Patent ID: 8776966

Claim:
A hydraulic brake lever apparatus comprising: a brake lever housing including a cylinder, the cylinder having a central axis; a piston movably disposed within the cylinder of the brake lever housing; a mounting assembly configured to mount the brake lever housing to a bicycle handlebar; a brake lever pivotally mounted to the brake lever housing and arranged to move the piston within the cylinder in response to pivotal movement of the brake lever relative to the brake lever housing; and a fluid reservoir in fluid communication with the cylinder via a port that communicates hydraulic fluid therebetween, the fluid reservoir having a cylindrical shape and lying in a side by side relationship with the cylinder, such that the fluid reservoir includes a cylindrical portion, an open end portion located at a first end of the cylindrical portion and a conical end portion located at a second end of the cylindrical portion that is nearest to the cylinder, the conical end portion of the fluid reservoir being closer than the open end portion to a first longitudinal end of the cylinder, and the open end portion being closer than the conical end portion to a second longitudinal end of the cylinder, and the cylinder and the fluid reservoir being positioned relative to the mounting assembly to locate the fluid reservoir above the cylinder with the mounting assembly in an installed position, the cylindrical shape of the fluid reservoir extending non-perpendicularly with respect to the central axis of the cylinder.