This invention relates to a device for the automatic retraction of the side stand of a two wheeler motor vehicle, more particularly, though not exclusively, a two wheeler motor vehicle provided with a gear shift lever, such as, a motorcycle.

A side stand for a two wheeler is a convenient device for the rider who can park his vehicle by bringing the stand into position with his foot, the stand taking an inclined position to enable the vehicle to lean on it. The advantage of this stand is that the rider does not have to undergo the strain of lifting the vehicle to put it on the stand (ON condition of the stand). However, the drawback of this stand often far outweighs Its advantage, because if the rider forgets to retract the stand to its inoperative position (OFF condition of the stand) while riding the vehicle, the unretracted stand can lead to hazardous consequences not only to the rider but also to passersby and vehicles on the road. The above mentioned drawback associated with the use of the side stand is aggravated by the fact that, quite often, the rider is not aware, nor has any reliable means of making himself aware of the stand being in the unretracted position when putting the vehicle into motion.

Many proposals have been made to provide solutions to the problem of the unretracted side stand, such as, a flashing lamp signal or a beeper sound signal indicating that the stand is
unretracted; an ignition switch, which when switched ON, activates an electric circuit retracting the stand automatically..

Devices for the implementation of the automatic retraction of the side stand of a two wheeler motor vehicle may either be mechanical or electro-mechanical. Electro-mechanical devices are usually expensive, and have a higher rate of failure as they rely on sensors, which may lose their function due to rough use of the side-stand which usually occurs in practice. Alternatively, such devices can be made sophisticated by the use of electronics. However, in contrast, mechanical devices are usually more robust, even if their operation is somewhat cruder.

Taking into consideration the known art, exemplified above, this invention proposes a device for the automatic retraction of the side stand of a two wheeler motor vehicle, such as, a motorcycle, which is cost-effective and robust in construction while being simple and effective in operation.

This invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings which illustrate, by way of example, and not by way of limitation, one of possible embodiments of this invention.

In any side-stand there is a spring S, which helps in the retraction of the side stand M from ON to OFF condition as well as in holding the side-stand in position when it is in the OFF condition. The same spring holds the side-stand in place when it is in the ON condition.

The known side stand, by the very geometry of its mechanism, has a toggle point in operation, when the spring is maximally stretched and the two ends of the spring are collinear with the side-stand pivot, as shown in Fig. 1. If the side-stand is taken beyond this point from either side, it will settle to the other end. Thus, from the ON condition, if the side-stand is taken beyond the toggle point, the spring will guide the side-stand to the OFF condition and vice-versa.

In the invention proposed herein toggling of the spring is dispensed with. As a result, the side-stand always tends to retract to the OFF condition under the influence of the spring. To hold it in place during the ON condition, a trigger member T is employed to keep the stand from automatically retracting under spring force. However, once the trigger member is activated, the stand automatically retracts to the OFF condition. Thus while the rider has to put the side-stand in the ON position by using his foot, the retraction of the stand is done by the operation of the trigger member under spring force.

This invention involves the mechanical operation of the trigger member to automatically retract the side-stand, from its ON condition, when the motorcycle is put into use. The trigger member mechanism for taking the vehicle off the stand ensures that the effort required is insignificant as the retraction is powered by the spring.

A cam C is provided for the stand M. This cam ensures that little effort is required when the stand is in ON condition and taken to OFF condition subsequently.

The side-stand mechanism of the invention proposed herein uses the following parts in its operations, apart from the standard ones. The first is the trigger member hinged to the stand mounting plate. The gearshift lever operates the trigger member to release the stand from the ON condition to the OFF condition and thus enable it to retract. The construction of the trigger member is shown in Fig. 3.

The other component is the cam, which is rigidly connected to the side-stand and holds it in place when it is in ON condition and pushes the trigger member T away from the gearshift lever to enable the stand to move towards its OFF condition.

Fig. 5(a) and (b) show the stand in ON condition. The top view 5a shows that the spring is in a stretched condition and ready to retract the stand, the moment the trigger member is released.

The trigger member is operated the moment the gearshift lever is used and the stand is automatically retracted. This prevents the stand from ever being ON when the vehicle is in operation. Figures 6(a) and (b) show the operation of the trigger member when the gearshift lever is moved to the DOWN position. The gearshift lever engages the trigger member and releases it, leading to the side-stand being freed. This leads to its moving to the OFF condition. The advantage of this is that, even if the rider forgets to manually put off the stand, it will automatically go OFF, once he engages the gearshift lever, thereby ensuring his safety.

After the side-stand has been released, it rotates to the OFF position. This leads to the cam attached to the side-stand thrusting the trigger member away from the gearshift lever, ensuring that during the normal operation of the vehicle, the gearshift lever is disengaged from the mechanism. The sequence is shown in Fig. 7(a) and (b).

The disengagement from the gearshift lever ensures, that after the stand has been released, the gearshift lever is free from the mechanism and the rider in changing the gears requires no extra effort.

For putting the side-stand in the ON condition, the rider simply lowers the stand. As the stand rotates, the cam ensures that the trigger member slowly engages with the gearshift lever. The trigger member spring ensures that the said member closely follows the profile of the cam. At the end of the rotation, the trigger member moves into the groove in the cam and locks the side-stand in the ON position. The side-stand will remain in this condition, till it is released by the operation of the gearshift lever. It is to be noted, that the side-stand will not come off, if the rider mistakenly operates the gearshift lever while the vehicle is supported on the stand. The angle of the side-stand in the ON condition ensures that the vehicle weight will keep it in its place and the trigger member will go back to the cam groove, the moment the gearshift lever is left alone. This ensures that the vehicle will not suddenly collapse to the ground if the gearshift lever is engaged when the vehicle is on stand.

It will be appreciated that various other embodiments of the device proposed herein are possible without departing from the scope and ambit of this invention.

We Claim:

1. A device for the automatic retraction of the side stand of a two wheeler motor vehicle comprising a spring loaded side stand, said spring tending to keep the said stand in its OFF condition when moved to its OFF position; a trigger member for being actuated by a cam provided on the said stand, said cam actuating the trigger member to urge itself against the gear shift lever of the said vehicle and lock itself to the said member, whenever the stand is manually put into its ON condition, to hold the stand in such condition, said gear shift lever, when operated by the user, tripping the trigger member , to release the stand, which automatically retracts, to its OFF condition, under the force of the spring.

2. A device as claimed in Claim 1 wherein the trigger member is hinged to the mounting plate of the stand.

3. A device as claimed in Claim 1 wherein the cam is rigidly connected to the stand and holds it in place when it is in ON condition and thrusts the trigger member away from the gearshift lever when the stand moves towards its OFF condition.

4. A device as claimed in any one of the preceding Claims wherein the cam has a groove with which the trigger member locks itself on being urged against the gear shift lever to hold the stand in place in the ON condition.

5. A device for the automatic retraction of the side stand of a two wheeler motor vehicle substantially as herein described with reference to, and as illustrated in, the accompanying drawings.