Wheel Skate Platform Locking and Directional Control Mechanism
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Solution Overview
Problem
Human powered wheeled transportation devices that encircle the foot, such as wheel skates, face challenges in providing independent foot movement and ease of use, particularly for beginners, as well as convenience in carrying or stowing multiple devices.
Innovation Solution
A wheel skate device with a frame, rotary couplings, and a foot placement platform that allows independent foot movement, includes a direction restricting mechanism and a connecting piece for convenient carrying, featuring a detachable platform with locking and release features, and elastic band for maintaining optimal foot separation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Stability of the object's composition
If a pivot link is used to connect wheel skates, then the foot placement platform is constrained against moving relative to the frame, but the device complexity increases and ease of operation decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent removes the pivot link connecting mechanism between wheel skates, extracting the constraint function. Instead of mechanically linking the skates through a pivot, each skate operates independently on the frame, eliminating the complex connecting structure while maintaining platform stability through individual mounting arrangements.
Solution Approach 2:
The device is divided into independent wheel skate units that can function separately rather than being connected as a rigid assembly. Each skate with its foot placement platform operates as an independent module, simplifying the overall structure while allowing individual adjustment and movement.
2Device complexity
If the foot placement platform is fixed to the frame, then the structure is simpler, but independent foot movement is restricted
Solution Approach 1:
The foot placement platform is designed with dynamic characteristics, allowing it to rock or tilt independently relative to the frame within certain limits. This dynamic capability enables users to move their feet independently for propulsion while maintaining overall structural simplicity through straightforward mounting mechanisms.
3Ease of operation
If multiple wheel skate devices are carried separately, then each device is easily accessible, but carrying convenience decreases
Solution Approach 1:
Multiple wheel skate devices are designed to be connectable through complementary features on the frame elements, allowing them to be joined into a compact unit for carrying or stowage. The extruding shapes and mirroring features enable quick connection and disconnection, merging multiple devices when needed for convenient transport while allowing separation for use.
Data Source
AI summary
A wheel skate device having a foot platform, a frame, and a ring-shaped wheel. The user operates a pair of the wheel skate devices while standing with one foot on each foot platform. The foot platform is movable between an in-use position and a stowage position. In the in-use position. the foot platform interlocks with the frame and can be secured with a locking pin. A pair of the wheel skate devices in stowage position can be connected together as a single unit using a connecting piece, which may have an attached strap for carrying or hanging. A mechanism which limits the wheel to rolling in only one direction, and an elastic band linking two wheel skate devices together to prevent the user's feet from accidentally moving too far apart, are useful learning aids.