at least one axial direction of the first and second tubes; and
a drive source operatively connected to the pawl structure to move the pawl structure between the lock position and the movable position in response to operation of the drive source, the drive source further being operatively connected between the first and second tubes to axially move the first and second tubes relative to each other in response to operation of the drive source.

2. The height adjustable seatpost assembly according to claim 1 , wherein
the drive source includes a linear movement mechanism having a drive screw and a screw nut, with the screw nut engaged with the drive screw such that the screw nut moves in an axial direction of the drive screw in response to relative rotational movement between the drive screw and the screw nut.

3. The height adjustable seatpost assembly according to claim 1 , wherein
the drive source includes a pawl release structure that moves linearly within at least one of the first and second tubes such that the pawl release structure selectively moves the pawl structure between the lock position and the movable position.

4. The height adjustable seatpost assembly according to claim 3 , wherein
the drive source includes a linear movement mechanism that selectively moves the pawl release structure into engagement with the pawl structure causing disengagement of the pawl structure from the ratchet tooth structure, and that selectively moves the first and second tubes relative to each other.

5. The height adjustable seatpost assembly according to claim 4 , wherein
the linear movement mechanism is arranged with respect to the pawl release structure and first and second tubes such that the linear movement mechanism moves the pawl release structure into engagement with the pawl structure to disengage the pawl structure from the ratchet tooth structure prior to moving the first and second tubes relative to each other in response to operation of the drive source.

6. The height adjustable seatpost assembly according to claim 1 , wherein
the pawl structure of the ratchet mechanism includes a first stop pawl member movable between a first lock position and a first free position and a second stop pawl member movable between a second lock position and a second free position and
the ratchet tooth structure of the ratchet mechanism includes a set of first ratchet teeth and a set of second ratchet teeth, with the first stop pawl member being movably arranged from the first lock position to the first free position in response to a first drive operation of the drive source and the second stop pawl member being movably arranged from the second lock position to the second free position in response to a second drive operation of the drive source.

7. The height adjustable seatpost assembly according to claim 6 , wherein
the drive source further includes a pawl release structure having a first cam portion and a second cam portion, the first cam portion being movably arranged such that engagement of the first cam portion with the first stop pawl member causes disengagement of the first stop pawl member from the first ratchet teeth, and the second cam portion being movably arranged such that engagement of the second cam portion with the second stop pawl member causes disengagement of the second stop pawl member from the second ratchet teeth.

8. The height adjustable seatpost assembly according to claim 7 , wherein
the drive source moves the pawl release structure in a first axial direction of the first and second tubes to disengage the first stop pawl member from the first ratchet teeth, and moves the pawl release structure in a second axial direction of the first and second tubes, which is different from the first axial direction, to disengage the second stop pawl member from the second ratchet teeth.

9. The height adjustable seatpost assembly according to claim 1 , wherein
the drive source includes an electric motor.

10. The height adjustable seatpost assembly according to claim 1 , wherein
the first tube is disposed inside the second tube with the pawl structure mounted to the first tube and the ratchet tooth structure mounted to an interior surface of the second tube.

11. The height adjustable seatpost assembly according to claim 2 , wherein
the drive source further includes an elastic structure that is operatively disposed between the screw nut and the pawl structure to provide a prescribed range of relative axial movement of the pawl structure relative to the screw nut.

12. The height adjustable seatpost assembly according to claim 1 , wherein
the drive source further includes a linear movement mechanism with a saver mechanism having a force transmitting state and a force override state,
the linear movement mechanism selectively moves the first tube relative to the second tube in a first axial direction that decreases an overall effective length of the height adjustable seatpost while the saver mechanism is in the force transmitting state,
the linear movement mechanism selectively moves the first tube relative to the second tube in a second axial direction that is opposite the first axial direction to increase the overall effective length of the height adjustable seatpost while the saver mechanism is in the force transmitting state, and
the saver mechanism provides a prescribed range of movement of the first tube in the first axial direction while the saver mechanism is in the force override state.

13. The height adjustable seatpost assembly according to claim 12 , wherein
the ratchet tooth structure includes a plurality of ratchet teeth with each of the ratchet teeth have a pawl abutment that selectively engages the pawl structure in the lock position to prevent axial retraction of the first and second tubes,
the saver mechanism has a prescribed axial stroke that is larger than an axial distance between axially adjacent ones of the pawl abutments.

14. The height adjustable seatpost assembly according to claim 1 , further comprising
a controller operatively connected to the drive source with the controller having a plurality of different preset seat position settings that selectively operate the drive source to move the first and second tubes relative to each other.

15. The height adjustable seatpost assembly according to claim 1 , further comprising
a rotation detecting device that detects a rotation of the drive source when a controller operates the drive source.

16. The height adjustable seatpost assembly according to claim 6 , wherein
the first and second stop pawl members pivot on separate axes between their respective lock positions and free positions.

17. The height adjustable seatpost assembly according to claim 6 , wherein
the first and second stop pawl members pivot in a same pivotal direction to move from their respective lock positions to their respective free positions.

Assignees

• Kodama Michihiro
• Hara Nobukatsu
• Suzuki Toshikuni
• Shimano Kk

Inventors

• Kodama Michihiro
• Hara Nobukatsu
• Suzuki Toshikuni

Classifications

• B62J1/08 Primary

  Frames for saddles; Connections between saddle frames and seat pillars; Seat pillars (attaching seat pillars to cycle frames B62K19/36) · CPC title