Bicycle Frame Lug Shaped Bonded Plates
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional bicycle frame production is hindered by high production costs, low productivity, and contraction issues due to the casting process used for lug production, which also limits design flexibility.
Innovation Solution
The bicycle frame incorporates a lug produced by shaping and bonding at least two plates, reducing the need for casting and enhancing the bonding structure, allowing for improved productivity and cost reduction while minimizing contraction.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If a casting process is used to produce lugs, then the lug can be manufactured with complex shapes, but the production time is long and production costs increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the manufacturing method from casting to a combination of plate forming and bonding processes. This parameter change in the manufacturing approach eliminates the long production time and high costs associated with casting while maintaining the ability to produce lugs with required shapes and structural integrity.
Solution Approach 2:
The lug is divided into multiple plates that are formed separately and then bonded together. This segmentation allows each plate to be manufactured independently using faster forming processes, avoiding the time-consuming single-piece casting process while still achieving the complex three-dimensional lug structure.
2Ease of manufacture
If a casting process is used to produce lugs, then the lugs can be manufactured, but quenching contraction occurs and production costs increase
Solution Approach 1:
The manufacturing process is changed from thermal casting to mechanical forming and bonding. This eliminates the quenching contraction problem inherent in casting by using room-temperature or low-temperature plate forming processes followed by bonding, thereby maintaining dimensional precision without contraction defects.
Solution Approach 2:
The lug is constructed as a composite structure made from multiple metal plates bonded together. This composite approach allows the use of plates with controlled dimensions and properties that do not undergo contraction, and the bonding process joins them without the thermal contraction issues of casting.
3Ease of manufacture
If a casting process is used to produce lugs, then the lugs can be manufactured, but the degree of freedom of shaping form is low and additional processing is required
Solution Approach 1:
By dividing the lug into multiple plates, the design gains flexibility in shaping. Each plate can be formed independently with different geometries, and their combination through bonding creates complex three-dimensional lug structures that would be difficult or impossible to achieve with traditional casting methods.
Solution Approach 2:
The lug design transitions from being constrained by single-piece casting geometry to utilizing multi-plate assemblies that can achieve complex spatial configurations. This dimensional approach allows freedom in shaping by combining simple formed plates into complex three-dimensional lug structures with optimized bonding surfaces.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This approach reduces production costs, minimizes quenching contraction, and increases design flexibility by using a bonding method that replaces the casting process, thereby enhancing the bonding structure and form of the lug connected to the tube.
Implementation Method 1
the lug is produced by shaping and vertically or laterally bonding at least two plates
Data Source
AI summary
The present disclosure is directed to a bicycle frame having a lug that is connected with a tube. The lug may be produced by shaping and bonding at least two plates.