Bicycle Rack Skirts and Post for Grocery Bag Protection
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing bicycle cargo devices are not well-suited for carrying grocery bags, which are often made of sheet polymer with handles, as they lack a secure and protective mechanism to hold these items away from the rear wheel during transport.
Innovation Solution
A rear-mounted bicycle rack with a generally upright post for engaging grocery bag handles and side skirts to protect the bags from the wheel, which can be folded up when not in use, providing a platform with a T-bar for bag engagement and adjustable skirts for protection and storage.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If a rear-mounted bicycle rack is used to carry grocery bags, then the bags can be transported on the bicycle, but the bags may come into contact with the rear wheel causing damage or loss
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces skirts as intermediary protective elements that extend downward from the rack platform to surround the rear wheel area. These skirts act as a physical barrier between the grocery bags and the rear wheel, preventing direct contact while allowing the rack to maintain its cargo-carrying function. The skirts are specifically designed to deflect bags away from the wheel without interfering with the bag-holding capability of the rack.
2Object-affected harmful factors
If skirts are added to protect bags from the wheel, then bag protection is improved, but the rack structure becomes more complex
Solution Approach 1:
The skirts are designed with flexible, movable connections to the rack platform, allowing them to dynamically adjust their position. The skirts can be folded up or adjusted when not in use, and they flexibly adapt to different bag sizes and shapes. This dynamic design provides protection when needed while minimizing structural complexity and allowing easy storage when the protection function is not required.
3Object-affected harmful factors
If the rack is designed with fixed protective skirts, then bag protection is continuous, but the rack cannot be easily stored when not in use
Solution Approach 1:
The skirts are constructed with hinge joints and flexible connections that enable them to be folded up along predetermined lines when not in use. This dynamic structure allows the skirts to transition between an extended protective position and a compact folded position, providing both continuous protection when needed and ease of storage when the rack is not carrying bags.
Data Source
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AI summary
The rear-mounted bike rack has a platform on which an upright post is pivotable to a stored position. The handles of grocery bags can be engaged on the post. The bike rack has skirts which hang down outside the wheel to prevent the grocery bags from engaging on the rear wheel of the bicycle. The skirts can be folded up onto the platform when not needed. An optional carrier box can be mounted on the platform.