Patent ID: 11897576
Assignee: SHIMANO INC.
Field: Transport (Mechanical engineering)
Classification: CPC B | IPC B

Claim 7:
8. A crank assembly for a human-powered vehicle, the crank assembly comprising:
a crank arm having an axially outwardly facing crank-surface and an axially inwardly facing crank-surface provided on a reverse side of the axially outwardly facing crank-surface in an axial direction with respect to a rotational center axis of the crank assembly, the axially inwardly facing crank-surface being configured to face toward an axial center plane of the human powered vehicle in the axial direction in a mounted state where the crank assembly is mounted to the human powered vehicle, the crank arm having a maximum circumferential crank-width in a circumferential direction with respect to the rotational center axis;
a front sprocket unit having an axially outwardly facing sprocket-surface and an axially inwardly facing sprocket-surface provided on a reverse side of the axially outwardly facing sprocket-surface in the axial direction, the axially inwardly facing sprocket-surface being configured to face toward the axial center plane of the human powered vehicle in the axial direction in the mounted state, the front sprocket unit including:
a sprocket body; and
a plurality of sprocket teeth extending radially outwardly from the sprocket body in a radial direction with respect to the rotational center axis; and

at least one chain-drop control member configured to inhibit a drive chain from getting into a space provided radially inwardly from the at least one chain-drop control member and between the crank arm and the front sprocket unit in the axial direction, the at least one chain-drop control member being configured to be provided to at least one of the axially inwardly facing crank-surface of the crank arm and the axially outwardly facing sprocket-surface of the front sprocket unit, the at least one chain-drop control member having a proximal end and a free distal end, the proximal end being attached to the at least one of the axially inwardly facing crank-surface of the crank arm and the axially outwardly facing sprocket-surface of the front sprocket unit, the free distal end being connected to the proximal end by an inclined portion such that the free distal end is disposed radially outwardly from the proximal end with respect to the rotational center axis, the at least one chain-drop control member having a maximum circumferential member-width in the circumferential direction, the maximum circumferential member-width being equal to or smaller than the maximum circumferential crank-width.