Trailer Design Moving Forward

So this last Wednesday I presented what I've done this semester for my thesis project to a panel of 3 professors, 2 of which were new to my project. I'm glad to say it went quite well.

They liked the direction and my project narrative (my target consumer is right below), and suggested to help me differentiate myself from other more bike centric trailers on the market to really heighten in my promotional materials and in presentation the walking cart aspect of my trailer. Perhaps adding a second person to my narrative, a Charlene to my Charlie (I'm thinking Charlie's wife, she doesn't bike but likes to walk to the store.)

This past week I really moved the trailer design forward. I had made a rough frame out of pvc pipe, but it was really premature to start building, all it really did was confuse the issue when I was still not even close to sure of a final form to test. I omitted the physical models from the presentation and stuck with sketches.

What I really moved forward on was getting away from the Travoy idea which has really held me back and thinking about the trailer and bag as one neatly integrated instead of two separated entities. So I put away the old sketches and ideas and just started to sketch more organic forms of a bag and trailer together.

The bag clips over a frame which gives it form and rigidity. The red levers are at fold points. The vertical wings which give depth to the bag fold flat and the wheels would detach to fit in the back of a closet or behind a door.
The walking configuration. The castor walking wheel folds down and locks into position. At the top there is the push/pull handle.
The riding configuration, the castor wheel folds up and out of the way while the trailer hitch arm fold ups to the seat post and attaches there. The actual hitch mechanism is unresolved at this point but I know it will need a full range of motion to let the two wheels of the trailer stay in contact with the ground when turning. I've also realized that the castor wheel support structure will need some covering or sealing as during riding the bike wheel will spray water and debris all over it. One other note, the trailer is not quite to scale of the bicycle, its drawn way to big here. Think 1/4 smaller.
The bag will be two compartments, a smaller top compartment for small or fragile items (phone, wallet, keys, laptop). I see this having fold up dividers for item need customization. The larger lower compartment would be for large or bulky items, such as full grocery bags. Ideally, the two compartments will be combinable for extra large items (think large dog food bags).

And moving forward,

Thought are always welcome! Thanks for reading!

Trailer Design Iterations

It's nice to now think only about bike trailers and not pooper scoopers, but anyway...

So, after totally being called on just emulating (a nice way to say, knocked off) the Burley Travoy, I'm back to the drawing board on the frame design. I'm still aiming for the same set of parameters for the trailer when I initially set out on this project,

• walkable and bikeable
• lightweight
• stable w/ load (riding or walking)
• customizable bag options

So initial ideas all followed the Travoy model of flat bed, foldable, support structure around the bed. I played with ideas for adding a third wheel for walking as I perceived the Travoy to be a bit tippy when standing upright (especially when loaded) as it stood on two wheels and a small leg. My goal was when walking to have at least 3 wheels on the ground for stability.

My methodology for joining the metal tubes (plastic housings basically) also was derived from the Travoy. In my trailers new form, I'll mostly likely use a similar joint as this seems to be the best and most elegant method. Also, this drawing came out well.

In sketching for the new frame I decided to work off of a single main tube as the backbone of the trailer with the main support wheels moving in towards the frame for riding and out to create a tripod with a castored wheel for walking. Walking stability was a high point with this iteration.

A guide slid up and down the main tube, keeping the wheels lined up.

The sliding guide however took up quite a bit of space on the tube that could other wise be used for mounting a frame for cargo. Thus only the top and bottom of the tube could be used for mounting, with a aimed cargo weight of 60 lbs, this would create quite a bit of stress and would need large amounts of reinforcement at the junctures adding complexity and weight.

To combat the sliding ring, a grooved guide was added to the side of the main tube, keeping the wheel struts in alignment and clearing room for more cargo supports. The raising and lowering of the legs would be accomplished by a lever on the top of the main tube connecting via cables and pulleys inside the tube to the wheel struts. Pull the cable up and it would pull the wheels in to the frame for riding. An issue with this was locking the wheels in place and the extra complexity of the pulleys and guide wheels. The more moving parts mean the more to go wrong. I realized I was moving away from Dieter Rams 10 principles, and was making the trailer more and more complex. The more complex, the greater the possibly of a mechanical failure.

So, in this vein of simplicity with stability, I'm working on elimination of as many moving parts as possible. Goodbye cables and pulleys.

This is the latest scanned sketch I have (I know, its super rough), moving the two main support wheels to be stationary (to eliminate as much stress on a joint as possible) and moving the castored wheel to the fold down third wheel. This is the direction I'm currently moving the trailer in, presently in Rhino, with the aim to be making a physical model out of pvc pipe starting the 8th.

Thanks for reading.

Initial Bag Sketches

Well, I've been working on thesis, and I thought I'd share a few sketches and other things from my work so far.

I'm designing a bicycle trailer for urban based commuters for anyone who doesn't know. I've been sketching and surveying users (thanks to all who have given me responses!). Below are a few bag sketches. The bags will attach to a blank trailer and will accept up to several bags at once (one bag dosen't fill the entire thing). There will be three bag sizes, small, medium, large and each size will be customized for certain types of objects or tasks. For example, the small bags would be placed so they are easily reached and hold small, more valuable objects (wallets, keys, phone, iPod, babies). So far, I've just worked on the outer forms of the bags and haven't delved into the interiors yet.

A few small, upper bag ideas are what I present here.

This bag is more in the vein of the large bag, designed as a large cargo volume bag for carrying groceries for example. Basically anything big goes in here.

A few sketches on the over all form, these sketches in particular are only with two bags. The trailer would accept up to three small bags is my thinking for now.

I've also been learning to TIG weld aluminum this week. It aint easy. I've never welded before, so we decided to start with the hard stuff so that when I back track and learn to weld steel it will be a piece of cake for prototyping early forms.

One of the better beads I laid on the Al. Practice, practice, practice.

Thanks for reading!

Bicycle Commuting Survey

Hello all! Help me with my senior thesis!

For my senior thesis I'm working on a bicycle commuting cargo solution. I'm looking for responses from anyone who has even a passing interest in bicycle commuting or bicycles in general. Your responses are very much appreciated!

Bicycle Commuting Survey Part 1

Bicycle Commuting Survey Part 2

Thanks!

The Final Countdown

Welcome to Senior year! I've got a studio now (well a 8'x8' gray box, it's a cubicle really) and just bought some new sketch books. All set to design.

For Fall '10 I'm taking,

I.P. (Integrative Project)

Basically, Michigan's fancy name for senior thesis project. I actually refuse to call it IP because I think it's a silly name. I do get my own studio for this course though!

I.P.D. (Integrated Product Development)

More acronyms! Teams of designers, engineers and MBA's design, produce and 'sell' a product at a fake trade show. We are designing, wait for it, pooper scoopers. Yep, pooper scoopers. I swear if the MBA in my group says "value added", I'll punch them.

Detroit Connections

I go to Detroit on Fridays and do art projects with 4 graders who would not have access to art classes otherwise. I love kids and am excited for this one.

Yep, just 3 classes (well along with the 1 credit required lectures for all students). Thesis is 6 credits a semester and IPD is 6 credits as well. I'll be busy with those two.

So, what am I thinking of doing for senior thesis? Well after kicking around a few ideas, including developing Home Base further and working to get it manufactured on a small scale, I decided to work on a project that I knew I would love and finally get something bike related in my portfolio. I'm going to design and build an urban trailer system for bicycles. The sort of thing bicycle commuters would use.

So, initial criteria I'm working towards,

-pullable by bike and walkable by hand

-foldable

-light weight

-customizable with different bag attachment options

-water proof bags in lieu of a rainfly

-stable (two wheels)

-maneuverable (small wheels)

Stay tuned and thanks for reading!