Bicycle Pedal Axle Locking for Bearing-Safe Disassembly
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing bicycle pedals are difficult to disassemble without damaging the bearings, and designs with large bearings result in uneven contact surfaces.
Innovation Solution
A pedal design with a partial cavity for the axle and a locking element that secures the bearing and axle as a unit, allowing easy assembly and disassembly without damaging the bearings, and maintaining a flat contact surface.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the bearing is pressed into the pedal body and the pedal axle is inserted through the bearing, then the pedal provides stable rotation support, but the bearing cannot be removed without damage and maintenance becomes difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The pedal assembly is divided into separable components: the pedal axle with bearing as one unit, and the pedal body as another unit. The bearing is mounted on the axle rather than pressed into the body, allowing the axle-bearing unit to be removed and replaced as a complete assembly without damaging the bearing, thus enabling easy maintenance while maintaining rotation stability.
2Force
If a single large bearing is used to support the stub axle, then the bearing can support the entire force, but the bearing protrudes beyond the contact surfaces creating uneven surfaces
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of using one large bearing, the support function is segmented into multiple smaller bearings distributed along the pedal axle. This distributes the load across multiple points, allowing the use of smaller bearings that do not protrude beyond the pedal contact surfaces, maintaining both load capacity and surface flatness.
Solution Approach 2:
The single-point support (one large bearing) is transformed into a distributed multi-point support system along the length of the pedal axle. This dimensional distribution along the axle length allows force dispersion while keeping individual bearing sizes small enough to maintain flush contact surfaces.
3Ease of operation
If the pedal axle extends through the entire pedal body within a cavity, then the bearing can be accessed from both sides, but the bearing must be knocked out through the entire pedal body causing damage
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of pressing the bearing into the pedal body and accessing it from the body side, the bearing is inverted to be mounted on the external pedal axle. This reversal of the mounting relationship allows the bearing to be accessed and removed from the axle side without needing to pass tools through the entire pedal body, preventing bearing damage during maintenance.
Data Source
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AI summary
The invention relates to a pedal (100) having a pedal body (110) with an insertion opening (130) and a cavity (113) that starts at the insertion opening (130) and extends into the pedal body (110). The pedal (100) also has a pedal axle (120), which is inserted through the insertion opening (130) into the pedal body (110) and extends along the cavity (113) into the pedal body (110), as well as at least one bearing (151), arranged on the pedal axle (120), which is designed to mount the pedal body (110) rotatably on the pedal axle (120). According to the invention, a securing element (250) is provided, which is designed to support the bearing (151) on the pedal axle (120) in an axial direction in relation to the pedal axle (120), in order to secure the pedal axle (120) against falling out of the pedal body (110), wherein the securing element (250) extends from the outside through the pedal body (110) and into the cavity (113) as far as the bearing (151), and the securing element (250) is accessible from outside.