Articulated Stirrup with Embedded Support for Weight Reduction
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing articulated stirrups are heavy due to metal construction, which affects overall weight and reliability, necessitating a design that reduces weight while maintaining safety and structural integrity.
Innovation Solution
An articulated stirrup with a plastic body that embeds a tensile material support part and lower holding parts, ensuring structural integrity and weight reduction, with the support part connected to the lower holding parts to maintain function even if the plastic body fails, and using materials that protect against rust.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If the stepping plate is made of metal to ensure robustness and reliability, then the structural strength is improved, but the overall weight of the stirrup increases significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The stirrup combines a plastic body with embedded tensile material (metal) to create a composite structure. The plastic provides the main body and shape while the embedded tensile material provides structural strength where needed, achieving both weight reduction and maintained strength.
Solution Approach 2:
The stirrup is divided into different material zones: the main body is plastic for weight reduction, while specific load-bearing areas contain embedded tensile material for strength. This segmentation allows each material to be used where it is most effective.
2Weight of moving object
If the plastic body is used to reduce weight, then the overall weight is reduced, but the structural integrity and reliability may be compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The tensile material is embedded in the plastic body in advance to provide backup strength and prevent catastrophic failure. Even if the plastic body fails, the embedded metal ensures the stirrup continues to function safely.
Solution Approach 2:
The composite structure of plastic with embedded metal provides both weight reduction and reliability. The metal reinforcement ensures structural integrity is maintained despite using lighter plastic material for the main body.
3Adaptability or versatility
If the center of gravity is positioned at a greater distance from the footplate, then the adaptability to different riding requirements is improved, but the structural design complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The articulated design with movable joints allows the center of gravity to be adjusted and positioned at greater distances from the footplate when needed. The flexibility of the articulated structure enables dynamic repositioning without requiring a completely rigid complex framework.
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2~4
Figure 5~6
AI summary
The invention is concerned with an articulated stirrup with a footplate (20) and with a U-shaped clamp (22) which has two lateral limbs (24, 26) and articulated regions (30) arranged therein, wherein said articulated regions (30) have an upper retaining part (41), a lower retaining part (42) and a hinge part (43), for example part of a bicycle chain, arranged between said two retaining parts. The lower retaining part reaches into the footplate (20). The footplate (20) has a supporting part (44) and a plastic body. The supporting part (44) is arranged within said plastic body (48) and connects the lower retaining parts to each other.