Balance Board With Interchangeable Rolling Supports for Multi-Axis Training
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current balance boards operate along a single axis, making them easy to master and quickly become obsolete for advanced users, and they lack direct real-life sporting applications.
Innovation Solution
A balance board with an elongated deck featuring a lengthwise recess that accommodates ground-contacting apparatuses such as spherical balls, cylindrical pins, or inserts with wheels or skateboard trucks, enhancing versatility and challenge through customizable components.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If a balance board operates along a single axis, then it is easy to master and simple to use, but it becomes obsolete quickly and lacks versatility for advanced users
Solution Approach 1:
The balance board transitions from a static single-axis design to a dynamic multi-axis system. The spherical ball ground-contacting apparatus enables the deck to rotate and tilt in multiple directions (pitch, roll, and yaw axes), creating dynamic movement patterns that adapt to user skill levels and simulate real sporting motions.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention adds dimensional complexity by introducing a spherical contact point instead of a linear axis. This allows the board to move from one-dimensional (single axis) to three-dimensional motion, enabling rotations and tilts in multiple planes simultaneously, which provides the versatility needed for advanced users.
2Device complexity
If a balance board operates along a single axis, then the design is simple, but it does not provide direct relationship to real-life sporting applications
Solution Approach 1:
The spherical ball ground-contacting apparatus creates dynamic, multi-directional movement that mirrors the unpredictable motions encountered in real sports like surfing, snowboarding, and skateboarding. This dynamic design maintains relative simplicity while achieving high adaptability to sporting applications.
3Adaptability or versatility
If a balance board is designed for advanced users with multiple axes of movement, then versatility and challenge increase, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The balance board is segmented into distinct functional components: the deck, the ground-contacting apparatus (spherical ball), and the recess that accommodates the ball. This segmentation allows the complex multi-axis functionality to be achieved through simple, well-defined parts rather than a monolithic complex structure.
Solution Approach 2:
The use of a spherical ball as the ground-contacting apparatus provides multi-axis movement capability without requiring complex mechanical mechanisms. The sphere's geometry naturally enables rotation and tilting in multiple directions, achieving high versatility with minimal device complexity.
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 board provides increased difficulty and simulates real-life sports like surfing and skateboarding, offering advanced training and customization for various user experiences.
Implementation Method 1
The ground-contacting apparatus received by the lengthwise recess is a spherical ball... The lengthwise recess may define a partial cylindrical cross section with a radius of curvature, and the ball may have a radius that matches or is smaller than the radius of the recess
Implementation Method 2
The ground-contacting apparatus may be a cylindrical pin that rolls from end to end as a user maintains their balance while standing on the upper surface of the deck
Implementation Method 3
the lower surface of the insert includes skateboard trucks with rotating or non-rotating wheels
Implementation Method 4
skateboard trucks with rotating or non-rotating wheels
Data Source
AI summary
Improved balance boards feature a combination of components that increases versatility and challenges with use. An elongated deck has a lower surface with a lengthwise recess configured to receive ground-contacting apparatus enabling a user to practice balancing on the board while standing on the upper surface of the deck. The ground-contacting apparatus may be balls of different sizes, rolling pins, or inserts with rollers, wheels, or non-rotating skateboard trucks. The inserts may have a peripheral edge that corresponds to the peripheral outline of the recess, and may be held in position using hook-and-loop fasteners, magnetic elements, or fasteners that extend through the insert and the deck.