Title of Invention

''BRACKET ASSEMBLY FOR HEADLIGHT SUPPORT''

Abstract A bracket assembly for a headlight support, for a motorcycle characterized in that front wheel steering mechanism (4) rotatably supported on a headpipe (16) at a front part of a vehicle body, and a headlight (32) supported on the front wheel steering assembly via a headlight support bracket (52) in front of the headpipe, and cable (67, 68) extending to the rear of the vehicle body from the front wheel steering mechanism, through the rear of the headlight and the front of the headpipe and linking to the vehicle body, the cables being slidably guided by the headlight support bracket at the time of turning.
Full Text [Detailed Description of the Invention)
[0001]
[Field of the Invention]
The present invention relates to a bracket assembly for a headlight support, having multiple functions. [0002] [Related Art]
Japanese Utility Model Publication No. Sho. 61-68982 discloses a motorcycle having a number plate attached to left and right front forks, and a cable from a handlebar side to the rear of the vehicle passing between a top bridge and the number plate. Japanese Utility Model Publication No. Sho. 63-1 10190 also discloses a structure for supporting the middle part of a cable linking from a handlebar to the vicinity of a front wheel axle portion on a number plate attached to an upper part of the front forks of a motorcycle.
[0003] [Problems to be solved by the Invention]
A front wheel steering mechanism including front forks and a front wheel is rotatably supported on a headpipe via a top bridge and a bottom bridge, and turning is carried out using the handlebar.
[0004]
When cables are arranged so as to be passed from the handlebar through the front side of the top bridge, as in the above described related art, some of the cables that link the handlebar with the vehicle body, for instance a throttle cable and a clutch cable, become slack during turning. 10005]
As a result of this slackness, the cables interfere with each other, and this can have a detrimental effect on the turning operation.
[0006]
However, since with cables such as a meter cable and a brake cable linking the handle bar and the front wheel side do not become slack due to turning together with the front wheel steering mechanism, the above described cable interference is a phenomenon peculiar to cables linking the handlebar of the front wheel steering mechanism to the vehicle side.
[Problems to be Solved by the Invention]
In order to solve the above described problems, a bracket assembly for a headlight support according to the present invention is bracket assembly for a headlight support, for a motorcycle with a front wheel steering mechanism rotatably supported on a headpipe at a front part of a vehicle body, and a headlight supported on the front wheel steering assembly via a headlight support bracket in front of the headpipe and cables extending to the rear of the vehicle body from the front wheel steering mechanism, through the rear of the headlight and the front of the headpipe and linking to the vehicle body, the cables being slidably guided by the headlight support bracket at the time of turning.
Accordingly, there is provided a bracket assembly for a headlight support, for a motorcycle with a front wheel steering mechanism rotatably supported on a headpipe at a front part of a vehicle body, and a headlight supported on the front wheel steering assembly via a headlight support bracket in front of the headpipe, and cable extending to the rear of the vehicle body from the front wheel steering mechanism, through the rear of the headlight and the front of the headpipe and linking to the vehicle body, the cables being slidably guided by the headlight support bracket at the time of turning.
[Effect of the Invention]
Cables linking from the front wheel steering mechanism to the vehicle body side are arranged so as to slide while touching a headlight support bracket at the rear of the headlight, which means that even if the cables become slack when turning they are pressed against the headlight support bracket and slide in a lateral direction and so there is no detrimental effect on the turning operation caused by the interference described in the related art.
Also, the headlight support bracket has the conventional function of supporting the headlight, so this new function is added and the headlight support bracket is made multifunctional, thus brining about a reduction in the number of components and a reduction in cost.

[Brief Description of the Numerals]
Fig. 1 is a cross sectional drawing along line 1 - 1 in Fig. 2.
Fig. 2 is a left side view, in the direction of travel, showing the external appearance of a motorcycle.
Fig. 3 is an enlarged top view of Fig. 2. Fig. 4 is a side view of a headlight support bracket. Fig. 5 is a top view of Fig. 4.
Fig. 6 is a view looking from the direction of arrow R in Fig. 4. Fig. 7 is a drawing showing a lever holder.
[0010]
Embodiment of the Invention]
First of all, the structure of a motorcycle to which the present invention is applied will be described. Fig. 2 is a left side view, in the direction of travel, showing the external appearance of a motorcycle, and Fig. 3 is an enlarged top view of Fig. 2. This motorcycle is an American style motorcycle, and is characterized by comprising a front wheel 1 and a rear wheel 2 on a long wheel base, a front fork 3 having a large caster angle, drop handlebars 4, a tear drop shaped fuel tank5,and atandem seat6attachedatarelatively low position, as well as a backrest

7 provided to the rear of these components. [0011]
An engine 8 arranged between the front and rear wheels is a horizontal type engine

having an air cooled cylinder section laid substantially horizontally in a longitudinal direction. This engine 8 takes in a fuel/air mixture from a carburetor 10 arranged above the cylinder section 9, and discharges exhaust gas from through an exhaust pipe 11 extending to the rear from the cylinder section 8 and a manifold 12.
[0012]
The carburetor 10 is supplied with fuel from a fuel tank 5 and supplied with clean air from an air cleaner 13 behind the fuel tank 5. The carburetor 10 is also arranged within a space between a pair of left and right front side covers 14 provided underneath the fuel tank 5. [0013]
The front side covers 14 are provided within a space above the cylinder section 9 and below the fuel tank 5, a front end covers a side of the horn 15 and electrical components are arranged between the horn 15 and the carburetor 10. The horn 15 is also an electrical component. 10014]
The engine 8 is supported at the front part of a vehicle frame having a substantially looped shape when viewedfrom the side(Fig. 2). Thisfront part comprisesa headpipe 16,an upper pipe 17,alowerpipe 18 and a pivot plate 20. The upper pipe 17 extends along the center of the vehicle body from the headpipe 16 to the rear to support the fuel tank 5, bends roughiy at the center of the vehicle body, extends downwards and connects to a pivot plate 20. [0015)
The lower pipe 18 is actually provided as a pair of left and right pipes that extend downward from the headpipe 16 so as to move apart from each other in a widthwise direction of the vehicle body, bend below the cylinder section 9 to go further backwards, extend so as to overlap the side of the pivot plate 20, when viewedfrom the side, pass through the pivotplate at this point and connect to a cross pipe 20 extending in a width direction of the vehicle (Fig. 2). [0016]
The rear part of the vehicle frame has a substantially truss shaped structure made up of a pair of left and right seat rails 22 for supporting a tandem seat and extending substantially horizontally backwards from a bent portion of the upper pipe 17, and a sideframe 23 linking to the lowerpipe 18 and extending from the side of the pivot plates 20 diagonally upwards and backwards to connect to a middle portion of the seat rails 22.
[0017]
A front end part of a rear fork 24 issupported on the pivot plate20 by a pivotshaft 25 so as to be slidable in an up and down direction. This rear fork 24 extends to the rearand a rear wheel 2 is rotatably supported on a rear end thereof. Also, a shock absorber 26 is provided between a section connecting the seat rails 22 with the side frames 23 and a rear end of the rear fork 24.

[0018]
The rear wheel 2 is chain driven by a chain 29 wound around a drive sprocket 28 of the engine 8 and a driven sprocket 27 provided concentrically on the side of the rear wheel. [0019]
The front fork 3 is of a well known telescopic type, and an upper portion of the front fork is rotatably supported on theheadpipe 16 viaa bottom bridge 30 and atop bridge 31. A shell-type headlight 32 and a pair of left and right front indicators 33 are supported on the bottom bridge 30, with a meter 34 being supported on the top bridge 31.
[0020]
In the drawings, reference numeral 35 is a front fender, reference numeral 36 is a front number plate, reference number 37 is a carrier, reference numeral 38 is a rear fender, reference numeral 39 is a tail lamp, reference numeral 40 is a mud guard, reference numeral 41 is a rear indicator and reference numeral 42 is a rear number plate.
[0021]
Further, reference numeral 43 is a gear change pedal, and is provided at a forward position below the cylinder section 9. Reference numeral 44 is a step for the rider, reference numeral 45 is a main stand and reference numeral 46 is a step bracket attached to the side frame 23. A step for a tandem rider 47 is provided behind these components.
[0022]
As shown in Fig. 3, a brake pedal 48 is provided on the right side of the vehicle body in the vicinity of steps forthe rider44 provided at symmetrical left and right positions, anda kick pedal 49 is provided behind the these steps.
[0023]
Next, the structure of the headlight support bracket will be described. Fig. 1 is a cross sectional drawing taken along line 1 - I in Fig. 2, Fig. 4 is a side view of a headlight support bracket, Fig. 5 is a top view of Fig. 4, and Fig. 6 is a view looking from the direction of arrow R in Fig. 4.
[0024]
First of all, as shown in Fig. 1, left and right front forks 3 extend in the vertical direction passing through a both ends in a vehicle width direction of the bottom bridge 30, and base parts 50 of the front indicators 33 are each attached around the front forks 3 above the bottom bridge 30.
[0025]
Attachment parts 53 provided on both ends of the headlight support bracket 52 extending across the vehicle body are fitted onto projecting parts 5 1 projecting from the circumference of the base parts 50 and running together across the center of the vehicle.and by screwing bolts 55 onto nuts 54 provided integrally with the attachment parts 53 in front of the projecting part 5 1, both ends of the headlight support bracket 52 can be attached to the sides of the left and right front forks 3.

[0026]
As also shown in Fig. 4 to Fig. 6, the headlight support bracket 52 is provided witha lateral guide section 56 for extending a long way between the front forks 3 and a stay 57 provided at a central part of the lateral guide section 56 so as to project to the front. Upper and lower attachment holes 59 and 60 formed in side walls 58 of the stay 57 (Fig. 4) are attached to the headlight 32. The upper attachment hole 60 has an elongated shape, and isfor enabling adjustment of the axis of a light beam.
[0027]
A bottom 61 of the stay 57 is laid on a projecting part 62 formed integrally with a central front part of the bottom bridge 3 0 so as to project to the f ront.and is fastened at a lower part of the projecting part 62 through a welding bolt 63. Reference numeral 64 is a locating rivet.
[0028]
As shown in Fig. 4, when attaching the headlight support bracket to the vehicle body, the guide section 56 has a guide surface A forming an upwardly widening oblique surface relative to the attachment surface B of the attachment section 5 3. The attachment surface B is parallel to the front forks 3.
[0029]
Also, as can be clearly seen in Fig. 5 and Fig. 6, the guide section 56 when seen from above becomes convex to the front with a hollow space to the rear, and corner parts 65 of the attachment sections 53 at both left and right sides form a smooth R-shaped curved surface. Also, the upper end of the guide section 56 constitutes a flange 66 also having a smooth R-shaped curved surface and curving toward the front.
[0030]
A throttle cable 67 passes in an up-down direction on the right side of the vehicle through the right corner part 65 while a clutch cable 68 passes similarly in an up-down direction at the left side of the vehicle through the left corner part 65. With left and right corner parts 65 defining limits of movement, the respective cables are slidable in the width direction of the vehicle on the surface of the guide parts 56.
[0031]
Reference numeral 70 in Fig. I is a steering shaft connecting the bottom bridge 30 and the top bridge 31 to the headpipe 16. Also.as shown in Fig. 2 and Fig. 3, the throttle cable 67 and the clutch cable 68 extend forward from levers 71 provided on the left and right of the handlebar 4, go around the front of the top bridge 3 1, pass through the rear of the headlight support bracket 52, run to the rear of the vehicle from between the front forks 3 and the headpipe 16 above the bottom bridge 30, and connect to the carburetor 10 or the clutch section of the engine 8.
[0032]
Further, separately from the above described cables, a meter cable 74 for linking a meter 34 with a gearbox 73 provided in the vicinity of front wheel axle 72, and a brake cable 75 for linking a one of the levers 71 with a front wheel brake are arranged so as to passfrom the front of the top bridge 3 1 through the rear of the bottom bridge 30. However, These cables are cables of the front wheel steering mechanism, and do not need to be guided by the guide section 56.
[0033]
Fig. 7 shows a lever holder 80 for attaching a lever 71 to the handlebar 4, formed symmetrically about a center line C. A cable holder 84 and switch attachment boss 83 are provided above the center line C, and a pair of mirror attachment bosses are formed on either side of the center line C. This lever holder 80 fits round the handlebar4 with an attachment part 85 and a separate bracket 86, and is fastened to the handlebar 4 using a bolt.
[0034]
In this way, the levers can be commonly used on either the left side or the right side of the handlebar4 by simply turning them around, which improves manufacturing efficiency and makes them more general purpose. There is also the advantage that component management is simplified, although one of the mirror attachment bosses 84 is left unused.
It can also be considered to remove the boss on the unnecessary side after production by cutting it off, for example, and in this case formation dies become common and there is the advantage that cost is reduced due to reduction in investment.
[0035]
Also, as shown in Fig. 2, a sticker 87 (85) showing information required according to the laws of the destination country, such as a manufacturer's name or the name of the equipment etc. is affixed to the front surface of the meter 34, and a transparent coating is applied from above this sticker to the entire side surface of the meter 34.
[0036]
In this way, it is made difficult to peel off the sticker 87 which means that compared to the case where the laws of every destination country are stamped on using a metal pattern, manufacture is significantly simplified and costs can be reduced.
[0037]
Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described. In Fig. 1, in a straight traveling state the position of the center of the vehicle for the vehicleframe in the state shown by the solid lines becomes N. If a turn is madefrom this state to a left turning position Lor a right turning position R shown by dotted line the front wheel steering mechanism is inclined to the left or to the right pivoting around the steering shaft 70 (In Fig. 1 the vehicle body side is assumed to incline).
[0038]
At this time, upper end sides of each of the throttle cable 67 and clutch cable 68 connecting to the vehicle body are connected to a lever 71 of the handlebar 4, being the front

wheel steering mechanism, and since they move together with the steering mechanism they face
to the front and slack occurs, and they are pressed against the guide part 56.
[0039]
The guide part 56 is provided with a corner part 65 and a flange 66 having R-shaped curved surfaces, which constitute a sliding surface, and so the slack portion of the cables slides on the guide part 56. Moreover, since the corner part 65 and the flange 66 have curved R-shape surfaces they is no fear of slack occurring.
[0040]
Consequently, the headlight support bracket 52 has the function of guiding slack portions when the throttle cable 67 and the clutch cable 68 become slack, thus preventing slack in addition to the conventional function of supporting the headlight 32, which means that it is possible to realize multifunctional components, reduce the number of components, and lower the cost.
(Description of the numeralsl
1 front wheel
3 front fork
4 handlebar
16 headpipe
30 bottom bridge
3 1 top bridge
32 headlight
33 front indicator
52 headlight support bracket
56 guide portion
57 stay portion

67 throttle cable
68 clutch cable





WECLAIM:-

1. A bracket assembly for a headlight support, for a motorcycle Chracterized in that front

wheel steering mechanism (4) rotatably supported on a headpipe (16) at a
front part of a vehicle body, and a headlight (32) supported on the front wheel steering assembly via a headlight support bracket (52) in front of the headpipe, and cable (67, 68) extending to the rear of the vehicle body from the front wheel steering mechanism, through the rear of the headlight and the front of the headpipe and linking to the vehicle body, the cables being slidably guided by the headlight support bracket at the time of turning.
2. A bracket assembly for a headlight support substantially as hereinbefore
described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Documents:

259-del-1999-abstract.pdf

259-del-1999-claims.pdf

259-del-1999-correspondence-others.pdf

259-del-1999-correspondence-po.pdf

259-del-1999-description (complete).pdf

259-del-1999-drawings.pdf

259-del-1999-form-1.pdf

259-del-1999-form-13.pdf

259-del-1999-form-19.pdf

259-del-1999-form-2.pdf

259-del-1999-form-3.pdf

259-del-1999-form-4.pdf

259-del-1999-form-6.pdf

259-del-1999-gpa.pdf


Patent Number 216250
Indian Patent Application Number 259/DEL/1999
PG Journal Number 13/2008
Publication Date 28-Mar-2008
Grant Date 11-Mar-2008
Date of Filing 17-Feb-1999
Name of Patentee HONDA GIKEN KOGYO KABUSHIKISHIKI KAISHA,
Applicant Address 1-1,MINAMIAOYAMA 2- CHOME, MINATO- KU, TOKYO, JAPAN,
Inventors:
# Inventor's Name Inventor's Address
1 SEIJI HANAFUSA, C/O KABUSHIKI KAISHA HONDA GIJUTSU KENKYUSHO, OF 4-1, CHUO 1- CHOME, WAKO-SHI, SAITAMA, JAPAN,
2 YUJI TSUJIMOTO, C\O KABUSHIKI KAISHA HONDA GIJUTSU KENKYUSHO, OF 4-1, CHUO 1- CHOME, WAKO-SHI, SAOTAMA,JAPAN.
3 NORIYUKI OGISU C\O KABUSHIKI KAISHA HONDA GIJUTSU KENKYUSHO, OF 4-,CHUO 1- CHOME, WALKO- SHI, SAITAMA, JAPAN.
4 MASAMI YANAGISHITA, C\O KABUSHIKI KAISHA HONDA GIJUTSU KENKYUSHO, OF 4-1, CHUO 1-CHOME, WAKO-SHI, SAITAMA, JAPAN.
PCT International Classification Number B62J 6/18
PCT International Application Number N/A
PCT International Filing date
PCT Conventions:
# PCT Application Number Date of Convention Priority Country
1 HEI-10-69154 1998-03-18 Japan