Change-speed lever apparatus for use in bicycle

A speed change lever apparatus for use in a bicycle. The apparatus has a winding member for winding up a speed change control cable and a cable-pulling lever operable to pull the cable by causing the winding member to pivot only in a cable winding direction. The cable-pulling lever returns to its home position after completion of speed change operation. The improved apparatus includes a position maintaining mechanism for stepwisely maintaining a position of the winding member and a release lever operable to release the position maintaining mechanism. The release lever also returns to its home position after completion of release operation. At the respective home positions, the cable-pulling lever and the release lever are operable in substantially same directions to enable a cyclist to disregard the direction of lever operations. Further, the home positions of the levers are disposed at different yet adjacent locations relative to a direction normal to the lever operating directions. Hence, the lever operations, i.e. speed change operations do not require much movement of the cyclist's thumb. Consequently, the apparatus provides speedy and accurate speed change operations.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
1. Field of the Invention 
The present invention relates to a speed change lever apparatus for use in 
a bicycle. 
2. Description of the Related Arts 
A conventional speed change lever apparatus is known, for example, from a 
Japanese laid-open patent No. 61-143275. This speed change lever apparatus 
includes a winding member for winding up a speed change control cable, the 
winding member being held in position by a frictional force, a single 
speed change lever for effecting a speed change operation, a pair of 
one-way mechanisms consisting of ratchet mechanisms arranged in opposition 
to each other between the speed change lever and the winding member, each 
ratchet mechanism having a projectable/retractable claw, and an urging 
means for urging the speed change lever back to an intermediate position 
between its forward and reverse strokes after the winding member is 
pivoted in a cable winding or cable rewinding direction by a forward or 
reverse operation of the speed change lever. 
With the above-described conventional speed change lever apparatus, 
however, the speed change lever is operated in the two directions. 
Accordingly, for effecting a speed change operation, a cyclist must pay 
much of his attention to the direction of the lever operation. This is 
undesirable in terms of the cyclist's safety as well as speed change 
operation efficiency, because the speed change device will be operated 
into an unexpected speed position if the cyclist operates the lever in the 
wrong direction. 
Further, in case the speed change lever apparatus is attached adjacent a 
grip portion of a steering handle bar of the bicycle and if the apparatus 
is to provide as many as five or six different speeds, the lever of the 
apparatus necessarily has a considerable operation stroke. This means that 
the cyclist needs to use two of his fingers, i.e. the thumb and index 
finger for a forward and reverse operation of the lever, respectively. As 
is well-known, the index finger contributes significantly to the handle 
gripping condition. Then, if this index finger has to move significantly 
away from the grip for a speed change operation as described above, this 
results in deterioration in the handle gripping condition, thereby to 
endanger the cyclist. 
Moreover, in order to be operated not only by the cyclist's thumb but by 
the index finger, the speed change lever must be attached to an upper 
portion of the steering handle. As a result, for forwardly operating the 
lever, the cyclist must move his thumb clumsily upwards to the position of 
the lever, whereby the gripping condition can deteriorate in this case 
also, though may be less significant than the former case. 
In view of the above-described state of the art, the primary object of the 
present invention is to provide such a speed change lever apparatus for 
use in a bicycle as permits a cyclist to carry out a speed change 
operation in a safe manner without losing much of his handle gripping 
force and also in a carefree manner without requiring much attention from 
the cyclist to the direction of the operation. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
In order accomplish the above-noted object, according to a speed change 
lever apparatus for use in a bicycle relating to the present invention, 
the apparatus has: a fixed member; a winding member for winding up a speed 
change control cable, the winding member being pivotably supported to the 
fixed member and normally urged in a cable rewinding direction, and a 
cable-pulling lever for pulling the cable for a speed change operation as 
the lever is operated in a first direction against the urging force along 
the cable rewinding direction thereby to cause the winding member to pivot 
only in the cable winding direction via a one-way mechanism, the 
cable-pulling lever being returned to a home position thereof by 
cable-pulling lever urging means, the improvement comprising: a position 
maintaining mechanism including a first engaging member and a plurality of 
first engaging portions stepwisely engageable with the first engaging 
member to maintain a position of the winding member; and a release lever 
operable to release the engagement between the first engaging member and 
the first engaging portion with an operation of the release lever in a 
second direction thereby to effect a speed change operation by permitting 
the winding member to pivot in the cable rewinding direction with the 
cable rewinding urging force, the release lever being returned to a home 
position thereof by release lever urging means; the first direction of the 
cable-pulling lever and the second direction of the release lever at the 
respective home positions being substantially the same. 
With the above-described features of the present invention, the speed 
change lever apparatus essentially consists of the cable-pulling lever and 
the release lever which levers can be operated at the respective home 
positions by the cyclist in substantially the same direction for pulling 
or releasing the speed change control cable respectively in order to carry 
out a desired speed change operation. As a result, the cyclist does not 
need to pay much attention to the direction of the lever operation. 
Further, since it is much easier for the cyclist to distinguish between 
the cable-pulling lever and the release lever than to distinguish between 
two opposite directions of a single speed change lever, the possibility of 
erroneous speed change operation can be minimized. Consequently, with the 
speed change lever apparatus of the present invention, a cyclist can carry 
out a speed change operation in a reliable, speedy and safe manner without 
having to pay much attention to the speed change lever operation per se. 
Moreover, since the cable can be pulled or released by the two levers at 
their home positions in substantially the same one direction, it has 
become possible to reduce the operational stroke of the speed change lever 
apparatus to approximately a half of that of the conventional apparatus. 
To the above-described construction, it is conceivable to additionally 
provide a limiting mechanism for limiting an amount of the pivotal motion 
of the winding member in the cable rewinding direction effected with an 
operation of the release lever to a predetermined amount. 
With the addition of this limiting mechanism, the position of the winding 
member to be maintained can be freely set in both of the cable winding and 
cable rewinding directions. 
Further, according to one preferred embodiment of the present invention, in 
a speed change lever apparatus for use in a bicycle, the apparatus has: a 
fixed member; a cable-pulling lever having a cable-pulling control portion 
and adapted for pulling and maintaining a speed change control cable for a 
speed change operation as the cable-pulling control portion is operated in 
a first direction, the cable-pulling lever being returned to a home 
position thereof after completion of the lever operation in the first 
direction, the speed change apparatus comprising: a release lever having a 
release control portion and operable to release the cable-pulling 
condition with an operation of the release control portion in a second 
direction, the release lever being returned to a home position thereof 
after completion of the lever operation in the second direction; the first 
direction of the cable-pulling lever and the second direction of the 
release lever at the respective home positions being substantially the 
same; when the cable-pulling lever and the release lever are rested at the 
respective home positions thereof, the cable-pulling control portion and 
the release control portion being located at different positions in a 
direction normal to the first and second directions and at the same time 
being located adjacent each other. 
According to the apparatus having the above-described features, the 
cable-pulling control portion and the release control portion are not 
overlapped with each other in the common operating direction, and also 
these control portions are located adjacent each other. As a result, the 
cyclist can effect a speed change operation more easily without having to 
move his operating finger significantly. Consequently, speed change speed 
operations can be effected further speedily and more accurately and the 
cyclist's handle gripping condition will be further improved. 
If the speed change lever apparatus having the above-described features is 
attached to the vicinity of the grip portion of the steering handle, it is 
also conceivable to dispose the cable-pulling control portion and the 
release control portion, at the home positions, side by side along the 
longitudinal direction of the grip portion. 
With such positional arrangement, the cyclist can operate smoothly and 
easily both of the cable-pulling control portion and the release control 
portion, i.e. the cable-pulling lever and the release lever only by 
slightly moving his operating finger along the longitudinal direction of 
the grip portion in a very natural manner. 
It is further conceivable to dispose the release control portion more 
distant from the grip portion than the cable-pulling control portion is. 
With the above arrangements of the cable-pulling control portion and the 
release control portion, the control portions are located adjacent each 
other for easy lever operations and at the same time the existence of the 
release control portion will not interfere with the operation of the 
cable-pulling lever having a significantly long operational stroke. 
Consequently, the present invention has achieved such a speed change lever 
apparatus for use in a bicycle as permits a cyclist to carry out a speed 
change operation in a safe manner without losing much of his handle 
gripping force and also in a carefree manner without requiring much 
attention from the cyclist to the direction of the lever operation. 
Further and other objects, features and effects of the invention will 
become apparent from the following more detailed description of the 
embodiments of the invention with reference to the accompanying drawings.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be particularly 
described hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings. 
FIG. 8 is a perspective view showing a speed change lever apparatus 1 
relating to the invention being attached to a steering handle bar 2 of a 
bicycle. This speed change lever apparatus 1 is designed for use mainly 
with a five to six speed rear derailleur. 
The steering handle bar 2 consists of a hollow steel tube having a grip 
portion 3 covered with a grip member made of a resin material. A center 
axis of the handle 2 at this grip portion 3 extends substantially normal 
to a travelling direction of the bicycle and parallel with a horizontal 
plane. When a cyclist grips the grip portion 3 of this steering handle 2 
in a normal condition, the inter-digital pads of the cyclist's hand 
contact an upper face of the grip 3 whereas his thumb is positioned under 
the handle 2. 
This speed change lever apparatus 1 essentially consists of a cable-pulling 
lever 60 and a release lever 70. In FIG. 8, these levers 60 and 70 are 
both positioned at their home positions. Then, if a control portion 61 of 
the cable-pulling lever 60 is pushed from the home position in a direction 
denoted by an arrow in FIG. 8, a winding member 20 is pivoted in a cable 
winding direction (to be referred to briefly as a winding direction 
hereinafter), a speed change control cable is pulled by a predetermined 
amount and maintained at this position. On the other hand, if a control 
portion 71 of the release lever 70 is pushed for a small amount in 
substantially the same direction as the control portion 61, the winding 
member 20 is reversely pivoted in a cable rewinding direction (to be 
referred to briefly as a rewinding direction hereinafter), the previously 
wound cable is rewound by a predetermined amount. 
Though not shown, the rear derailleur effects a speed change operation by 
pivoting a chain guide via a quadrople link mechanism relative to a member 
fixed to the bicycle body. Also, in this rear derailleur, the chain guide 
is normally positioned at a high speed sprocket by means of an urging 
force of a derailleur spring attached to the quadrople link mechanism. 
Thus, for effecting a speed change operation to a lower speed position, 
the link mechanism is pulled via the speed change control cable against 
the urging force of the derailleur spring. 
In this particular embodiment, the speed change lever apparatus 1 is 
attached to a lower portion of the steering handle 2 adjacent the grip 
portion 3. Further, the cable-pulling lever 60 and the release lever 70 
are so arranged as to extend under the grip portion 3. With this 
arrangement, both the cable-pulling lever 60 and the release lever 70 can 
be operated for a cable pulling or releasing operation by only a thumb of 
the cyclist' hand as gripping the grip portion 3. A first shaft 11, which 
constitutes the pivotal axis of the cable-pulling lever 60, and a second 
shaft 16, which constitutes the pivotal axis of the release lever 70, are 
so oriented as to extend substantially normal to the longitudinal axis of 
the steering handle 2 adjacent the grip portion 3 and at the same time in 
substantially parallel with each other. With this arrangement, both of the 
above cable pulling and releasing operations by the levers 60 and 70 can 
be effected in similar manners by the cyclist, namely, as he bends his 
thumb on substantially a horizontal plane to operate either the control 
portion 61 for a cable pulling operation or the control portion 71 for a 
cable releasing operation. Accordingly, the cyclist can safely and readily 
operate this speed change lever apparatus 1 without significantly 
destroying his handle gripping hand loop formed by the thumb and the other 
fingers of his hand as gripping the grip portion 3. Further, since both 
the cable-pulling lever 60 and the release lever 70 are operated in 
substantially the same direction, the cyclist has to pay little attention 
to the operational direction of the lever apparatus. At the respective 
home positions, the cable-pulling lever 60 and the release lever 70 are 
positioned adjacent to each other along the longitudinal direction of the 
grip portion 3, with the control portion 71 of the latter being positioned 
more distant from the grip portion 3 than the control portion 61 of the 
former is. With this additional arrangement, the control portion 71 of the 
release lever 70 can be easily operated with a top end of the cyclist's 
thumb, and futher a speed change operation skipping over a plurality of 
speed positions at one time is readily possible since the control portion 
61 can be operated for a long stroke only with a slight movement of the 
cyclist's thumb toward the terminal end of the grip portion 3. 
Referring now to FIG. 1, the speed change lever apparatus 1 includes a 
fixed member 10 consisting of a base element 12 to be attached to the 
steering handle 2 and the first shaft 11 fastened to the element 12 by 
means of a screw 13. The base element 12 is formed integrally with a 
bracket of a brake lever device 4 (FIG. 8) secured to the steering handle 
2. And, this base element 12, as shown again in FIG. 8, includes a plate 
member having a hole engageable with the screw 13 and a further plate 
member having a through hole communicating with the hole and a further 
hole engageable with the second shaft 16 which pivotably supports the 
release lever 70. 
Between the first shaft 11 and the base element 12, there are provided a 
plurality of engaging projections and engaging recesses, through a 
selective engagement between which the first shaft 11 is positionally 
adjustable relative to the base element 12 in the peripheral direction of 
the shaft 11. The first shaft 11 defines, at a leading end of its outer 
periphery, a plurality of concave portions 14 and a screw groove 
engageable with a nut 15. Through this engagement between the groove and 
the nut 15, the first shaft 11 undetachably supports the winding member 20 
and the cable-pulling lever 60. Further, between a base end of this first 
shaft 11 and the winding member 20, there is interposed a spring 21 for 
urging the winding member 20 in the rewinding direction. Reference numeral 
17 denotes a bowl-shaped cover for covering base ends of the winding 
member 20, the cable-pulling lever 60 and the release lever 70. 
Referring now to FIGS. 1 and 4, the winding member 20 comprises a 
cylindrical structure having a cable-stopper portion 22 at one lateral 
side thereof. Further, at an intermediate portion in the outer periphery 
of the winding member 20, there is defined a cable-guiding groove 23 
extending continuously with the stopper portion 22 and in the peripheral 
direction of the winding member 20. At one end of the outer periphery of 
the winding member 20 toward the first shaft, there are provided a pair of 
engaging portions 20a and 20b having engaging projections in the 
peripheral direction with a predetermined interdistance therebetween, with 
the two engaging portions 20a and 20b being positioned adjacent each other 
along the first shaft 11. Further, the upper engaging portion 20a 
unrotatably connects a semicircular positioning member 30 to be described 
later while the lower engaging portion 20b unrotatably connects a circular 
restricting member 40 (will be described later also), respectively 
relative to the winding member 20. 
The cable-pulling lever 60 is formed of a metal plate and includes, at free 
end thereof, the control portion 61 which is despressed by a cyclist's 
thumb for pulling the speed change control cable. And, this lever 60 is 
pivotably supported to the first shaft 11 via a first shaft hole 62. On 
the other hand, above this cable-pulling lever 60, the first shaft 11 
unrotatably supports, via the concave portion 14, a spring receiver plate 
18 having a stopper portion 18a for stopping one end of a cable-pulling 
lever spring 63, whereas the other end of this spring 63 is secured to the 
cable-pulling lever 60, whereby the cable-pulling lever 60 is normally 
urged against the direction for cable pulling operation. 
For setting a home position of the above-described cable-pulling lever 60, 
there is provided a mechanism illustrated in FIGS. 1 through 3, 5 and 6. 
This mechanism includes a plate-shaped position setting member 19 having 
an upwardly projecting, setting portion 19a, the setting member 19 being 
unrotatably fitted on the first shaft 11 via the concave portion 14. In 
operation, as this setting member 19 is brought into contact with a 
contact portion 64 of the cable-pulling lever 60 urged by the spring 63, 
the lever 60 is stopped at its home position. Incidentally, the setting 
portion 19a of the position setting member 19 is formed by a bent portion 
of the position setting member 19. 
A one-way mechanism W for permitting the pivotal movement of the winding 
member 20 only in the winding direction, as illustrated in FIGS. 1 through 
3, 5 and 6, is disposed between the restricting member 40 rotatable in 
unison with the winding member 20 and the cable-pulling lever 60. This 
one-way mechanism W includes a claw-shaped transmitting element 51 
pivotally fitted on an end portion of the cable-pulling lever 60, a claw 
spring 52 for unidirectionally urging the transmitting element 51 and a 
plurality of transmitted portions 41 dispersed with a predetermined 
peripheral distance in a part of the outer periphery of the restricting 
member 40. Further, the spring receiver plate 18 includes a projection of 
a release cam 18b for releasing the engagement between the transmitting 
element 51 and the transmitted portion 41 when the cable-pulling lever 60 
has returned to its home position. 
The release control lever 70, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, is formed of a 
metal plate and includes, at free end thereof, the control portion 71 
which is depressed by the cyclist's thumb for releasing the speed change 
control cable from the pulled condition. This release lever 70 is 
pivotably supported via its base end to the second shaft 16. Further, 
between the base element and this lever 70, there is interposed a release 
lever spring 72 for urging the release lever 70 against the release 
operation direction. 
Next, a position maintaining mechanism P will be described with reference 
to FIGS. 2, 5 and 6. This position maintaining mechanism P essentially 
includes first engaging portions 31 consisting of a plurality of recesses 
defined in the positioning member 30 and a claw-shaped first engaging 
member 73 projected from the base end of the release lever 70. That is to 
say, the release lever 70 acts not only for the position maintaining 
function of this position maintaining mechanism P but for releasing this 
mechanism P. The first engaging member 73 is provided adjacent the first 
engaging portions 31 by the urging force of the release lever spring 72. 
Further, the first engaging portions 31 are formed by a plurality of claws 
peripherally dispersed with a predetermined distance about the positioning 
member 30. The first engaging member 73 and the claws of the positioning 
member 30 are inclined relative to the radial direction of the winding 
member 20. Accordingly, when the winding member 20 is pivoted in the 
winding direction, the first engaging portions 31 and the first engaging 
member 73 are freely engageable and disengageable with and from each 
other. On the other hand, when the winding member 20 is pivoted in the 
rewinding direction, the first portion 31 and the first engaging member 73 
become engaged to restrict a pivotal motion of the winding member 20 
thereby to maintain the present position of the winding member 20. 
Incidentally, when the winding member 20 is pivoted in the winding 
direction, the release lever 70 is pivoted with the engagement and 
disengagement between the first engaging portion 31 and the first engaging 
member 73. 
The home position of the release lever 70 is determined through contact 
between the first engaging member 73 and a bottom portion 32 of the first 
engaging portion 31. Further, in order to restrict the release operation 
stroke of the release lever 70, at a side end of the base end of the 
release lever 70 opposite to the first engaging member 73, there is 
provided a contact portion 74 which comes into contact with the outer 
periphery of the positioning member 30. Also, in order to avoid 
interference between the release lever control portion 71 and the 
cable-pulling lever control portion 61, the control portion 71 at its home 
position is so disposed as to slightly project before the control portion 
61 at its home position. 
Between the restricting member 40 and the second shaft 16, there is 
provided a limiting mechanism L for limiting an amount of the 
winding-direction-wise pivotal movement of the winding member 20 effected 
with an operation of the release lever 70 to one pitch amount of the first 
engaging portions 31. In this limiting mechanism L, as illustrated in 
FIGS. 1 through 3, 5 and 6, the restricting member 40 includes, at its 
peripheral poriton opposite to the transmitted portion 41, a pluarlity of 
second engaging portions 42 consisting of concave portions. On the other 
hand, the second shaft 16 pivotably mounts a restricting claw member 80 
having a claw-shaped second engaging member 81 selectively engageable with 
the second engaging portions 42. Further, the second engaging member 81 is 
urged toward the second engaging portions 42 by means of a restricting 
spring 82. With these arrangements, the amount of winding-direction-wise 
pivotal motion of the winding member 20 is limited. More particularly, the 
first engaging member 73 and the second engaging member 81 are so arranged 
that the second engaging member 81 is positioned at a projection between 
an adjacent pair of the second engaging portions 42 when the first 
engaging member 73 is engaged with the first engaging portion 31. The 
restricting claw member 80 includes, at a side opposite to the second 
engaging member 81, an extention portion 83. On the other hand, the 
release lever 70 includes, at a lower side thereof, an engaging projection 
75 which comes into contact with the extention portion 83 so as to release 
the engagement between the second engaging member 81 and the second 
engaging portion 42. With these, when the release lever 70 is pivoted, the 
amount of winding-direction-wise pivotal motion of the winding member 20 
can be limited within one pitch amount of the first engaging portions 31. 
Next, operational functions of the speed change lever apparatus having the 
above-described construction will be particularly described. 
FIGS. 1 and 2 show the apparatus being set at a highest speed position. In 
this, the cable-pulling lever 60 is rested at its home position by the 
urging force of the spring 63 and also by the contact between the contact 
portion 64 and the setting portion 19a of the position setting member 19. 
Further, the transmitting element 51 has its leading end contacting the 
release portion 18b of the spring receiver plate 18. On the other hand, 
the release lever 70 is rested at its home position by the contact between 
the first engaging member 73 and the bottom portion 32 of the first 
engaging portion 31. 
First, a speed change operation into a lower speed position from the above 
highest speed position of FIGS. 1 and 2 will be described. 
When the cyclist places the thumb of this handle-gripping hand into contact 
with the control portion 61 of the cable-pulling lever 60 and then pivots 
this counterclockwise in the tangential direction in FIG. 2, as 
illustrated in FIG. 5, the transmitting element 51 comes into engagement 
with one of the transmitted portions 41 of the restricting member 40, 
thereby to permit the manual forward force applied to the lever 60 to be 
transmitted via the restricting member 40 to the winding member 20. With 
this, the winding member 20 is pivoted in the winding direction to pull 
the speed change control cable. In this operation, if the stroke of the 
forward pivotal motion of the cable-pulling lever 60 reaches one pitch of 
the first engaging portions 31, the speed change operation is effected for 
one speed stage. Whereas, if the stroke reaches two pitches of the same, 
the speed change operation is effected for two speed stages. In this way, 
with a single thumb operation, the speed change operation is possible 
step-by-step or skipping over a plurality of positions at one time up to 
the maximum of three positions. For effecting a speed change operation 
over four speed positions, the cable-pulling lever 60 is once returned to 
its home position and then pivoted in the forward direction again. 
Thereafter, the speed change operation is possible step-by-step or 
skipping over a plurality of positions at one time. 
When the desired lower speed position is realized, as shown in FIG. 6, the 
first engaging member 73 is engaged with one first engaging portion 31 
corresponding to the lower speed position, thereby to prevent a return 
motion of the winding member 20. As a result, this lower speed position 
can be maintained reliably. 
After the completion of the above-described speed change operation, if the 
cyclist releases his thumb from the control portion 61, the cable-pulling 
lever 60 is pivoted in the reverse direction (clockwise in FIG. 2) by the 
urging force of the spring 63 and is returned to and stopped at its home 
position through contact between the contact portion 64 and the setting 
portion 19a, as illustrated in FIG. 6. Then, the cable-pulling lever 60 
becomes ready for a next speed change operation. 
As described above, if the speed change lever apparatus of the present 
invention is used for providing five to six different speeds, a speed 
change operation from a high speed position to a lower speed position can 
be carried out smoothly by horizontally pushing the cable-pulling lever 60 
with the thumb for two times. 
Next, a speed change operation from the low speed position of FIG. 6 back 
to a higher speed position will be described. 
As shown in FIG. 6, if the cyclist pushes the release lever 70 rested at 
its home position in the release direction which is substantially parallel 
with the operational direction of the cable-pulling lever 60, the first 
engaging member 73 of the release lever 70 moves away from the first 
engaging portion 31 of the position maintaining member 30, thereby to 
release the winding member 20 from the position-maintained condition. 
Then, this released winding member 20 is reversely pivoted in the 
rewinding direction by the urging force of the rewinding spring 21. In the 
course of this operation, the engagement between the extension portion 83 
of the restricting claw member 80 and the engaging projection 75 of the 
release lever 70 is also released. Thus, as shown in FIG. 7, the second 
engaging member 81 urged by the restricting spring 82 comes into 
engagement with one of the second engaging portions 42 of the restricting 
member 40, thereby to limit the amount of the return movement of the 
winding member effected by the rewinding spring 21 within one pitch of the 
first engaging portion 31. 
When the cyclist stops pushing the release lever control portion 71, the 
release lever 70 is pivoted reversely by the urging force of the release 
lever spring 72, and the engaging projection 75 again pushes the extension 
portion 83 thereby to release the engagement between the second engaging 
member 81 and the second engaging portion 42. At the same time, the 
winding member 20 as well as the positioning member 30 is reversely 
pivoted a litte further by the urging force of the rewinding spring 21, 
and the first engaging member 73 becomes engaged with one of the first 
engaging portions 31 which corresponds to one speed higher position. As 
this engagement prevents a reverse pivotal motion of the winding member 20 
by the rewinding spring 21, this higher speed position can be maintained 
reliably. 
Thus returned release lever 70 is rested at its home position through the 
contact between the bottom portion 32 of the first engaging portion 31 and 
the first engaging member 73, as illustrated in FIG. 6. Then, the release 
lever 70 is ready for a next release operation. Thereafter, if this 
release lever 70 at its home position is again pivoted, in the same manner 
as described above, the engagement between the first engaging member 73 
and the first engaging portion 31 is released, and the winding member 20 
is pivoted reversely by the force of the rewinding spring 21 to release 
the speed change control cable for effecting a speed change operation into 
one step higher speed position. 
Some alternate embodiments of the invention will be specifically described 
next. 
I. In the foregoing embodiment, the reverse pivotal motion of the winding 
member 20 is realized by the urging force of the rewinding spring 21. In 
place of this, the winding member 20 can be pivoted reversely, for 
example, by the urging force of the derailleur spring attached to the 
derailleur. That is, the rewinding spring 21 disposed between the winding 
member 20 and the spring receiver 18 of the fixed member 10 is not 
essential for the lever apparatus of the present invention. 
II. The release lever 70 can be attached to another place than to the base 
member 12, for example, to the position setting member 19 or to the spring 
receiver plate 18. 
III. In the foregoing embodiment, the positioning member 30 and the 
restricting member 40 are provided as entities separate from the winding 
member 20. Instead, these members 30 and 40 can be formed integrally with 
this winding member 20. 
IV. The first engaging member 73 of the position maintaining mechanism P 
can be formed by other than the claw member projecting from the release 
lever 70. For instance, as illustrated in FIG. 9, a ball 91 can be used as 
this first engaging member 73. In this case, between this ball 91 and the 
release lever 70, a spring receiver 93 supports an urging spring 92 for 
urging the ball 91 toward the first engaging portions 31. And, the ball 
91, the urging spring 92 and the spring receiver 93 are attached to the 
fixed member 10 by means of a support element 94. With this alternate 
construction, when the ball 91 comes into engagement with the first 
engaging portion 31, the urging spring 92 elastically resiles to cause a 
sharp drop in the load acting on the cable-pulling lever 60, and this 
sharp drop in the load can provide a clicking feel to the cyclist's hand 
operating the lever 60 for each change speed operation. As a result, the 
cyclist can be aware what speed position he has shifted into. In this 
construction, it is to be noted, the release lever 70 is stopped at its 
home position through contact between the lever 70 and a contact portion 
95 of the spring receiver 93. 
V. In the foregoing embodiment, the first engaging portions 31 of the 
position maintaining mechanism P are peripherally dispersed relative to 
the winding member 20. Alternately, these first engaging portions 31 can 
be disposed along the axis of the first shaft 11 relative to the winding 
member 20. For instance, in the above described case of FIG. 9 where the 
ball 91 is used as the first engaging member 73, at one end of the winding 
member 20 relative to the axis of the first shaft 11, there is fixed a 
circular link plate having a smaller diameter than this winding member 20, 
and this circular link plate forms the first engaging portions 31 in its 
periphery of upper or lower side; whereas, the release lever 70 is 
attached to the position setting member 19 or to the spring receiver plate 
18. With this construction, a disadvantageous enlargement of the winding 
member 20 can be effectively prevented and the pivot of the release lever 
70 can be located closer to the first shaft 11. As a result, the entire 
speed change lever apparatus can be formed compact, and the apparatus can 
be attached still closer to the grip portion 3, whereby the thumb 
operations of the cable-pulling lever 60 and the release lever 70 will be 
further facilitated. 
VI. For effecting a speed change operation from a low speed position to a 
higher speed position, the construction of the foregoing embodiment 
requires a plurality of thumb operations of the release control lever 70 
for a number of times corresponding to the desired number of speed 
positions to be changed over, because the pivotal amount of the winding 
member 20 is limited to one pitch of the first engaging portions 31 by the 
engagement between the second engaging member 80 of the restricting claw 
member 80 and the second engaging portion 81. Instead, with elimination of 
the restricting claw member 80 of the limiting mechanism L, it can be 
arranged so that the amount of engagement between the first engaging 
member 73 and the first engaging portion 31 may be controlled according to 
an operational amount of the release lever 70 thereby to allow the winding 
member 20 to pivot step-by-step or skipping over a plurality of steps for 
one time. 
VII. The setting portion 19a for setting the home position of the 
cable-pulling lever 60 can be formed integrally with the fixed member 10. 
VIII. In the foregoing embodiment, the home position of the release lever 
70 is restricted by the contact between the bottom portion 32 of the first 
engaging portion 31 and the first engaging member 73. Instead, this home 
position of the release lever 70 can be restricted by an integral portion 
of the fixed member 10 similar to the setting portion 19a used for 
restricting the home position of the cable-pulling lever 60. 
IX. The base member 12 can be fixed to the steering handle bar 2 directly 
or indirectly through a band element. 
X. The speed change lever apparatus of the invention can be used with a 
front derailleur rather than with the rear derailleur. 
XI. In the foregoing embodiment, the one-way mechanism W includes the 
claw-shaped transmitting element 51 and the transmitted portions 41 formed 
in the outer periphery of the positioning member 30. Alternately, this 
one-way mechanism W can be of a friction type. 
XII. In the foregoing embodiment, the cable-pulling lever 60 and the 
winding member 20 share the same pivot shaft 11. Instead, the lever 60 and 
the member 20 can use separate pivot shafts. 
XIII. In the foregoing embodiment, the attaching orientations of the first 
and second shafts 11 and 16 are vertical. In place of this, these shafts 
11 and 16 can be oriented any other directions where the cable-pulling 
lever control portion 61 and the release lever control portion 71 can be 
most conveniently operated by the thumb or another finger of the cyclist's 
hand gripping as the grip portion 3. For instance, the control portions 61 
and 71 can be operated easily also when the first shaft 11 and the second 
shaft 16 are oriented in parallel with the axis of the steering handle bar 
2. 
XIV. The extending positions of the cable-pulling lever 60 and the release 
lever 70 may be conveniently adjusted according to the extending direction 
of the grip portion 3. For example, when the longitudinal axis of this 
grip portion 3 of the steering handle bar 2 extends along the travelling 
direction of the bicycle, the inter-digital pads of the cyclist's hand as 
gripping the grip portion 3 are located on the outer side face of the grip 
portion 3 facing the outside of the bicycle body. In this case, 
accordingly, the cable-pulling lever 60 and the release lever 70 are 
caused to extend from the inner side face of the grip portion 3 facing the 
cyclist. 
The invention may be embodied in other specific forms without departing 
from the sprit or essential characteristics thereof. The present 
embodiments are therefore to be considered in all respects as illustrative 
and not restrictive, the scope of the invention being indicated by the 
appended claims rather than by the foregoing description and all changes 
which come within the meaning and range of equivalency of the claims are 
therefore intended to be embraced therein.