DESC:Field of invention:

The present invention relates to a motor cycle suspension assembly and more particularly relates to a ride adjustable front fork for a vehicle.

Background of the invention:

Generally all two wheeler motorcycles are conventionally built with a Spring pre-compression adjustment in rear shock absorber to have an option of ride comfort tuning depending on presence of pinion rider or riders choice. Recently few Premium motorcycles are also built with a feature of adjustment damping force for better ride comfort.

Ride comfort is one of the main function expected from Suspension, hence it should contain all possible features of flexibility, adjustment, auto tuning, user friendly parameters to play with for a better rider’s comfortable experience. Almost all Motorcycles models have a fixed design for a particular ride requirement of Sport mode, Normal / City mode or Cruise driving mode.

Accordingly, there exists need to provide a ride adjustable front fork to the motor cycles having an additional feature that can overcome the drawbacks in the prior art.

Object of the invention:

An object of the present invention is to adjust handle holding height of a motor cycle, according to the rider’s convenience.

Another object is to have this adjust thru automatic switch control without any usage of tools.

Yet another object of the invention is to provide this feature without any major modification in the vehicle fitment configuration.

Summary of the invention:

Accordingly, the present invention provides a ride adjustable front fork for a vehicle. The front fork comprises a top end fixed at a handle of the vehicle, a bottom end fixed with a front wheel of the vehicle, a first limb and a second limb. The two limbs are arranged on left and right hand sides of the vehicle. Each limb comprises a spring assembly and piston actuating assembly separately. The spring assembly is arranged inside the each limb. The spring assembly is backed by a floating piston which is actuated through a reservoir piston. This additional attachment includes a floating piston, functional oil, a spring, a connector and an orifice at a top side thereof. An upper part of the spring assembly has an additional chamber for separating the functional oil with the floating piston. The piston actuating assembly is connected to the each limb through the connector at the orifice of the spring assembly. The piston actuating assembly includes a reservoir, a reservoir piston, a fluid filled in a top chamber of the reservoir for actuation and a motor fixed at bottom of the reservoir piston using a motor mounting bracket.

Upon initiating operation of the motor, the motor rotates in clockwise and anti-clockwise direction that in-turn moves the reservoir piston up and down to push the fluid through the reservoir piston in the reservoir for actuating the floating piston. The floating piston causes the spring to get compressed and relaxed for adjusting collapsed and extended length of the front fork, thereby giving a provision of adjusting spring pre-compression and to lift or lower the handle to required height based on rider’s choice.

Brief description of the drawings:

The objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent when the disclosure is read in conjunction with the following figures, wherein

Figure 1 shows an cutaway view of a ride adjustable front fork, in accordance with the present invention; and

Figure 2 shows a closer cutaway view of the ride adjustable front fork, in accordance with the present invention.

Detailed Description of the Invention:

The foregoing objects of the invention are accomplished and the problems and shortcomings associated with prior art techniques and approaches are overcome by the present invention described in the present embodiments.

The present invention provides an electronically assisted ride adjustable front fork suspension assembly for the motor cycles that gives handle height adjustment to the motor cycle. This feature provides an option to a rider of selecting the handle holding height to drive in different modes cruiser mode, normal / city mode and sport / racing mode.

The present invention is illustrated with reference to the accompanying drawings, throughout which reference numbers indicate corresponding parts in the various figures. These reference numbers are shown in bracket in the following description and in the table below.

Component No Component Name
100 Ride Adjustable Front Fork
1 First Limb
2 Second Limb
3 Floating Piston
4 Spring
5 Connector
6 Reservoir
7 Motor Mounting Bracket
8 Motor
9 Fluid
10 Reservoir Piston
11 Orifice
20 Spring Assembly
30 Piston Actuating System

Referring to the figures 1 and 2, a ride adjustable front fork (100) (herein after referred to as “the front fork (100)”) for a vehicle, in accordance with the present invention is shown. In a preferred embodiment, the vehicle is a two wheeled motor cycle. The front fork (100) comprises a top end (not numbered) fixed at a handle (not shown) of the vehicle, a bottom end (not numbered) fixed with a front wheel (not shown) of the vehicle, a first limb (1) and a second limb (2). The two limbs (1, 2) are arranged on left and right hand sides of the vehicle. Each limb (1, 2) includes a spring assembly (20) and a piston actuating assembly (30) separately.

The spring assembly (20) is arranged inside the each limb (1, 2). The spring assembly (20) includes a floating piston (3), functional oil (not shown), a spring (4) a connector (5) and an orifice (11) at top side thereof. An upper part of the spring assembly (20) has an additional chamber for separating the functional oil with the floating piston (3).

The piston actuating assembly (30) is connected to the first limb (1) through a connector (5) at the orifice (11) of the spring assembly (20). The piston actuating assembly (30) comprises a reservoir (6), a reservoir piston (10), a fluid (9) and a motor (8). The fluid (9) filled in a top chamber of the reservoir (6) for actuation. In an embodiment, the fluid (9) filled in the reservoir (6) is a high viscous fluid. The reservoir piston (10) is configured at the bottom of the reservoir (6). The motor (8) is fixed at the bottom of the reservoir piston (10) using a motor mounting bracket (7). In the embodiment, the motor (8) is a stepper motor operated by a drive mechanism (not shown). The motor (8) is coupled to the drive mechanism. The spring assembly (20) is backed by the floating piston (3) that is actuated through the reservoir piston (10).

A switching mechanism (not shown) is provided on a dashboard (not shown) of the vehicle. The switching mechanism involves a programmable controlled board (PCB) for electronically operating the front fork (100) to initiate required motor operation. The top end of the front fork (100) moves up and down based on actuation of the reservoir piston (10), thereby allowing the rider to adjust a height of the handle for three different modes of ride including a cruiser ride mode for long drives, a city ride mode for normal ride and a racing mode for sporting ride.

Again referring to the figures 1 and 2, in an operation of the ride adjustable front fork (100), the switching mechanism initiates the required motor operation. The motor (8) rotates in clockwise or anti-clockwise direction and in-turn moves the reservoir piston (10) up or down. The reservoir piston (10) pushes the high viscous fluid (9) in the reservoir (6) which in turn actuates the floating piston (3). The actuation of the floating piston (3) causes the spring (4) to get compressed or relaxed. This actuation provides a provision to adjust collapsed and extended length of the front fork (100) over the length for giving a provision of adjusting spring pre-compression and to lift or lower the handle to required height based on rider’s choice.

In an embodiment, the first limb (1) and the second limb (2) of the front fork (100) are of same design and contain identical functional elements. The first limb (1) and the second limb (2) are operable electronically and contribute a simultaneous up and down movements. In a preferred embodiment, the first limb (1) and the second limb (2) operate independently with separate motors. In an alternate embodiment, the first limb (1) and the second limb (2) are operated by a single motor with a common connector.

Advantages of the invention:

1. The front fork (100) provides a better riding comfort without any structural modification.
2. The front fork (100) is adaptable design to upgrade the existing motor cycles without much complexity.
3. The existing front fork can be modified into the present invention front fork (100) without changing any external structure and mounting.
4. The front fork (100) is equipped with user friendly adjustment for rider handle height holding comfort.
5. The front fork (100) provides better riding experience on race and city mode of riding.
6. The front fork (100) can be upgraded to an automatic height adjustment feature in future.
7. The height adjustment feature of the front fork (100) can be automatically controlled based on the speed of the vehicle and surrounding environment in future.

The foregoing descriptions of specific embodiments of the present invention have been presented for purposes of illustration and description. They are not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the present invention to the precise forms disclosed, and obviously many modifications and variations are possible in light of the above teaching. The embodiments were chosen and described in order to best explain the principles of the present invention and its practical application, and to thereby enable others skilled in the art to best utilize the present invention and various embodiments with various modifications as are suited to the particular use contemplated. It is understood that various omissions and substitutions of equivalents are contemplated as circumstances may suggest or render expedient, but such omissions and substitutions are intended to cover the application or implementation without departing from the scope of the claims of the present invention. ,CLAIMS:We claim:

1. A ride adjustable front fork (100) for a vehicle, the ride adjustable front fork (100) comprising:
a top end fixed at a handle of the vehicle and a bottom end fixed with a front wheel of the vehicle;
a first limb (1) and a second limb (2) arranged on left and right hand sides of the vehicle, each limb (1, 2) comprising,
a spring assembly (20) configured inside the each limb (1, 2), the spring assembly (20) including,
• a floating piston (3),
• functional oil,
• a spring (4),
• a connector (5), and
• an orifice (11) at a top side thereof,
wherein, an upper part of the spring assembly (20) has an additional chamber for separating the functional oil with the floating piston (3), and
a piston actuating assembly (30) connected to the each limb (1, 2) through a connector (5) at the orifice (11) of the spring assembly (20), the piston actuating assembly (30) including,
• a reservoir (6),
• a reservoir piston (10),
• a fluid (9) filled in a top chamber of the reservoir (6) for actuation, and
• a motor (8) fixed at bottom of the reservoir piston (10) using a motor mounting bracket (7);
wherein, the spring assembly (20) is backed by the floating piston (3) that is actuated through the reservoir piston (10); and
wherein, upon initiating operation of the motor (8), the motor (8) rotates in clockwise and anti-clockwise direction that in-turn moves the reservoir piston (10) up and down to push the fluid (9) through the reservoir piston (10) in the reservoir (6) for actuating the floating piston (3), thereby causing the spring (4) to get compressed and relaxed for adjusting collapsed and extended length of the front fork (100) and giving a provision of adjusting spring pre-compression and to lift or lower the handle to required height based on rider’s choice.

2. The ride adjustable front fork (100) for the vehicle as claimed in the claim 1, wherein the fluid (9) filled in the reservoir (6) is a high viscous fluid.

3. The ride adjustable front fork (100) for the vehicle as claimed in the claim 1, wherein the motor (8) is a stepper motor operated by a drive mechanism coupled thereto.

4. The ride adjustable front fork (100) for the vehicle as claimed in the claim 1, wherein the top end moves up and down based on the actuation of the reservoir piston (10), thereby allowing the rider to adjust a height of the handle for three different modes of ride including a cruiser ride mode for long drives, a city ride mode for normal ride and a racing mode for sporting ride.

5. The ride adjustable front fork (100) for the vehicle as claimed in the claim 1, wherein a switching mechanism is provided on a dashboard of the vehicle that involves a programmable controlled board (PCB) for electronically operating the front fork (100) to initiate required motor operation.

6. The ride adjustable front fork (100) for the vehicle as claimed in the claim 1, wherein the first limb (1) and the second limb (2) are operable electronically and contribute a simultaneous up and down movements.

7. The ride adjustable front fork (100) for the vehicle as claimed in the claim 1, wherein the first limb (1) and the second limb (2) operate independently with separate motors.

8. The ride adjustable front fork (100) for the vehicle as claimed in the claim 1, wherein the first limb (1) and the second limb (2) are operated by a single motor with a common connector.

Dated this on 22nd day of January 2019

Madhavi Vajirakar
(Agent for the applicant)
(IN/PA-2337)