DESC:[FIELD OF INVENTION]
[0001] The following invention pertains to a detachable structure for a vehicle. More particularly, the present invention is related to a detachable structure at the front portion of a saddle-ride type vehicle.
[BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION]
[0002] Automobiles have certain requirements to mount any additional parts thereon such as identification plates, electronic devices, etc. Thus, manufacturers of a vehicle must ensure that the vehicle has a provision of accommodating and supporting any such additional parts such as identification plate, electronic devices, etc. at preferred location on the vehicle.
[0003] For example, an identification plate in a vehicle, comprises generally of a number or alphabets or a combination of both, is issued by authorized government agencies in a country. These plates are mandatory and shall be mounted at an easily noticeable location. Typically, they are mounted at a front portion of the vehicle or a rear portion of the vehicle; in certain countries, it has to be mounted on both the front portion and rear portion of a vehicle. The identification plates are then registered and mounted onto the vehicles before being driven by the customer on public roads. In some countries, the cost of the identification plate and other additional provisions for mounting the identification plate onto the vehicle is borne by the customer. In either of the cases, it becomes an important design requirement for the manufacturer to design the vehicle so as to enable mounting of the required identification or license plate at front & rear as per the regulations. From manufacturer’s perspective, especially for cost sensitive commuter segment vehicles, every such requirement means addition to the cost of the vehicle. Often such requirements are termed as accessories by the markets e.g. prop stand, mud guard etc. & a manufacturer prefers to keep the cost of accessories to bare minimum to minimize the weight of the vehicle as well as the cost. Often vehicle buyers tend to assess the value of each accessory during procurement & prefer products with minimum cost of accessory as it adds to the ownership cost of the vehicle. The aspect of ease of repair & maintenance is also a critical parameter evaluated while comparing the products during decision making. Every gram reduction in weight of the vehicle can add to valuable mileage performance of the vehicle & allow room of flexibility for a manufacturer to leverage the weight saving by augmenting the vehicle with more value-added features & functions. Such value-added aggregates have performance benefits as well as hold higher perceived value by the buyer or user.
[0004] Conventionally, for a saddle-ride type vehicle, at the front portion of the vehicle, the identification plate is mounted on a windscreen or a visor provided above a speedometer unit. Although this is a convenient location and also easily noticeable, the effect of screening wind by the windscreen is reduced as there is no continuity in the airflow over the visor due to hindrance by identification plate leading to poor aerodynamics & adverse drag effect.
[0005] To overcome the above concerns, in known arts, an identification plate mounting bracket is provided on the headlamp housing; which bracket projects out of the gap formed between the speedometer unit and the headlamp housing. Thus, the bracket is pre-assembled onto the housing headlamp before mounting the speedometer unit. While such design serves the purpose of enabling mounting of the identification or license plate, it has inherent drawback.
[0006] In countries where the identification plate at the front is not a mandatory requirement, the manufacturer in above known arts is left to bear the undesirable burden of excess weight, complex design as well as increased cost of the bracket systems. It also leads to adverse impact of the aesthetic appearance in addition to poor aerodynamic performance. Also, since the identification plate & its mounting structure is exposed to front wind loads, it is critical to have a stable & secure mounting structure to withstand the drag forces while being light in weight & compact to avoid excess drag resistance forces. Often, the bracket needs to be removed before handing the vehicle to the customer; which necessitates removal of multiple associated parts, such as the speedometer unit, to extract the bracket making them not so friendly of retrofit. The process becomes time-consuming and the resulting assembly might also have a poor mismatch between the mating components. Moreover, once the bracket is removed, the gap between the headlamp housing and the speedometer unit is exposed leading to a possibility of dust accumulation and water entry. Any undesirable gap can lead to entry of mud inside the instrument cluster region which can have major durability failures which is highly undesirable. Therefore, there is a need for an improved design of an identification plate structure for a vehicle overcoming all the problems cited above & other problems of known arts.

[SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION]
[0007] The current invention addresses the above concerns and other associated concerns in the prior art. An objective of the current invention is to enable an improved mounting of a detachable structure onto a vehicle by removing minimum number of parts. The detachable structure can further support accessories such as an identification plate, electronic device, etc. It is another objective of the current invention to ensure that no gap is formed among the mating parts in absence of need to mount the detachable structure leading to improved aerodynamics as well as aesthetics. As per the current invention, the housing of a speedometer unit comprises of a provision to support the detachable structure at the front portion of the vehicle.
[0008] In countries where accessories such as the front vehicle identification plate are a mandatory requirement, the detachable structure can be assembled onto the speedometer housing and the identification plate can then be supported on the detachable structure. Thus, there is no requirement to remove larger components to support the accessories onto the vehicle body; this leads to less time consumption for assembling and also helps in retaining the desired fit & finish quality of the components. Since the housing of a speedometer unit is used to mount the detachable structure which further supports the accessories, no gap is formed thus preventing the entry of unwanted foreign elements such as water or dust.

[BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWING]
[0009] The detailed description is described with reference to the accompanying figures. The same numbers are used throughout the drawings with reference to the features and components.
[00010] Figure 1 presents a side view of the vehicle as per the current invention.
[00011] Figure 2 presents an exploded view of the components as per the current invention specific to countries with no mandatory requirement of identification plate at the front of the vehicle.
[00012] Figure 3 presents an exploded view of the components as per the current invention specific to countries with mandatory requirement of identification plate at the front of the vehicle.
Figure 4 presents a front view of the assembled components as per the current invention specific to countries with mandatory requirement of identification plate at the front.
[DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION]
[00013] The following description provides a detailed explanation of the current invention explained with embodiments of a saddle-ride type vehicle with the support of the drawings of the associated components. The directions of the vehicle view are with reference to the rider seated on the vehicle. It is to be noted that the longitudinal direction of the vehicle referred in the specification is the direction from front wheel of the vehicle to rear wheel of the vehicle and the lateral direction of the vehicle is the direction from the left hand of the rider to the right hand of the rider; lateral direction also represents the width of the vehicle.
[00014] Figure 1 represents a side view of the vehicle as viewed from left side. The saddle-ride type vehicle (100) as per the current invention structurally comprises of a frame unit (101) which supports a power source* (102) that generates the required power to meet the vehicle functions, a power transmission unit (103) which transmits the power generated by the power source to a rear wheel assembly (104) provided in the vicinity of the power transmission unit (103), a rear suspension unit (104) which ensures smoother interaction between the vehicle and the road at a rear portion of the vehicle, a front suspension unit (105) which ensures smoother interaction between the vehicle and the road at a front portion of the vehicle through a front wheel assembly (106), a handlebar unit (107) which enables the rider to maneuver the vehicle in the desired direction, a seating assembly (108) for the rider to be seated on, and panel assembly (109) to cover a portion of the internal details of the vehicle. The saddle-ride type vehicle further comprises of a headlight support structure (110) disposed at the front portion of the vehicle and a taillight support structure (111) disposed at the rear portion of the vehicle. The headlight support structure (110) includes the cowls and other surrounding parts of the headlight. A speedometer unit (112) is disposed in the vicinity of the headlight support structure (110). The speedometer unit (112) of the saddle type vehicle is information display unit that provides necessary information, such as speed, fuel level, etc. to the rider.
[00015] Figure 2 presents an exploded view of the components as per the current invention when the identification plate is not mounted. The speedometer unit (112) comprises of a display unit (not shown) disposed at an orientation such that it is visible to a seated rider, a lens member (201) which overlaps at least a portion of the display unit when viewed from rear of the vehicle and a housing member (202) which covers at least a portion of the display unit when viewed from front of the vehicle. The display unit is disposed between the lens member (201) and the housing member (202). The speedometer unit (112) is supported on the headlight support structure (110) through a stay member (203). The assembly sequence of the above components will now be explained. The display unit and the lens member (201) are assembled to the stay member (203); the stay member (203) is further supported on the headlight support structure (110). The housing member (202) is then mounted onto the stay through at least two housing mounting means (204,205) using at least two fastening members (206,207), such as screws, bolts, etc.
[00016] Figure 3 presents an exploded view of the components as per the current invention when the identification plate is mounted. When the accessory is to be mounted, the fastening members (206, 207) needs to be removed and a detachable structure (301) is held onto the stay member (203) through the at least two mounting means (204,205) using the at least two fastening members (206,207) or snap fit provision. In other words, the stay member (203) holds the detachable structure (301) using atleast two mounting means (204,205). The detachable structure (301) comprises of at least two housing member mounting provisions (302,303) and at least two accessory plate mounting provisions (304, 305) conforming to the holding provision on the stay member (203) & housing members (202) respectively. For mounting accessory part first step is to remove at least two fastening members (206,207); second step is to mounting the detachable structure (301) onto the stay member (203) through at least two mounting means (204,205) using the at least two fastening members (206,207); and then the final step is to attach accessory part on the detachable structure (301) using fastening members or snap fit. Thus, such an easy arrangement of accessory parts in the vehicle can be done without any technical complexities when required. Also, when the accessory is not required, the accessory plate can be removed also in a hassle freeway.
[00017] Figure 4 presents a front view of the assembled components as per the current invention with the accessory part mounted such as identification plate (401). The identification plate (401) is attached onto the detachable structure (301) using fastening members such as screws, bolts, etc. through the accessory plate mounting provisions (304,305). Other accessory parts such as GPS unit, phone charging station, add on visor, fog lamp etc. that can be mounted on the detachable structure (301) using fastening members such as screws, bolts, etc. through the accessory plate mounting provisions (304,305) As per an embodiment of the present invention, the detachable structure (301) sandwiches the housing member (202) with the stay member (203) to give a stable, secure, lightweight & compact retrofit friendly design.
[00018] Thus, the current invention enables mounting of the accessory part onto the vehicle by removal of only the fastening members (206,207) and as a result, no undesirable gap is formed among mating parts in absence of need to mount an identification plate attachment structure. Thus, as per the present invention, the weight of the vehicle (including its accessory of identification plate) is achieved to be low. Also, there are no excess parts to be dismantled or assembled making the improved design retrofit friendly for the manufacturer as well as the field staff. In absence of the identification plate, the mounting structure itself can be stowed away without any adverse impact on aesthetics, fit & finish quality as well as taking care of any possibility of entry of foreign particles e.g. mud into the instrument cluster thereby enhancing the durability of the system & vehicle as whole. The present invention completely eliminates any weight addition to the vehicle thereby leading to mileage benefit of every gram of weight reduced.
[List of reference symbols]
Saddle-ride type vehicle – 100
Frame unit - 101
Power source – 102
Power transmission unit – 103
Rear wheel assembly– 104
Front suspension unit – 105
Front wheel assembly – 106
Handlebar unit – 107
Seating assembly – 108
Panel assembly - 109
Headlight support structure – 110
Taillight support structure – 111
Speedometer unit – 112
Lens member – 201
Housing member – 202
Stay member – 203
atleast two mounting means – 204, 205
Fastening members – 206,207
Detachable structure – 301
Housing member mounting provisions - 302,303
Accessory plate mounting provisions - 304,305
Identification plate - 401 ,CLAIMS:We claim,
1. A detachable structure for a saddle type wheeled vehicle, said two wheeled vehicle includes:
an information display unit (112) comprising of
a display unit ;
a lens member (201) ;
and a detachable housing member (202) configured with at least two mounting means (204,205);
a headlight support structure (110) supporting said information display unit (112) through a stay member (203);
said stay member (203) capable of holding a detachable structure (301) through at least two mounting means (204,205) of the housing member (202) to mount an identification plate (401).
2. The detachable structure for the saddle type wheeled vehicle as claimed in claim 1, wherein the headlight support structure (110) is disposed at a front portion of the vehicle.
3. The detachable structure for the saddle type wheeled vehicle as claimed in claim 1, wherein the information display unit (112) is disposed in the vicinity of the headlight support structure (110).
4. The detachable structure for the saddle type wheeled vehicle as claimed in claim 1, wherein said lens member (201) overlaps at least a portion of the display unit, and the housing member (202) covers at least a portion of the display unit, said display unit being disposed between the lens member (201) and the housing member (202).
5. A method for mounting accessory part for a saddle type wheeled vehicle, wherein the method for mounting accessory part comprises steps of:
removing at least two fastening members (206,207);
mounting a detachable structure (301) onto a stay member (203) through at least two mounting means (204,205) which are configured on a detachable housing member (202),
mounting an identification plate (401) on the detachable structure (301) using fastening members (206, 207).

6. The method for mounting accessory part for the saddle type wheeled vehicle as claimed in claim 5, wherein the stay member (203) supports an information display unit (112) on a headlight support structure (110).
7. The detachable structure (301) for the saddle type wheeled vehicle as claimed in claim 1 and claim 5, wherein the detachable structure (301) comprises of at least two housing member mounting provisions (302,303) and at least two identification plate mounting provisions (304,305).
8. The detachable structure for the two wheeled vehicle as claimed in claim 1 and claim 5, wherein an accessory part being mounted on the detachable structure (301) uses at least one of a fastening members and snap fit.