Replaceable top tube for bicycles

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a replaceable top tube which has two engaging ends for respectively hooking to the seat post and the handlebar stem. Each of the engaging ends has a sleeve which is slid along the longitudinal tube of the replaceable top tube.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Bicycles can be carried on outside of cars by using a bicycle carrier which has a clamp device to hold the top tube of the bicycle and two engaging devices are used to fix the bicycle. However, some bicycles have no top tube so that these bicycles cannot be carried on the bicycle carrier. In order to improve the shortcoming, a replaceable top tube is developed and shown in

FIGS. 6

to

8

. The replaceable top tube

70

includes a tube

71

with two hooks

73

connected to two ends of the tube

71

, and two engaging members

70

are pivotally connected to the tube

71

. Each of the engaging members

70

has a groove

723

defined in an inside thereof and a hole

722

is defined through the engaging member

70

and communicates with the groove

723

. A protrusion

711

extends from the tube

71

so that when the engaging member

70

is pivoted toward the hook

73

, the protrusion

711

is slid in the groove

723

and engaged with the hole

722

. An inclined surface

721

on the engaging member

70

is matched with another inclined surface

731

defined in a distal end of the hook

73

. The two hooks

73

may hook the seat post

60

or the seat tube and the handlebar stem of the bicycle.

The way that the engaging member

70

is pivoted relative to the tube

71

could be interfered by objects on the bicycle so that the user often takes a lot of time to adjust the position of the hooks

73

to successfully hook the seat post

60

and the handlebar stem. Besides, the area of the engaging members

70

is so small that it results a large pressure to the user's hand.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a replaceable top tube which comprises an outer tube having a first aperture in a first end thereof and an inner tube has a first end thereof retractably received in a second end of the outer tube. A first sleeve is slidably mounted to the first end of the outer tube and has a first hole which is located in communication with the first aperture. A locking plate is fixedly connected to the first sleeve and a first hook is fixedly connected to the first end of the outer tube. The locking plate is engaged with the first hook when the first sleeve is not pulled. A resilient member is located in the first end of the outer tube and a pushing end extends through the first aperture and the first hole.

A second aperture is defined through a wall of a second end of the inner tube and a second sleeve is slidably mounted to the second end of the inner tube and has a second hole which is located in communication with the second aperture. Another locking plate is fixedly connected to the second sleeve and another hook is fixedly connected to the second end of the inner tube. The another locking plate is engaged with the another first hook when the second sleeve is not pulled.

The primary object of the present invention is to provide a replaceable top tube that has two sleeves which are pulled along the tube so that it is easy to use.

The present invention will become more obvious from the following description when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings which show, for purposes of illustration only, a preferred embodiment in accordance with the present invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1

is a perspective view to show the replaceable tube of the present invention;

FIG. 2

is an exploded view to show the replaceable tube of the present invention;

FIG. 3A

is a side view to show the replaceable tube of the present invention, wherein the locking plates are pulled;

FIG. 3B

is a side view to show the replaceable tube of the present invention wherein the locking plates are engaged with the hooks;

FIG. 4

is a side view to show the replaceable tube of the present invention is connected to a bicycle;

FIG. 5

is an illustrative view to show that the bicycle with the replaceable tube of the present invention is carried on a carrier of a car;

FIG. 6

is a side view to show a conventional replaceable tube;

FIG. 7

is a perspective view to show the hook of the conventional replaceable tube is opened; and

FIG. 8

is an illustrative view to show the conventional replaceable tube is used to hook a seat post.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Referring to

FIGS. 1 and 2

, the replaceable top tube of the present invention comprises an outer tube

10

having a first aperture

15

and a recess

14

respectively defined through a wall of a first end of the outer tube

10

. A flange

101

extends radially from an inner periphery of a second end of the outer tube

10

and a protrusion

12

extends inward from the inner periphery of the outer tube

10

. A first sleeve

20

is slidably mounted to the first end of the outer tube

10

and has a first hole

22

which is located in communication with the first aperture

15

. A locking plate

40

has a tongue

43

which is inserted in one of two side grooves

23

defined in an inner periphery of the first sleeve

20

and is fixedly connected to the first sleeve

20

. A rubber coat

42

is mounted to the locking plate

40

and an engaging portion

41

is exposed out from the rubber coat

42

. A first hook

30

has a tongue

33

which is inserted in the other side groove

23

of the first sleeve

20

and is fixedly connected to the first end of the outer tube

10

. A rubber coat

32

is mounted on the first hook

30

and an engaging hole

311

is defined in a distal end of the first hook

30

, so that the engaging portion

41

can be engaged with the engaging hole

311

when the first sleeve

20

is not pulled. A V-shaped resilient member

16

is located in the first end of the outer tube

10

and a pushing end

161

of the resilient member

16

extends through the first aperture

15

and the first hole

22

, so that when pulling the first sleeve

20

, the pushing end

161

is pushed inward. The first sleeve

20

has a first stop bolt

21

extending inward from an inside thereof and so that the first stop bolt

21

contacts an inner periphery of the recess

14

to stop a movement of the first sleeve

20

.

An inner tube

100

has a first end thereof retractably received in the second end of the outer tube

10

and a groove

11

is defined in an outer periphery thereof so that the protrusion

12

is engaged with the groove

11

. An end member

13

is engaged with the first end of the inner tube

100

and has a flange which is engaged with the flange

101

of the outer tube

10

when the inner tube

100

is pulled to an extreme position. A second aperture

15

′ is defined through a wall of a second end of the inner tube

100

and a second sleeve

20

′ is slidably mounted to the second end of the inner tube

100

and has a second hole

22

′ which is located in communication with the second aperture

15

′. Another locking plate

40

is fixedly connected to the second sleeve

20

′ by inserting a tongue

43

in one of the two side grooves

23

of the second sleeve

20

′, and another hook

30

is fixedly connected to the second end of the inner tube

100

by inserting a tongue

33

in the other side groove

23

of the second sleeve

20

′. Both of the another locking plate

40

and the another hook

30

are connected to the second sleeve

20

′ and the inner tube

100

by the same way as that described regarding to the connection between the locking plate

40

and the hook

30

and the outer tube

10

. The second sleeve

20

′ has a second stop bolt

21

′ extending inward from an inside thereof and a separation member

17

is located in the groove

11

of the inner tube

100

so that the second stop bolt

21

′ contacts the separation member

17

to stop a movement of the second sleeve

20

′. The another locking plate

40

is engaged with the another first hook

30

when the second sleeve

20

′ is not pulled.

Referring to

FIGS. 3A

,

3

B and

4

, when pulling the first sleeve

20

and the second sleeve

20

′, the two locking plates

40

are disengaged from the two hooks

30

so as to respectively hook the seat post

60

and the handlebar stem

50

. The bicycle with the replaceable top tube is then able to be carried with a bicycle carrier on a car.

The way of disengaging the locking plates

40

from the hooks

30

is to pull the sleeves

20

20

′ along the outer tube

10

so that it is easily to operate. Furthermore, there are no objects of the bicycle located between the two hooks so that the operation of the two sleeves

20

,

20

′ will not interfere with the bicycle parts.

While we have shown and described the embodiment in accordance with the present invention, it should be clear to those skilled in the art that further embodiments may be made without departing from the scope of the present invention.