Lift Assisted Bike Stand
Project completed during first year of undergraduate engineering.
The Problem
The demand for electric bikes has been steadily increasing as they enable riders to go farther, quicker, and with less physical exertion. As a result, bike shops have been servicing a greater number of e-bikes over the years. While the e-bike has many performance benefits, it is ultimately a heavier bike than its non-electric equivalent.
Trek Kingston Bikes, a bike shop local to the Queen’s University campus, desired a mechanic’s stand that would enable mechanics of all heights and strengths to safely raise and lower heavier e-bikes without the use of electricity. Current marketed designs were not compatible with their restricted workspace, thus requiring a more innovative solution.
Proposed Design Solution
After working with the client to discuss constraints and goals for the project, the following design solution was created. The final solution was a counterweight pulley system that used the gravitational potential energy of the counterweight to provide an assistive force to lift the bike. On the backside of the stand, a counterweight runs along a guide rail, and is connected to a cable which routes over the top of the pulleys and down to the arm. Tension in the cable created by the counterweight generate an upwards force on the arm, providing assistive lifting force. An electric bike generally weighs between 30-60 lbs, therefore a counterweight of 30 lbs (13.6 kg) was selected to ensure that the required lifting force for heavier e-bikes would be cut in half, while requiring minimum exertion for lighter e-bikes. Using a heavier counterweight would provide greater lifting assistance, however, it would make it difficult to lower the arm on the stand if the arm is unloaded.
How to use the system:
Step 1
A bike must first be mounted at the end of the horizontal arm (clamping mechanism was supplied by the client).
Step 2
Next, a spring-loaded handle located under the arm must be contracted in order to pull the locking pin out of the incremented slots. This allows the system to move freely up and down.
Step 3
Keep the handle contracted and lift the bike to the desired height.
Step 4
Release the handle and the pin will lock into the closest slot.
The main components of the stand are composed of 6061 aluminum alloy to match that of the bikes. This helps ensure that the stand does not reactive with the bike shop chemicals. Since this project was completed during my first year of engineering at Queen's University, I had a limited knowledge of materials. Looking back there may have been more appropriate materials to select for this application.