The invention has been developed with the intention of enabling use of cruise control arrangements on motor cycles where particular difficulties exist as discussed below, however, it is believed the invention does have wider application and might be used in many applications including the installation of cruise control arrangements on any vehicle.

With motor cycles known cruise control arrangements have had considerable difficulty being used generally because the space available to operationally fit such units is either extremely limited or non-existent. Moreover, in many motor-cycle set-up configurations, even if it is possible to physically fit the cruise control to the motor cycle, the operation of the cruise control by actuation of the throttle spindle lever (as in some prior art devices) is often obstructed by intrusion of various parts or fittings of the motor cycle to such an extent that reliable and safe operation of the cables cannot be guaranteed.

Despite these difficulties, it has been recognised for some years that the proper use of a cruise control arrangement on motor cycles would be highly desirable since throttle control conventionally is necessarily by hand operation which becomes very tiring if the motor cycle is driven for any length of time.

The objective therefore is to provide a cable interface device that can be used with cruise control arrangements, particularly (but not exclusively), mounted on motor cycles that will ensure reliable and safe operation of the cruise control arrangement. A further preferred objective of the present invention is to provide an interface device as aforesaid which can be used to modify existing motor cycle set-up configurations (or included as original equipment in new motor cycles) without substantially altering the motor cycle set up existing without the cruise control unit and interface device whereby, if necessary in the case of some failure, the cruise control and interface unit can be removed and the motor cycle can be returned to standard factory fittings with minimal effort and no physical change to the motor cycle operating system.

Accordingly, the present invention provides a cable interface device, for use in a cruise control system, for transferring travel motion between input cable means and output cable means, said interface device comprising a housing with a plurality of openings permitting operating cables to be led into or out of said housing, said housing mounting at least two spool means for rotation within said housing with each said spool means being adapted for connection to a cable lead through one of said openings, whereby, in use, travel movement of a first input said cable causes rotation of a first said spool means to which said input cable is connected and rotation of a second said spool means causes travel movement of an output said cable connected to said second spool means, said first and second spool means being rotatable relative to one another such that rotation of said first spool means in a first direction causes movement of said second spool means in said first direction, whereas movement of the second spool means in said first direction is possible without causing movement of the first spool means.

Preferably, the first and second spool means move together when the first spool means is actuated by said first input cable and independent actuation of the second spool means does not cause movement of the first spool means.

The second spool means may be actuable by a second input cable provided through a said opening in said housing.

In one embodiment, the first and second spool means are mounted adjacent one another on the same axis of rotation within the housing. A third spool means may also be provided within the housing for connection to said second input cable, and the third spool means is mounted adjacent the other spool means for rotation about a common axis therewith. Actuation of the third spool means by said second input cable may be adapted to cause actuation of said second spool means, but not to cause actuation of said first spool means.

In a preferred embodiment, the first input cable is connected to an operator actuated throttle control means, and the output cable is connected to a fuel supply control device, which may be a carburettor device in a vehicle. The fuel supply control device may alternatively be a fuel injection throttle body device. The second input cable is preferably connected to a cruise control

actuator means, which may be a solenoid controlled vacuum actuator device.

Provision may be made on one or more of the spool means for an adjustable point of connection between the spool means and a corresponding cable. For this purpose, a series of attachment points may be provided about the circumference of the spool means for connection with an end portion of the corresponding cable.

In preferred embodiments of the invention, cables used in operation of the cable interface device are of the Bowden Cable type.

Further preferred aspects of the invention will be apparent from the following description of several preferred embodiments given in relation to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a side elevation view of the housing of one preferred embodiment of a cable interface device according to the present invention.

Figure 2 is a top plan view of the housing taken in direction X of Figure 1 with the closure member in place ; Figure 3 is a top plan view of the housing taken in direction X of Figure 1 without the top closure member applied thereto; Figure 4 is a transverse cross-sectional view of the device shown in Figure 1; Figure 5 is a cross-sectional view taken along line B-B of Figure 4; Figure 6 is a plan view of a first spool member shown in Figure 4; Figure 7 is a cross-sectional view taken along line A-A of Figure 6; Figure 8 is a plan view of a second spool member shown in Figure 4; Figure 9 is a cross-sectional view taken along line A-A of Figure 8; Figure 10 is a plan view of a third spool member shown in Figure 4; Figure 11 is a cross-sectional view taken along line A-A of Figure 10; Figure 12 is a plan view of an alternative preferred embodiment of a combined spool member capable in some applications to replace the second and third spool members shown in Figure 4; Figure 13 is a cross-sectional view taken along line A-A of Figure 12; and Figure 14 is a side elevation view of a collar device for use in a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

Referring now to Figures 1 to 4 of the drawings, a cable interface device is shown having a cup shaped housing 11 and a closure member 12 deferring a substantially enclosed internal space 13. In the assembled condition, a through bolt 14 securely holds the closure member 12 to the housing 11. The housing peripheral wall 15 has a plurality of passage means 16 formed therethrough in a number of locations and in planes to correspond with the positioning of spool members (18,19,20) mounted within the internal space 13. The passage means 16 are typically arranged in adjacent pairs such that cables can be led through one or more of the passage means to effect movement of the spool members or be moved by movement of the spool members as described in greater detail hereinafter. The passage means 16 are not arranged radially and are so configured that movement is effected by pulling on the spool members rather than attempting to push same thereby improving reliability. The number of passage means 16 are such to ensure the most convenient and operationally reliable cable entry and exits to the space 13 and can be used for any of the vast array of motor cycle set up designs now available in the market and any passages 16 not utilised would normally be plugged to prevent dust or other unwanted materials entering the housing 11. The cables would normally enter or leave the housing through a suitable fitting 17 as illustrated in Figure 5. Fitting 17 may also act as an adjustment device, allowing fine adjustment of the cable length to ensure accuracy of the actuation mechanism.

Located within the housing 11 rotatably mounted on the bolt 15 are at least two spool members. In Figure 4, three spool members 18,19 and 20 are shown separated by spacers 38 rotatably mounted by a sleeve bearing on the bolt 14. Alternatively, shoulders may be formed (for example, by machining) on the spool members to provide spacing therebetween. A first spool member 18 is intended to be connected to a normal cruise control unit (not shown) via a suitable operating cable. The central or second spool member 19 is intended to be connected to a carburettor device for the vehicle via a suitable operating cable. The third spool member 20 is intended to be connected to a throttle control for the vehicle, commonly the hand throttle on a motor cycle. Each of the spool members 18,19 and 20 have a peripheral groove 21 adopted to store

excess cable lengths as may be required in some motor cycle set-up designs.

Further detail of the spool configurations are shown in Figures 6 to 11.

The first spool 18 has one connection point 22 to allow the operating cable to be connected thereto. Relative adjustment of the connection point is not needed for the cruise control cable connection. This spool member 18 also includes semi- circular groove 23 into which a drive pin 24 extends with the cruise control only being moved by engagement of the pin 24 with one of its respective ends. The second spool member 19 has a plurality of cable connection points 25 located around its periphery so that the carburettor operating cable can be connected to the most adjacent connection point without having to modify the length of the cable itself thereby allowing return to a non-cruise control mode of operation if desired. This spool member 19 has a through hole 26 through which the pin 24 passes such that the spool 19 and the pin 24 move together. The third spool member 20 also has a plurality of cable connection points 27 around its periphery for the same reason as discussed above with reference to spool member 19. This spool member 20 also has a semi-circular groove 28 also adopted to receive an end of the drive pin 24 with the spool member 20 and pin 24 together only when the pin is engaged with an end of the groove 28. Figures 12 and 13 show a further modification capable of use in some motor cycle set up arrangements where effectively the spool members 19 and 20 are combined into a single spool 29. In this case two cable storage grooves 30,31 are provided with a plurality of cable connection points 32 being arranged around the spool's periphery. A single bore 33 is provided to engage with an end of the drive pin 24. In some motor cycle arrangements two cables are used and in such cases it may be necessary to provide spools generally as described above to connect with storage grooves and connection arrangements so that the two cable arrangements can be connected thereto.

In the use of the present invention, some slack may be present in one or more of the cables feeding in or out of the housing 11, which may lead to some undesirable movement of the cable sheath 40 with respect to the fitting 17 (see Figure 5). Biasing the relevant spool (by use of a spring, for example) is one method of avoiding slack developing in the wire, however, this may not be

convenient in the particular configuration of the invention which is being used. It may be desirable in this case to provide a means for holding the sheath 40 and the fitting 17 in fixed relation to each other. Turning to Figure 14, there is shown a collar device 42 for use in conjunction with the present invention. The collar device 42 is a hollow component having a first end 44 for receiving part of the fitting device 17, and a second end 46 for receiving the cable sheath 40. The first end 44 generally has a wider mouth than the second end 46, to accommodate the fitting 17. Slots 48 in the collar device 42 are provided to enable clips (not shown) to be fitted to the collar device 42 in situ to grip the fitting 17 and sheath 40 so that these components are held in fixed relation to each other.

As is apparent from the foregoing, the cable interface device as described enables the transfer of cable travel between primary and secondary input cables to single or multiple output cables and permits a variable relationship between input and output cable travel. The transfer between inputs and outputs occurs within an enclosed unit eliminating the possibility of interference with the transfer of the motion by surrounding objects or other environmental influences.

Moreover, the input cables can act independently of the output cable (s). The cable interface device allows the throttle cable spool 20 to act on the carburettor cable spool 19 without actuating the cruise control spool 18. The throttle cable spool 20 can over-ride the cruise control actuator cable spool 18 by applying more motion to the carburettor cable spool 19. Variable ratios between input and output cables is achieved by constructing the internal input and output spools with differing diameters. The annexed drawings show a one to one correspondence for the throttle actuator spool 20 and the carburettor spool 19, but different diameters for the throttle, cruise control actuator and carburettor cable spools are possible. The size of the device may also be varied as desired. The housing 11 is intended to be moulded or machined from an "acetal"plastics material designed to survive 100°C continuous operating temperatures and 130°C peak operating temperatures but any other suitable materials could be used.