Abstract:
The present invention encompasses several improvements to handcycles. This invention introduces a blend between lean steer and pivot steer. The front wheel may be turned with only minimal twisting of the operator&#39;s legs. This invention uses two bearings and quick release axle to connect the front and rear frame together and provide the steering axis. This invention incorporates a means for adjusting the bike from fully reclined to a body forward position. The invention also incorporates a means of crank adjustment. In the embodiment of our new design the cable and housing are attached to the brake and shift levers by means of an intermediate device for the purpose of directing the shift and brake cable away from the rider&#39;s field of view.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
   The following invention incorporates many changes to present day handcycle design. In particular the present invention is directed at low seated performance handcycles where the center of gravity of the rider is necessarily low to allow for high speed cornering. Present day handcycles are essentially of two types of steering design; lean steer utilizing an articulating frame design with the front frame including wheel, cranks and seat articulating relative to the rear frame and the two rear wheels or pivot steer utilizing a standard bicycle headset and front fork arrangement with two rear wheels, a seat that is mounted on the rear frame that does not turn with the steered front frame and a pivoting front frame section including the front wheel and leg supports with pivoting of the front wheel occurring at what is referred to as a head set in bicycle terminology. Both of these handcycles have advantages and disadvantages. The presently available pivot steer handcycles have the steering axis remote from the rider&#39;s hip sockets and at substantial distance from the steering axis causing a twisting of the rider&#39;s legs when the front steered member of the handcycle is turned left and right because the rider&#39;s legs are located in footrests at each side of the front wheel and the great distance from the steering axis to the rider&#39;s hip sockets forces a twisting of the rider&#39;s legs at the rider&#39;s knees. The lean steer handcycle does not present this problem because the rider&#39;s legs, hips and upper body move with the turning of the front wheel. Before the present invention, neither type of handcycle had a tight turning radius; the lean steer bike when properly configured has a slightly tighter turning radius than the present pivot steer handcycles. The present invention addresses both of these problems. The present invention has a very tight turning radius and does not twist the rider&#39;s legs at the knees. 
   BACKGROUND ART 
   There are many handcycles configured with pivot steering and one wheel in front and two wheels in the rear. Some of these types of bikes are listed in the IDS documents. All these bikes have one thing in common that limits the turning radius and twists the rider&#39;s knees; the location of the steering axis relative to the rider&#39;s hip sockets. In the present design the headset is located on the steering axis as close to the wheel as possible. First the angle of the steering axis is determined and then the required amount of trail to achieve stability. The steering axis extends from its intersection with the road just in front of the contact patch of the front wheel upwardly and rearward towards the back of the bike. After the steering axis and trail are established the headset which is the pivotal junction of the front and rear frame is moved along this axis horizontally and downwardly and is located as close to the back side of the front wheel and tire as possible. In the present invention the seat platform is moved as far forward as possible placing the steering axis as close as comfortably possible to the rider&#39;s hip sockets. The result of this close location of headset to front wheel and steering axis to hip socket of the rider is a handcycle with a tight turning radius for excellent maneuverability and the ability to steer the bike without twisting the rider&#39;s legs at the knees. 

   
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS 
       FIG. 1A  Perspective drawing of the handcycle. 
       FIG. 1B  Perspective drawing of the front frame attachment and front forks. 
       FIG. 1C  Left side view of the handcycle with rider phantomed in for reference. 
       FIG. 2A  View of the crank adjustment and shift cable improvement. 
       FIG. 4  Side view showing seat back adjustment. 
       FIG. 5  View of the steering damper and underside of the front frame attachment. 
       FIG. 6  View of the connection between front and rear frame. 
       FIG. 7A  View of the shift and brake cable attachment. 
       FIG. 7B  Close up view of cable attachment to shifter and or brake lever. 
       FIG. 8  View of pedal alignment and attachment. 
   

   DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
   The present invention is a modification of pivot steering and lean steering. The present invention as shown in  FIG. 1  and  FIG. 1   a  is differentiated from the other two designs by the location of the front forks  83  and  81   FIG. 5  and  FIG. 6  in relation to the steering axis  84  and steering pivot plates  87  and  88  and pivot bolt  89  and the means by which the front frame  80  and rear frame  50  are connected through this steered axis  84  to allow for steering of the vehicle. In the present invention  FIG. 1A  the joining of the front steered member to the rear frame through steered axis  84  is close to the rider&#39;s crotch, the rider&#39;s crotch is almost in contact with the front wheel  82  and the steering axis passes through the rider&#39;s body resulting in a short wheel base. The front  80  and rear frame  50  are connected by a pivotal axle  89  and bearing arrangements  54  and  55 . Pivot steer handcycles use a common bicycle headset to provide a steering axis with the joining of the fork tubes below and in line with the steering axis. Some handcycles have the plane of the front fork tubes offset and above the steering axis but the steering axis passes essentially over the riders&#39; body with the center of gravity of the rider&#39;s body below the steered axis. Lean steer handcycles use distantly separated pivot points to form a virtual steering axis that passes through the rider&#39;s body. The present invention  FIG. 1A  incorporates plate  87  and  88  and front fork  83  and front fork  81  that is connected by axle  89  which passes through bearings  54  and  55  located in rear frame  12 . This location of the steering axis  84  approximates the handling characteristics of the lean steer handcycle but provides a stable platform for the rider&#39;s body by placing the seat bottom  53  on the rear frame  50  and not part of the steered front frame  80  as in a lean steer handcycle. This arrangement of plates  87  and  88  and independent, vertically, adjustable member  111  which moves vertically relative to member  112 ,  FIG. 2A  and independent, horizontally adjustable member  110  provide location of the cranks  60  allowing the steering axis  84  to be pulled close to the front wheel axis  120  and front wheel  82 . With a head set and fork combination the axis of rotation of the front wheel is forced to be distant from the head set to accommodate the construction of the front forks. In our present invention  FIGS. 1 ,  1 A,  2 A,  5  and  6  the confluence of the front fork tubes  81  and  83  at plates  87  and  88  is offset from and located above the pivot axis  84  and plate  87  and  88  are attached to rear frame  50  by means of pivot axis bolt  89  passing through bearings  54  and  55 . The top of the front fork legs  83  and  81  converge to a single point and are cut off to accept oval shaped plate  87  parallel to plate  88  to allow the rider&#39;s legs to pass by each fork  83  and  81  without interfering with the frame structure  80 . Our present invention  FIG. 1  incorporates the independent horizontal member  110  and independent vertical member  111  to provide the independent vertical and horizontal crank position  115  adjustment described in the earlier Lofgren-Stewart U.S. Pat. No. 5,853,184 In the present design the base of the crank mounting platform is made of members  81 ,  83 ,  112 ,  113  and  116  for strength as in the &#39;184 patent but the vertical and horizontal adjustments are accomplished by independent, telescoping, essentially horizontal member  110  and vertical member  111 . This broad range of vertical and horizontal adjustment  FIG. 2A  allows the rider to move the crank assembly  115  rearward or forward or up or down to configure the handcycle in either a reclined riding position as indicated in  FIG. 4. 140  or a body forward riding position  FIG. 4. 130 . The vertical adjustment tube  111  is cantilevered above the triangulated support structure comprised of  83 ,  81 ,  112 ,  113  and  116  and the horizontal adjustment tube  110  is cantilevered at approximately a 90 degree angle to the vertical adjustment tube  111  and adjusts forward and rearward relative to the vertical adjustment tube  111  and both adjustments are secured in place by clamps  117  and  118 . 
   This invention  FIG. 1  and  FIG. 1A  incorporates a multi-position seat bottom  53  and seat back  51  and  52  as shown in  FIG. 1A  and  FIG. 4 . The seat bottom  53  can be moved forward and rearward  FIG. 1C  and the seat back support  16  has a base attachment  20  that can be located forwardly at position  15  or rearwardly at position  14  as well as a telescoping member  17  with a slot  19  in the end of member  17  perpendicular to the adjustment axis defined by member  11 . Member  11  is rigidly connected to member  12  for the greatest possible frame strength. Because member  11  is rigidly connected to member  12  there must be a slot  19  in both the end of member  17  and the tab on the seat back support  16 . This slot  19  allows the seat back  16  to be rotated about one or more different locating points at its base. There is a tab on seat back  16  including a slot  19  in seat back  16  working in conjunction with slot  19  in the end of member  17  to accommodate rotation  21  of member  16  about lower pivot points  14  or  15  when the seat back  51  and  52  is adjusted to any position from reclined  140  to inclined  130  forward of vertical to provide leverage to the rider when in a forward seated position. This slot  19  shown occurs in both the end of member  17  and the tab on seat back support  16  and appears superimposed upon it self in the respective parts; tab on  16  and end of member  17 . The invention  FIG. 5  and  FIG. 6  also incorporates a combined steering damper and steering compensator  150  that incorporates compressed elastomers  69  and  70  for steering damping and road crown compensation. This device  150  also acts as a road crown compensator. The device  150  is comprised of elastomers  70 , threaded rod  71 , locking nuts  72  and  75 , spherical rod end  76  and adjustment knob  73 . Device  150  can be rotated about its longitudinal axis defined by threaded rod  71  to preset the steering to compensate for the crown in the road. This is accomplished in the following manner: Threaded rod  71  passes through rear frame  50  with attached tab  74  and attaches to plate  88  of front frame  80  by means of spherical rod end  76  through one of multiple holes  77 . Device  150  is rotatable about threaded rod  71  by means of adjustment knob  73 . Adjustment knob  73  is threaded and is secured to threaded rod  71  by jamming lock nut  72 . Adjustment knob  73 , locking nut  72  and threaded rod  71  can be turned in conjunction to pull threaded spherical rod end  76  toward rear frame  50  tab  74  or push spherical rod end  76  away from rear frame  50  tab  74  to preset steering to adjust for road crown. Locking nut  75  can be tightened or loosened relative to lock nut  72  and adjustment knob  73  to increase or decrease compression of elastomers  70  on either side of rear frame  50  tab  74 . This compression or relaxation of elastomers  70  makes steering of front frame  80  about steering axis  84  easier or harder depending on compression of elastomers  70 . 
   Many handcycles are incorporating braking and shifting levers on the hand pedal of the handcycle. This application subjects the brake cable and shift cable along with their respective housings to flexing and bending and also twisting about their longitudinal axis often resulting in fraying of the cable housing or cable failure. In the present designs appearing on other&#39;s handcycles, the shift and brake cable housings protrude directly upward from the ends of the shift and brake levers and directly upward from the bottom bracket and/or crank spindle area of the handcycle forming roughly a “U” shape. Sometimes these cable housings have springs or additional tubing surrounding either end of the brake and shift cable housing near the interface with the shift and brake lever or at the bottom bracket to reinforce the cable housing. When the cable housing is attached in this manner the cable housing is forced upwards in front of the rider&#39;s field of view. Also, it is the tendency of the cable housing to resist bending and flexing as the cranks are pedaled. This resistance to flexing is transmitted through the cable housing and into the hand pedal through the shift and brake levers causing fatigue to the rider&#39;s wrists. The rotation of the cranks during pedaling force a constant twisting about the longitudinal axis of both the cable and cable housing. In the embodiment of our new design, we force the cable and cable housings into a spiral configuration between the shift and brake lever and the bottom bracket or crank spindle are  FIG. 7A  and  FIG. 7B. 180 . The spiral is created by forcing the distal ends of the cable housing and cable to be at approximately 90 degrees to each other. In the present embodiment of our invention the cable housing is forced upwards at the bottom bracket and forced rearward by device  180  at the brake and shift levers. The cables and housing  182  and  183  are attached to the brake and shift lever assembly  95  by means of an intermediate device  180  consisting of a member  187  bent at approximately 90 degrees, a thrust washer  188  and coupling spacer  184 . This new device  180  directs the cable housings  182  and  183  rearwardly and horizontally toward the rider keeping the cable housings  182  and  183  out of the rider&#39;s field of view. Cable housings  182  and  183  are sheathed in protective sheath  181 . Sheath  181  passes through guide  99 ,  FIGS. 1 ,  1 A and  2 A. Guide  99  is a stiff guide that directs the cable housing sheath  181  rearwardly, upwardly and away from chain ring and sprocket guard  115  with the intent of keeping cable housing sheath  181  from contacting sprocket and sprocket guard  115 . Device  180  in conjunction with the thrust washers  188  permits the cable housings  182  and  183  to rotate about the axis of the cable allowing the device  180  to move laterally back and forth as the pedals  90  and  91  come around. This motion minimizes the flexing of the cable housings  182  and  183  and eliminates the fatigue experienced by the rider&#39;s wrists  194 . The brake cable  195  cooperatively passes through device  187  and engages braking of the handcycle. The brake cable housing  182  engages coupling  186  of device  180  then connects to device  187  into brake adjustment boss  196  which is attached to brake lever  95 . Device  187  engages brake adjustment boss by means of thrust washer  188 . Shift cable  195  cooperatively passes through cable housing  183 , coupling device  184 , coupling boss  185 , and device  187  and engages shift lever  95 . Device  187  engages thrust washer  188  and shift adjustment barrel  198 . The shaft  199  pedal  90  is offset relative to attachment point  200  to permit clearance of rider&#39;s finger&#39;s  201 . The pedals  90  and  91  rotate about axis  191  when the crank  90  is rotated. The pedal axis  192  is angled outwardly from axis  191  to permit proper orientation of the rider&#39;s wrist  194 . 
   There are several other models of handcycles on the market today: Top End series, the Varna series, the Shark by Sopor, the Schmicking, and the Defiant. All of these handcycles and others on the market attempt to ergonomically place the rider for maximum comfort and power delivery. The present invention is different from each of these handcycles and from any other that presently exist.