Bicycle Saddle Elastomeric Sheet Vibration Absorption
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing bicycle saddles face limitations in mechanical performance and integration with the bicycle frame, particularly in terms of resistance to stresses and vibrations, leading to reduced durability and comfort.
Innovation Solution
A bicycle saddle design featuring a shell with padding and a support frame comprising a sheet with a medial portion and lateral portions of varying thickness, providing enhanced structural resistance and improved elastic behavior to absorb stresses and vibrations.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If metal stems with reduced cross-section are used for support frame, then the saddle structure becomes lighter and simpler, but the resistance to stresses and durability deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies this principle by using a sheet made of elastomeric material instead of rigid metal stems. The sheet functions as a flexible support structure that can deform elastically under load, providing both strength and vibration absorption. The sheet's ability to flex and return to its original shape allows it to withstand repeated stresses without permanent deformation, resolving the contradiction between structural simplicity and stress resistance.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent employs composite materials by combining the shell (providing structural form), padding (providing comfort), and elastomeric sheet (providing elastic support) into an integrated support frame system. This composite approach allows each material to contribute its optimal properties: the shell provides rigidity where needed, the padding provides comfort, and the elastomeric sheet provides flexible structural support and vibration damping, collectively achieving superior strength without excessive complexity.
2Strength
If rigid support structures are used, then structural resistance improves, but vibration absorption and comfort deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The elastomeric sheet acts as a flexible film that provides structural support while simultaneously absorbing vibrations. The material's inherent elasticity allows it to deform in response to vibrations and stresses, converting mechanical vibration energy into heat through internal friction, thereby reducing vibration transmission to the rider while maintaining structural integrity.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the material parameter from rigid (metal stems) to elastomeric (flexible sheet), fundamentally altering how the support frame responds to dynamic loads. This parameter change enables the structure to transition from a rigid, vibration-transmitting system to a compliant, vibration-absorbing system that maintains strength through elastic deformation rather than rigid resistance.
3Ease of manufacture
If traditional saddle designs are used, then manufacturing simplicity is maintained, but aerodynamic performance deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies this principle by transitioning from traditional two-dimensional saddle shapes to a three-dimensional contoured design. The shell and sheet are configured with complex three-dimensional geometries that optimize aerodynamic flow around the saddle, reducing drag while maintaining manufacturing feasibility through molding and forming processes. The three-dimensional configuration allows for optimized airflow patterns that flat or simple curved designs cannot achieve.
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 saddle achieves improved resistance to torsional and perpendicular loads, increased durability, enhanced comfort by reducing vibration transmission, and improved aerodynamics due to its three-dimensional sheet configuration.
Implementation Method 1
The sheet, due to the elastic material used and to the different spatial configuration, guarantees an improved structural resistance and an improved elastic behaviour in response to the stresses transmitted by the bicycle in motion
Data Source
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AI summary
A saddle (1) for a bicycle comprising: -a shell (2) which has a longitudinal axis (X) and is provided with a front portion (21) and a rear portion (22), aligned along the longitudinal axis (X); -a support frame (3), connected to the shell (2), which is arranged to be connected to a saddle post (4) and which comprises a sheet having a section (C) belonging to a transverse plane (P) perpendicular to the longitudinal axis (X); wherein the sheet comprises a medial portion (33) and two lateral portions (34,34'); in the section (C), the lateral portions (34,34') have a thickness H, greater than a thickness h of the medial portion (33). Assembly (10) for a bicycle having a main frame and comprising the saddle (1) and a saddle post (4), comprising constraining means (8) arranged to constrain the saddle post (4) to the saddle (1) and coupling means arranged to constrain the saddle post (4) to the frame of the bicycle.