US 11,814,137 B2
Rear wheel sprocket arrangement
Henrik Braedt, Hambach (DE); and Matthias Reinbold, Würzburg (DE)
Assigned to SRAM DEUTSCHLAND GmbH, Schweinfurt (DE)
Filed by SRAM DEUTSCHLAND GmbH, Schweinfurt (DE)
Filed on Jul. 18, 2018, as Appl. No. 16/038,970.
Application 16/038,970 is a continuation of application No. 15/085,570, filed on Mar. 30, 2016, granted, now 10,053,186.
Claims priority of application No. 10 2015 205 736.4 (DE), filed on Mar. 30, 2015.
Prior Publication US 2018/0319458 A1, Nov. 8, 2018
Int. Cl. B62M 9/10 (2006.01); B25B 27/00 (2006.01); F16H 55/30 (2006.01); B62M 9/02 (2006.01); B62M 9/12 (2006.01)
CPC B62M 9/10 (2013.01) [B25B 27/0071 (2013.01); F16H 55/30 (2013.01); B62M 9/12 (2013.01)] 18 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A bicycle rear wheel sprocket arrangement which can be rotated about a sprocket rotation axis, comprising:
a plurality of sprockets which are coaxial with respect to the sprocket rotation axis and are arranged with axial spacing from each other and have different numbers of teeth which are constructed for positive-locking engagement with a bicycle chain, the plurality of sprockets having:
a gear range quotient which is formed by division of the number of teeth of a sprocket of the plurality of sprockets having the largest diameter by the number of teeth of a sprocket of the plurality of sprockets having the smallest diameter, and
a packing density quotient formed by division of a number of sprockets in the sprocket arrangement by the axial spacing measured in millimeters of axially outermost sprockets from each other,
wherein the plurality of sprockets has a gear range packing coefficient, formed from a product of the gear range quotient and the packing density quotient, which is greater than 1.25 and two axially adjacent sprockets are constructed separately from each other and are connected so as to transmit torque by a plurality of connectors which bridge an axial gap existing between the adjacent sprockets; and
a bicycle roller chain having a plurality of rollers which are arranged in an equidistant manner in a longitudinal chain direction with parallel roller rotation axes, which rollers are connected to each other alternately via pairs of parallel inner plates and outer plates, wherein each inner plate is arranged between the roller and an outer plate in a region of a roller connected thereto in the direction of the roller rotation axis, and both the outer plates and the inner plates have a smaller height in a longitudinal center portion than in longitudinal end portions thereof,
wherein the plurality of connectors are connected radially in a position so far outwards with the smaller of the two axially adjacent sprockets that a radially inner edge of the longitudinal end portions of the inner plates and/or outer plates is located nearer the sprocket rotation axis than a radially outer edge of the connectors during a meshing engagement of the bicycle chain with the smaller of the two axially adjacent sprockets.