Space Saver Bike Rack

摘要

Apartment living can be crowded especially for a cyclist. Bicycles are bulky and difficult to store. A device is needed to store two road bikes weighing up to 40 pounds each while saving as much space as possible. To solve this problem many iterations of various free standing and wall-leaning bike rack designs were drawn. Evolution of the design can be traced through the drawings included in the report. The first design analyzed was a free standing rack. After calculations and adjustments this design was going to have to be very bulky in order to achieve the stability requirements. The next design that was analyzed was a wall-leaning rack. This design was very compact and satisfied the stability requirements gracefully. In winter, materials were ordered and prepared for construction. Construction included cutting ABS pipe, gluing or drilling and pinning fittings. Construction was completed without major issues. The final device is working properly despite a couple of minor clearance related oversights. The bike rack supports two bikes weighing 35 pounds each. The compactness requirement of 72 inches squared was met. This spring the deflection of the rack will be tested and compared to the predicted data. The racks capacity to support loads up to 40 pounds will be tested. A test will be run where the rack is loaded with two bikes and the floor area and volume occupied can be found. These values will be compared to the original configuration of road bike leaning against the wall in the apartment.