Wheel Hub and Disk Rib Structure for Lightweight Wheel Strength
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing wheelchair wheels face challenges in achieving high strength while being lightweight and cost-effective, particularly in transmitting rotating forces efficiently with conventional spoke configurations.
Innovation Solution
The design incorporates a disk with radial protrusions that bear load instead of spokes, featuring inclined side surfaces and blade parts from the hub for enhanced strength and reduced weight, allowing for a stronger joint without increasing wheel thickness and enabling cost reduction through simplified manufacturing.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Weight of moving object
If spokes are made thinner or lighter material is used to reduce wheel weight, then weight decreases, but sufficient strength cannot be obtained
Solution Approach 1:
The invention extracts the load-bearing function from traditional spokes and transfers it to protrusions on the disk. The protrusions extend radially from the disk and receive loads in place of spokes, allowing the spokes to be omitted entirely or replaced with lighter structures while maintaining wheel strength
Solution Approach 2:
The invention adds a new dimensional element by creating protrusions that extend in the radial direction from the disk. This radial protrusion structure provides a new geometric solution for load transmission, replacing the traditional spoke configuration with a three-dimensional protrusion form that achieves both weight reduction and strength maintenance
2Strength
If light and strong material is used for spokes, then wheel strength increases, but manufacturing cost increases
Solution Approach 1:
The invention merges the hub and disk into a more integrated structure where the disk includes protrusions that directly extend from it. This integration eliminates the need for separate spoke components and their associated complex joints, simplifying manufacturing and reducing costs while maintaining structural integrity
Solution Approach 2:
The invention extracts the spoke components entirely from the wheel structure, replacing them with protrusions formed as integral parts of the disk. This elimination of separate spoke parts reduces manufacturing complexity and material costs while achieving the necessary strength through the protrusion design
3Strength
If blade part is fixed to inclined side surface of protrusion, then joined portion strength increases, but wheel thickness increases
Solution Approach 1:
The invention employs asymmetric design by inclining the side surface of the protrusion rather than making it perpendicular to the disk surface. This asymmetric inclination allows the blade part to be fixed at an angle that maximizes joint strength while minimizing the radial extension, thus avoiding increased wheel thickness
Solution Approach 2:
The invention changes the geometric parameter of the protrusion side surface from a vertical orientation to an inclined orientation. This parameter change in the surface angle enables the blade part to achieve stronger fixation through the inclined surface geometry without requiring additional thickness in the wheel structure
Data Source
AI summary
Provided is a wheel (6a) in which a disk (62) includes a first rib (62a) extending in a radial direction, and protruding out on one side in a direction of a central axis a1. A hub (61) of the wheel (6a) includes a first blade portion (61d1) extending in the radial direction. At least one of a pair of side surfaces of the first rib (62a) is inclined relative to a plane including the central axis a1 of the disk (62), and the first blade portion (61d1) is fixed to the inclined side surface on one side of the central axis a1.