Stand for a motorcycle

Field of invention

The present invention relates to "Stand for a motorcycle" and more particularly to a centre stand assembly used in motorcycles for parking.

Description of the prior art

Generally motorcycles have a centre stand mounted on it. The centre stand is in form of a fabricated structure having two legs of tubes or rods welded with sheet metal brackets and other parts. The centre stand is pivoted to the bottom portion of vehicle frame structure. The centre stand is held in retracted position with the help of at least one spring when the vehicle is in running condition. When the rider decides to park the vehicle, the rider shifts the centre stand to near vertical position by applying force on the extended arm provided at the bottom of the centre stand and pulls the vehicle backwards or lift the vehicle by holding the handle bar and other rear part of the vehicle, so that the said stand supports the central portion of the vehicle. The vehicle will be near vertical position when it is parked with centre stand. In this condition either the front or rear wheel of the vehicle will be above the ground and the whole vehicle weight is taken by the stand. Generally putting the vehicle on to the centre stand is considerably difficult owing to requirement of sufficient force for lifting the vehicle. This depends upon the vehicle weight, the load on the vehicle at the time of putting the vehicle on stand etc. Even though extended lever is provided in the said stand this leverage is always not adequate with heavy load on the vehicle. To address this problem side stand or prop stand is provided which comprises of single propping leg attached to the frame structure as they are very easy to put even while sitting on the vehicle and park the vehicle, the vehicle being propped up at an inclination to the ground. Typically the inclination of the vehicle when viewed from the rear will be around 16 deg with respect to the vertical plane. This inclination is required which otherwise will lead to the vehicle in unstable condition. Consequent to the leaning of the vehicle, the space occupied by the vehicle during parking is more as compared to vehicle parked with the centre stand. Further, the side stand is less susceptible to hold heavy weight or extra load compared to a centre stand. Therefore a need arises to address the above said lacuna in the prior art of known side stand and centre stand and provide a solution for easy mounting of the stand irrespective of the loading condition on the vehicle

Another objective of the invention is to provide a balancing means in the vehicle that facilitates easy balancing means of vehicle while applying the centre stand.

Another objective of the invention is to facilitate the application of the centre stand even when the rider is sitting on the motorcycle.

Another objective of the invention is to facilitate the application of the centre stand even when there is extra load in the vehicle apart from the weight of the rider himself.

Brief description of the invention

A centre stand assembly for a motorcycle comprising a pair of legs left and right, a pivot tube connected to the said legs, where the ratio between the centre stand pivot length and the span between bottommost of the said legs is at least 1:3 to substantiate vehicle load distribution to either wheels and with the said motorcycle tilting with respect to vertical to the tune of maximum of 15 degrees during parked condition. Also a lever is provided at the bottom of the either leg to facilitate putting the said motorcycle on the stand. Each of the legs of the centre stand gradually tapers down to at most half its length, and then bends and goes parallel to the ground for about at least one fourth of its total length and bends further down at least 80 degrees before coming in contact with ground.

Brief description of drawings

Figure 1 illustrates side view of a motorcycle according to the present invention

Figure 2 illustrates rear view of motorcycle frame structure along with the centre stand according to the present invention

Figure 3 illustrates an isometric view of centre stand according to the present invention

Figure 4 illustrates front and side view of the centre stand according to the present invention

Detailed description of the invention

A selected illustrative embodiment of the present invention will be now described with respect to the accompanying figures 1,2,3 and 4. A motorcycle comprises of a frame 101, front fork 102 attached to a pivot tube 103 of the vehicle frame 101, a front wheel 104 attached to these front forks 102, a handle bar 105 connected to the front forks 102, a fuel tank 106 attached so as to straddle an upper part of the vehicle frame 101, a seat 107 attached to the upper rear portion of the vehicle frame 101, an engine unit 108 attached to the lower front section of the vehicle frame 101, a swing arm 109 attached to a lower rear section of the vehicle frame 101, suspended by a rear shock absorber 110 from the vehicle frame 101 and a rear wheel 111 attached to a rear end of swing arm 109. The intake system of the engine (not shown in the figure) comprises of a carburettor, intake duct and an air cleaner. The exhaust system of the engine (not shown in the figure) comprises of exhaust pipe and a muffler.

The motorcycle is also provided with a side cover 112 for covering a side section of the vehicle frame 101, a seat cover (not shown in the figure) for covering a rear section of the vehicle frame 101 below the seat 107, a front fender 113 for covering an upper part of the front wheel 104, and a rear fender 114 for covering an upper part of the rear wheel 111.

For supporting the vehicle during parking condition a centre stand 201 is provided.

The centre stand 201 is supported by a laterally extending pivot shaft on a lower end of the stand bracket that is welded to the bottom tube 115 of the vehicle frame.

A typical centre stand consists of a pair of legs 202, a pivot tube 203 connected to the said legs 202, a spring attachment hook plate on the left leg for retaining the stand under tension by a spring 205 in the released state, and a stopper plate 207 for the stand to rest on the frame 101 in the parked state. A lever 208 is provided on the bottom end of the leg 202 to enable the rider to put the vehicle on stand and a gusset plate 209 reinforces it. In the proposed invention, each leg 202 of the centre stand 201 gradually tapers down to half of its total length. Thereafter, it bends and goes parallel to the ground for about one- third of the total length of the leg 202 and bends further down at nearly ninety degrees before coming into contact with the ground thru' the shoe plate 210. The ratio between the centre stand pivot length 502 and the span between the bottommost parts of the said legs 501 is at least 1:4. At the bottom most part of the legs 202, shoe plate 210 is provided for contacting the ground surface when the vehicle is on stand. The shoe plate's 210 surface area is increased comprehensively to provide larger contacting surface area. A bridge 211 and a stiffener plate 212 for providing strength and rigidity to the structure connect the two legs 202. The total height of the centre stand 201 is made such that when the stand is applied, the two wheels touch the ground and share the load between them. When the vehicle is parked condition with the centre stand 201, inclination of the vehicle is restricted is to a maximum of 10 degrees to either side of the vehicle with respect to vertical as viewed from rear side and further both the wheels are touching the ground.

As a result of the above said arrangement, the total vehicle load is shared by the two wheels and hence makes the proposed invention load independent. Also the force required to lift the stand 201 is load independent too. The user can easily put the centre stand 201 with least effort by sitting on the vehicle irrespective of the loading condition of the vehicle. This arrangement is also applicable to other two wheelers like scooters, mopeds, etc.

We claim:

1. A centre stand assembly for a motorcycle comprising:

a pair of legs left and right;

a pivot tube connected to the said legs;

wherein the ratio between the centre stand pivot length and the span between bottommost of the said legs is at least 1:3 to substantiate vehicle load distribution to either wheels and with the said motorcycle tilting with respect to vertical to the tune of maximum of 15 degrees during parked condition.

2. The centre stand assembly as claimed in claim 1, wherein a lever is provided at the bottom of the either leg to facilitate putting the said motorcycle on the stand.

3. The centre stand assembly as claimed in claim 1, wherein each legs gradually tapers down to at most half its length, and then bends and goes parallel to the ground for about at least one fourth of its total length and bends further down at least 80 degrees before coming in contact with ground.

4. The centre stand assembly as claimed in claim 1, wherein at the bottom part of each of the said legs, shoe plates are provided for contacting the ground surface.

5. The centre stand assembly as claimed in claim 1, wherein a bridge along with a stiffener plate is provided between the two legs.

6. A motorcycle having a centre stand assembly comprising:

a pair of legs left and right;

a pivot tube connected to the said legs;

wherein the ratio between the centre stand pivot length and the span between bottommost of the said legs is at least 1:3 to substantiate vehicle load distribution to either wheels and with the said motorcycle tilting with respect to vertical to the tune of maximum of 15 degrees during parked condition.