Blade-Shield Hand Guard Lighting for Mountain Bikes
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Solution Overview
Problem
The integration of hand guards and lights on handlebars leads to non-optimal lighting positions and crowding with other components, resulting in suboptimal performance and safety issues during low-light or night activities in motor and mountain biking.
Innovation Solution
An integrated hand guard lighting system featuring a blade-shaped shield with a built-in illumination source, such as LEDs, mounted on a handlebar with a standoff to maintain hand protection and provide optimal lighting by spacing the light source away from the gripping region, allowing for wider beam coverage and reduced shadowing.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If separate hand guards and lights are mounted on handlebars, then hand protection and illumination functions are provided, but the lighting position becomes non-optimal and component crowding occurs
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines the hand guard and lighting system into a single integrated housing structure. The blade-shaped shield portion serves as both the hand protection element and the mounting structure for the illumination source, eliminating the need for separate hand guard and light mounts on the handlebars.
Solution Approach 2:
The housing structure performs multiple functions simultaneously: it provides hand protection through the blade-shaped shield portion, mounts the illumination source for lighting, and attaches to the handlebar via the mount. This multi-functional design reduces component crowding while optimizing lighting position.
2Object-affected harmful factors
If illumination source is placed close to handlebar for hand protection, then hand shielding is effective, but lighting coverage is reduced and shadows increase
Solution Approach 1:
The illumination source is positioned on the frontal surface of the blade-shaped shield portion, utilizing the third dimension (depth) to place the light source at an optimal distance from the handlebar. This spatial arrangement allows the light to project forward without being blocked by the handlebar or gripping region, improving lighting coverage while maintaining hand protection.
3Adaptability or versatility
If multiple components are mounted on handlebars, then all necessary functions are available, but gripping region becomes crowded and access is difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The hand guard and lighting system are merged into a single integrated assembly that mounts to the handlebar as one unit. This consolidation reduces the number of separate components in the gripping region, improving ease of operation while maintaining all necessary functions.
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
The system provides enhanced hand protection and improved lighting by positioning the illumination source away from the gripping region, ensuring better visibility and minimizing shadows, while maintaining compatibility with various handlebar configurations.
Implementation Method 1
an illumination source disposed at the frontal surface to illuminate a path outward in a direction away from the gripping region
Data Source
AI summary
An integrated hand guard lighting system for use with various mountain bike and motor sports vehicles. The combination lighting apparatus and hand guard comprises a mount for releasably coupling to a handlebar and a housing coupled to the mount, the housing having a blade-shaped shield portion that is spaced apart a specified distance from the handlebar to allow for a user to grip the handlebar. The blade-shaped shield portion of the housing includes a frontal surface configured to extend along a gripping region of the handlebar to shield the user's hand while gripping the handlebar, and includes an illumination source disposed at the frontal surface to illuminate a path outward in a direction away from the gripping region.