Skateboard Wheel with Dual-Hardness Polyurethane Pattern
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Solution Overview
Problem
Skateboard wheels face a compromise between control and high speed due to the limitations of single-material urethane wheels, which affect friction, rebound, and rolling resistance, making it difficult to optimize performance for various skating applications.
Innovation Solution
A wheel with a radial surface comprising areas of at least two different polyurethane materials with varying mechanical properties, forming a pattern around the circumference for molecular bonding, allowing for tailored performance characteristics such as hardness, friction, and rebound, and enabling the creation of a single, integral piece with improved durability and cost-efficient manufacturing.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If hard polyurethane material is used for the wheel surface, then sliding and trick performance is improved, but control and speed maintenance deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The wheel surface is divided into multiple zones with different polyurethane hardness values. The outer circumference uses harder material (Shore A 90-100) for sliding and tricks, while the inner portion uses softer material (Shore A 75-85) for control and speed maintenance. This local differentiation allows the single wheel to provide both performance characteristics simultaneously.
2Ease of operation
If thinner wheels with hard urethane are used, then slides and tricks are facilitated, but control and smooth ride deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The wheel design incorporates harder material at the outer circumference for slide facilitation, while maintaining softer material in the inner portion for control. This resolves the contradiction by providing different mechanical properties at different locations rather than compromising overall wheel thickness or uniform hardness.
3Reliability
If thicker wheels with soft urethane are used, then control and smooth ride are improved, but slide performance and trick execution deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The wheel surface combines softer material in the inner portion for control and smooth riding with harder material at the outer circumference for slide performance. This allows the wheel to maintain adequate thickness for control while providing hard surfaces where slides and tricks occur.
4Adaptability or versatility
If multiple different material types are used, then performance characteristics are improved, but manufacturing complexity and bonding reliability worsen
Solution Approach 1:
The wheel uses composite construction with multiple polyurethane materials having different hardness values. These materials are bonded together using molecular bonding techniques specific to polyurethane, creating an integral multi-material structure that provides varied performance characteristics while maintaining manufacturing feasibility and bonding reliability.
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 dual-material design enhances the wheel's performance by providing stability, control, and grip, allowing for customization based on intended use, user skill, and riding surface, while maintaining a visually appealing pattern for marketing differentiation.
Implementation Method 1
The first and additional materials are chosen in such a way that they will form molecular bonding between them. Typically both materials will be polyurethane.
Data Source
AI summary
A wheel for a skateboard, roller skate or the like has a radial surface arranged to provide contact with the ground, said radial surface comprising areas of at least a first material and areas of a second material, said second material having at least one mechanical property differing from that of the first material. The first and second materials are arranged in such a way that they form a pattern on the radial surface which varies around the circumference of the wheel. This enables the adaptation of the behavior of the wheel in a very flexible way.