Bicycle or motorcycle frame

The frame of the bicycle or motorcycle of the invention, though using traditional components, through the geometrical arrangement of the frame and forks is able to transform the weight force and the thrust force on the pedals into kinetic energy of movement due to the law of gravitation of bodies. Thus the bodies' weights and masses, through the frame, give a thrust force which aids motion and which is added to the thrust force developed on the pedals or the thrust force of the motor of the motorcycle. Therefore the weight forces indicated in FIG. 2, create the forward pushing moments in the direction of motion, have poles in the hubs of the wheels. This system of forces also considers the tangential forces developed on the front wheel and the force created by air friction, which is opposed to the motion. In these frames it is also possible optimally to distribute the whole weight on the front and rear wheel, and constantly to have a gravitational force of the bodies applied to the frame aiding motion of the vehicle.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
The present invention relates to a frame for bicycles or motorcycles, made 
of steel or light alloy. This frame differs from known frames in design, 
geometry and architecture and especially in that it takes advantage of the 
weight forces transforming them into dynamic moments. The invention is 
applicable to both the mechanical industry, in the manufacture of steel 
frames, and in the specialized cycle industry, using light alloys. 
The invention is the fruit of studies in physics and mathematics, 
especially statics and dynamics. The frame exploits the law of gravitation 
of a body and the second principle of dynamics by which a force applied to 
a body which is free to move will produce an acceleration of said body. 
The frame also enables a rider to take up a better anatomical position. 
Bodies in space are subject to the law of gravitation. A force having a 
distance from a stated point, in the case of a bicycle the hubs, creates a 
moment. The frame of the invention exploits the two above-described 
concepts, since the pushing moments, pushing forward and helping motion, 
are increased by raising the intensity of the applied forces, or by 
increasing the distances of the straight-line action of the forces from 
the stated point, also called the pole of the moment. The rider's weight 
rests partly on the handlebar (P2) and partly on the saddle (P1). The 
frame weight, the motor weight and the weight of all other parts forming 
the vehicle, indicated with (P4) rest throughout the frame partly on the 
point indicated with (4). The force originating from the thrust on the 
pedals also rests on the same points (3) and (4). Poin (3), where the head 
and the top tube meet, is a crossing point. Every weight force creates a 
reaction, which is equivalent and opposite (RA) and (RB) on the supports 
(1) and (2). Therefore this frame must have a point (3) at which the axis 
of the top tube (14) and the axis of the head tube (7) meet, at which all 
forces (P2) (.apprxeq.1/2P3), (.apprxeq.1/2P4) apply, and a point (4) at 
which the top tube (14) and the rear forks (9) meet, at which all forces 
(Plcos(w)) (.apprxeq.1/2MP3) (.apprxeq.1/2MP4) apply, respectively at a 
distance (S) and (T), in advance of the motion direction from the 
perpendiculars to the ground (A) and (B) passing through the hub (1) of 
the front wheel and the hub (2) of the rear wheel. 
The direction of the weight forces, directed towards the ground and applied 
at point (3) for the front part, following the direction of the head tube 
(7) and the front forks (8) has to pass at a distance (S1) forward of the 
direction of motion from the hub (1) of the front steering wheel. The 
direction of the weight forces applied on point (4) for the rear part, 
following the rear forks (9) has to pass at distance (T1) in front of the 
hub (2) of the rear wheel. Distance (S1) must be equal or greater than 
distance (S), while distance (T1) can vary from point (2) to point (13) to 
avoid a forward overturn. The forward push increases with distances (S2), 
(S3) and (T2). If the distance is (T2) the rear fork (9) becomes the fork 
indicated by (31) and the weight force (P1) becomes the force indicated by 
(P1V). In frames having curved front forks (19), (29), the distances are 
calculated at the meeting point of the tangents at the angles, as shown in 
FIG. 1 and denoted by (21) and (30). The forces applied on point (3) are 
summed and become a force denoted by (F1), which force multiplied by 
distance (S1) creates the forward-pushing rotary moment (+2MS). The forces 
applied on point (4) add together to create a force indicated by (F2), 
which, multiplied by distance (T1) creates the rotary moment (+1MS). A 
rider's weight on the saddle (P1) is divided in accordance at angle (W) 
into force (Plcos(w)), which is perpendicular to the ground and the force 
Pisin (w) which has the same direction as the axis of the top tube (14). 
Force Plsin(w) at distance (17) form along its direction the force denoted 
by (F3), creating the pushing moment (+3MS). Force (F3) added to force 
(F1) creates a forwardly-directed resultant (R1), which still further 
increases the forward motion. In this way the frame can sum up all the 
forward-pushing moments having their pole in the hub (1) of the front 
wheel and in hub (2) of the rear wheel, due to the law of gravitation of 
bodies, summing up also the tangential forces (Y) developed on the wheels. 
This concept considers ground friction and air friction (X) as vehicle 
stabilizing forces. 
More advantages can be obtained by changing the diameter of the front wheel 
and the rear wheel, by changing the shape and the geometry of the front 
and rear forks as shown in the drawing and indicated by (18), (19), (24), 
(25), (26), (27), (29), (31), or by a total or partial elimination of the 
frames parts indicated by (10), (11), (12), (28). 
Known frames only partially or not at all transform the weight of the 
rider, of the frame itself, of the engine if there is one, of all other 
parts which form the vehicle, of the thrust of the pedals into kinetic 
energy. Certainly prior art frames are not based on this concept. Indeed, 
the direction of the rotary moment, which helps the forward push, produced 
by all the forces applied on the rear wheel (+1MS) is opposed to the 
direction of the rotary moments pushing backward on the front wheel 
(-2MS). This occurs because in such frames the weight forces application 
points (3) and (4) and the points (5) and (6) which denote the direction 
of forces (F1) and (F2) are between both perpendiculars to the ground (A) 
and (B) passing through the hubs (1) of the front wheel and (2) of the 
rear wheel. The concept of this invention is not even considered and 
exploited when the application point (3) lies behind the perpendicular to 
the ground (A) and the point (5) lies in front of the same perpendicular, 
or vice versa, inasmuch as this situation creates a backward pushing 
moment (-2MS); this occurs in the frames of U.S. Pat. No. 4,995,627 (Yun), 
Feb. 26, 1991, French patent 1,439,508 (Cesare Rizzato & C.S.N.C), Apr. 
12, 1966, and Dutch patent 72,350 (Gra-Vemeijer et al.) May 15, 1953. The 
frame of Japanese patent publication 03 057 789 (Kimihiro Tsuchie) Mar. 
13, 1991, (cf. Patent Abstracts of Japan, vol. 15 no. 212 (M-1118) May 30, 
1991) has points (3) and (5) in front of the perpendicular (A) but has the 
direction of the forces (F1) following the front forks, which are turned 
backwards of an angle alpha; for this reason this frame cannot exploit the 
forward pushing moments and is suitable only for small bicycles, even 
though the fork rake is not traditional and the trail not well defined. 
French Patent 890,247 (Doderer), Feb. 2, 1944, is similar in the physical 
principle to Japanese patent 03 057 789 and therefore is not very 
manageable to ride, not based on the forward pushing moments concept and 
differs from the present invention also because this bicycle needs a 
turning arm and a fixed point to steer, on which the frame rests, 
indicated by (63) and (64) in figures (1) and (2). It also differs 
because, by steering, the hubs exit from the longitudinal axis, as shown 
in figure (5). In figures (3) and (4) of the same patent it clearly 
emerges that this patent is not based on rotary pushing moments and its 
only object is to increase the fork and the trail. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
The invention achieves the stated aims by providing a bicycle or motorcycle 
frame, comprising at least one top tube (14) and a head tube (7) which 
head tube (7) has an axis forming an internal angle .beta. (i.e. internal 
to the frame) comprise between 90 degrees and 180 degrees with a 
horizontal axis (H) passing through said head tube (7), characterized in 
that a point (3) at which said head tube (7) and said at least one top 
tube (14) meet lies by a distance (S) forward; with respect to a motion 
direction of said frame, of a perpendicular (A) bisecting a hub of a 
bicycle front wheel mounted to said frame; in that a front fork of the 
frame, rotatably connected to said head tube (7) comprises one or more 
upper parts (8) joined to at least one lower part (15); said upper part 
(8) forming with said horizontal axis (H) an internal angle .alpha. (i.e. 
internal to the frame) comprised between 90 degrees and 180 degrees; said 
lower part (15) forming with the perpendicular (A) an angle (gamma) 
comprised between 0 and 180 degrees.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
Some indispensable parts form the bearing structure of the frame, namely: 
at least one head tube (7), at least one front fork constituted by a first 
end rotatably connected to the head tube (7) and at least one upper part 
(8) and at least one lower part (15) which can exhibit any one of a number 
of shapes (8), (15), (18), (19), (29); at least one rear fork (9) 
constituted by at least one arm, configurations of which are denoted by 
(24), (25), (26), (27), (31); at least one top tube (14). Parts of the 
frame which are not indispensable are: down tubes (10), (11), seat tubes 
(12), and at least one tube as denoted by number (28). To calculate the 
direction of the directional forces, the head tube (7) and the upper part 
(8) of the front fork are considered as only one tube. To calculate the 
forces, the point (3) is given by crossing the axis of the top tube (14) 
with the axis of the head tube (7). The push forces (P3) which rest partly 
on point (3) and partly on point (4) are applied on the pedals (13). The 
weight forces of the frame and of the motor if there is one are indicated 
by (P4) and rest on points (3) and (4) and are applied on the baricenter 
of the frame (23). The front and rear forks can change in shape and 
geometry; some examples of front forks are shown in FIG. 1 and denoted by 
numbers (18), (19), (29). Examples of rear forks are shown FIG. 1 and 
denoted by numbers (24), (25), (26), (27), (31). The rider's position can 
change too, because the saddle can move from point (P1) to point (P1V), 
therefore the application point (4) moves in the direction of the front 
wheel (1). FIG. 2 schematically shows how the directional forces, produced 
by the weights and the push on the pedals are applied and act in one of 
the many frames which can be realized using the concept of the present 
invention. With reference to FIG. 1 of the drawings, which shows one of 
the many possible realizations of a frame for a bicycle and motorcycle it 
is important to consider that the more advanced application points (3) and 
(4) of weight forces (P1), (P2), (P3), (P4) are from the perpendiculars to 
the ground (A) and (B) passing through the hub (1) of the front wheel and 
the hub (2) of the rear wheel respectively, the more distant the 
directions denoted by (S1), (T1), (17) of forces (F1), (F2) (F3) are; 
consequently the pushing rotary moments (+1MS), (+2MS), (+3MS) favoring 
forwards motion are greater. The pushing rotary moments exploit the 
gravitation law of a body and are summed up to the tangential forces (Y) 
developed on the wheels. This system of forwardly-directed forces is 
opposed by the forces created by air friction (X) and ground friction, for 
which reason it is necessary to balance these forces to prevent the rider 
from pitching headlong together with the vehicle at low, medium and high 
speed, and whether riding on the flat, uphill or downhill. 
The process for realizing the frame of the invention is traditional: 
materials used are also traditional. By changing the geometry of the 
frame, the angulation between the frame components varies in relation to 
the line constituting the ground and the typology and form of the front 
and rear forks also varies. In this way the effort required to drive the 
bicycle or motorcycle forward is reduced, even where inferior and heavier 
materials are used in the manufacture of the bicycle. 
The foregoing description of the specific embodiments will so fully reveal 
the general nature of the invention that others can, by applying current 
knowledge, readily modify and/or adapt for various applications such 
specific embodiments without departing from the generic concept, and, 
therefore, such adaptations and modifications should and are intended to 
be comprehended within the meaning and range of equivalents of the 
disclosed embodiments. It is to be understood that the phraseology or 
terminology employed herein is for the purpose of description and not of 
limitation.