Foldable Seat Latching Mechanism for Faster Scooter Setup
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing compact personal transport devices, such as electric scooters, require significant time to set up and collapse, hindering their widespread use.
Innovation Solution
A latching mechanism with a pivot mechanism, clamp, latch arm, and catch receiver secures the seat in a riding configuration, allowing quick transition between riding and stowed configurations through a downward clamping force and a sliding release element.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If a traditional folding mechanism is used for the seat, then the seat can be collapsed for portability, but the setup and collapse process takes significant time
Solution Approach 1:
The latch arm is designed to pivot between a locked position (providing secure attachment) and a unlocked position (allowing rapid detachment). This dynamic mechanism enables the seat to transition quickly between secured and unsecured states, addressing the time loss issue while maintaining operational ease
Solution Approach 2:
The latching mechanism extracts the critical locking function from the overall seat structure, isolating it in a separate, easily operable component. This allows the seat to be quickly detached from the scooter without requiring complex manipulation of the entire seat assembly, thereby reducing setup and collapse time
2Reliability
If a secure latching mechanism is implemented to hold the seat firmly, then the seat stability is improved, but the mechanism complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The latch arm combines multiple functions into a single component: it provides the locking action, supports the seat weight, and serves as a structural connection element. This merging reduces the number of separate parts needed for secure attachment, maintaining reliability while minimizing mechanism complexity
Solution Approach 2:
The latching mechanism is segmented into distinct functional elements: the latch arm for locking, the catch receiver for engagement, and the pivot mechanism for motion control. This segmentation allows each component to be optimized independently, achieving secure attachment through simple, well-defined parts rather than complex integrated structures
Data Source
AI summary
A foldable seat assembly for a personal transport device is described. The seat assembly includes a seat having a seat surface and a seat post attached to an underside of the seat. The seat assembly also includes a latching mechanism having a pivot mechanism, a clamp located above the pivot mechanism, a latch arm attached to the pivot mechanism at a pivot end of the latch arm, a hooked catch disposed at a catch end of the latch arm opposite the pivot end, and a catch receiver associated with the underside of the seat. The catch receiver engages with the hooked catch of the latch arm. When the clamp is in a locked position, the hooked catch exerts a downward clamping force on the catch receiver to secure the seat in a riding configuration so that the seat surface has a horizontal orientation.