Parallel Brake Lever for Children's Bicycles
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Solution Overview
Problem
Children's bicycles often require excessive effort to operate the brakes, and children with small hands may struggle to reach or activate the brake levers, leading to safety risks due to inadequate braking systems.
Innovation Solution
A braking system with a support and pivoting body that allows the brake lever to pivot around a parallel axis to the grip handle, featuring a brake lever that extends parallel to the handle, with a distance ratio between the pivot axis and attachment zone that multiplies force applied, enabling easier operation with minimal effort and improved ergonomics for children's hands.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Force
If a conventional brake lever is used on children's bicycles, then the braking system can be operated, but it requires excessive effort that children cannot provide
Solution Approach 1:
The brake lever is repositioned from a transverse arrangement to a longitudinal arrangement parallel to the grip handle, changing the spatial dimension of operation. This allows children to use their fingers along the length of the lever rather than across it, providing better mechanical advantage and ease of operation while maintaining braking force
Solution Approach 2:
The patent modifies the geometric parameters of the brake lever system, specifically the position of the pivot axis and the attachment zone distance ratio. By optimizing these parameters, the system achieves both reduced operating force and maintained braking effectiveness, resolving the contradiction between force output and ease of operation
2Length of moving object
If a smaller divergent lever is used for children's bikes, then the lever size is reduced, but it still requires the same force to operate
Solution Approach 1:
The invention changes the orientation of the lever from a divergent transverse design to a longitudinal design parallel to the handle. This dimensional change allows the lever to be both compact in size and effective in force multiplication, as the longitudinal arrangement provides better leverage while keeping the lever within reach of children's hands
3Force
If the brake lever is positioned for adult hands, then adequate braking force can be applied, but children with small hands cannot reach or grasp the lever
Solution Approach 1:
The longitudinal brake lever design creates a universal solution that accommodates both adult and child users. The lever's orientation parallel to the grip handle allows users of different hand sizes to effectively grasp and operate it, while the optimized pivot axis position ensures adequate braking force is generated for all users
Solution Approach 2:
By changing the geometric parameters of the lever system - specifically positioning it longitudinally and optimizing the pivot axis location - the design achieves adaptability across different user groups. The parameter optimization ensures that both children with small hands and adults can effectively operate the brake with adequate force
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 system allows children to easily operate the brakes with reduced effort, ensuring safer braking by maximizing the force applied to the brake cable and accommodating smaller hand sizes, reducing the risk of accidents.
Implementation Method 1
a pivoting body (16) pivotally mounted relative to the support (10) about a pivot axis (A) substantially parallel to the grip handle (P); the pivoting body (16) comprising: a braking lever (18) projecting, in a direction substantially parallel to a longitudinal axis (X) of the grip handle (P), from a first end (16a) of the pivoting body (16) opposite the pivot axis (A)
Implementation Method 2
an attachment zone (26) for one end (C1) of the brake cable (C), the distance between the pivot pin and said attachment zone being less than the distance between the pivot pin and said first end (16a) of the body opposite the pin of pivoting
Data Source
Figure 1
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Figure 3
AI summary
The system (100) has a pivot body including a braking lever (18) projecting according to a direction parallel with a pivot axis (A) from an end (16a) of the pivot body opposed to the pivot axis. A fastener zone (26) is attached to an end (Ca) of a braking cable (C). The zone is laid out between the pivot axis and the end of the pivot body opposed to the pivot axis. A guidance body (14) of the cable extends according to an axis (Y), which passes in a volume defined by a portion (10a) of a support (10) intended to be fixed at a handle bar provided with a gripping handle. : An independent claim is also included for a wheeled vehicle. USE : Braking system for a wheeled vehicle (claimed) i.e. bicycle, used by child. ADVANTAGE : The guidance body of the cable extends according to the axis, which passes in the volume defined by the portion of the support intended to be fixed at the handle bar provided with the gripping handle, so that the braking system allows the child to actuate the braking lever in an easy manner using child's four-functional fingers, and hence obtaining braking of the wheeled vehicle without any excessive efforts by the child. DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS : The drawing shows a cross-sectional view of a braking system sectioned according to a plane perpendicular to a pivot axis of a braking lever. A : Pivot axis C : Braking cable Ca : End of cable Y : Axis 10 : Support 10a : Portion of support 14 : Guidance body 16a : End of pivot body 18 : Braking lever 26 : Fastener zone 100 : Braking system.