Backpack Generator Shaft Parallel Orientation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing back-pack generator assemblies often have shafts orthogonal to the user's body axis, leading to potential banging against external structures and limited ergonomic design for comfortable carrying and easy deployment.
Innovation Solution
A back-pack generator assembly with a shaft assembly where one or more shafts are parallel to the user's longitudinal axis, supported by an elongate frame with deployable legs and padded straps, allowing for comfortable carrying and easy deployment on the ground, and a modular design for quick replacement of generator sets or battery packs.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Object-affected harmful factors
If the shaft is positioned orthogonal to the user's body axis, then the generator assembly can be compactly designed, but it may bang against external structures when carried on the back
Solution Approach 1:
The patent inverts the conventional orthogonal shaft orientation by positioning the shaft substantially parallel to the user's longitudinal axis. This inversion reorients the generator assembly from a side-mounted configuration to a front-to-back configuration, allowing the generator to be positioned within the user's body periphery rather than protruding outward, thereby preventing banging against external structures.
2Productivity
If the generator set is fixed to the frame at multiple positions, then the assembly is stable during carrying, but replacement of generator sets or battery packs becomes time-consuming
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the generator set from a permanently fixed configuration and makes it removable from the carrier frame. By providing removable mounting arrangements rather than permanent fixed connections, the system enables quick extraction and replacement of generator sets or battery packs while maintaining stability during carrying through proper mounting design.
3Device complexity
If a common shaft couples the engine and alternator directly, then the device complexity is reduced and weight is saved, but manufacturing precision requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the engine shaft and alternator shaft into a single common shaft that directly couples the engine to the alternator without intermediate gearboxes. This consolidation reduces the number of separate components and simplifies the overall drivetrain, while the direct coupling arrangement inherently reduces precision requirements compared to multi-stage gear systems.
Data Source
AI summary
A generator assembly suitable for being carried on the back of a human comprising an internal combustion engine an alternator and a shaft driven by said engine and driving said alternator wherein when said generator assembly is being carried on the back of a human said shaft is substantially parallel to a longitudinal axis of said human. This enhances the manoeuvrability of the assembly. Preferably the assembly comprises a generator module having an engine and an alternator coupled directly by a common shaft, the generator module being attached to a frame of the assembly at only two longitudinally spaced-apart positions.