Scooter Kickstand With Elastic Deployment and Foot-Operated Lever
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Solution Overview
Problem
Scooters often go unparked due to the difficulty in using existing kickstands, leading to obstacles in urban areas as users neglect to deploy the small and cumbersome side-opening kickstands, resulting in scooters leaning against walls or on the ground.
Innovation Solution
A kickstand device designed as a first-class lever with elastic elements and rotatable wheels, allowing easy deployment and automatic return to a lowered position, featuring an operable element that can be pressed by the user to raise the kickstand, simplifying usage and ensuring the scooter stands upright without additional user effort.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If a side-opening kickstand is used, then the scooter can be parked, but the kickstand is difficult to operate and small in size making it cumbersome
Solution Approach 1:
The patent inverts the traditional kickstand operation by making the kickstand automatically deploy downward using elastic elements, while the user simply needs to press an operable element upward to retract it. This reversal of the opening/closing action eliminates the difficulty of manual deployment while maintaining compact structure.
Solution Approach 2:
The kickstand incorporates elastic elements that automatically propel the supporting element downward to engage with the ground, eliminating the need for manual deployment effort. The system serves itself by using stored elastic energy to perform the deployment action that would otherwise require user effort.
2Ease of operation
If the kickstand is not used, then the scooter structure remains simple, but scooters are left leaning against walls or on the ground creating obstacles
Solution Approach 1:
The kickstand automatically deploys when the user releases the operable element, using elastic elements to propel the supporting element downward without requiring additional user action. This self-deploying mechanism ensures consistent parking behavior and eliminates the need for users to manually position the kickstand.
Solution Approach 2:
The kickstand transitions from a static manual mechanism to a dynamic automatic system that responds to user input by deploying through elastic energy release. The supporting element moves from a retracted position to an extended parking position automatically, adapting to the parking need without requiring precise manual control.
3Ease of operation
If the kickstand is made larger for easier operation, then ease of operation improves, but the compact folding structure and low weight are compromised
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of making the kickstand larger for easier operation, the patent inverts the operation mechanism so that the kickstand automatically deploys using elastic elements. The user simply presses the operable element upward to retract it, making operation easier without increasing size or weight.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces the traditional manual mechanical deployment system with an elastic energy-based automatic deployment system. This substitution eliminates the need for large manual levers or complex linkage mechanisms, maintaining compact dimensions and low weight while improving ease of operation.
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 kickstand device enhances scooter parking by making it easier to use, ensuring the scooter stands upright without obstructing pedestrians, and automatically returns to a parked position, reducing the risk of accidents during use.
Implementation Method 1
at least one elastic element, which is configured to urge said body to assume a respective lowered operating position
Implementation Method 2
a lower end part of the at least one supporting element comprises a wheel, which is free to rotate on the ground
Data Source
AI summary
A scooter comprises a platform (2) with an associated guiding structure (3), the platform (2) being mounted on wheels and having a support surface (2a) suitable to support at least one foot (RF) of a user. The platform (2) has a kickstand device (10) associated thereto, having a kickstand body that includes at least one supporting element (11a, 11b). The kickstand body has an upper end portion and at least one lower end portion (15), and is articulated in an intermediate area thereof to the platform (2), to perform angular movements around a respective rotation axis that extends transversely with respect to a direction of longitudinal extension of the platform (2). At least one elastic element is operatively set between the kickstand body and the platform (2), configured to urge the kickstand body to assume a respective operative lowered position, in which a lower end part (15) of the at least one supporting element (11a, 11b) is designed to contact the ground. The upper end portion of the kickstand body defines or has an operable element (12) associated thereto, configured so as to extend at least partially above the support surface (2a) of the platform (2), and suitable to be pressed by said foot (RF) of the user, in such a way that the kickstand body (10a) is brought to assume a respective inoperative raised position, against the action of the at least one elastic element, in which the lower end part (15) of the at least one supporting element (11a, 11b) is raised with respect to the ground.