Saddle adapter for a side-tilting bicycle saddle

Abstract

Saddle adapter (100) for a laterally tiltable bicycle saddle (200), which bicycle saddle (200) has a seat element (210) with a seat surface (211) and at least two spaced-apart fastening rods (212) on its underside, via which the bicycle saddle (200) is to be connected to a seat post head (221) of a seat post (220), wherein the saddle adapter (100) comprises at least: - a pivot axis (33) extending in the longitudinal direction of the seat element (10); - a central base (30) providing at least one bearing for the pivot axis (33); - a pivoting bridge unit (20) which is mounted on the central base (30) via the pivot axis (33) and can be tilted laterally relative to the latter, - at least one elastic damping element (36) limiting the inclination movement of the pivoting bridge unit (20) relative to the central base (30); characterized in - that the swivel bridge unit (20) has at least two fastening rod receptacles (29) for the fastening rods (212) on the bicycle saddle (200) and - that the central base (30) is connected to a base unit (10) which has at least two fastening rods (12) spaced apart from one another and which can be connected to a saddle clamp element on a seat post head (31) on the seat post (30).

Description

The invention relates to a saddle adapter for a laterally tiltable bicycle saddle having the features of the preamble of claim 1.The saddle of a bicycle is a central point for applying force to the pedals. In the rider or the rider, bone, cartilage, nerve, muscle, etc. are connected to each other in the contact area of the body to the saddle. In principle, this point should be stable. A loose connection of the saddle to the bicycle or even a loose seat of the rider or the rider on the saddle leads to irritation of the sequences. It is also not conducive to the introduction of force into the pedals, which also still changes significantly with the angle at the knee. With a nearly extended leg, the maximum force transmission into the pedals is made possible, so that this is also important in sports driving. When the leg is extended, the inner thigh region slides laterally from the saddle, so that an increased pressure is applied to the tissue at this location, in particular in the uppermost inner region of the thigh in the area of the last. The pressure results in friction between the saddle and the skin with simultaneous continuous movement.The elimination of the compressive load can only be achieved to a very limited extent with a soft saddle; moreover, this is rather disadvantageous in sports driving, since the sitting strength is thus lost.Bicycle saddles are known in which there is a pivot axis which extends longitudinally in the direction of travel and which permits the saddle to be tilted laterally. Patent DE 405 358 A describes a saddle having such a pivot axis. At the same time, however, a linear displacement of the saddle in the direction of travel should also be possible. In order to enable tilting and longitudinal displacement simultaneously, a complicated guide is required.Another laterally tilting saddle is shown in DE 1 231 126 B. There, a bearing for a so-called balance beam is provided, which is intended to enable a pivoting movement of the seat element as the upper saddle part to the side. In addition, a joint is provided in order to allow the seat element to tilt backwards about a horizontal axis which runs transversely to the direction of travel. The saddle top is supported with respect to a base by a total of four helical compression springs. This construction is complicated and not suitable for narrow saddles in sport wheels.DE 40 05 566 A1 likewise specifies that lateral tilting movements are to be made possible in a bicycle saddle. The solution provides for pulls to control the movement in just as unusual and costly manner.The earlier Utility Model document DE 202 12 353 U1 provides a ball head connection of the saddle with the seat tube, so that not only but also lateral tilting movements are possible.DE 697 20 497 T2 describes a further variant of a bicycle saddle which is intended to allow lateral pivoting movements about an axis which extends in the longitudinal direction of the bicycle. This axis is situated at a very high level, namely directly in the region of the seat surface.The bicycle saddle according to DE 20 2014 010 041 A1 likewise provides a pivot axis in the longitudinal direction. The lateral tilting movement of the seat element is damped by air spring elements.In the bicycle saddle according to European patent EP 2 003 046 B1, no longitudinal axis is provided. Nevertheless, a lateral tilting movement is made possible by a seat element being fastened to the seat tube via a punctiform, elastomeric element. The angle of inclination is limited by further elastomeric elements.DE 20 2017 001 074 U1 describes a compact solution in the form of a pivoting bridge unit which can be inserted between a conventional seat post and a conventional seat element of a bicycle seat, so that it is possible to resort to existing parts. The pivotable unit is held by two torsion springs. The restoring forces acting in the event of a lateral inclination are determined only by the properties of the torsion springs used and can therefore be changed only by replacing the torsion spring.The disadvantage of the known solutions, which allow a damped lateral inclination of a bicycle seat, is that they require an adaptation of the seat element on the bicycle seat and / or on the head of a seat post. Subsequent adaptation of a damped lateral tilting movement on an existing seat element or a seat post is therefore not possible. The wide variety of commercially available seat elements and seat posts cannot be used therewithThe object of the invention is thus firstly to enable an elastically damped lateral inclination limited by the angle of inclination in a bicycle saddle and thus to increase comfort, and secondly to be able to provide this function subsequently in existing bicycles.This object is achieved by a saddle adapter for a laterally tiltable bicycle saddle having the features of claim 1.The term "bicycle saddle" in the sense of the present invention does not exclude the use on vehicles other than bicycles. It serves as a generic term for an entire unit to be mounted on or connected to a seat post. Part of the bicycle seat is the laterally movable seat element on which the rider or rider sits and which represents the "seat" in conventional language use.The saddle adapter according to the invention initially has the advantage that an elastically damped lateral tilting movement of the seat element is achieved. Hard stops at the end of the tilting range are therefore not noticeable.A particular advantage of the saddle adapter according to the invention is that two parallel fastening rods are provided at the bottom of the saddle adapter, which have the same diameter and the same distance from one another as the usual fastening rods on almost all bicycle saddles. Since the design and arrangement of the fastening rods comply with conventional standards for bicycles, the seat adapter according to the invention can be inserted between the seat element and the seat post head without any structural change on the seat post. It can be mounted just as easily as disassembled.The pivot axis is part of a pivot bridge unit, via which the seat post and the seat element with their integrated fastening rods are detachably connected to one another. The seat element can be formed in a conventional manner with the integrated fastening rods of the seat element on the underside and does not require any adaptations specific to the invention. The pivoting bridge unit is of compact construction despite the integration of the pivot axis, which permits the lateral inclination, and has only a small overall height.The term "damping element" is understood in the sense of the invention as a shock-absorbing element and a element that dampens the pivoting movement, wherein in the physical sense it is a deformable and resettable spring element, which is combined with an element that absorbs additional kinetic energy, i.e. a damping element in the physical sense.For an optimum function of the swivel bridge unit, it is particularly advantageous if the damping elements are selected and designed such that the damping starts very smoothly at the beginning of the lateral swivel movement of the swivel bridge and there is as little breakaway torque as possible.Damping elements made of elastomers or rubber are well suited for this purpose. It is therefore preferred to use elastomeric, compressible damping elements which are available at low cost and damp and limit the lateral pivoting movement in a manner comfortable for the cyclist.By an optional possibility for prestressing the two lateral damping elements, their sensitivity can be easily adjusted.Particularly preferably, the pivot axis is positioned above the fastening rods of the seat element in the free space which is formed between the fastening rods and below the seat element.The pivot range of the seat surface has proven to be an essential criterion in practice, since too great a pivot movement of the seat surface is perceived as negative. Positive experiences have already been made with a positioning of the pivot axis of up to 10 mm away from the saddle fastening rods. The frictional forces between saddle and gusset are thus already significantly reduced, so that body tissue located there is noticeably damaged. Irritation during the transmission of force to the pedals was not detectable.Preferably, the position of the pivot axis is selected such that the center of the upper seat surface is very much less laterally away from a vertical center axis of the seat adapter when the seat element is tilted laterally than the lower lateral flanks of the seat element. The seat position of the driver and the distance between the seat surface and the pedals thus remain approximately constant when the seat surface inclines, whereas the lower side flanks migrate significantly inward and thus the described negative friction effects are reduced.The invention is explained in more detail below with reference to the exemplary embodiment shown in the drawings. The figures show in detail: FIG. 1 shows a bicycle saddle with a saddle adapter according to the invention in a side view; FIG. 2 shows the bicycle seat in a lateral view, in each case in the compressed and expanded position of the seat adapter; FIG. 3 shows the saddle adapter in a perspective view obliquely from above; FIG. 4 shows the saddle adapter in a perspective view obliquely from above, with the pivoting bridge unit raised; FIG. 5 shows the saddle adapter in a perspective view obliquely from below; FIG. 2 shows the saddle adapter in a side view; FIG. 7 shows the bicycle saddle with the pivoting bridge unit in a perspective view obliquely from the front; and FIG. 8 shows the bicycle saddle from behind with an inclined swivel bridge unit.FIG. 1 shows a bicycle saddle 200 in a side view. An upper unit of the bicycle saddle 200 is formed by a seat element 210 which is formed, for example, in a manner known per se as a plastic shell with a padding made of plastic foam applied thereto. The top of the seat member 210 forms a seating surface 211. Two fastening rods 212 are integrated into the plastic shell of the seat element 210, which rods extend parallel to one another at least in the region provided for the connection to a seat post 220. Lateral flanks 214 on the seat element 210 form broad locations which, although required to support body weight, also cause unpleasant pressure and friction in the inner femoral region.The seat post 220 is guided in a seat tube 222, which can either be a frame component of the bicycle or, for example, a telescopic seat tube, which can be adjusted in length via an integrated hydraulic unit in order to be able to adjust the height of the seat surface 211 relative to the bicycle frame individually and optionally also during travel.The seat post 220 is designed as a cylindrical tube and terminates at its upper side in a seat post head 221 which has receptacles for the two parallel fastening rods 212 of the seat element 210.According to the invention, the seat member 210 is not directly connected to the seat post head 221 but is connected to the seat post head 221 through a seat adapter 100 interposed therebetween. In the upper region, the latter has saddle clamping elements 28, on which the fastening rods 212 of the seat element 210 are held. At the bottom of the saddle adapter 100, a base unit 10 is provided which has two parallel fastening rods 12 which have the same diameter and the same distance from one another as the fastening rods 212 of the seat element 210 and which correspond to the usual standards or other conventions for bicycles. In this way, the saddle adapter 100 of the present invention can be inserted without any structural change between the seat member 210 and the seat post head 221.The seat adapter 100 has a swivel bridge unit which is to be fixedly connected to the seat element 210 and is connected to a central base 30 via a swivel axis 33. The pivot axis 33 extends in the longitudinal direction of the seat element 210 of the bicycle saddle 200 and thus allows the seat element 210 to assume a lateral inclination with respect to a center plane of the bicycle frame. The center base 30, in turn, is connected to the base unit 10 via a parallelogram linkage 40 and a spring member 50 such that the vertical distance between the seat member 210 and the seat post head 221 is variable and vertical shocks can be cushioned thereover.In the further side view in FIG. 2, the uppermost position of the seat element 210 relative to the seat post head 221 is illustrated in solid lines and the lowermost position is illustrated in dashed lines. In the uppermost position, the two struts of the parallelogram guide 40 extend obliquely from the bottom front to the top back; in the lowermost position, they lie parallel to the fastening rods 12 of the base unit 10; since, owing to the parallelogram guide 40, a slight rearward displacement of the seat element 210 toward the rear is simultaneously connected with the movement toward the bottom, the spring element 50 is articulated on a bearing 16 on the base unit 10 and on a further bearing, which is not visible here, on the central base 30. By simultaneously displacing the seat element downward and rearward, the distance between the seat and the pedals can be kept approximately the same.In FIG. 3, the saddle adapter 100 is shown in a perspective illustration obliquely from the front.The pivoting bridge unit 20 has on its upper side two saddle clamping elements 28, via which in each case one of the fastening rods 12 of the seat element 10 is guided and drawn onto the pivoting bridge unit 20, so that clamping and thus frictional fixing occurs. The pivoting bridge unit 20 is mounted in an articulated manner on the central base 30 via the pivot axis 33 extending in the longitudinal direction of the bicycle saddle 100.The pivoting bridge unit 20 and the central base 30 form a unit which is coupled to one another via the pivot axis 33 and a transverse axis 35 and which, in the exemplary embodiment of the saddle adapter 100 shown, is also vertically movable with respect to the base unit 10.The base unit 10 has a front bearing element 11 and a rear bearing element 14.The front bearing element 11 has two bearings 42, 44 one above the other, in which the equally long struts 41, 43 of the parallelogram guide 40 are mounted pivotably. The struts 41, 43 are also supported on bearings 46 on the center base 30.The rear bearing element 15 has a rearwardly extending extension 15 with a bearing 16 for the spring element 50, which is also mounted on a bearing 34 on the central base 30In the illustration of FIG. 4, the saddle adapter 100 is again shown in a perspective illustration obliquely from the front, wherein the pivoting bridge unit 20 is lifted from the central base 30 for illustration purposes. This makes it clear in particular that the design of the middle base 30 in the upper region is viewed.The pivoting bridge unit 20 has a pivot axis bore 21 extending in the longitudinal direction. The pivoting bridge unit 20 is designed in its upper lateral regions such that a fastening rod receptacle 29 is formed on each side with the saddle clamping elements 28 which can be screwed on there. In addition, the swivel bridge unit 20 has on each side a downwardly extending wing extension 22 which has a bore as a transverse axis receptacle 23.The center base 30 has front and rear protruding portions with bores for receiving the pivot shaft 33, which form a U-shaped configuration in a side view. A space 32 is formed therebetween, in which the pivoting bridge unit 20 can be accommodated. The length of the swivel bridge unit 20 measured in the longitudinal direction of the bicycle saddle corresponds to the clear distance in the intermediate space 32 minus a gap in order to ensure the movability.In the lower portion of the body forming the central base 30, there is a transverse bore 31 in which a transverse axis 35 is received. The special feature of the transverse axis 35 is that it is rigid only in a core region and at its ends, but that it is formed by at least one elastic damping element 36 or is surrounded by it in a central section guided through the transverse bore 31.The pivot axis 33 is designed as a screw which is provided with at least one, preferably two bearing shells 34 in the region of the intermediate space 32 in order thus to form a slide bearing between the pivot axis 33 fixedly mounted in the central base 30 and the pivot axis bore 21 of the pivot bridge unit 20. The bearing shell consists of a soft and low-friction material such as a thermoplastic or brass.FIG. 5 shows the saddle adapter 100 in a perspective illustration obliquely from below and behind. It can be seen how one end of the transverse axle 35 is mounted in the wing extension 22 and the central region provided with an elastomeric damping element 36 on the circumference is guided through the transverse axle bore 31 of the central base 30.In the rearward region of the saddle adapter 100, the spring element 50 is coupled via one axis to the bearing 34 to the central base 30 and via a further axis to a bearing 16 on the rear bearing element 15 of the base unit 10. The spring member 50 urges the center base 30 upward against the weight force of a person seated on the bicycle seat, the center base 30 being guided by the parallelogram guide 40. Regardless of the displacement of the center base 30 relative to the base element 10, the pivoting bridge unit 20 can be tilted laterally relative to the center base 30.As the lateral view in Fig. 6 shows, the transverse axis 35 is situated approximately halfway between the vertical position of the pivot axis 33 and the vertical position of the lower bearing 44 of the strut 42 of the parallelogram guide 40. A sufficiently large distance between the pivot axis 33 and the transverse axis 35 causes a lever arm, by which already an angularly small lateral inclination of the pivot bridge unit 20 relative to the central base 30 leads to a perceptible lateral displacement of the seat element fastened on the pivot bridge unit 20.FIG. 7 illustrates a perspective view of the seat member 210 with the seat adapter 100. In order that the seat adapter 100 inserted between a seat post head and the seat element 210 does not lead to an excessively large increase in the position of the seat surface 211 on the seat element 210 relative to the seat post or the bicycle frame, the installation space between the fastening rods 212 is exploited by the pivot axis 33 moving close to the upper seat surface 211 on the seat element 210.In FIG. 8, the seat element 210 with the seat adapter 100 is shown from behind in order to illustrate an inclination of the swivel bridge unit 20 and the transverse axis 35 with the damping element 36 with respect to the central base 30. The spring element to be clamped between the bearings 16, 34 is removed here for better visibility of the aforementioned components.The position of the pivot axis positioned close to the seat surface 211 and the vertical distance between the pivot axis and the transverse axis 35 running below the fastening rods 212 ensure that a central axis 213 at the top of the seat element 210 only moves slightly away from a central axis 37 of the seat adapter 100 to the side. The greater travel during pivoting is covered by the lateral flanks 214. The right flank 214 in FIG. 8 travels significantly closer to the center axis 37 and thus away from the inner side on the leg of the wheel transporter compared to the starting position of the non-inclined seat element.Reference Number:100 Saddle adapter 10 Base unit 11 Front bearing element 12 Fastening rods 13 14 Rear bearing element 15 Extension 16 Bearing 20 Pivoting bridge unit 21 Pivot axis bore 22 Wing extension 23 Transverse axis receptacle 28 Saddle clamping element 29 Fastening rod receptacle 30 Center base 31 Transverse axis bore 32 Intermediate space 33 Pivot axis 34 Bearing 35 Transverse axis 36 Damping element 37 Center axis 40 Parallelogram guide 41, 42 Struts 43, 44, 45, 46 Bearing 50 Spring element 200 Bicycle saddle 210 Seat element 211 Seat surface 212 Fastening rods 213 Center axis 220 Seat support 221 Seat support head 222 Seat tubeReferences included in the specificationThis list of documents cited by the applicant has been produced in an automated manner and is only included for the better information of the reader. The list is not part of the German patent application or utility model application. The DPMA does not take any adhesion for any faults or omissions.Patent Literature citedDE 405 358 A

[0004] DE 1 231 126 B

[0005] DE 40 05 566 A1

[0006] DE 202 12 353 U1

[0007] DE 697 20 497 T2

[0008] DE 20 2014 010 041 A1

[0009] EP 2 003 046 B1

[0010] DE 20 2017 001 074 U1

[0011]

Claims

A saddle adapter (100) for a laterally tiltable bicycle saddle (200), which bicycle saddle (200) has a seat element (210) with a seat surface (211) and at least two mutually spaced fastening rods (212) on its underside, via which the bicycle saddle (200) is to be connected to a seat post head (221) of a seat post (220), wherein the saddle adapter (100) comprises at least: - a pivot axis (33) extending in the longitudinal direction of the seat element (10); - a central base (30) providing at least one bearing for the pivot axis (33); a pivoting bridge unit (20) which is mounted on the central base (30) via the pivot axis (33) and can be inclined laterally with respect to the latter, - at least one elastic damping element (36) which delimits the inclination movement of the pivoting bridge unit (20) with respect to the central base (30); characterized - in that the pivoting bridge unit (20) has at least two fastening rod receptacles (29) for the fastening rods (212) on the bicycle seat (200), and - in that the central base (30) is connected to a base unit (10) which has at least two mutually spaced fastening rods (12) which can be connected to a saddle clamping element on a seat post head (31) on the seat post (30).Saddle adapter (100) according to claim 1, characterised in that the vertical distance between the swivel bridge unit (20) and the base unit (10) can be changed via at least one spring element (50).The saddle adapter (100) according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that - the central base (30) is connected to the base unit (10) in an articulated manner via a parallelogram guide (40), which extends in the longitudinal direction of the saddle adapter (100) and of the bicycle saddle (200), and is supported on the base unit (10) via the spring element (50), - the rods (41, 42) of the parallelogram guide (40) are articulated on bearings (43, 44) in a front region of the base unit (10) in the direction of travel of the bicycle saddle (200), and - the spring element (50) is articulated on bearings (16, 34) in a rear region of the base unit (10) and of the central base (30).Saddle adapter (100) according to one of claims 1 to 3, characterised in that the base unit (10) has a front bearing element (11) for the rods (41, 42) of the parallelogram guide (40) and a rear bearing element (14) for one end of the spring element (50), wherein the bearing elements (11, 14) are connected to one another via the parallel fastening rods (12).Saddle adapter (100) according to claim 4, characterised in that the rear bearing element (15) has a rearwardly extending extension 15 with a bearing 16 for the spring element 50, which is also mounted on a bearing (34) on the central base (30Saddle adapter (100) according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the pivoting bridge unit (20) and the central base (30) are coupled to one another via the pivot axis (33) and a transverse axis (35), wherein the transverse axis (35) is guided through a transverse bore (31) in the central base (30) and the transverse axis (35) is formed by at least one elastic damping element (36) or is surrounded by such a damping element at least in the region of the passage through the transverse bore (31).Saddle adapter (100) according to claim 6, characterised in that the transverse axis (35) is formed rigidly only in a core region and at the ends and is formed by at least one elastic damping element (36) or is surrounded by it in a central section guided through the transverse bore (31).Saddle adapter (100) according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the central base (30) has part sections which project at the front and at the rear and have bores for receiving the pivot axis (33), between which bores an intermediate space (32) is formed, in which the pivot bridge unit (20) is movably accommodated.Saddle adapter (100) according to claim 8, characterised in that the transverse bore (31) extends below the intermediate space (32) in the central base (30).Saddle adapter (100) according to claim 8 or 9, characterised in that the pivot axis (33) is designed as a screw which is provided with at least one bearing shell (34) in the region of the intermediate space (32) for forming a sliding bearing between the pivot axis (33) fixedly mounted in the central base (30) and the pivot axis bore (21) of the pivot bridge unit (20).Saddle adapter (100) according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the pivot point of the pivot axis (33) is positioned between the seat element (10) and the seat post (30) such that the pivot axis (33) is at the level of the fastening rods (12) or max. 50 mm below the fastening rods (12) of the seat element (10).Saddle adapter (100) according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the pivot point of the pivot axis (33) is arranged above the fastening rods (12).A bicycle seat (200), at least comprising: - a seat element (210) having a seat surface (211), - at least two mutually spaced-apart fastening rods (212) arranged below the seat surface (211) and connected thereto; - a seat post (220) having at the upper end a seat post head (221) with at least one receptacle for the fastening rods (212), and - a seat adapter (100) according to at least one of claims 1 to 12 which can be inserted between the seat post head (221) and the fastening rods (212) of the seat element (210), wherein the fastening rods (212) are received in fastening rod receptacles (29) of the pivoting bridge unit (20) and the fastening rods (12) on the base element (10) are received in the receptacle on the seat post head (221).

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