Hitch-Mounted Bicycle Lift Rack With Tilt-Assisted Ground Loading
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing vehicle-mounted equipment carriers require users to lift bicycles onto the carrier, which can be challenging for electric bicycles due to their increased weight.
Innovation Solution
A vehicle-mounted equipment carrier with a hitch receiver engagement portion and an equipment support portion interconnected via a pivot connection, featuring a mast, an extension member, and a drive arrangement that allows the equipment support to be raised and tilted, facilitating the loading of bicycles without manual lifting.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If a traditional equipment carrier is used, then the structure is simple and easy to manufacture, but the user must manually lift heavy electric bicycles onto the carrier
Solution Approach 1:
The system uses the bicycle's own weight to drive the loading process. As the bicycle is rolled onto the platform, its weight automatically triggers the extension member to retract and the platform to tilt, eliminating the need for external power or manual lifting assistance
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces complex powered lifting mechanisms with a passive mechanical system using gravity, levers, and linkages. The weight-driven mechanism converts the bicycle's weight from a burden into the driving force that performs the loading action
2Ease of operation
If the equipment support portion is kept upright for stability, then the carrier is stable during transport, but the rear of the vehicle remains inaccessible
Solution Approach 1:
The platform is designed to dynamically change its orientation based on operational needs. It maintains an upright stable position during transport but can tilt backward when loading is required, providing adaptability between stability and accessibility states
Solution Approach 2:
The system prepares the platform in an upright stable position for transport, then performs the tilting action as a preliminary step before loading the bicycle, ensuring stability is maintained until the tilting is intentionally initiated
3Ease of operation
If the extension member is made long to reach the ground, then the platform can be positioned low for loading, but the structure becomes more complex and harder to control
Solution Approach 1:
The extension member is driven by the bicycle's own weight rather than external actuators. As the bicycle rolls onto the platform and its weight increases, the weight-driven mechanism automatically retracts the extension member to the ground, eliminating the need for motors, hydraulics, or complex control systems
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a weight-driven mechanism as an intermediary between the bicycle weight and the extension member movement. This intermediary converts the gravitational force into controlled mechanical motion, simplifying the overall system while achieving precise positioning
Data Source
AI summary
A vehicle-mounted carrier for transporting equipment, such as bicycles, includes a hitch receiver engagement portion having a hitch engagement member engageable with the hitch receiver, and an equipment support portion pivotably interconnected with the hitch receiver portion. The equipment support portion includes a mast defining upper and lower ends, an extension member that is movable between lowered and raised positions, a drive arrangement for selectively moving the extension member between the lowered and raised positions, and an equipment support arrangement carried by the extension member. The equipment support arrangement is movable via the drive arrangement between lowered and raised positions upon movement of the extension member between the lowered and raised positions. A tilt actuator arrangement provides pivoting movement of the equipment support portion about the pivot connection from an upright position to a tilt position in response to movement of the extension member to a tilt actuation position.