Weight Plate External Toggle Lever Internal Pin Locking
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional weight stacks face issues with misplaced or inadequately sized selector pins, requiring high dexterity for pin insertion, leading to potential bodily injury and misuse, and existing solutions are costly and cumbersome.
Innovation Solution
A weight plate design featuring a cartridge with an external toggle lever that internally positions a selector pin to engage or disengage a connecting union, allowing for safe and easy weight selection without a center post, using a toggle lever and locking pin mechanism.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If a removable selector pin is used to engage weight plates, then weight selection is possible, but the pin may be misplaced, stolen, or damaged leading to safety issues and misuse
Solution Approach 1:
The selector pin is nested within the weight plate structure, specifically housed in a cavity with a spring-loaded retention mechanism. The pin is pushed through a bore from the front surface and held in place by the spring, making it an integrated part of the plate rather than a separate removable component. This nesting eliminates the safety issues associated with lost or misused external pins while maintaining weight selection functionality.
2Adaptability or versatility
If a manual selector pin insertion method is used, then weight plates can be selected, but high dexterity and hand-to-eye coordination are required
Solution Approach 1:
The spring-loaded pin mechanism automatically performs the retention function. When the user pushes the pin through the bore to the desired position, the spring automatically engages to hold the pin in place, eliminating the need for complex manual manipulation or coordination. The system serves itself by using the user's simple pushing action to both position and secure the pin.
3Adaptability or versatility
If latch levers are rotated at the surface of the weight plate to engage a notch in the center post, then weight selection is achieved, but the levers are subject to slippage unless an extremely complicated system is used
Solution Approach 1:
The invention removes the center post and latch lever mechanism entirely from the weight plate design. Instead, weight selection is achieved by pushing the integrated pin through a bore in the plate body to engage with the weight stack selector. This extraction of the complex lever system eliminates slippage issues while maintaining the essential weight selection function through a simpler pin-based mechanism.
4Adaptability or versatility
If sliding plates with cams are used to engage lugs on adjacent weight plates, then weight selection is possible, but the devices are costly, cumbersome, and have safety issues
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of using complex sliding plates with cams that engage lugs from the sides, the invention inverts the approach by using a simple pin pushed through a bore from the front surface of the plate. The pin directly engages the weight stack selector mechanism, eliminating the need for expensive and cumbersome cam-and-lug systems while maintaining effective weight selection capability.
Data Source
AI summary
A weight plate 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 plate 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.