Patent ID: 8181977

Claim:
An arm drive apparatus for a bicycle, comprising: a stationary mounting structure attachable in a stationary, substantially centered, position on a front portion of the bicycle; an arm drive input mechanism for receiving arm power input from an operator of the bicycle, said input mechanism including a pair of control arms having respective front ends pivotally mounted to said stationary mounting structure to enable fore-and-aft movement of said control arms, said control arms also generally extending rearwardly of the bicycle front portion and outwardly of the centered position of said stationary mounting structure, each of said control arms for gripping by the operator in order to input arm power to drive the control arms through said fore-and-aft movement; a drive motion transmission mechanism including a pair of connecting rod assemblies positionable along opposite sides of a main fore-and-aft frame of the bicycle and extending generally between a pair of pedals of the bicycle and said control arms of said arm drive input mechanism; a pair of front connectors each defining a pair of axes extending transverse to one another and biaxially connecting a front end of one of said connecting rod assemblies with a rear end of one of said control arms; and a pair of rear connectors each defining a pair of axes extending transverse to one another and biaxially connecting a rear end of one of said connecting rod assemblies with one of the pedals of the bicycle, said front and rear connectors thereby mechanically and articulately linking said connecting rod assemblies to the pedals of the bicycle and said rear ends of said control arms so as to transmit said fore-and-aft movement of said control arms via the connecting rod assemblies to the pedals to enable the arm power input of the operator to assist with pedaling drive operation of the bicycle; wherein each of said front connectors defines a front first pivot plane substantially perpendicular to a front first axis of said transverse axes that allows angular displacement of one control arm through said front first pivot plane; and wherein each of said front connectors also defines a front second pivot plane substantially perpendicular to a front second axis of said transverse axes that allows reciprocating angular displacements of said control arm and said connecting rod assembly with respect to each other through said front second pivot plane.