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US 11,603,153 B1Granted
Bicycle saddle with super elastic material member activated vibration isolation
AssigneeToyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing North America, Inc.
InventorsChristian Arthur Trager, Paul A. Gilmore, Umesh N. Gandhi, Ryohei Tsuruta, Michael Paul Rowe
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A vibration isolator can be configured to provide improved vibration isolation performance, such as in connection with a bicycle saddle. A vibration isolator can be operatively connected to a bicycle saddle. The vibration isolator can be configured to exhibit a non-linear stiffness profile. The non-linear stiffness profile can include a region of quasi-zero stiffness. The vibration isolator can include one or more movable body members and one or more super elastic material members.
Claims22
A system for vibration isolation of a bicycle saddle, the system comprising:
- a bicycle saddle;
- and
- a vibration isolator operatively connected to the bicycle saddle, the vibration isolator being configured to exhibit a non-linear stiffness profile, the non-linear stiffness profile including a region of quasi-zero stiffness, the vibration isolator including one or more movable body members and one or more super elastic material members, the one or more super elastic material members being pre-stretched to a quasi-zero stiffness region of the non-linear stiffness profile.
A system for vibration isolation of a bicycle saddle, the system comprising:
- a bicycle saddle;
- a vibration isolator operatively connected to the bicycle saddle, the vibration isolator being configured to exhibit a non-linear stiffness profile, the non-linear stiffness profile including a region of quasi-zero stiffness, the vibration isolator including one or more movable body members and one or more super elastic material members;
- one or more processors operatively connected to selectively vary the non-linear stiffness profile of the vibration isolator by controlling a temperature of the one or more super elastic material members;
- one or more power sources operatively connected to supply electrical energy to the one or more super elastic material members, the one or more processors being operatively connected to the one or more power sources, the one or more processors being configured to control the temperature of the one or more super elastic material members by controlling a supply of electrical energy to the one or more super elastic material members;
- and
- one or more sensors operatively connected to the one or more processors, the one or more sensors being configured to acquire sensor data about a current temperature of the one or more super elastic material members, and the one or more processors being configured to:
- compare the current temperature of the one or more super elastic material members to a target temperature for the one or more super elastic material members to achieve a target stiffness profile for the one or more super elastic material members;
- and
- when the current temperature of the one or more super elastic material members is different than the target temperature for the one or more super elastic material members, cause the supply of electrical energy to the one or more super elastic material members to be adjusted.
6 more elements
A system for vibration isolation of a bicycle saddle, the system comprising:
- a bicycle saddle;
- a vibration isolator operatively connected to the bicycle saddle, the vibration isolator being configured to exhibit a non-linear stiffness profile, the non-linear stiffness profile including a region of quasi-zero stiffness, the vibration isolator including one or more movable body members and one or more super elastic material members
- one or more processors operatively connected to selectively vary the non-linear stiffness profile of the vibration isolator by controlling a temperature of the one or more super elastic material members, the one or more processors are configured to selectively vary the non-linear stiffness profile of the one or more super elastic material members based on one or more real-time conditions;
- and
- one or more sensors operatively connected to the one or more processors, the one or more sensors being operatively connected to the bicycle saddle, the one or more sensors being configured to acquire sensor data about at least one of a weight of an occupant of the bicycle saddle, and the one or more real-time conditions including a weight of an occupant of the bicycle saddle.
2 more elements
A vibration isolator comprising:
- a four-bar linkage;
- and
- one or more super elastic material members operatively connected to the four-bar linkage, the one or more super elastic material members being configured to exhibit a non-linear stiffness profile, the non-linear stiffness profile including a region of quasi-zero stiffness, the non-linear stiffness profile being selectively variable, the one or more super elastic material members being pre-stretched to a quasi-zero stiffness region of the non-linear stiffness profile.
A vibration isolator comprising:
- a four-bar linkage;
- one or more super elastic material members operatively connected to the four-bar linkage, the one or more super elastic material members being configured to exhibit a non-linear stiffness profile, the non-linear stiffness profile including a region of quasi-zero stiffness, the non-linear stiffness profile being selectively variable;
- one or more processors operatively connected to selectively vary the non-linear stiffness profile of the vibration isolator by controlling a temperature of the one or more super elastic material members;
- one or more power sources operatively connected to supply electrical energy to the one or more super elastic material members, the one or more processors being operatively connected to the one or more power sources, the one or more processors being configured to control the temperature of the one or more super elastic material members by controlling a supply of electrical energy to the one or more super elastic material members;
- and
- one or more sensors operatively connected to the one or more processors, the one or more sensors being configured to acquire sensor data about a current temperature of the one or more super elastic material members, and the one or more processors being configured to:
- compare the current temperature of the one or more super elastic material members to a target temperature for the one or more super elastic material members to achieve a target stiffness profile for the one or more super elastic material members;
- and
- when the current temperature of the one or more super elastic material members is different than the target temperature for the one or more super elastic material members, cause the supply of electrical energy to the one or more super elastic material members to be adjusted.
6 more elements
A vibration isolator comprising:
- a four-bar linkage;
- one or more super elastic material members operatively connected to the four-bar linkage, the one or more super elastic material members being configured to exhibit a non-linear stiffness profile, the non-linear stiffness profile including a region of quasi-zero stiffness, the non-linear stiffness profile being selectively variable;
- one or more processors operatively connected to selectively vary the non-linear stiffness profile of the vibration isolator by controlling a temperature of the one or more super elastic material members, the one or more processors being configured to selectively vary the non-linear stiffness profile of the one or more super elastic material members based on one or more real-time conditions;
- and
- one or more sensors operatively connected to the one or more processors, the one or more sensors being operatively connected to a bicycle saddle, the one or more sensors being configured to acquire sensor data about at least one of a weight of an occupant of the bicycle saddle, and the one or more real-time conditions including a weight of an occupant of the bicycle saddle.
2 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.