Muscle Trainer Spring Elements with Varying Wall Thickness
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing muscle trainers face challenges in achieving a compact design, easy manufacturing, and minimizing material stress while maintaining comparable force and deformation to conventional trainers.
Innovation Solution
A muscle trainer comprising two curved, elongated spring elements connected at their ends via joint elements, with varying wall thickness and width to distribute bending stress, and a snap connection mechanism to secure the elements, allowing for efficient production and user-friendly operation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If conventional metal springs with handles are used, then the muscle trainer provides adequate force and deformation, but the design and manufacture become complex
Solution Approach 1:
The patent integrates the spring element and handle into a single molded plastic component. The handle is formed as an integral part of the spring element through injection molding, eliminating the need for separate handles and complex assembly operations. This merging of components directly reduces both design and manufacturing complexity while maintaining the required mechanical functionality.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent transitions from metal spring material to plastic spring element material, changing the fundamental material parameter. This material substitution enables the spring element to be molded directly in the desired shape including integrated handles, significantly simplifying manufacturing processes compared to metal spring fabrication and assembly.
2Force
If multiple elastic elements are connected to achieve stiffer elastic element, then the required force is achieved, but the connection takes up large space and experiences high material stresses
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies varying wall thicknesses at different locations of the spring element to locally optimize stiffness and stress distribution. Thicker sections are positioned where higher stresses occur, while thinner sections are used where less stress is present. This local quality variation achieves the required overall stiffness without needing multiple connected elements, thereby reducing the space required for connections.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent employs a composite cross-sectional design in the spring element, combining materials or structures with different properties within the same component. This allows the spring element to achieve high stiffness and load-bearing capacity in a compact single-piece construction, eliminating the need for multiple connected elements and their associated connection spaces.
3Ease of manufacture
If the spring element is made with uniform cross-section, then the manufacturing is simple, but the bending stress is not optimized
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a spring element with non-uniform cross-section where the wall thickness varies along the length of the element. This local quality variation optimizes the bending stress resistance by providing thicker sections at locations experiencing higher stresses and thinner sections where stresses are lower, thereby improving overall strength while remaining manufacturable through injection molding.
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 design achieves a compact, easy-to-manufacture muscle trainer with reduced material stress and comparable performance to conventional trainers, providing a secure and comfortable user experience with adjustable spring force and deformation.
Implementation Method 1
the elastic element having a receptacle for the thumb... When the user operates such a hand trainer, the handles are moved towards each other when the load is applied and when the load is released they spring back into the starting position
Implementation Method 2
when the muscle trainer is actuated with a force parallel to the vertical direction, the connections between the two spring elements are advantageously not or only slightly subjected to bending stress and bending
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 1A
Figure 2~3
AI summary
The invention relates to a muscle trainer (1) comprising a first and a second curved, elongated spring element (10, 11, 12), the concave sides of the two spring elements (10, 11, 12) facing towards one another, the spring elements having articulation elements (14) in their respective end regions (13) and being interconnected at their two end regions (13) by means of articulations formed by the articulation elements (14). A further aspect of the invention is to provide a method for producing a muscle trainer (1) of this type. The method comprises: producing the first spring element (11) and the second spring element (12) by injection moulding using at least one injection mould; bending upwards the first spring element (11) by the application of force to the two end regions (13) of the first spring element (11) and/or bending the second spring element (12) by the application of force to the two end regions (13) of the second spring element (12); inserting the second spring element (12) into the first spring element (11); and ending the application of force to the first spring element (11) and /or the second spring element (12), the articulation elements (14) of the first spring element (11) and the second spring element (12) forming articulations.