Snowmobile Footrests With Interconnected Ribs
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Snowmobile footrests tend to lose traction on soft snow surfaces, leading to reduced performance and maintenance challenges due to their design, which affects the overall operation and usability of snowmobiles.
Innovation Solution
The design incorporates a footrest structure with interconnected ribs and holes that reduce weight while maintaining strength, featuring a grid pattern with longitudinal and lateral ribs, and a mounting system that allows for easy assembly and disassembly, preventing jacking and enhancing traction on snow surfaces.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If the footrests are designed with a solid structure to maintain strength, then the structural integrity is improved, but the weight increases and traction on soft snow deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The footrest is designed with a grid structure comprising longitudinal ribs and lateral ribs that create openings throughout the structure. This porous configuration reduces weight while maintaining structural integrity through the distributed rib framework, allowing snow to pass through and preventing jacking.
Solution Approach 2:
The footrest structure is segmented into multiple longitudinal ribs and lateral ribs that are interconnected to form a grid pattern. This segmentation distributes structural loads across multiple elements rather than requiring a solid monolithic structure, achieving both strength and weight reduction.
2Stability of the object's composition
If the footrests are designed with a solid structure to prevent deformation, then the structural stability is improved, but the traction on soft snow deteriorates due to increased weight and jacking effect
Solution Approach 1:
The grid structure with longitudinal and lateral ribs creates a porous configuration that allows snow to pass through the footrest openings. This prevents the jacking effect where snow accumulates beneath the footrest, thereby maintaining reliable traction on soft snow surfaces while the interconnected ribs provide structural stability.
Solution Approach 2:
The segmented rib structure distributes mechanical loads across multiple longitudinal and lateral ribs, preventing localized deformation while allowing the overall structure to flex slightly with the snow surface. This segmentation maintains both structural stability and traction reliability.
3Strength
If the footrests are made with thick ribs to increase strength, then the load-bearing capacity is improved, but the weight increases and ease of assembly deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The footrest is divided into multiple longitudinal ribs and lateral ribs that are interconnected at specific junctions. This segmentation allows each rib to be relatively thin while the collective structure provides high load-bearing capacity. The modular rib design also simplifies manufacturing and assembly compared to a single thick structural element.
Solution Approach 2:
The footrest structure functions as a composite system where multiple thin rib elements work together to achieve the load-bearing capacity of a much thicker single structure. The interconnected longitudinal and lateral ribs create a composite framework that is both strong and easy to manufacture.
4Weight of moving object
If the footrests are designed with a grid pattern of ribs and holes to reduce weight, then the weight is reduced and traction is improved, but the structural complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The grid pattern is created by segmenting the footrest into standardized longitudinal ribs and lateral ribs that intersect at regular intervals. This repetitive segmented structure reduces weight through the openings while the modular nature of the rib pattern keeps manufacturing and assembly relatively simple despite the increased surface complexity.
Data Source
AI summary
A snowmobile footrest adapted to be disposed on a side of a snowmobile tunnel includes a plurality of interconnected ribs. At least one first rib extending in a first direction includes an upper first rib surface and a lower first rib surface defining a first rib height therebetween. A pair of vertical first rib surfaces, extending generally in a vertical direction between the upper and lower first rib surfaces, define a first rib thickness therebetween. The first rib height is greater than the first rib thickness. At least one second rib is connected to the at least one first rib. Each second rib extends in a second direction, the second direction being at an angle with respect to the first direction. The at least one first rib and the at least one second rib define at least one space therebetween. Snowmobiles having the footrests are also disclosed.