Articulated crank for a bicycle or other crank-driven device

Details Articulated crank for a bicycle or other crank-driven device Articulated crank for a bicycle or other crank-driven device

B - Operations, Transporting

62

M

B62M 11/18 (2006.01)

Patent

CA 2046167

Abstract The efficiency of a conventional bicycle crank is diminished mechanically by a substantial 'dead zone' at the top and bottom of the crank cycle, and ergonomically by straining certain muscles in the hip and thigh while failing to deploy other muscle groups to their full potential. These inefficiencies are resolved by a bicycle crank assembly consisting of articulated crank arms whose joints are attached to cogs or sprockets which orbit around a stationary gear fixed to the frame of the bicycle (either a sprocket, spur gear, or an internal ring gear), such that the pedal ends of the crank arms trace a hypocycloidal curve that approximates a narrow ellipse. In the latter case (where the stationary gear is an internal ring gear), the fixed gear constitutes a much enlarged bottom bracket. In the preferred embodiment of the invention, two cogs orbit within the ring gear, held between two parallel discs, such that the whole assembly rotates within the stationary ring gear. When the crank arms attached to the orbiting cogs rotate counter-clockwise, the whole assembly held by the two disks is caused to rotate clockwise. Conventional chain rings are attached to the righthand disc. In the former case (where the stationary gear is a sprocket or spur gear), the fixed gear does not mesh with the orbiting cogs directly, but by means of a chain or belt. The chain ring is then fixed to a centrally mounted spindle that connects the left and right-hand crank assemblies.

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