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

Claim 13:
14. 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 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, wherein
the free distal end is disposed radially outwardly from the plurality of sprocket teeth.