Bicycle saddle with spring-based vibration isolation

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11827299-B2
Application number	US-202318161611-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jan 30, 2023
Priority date	Jan 10, 2022
Publication date	Nov 28, 2023
Grant date	Nov 28, 2023

Abstract

A vibration isolator cartridge can be configured to exhibit a non-linear stiffness profile. The non-linear stiffness profile including a region of quasi-zero stiffness. The vibration isolator cartridge can include a housing. The vibration isolator cartridge can include a plunger. The plunger can be configured to be depressed toward a distal end portion of the housing. The vibration isolator cartridge can include a plurality of spring members operatively positioned within the housing between the plunger and the distal end portion of the housing. The plurality of spring elements can be arranged in a stack. The vibration isolator cartridge can be used to provide improved vibration isolation performance in various applications, such as a bicycle saddle.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A vibration isolator cartridge comprising:
a housing including an inner wall;
a plunger, the plunger being configured to be depressed toward a distal end portion of the housing, the plunger includes a head and a shaft; and
a plurality of spring members operatively positioned within the housing between the plunger and the distal end portion of the housing, the plurality of spring members being arranged in a stack, the plurality of spring members being adjacent to the inner wall, whereby no intervening structure is located between the spring members and the inner wall, each of the plurality of spring members including a central aperture, the shaft extending through the central apertures of the spring members,
the vibration isolator cartridge being configured to exhibit a non-linear stiffness profile, the non-linear stiffness profile including a region of quasi-zero stiffness.

2. The vibration isolator cartridge of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of spring members is a plurality of conical springs.

3. The vibration isolator cartridge of claim 2 , wherein the conical springs are arranged in an alternating pattern, wherein each conical spring includes an outer diameter body portion and an inner diameter body portion, and wherein, for at least some of the conical springs, at least one of:
the outer diameter body portion faces the outer diameter body portion of a neighboring one of the conical springs; and
the inner diameter body portion faces the inner diameter body portion of a neighboring one of the conical springs.

4. The vibration isolator cartridge of claim 3 , wherein the outer diameter body portion and the outer diameter body portion of a neighboring one of the conical springs are separated by an outer spacer.

5. The vibration isolator cartridge of claim 4 , wherein the outer spacer is a non-locking spacer.

6. The vibration isolator cartridge of claim 4 , wherein the outer spacer does not increase an overall envelope of the plurality of conical springs in a lateral direction.

7. The vibration isolator cartridge of claim 4 , wherein the inner wall of the housing keeps the plurality of conical springs substantially concentrically aligned.

8. The vibration isolator cartridge of claim 3 , the inner diameter body portion and the inner diameter body portion of a neighboring one of the conical springs are separated by a spacer.

9. The vibration isolator cartridge of claim 3 , wherein the outer diameter body portion of the conical springs are adjacent to the inner wall of the housing.

10. The vibration isolator cartridge of claim 2 , wherein the conical springs are double stacked in an alternating pattern.

11. A vibration isolation system comprising:
a plurality of vibration isolator cartridges arranged in an end-to-end manner, each of the plurality of vibration isolator cartridges including:
a housing; and
a plurality of conical springs operatively positioned within the housing, the plurality of conical springs being arranged in a stack,
each of the plurality of vibration isolator cartridges being configured to exhibit a non-linear stiffness profile, the non-linear stiffness profile including a region of quasi-zero stiffness, the plurality of vibration isolator cartridges being configured to act in parallel with each other.

12. The vibration isolation system of claim 11 , wherein at least one of the vibration isolator cartridges has a different vibration isolation performance than the rest of the plurality of vibration isolator cartridges.

13. The vibration isolation system of claim 11 , wherein, in at least one of the plurality of vibration isolator cartridges, neighboring conical springs in the stack of conical spring are separated by a spacer.

14. The vibration isolation system of claim 11 , wherein an inner wall of the housing keeps the plurality of conical springs substantially concentrically aligned.

15. The vibration isolation system of claim 11 , wherein, in at least one of the plurality of vibration isolator cartridges, the conical springs are double stacked in an alternating pattern.

16. The vibration isolation system of claim 11 , wherein each vibration isolator cartridge further includes a plunger, and wherein the plunger is configured to be depressed toward a distal end portion of the housing, whereby the plurality of conical springs is compressed when the plunger is depressed.

17. The vibration isolation system of claim 11 , wherein, for each of the plurality of vibration isolator cartridges, the stack of spring members is configured to be in a quasi-zero stiffness region of the non-linear stiffness profile when compressed.

18. A system for vibration isolation of a bicycle saddle, the system comprising:
a bicycle saddle;
a bicycle frame, the bicycle saddle being operatively connected to the bicycle frame; and
a plurality of vibration isolator cartridges located within a portion of the bicycle frame, the plurality of vibration isolator cartridges being operatively positioned with respect to the bicycle saddle, each of the vibration isolator cartridges including a plurality of conical springs arranged in a stack, each of the plurality of vibration isolator cartridges being configured to exhibit a non-linear stiffness profile, the non-linear stiffness profile including a region of quasi-zero stiffness.

19. The system of claim 18 , wherein the bicycle frame includes a seat post, wherein the plurality of vibration isolator cartridges is received in the seat post, and wherein the plurality of vibration isolator cartridges are arranged in an end-to-end manner.

20. The system of claim 19 , wherein the plurality of vibration isolator cartridges is configured to act in parallel with each other.

Assignees

• Toyota Eng & Mfg North America

Inventors

• Gilmore Paul A
• Trager Christian Arthur
• Gandhi Umesh N
• Tsuruta Ryohei
• Rowe Michael Paul

Classifications

• B62J1/065 Primary

  Saddles supported on a parallelogram linkage · CPC title

• B62J45/41

  characterised by the type of sensor · CPC title

• F16F2224/045

  magnetorheological · CPC title

• F16F2224/0258

  Shape-memory metals, e.g. Ni-Ti alloys · CPC title

• F16F3/02

  with springs made of steel or of other material having low internal friction · CPC title