Pillion foot peg for two-wheelers

Field of invention

The subject matter described herein, relates to a "Pillion foot peg for two wheelers" and more particularly relates to a pillion foot peg assembly provided in a scooter type motorcycle.

Background of the invention

In conventional scooter type motorcycles the pillion foot peg used for resting the feet of the pillion rider, is located below the floorboard. Mounting of the foot peg below the floorboard results in space constraints. Also, sufficient clearance has to be provided between the foot peg and the frame to enable proper operation.

When the said foot peg is mounted over the floorboard, the foot peg is readily accessible for usage by the pillion rider, as well as servicing and does not interfere with the frame parts.

However, mounting the pillion foot peg over the floorboard has several constraints. In order to mount the pillion foot peg above the footboard, the frame of the said foot peg has to be covered by a suitable elastomeric material generally rubber, which makes the foot peg bulky. Providing insufficient rubber to make the foot peg appear sleeker will result in transfer of road induced and engine induced vibrations to the pillion rider's feet. Also, to avoid dangling of the foot peg, the elastomeric material provided on the foot peg is preloaded against a bracket. Frequent usage of the foot peg will lead to compression of the elastomer, which may result in the material tearing off from the frame.

Also an elaborate supporting structure needs to be provided which itself becomes a significant investment, addition of weight and bulk and provides problems to the manufacturer thereto.

Brief description of the invention

The present subject matter herein described is directed towards a two-wheeled vehicle and more particularly to a scooter type motorcycle where the pillion foot peg assembly is provided above the floorboard. The present subject matter proposes a pillion foot peg assembly comprising of two parts, the bottom portion and the top portion. The bottom portion called the pillion footrest mounting is provided below the floorboard. The said pillion footrest mounting further comprises of a tube footrest, a block and a side trim-mounting bracket.

The top portion of the pillion foot peg assembly also called the holder pillion footrest comprises of the foot peg frame and the elastomeric cover covering the foot peg, more specifically a rubber sleeve.

The foot peg frame is a rectangular tube having a hollow cylindrical block welded to it. The said block has a circular plate on which two projecting bosses are made. The said bosses acts as stoppers to prevent the foot peg from rotating beyond the intended stopping position. One boss is provided with a spring housed inside and is assembled with a ball in place. A ball catch mechanism is used to index the foo tpeg at two positions. The top portion of the foot peg assembly is mounted on the bottom portion and the said structures are assembled together by means of a spring washer that acts as coupling means.

Brief description of drawings

Figure 1 illustrates the side view of a scooter type motorcycle.

Figure 2 illustrates perspective view of the foot peg assembly viewed from the left side of the scooter type motorcycle

Figure 3 illustrates perspective view of the foot peg frame and rubber

Figure 4 illustrates sectional view of the foot peg assembly

Figure 5 illustrates another sectional view of the foot peg assembly

Figure 6 illustrates foot peg as viewed along with frame

Detailed description of the invention

To address the aforementioned needs, according to an embodiment of the present subject matter, a two-wheeled vehicle is provided with a pillion foot peg assembly that is mounted over the floorboard of a scooter type motorcycle.

The main purpose of this invention is to eliminate the technical shortcomings of the available scooter type motorcycles, wherein the pillion foot peg is mounted over the floorboard, preloaded against a bracket and where the fastening means are visible to the naked eye.

The present subject matter embodies a foot peg frame fabricated in steel having considerable strength, where a ball catch mechanism is used to index the foot peg at two positions thereby obviating the need for the provision of an extra plate for preloading the elastomeric members such as the rubber sleeves.

As illustrated herein, Figure 1 illustrates the side view of a concerned scooter type motorcycle having all the embodiments viz. left side cover mounting, right side cover mounting, rear fuel tank cover and an under cowl.

Scooter-type vehicles, or scooters, include a frame assembly 101, which usually supports the body of a scooter, along with front 110 and rear 111 wheels. A frame assembly for a scooter-type vehicle comprises of at least one front wheel, at least one rear wheel and a vehicle body. Typically, a frame structure 101 for a scooter type motorcycle comprises a main frame and may also have a sub-frame. The sub-frame is attached to the mainframe using appropriate fastening members. All the other components such as the body panels 109, the engine 102, and the electrical units are mounted on the main frame and the sub frame either directly or by means of brackets and fastening members.

The frame assembly includes a head tube, which supports a front wheel suspension assembly 103 of the vehicle. An upper frame extends from the head tube to a rearward end of the vehicle body. A swing arm 104 is pivotally supported by the upper frame and supports a rear wheel of the vehicle. The frame assembly may include a lower frame removeably coupled to the upper frame and defining a space 107 there between.

The sub-frame preferably supports at least one component of the scooter-type vehicle in the space, such as a fuel tank, for example.

Typically, front 103 and rear 104 suspension assemblies are operatively positioned between the front 110 and rear 111 wheels and the frame assembly. The front suspension assembly commonly is a telescopic fork arrangement, while the rear suspension assembly is a swing type arrangement. In a scooter, the rear suspension swing arm typically supports a power unit 102, which is configured to drive the rear wheel of the scooter. The power unit 102, is coupled along with a transmission assembly 108, such as a drive shaft, drive belt, or chain and sprocket assembly.

The frame assembly 101 of a scooter-type vehicle is an elongated structure, which typically extends from a forward end to a rearward end of the scooter. A scooter frame assembly generally is convex in shape, as viewed from a side elevational view. A handlebar assembly 105 and a seat assembly 106 are supported at opposing ends of the frame assembly 101 and a generally open area 107 is defined there between.

Accordingly, the open area 107 between the handlebar assembly 103 and the seat assembly 106 allows the scooter to be easily straddled, or mounted, as opposed to a typical motorcycle, wherein a motorcycle fuel tank occupies the space between the handlebar assembly and the seat assembly. Such an arrangement may be referred to as a "step-through" frame assembly. The present subject matter illustrates a pillion foot peg assembly 201, which is located above and at the rear end of the floorboard 202, on either side of the vehicle body and close to the side panels 109. The present invention is illustrated with figure 2 to figure 6.

The pillion foot peg assembly 201 comprises a bottom portion 301 and the top portion 302. The bottom portion called the pillion footrest mounting 301 is provided below the floorboard 202. The said pillion footrest mounting further comprises of a tube footrest 203, a block and a side trim-mounting bracket 204. The tube footrest 203 is an elongated tubular structure welded on either side to the frame 101 of the scooter.

The said tube 203 is connected to a cylindrical block 206. The block 206 of the pillion footrest mounting structure is a hollow cylindrical member 207 and includes a circular plate 208 welded on to it such that the said plate 208 flushes with the topmost surface of the block 206. The bottommost portion of the cylinder is left open. In the said plate a 120-degree cut out in the form of a sector is made towards foot peg tube 209. Two bush stoppers 210 are welded to the said plate 208 and two counter sunk depressions 211 are provided on the plate to hold the ball catch mechanism 212 on the top most surface. A tapped hole 221 provided in the centre of the said plate acts as space for a nut and also locates the pillion footrest mounting on the frame 101.

The bracket side trim constitutes a U-shaped plate and a weld nut for fixing the pillion footrest mounting structure 301 on to the floorboard 202. The top portion of the pillion foot peg 302 also called the holder pillion footrest comprises of the foot peg frame 222 and the foot peg rubber sleeve 213. The foot peg frame is a rectangular tube having a hollow cylindrical block 215 welded to it. The said block has a circular plate (not shown) provided at a certain gap from the topmost surface of the said block on which two projecting bosses 217 are made. The said bosses 217 acts as stopper so as to prevent the foot peg 302 from rotating beyond the intended stopping position. One boss 217 is provided with a cavity inside and is assembled with a spring and ball in place 212.

The top portion of the foot peg assembly 302 is mounted on the bottom portion 301 and the said structures are assembled together by means of a spring washer 218 that acts as coupling means and extends sufficiently beyond the top portion 302 so as to attach the top 302 and bottom 301 portions of the pillion foot peg assembly 201 on to the frame 101 of the scooter type motorcycle. The central part of the block houses a spacer 219 for allowing the foot peg 302 to rotate about its axis and the length of the spacer 219 is little more the clamping faces to achieve the float between bottom portion and top portion.

Additionally, two holes are provided in the plate so that the cap 220 to cover the mounting screw 221 can be snap fitted to the said pillion foot peg 302. The rubber sleeve 213 provided in order to prevent the transfer of vibrations from the foot peg assembly 201 to the pillion rider's feet, is fixed to the foot peg frame 222 by means of a weld nut.

One embodiment of the present subject matter involves the operating positions of the said pillion foot peg assembly 201. When the pillion foot peg assembly 201 is in position 1, viz. the foot peg 302 is placed parallel to the side panels 109, the ball provided in the boss will be resting in the first counter sunk depression 211 with the spring 223 located on top of it. When actuating the said foot peg assembly to the extended position viz. to position 2, the ball gets lifted and compresses the spring 223. When the foot peg 302 is in the fully extended position the ball comes over the second depression and is released due to the spring force and gets locked in the said depression. Further movement of the ball is restricted by means of bush stoppers 210 provided in the top 302 and bottom 301 portions of the foot peg 201.

Although the subject matter has been described in considerable detail with reference to certain preferred embodiments thereof, other embodiments are possible. As such, the spirit and scope of the appended claims should not be limited to the description of the preferred embodiment contained therein.

Claims We claim:

1. A pillion foot peg assembly 201 for two wheelers comprising a pillion footrest mounting 301 and a pillion foot peg 302 wherein the said footrest mounting 301 is provided below the floorboard of the two-wheeler.

2. A pillion foot peg assembly 201 for two wheelers as claimed in claim 1, wherein the said pillion footrest mounting 301 comprises a tube foot rest 203, a block 206 and a bracket 204.

3. A pillion foot peg assembly 201 for two-wheeler as claimed in claim 1, wherein the said block 206 includes a circular plate 208 joined to it such that the said plate flushes with the topmost surface of the said block 206.

4. A pillion foot peg assembly 201 for two-wheeler as claimed in claim 3, wherein to the said plate 208, two bush stoppers 210 and two counter sunk depressions 211 are provided.

5. A pillion foot peg assembly 201 for two-wheeler as claimed in claim1, the said pillion foot peg 302 comprises a foot peg frame 222 and a foot peg rubber sleeve 213.

6. A pillion foot peg assembly 201 for two-wheeler as claimed in claim1, wherein the said pillion foot peg 302 and a pillion footrest mounting 301 are assembled together and house a spacer 219 such that the length of the spacer 219 is at least same as that of the clamping faces.

7. A pillion foot peg assembly 201 for two-wheeler as claimed in claim1,whererin when the said foot peg 302 is placed parallel to the side panels 109, the ball 212 provided in the boss rests in a first counter sunk depression 211 with a spring 223 located on top of it and when the said foot peg 302 is extended, the said ball 212 gets lifted and compresses the spring 223.

8. A pillion foot peg assembly 201 for two-wheeler as claimed in claim 1, wherein at least a pair of bush stoppers 210 are provided at foot peg 302.