Trunk-Mounted Bicycle Rack with Adjustable Pivot Hinges
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current trunk-mounted bicycle racks lack adjustability and stability, making it difficult to securely fit on various vehicles and limiting movement during use, which can lead to damage to bicycles or vehicles.
Innovation Solution
An adjustable bicycle rack design featuring a pivot member with multiple channels, hinge assemblies, and latch assemblies that allow for adjustable positioning and secure attachment to vehicles, along with bicycle support members that can be easily secured using straps, ensuring a snug fit and minimizing movement.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If a fixed design rack is used, then the structure is simple, but it cannot adapt to different vehicle sizes and shapes
Solution Approach 1:
The rack employs adjustable support members with multiple positioning holes that can be repositioned along the longitudinal and lateral directions, allowing the rack to adapt to different vehicle trunk shapes and sizes. This dynamic adjustability resolves the contradiction between maintaining structural simplicity and achieving versatility across different vehicle types.
Solution Approach 2:
The rack design incorporates universal mounting features including multiple attachment points and adjustable support members that can accommodate various vehicle configurations. The same rack structure can be adapted to different vehicle types through repositioning components, achieving multi-functionality without requiring multiple specialized rack designs.
2Reliability
If insufficient connectors are used, then the device complexity is reduced, but the rack and bicycles move during transport
Solution Approach 1:
The rack integrates multiple connector functions into unified mounting structures. The support members simultaneously provide structural support, positioning adjustment, and bicycle securing functions through their dual role as both structural elements and attachment points, reducing the total number of separate connectors needed while maintaining stability.
Solution Approach 2:
The rack includes pre-positioned attachment points and connectors that are strategically placed to secure bicycles before transport begins. The design incorporates ready-to-use mounting holes and connector locations that eliminate the need for additional connectors during loading, ensuring stability is achieved with fewer total connectors.
3Adaptability or versatility
If limited adjustment range is provided, then the device complexity is reduced, but the rack cannot properly fit various vehicles
Solution Approach 1:
The support members are divided into multiple segments with discrete positioning holes at regular intervals along their length. This segmentation allows for incremental adjustment in small steps, providing fine-tuned adaptability to different vehicle dimensions without requiring complex continuous adjustment mechanisms. Each segment can be independently positioned to achieve the optimal fit.
Data Source
AI summary
A bicycle rack for mounting on the trunk or rear hatch of a vehicle is described with improved mechanisms for adjusting the components of the rack to fit the rack to different vehicles. The rack is provided with hinge assemblies having releasable latches for quickly releasing the hinges to allow the rack components to be moved with respect to one another, and the latching components back into a fixed configuration during use for carrying a bicycle. The bicycle rack is also provided with inventive support members for holding a bicycle on the rack during use.