The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Nov. 23, 1999
Filed:
Jun. 09, 1997
John H Staehlin, Lutherville, MD (US);
Volunteers for Medical Engineering, Baltimore, MD (US);
Abstract
This invention relates to an improved lever driven bicycle including a shifting mechanism for controlling a drive ratio between the oscillating lever and the drive wheel. The drive lever arrangement may be located about the front or rear wheels of the bicycle and, when about the rear wheel, may include a sole lever or dual levers. The drive lever arrangement includes a drive lever, a force applicator, a shifting mechanism, and a force converter which together transform the oscillating displacement of the lever to a rotation of the drive wheel. The shifting mechanism includes a slide block located about the lever which engages with the drive lever upon downward motion of the drive lever and controllably slides along the drive lever upon upward motion of the drive lever. The position of the slide block corresponds to a drive ratio between the drive lever and the drive wheel.