SAFETY DEVICE FOR A VEHICLE WITH TWO WHEELS

The present invention relates to a safety device for a vehicle with two wheels, such as a motor cycle, of the type specified in the preamble of the first claim.

Various types of two-wheeled vehicles are currently known of such as bicycles and motorcycles in particular. They have the advantages of allowing better handling, occupying less space and being faster in city traffic.

This last advantage in particular has meant that in recent times two-wheeled vehicles are increasingly used.

Said two-wheeled vehicles have however some important drawbacks. In particular, the vehicles themselves are very dangerous and the rider who is not stationary and not stable on said vehicle, but balanced only during movement of the vehicle, is prone to falling.

Said drawback is especially relevant during braking when for example due to wheel locking, the adherence of the two wheels on the ground is very low.

To overcome said drawbacks safety systems have been developed which prevent the wheels from locking while braking such as the famous ABS, from the acronym of Antilock Braking System.

Said devices have partially overcome the drawbacks mentioned, which however remain.

In this situation the technical purpose of the present invention is to devise a safety device for two-wheeled vehicles able to substantially overcome the drawbacks mentioned above.

Within the sphere of said technical purpose one important aim of the invention is to provide a safety device for two-wheeled vehicles which makes said vehicle safer. Another important purpose of the invention is to realise a safety device for two- wheeled vehicles that prevents problems when braking the vehicle.

The patent application DE 102010062514 describes a system that could partially overcome the drawbacks mentioned. It is however too slow and not resistant enough to activate itself effectively in emergency situations. The drawbacks described thus remain unaltered.

The technical purpose and specified aims are achieved by a safety device for two- wheeled vehicles as claimed in the appended Claim 1.

Preferred embodiments are described in the dependent claims.

The characteristics and advantages of the invention are clearly evident from the following detailed description of preferred embodiments thereof, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1a shows the safety device according to the invention in a first configuration;

Fig. 1b shows the safety device according to the invention in a second configuration;

Fig. 2 shows a schematic cross-section of a portion of the safety device according to the invention;

Herein, the measures, values, shapes and geometric references (such as perpendicularity and parallelism), when used with words like "about" or other similar terms such as "approximately" or "substantially", are to be understood as except for measurement errors or inaccuracies due to production and/or manufacturing errors and, above all, except for a slight divergence from the value, measure, shape or geometric reference which it is associated with. For example, said terms, if associated with a value, preferably indicate a divergence of not more than 10% of said value.

In addition, where used terms such as "first", "second", "upper", "lower", "main" and "secondary" do not necessarily refer to an order, a priority relationship or relative position, but may simply be used to more clearly distinguish different components from each other.

With reference to the Drawings, reference numeral 1 globally denotes the safety device according to the invention.

It is suitable to be placed on a vehicle 50 with two wheels 51, in particular comprising a front wheel 51a and a rear wheel.

The vehicle 50 defines a longitudinal direction 1a, along which the vehicle moves forward when not steered and during its usual and typical movement, a transverse direction 1c, perpendicular to the longitudinal direction 1a and coincident with the axes of the wheels 51 , and a vertical direction 1b perpendicular to the longitudinal 1a and transverse direction 1c and preferably parallel to the gravitational gradient. The two wheels 51 are aligned along a longitudinal axis 50a, defining, in a straight line, the forward direction of the vehicle 50 and parallel to the ground and thus substantially horizontal. A vertical axis 50b is then defined, substantially perpendicular to the ground, and a transverse axis 50c, perpendicular to the preceding longitudinal 50a and vertical 50b axes.

The vehicle 50 is preferably motorised, preferably with an internal combustion engine having a cylinder capacity exceeding 50 cm ³ most preferably or even lower. It may therefore be a motorcycle or a scooter.

The safety device 1 comprises, in brief, two support elements 2, a support structure 3 of the support elements 2, fastenable to the vehicle 50 in the vicinity of the front wheel 51 a and movement means 4 of the support elements 2. The movement means 4 are suitable to move the support elements 2 so that they are available in a cruise configuration (Fig. 1a), in which they are at a distance from the ground, and in a safety configuration (Fig. 1 b) in which they are close to the ground.

Moreover, the support elements 2, in the safety configuration are placed on both sides of said front wheel 51a and thus juxtapose it in a transverse direction 1c on both sides. Substantially, if a line were plotted joining the two support elements 2, the same would cross the wheel or be very close to it.

More in detail, the support elements 2 each consist of one or more small wheels, which allows the resting on the ground and the sliding, largely rolling, of the small wheel on the ground. Said small wheels are suitable to slide in a longitudinal direction 50a and have their axis perpendicular to the longitudinal direction 50a.

Each support element 2 is preferably a single wheel, preferably in rubber, with diameters in the order of magnitude preferably of 1 dm.

Alternatively the support elements 2 may be skates or similar sliding elements preferably low-friction.

The support structure 3 is preferably separated into two portions or units, each supporting a support element.

Each portion comprises a fixed support 30 fastened to the vehicle 50 and a mobile arm 31 , supporting the small wheel and movably fastened to the fixed support 30. The fixed support 30 is preferably fastenable, and fastened, integrally to the fork 22 of the vehicle 20 and more preferably each fixed support 30 is fastened to only one arm and externally to the fork 22. It therefore comprises a hollow portion 32 to contain the arm 31 in the cruise position and a structural portion for the attachment to the fork 22, for the definition of the hollow portion 32 and also preferably for the fairing of the fixed support 30.

The hollow portion 32 preferably defines an axis 31a, coinciding with the axis of the mobile arm 31 , preferably always unchanged and preferably lying neither transverse nor vertical, but tilted with respect to the latter axes. The axes 31a of the two cavities of the fixed supports preferably converge upwards and form, in the frontal plane on which the vertical 50b and transverse axes 50c lie, and with the vertical axis 31a, an angle between 5° and 30°.

The mobile arm 31 is substantially countershaped to the hollow portion 32 and housed in said cruise configuration, substantially entirely or largely inside the hollow portion 32.

Inside the cavity are the movement means 4 which comprise or assist activation means 40 suitable to detect dangerous situations for the vehicle 50. These preferably consist of means suitable to detect locking of the front wheel 21 known per se and used for example in the ABS of said vehicles 50 or of other sensors. Preferably, the activation means consist of the ABS sensors themselves, electrically and functionally connected to the movement means 4.

The movement means 4 comprise actuators 41 preferably elastic, more preferably consisting of a compression spring, suitable, at rest, to keep the mobile arm 31 in an extended position outside the hollow portion 31a. Appropriately a spring is present for each mobile arm 31. Alternatively the actuators 41 are of the pneumatic type.

The movement means 4 further comprise a locking element 42 for each mobile arm 31 , suitable to block the advancement of the mobile arm 31 in contrast to the actuator 41 , preferably to the elastic actuator. It preferably consists of a peg or similar suitable to fit into a coil of the spring or into a seat of the mobile arm 31 when the device 1 is in the cruise configuration. The peg is designed to be moved in a direction preferably perpendicular to the axis 31a of the mobile arm 31.

The movement means 4 may also comprise adjustment means 43 of the upper position of the actuator 41 consisting of a spring. It may comprise a locking portion of the spring fastened to the outer wall of the cylinder. The adjustment means 43 may also, or only, regulate, either directly or by regulating the actuator 41 , the maximum predefined extension of the mobile arms 31.

The movement means 4 lastly comprise, repositioning means of the mobile arms 31 , suitable to return the support elements 2 and the support structure 3 from the safety configuration (Fig. 1 b) to the cruise configuration (Fig 1a). Such repositioning means may be simply manual means such as handles or hooks, or automated means, comprising a dedicated piston or actuator or lastly manually activated mechanical means such as a jack or the like. Moreover, the repositioning means may coincide with the actuators 41.

The functioning of the safety device 1 , described above in structural terms, is as follows.

It is fastened to a two-wheeled vehicle as described above. The connection occurs both mechanically, by means of the fixed support 30 to the two arms of the fork 22, and, preferably, functionally, by connecting the activation means 40 such as the ABS sensors or so forth. In addition, the adjustment means 43 are regulated according to the size of the wheels and the weight of the bike.

Initially, the safety device 1 is in the cruise position (Fig. 1a). In this position the vehicle 50 can be driven and used in the traditional way, as in the absence of the safety device 1.

In particular, the actuators 41 are maintained in a contracted position by the locking element 42 and the mobile arm 31 is inside the hollow portion 32, off the ground.

When the vehicle 50 is subject to intense braking, locking one or both wheels, or another hazardous event, said event is detected by the activation means 40, in particular by the ABS sensor of the vehicle.

Such activation means 4 command the locking element 42, or at least the actuators 41. In detail the locking element 42 releases the actuators consisting of elastic elements which expand to the maximum stretching the mobile arm 31 and bringing the system into the safety configuration (Fig. 1 b.)

In such configuration the support elements 2 are aligned vertically to the front wheel 21a, or remain at a distance of between 0 cm and 2 cm from the ground. The support elements thus give much greater stability to the front wheel 21a and consequently to the motorcycle overall.

Braking is thus safer and it is less likely that the two-wheeled vehicle falls since the support elements 2 increase the footprint of the vehicle 50 at the front wheel, and thus its stability.

When the user of the vehicle 50 is back in the safety position he can bring the mobile arms 31 back inside the hollow portion 32, and thus the entire device into the cruise position (Fig. 1a), using the repositioning means, so as to use the vehicle 50 normally again.

The safety device 1 according to the invention achieves important advantages. In fact, while remaining fully concealed inside the vehicle 50, the device 1 , intervenes in case of danger or need and makes the said vehicle 50 much more stable. In particular in the case of intense braking and wheel locking the device 1 intervenes, stabilising the vehicle 50 and increasing its footprint. The safety device 1 , moreover, being close to the ground has a reduced length and therefore a quick and immediate activation and greater strength, necessary in emergency situations.

In addition, the positioning at the fork means it does not interfere with the position of the rider and occupies little space. In fact, in the working position, the device 1 stays inside the profile of the motorcycle and thus avoids dangerous contact with other vehicles or objects.

Another advantage is the fact that the device, being placed at the front wheel, is particularly stressed and comes into play in particular during braking, during which the weight of the vehicle shifts mainly to the front portion.

In addition, the positioning of the device 1 on the front forks allows better control and maintenance of directionality, since the device 1 is integral with the fork and front wheel and thus rotates with it.

Moreover, since the default maximum extension of the mobile arms 31 is adjustable up to the level of the front wheel, the device can be installed on various models even after they have been sold to the end users.

The device 1 can, in addition, be made with the vehicle 50 or installed subsequently on it, even by the end customer, and thus be part of the vehicle aftermarket. The same also lends itself well both to the scooter and motorcycle market.

Variations may be made to the invention without departing from the scope of the inventive concept defined in the claims.

In said sphere all the details may be replaced with equivalent elements and the materials, shapes and dimensions may be as desired.