ACCESSORY FOR THE GEAR LEVER OF MOTORCYCLES

Technical Field

The present invention relates to an accessory for the gear lever of motorcycles. Background Art

Currently, gear levers of motorcycles are constituted substantially by an L-shaped lever made of steel, which has an engagement part that during use lies parallel to the ground and can be engaged by the foot of the motorcyclist to act on the gear. This engagement part has a grooved tubular covering made of rubber that is substantially similar, in terms of type, to the rubber that constitutes tires.

While on the one hand this covering makes the engagement of the foot on the lever more comfortable with respect to the steel bar, on the other hand it has the drawback of dirtying the upper of the shoe worn by the motorcyclist and of scuffing it after some time.

The upper, by rubbing during use against the rubber used for the tubular covering, in fact becomes very conspicuously dirty and scuffed, due to the characteristics of the rubber used, its cleaning is essentially impossible, and removing scuffs is even more problematic.

In order to solve this drawback, users have devised some solutions: one of them is to cover the tubular rubber covering with layers of adhesive tape or with pieces of fabric. However, it is evident that these solutions are not only aesthetically unpleasant but also scarcely practical. Upper protectors have thus been proposed which are constituted by a band of fabric, which can be associated with the shoe of the user and is designed to face the region of the upper that rubs against the tubular rubber covering.

This solution prevents the upper from getting dirty, but is extremely awkward to use, since the user, every time he/she uses the motorcycle, must

fix the upper protector to the shoe and must remove it once he has climbed off the motorcycle. Disclosure of the Invention

The aim of the present invention is to provide an accessory for the gear lever of motorcycles that is capable of eliminating, or at least reducing drastically, the above-mentioned drawbacks.

Within this aim, an object of the present invention is to provide an accessory for the gear lever of motorcycles that can ensure use of the gear lever without the risk of dirtying the upper and can drastically reduce its abrasion.

Another object of the invention is to provide an accessory for the gear lever of motorcycles that has a low production cost, so that its use is advantageous also from an economic standpoint.

This aim and these and other objects, which will become better apparent hereinafter, are achieved by an accessory for the gear lever of motorcycles, characterized in that it comprises a protective body that has at least one tubular part designed to fit around an abutment region of the lever that can be moved by the foot of the user, at least one portion of the tubular part being elastically deformable radially in order to adhere snugly to a respective mating portion formed on the abutment region. Brief description of the drawings

Further characteristics and advantages of the invention will become better apparent from the following detailed description of some preferred but not exclusive embodiments of an accessory for the gear lever of motorcycles, illustrated by way of non-limiting example in the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Figure 1 is a partially exploded perspective view of a part of a motorcycle with a corresponding gear lever and an accessory according to the invention; Figure 2 is an enlarged-scale view of Figure 1 , in which the accessory

according to the invention is associated with an adapter;

Figure 3 is a longitudinal sectional view of a first embodiment of the accessory for the gear lever;

Figure 4 is another longitudinal sectional view of a second embodiment of the accessory for the gear lever according to the invention;

Figure 5 is a view of the gear lever associated with the accessory according to the invention in its first embodiment, shown for the sake of clarity;

Figure 6 is a view of the gear lever associated with the accessory according to the invention in a third embodiment;

Figure 7 is a view of the gear lever associated with the accessory according to the invention in a fourth embodiment.

In the exemplary embodiments that follow, individual characteristics, given in relation to specific examples, may actually be interchanged with other different characteristics that exist in other exemplary embodiments.

Moreover, it is noted that anything found to be already known during the patenting process is understood not to be claimed and to be the subject of a disclaimer.

Ways of carrying out the Invention With reference to the figures, an accessory, generally designated by the reference numeral 1 for a gear lever 2 of motorcycles, comprises a protective body 3.

The protective body 3 has at least one tubular part 4 that is designed to fit around an abutment region 2a of the lever 2, the abutment region 2a being movable by the foot of the user.

According to the present invention, at least one portion of the tubular part 4 is elastically deformable in a radial direction, so as to adhere snugly around a respective mating portion that is formed on the abutment region 2a.

With particular reference to the embodiments shown in the figures, the portion that is elastically deformable in a radial direction lies along the

entire extension of the tubular part 4.

Advantageously, the protective body 3 is provided with means 5 for preventing its removal from the gear lever 2, which are adapted to contrast the movement of the tubular part 4 (and in general of the protective body 3) with respect to the abutment region 2a along its own longitudinal axis 100.

The abutment region 2a is generally constituted by a tubular covering made of grooved rubber, which has a plurality of mutually spaced grooves 2b.

In particular, the removal-prevention means 5 are designed, during the use of the lever 2, to prevent the protective body 3 from sliding off the abutment region 2a.

Conveniently, it has been found that the protective body 3 can be made of a polymeric material and particularly of polyurethane. This material in fact allows to ensure the elasticity needed for the accessory 1 to adhere to the abutment region 2a and at the same time a surface that is capable of not dirtying the user's shoe by releasing unwanted residues or by scuffing the upper as a consequence of rubbing against it.

In greater detail and with reference to what is shown in Figures 3 and 4, the removal-prevention means 5 comprise at least one annular protrusion 5 a, which protrudes radially from the internal surface of the tubular part 4 and is designed to engage at a groove 2b formed on the abutment region 2a.

More particularly, it is advantageous for the removal-prevention means 5 to comprise a plurality of annular protrusions 5a which are mutually spaced along the longitudinal axis 100; in this case, as shown in Figure 5, at least one of the annular protrusions 5a is designed to engage at a groove 2b formed on the abutment region 2a.

Conveniently, the protective body 3 can be provided with an end portion 6 that is at least partially closed and is designed, during use, to be arranged proximate to the free end of the gear lever 2. As shown in Figure 3, this end portion can be provided with at least

one vent 6a, which is typically arranged at the longitudinal axis 100 and facilitates the fitting operations, allowing the residual air between the tubular body 3 and the lever 2 to exit freely through the vent 6a.

With particular reference to what is shown in Figures 2 and 6, the accessory 1 can be associable with an adapter 7 capable of allowing the application of the protective body 3 also on levers that have an abutment region 2a whose transverse dimension is smaller than that of the tubular part

4.

In particular, as shown, the adapter 7 comprises a sheet-like element that can be cut to size and has an adhesive surface designed to be mated with the abutment region 2a.

Advantageously, the sheet-like element can be constituted by a hook- and-loop tape, which can be folded back onto itself around the abutment region 2a. By way of example, the hook-and-loop tape can be provided by a strip of Velcro.

With reference to the embodiment shown in Figure 7, the adapter 7 can be constituted by an adapter body 8, which can be for example co- molded inside the tubular body 3. In particular, the adapter body 8 also can be provided, at its internal surface, with second annular protrusions 8a designed to engage in the grooves 2b formed on the lever 2 to provide the removal-prevention means.

Further, the adapter body 8 has, on its outer surface, a plurality of intermediate grooves 8b, which are shaped complementary with respect, to the annular protrusions 5a formed on the internal surface of the tubular body

3 and designed to be engaged by the annular protrusions 5a in order to lock stably the adapter body 8 to the tubular body 3.

This embodiment, in particular, allows to use practically and effectively the same accessory 1 on levers 2 that have different transverse dimensions.

In the case of levers 2 that have a "standard" diameter, it is in fact sufficient to separate the adapter body 8 from the tubular body 3 and then fit the tubular body 3 around the abutment region 2a of the lever 2, making the annular protrusions 5a engage in the grooves 2b, while in the case of levers 2 with a reduced transverse dimension the adapter body 8 is kept within the tubular body 3 and the accessoiy 1 is fitted fully around the abutment region 2a of the lever 2. In this case, the second annular protrusions 8a engage in the grooves 2b formed on the abutment region 2a of the lever 2.

The operation of the accessory 1 according to the invention is evident from what has been described above.

In particular, the user fits the protective body 3 around the abutment region 2a of the gear lever 2 that can be moved by the foot of the user.

In particular, some of the annular protrusions 5a engage in the grooves 2b formed on the abutment region 2a and in particular on the tubular covering of grooved rubber that forms the abutment region 2a.

This solution prevents in practice the protective body 3 from being able to slip off due to use of the lever 2 by the user.

If the abutment region 2a has a smaller transverse dimension than the internal surface of the tubular part 4, it is possible to wrap stably around the abutment region 2a the adapter 7 so as to allow the tubular part 4 to adhere snugly to the outer surface of the adapter 7.

It has been possible to ascertain that an accessoiy for the gear lever of motorcycles according to the invention fully achieves the proposed aim and objects. In particular, thanks to the elasticity and deformability of the adapter

1, it has been found that it is possible to associate the protective element also with abutment regions 2a that have an ovalized or flattened cross- section.

The characteristics indicated as advantageous, convenient or the like may also be omitted or be replaced with equivalents.

All the details may further be replaced with other technically equivalent elements.

The materials, as well as the dimensions and shapes, may be any according to requirements. The disclosures in Italian Patent Application No. VR2008A000039 from which this application claims priority are incorporated herein by reference.

Where technical features mentioned in any claim are followed by reference signs, those reference signs have been included for the sole purpose of increasing the intelligibility of the claims and accordingly, such reference signs do not have any limiting effect on the interpretation of each element identified by way of example by such reference signs.