Modular Dolly with Interchangeable Wheels and Removable Ramp
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional dollies and hand trucks are inadequate for transporting large, heavy, and bulky articles over soft, rough, and uneven terrain, and struggle with navigating stairs, requiring strenuous lifting and limited mobility.
Innovation Solution
A modular dolly with a rectangular platform featuring small steerable and brake-equipped wheels, with optional larger diameter wheels for improved terrain navigation, a removable ramp for loading and anchoring, and adaptability for use with stair-climbing hand trucks, enabling efficient transport of heavy loads over varied surfaces.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If conventional dollies with small diameter wheels are used, then the device is simple in construction and easy to manufacture, but it cannot move over soft, rough, and uneven terrain
Solution Approach 1:
The dolly is divided into modular components including the platform, wheel assemblies, ramp, and panels that can be independently attached and removed. This segmentation allows the wheel assemblies to be exchanged between small diameter wheels for hard surfaces and large diameter wheels for soft terrain, resolving the contradiction between construction simplicity and terrain adaptability.
Solution Approach 2:
The wheel assemblies are designed to be dynamically reconfigurable through selective attachment and removal. The platform includes attachment mechanisms that allow users to switch between different wheel types based on terrain requirements, enabling the dolly to adapt its characteristics rather than being fixed in a single configuration.
2Productivity
If conventional dollies are used for transporting heavy appliances, then the basic transport function is achieved, but strenuous lifting is required to load and unload items
Solution Approach 1:
A removable ramp serves as an intermediary element between the ground and the dolly platform. The ramp provides a gradual incline that allows heavy appliances to be rolled or pushed onto the platform with minimal lifting, significantly reducing the operational effort required while maintaining effective transport capability.
3Device complexity
If conventional dollies are used, then the device structure is simple, but it lacks adaptability for use as a ramp or with stair-climbing hand trucks
Solution Approach 1:
The dolly is designed with universal adaptability through standardized attachment points and interchangeable components. The platform can function as a standalone dolly, combine with stair-climbing hand trucks for vertical transport, or serve as a ramp when configured with the removable ramp assembly, enabling multiple functions without significantly increasing base structural complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The dolly components are designed to nest and combine with other equipment. The platform can be attached to stair-climbing hand trucks, and the removable ramp can be stored or repositioned within the overall structure, allowing compact integration of multiple functions while maintaining structural simplicity.
4Ease of operation
If small diameter wheels are used on the dolly, then the wheel size is suitable for hard surfaces, but the dolly cannot navigate soft grass, gravel, or uneven terrain
Solution Approach 1:
The wheel diameter parameter is made variable through the interchangeable wheel assembly system. Small diameter wheels provide optimal performance on hard surfaces with better maneuverability, while large diameter wheels provide superior performance on soft terrain by reducing ground pressure and navigating obstacles more easily. Users can change this critical parameter based on terrain conditions.
Data Source
AI summary
The modular dolly is a manually operated device facilitating the transport of large, heavy, and/or bulky objects. The dolly includes four smaller wheels and two larger diameter wheel and brake assemblies for temporary installation to the sides of the dolly platform for movement over soft, rough, and/or uneven surfaces. A ramp is removably attachable to the loading end of the platform coplanar therewith to facilitate loading the dolly. The ramp also attaches removably to the opposite anchor end of the platform and normal thereto, to serve as a backstop or anchor for a load placed on the platform. A smaller secondary panel may be installed in the anchor end when the ramp is in use during loading, or may be assembled coplanar to the ramp or platform to lengthen the ramp or platform. The dolly may also be used with a stair-climbing hand truck, forklift, pallet jack, or the like.