FRONT COVER STRUCTURE FOR A TWO WHEELER

Field of invention:

The present invention relates to "Front cover structure for a two wheeler" and more particularly relates to a fitting a body cover for covering the front part of a scooter type vehicle.

Background of the invention:

In a conventional scooter type vehicle, a typical screw and other types of fasteners, fasten each part of a scooter viz. the front cover and a leg shield, However, these fasteners and others can be easily detached with a general tool such as a screw driver. As a result, a body cover itself may be tampered or a body cover is detached and a part housed inside may be tampered. To solve the above problem, in the prior art, discloses a metallic front cover comprising three : parts, namely left side sections, center section, right section; a coupling which connects left side section and right side section and also functions as a housing for a battery; a tampering preventing structure on center section, which comprises a tapping screw on the left side of the body which is overlapped by the lower part of the handlebar cover when the handle bar is locked by the steering lock.

The said coupling which connects left side section and right side section and also functions as housing for a battery has following drawbacks:

(i) During washing or rains, the water can seep through the slits of center section of the front cover or through the gap in the joint between the handle bar cover and the front cover, into the housing in the coupling where battery is housed. This can lead to short circuiting or malfunctioning of battery.

(ii) The housing of battery in the coupling necessitates clustering of multiple wiring connections from the coupling, housing the battery, to different parts of the vehicle, which may cause short-circuiting. In the said prior art, a bracket is fixed to the head pipe. On the said bracket, a coupling member is fixed by nut and bolt means. The coupling member is then fixed to the left and right sections by nut and bolt means. This (s a complex arrangement. Moreover, this multiplicity of nuts and bolts may cause problems during service for maintenance, as some of these bolts may become rusted. Further, in case any play develops between these bolts and nut means, due to vehicle shocks during normal usage, it may lead to vibrations in the coupling arrangement and in the metallic parts of the vehicle causing noise causing irritations to the customer.

Object of the invention:

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a cover, which overcomes the drawbacks of the prior invention.
The present invention provides a front cover structure consisting of three pieces, namely the left section, the right section and the center, two of which are metallic sections and the center section being made up of plastic. The said sections are mounted directly on the frame by means of three independent fixing means. Such an arrangement permits the components to be assembled at ease to each other. Accordingly, efficient assembly is facilitated because of the ease in which the components may be assembled.

Thus an object of the present invention is to provide a front cover structure, which will inhibit rain, dust and like from entering into the area behind the front cover structure.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a front cover for scooter type motorcycle wherein it is possible to replace a damaged component of the front cover.

Another object of the present invention is to reduce the size of the front cover structure thereby reducing the cost of the overall assembly.

Summary of the invention:

Accordingly, the present invention provides a front cover structure mounted directly on to the frame for a motor-scooter type vehicle.

The present invention provides a front cover structure consisting of three pieces of which two are metallic side sections namely left section, right section and one plastic center section namely section center, wherein sections are mounted directly on the frame by means of three independent fixing means.

The said metallic left section is mounted to the frame by means of a left fixing means. The said metallic right section is mounted to the frame by means of a right fixing means. The said plastic center section is mounted to the frame by means of a centre section fixing means. Two adjacently spaced left and right fixing means enables fixing of electrical parts thereby obviating the need for a separate mounting structure for fixing the electrical parts.

This arrangement of fixing means enables direct fitment of front sections to the frame for better rigidity as compared to the known art where the sections are connected to the frame through a coupling member.

The said plastic section centre is directly mounted to the frame for better rigidity. Further, in another objective of the present invention is to provide relief slots in both metallic left section and metallic right side section of the front cover have relief slots, wherein direction indicators are mounted.

These and other features, aspects, and advantages of the present subject matter will be better understood with reference to the following description and appended claims. This summary is provided to introduce a selection of concepts in a simplified form. This summary is not intended to be used to identify key features or essential of the claimed subject matter, nor it is intended to be used to limit the scope of the claimed subject matter.

Brief description of accompanying drawings:

The other objects, features and advantages of the internal combustion engine according to the present invention will be more apparent from the following description with reference to the accompanying drawing, in which:

FIG 1 is the left side view of the scooter type motorcycle according to the present
invention.

FIG 2 is the left side view of the front cover of the scooter type motorcycle according to the present invention;

FIG 3 is the left side view of the front cover structure of the scooter type motorcycle having an embodiment of the front cover according to the present invention.

FIG 4 illustrates the frontal view of the front cover structure having three sections, according to an embodiment of the present invention provided with independent fixing means for mounting the said sections on to a portion of the frame.

FIG 5 illustrates the center section of the front cover structure in accordance to the present invention.

FIG 6 is a front view of the front cover structure with the independent mounting means, according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Detailed description of preferred embodiments:

The subject matter will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

The scooter type motorcycle, as illustrated in Fig 1, can be divided into three major portions, the front portion F, the middle portion M and the rear/tail portion R. The front portion F comprises of the head tube, the handle bar, the front suspension and the front wheel with necessary brakes 1, to which a front fork 2 Is connected to hold the front wheel. A front fender 3 is provided to cover the front wheel. The front cover 4 attached to the front portion of the frame structure protects the scooter type motorcycle from damages.

The middle portion M comprises of the step through portion 5, which is used to carry objects by rider. A rider's seat 6 is provided in middle portion M of the motorcycle. The motorcycle has a stand 7 to balance the motorcycle at stand still. An engine 8 is accommodated under the front portion of rider's seat 6 for fuel combustion.

The rear/tail portion R comprises of a fuel tank 10 under the rear portion of rider's ' seat 6 to store enough quantity of fuel. The swing arm 11 is connected from rear wheel to the middle portion M in order to bind the rear wheel to middle portion l\1 of the motorcycle. A suspension 12 is mounted between the shaft of rear wheel and rider's seat 6 to increase the comfort of the rider's seat 6. The rear fender 13 is attached to the rear/tail portion R of the motorcycle so as to protect the rear portion from damages.

An embodiment of the scooter type motorcycle is shown in Fig. 2, from left side of the vehicle. The front portion of a scooter type motorcycle includes the headlamp housing 14, where the headlamp 15 is mounted. The front portion is covered with a metal front cover 4 in order to avoid damages to the elements housed in the front. An under bracket 16 connects the front fork 2 to the upper part of the front portion in the scooter type motorcycle. The fron.t fender 3 is fixed to under bracket 16 in order to protect the body parts from mud and water splashes.

The scooter type motorcycle as shown in Fig. 2, has a plastic rear panel 31, used to carry objects by the rider with comfort. A floorboard 30 is provided with more space in the scooter type motorcycle. The seat 6 is accommodated in middle portion of the said vehicle. Both left and right sides of the scooter type motorcycle are covered by metal covers 20, which are more effective than side covers of the normal motorcycle. The scooter type motorcycle has a stand 7 to balance the motorcycle at stand still. An engine 8 is accommodated under the front portion of seat 6 for fuel combustion.

The panel front or the front cover 4, which is primarily used to hide the structural elements and to improve the aesthetics of the vehicle, is mounted on the head tube 17 and frame 100 by means of brackets, which also supports the license plate 18. Openings are provided at appropriate locations ahead of the lorn so as to facilitate the sound of the horn to be heard.

The turn signal lamp 19, which is used to indicate the direction of turn taken by the rider, is mounted, on the front cover 4 in slots provided thereon.

As shown in Fig. 3, the panel rear 31, which is provided to cover the frame elements, and the instrument cluster Is mounted on the rear side of the head lamp housing 14. The front cover 4 and the panel rear 31 are coupled together by. means of screws and registers so as to achieve the necessary gaps between them. The front cover 4 can be a single piece or two or more pieces joined together by means of fasteners to enable ease of manufacture and service. A utility space 21, which can be in the form of a glove box is located on the upper portion of the panel rear 31. The handle bar lock integrated with the ignition lock is mounted on the panel rear 31.

The first preferred embodiment of the present invention is shown in Fig. 4 which provides a front cover structure 4 consisting of three pieces of which two are metallic side sections namely left section 41 and right section 43 and one plastic centre section namely center section 42, wherein the said sections are mounted directly on the frame 100 by means of three independent fixing means.

The said metallic left section 41 is mounted to the frame 100 by means of a left fixing means 401. The said metallic right section 43 is mounted to the frame by means of a right fixing means 403. The said plastic centre section 42 is mounted to the frame by means of a center section fixing means 402. Two adjacently spaced left 401 and right 402 fixing means enable fixing of electrical parts thereby obviating the need for a separate mounting structure for fixing the electrical parts.

This arrangement of fixing means enables direct fitment of front sections to the frame 100 for better rigidity as compared to the known art where the sections are connected to the frame 100 through a coupling member.
In another embodiment, the said plastic section centre 42 is directly mounted to the frame 100 for better rigidity. Further, the said plastic section center 42 consisting of one or more sections joined together provides freedom of different constructions of the two sections.

Fig. 5 shows the front cover center section according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Further, as shown in Fig. 6, in another embodiment, the present invention consisting of metallic left section 41 and metallic right section 43 of the front cover 4, two relief slots have been provided in each metallic section referred to as 501 on the left and 503 on the right. In these relief slots, the direction indicators or turn signal lamps 19 are fixed. Thus direction indicators are relatively at wider distance. This obviates the need for use of bulbs of high wattage in the direction indicators so that the beam of the direction indicators is visible as a distinct beam to the road users.

As illustrated in Fig. 6, another embodiment, the present invention houses a battery separately in the rear portion 31, with locking arrangement. A single bracket 601 is directly fixed to the head pipe 17 on one side and to the side sections on the other side. This arrangement is simple arrangement, which enhances the rigidity of the front section and the rear sections of the vehicle resulting in considerably reduced vibrations on the sheet metal parts. Thus, the present invention eliminates the need for coupling and the complex mechanical arrangements of putting a bracket and multiple bolts and nuts.

Although the subject matter has been described with reference to specific embodiments, this description is not meant to be construed in a limiting sense. Various modifications of the disclosed embodiments, as well as alternate embodiments of the subject matter, will become apparent to persons skilled in the art upon reference to the description of the subject matter. It is therefore contemplated that such modifications can be made without departing from the spirit or scope of the present subject matter as defined.

CLAIMS

I/We claim:

1. A front cover structure (4) for a scooter type motorcycle comprising:

a front cover provided with means of attachment and extended projections for fitment on to the rear cover (31);

characterized in that,

said front cover is divided into three portions of a pair of left (41) and right (43) sections and a center section (42);

the right (41) , left (43) and center (42) sections are mounted directly on the vehicle frame (100) by independent fixing means.

2. The front cover structure (4) for a scooter type motorcycle as claimed in claim 1, wherein the said left (41) and right (43) sections are preferably made of metal.

3. The front cover structure (4) for a scooter type motorcycle as claimed in claim 1, wherein the said front cover center section (42) is made of resin.

4. The front cover structure (4) for a scooter type motorcycle as claimed in claim 1, wherein the said front cover left section (41) is mounted to the frame (100) by means of a left fixing means (401).

5. The front cover structure (4) for a scooter type motorcycle as claimed in claim 1, wherein the said front cover right section (43) is mounted to the frame (100) by means of a right fixing means (403).

6. The front cover structure (4) for a scooter type motorcycle as claimed in claim 1, wherein the said front cover center section (42) is mounted to the frame (100) by means of a center fixing means (402).

7. The front cover structure (4) for a scooter type motorcycle as claimed in claim 5 and 6, wherein the said front cover left section fixing means (401) and front cover right section fixing means (403) are placed adjacent to one another.

8. The front cover structure (4) for a scooter type motorcycle as claimed in claim 1, wherein two rhombus shaped recess (501) and (503) are provided on the front cover on the left (41) and right (43) sections to house the side indicator or the turn signal indicator lamp (19).

9. The front cover structure (4) for a scooter type motorcycle as claimed in claim 1, wherein the front cover is provided with two upright triangular shaped slits in front of the horn.

10. The front cover structure (4) for a scooter type motorcycle as claimed in claim 1, wherein the front cover is provided with two round shape relief slots so as to enable the number plate to be mounted on to the front cover top portion of the said structure.

11. Front cover structure for a scooter type motorcycle substantially as herein
described with reference to the accompanying drawings.