Adjustable Skateboard Footpads With T-Slot Traction Inserts
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing electric skateboards lack customizable features that allow riders to personalize their boards according to their preferences, limiting user engagement and functionality.
Innovation Solution
A footpad assembly for self-balancing electric vehicles featuring customizable foot engagement structures, including recesses and inserts with T-slots and adjustable foot engagement members, which enhance traction and prevent undesired foot motion.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If electric skateboards use fixed, non-customizable footpads, then manufacturing is simpler and device complexity is lower, but user adaptability and customization options are limited
Solution Approach 1:
The footpad is divided into multiple components: a base footpad structure, removable inserts with T-slots, and adjustable foot engagement members. This segmentation allows users to customize different aspects of the footpad independently while keeping the overall structure manageable and manufacturable.
Solution Approach 2:
The foot engagement members are designed to be adjustable along the T-slot channels, allowing dynamic repositioning to accommodate different foot sizes, shapes, and rider preferences. This dynamic adjustability provides customization without requiring multiple fixed configurations.
2Reliability
If electric skateboards add customizable foot engagement structures, then user experience and safety are improved, but manufacturing complexity and assembly difficulty increase
Solution Approach 1:
The T-slot insert design serves multiple functions: it provides structural reinforcement, creates adjustment channels for foot engagement members, and offers mounting features for various customization options. This multi-functionality reduces the need for separate components, simplifying manufacturing despite the added customization capabilities.
Solution Approach 2:
The foot engagement members are designed to be easily adjustable and repositionable by users without requiring special tools or complex assembly procedures. The T-slot configuration allows users to independently customize their own footpads, reducing manufacturing and assembly complexity.
3Stability of the object's composition
If electric skateboards provide adjustable foot engagement members, then rider stability and control are enhanced, but device complexity and number of components increase
Solution Approach 1:
The foot engagement members are integrated with the T-slot inserts, combining the structural support function with the adjustment mechanism into a unified component system. This merging reduces the total number of separate parts while maintaining adjustability and stability functions.
Solution Approach 2:
The T-slot channels provide adjustment in multiple directions and positions along the footpad surface, adding dimensional flexibility to the foot engagement system. This allows stable foot positioning without requiring multiple discrete components for each possible position.
Data Source
AI summary
Footpad assemblies of the present disclosure include a footpad configured to be coupled to a frame of an electric vehicle and a foot engagement structure coupled to the footpad. The foot engagement structure is configured to contact the rider's foot to prevent undesired movement of the rider's foot during use of the electric vehicle. The footpad includes a recess defined in an upper surface of the footpad and an insert is disposed in the recess and coupled to the footpad. The insert is operatively coupled to the foot engagement structure. The foot engagement structure may comprise a foot stop extending above the footpad and configured to abut a side portion of the rider's foot and/or a traction insert configured to contact a bottom of the user's foot to provide grip or traction. The position and rotational orientation of the foot stop relative to the footpad is configured to be adjustable by a user.