Fold Joint Shuttle Mechanism for Stroller Pinch Point Reduction
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional foldable strollers have exposed latch and frame components at the fold joint, creating pinch points that can damage objects and make the seating surfaces dirty when folded, as they come into contact with external surfaces during storage.
Innovation Solution
A stroller fold joint design featuring a hub body with a puck shape and pivot axis, sandwiched between two plates with a gap, and a shuttle mechanism that slides within a tunnel, allowing for smooth rotation between unfolded and folded orientations while keeping latch components and frame ends covered, reducing pinch points and protecting seating surfaces.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Object-affected harmful factors
If conventional fold joints with exposed latch and frame components are used, then the folding mechanism is simple and accessible, but pinch points are created that can damage objects and the seating surfaces become dirty when folded
Solution Approach 1:
The latch components and frame ends are nested within the fold joint structure, specifically within the hub body and between the plates. The shuttle mechanism is contained within a tunnel in the hub body. This nesting arrangement keeps all potentially harmful components enclosed during folding and unfolding operations, eliminating pinch points and preventing contamination of seating surfaces while maintaining a manageable structural complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces intermediary components such as the hub body that encapsulates the latch mechanism, and the shuttle that moves within a controlled tunnel. These intermediaries mediate between the user's folding action and the internal latch components, ensuring that harmful elements remain enclosed. The cam surfaces act as intermediaries to guide the shuttle's movement smoothly between latched and unlatched positions without exposing pinch points.
2Ease of operation
If A-frame strollers are folded with seating surfaces facing outward, then the folding action is straightforward, but the seating surfaces come into direct contact with external surfaces and become dirty
Solution Approach 1:
The seating surfaces are nested within the folded frame structure rather than facing outward. The fold joint design with enclosed latch mechanisms allows the frame to fold in a manner that tucks the seating surfaces inside the overall stroller envelope, protecting them from contact with external surfaces during storage while maintaining straightforward folding operation.
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of having the seating surfaces face outward during folding as in conventional A-frame strollers, this invention inverts the arrangement so that the seating surfaces face inward or are enclosed within the folded structure. This inversion protects the seating surfaces from contamination while preserving the ease of the folding action through the cam-guided shuttle mechanism.
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 design significantly reduces pinch points and keeps the seating surfaces clean by ensuring that all latch and frame components are covered during folding and unfolding, preventing damage and contamination.
Implementation Method 1
Cam surfaces are defined on the confronting surfaces of the two plates... when the fold joint moves from the unfolded orientation to the folded orientation, the cam surfaces can guide the latch end of the shuttle back to the latched position
Implementation Method 2
A spring can bias the shuttle toward the latched position and when the latch end clears the cam surfaces the spring can fire the shuttle into the latch slot and to the latched position
Data Source
AI summary
A stroller fold joint has first and second joint parts. The first part has a hosel coupled to a hub body with a circumferential surface and a pivot axis. The second part has a connector coupled to two plates. The hub body is between the plates and the two joint parts pivot about the pivot axis between a folded and an unfolded orientation. A tunnel through the hub body is perpendicular to the pivot axis. A shuttle slides within the tunnel and has latch end and an actuator end. The latch end is adjacent the hub body's circumferential surface at one tunnel end and the actuator end extends into the hosel. The shuttle is not exposed and is covered when the fold joint is in the folded or unfolded orientations and when moving therebetween.