Adjustable Width Cargo Bike for Narrow Path Transport
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Solution Overview
Problem
Cargo bicycles face challenges with stability, steerability, and comfort when carrying large loads like Euro pallets, especially on cycle paths, due to limited load capacity and width constraints, and the difficulty in loading and unloading such heavy loads without manual assistance.
Innovation Solution
A cargo bike design featuring an adjustable wheel system and a liftable load carrier with retractable lifting tines, allowing the wheels to shift under the load, reducing the bike's width during transport and enabling easy loading and unloading of heavy loads without manual handling.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Quantity of substance
If the loading platform is supported by two adjacent wheels rising up next to the loading platform, then the load capacity is increased, but the width of the vehicle becomes significantly wider than the loading area and the load
Solution Approach 1:
The wheel units are made laterally movable relative to the load carrier, allowing them to shift between a loading position (spread apart) and a driving position (narrower). This dynamic adjustment enables the vehicle to accommodate wide loads during loading while maintaining a narrower profile during transport on cycle paths.
Solution Approach 2:
The wheel units are separated into independent, laterally movable components rather than being fixed in position. This segmentation allows each wheel unit to be positioned independently - spread apart for loading operations and brought closer together for narrow-path transport, resolving the contradiction between load capacity and vehicle width.
2Quantity of substance
If the loading platform is designed to accommodate large loads like Euro pallets, then the load capacity is improved, but the stability and steerability on cycle paths deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The wheel units can dynamically adjust their lateral position - spread apart during loading to support wide loads like Euro pallets, and brought closer together during transport to improve stability and steerability on narrow cycle paths. This dynamic reconfiguration allows the vehicle to optimize its geometry for different operational phases.
3Device complexity
If manual handling is used to load and unload heavy loads, then the device complexity is reduced, but the ease of operation deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The liftable load carrier with lifting tines provides a simple mechanical lifting mechanism that actively raises and lowers heavy loads, eliminating the need for manual handling. The lateral movability of wheel units further assists by positioning wheels under the load during transport, providing passive support and reducing the effort required for loading and unloading operations.
Data Source
Figure 1a
Figure 1c~1d
Figure 2a
AI summary
In order to make a cargo bike (1) with a chassis (2) as narrow as possible even when loaded, the load part (2b) is adjustable in width between a wide loading position, in which the wheel units move laterally next to the load (P) to load the load (P), while lifting forks (12a, b) move under the load (P), then, with the load (P) raised by the lifting forks, the wheel units (29a, b) move under the central module (31) of the load part (2b), so that the load part (2b) and thus the cargo bike (1) is no longer wider than the loaded load (P).