Weight Plate External Toggle Lever Locking Mechanism
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional weight stacks face issues with misplaced or inadequately sized selector pins, requiring dexterity and hand-eye coordination for proper insertion, leading to potential bodily injury and misuse, and existing solutions are cumbersome and costly.
Innovation Solution
A weight plate design featuring a cartridge with an external toggle lever that actuates an internal pin to engage or disengage a connector, allowing for easy and safe weight selection without a center post, using a connector with a radial opening and a toggle lever to securely lock adjacent plates.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If a removable selector pin is used to engage weight plates, then the system allows flexible weight selection, but the pin is prone to being misplaced, stolen, or damaged, leading to safety hazards and misuse
Solution Approach 1:
The invention extracts the selector pin from the weight plate and relocates it to a fixed cartridge mounted on the center post. This eliminates the need for users to handle removable pins, preventing misplacement, theft, and damage while maintaining weight selection capability through the fixed cartridge's internal pin mechanism
Solution Approach 2:
The cartridge acts as an intermediary device between the center post and weight plates. It contains the selector pin and provides a controlled interface for weight selection, preventing direct user access to the pin while enabling safe and reliable weight plate engagement through its engagement aperture and lever mechanism
2Adaptability or versatility
If a removable selector pin is used, then users can modify the apparatus operation, but this leads to misuse and failure outside manufacturer's design criteria
Solution Approach 1:
By removing the selector pin from user-accessible locations and embedding it within the fixed cartridge, the invention eliminates the ability for users to remove, replace, or modify the pin, ensuring the apparatus operates strictly within manufacturer-designed parameters while maintaining functional versatility
Solution Approach 2:
The cartridge serves as a controlled intermediary that mediates between user input and the weight selection mechanism. Its fixed position and internal mechanism allow weight selection while preventing any modification to the pin or engagement system, ensuring compliance with design criteria
3Reliability
If manual insertion of a selector pin through horizontal throughbores is required, then weight plates can be locked to the center post, but this requires significant dexterity and hand-to-eye coordination
Solution Approach 1:
The cartridge is pre-loaded with the selector pin and positioned automatically on the center post. When the lever is actuated, the pin self-engages with the weight plate through the engagement aperture, eliminating the need for users to manually insert pins through horizontal bores, thus removing the requirement for dexterity and hand-to-eye coordination
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of requiring the user to insert a pin horizontally through the weight plate, the invention inverts the mechanism: the pin is positioned vertically in the cartridge on the center post, and the weight plate is engaged by moving it vertically onto the pin through the engagement aperture, making the operation simpler and more intuitive
4Ease of operation
If latch levers are rotated at weight plate surfaces to engage notches in the center post, then weight selection is achieved, but the levers are subject to slippage unless extremely complicated locking systems are used
Solution Approach 1:
The cartridge acts as an intermediary that provides a stable, fixed mounting point on the center post. The lever in the cartridge engages the weight plate through the engagement aperture, creating a reliable connection without requiring complex locking systems or surface-mounted levers that are prone to slippage
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 simplifies weight selection, reduces the risk of injury, and lowers manufacturing costs by providing a user-friendly, fail-safe mechanism for engaging and disengaging weight plates, enhancing safety and usability.
Implementation Method 1
A weight plate design featuring a cartridge with an external toggle lever that actuates an internal pin to engage or disengage a connector
Data Source
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AI summary
A weight pfate for use with physical fitness equipment is disclosed including a plate body with a centrally located locking connector and two outwardly disposed throughbores. The body additionally has an internal bore within the thickness of the plate body which communicates with the locking connector. A selector pin is movably mounted within the internal bore to selectively engage the pfate body to a locking connector in an adjacent weight plate. A toggle lever is mounted in a cartridge mounted within the weight plate to selectively position the selector pin.