Variable-Thickness Handle Pipe for Lighter Motorcycle Steering
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Solution Overview
Problem
Straddled vehicles, such as motorcycles, face challenges in reducing handle weight while maintaining rider comfort and alleviating fatigue, as thinning the handle pipe leads to changes in riding comfort and increased fatigue.
Innovation Solution
A handle design featuring a tube-like pipe with a central attachment portion and grip portions, including thick and thin regions, where the thin regions are strategically located to reduce weight while maintaining sufficient rigidity and minimizing the sense of being pushed up, with the thin portions making up 12% or less of the handle's mass and having a distance of 30 mm or less between borders, and the handle pipe being formed from non-iron metal materials.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Weight of moving object
If the handle pipe is thinned to reduce weight, then the weight of the handle is reduced, but the rider comfort deteriorates and fatigue increases
Solution Approach 1:
The handle pipe employs varying wall thickness along its length, with thinner sections in non-critical areas and thicker sections in critical areas (attachment portion and bent portions) to maintain structural integrity and rider comfort while reducing overall weight. This local differentiation of quality allows weight reduction without compromising comfort.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention changes the thickness parameter of the handle pipe along its longitudinal direction, creating a gradient structure where the wall thickness transitions from thinner at the grip portions to thicker at the attachment and bent portions. This parameter variation optimizes the balance between weight and comfort.
2Weight of moving object
If the handle pipe is thinned to reduce weight, then the weight of the handle is reduced, but the rigidity of the handle pipe deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The handle pipe structure implements local quality enhancement by concentrating thicker wall sections at the attachment portion and bent portions where rigidity is critical for structural support and steering control, while allowing thinner sections at the grip portions where weight reduction is prioritized.
Solution Approach 2:
The handle pipe is segmented into distinct functional zones (attachment portion, bent portions, grip portions) with different thickness characteristics. This segmentation allows each zone to be optimized independently for its specific function, maintaining overall rigidity while reducing total weight.
3Ease of operation
If the outer diameter of the handle pipe is increased to improve rider comfort, then the rider comfort is improved, but the weight of the handle increases
Solution Approach 1:
The invention applies local quality enhancement by providing thicker wall sections at the attachment portion and bent portions to ensure structural integrity and steering control, while maintaining thinner sections at the grip portions to minimize weight, thereby achieving comfort without proportional weight increase.
Solution Approach 2:
The handle pipe utilizes parameter changes in wall thickness along its length, creating an optimized thickness distribution that provides sufficient outer diameter and structural dimensions for comfort while controlling overall weight through strategic thinning in non-critical areas.
Data Source
AI summary
A handle includes handle grips and a handle pipe including an attachment portion, a first grip portion, a second grip portion, a first bent portion between the attachment portion and the first grip portion, and a second bent portion between the attachment portion and the second grip portion. The first grip portion includes a first overlapping region overlapping a first handle grip and a first non-overlapping region not overlapping the first handle grip. The second grip portion includes a second overlapping region overlapping a second handle grip and a second non-overlapping region not overlapping the second handle grip. The first and second non-overlapping regions each include a thick portion having a thickness larger than, or equal to, a thickness of the attachment portion. The first and second overlapping regions each include a thin portion having a thickness smaller than the thickness of the thick portion.