Multi-function hand protection

Abstract

The invention relates to a device for protecting an individual's hand against bad weather and impacts, adapted to be attached to the handlebars of a vehicle such as a bicycle, a motorcycle or a scooter and comprising for this purpose at least one rigid shell (1), and fixing means adapted to attach the rigid shell (1) to said handlebars, characterized in that it further comprises at least one flexible part (2) attached to the shell (1) on one side and to the handlebars on the other to prevent air from infiltrating. Figure for abstract: Fig. 3

Description

Title of the invention: Multi-function hand protection Technical field of the invention

[0001] The present invention relates to the field of vehicles driven with handlebars, such as bicycles, scooters, motorbikes, snowmobiles, or other vehicles. It relates to protection for the hands against the cold offering several functions. Prior art

[0002] Today, with traffic, pollution, energy savings, more and more people use small vehicles in their daily lives, bicycles, scooters, scooters.

[0003] However, their comfort and safety are not yet optimal, particularly compared to those of a car, the vehicle par excellence of recent decades.

[0004] The cold is a hindrance to the use of these vehicles, and in particular the cold felt in the hands, which hardly move during the use of these vehicles.

[0005] In addition, driving next to cars is dangerous. It is very important to be clearly visible.

[0006] To protect your hands from the cold when cycling, you can see thick fabric hand muffs on the handlebars of some bikes and scooters. They provide good protection from the cold; however, in rainy weather, they end up getting soaked. They are bulky, not very aerodynamic, and offer no visibility of the bike's controls. They provide very little protection against impacts; they are not designed for that.

[0007] Against the cold, you can of course also use gloves, but gloves will eventually let the cold and / or rain through. Thick gloves will last longer but using the vehicle's controls is more complicated. It is common to misplace or lose them.

[0008] Various patents describe solutions for protecting hands against the cold intended for bicycles;

[0009] Document CN208630758 presents a solution protecting hands from the cold, by means of a plastic shell. This solution is not commercially available, and one can doubt the effectiveness of the protection, seeing the shape that is presented.

[0010] There are also protections designed for mountain bikes, to protect the hands from impacts against branches, brambles, etc. These protections are quite thin, made of plastic, they provide very little protection from the cold, that is not their function.

[0011] On motorcycles, we frequently see protections fixed to the handlebars; made entirely of plastic, or made in two parts, with on the one hand a frame, which can be made of plastic or metal, and on the other hand a plastic shell.

[0012] Plastic motorcycle shells protect against the cold, by cutting the effect of the wind felt on the hands; and they protect against small impacts, such as projections of small stones, small debris, etc.

[0013] The shape of these shells is adapted to the speed of motorcycles; for a vehicle traveling at a much lower speed, such as a bicycle or a scooter, the shape would not be suitable, the air being less deflected at low speed, more enveloping protection is required.

[0014] These protections, developed for motorcycles, cannot be mounted on bicycles or scooters, which have other handlebar shapes and other controls on the handlebars.

[0015] On bicycles, the diversity of handlebars is very great, with handlebars more or less curved towards the rear or downwards, which makes it complicated to produce a protection which can be mounted on a large variety of handlebars.

[0016] There are multifunctional protections for motorcycles. In addition to protection against the cold, protections with a metal support protect against certain impacts, and protect the controls in the event of a fall. And we also see some protections with lighting, a turn signal, and / or a mirror.

[0017] For bicycles, this type of product does not exist. There are mirrors to be mounted on the handlebars, turn signals to be mounted on the handlebars, but no combined objects. These products are not necessarily compatible with each other, and there may not be enough space on the handlebars to attach a light, a smartphone, or other accessory. Presentation of the invention

[0018] An object of the invention is therefore to propose a product which makes it possible to protect the hands from the cold effectively even at a relatively low speed such as the speed of a bicycle or a scooter, and which remains effective at higher speeds, and which can be mounted on a wide variety of handlebars, while allowing good access and visibility to the controls.

[0019] Another object of the invention is to combine several functions in this product in an effective manner: hand protection, indicator / light, mirror.

[0020] The invention relates to a hand protection, which can be mounted on a wide variety of handlebars, consisting of a support which is fixed on the handlebar, a shell which is fixed on this support, and a flexible part allowing the air passage to be completely closed. The product acts as a deflector, protecting against wind, cold, rain, small debris, small impacts. The support allows a mirror to be fixed. A version of the support exists with the light / indicator function and activation button. Description of the embodiments

[0021] [Fig.l] shows a pair of guards mounted on a handlebar. The left and right guards are symmetrical. It shows the shell 1, which is made of an impact-resistant material, and rigid enough not to deform significantly under the effect of wind and vehicle speed.

[0022] This shell protects from wind, rain, and all kinds of small debris, stones, insects, branches and others.

[0023] This shell is close to the hand, see [Fig.2], to ensure effective protection, even at low speed; knowing that when the speed increases, the air is more deflected, and the protection is only more effective.

[0024] A flexible part 2 fixed on the hull on one side and on the handlebar on the other side allows the air passage to be completely closed. See [Fig.l] and 3. It adapts to different shapes of handlebars, different controls. This flexible part can be removable to facilitate assembly, or to allow air passage in summer.

[0025] [Fig.4] shows an implementation solution for making this flexible part, with a canvas and Velcro to fix this part to the shell, which allows this part to be easily removed; Velcro towards the brake cables, or the derailleur cables of the bicycle, which allows the air passage to be closed well, while the cables can pass through different places depending on the bicycle; and press studs to close this part behind the handlebar. Other embodiments can obviously be used.

[0026] The shell encompasses the vehicle controls, gear change, brakes, bell, on-board computer, etc., so that the hands remain protected throughout the use of the vehicle, see [Fig.3] and 5.

[0027] A rim 3 prevents rainwater from being projected onto the conductor, see [Fig.3].

[0028] Shapes 4, which are both functional and improve the style of the product, allow the part to be stiffened, see [Fig.2].

[0029] To effectively deflect the wind, while allowing very easy hand clearance, having good visibility of the controls, and minimizing the size of the hull as much as possible, the shape of the hull 1 was defined after numerous tests. In relation to the axis of the handle, the height is about 90mm, upwards and downwards, see [Fig.6]; the outer corner of the rim is advanced, in relation to the axis of the handlebar by about 35mm; the inner corner of the handlebar is set back by about 47mm. See [Fig.7],

[0030] On the inside, after the edge, the shell extends by about 32mm, to prevent air from passing through to the side. On the lower part, on the inside, the shell stops about 96mm behind the handlebar axis. See [Fig.7].

[0031] Bicycle handlebars are very varied, more or less curved backwards and downwards. In [Fig.8], we can see 4 different handlebars 5 mounted on the protection. One is curved by 6°, the other by 15°, the third by 47°, and the fourth by 55°.

[0032] The less curved the handlebar, the more the shell can be shortened, without losing protection against the cold and the rain. In [Fig.9], on the left image, we see in green the shell adapted to a curved handlebar with an angle between 55° and 47°; In yellow, the shell is adapted to a curved handlebar with an angle between 47° and 30°, the lower part and the upper part can be shortened, respectively by about 25mm and about 29mm, as shown in [Fig.9]. In [Fig.9], on the right image, we see in yellow the shell for a handlebar between 47° and 30°, and in blue the shell for a curved handlebar with an angle of less than 30°. We see that the lower part of the shell for a handlebar with an angle of less than 30° can be shortened again, by about 35mm.

[0033] Shells suitable for different handlebars can be made from the same mold, provided that the unnecessary parts for less curved handlebars are cut off.

[0034] The shell 1 is fixed to the bicycle, on one side by means of a part 6 fixed to the outside of the handlebar, see [Fig. 10]. The screw 7 is used to clamp the part 6 to the handlebar. The screw 8 is used to press the shell 1 against the part 6.

[0035] In summer, if you want to remove the shell, you can leave this part 6 on the bike, which can be used as small handlebar horns.

[0036] This part 6 and the screw 8, depending on the manufacturing process used, could form an integral part of the shell 1.

[0037] The shell could also be fixed by an expansion screw 9 entering the handlebar tube. This is a widespread solution for motorcycle hand guards. See [Fig.l 1]. This solution avoids having to shift the handle and controls of the bike to mount the guard. On the expansion screw system shown, an extension 10 has been added to allow a standard mirror to be mounted on the side.

[0038] On the other side, the shell 1 is fixed by a collar 11 passing around the handlebar and in a hole in the shell. To avoid vibration noise, between the shell and the handlebar, a gasket 12 is mounted on the shell. See [Fig. 12].

[0039] [Fig. 13] shows that the interface between the handlebar and the shell is not in the same place for all handlebars. The fixing system must therefore take this diversity into account.

[0040] The fixing solution presented, with the collar 11, plays on the flexibility of the shell 1. The collar presses the shell onto the handlebars.

[0041] In [Fig. 14], we see the cutout 13 of the shell which is defined so that by tightening the collar, the shell is pushed towards the front of the bike, in order to always guarantee sufficient space for the various controls. In [Fig. 14], we see in the 3D image that the hull 1 interferes with the handlebar at the level of the cutout 13. This has the effect, when assembled in reality, of pushing the hull forward.

[0042] Other fixing systems can be used, such as for example a collar mounted on the handlebar, on which an adjustable part is fixed, this adjustable part being to be adjusted, that is to say pivoted, lengthened, shortened, depending on the handlebar, in order to be able to fix the shell.

[0043] To add a mirror, it is possible to mount it on the side of the handlebar, the shell not protruding outwards, see [Fig. 16]. A standard mirror can be mounted in the handlebar tube, using an expansion screw; or on the tubular extension 10 of the expansion screw 9.

[0044] It is also possible to use a location 17 on a support 16 of the hull, see [Fig.10], to mount a mirror, see [Fig.15].

[0045] Reflective stickers 14 to improve the visibility of the vehicle by other road users can be added to the hulls 1. They are very visible, at the front, quite high in relation to the vehicle, on the sides, See [Fig. 17].

[0046] The support 16 makes it possible to additionally integrate a light and a flashing light 15 into the protection, as well as a switch 27 to activate them. See [Fig.18] and 19.

[0047] Pulling the switch activates or deactivates the lighting. Pushing the switch activates the indicator. It is also possible to have 2 separate switches on each protection, one for the indicator, the other for the light. These switches can be placed on the support 16 as shown in [Fig. 19], they can also be placed on the handlebar grip, this grip then having to be electrically connected to the support 16.

[0048] The power supply is provided by a rechargeable battery integrated in the support 16, or by the vehicle battery. In this case, the hand protectors are electrically connected to the vehicle's electrical circuit.

[0049] This support can remain on the bike without the shell, to be able to remove the shell when desired while still wanting to keep the lighting functions. See [Fig.20].

[0050] The lighting system can be paired with rear turn signals, in order to control the front and rear turn signals at the same time.

Claims

Claims

1. Device for protecting an individual's hand against bad weather and impacts, adapted to be attached to the handlebars of a vehicle such as a bicycle, a motorcycle or a scooter and comprising for this purpose at least: - a rigid shell (1), and - fixing means (6, 7, 8; 9, 10; 11, 12) adapted to attach the rigid shell (1) to said handlebars, characterized in that it further comprises at least one flexible part (2) attached to the shell (1) on one side and to the handlebars on the other to prevent air from infiltrating.

2. Protective device according to the preceding claim, characterized in that the means for fixing the flexible part (2) are removable.

3. Protective device according to claim 2, characterized in that the means for fixing the flexible part (2) comprise Velcro.

4. Device according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the means for fixing the rigid shell (1) on the handlebar comprise at least: - a part (6) fixing on the outside of the handlebar, and - a screw (7) for clamping said part (6) around the handlebar.

5. Device according to claim 4, characterized in that the means for fixing the rigid shell (1) to the handlebar further comprise at least one expanding screw (9) entering the tube of said handlebar.

6. Device according to any one of claims 4 or 5, characterized in that the means for fixing the rigid shell (1) to the handlebars further comprise: - a clamping collar (11) passing through at least one hole in the rigid shell (1) and passing around the handlebars, and - a seal (12) inserted between the rigid shell (1) and the handlebars.

7. Device according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that it further comprises a location (17) for mounting a mirror.

8. Device according to claim 7, characterized in that the mirror is mounted on a tubular extension (10) of the expansion screw (9).

9. Device according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that it comprises at least one switch (27) for activating or deactivating lighting and a flashing light (15) integrated into a support (16) of the rigid shell (1).

10. Device according to claim 9, characterized in that the switch (27) is placed on a handlebar grip.

11. Device according to claim 9, characterized in that the switch (27) is placed on the support (16) of the rigid shell (1)

12. Device according to any one of the preceding claims 9 to 11, characterized in that the support (16) of the rigid shell (1) is provided with an integrated rechargeable battery connected to the switch (27).

13. Vehicle such as a bicycle, a motorcycle or a scooter comprising a handlebar of which at least one of the branches is equipped with a device for protection against bad weather and impacts according to any one of the preceding claims.

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