Claims:We claim:
1. A foot rest assembly (105) for a saddle type two-wheeled or three wheeled vehicle (100) comprising:
a base member (109) being mounted on a rear frame member (101) of a vehicle (100);
a top member (107) being disposed on the base member (109) of the one or more footrest assembly (105); and
at least a portion of the top member (107) being configured with one or more polygonal peripheral profile (E) to facilitate ease of opening and retracting the one or more footrest assembly (105).
2. The foot rest assembly (105) as claimed in claim 1, wherein at least one peripheral portion of the top member (107) being provided with an inclined surface (110) having one or more raised surface to provide a firm grip.
3. The foot rest assembly (105) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the foot rest (105) being configured to be disposed at an outwardly upward angled surface and angled orientation forming a predetermined angle A with respect to ground plane G-G’ as seen from a rear view of the vehicle (100).
4. The foot rest assembly (105) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the top member (107) being a rubber material and the base member (109) being a metal material.
5. The foot rest assembly (105) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the top member (107) and the base member (109) being integrally formed in the form of a cast structure as a single entity without any rubber material.
6. The foot rest assembly (105) as claimed in claim 1, wherein a periphery of the top member (107) being configured with the one or more peripheral groove (106) disposed on polygonal edge E spaced at a predetermined distance from each other.
7. The foot rest assembly (105) as claimed in claim 6, wherein the one or more peripheral groove (106) being configured to be separated by one or more projections (108) alternatively.
8. The foot rest assembly (105) as claimed in claim 7, wherein the one or more projections (108) being disposed at a predetermined distance on the periphery E of the top member (107).
9. The foot rest assembly (105) as claimed in claim 2 wherein the inclined surface (110) being provided on an inner side of the top member (107), which when retracted faces towards the inner side O of the vehicle (100).
10. The foot rest assembly (105) as claimed in claim 6, wherein the inclined surface (110) includes one or more walls (111) and a surface depression D at a slightly lower depth through the one or more walls (111) within which the foot or footwear of the user being abuttingly held thereby restricting any undesired lateral movement of the foot in the I-O direction.
11. The foot rest assembly (105) as claimed in claim 10, wherein the inclined surface (110) includes a first pair of trapezoidal patterns (112) and a second pair of trapezoidal patterns (113) disposed on the inclined surface (110) and the first pair of trapezoidal patterns (112) configured to be placed alternatively between the second pair of trapezoidal patterns (113).
12. The foot rest assembly (105) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the top member (107) being mounted on the base member (109) by means of one or more attachment means (not shown) from the bottom side of the footrest assembly (105).
13. The foot rest assembly (105) as claimed in claim 1, wherein a cavity (114) being provided in a middle portion of the base member (109) to mount the top member (107) from the sides.

, Description:TECHNICAL FIELD
[0001] The present subject matter relates generally to a two-wheeled and a three-wheeled vehicle. More particularly but not exclusively the present subject matter relates to a footrest assembly.

BACKGROUND
[0002] Generally, in a motor vehicle a body frame extends rearward from a head tube. The body frame acts as a skeleton for the vehicle that supports the vehicle loads. A front portion of the body frame connects a front wheel through one or more front suspension(s). Further, the body frame extends towards a rear portion of the vehicle. A rear wheel is connected to a mainframe assembly through one or more rear suspension(s). An engine assembly is mounted to the mainframe assembly of the vehicle. The engine assembly is functionally connected to the rear wheel, which provides the forward motion to the vehicle. The motor vehicles typically include a footrest or a foot-peg assembly which is positioned on at least one side of the motor vehicle. Also, generally the motor vehicle is configured to provide support for a passenger or a pillion rider and therefore the motor vehicles include a second set of footrest or foot-pegs for a second rider. The footrest gives the support required for the pillion rider’s foot when the vehicle is in motion. Further, the footrest keeps the foot close to the vehicle to seat the pillion rider in a compact manner so as to stay safe from the on-going traffic. The mainframe assembly typically forms the basic structure of the vehicle which acts as a carrier for the engine assembly and other subsystems present in the vehicle including the footrest through necessary mounting means. Furthermore, the footrest needs to be within a permitted width of the vehicle.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0003] The details are described with reference to an embodiment of a two-wheeled vehicle along with the accompanying figures. The same numbers are used throughout the drawings to reference similar features and components.
[0004] Figure 1(a) exemplarily illustrates a top view of a rear portion of a two wheeled saddle type vehicle with a footrest assembly in closed condition.
[0005] Figure 1(b) exemplarily illustrates a side perspective view of a rear portion of a two wheeled saddle type vehicle with a footrest assembly in closed condition.
[0006] Figure 2(a) exemplarily illustrates a top view of the rear portion of the two wheeled saddle type vehicle with the footrest assembly in open condition.
[0007] Figure 2(b) exemplarily illustrates a side perspective view of a rear portion of the two wheeled saddle type vehicle with the footrest assembly in open condition.
[0008] Figure 3 exemplarily illustrates a top view of the footrest assembly.
[0009] Figure 4 exemplarily illustrates a side perspective view of the footrest assembly.
[00010] Figure 5 exemplarily illustrates a side cross-sectional view of the footrest assembly.
[00011] Figure 6 exemplarily illustrates a side view of an inclined surface of the footrest assembly.
[00012] Figure 7 exemplarily illustrates a side view of an additional embodiment of the footrest assembly.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0001] Conventionally, most of the two-wheeled and three-wheeled vehicles comprise of a frame assembly, an engine assembly, an induction assembly, and one or more electrical systems. All of these vehicular components are covered by one or more body panels. The vehicle frame assembly forms a basic structure of the scooter-type and a motorcycle type vehicle that carries the engine assembly and other subsystems through various mountings. Further, the vehicle frame assembly is capable enough to withstand all of the loads from all the vehicular components and in addition, the vehicle frame assembly also withstands the load of the persons seated on the vehicle. A pillion footrest assembly is mounted on either side of the vehicle frame assembly and the pillion footrest assembly is configured to withstand the forces exerted by the pillion rider. Typically, a passenger footrest is used by the pillion rider seated on the vehicle, for example, a scooter type vehicle. The passenger footrest supports the legs of the pillion rider.
[0002] The conventional footrest assembly comprises one or more tubular structures that withstand the load transferred by the pillion foot. Generally, the footrest has top surface which provides grip to the foot when placed on it. However, as per footrests in known art, a rubber top is provided with rubber within the metal footrest. Further, one or more bosses and one or more brackets are welded to the one or more tubular structures to receive a pillion foot peg. It is also known in the art, wherein the footrest assembly includes one or more stoppers, for example, one or more pins welded to the one or more tubular structure. The welded joints suffer from structural instability and are more prone to wear and tear. For example, over a period of time, upon usage, the welded pins tend to break. The breakage leads to malfunctioning of the pillion footrest assembly, resulting in need for the replacement of the part/ servicing.
[0003] Further, when the rider or pillion rider of the vehicle places his/her foot on the foot rest, it tends to slip off the footrest. Such slip can be very dangerous for the rider or the pillion rider and is not safe. In addition to this, the pillion footrest assembly includes additional gusset like structures to withstand the loads during unusual conditions, for example, the additional gusset like structures makes the pillion footrest assembly heavy and clumsy. Furthermore, the conventional pillion footrest assembly includes more number of parts, which are welded together. The time consumed during assembly of the pillion footrest assembly is more than the reasonable time. Furthermore, owing to above cited reasons, the manufacturability of the conventional footrest assembly is tedious and also the cost of manufacturing is undesirably high. As per other known art, cast footrest assembly are used which are easier to manufacturer but significantly costly as compared to the conventional fabricated footrest assembly and thus not desired for a low-cost vehicle. Also known footrest assembly suffer from difficulty to deploy or open up from a folded or stowed away position and vice versa especially for a user who is seated on the vehicle. Often the user needs to get off the vehicle to change the position of the footrest peg which is inconvenient and undesirable. Therefore, there is a need for a simpler, safer, and cost-effective pillion footrest assembly. The footrest assembly should be such that it caters to the various requirements of platform of product variants while overcoming all above problems as well as other problems of known art.
[0004] An objective of the present subject matter is to provide a footrest assembly which prevents the foot of the pillion rider from sliding away from the footrest and is easy to open and retract for the pillion while being in seated position on the vehicle. The present subject matter is described using an exemplary two-wheeled vehicle, whereas the claimed subject matter is applicable to two-wheeled and three-wheeled vehicle, with required changes and without deviating from the scope of invention.
[0005] As per an aspect of the present subject matter, a foot rest assembly for a two-wheeled vehicle is disclosed which comprises of a base member mounted on a rear frame member of a vehicle; a top member disposed on the base member of the foot rest assembly; at least a portion of the top member being configured with one or more polygonal peripheral profile to facilitate ease of opening and retracting the foot rest assembly.
[0006] As per an aspect of the present subject matter, at least a portion of the top member is provided with an inclined surface having one or more raised surface to provide a firm grip.
[0007] As per an aspect of the present subject matter, the foot rest being configured to be disposed at an outwardly upward angled surface and angled orientation forming a predetermined angle A with respect to ground plane G-G’ as seen from a rear view of the vehicle.
[0008] As per an aspect of the present subject matter, the top member is a rubber material and the base member is a metal material.
[0009] As per an aspect of the present subject matter, the top member and the base member being integrally formed in the form of a cast structure as a single entity without any rubber material.
[00010] As per an aspect of the present subject matter, a periphery of the top member is configured with the one or more peripheral groove disposed on polygonal edge E spaced at a predetermined distance from each other.
[00011] As per an aspect of the present subject matter, the one or more peripheral groove is configured to be separated by one or more projections alternatively.
[00012] As per an aspect of the present subject matter, the one or more projections is disposed at a predetermined distance on the periphery of the top member.
[00013] As per an aspect of the present subject matter, the inclined surface being provided on an inner side of the top member, which when retracted faces towards the inner side of the vehicle.
[00014] As per an aspect of the present subject matter, the inclined surface includes one or more walls and a surface depression D at a slightly lower depth through the one or more walls within which the foot or footwear of the user being abuttingly held thereby restricting any undesired lateral movement of the foot in the I-O direction.
[00015] As per an aspect of the present subject matter, the inclined surface includes a first pair of trapezoidal patterns and a second pair of trapezoidal patterns disposed on the inclined surface and the first pair of trapezoidal patterns configured to be placed alternatively between the second pair of trapezoidal patterns.
[00016] As per an aspect of the present subject matter, the top member being mounted on the base member by means of one or more attachment means from the bottom side of the footrest assembly.
[00017] As per an aspect of the present subject matter, a cavity is provided in a middle portion of the base member to mount the top member from the sides. The embodiments of the present invention will now be described in detail with reference to an embodiment in a saddle type two wheeled and three-wheeled vehicle along with the accompanying drawings. However, the present invention is not limited to the present embodiments. The present subject matter is further described with reference to accompanying figures. It should be noted that the description and figures merely illustrate principles of the present subject matter. Various arrangements may be devised that, although not explicitly described or shown herein, encompass the principles of the present subject matter. Moreover, all statements herein reciting principles, aspects, and examples of the present subject matter, as well as specific examples thereof, are intended to encompass equivalents thereof.
[00018] Fig.1(a) exemplarily illustrates a top view of a rear portion of a two wheeled saddle type vehicle 100 with a footrest assembly 105 in closed condition. Fig.1(b) exemplarily illustrates a side perspective view of a rear portion (R) of the two wheeled saddle type vehicle 100 with a footrest assembly 105 in closed or stowed away condition. Fig.2(a) exemplarily illustrates a top view of the rear portion of the two wheeled saddle type vehicle 100 with the footrest assembly 105 in open condition. Fig.2(b) exemplarily illustrates a side perspective view of a rear portion (R) of the two wheeled saddle type vehicle 100 with the footrest assembly 105 in open condition. The two-wheeled vehicle 100 includes a front portion (not shown) and a rear portion (R). For brevity all 4 figures shall be discussed together. As shown in the figure, the two-wheeled vehicle 100 includes a rear frame member 101 (Fig 2b), a seat assembly 102, one or more side panels 103, a pillion handle 104, and one or more footrest assembly 105. The seat assembly 102 is disposed on the rear frame member 101. The seat assembly 102 is provided with the pillion handle 104 at the end of the seat assembly 102 and is supported by the rear frame member 101. The sides of the vehicle 100 are covered by one or more side panels 103. The one or more footrest assembly 105 is disposed on the sides of the vehicle 100 and is supported by the rear frame member 101 so that a pillion rider can rests his/her foot on the footrest assembly 105, while sitting on the vehicle 100.
[00019] Fig.3 exemplarily illustrates a top view of the footrest assembly 105. Fig.4 exemplarily illustrates a side perspective view of the footrest assembly 105. Many a times, the pillion rider struggles to open the footrest 105, while in sitting position because the foot of the rider does not come in adequate contact with the footrest 105 to open it. The sole of the rider slips off the footrest 105, making it difficult to access and unsafe. As per the present invention, the footrest assembly 105 is built to protrude laterally out of the vehicle 100 providing accessibility for easy removal by the pillion rider while sitting. This functionality is achieved by having an outwardly upwards angled surface and angle orientation of the foot rest (shown in Fig 5) forming a predetermined angle A with respect to ground plane G-G’ as seen from a rear view of the vehicle. As per an embodiment, the angle A ranges from 2 degrees to 25 degrees. The top contact surface of the foot rest is configured with a polygonal peripheral edge E and said peripheral edge E is provided with one or more peripheral grooves 106 facing upwards towards the pillion rider to generate maximum contact point for ease of opening and closing of the pillion footrest 105 and also minimizing the width of the vehicle 100 widest point in closed condition. The one or more grooves 106 are provided at the semi-circular periphery of a top member 107 of the footrest assembly 105. The one or more groove 106 configured to be separated by one or more peripheral projections 108 alternatively. The one or more projections 108 is also disposed on the semi-circular periphery of the top member 107. Thus, the rider foot is always protected from moving towards the scooter axis by a side panel 103 and prevents the rider foot from slipping off the footrest assembly 105 thereby ensuring the safety of the rider.
[00020] Fig.5 exemplarily illustrates a side cross-sectional view of the right-side footrest assembly 105 cut across plane R-R’ as seen from a rear view of the vehicle with the left side being the vehicle inner side I and the outer side O being the external side. Fig.6 exemplarily illustrates a cross sectional side view of an inclined surface 110 of the footrest assembly 105 cut across plane S when seen from the side of the vehicle i.e., when seen orthogonal to along the length direction of the foot peg. As per an additional embodiment, the footrest assembly 105 is made up of a metal base member 109 and the rubber top member 107. The metal base provides strength to the footrest assembly 105 to bear the load of the rider while in operation. The rubber top member 107 gets mounted on the metal base member 109 with one or more fasteners (not shown) mounted from a bottom side of the footrest assembly 105. The at least one peripheral portion of the top member 107 is provided with an inclined surface 110 having one or more raised surface to provide a firm grip. The rubber top member 107 provides grip to the foot of the rider, ensuring no slippage and safety of the rider. The rubber top member 107 can also be snap fitted in the metal base member 109. The rubber top member 107 of the footrest 105 is also made to sit outside the metal base member 109 so as to allow first contact of the user foot/body with the rubber part of the footrest 105 and not the metal base member 109. This prevents the user from any injury, while in rest or motion of the vehicle 100. As per an alternate embodiment, the top member 107 may be integrally formed in the footrest in the form of a cast structure as a single entity without any rubber. As per an aspect of the present invention, one of the upper peripheral polygonal edge E of the footrest assembly 105 is provided with the inclined surface 110 disposed on the inner side I of the top member 107, which when retracted faces towards the rear frame member 101. This inclined surface 110 is typically in contact with the centre part of the foot of the rider that takes the load when brakes are applied. Thus, it spreads the force on the foot from edge to surface contact making it more comfortable to the rider even during dynamic squat and dive movement of the vehicle in a dynamic condition.
[00021] The inclined surface 110 that faces the pillion is configured with a surface depression D at a slightly lower depth through one or more walls 111 within which the foot or footwear of the user gets abuttingly held thereby restricting any undesired lateral movement of the foot in the I-O direction. The inclined surface 110 includes one or more walls 111 to restrict the foot of the rider from sliding off the foot rest assembly 105. The walls 111 are formed at the two longitudinal ends (not labelled) of the inclined surface 110, one end faces towards the side panels 103 of the vehicle 100 and the other end is disposed away from the vehicle 100, when seen in opened position. In the present embodiment, the footrest 105 with the top member 107 having the rubber surface is provided with a rough or a predetermined cobble stone or trapezoidal pattern surface which also aids in arresting the pillion riders foot from slipping away from the vehicle 100 and adds to the safety of the pillion foot from the ongoing traffic.
[00022] Further, the inclined surface 110 includes a first pair of trapezoidal patterns 112 and a second pair of trapezoidal patterns 113 disposed on the top of the inclined surface 110. The first pair of trapezoidal patterns 112 are configured to be placed alternatively between the second pair of trapezoidal patterns 113. This alternate sets of trapezoidal patterns (112,113) locks the foot to the footrest 105 by accommodating the foot to rest with additional grip that locks the foot, preventing movement away from the vehicle 100. In the present embodiment, the rubber top member 107 is configured to envelope at least a portion of the outside region of the aluminium base member 109. This makes rubber, the first point of contact of the pillion footrest if hit by the user. It is thus provided with an additional protection to the user. Also, this enables ease in serviceability and facilitates in replacement of parts of the footrest assembly.
[00023] Fig.7 exemplarily illustrates a side view of an additional embodiment of the footrest assembly 105. In the present embodiment, the base member 109 is provided with a cavity 114 in the middle portion and is screwed (not shown) inside the top member 107. The top member 107 is provided with the inclined surface 110 with walls at the end of the inclined surface 110. Many other improvements and modifications may be incorporated herein without deviating from the scope of the invention.

List of Reference numerals
100: Two-wheeled saddle-type vehicle
R: Rear portion of 100
101: Rear frame member of 100
102: Seat assembly of 100
103: One or more side panels of 100
104: Pillion handle of 100
105: One or more footrest/ footrest assembly of 100
106: One or more grooves in 105
107: Top member of 105
108: One or more projections in 105
109: Base member of 105
110: Inclined surface on 107
111: One or more walls of 107
112: first pair of trapezoidal patterns on 107
113: Second pair of trapezoidal patterns on 107
114: Cavity