Patent Publication Number: US-2016244113-A1

Title: Bicycle seat assembly

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Fields of the Invention 
     The present invention relates to a bicycle seat assembly, and more particularly, to a bicycle seat assembly having three support portions located at the rear section of the seat so as to support the user&#39;s weight properly. 
     2. Descriptions of Related Art 
     The conventional bicycle seat assembly is disclosed in  FIGS. 1 and 2 , and comprises a seat  1  and a rail part  2 , wherein the seat  1  has a narrow front end and a wider rear end, and the rail part  2  is a metal part which has a bent portion at the front end thereof and two distal ends at the rear end thereof. Two bars  3  are formed between the bent portion and the two distal ends of the rail part  2 . The two distal ends are located on two sides of the axis of the seat  1 , and the bent portion is engaged with a first reception member  4  at the front end of the seat, and the two distal ends are received in two reception members  5  at the rear end of the seat  1 . The bars  3  are bent downward when viewed from one side of the seat  1 . 
     However, the user&#39;s bottom mostly sits at the rear end of the seat  1 , and the two distal ends of the rail part  2  do not have properly flexibility so that a pressure will be applied to the user&#39;s bottom. The user tents to sit toward the front end of the seat to avoid the pressure applied to the user&#39;s bottom. This causes the weight applied to the front portion of the user&#39;s bottom and the user feel uncomfortable. 
     The present invention intends to provide a bicycle seat to eliminate the shortcomings mentioned above. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention relates to a bicycle seat assembly and comprises a seat having a front support, rear support, a left support, a right support respectively located at the underside thereof. The front support is located at the front end and along the axis of the seat, and the rear support is located at the rear end and along the axis of the seat. The left support and the right support are respectively located at the rear end of the seat, and the axis of the seat is located between the left support and the right support. 
     A rail part has a front part, a fork portion connected to the front part, an extension portion connected to the fork portion, a rear merging portion connected to the extension portion, and a rear part connected to the rear merging portion. The front part, the fork portion, the extension portion, the rear merging portion and the rear part are all located along the axis of the seat. The rail part has a left support bar and a right support bar respectively extending toward left and right relative to the axis from the abutment portion of the extension portion and the rear merging portion. 
     The front part is glued to the front support, and the rear part is glued to the rear support. The distal end of the left support bar is mounted with a resilient member, and both are inserted in the left support. The distal end of the right support bar is mounted with another resilient member, and both are inserted in the right support. 
     The primary object of the present invention is to provide a bicycle seat assembly wherein the seat has three supports located at the rear section thereof so as to support the weight of the user properly. 
     The present invention will become more obvious from the following description when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings which show, for purposes of illustration only, a preferred embodiment in accordance with the present invention. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a bottom view of the conventional seat assembly; 
         FIG. 2  is a side view of the conventional seat assembly; 
         FIG. 3  is a top perspective view to show the seat assembly of the present invention; 
         FIG. 4  is a bottom perspective view to show the seat assembly of the present invention; 
         FIG. 5  is a bottom view of the seat assembly of the present invention; 
         FIG. 6  is an exploded view of the seat assembly of the present invention; 
         FIG. 7  is another exploded view of the seat assembly of the present invention; 
         FIG. 8  is a side view of the seat assembly of the present invention; 
         FIG. 9  is a rear view of the seat assembly of the present invention; 
         FIG. 10  is a front view of the seat assembly of the present invention; 
         FIG. 11  is a cross sectional view, taken along line XI-XI in  FIG. 3 , and 
         FIG. 12  is a cross sectional view, taken along line XII-XII in  FIG. 3 . 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     Referring to  FIGS. 3 to 7 , the bicycle seat assembly of the present invention comprises a seat  10  having a front support  11 , rear support  12 , a left support  13 , a right support  14  respectively located at the underside thereof The front support  11  is located at the front end and along the axis L 1  of the seat  10 , and the rear support  12  is located at the rear end and along the axis L 1  of the seat  10 . The left support  13  and the right support  14  are respectively located at the rear end of the seat  10 , and the axis L 1  of the seat  10  is located between the left support  13  and the right support  14 . 
     A rail part  20  is a one-piece part and comprises a front part  21 , a fork portion  22  connected to the front part  21 , an extension portion  23  connected to the fork portion  22 , a rear merging portion  24  connected to the extension portion  23 , and a rear part  25  connected to the rear merging portion  24 . The front part  21 , the fork portion  22 , the extension portion  23 , the rear merging portion  24  and the rear part  25  are all located along the axis  11  of the seat  10  from the front end to the rear end of the seat  10  in sequence. The rail part  20  has a left support bar  26  and a right support bar  27  respectively extending toward left and right relative to the axis L 1  from the abutment portion of the extension portion  23  and the rear merging portion  24 . 
     Each of the left and right support bars  26 ,  27  comprises a front section  261 / 271  and a rear section  262 / 272 , wherein the front section  261 / 271  of each of the left and right support bars  26 ,  27  extends away from the axis L 1  and from the abutment portion of the extension portion  23  and the rear merging portion  24 , and the rear section  262 / 272  of each of the left and right support bars  26 ,  27  is parallel to the axis L 1  and located close to the left support  13  and right support  14 . The fork portion  22  has two split rails  221  which split from the front part  21  and are not parallel to the axis L 1 . The extension portion  23  has two parallel bars  231  which are parallel to the axis L 1  and respectively extend from the two split rails  221 . The rear merging portion  24  has two merging bars  241  which respectively extend from the two parallel bars  231 . The two respective distal ends of the two merging bars  241  are merged into the rear part  25 . As shown in  FIG. 8 , the two split rails  221 , the two parallel bars  231  and the two merging bars  241  form a bow-shaped arrangement. 
     The front support  11  has a curved wall  111  which defines a recess  112 . A cover  113  is connected to the curved wall  111  and covers the recess  112 . The front part  21  of the rail part  20  is glued to the recess  112  and the cover  113  so as to be connected to the front part  21  to the front support  11 . The rear part  25  is glued to the rear support  12 . The distal end of the left support bar  26  is mounted with a resilient member  30 , and both are inserted in the left support  13 . The distal end of the right support bar  27  is mounted with another resilient member  30 , and both are inserted in the right support  14 . The rear support  12  has a protrusion  121  which has a dent  122  defined in the front end thereof. The rear part  25  of the rail part  20  is glued to the dent  122 , wherein the dent  122  and the rear part  25  each have a stepped structure. Each of the left support  13  and the right support  14  has a protrusion  131 / 141 . Each of the two respective protrusion  131 ,  141  of the left support  13  and the right support  14  has a passage  132 / 142 . As shown in  FIG. 11 , each of the left support bar  26  and the right support bar  27  has a rectangular cross section. Each of the resilient members  30  is a rectangular member which is mounted to left/right support bar  26 / 27  and filled with the passage  132 . It is noted that the thickness of the top of each of the resilient members  30  is thicker than that of the bottom of each of the resilient members  30 . The top  31  resiliently supports the weight and pressure from the seat  10 . 
     As shown in  FIG. 12 , the front part  21  is fixed to the front support  11 , and the rear part  25  is fixed to the rear support  12 , and the split rails  221 , the parallel bars  231  and the merging bars  241  form the bow-shaped structure to provide the strength of the seat  10 . The outside of the curved wall  111  and the inside of the cover  113  include a protrusion-recess engagement  114  to ensure the connection between the curved wall  111  and the inside of the cover  113 . The dent  122  and the rear part  25  each have a stepped structure  123  which provides a larger contact area. 
     The advantages of the seat assembly of the present invention are that the front part  21 , the fork portion  22 , the extension portion  23 , the rear merging portion  24  and the rear part  25  are all located along the axis L 1  of the seat  10 , and left support bar  26  and the right support bar  27  respectively extend toward left and right relative to the axis L 1  so that the seat is well supported by the four support points P 1 , P 2 , P 3  and P 4  at the underside of the seat, and the four support points P 1 , P 2 , P 3  and P 4  are connected to each other. The merging bars  241 , the left support bar  26  and the right support bar  27  are arranged to form a W-shaped structure ( FIGS. 9 and 10 ) to support the user&#39;s weight in a larger area. Therefore, the weight of the user is properly shared and the seat is not broken due to stress concentration. 
     There are three supports located at the rear section of the seat  10  and the pressure applied to the user&#39;s bottom is reduced and shared. The resilient members  30  also perform a better buffering and shock-absorbing features. 
     While we have shown and described the embodiment in accordance with the present invention, it should be clear to those skilled in the art that further embodiments may be made without departing from the scope of the present invention.