Power-Assisted Bicycle Braking for Uphill Rollback Prevention
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing electric assist bicycles struggle to quickly prevent unintended backward movement, particularly when a user's finger accidentally slips off the operation unit during push-walking on an upslope.
Innovation Solution
The electric assist bicycle incorporates a control unit that switches between modes to add auxiliary driving force from an electric motor to human pedaling or pushing force, and includes a braking device that applies force to prevent backward movement based on conditions such as detecting an upslope or unintended backward movement.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the electric assist bicycle uses manual operation of the operation unit to switch between modes, then the user can control the mode switching, but the response time to prevent unintended backward movement is delayed
Solution Approach 1:
The control unit continuously monitors the operation unit state and riding device state in advance, so when backward movement is detected or the operation unit is released, the braking device can be activated immediately without waiting for manual user response. This preliminary monitoring and automatic triggering mechanism eliminates the time delay associated with manual operation.
2Reliability
If the braking device is always activated to prevent backward movement, then safety is improved, but the ease of operation during push-walking is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The braking device activation state is dynamically adjusted based on real-time detection of riding device state and backward movement. The braking force is applied only when backward movement is detected or the operation unit is released, rather than being continuously applied. This dynamic control maintains safety while avoiding interference with normal push-walking operations.
Solution Approach 2:
The control unit continuously monitors the state of the riding device and detects backward movement, then provides feedback to the braking device to activate or deactivate braking force accordingly. This feedback mechanism ensures the braking device operates only when necessary, maintaining safety without compromising ease of operation during normal push-walking.
3Reliability
If the system adds automatic braking function to prevent backward movement, then safety is improved, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The control unit serves multiple functions: it controls mode switching between first and second modes, monitors the operation unit state, detects riding device state including backward movement, and controls the braking device activation. By making the control unit multi-functional, the patent avoids adding separate dedicated components for each function, thereby limiting the increase in device complexity while achieving comprehensive backward movement prevention.
Data Source
AI summary
A power assisted bicycle, which is one example of an embodiment, is provided with a braking device that imparts braking force for suppressing backward movement of the body of the bicycle when a predetermined braking condition is met, a control device, and a push-walking operation unit. The braking condition under which the braking device operates includes at least one selected from, for example, an uphill slope being detected and the bicycle being detected to be moving backwards, after operation of the push-walking operation unit has ended.