Hinged Barbell Collar for Quick Weight Adjustment
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional weight securement collars for weightlifting bars are cumbersome and require repetitive removal and reattachment for weight changes, inefficiently using time and effort.
Innovation Solution
A clamp system with a hollow cylinder design, featuring a hinge and latch mechanism that allows easy engagement and disengagement, enabling quick addition and removal of weights without removing the collar from the bar.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If conventional ring or tubular collars are used to secure weights on a bar, then the weights are retained during lifting, but the collars must be removed and reattached for every weight change, consuming time and effort
Solution Approach 1:
The collar is divided into two separate jaws (first jaw and second jaw) that can independently open and close. This segmentation allows the jaws to spread apart for easy weight insertion and clamp together for secure retention, eliminating the need to completely remove the collar for weight changes.
Solution Approach 2:
The collar transitions from a static conventional design to a dynamic design with movable jaws connected by a hinge. The jaws can dynamically open and close around the bar, allowing weights to be quickly added or removed by simply opening the jaws without removing the entire collar assembly from the bar.
2Reliability
If conventional collars with screw set or spring grip securement devices are used, then the collar is retained fixed to the bar, but the collar becomes cumbersome to attach and remove
Solution Approach 1:
The collar design merges the retention function into a simple hinge-connected jaw structure that clamps onto the bar. The latch mechanism combines both jaws into a single integrated unit that secures to the bar through the hinge connection, eliminating the need for separate screw sets or spring grip devices while maintaining reliable retention.
3Adaptability or versatility
If the collar must be removed from the bar to change weights, then weight adjustment is possible, but the process becomes repetitive and inefficient
Solution Approach 1:
The dynamic hinge-connected jaw structure allows the collar to quickly open and close on the bar without removal. This enables rapid weight adjustments by simply spreading the jaws apart, inserting or removing weights, and clamping the jaws back together, dramatically improving productivity while maintaining full adaptability for weight changes.
Data Source
AI summary
A system for clamping a bar, as non-exclusive example, a barbell collar, includes a first jaw forming a first portion of a hollow cylinder, a second jaw forming a second portion of the hollow cylinder, a hinge connecting the first jaw and the second jaw, a guide of the first jaw, a first latch element connected to the first jaw opposite the hinge, and a second latch element capable of removably connecting to the first latch element, the second latch element connected to the second jaw opposite the hinge. The first jaw and the second jaw form the hollow cylinder when the first latch element is connected to the second latch element. The system provides may include a weight that is attachable to the second jaw.