Abstract:
A safe braking apparatus using in a two-wheel vehicle includes a left brake unit that drives the real brake unit and the front brake unit simultaneously, a right brake unit that drives the real brake unit and the front brake unit simultaneously, a front brake unit that actuates a front-wheel brake of said two-wheel vehicles, and a real brake unit that actuates a real-wheel brake of said two-wheel vehicles. Wherein, the front brake unit always works less than the real brake unit in movement.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION 
     This application claims the priority benefit of Taiwan application serial no. 098203603, filed on Mar. 10, 2009, and U.S. provisional application Ser. No. 61232430, filed on Aug. 8, 2009. The entirety of the above-mentioned patent applications is incorporated herein by reference and made a part of this specification. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND 
     1. Technical Field 
     The present invention relates to a braking apparatus, particularly to improve a braking system of two-wheel traffic tools such as a bike or motorcycle. 
     2. Description of the Related Art 
     Most conventional braking systems for motorcycles or bicycles have two independent brakes devices for the front wheel and the rear wheel, those are driven by two independent cables and operated by a left lever and a right lever on one handlebar. This arrangement enables a user to slow down or stop the traffic tool by breaking only the front wheel, only the rear wheel, or the both wheels. 
     Any skilled user knows that, if he want to slow down or stop such a vehicle, it is better for him to break the rear wheel first, and then break the front wheel latter. In this case, the vesicle will be under good control. However, when the driver is a new user or when something happens accidentally, coupled with the high speed of the vehicle, the user may suffer from a roll-over accident if he applies the break on the front wheel first. It is because that when the front wheel is block independently and the rear wheel is still rolling, the vesicle will be out of control and possible start to skid or even fall over. Therefore to design a more reliable braking system is very important for the safety. 
     For this issue, people design many kinds of synchronous or balanced brake systems. The user can control the braking devices of front and rear wheels simultaneously and synchronously by one or two brake levers to slow down or stop the front and rear wheels at the same time. Those devices may avoid the problems mentioned above. However, those so called synchronous or balanced brake systems can not achieve the effectiveness of the brakes. Within some braking device, when the user uses only one hand will not make enough movement of the brake cable to produce a sufficient brake force. It is necessary for the driver to use both hands at the same time to stop the vehicle. Some braking device can slow down or stop the vesicle by one hand, but the hand should burden the work of two hands in the conventional braking system. If the grip force of the user is not so sufficient, it will be difficult for him to stop the vesicle. 
     BRIEF SUMMARY 
     The main object of the present invention is to provide a safe braking apparatus for two-wheel vehicles, such as bicycle and motorcycle. The system is inclusive of a front brake, a rear brake, a left hand brake lever and a right hand brake lever. Regardless of whether the left or right hand brake lever is actuated firstly, or both hand brake levers are actuated simultaneously, the rear break is preferentially actuated such as the rear brake is never applied later than the front brake. 
     Other objectives, features and advantages of the present invention will be further understood from the further technological features disclosed by the embodiments of the present invention wherein there are shown and described preferred embodiments of this invention, simply by way of illustration of modes best suited to carry out the invention. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       These and other features and advantages of the various embodiments disclosed herein will be better understood with respect to the following description and drawings, in which like numbers refer to like parts throughout, and in which: 
         FIG. 1  is a schematic illustration of the safe braking apparatus of the present invention. 
         FIG. 2  is a partial cutaway view of the safe braking apparatus of the present invention in the first embodiment. 
         FIGS. 3A˜3C  are sectional views of the safe braking apparatus of the present invention in the first embodiment at resting stage, in which  3 A is a front view,  3 B is a side view, and  3 C is a back view. 
         FIGS. 4A˜4C  are sectional views of the safe braking apparatus of the present invention in the first embodiment at left hand used stage, in which  4 A is a front view,  4 B is a side view, and  4 C is a back view. 
         FIGS. 5A˜5C  are sectional views of the safe braking apparatus of the present invention in the first embodiment at left hand first and then right hand used stage, in which  5 A is a front view,  5 B is a side view, and  5 C is a back view. 
         FIGS. 6A˜6C  are sectional views of the safe braking apparatus of the present invention in the second embodiment at resting stage, in which  6 A is a front view,  6 B is a side view, and  6 C is a back view. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     It is to be understood that other embodiment may be utilized and structural changes may be made without departing from the scope of the present invention. Also, it is to be understood that the phraseology and terminology used herein are for the purpose of description and should not be regarded as limiting. The use of “including,” “comprising,” or “having” and variations thereof herein is meant to encompass the items listed thereafter and equivalents thereof as well as additional items. Unless limited otherwise, the terms “connected,” “coupled,” and “mounted,” and variations thereof herein are used broadly and encompass direct and indirect connections, couplings, and mountings. 
     For the shortcomings of earlier apparatus, we need to invent a safer braking apparatus. The main object is that, regardless of using his left hand or right hand brake first, as long as the driver uses any one hand to apply the braking apparatus, the apparatus will be able to provide adequate rear brakes first. If the driver applied the brake with one hand first, and then applies the brake with his another hand, the apparatus will be able to provide additional front-wheel brake after the rear wheel has been braked. The purpose to apply brake on the rear-wheel first and then the front-wheel second at any time will be reached. If the driver uses both hands at the same time, the braking apparatus can still provide a reliable result that braking the rear-wheel first or braking two wheels simultaneously. Therefore, the present invention can be described as a safe braking apparatus. 
     The safe braking apparatus of the present invention in a first embodiment mainly comprises: a left brake unit, a right brake unit, a front brake unit and a rear brake unit. The left brake cable of left brake unit can drive the rear and front brake units simultaneously. And the right brake cable of right brake unit can drive the rear and the front brake units simultaneously, too. However, because rear  1  brake unit conduct the force directly, and the front brake unit conduct it through a pulley or a gear. When only one hand is used or when uneven force of both hands is applied, the extent of movement of the rear brake cable is always greater than the front brake so that front wheel will not be slowed down or stopped first. The vesicle will not easily get out of control. 
     As shown in  FIG. 1 , the safe braking apparatus of the present invention is assembled on a bicycle having a front brake  3 , a rear brake  4 , a left lever  1  with a left brake cable  10 , and a right lever  2  with a right brake cable  20 . 
     The details of the brake device in a first embodiment are shown in  FIG. 2  and  FIG. 3A˜3C . Referring to  FIG. 2 , the left brake cable  10  is fixed on the left brake rod  12  by left brake cable screw  11 . The left brake rod  12  is connected to the left brake bar  13  and drives the left brake bar  13  sliding movement over the tracks  61  on the shell of brake device  60 . The right brake cable  20  is fixed on the right brake rod  22  by right brake cable screw  21 . The right brake rod  22  is connected to the right brake bar  23  and drives the right brake bar  13  sliding movement over the tracks  61  on the shell of brake device  60 . The left brake bar  13  is connected to the front brake chain  31  and the rear brake line  41   b . The right brake bar  23  is connected to the front brake chain  31  and the rear brake line  41   a . The front brake chain  31  is set on the front brake chain pulley  32  that is fixed on the front brake link tablet  33 , and drives the front brake link tablet  33  sliding movement over the track  61 . The front brake cable  30  is fixed on the front brake link tablet  33  by the front brake cable screw  34 . When the front brake link tablet  33  moves by the tracks  61 , it can drive front brake  3  through the front brake cable  30 . The rear brake line  41   a  is connected to the rear brake knot  42   a  through the rear brake link tablet  43 . The rear brake line  41   b  is connected to the rear brake knot  42   b  through the rear brake link tablet  43 . The rear brake knot  42   a  or another rear brake knot  42   b  can drive the rear brake link tablet  43  sliding movement by the tracks  61 . The rear brake cable  40  is fixed on the rear brake link tablet  43  by the rear brake cable screw  44 . When the rear brake link tablet  43  moves by the tracks  61 , it can drive rear brake  4  through the rear brake cable  40 . 
     Referring to  FIG. 4A˜4C , when the driver use left hand only to apply the brake, the left brake cable  10  moves immediately to drive the left brake rod  12  and the left brake bar  13 . The left brake bar  13  drives the front brake chain  31 , the rear brake lines  41   b and the rear brake knot  42   b . The rear brake knot  42   b  drives the rear brake line tablet  43  and rear brake cable  40 . The extent of movement of the rear brake cable  40  is the same as the extent of movement of the left brake cable  10 . But the rear brake line  41   a  and the rear brake knot  42   a  do not move. At the same time, the front brake chain  31  moves to turn the front brake chain pulley  32  and to drive the front brake line tablet  33 . The front brake line tablet  33  drives the front brake cable  30 . However, the extent of movement of the front brake cable  30  is an half of the extent of movement of the left brake cable  10 . This is so-called non-synchronous movement with the same phase. 
     Referring to  FIG. 5A˜5C , after using the left hand, the driver then uses his right hand to apply the brake. The right brake cable  20  moves immediately to drive the right brake rod  22  and the right brake bar  23 . The right brake bar  23  drives the front brake chain  31 , the rear brake line  41   a  and the rear brake knot  42   a . The front brake chain  31  moves to turn the front brake chain pulley  32  and to drive the front brake line tablet  33 . The front brake line tablet  33  drives the front brake cable  30 . The extent of movement of the front brake cable  30  is an half of the extent of movement of the right brake cable  20 . However, because the rear brake knot  42   a  does not move and is detached from the rear brake line tablet  43  ( FIG. 4A ) at earlier stage, it can not drive the rear brake line tablet  43  at this stage. Therefore, the rear brake cable  40  will not be moved furthermore until the rear brake knot  42   a  touch the rear brake line tablet  43  again. 
     In above example, the driver uses his left hand first and then uses his right hand latter. The final result will be the same if he uses his right hand first. 
     If the driver uses both hands to apply the brake at the same time with different forces, the displacements of the left brake cable  10  and right brake cable  20  will be different. For example, the displacement of the left brake cable  10  is 1 cm, and the displacement of the right brake cable is 0.5 cm. Because the left brake cable  10  and right brake cable  20  drive the front cable  30  through the front brake chain pulley  32 , so in theory, the displacement of the front brake cable is equivalent to(1+0.5)/2 cm, that is 0.75 cm. However, because the left brake cable  10  or the right brake cable  20  can drive the rear brake cable  40  directly through the rear brake knot  42   a  or  42   b , the displacement of the rear brake cable  40  is equivalent to max (1, 0.5) cm. Between the left brake cable  10  and the right brake cable  20 , the one with greater displacement decides the extent of displacement of the rear brake  40 , that is 1 cm in this case. 
     If the driver uses both hands to apply the brake at the same time and produces the same displacements of the left brake cable  10  and right brake cable  20 , the displacements of the left brake cable  10 , right brake cable  20 , the front brake cable  30 , and rear brake cable  40  will all be the same. 
     From the implementation of the previous embodiment, the braking apparatus would provide a result that, the displacement of the rear brake cable  40  is equal to the greater displacement between the left brake cable  10  and right brake cable  20  and the displacement of the front brake cable  30  is equal to the average displacement of the left brake cable  10  and right brake cable  20 . Therefore, the extent of displacement of the rear brake cable  40  must be greater than or equal to the extent of displacement of the front brake cable  30 . That is the main goal of this invention. 
     As shown in  FIG. 6A˜6C , there are some different between the first embodiment and the second embodiment. The front brake lever  36  replaces the front brake pulley chain  32 . The front brake lines  35   a  and  35   b  replace the front brake chain  31 . The front brake lever  36  is fixed on the front brake link tablet  33  and can be turned. The front brake lines  35   a  and  35   b  link to the front brake lever with relatable joints. The function of the front brake lever  36  is the same as the front brake pulley chain  32 , which keeps the extent of displacement of the rear brake cable  40  greater than or equal to the extent of displacement of the front brake cable  30 . 
     In practice, the brake cables may be loose and the linings of brake may be attrited. At that time, the user can adjust the front brake cable adjustment screw  51  or the real brake cable adjustment screw  52  to ensure the safety of the braking apparatus. 
     The above description is given by way of example, and not limitation. Given the above disclosure, one skilled in the art could devise variations that are within the scope and spirit of the invention disclosed herein, including configurations ways of the recessed portions and materials and/or designs of the attaching structures. Further, the various features of the embodiments disclosed herein can be used alone, or in varying combinations with each other and are not intended to be limited to the specific combination described herein. Thus, the scope of the claims is not to be limited by the illustrated embodiments.