PROJECT 2 PROGRESS REPORTAugust Kim

Valentine AsaluKim HarmonEnting Liu

11/16/12Team 5

AbstractThe primary objective of this design project is to design a bicycle shelf that can be

attached to a standard bicycle and also be folded up to create a place to store goods. The shelf should be able to fold out and display the goods that were stored inside.

Our product is being designed to be very cheap yet durable such that traveling merchants can afford and use it for a long period of time, and not have to pour too much money into something to sell their products.  We want to build a shelf that is very user friendly. It should be easily transformable and usable because the seller will be folding and unfolding it on a regular basis. With this in mind, we want to make sure that the shelf is of a good weight so that the bike is still easily maneuverable and not front-heavy. Our shelving system should incorporate little things to help make displaying the merchant’s products an easier task, and should be well constructed so that goods will neither slide off the open shelf or fall out of the closed shelf. Other than this, we want to set out to take in the wants and needs of customers to make an all-around good portable shelving system.

We also believe that the product should be sold in a certain market. We decided that an area where there the population of street merchants/vendors is great would be an ideal area to sell the product to. We want to research where these areas would be and make sure that we can distribute this product to those areas easily and readily.

We plan to conduct research on our proposed project, to evaluate customer needs, most important attributes to incorporate, where our product is most desired, to find similar products, and to trial multiple designs. This will help us to make the best product we can.With this information, our team has the necessary information to produce a very consumer appealing bike shelf so that our product is a huge hit among merchants and street vendors.

1.0 IntroductionOur goal of this project is to design a portable, collapsible shelf that can attached to a bicycle. It should be able to secure goods when traveling on the bicycle and should open up to display the goods on a shelf. Because this bike would not be practical in just any kind area, our group decided to design the shelf to increase revenue in a Chinese market for the seller. Due the fact that Chinese people use bikes on a regular basis, we thought as though it would be a perfect market to sell our product in.

1.1 Initial Problem StatementDesign, build, and test a portable ‘shelf system’ that can collapse and secure goods while connected to a bicycle and then can open and provide a shelf/table space to sell goods in a communal market.

2.0 Customer Needs AssessmentOur group created the survey based on where our product would be most effective and what design would be the efficient

Table 1. Initial Customer Needs List Obtained from Team Focus Group and Individual Interviews/SurverysPortableSafeEasy to assembleAttractivenessDurabilitySustainabilityWeightCostComfortCollapsibleLocation being sold toSize

Table 2. Hierarchal Customer Needs List Obtained from Focus Group and Individual Interviews

1 Portable1.1 Weight1.2 Size1.3 Collapsible

2 User Friendly2.1 Easy to assemble2.2 Safe2.3 Comfort

3 Aesthetics3.1 Attractiveness

4 Practicality4.1 Durable4.2 Cost4.3 Location being sold to4.4 Sustainable

2.1 Weighting of Customer Needs

Figure 1. AHP Pairwise Comparison Chart to Determine Weighting for Main Objective Categories

NEEDS PortabilityUser Friendliness Aesthetics Practicality Total Weight

Portability 1 5 5 1 12 .41User Friendliness .33 1 5 1 7.33 .25Aesthetics .20 .20 1 .20 1.60 .06Practicality 1 1 5 1 8 .28

Figure 2. AHP Pairwise Comparison Chart to Determine Weighting of User Friendly Sub-Objectives

NEEDS Weight Cost Durability Ease of Assembly

Maneuverability Comfort Total Weight

Weight 1 .33 .20 5 .33 1 7.86 .12

Cost 3 1 .33 5 .33 .33 10 .16

Durability 5 3 1 5 1 .33 15.3 .24

Ease of Assembly

.20 .20 .20 1 .20 .20 2 .03

Maneuverability

3 3 1 5 1 1 14 .22

Comfort 1 3 3 5 1 1 14 .22

Table 3. Weighted Hierarchical Customer Needs List Obtained from Focus Group and Individual Interviews

1. Portable (0.41,0.41)

1.1 Weight(0.12,0.29)1.2 Size(0.22,0.54)1.3 Collapsible(0.07,0.17)0. User Friendly(0.25, 0.25)2.1 Easy to assemble(0.03,0.12)2.2 Safe(0.12,0.482.3 Comfort(0.11,0.44)0. Aesthetics(0.06, 0.06)3.1 Attractiveness(0.06,1)0. Practicality(0.28,0.28)4.1 Durable(0.13,0.464.2 Cost(0.12, 0.42)4.3 Location being sold to(0.01,0.03)4.4 Sustainable(0.02,0.07)

3.0 Revised Problem StatementOur team is to design, build, and test a portable ‘shelf system’ that can collapse and secure goods while connected to a bicycle and then can open and provide a shelf/table space to sell goods in a communal market. To satisfy our customers, we need to focus heavily on the weight of our shelf system, cost of system for customers, maneuverability and comfort of system, and most importantly, the durability of the system. We found that our shelves don’t really need to be easy to assemble or very pleasing to the eye. We also found that it’s crucial that our shelves are portable, practical, and user friendly. Considering all of these necessary attributes, we will create a portable bike-shelf system to satisfy our customers to the fullest

4.0 External SearchIn order to satisfy our customers, we have been researching many ways to create this shelf as efficiently as possible. We did this by looking at patents for similar items and searching for other items in the market that employ similar design.

4.2 Patent SearchDetachable collapsible bicycle basket, : 8074852Foldable and portable bicycle convertible into a shopping cart, EP0058526 B1Shelving system - D622990

FUNCTION ART

Bell, arc groove

Cam, spring, lever, bar

Slider, recess, groove

Recessed wall aperture, plate

Bar anchorage

Position Indicator

US 5058283

Tightening strap

US 5979982

Safety strap guide

US 5954397US 5964502

Spring-back prevention

US5918934

4.3 Product Archaeology The features of a bike shelf have gone through many changes over the years. There are several versions out there but our design most resembles the basket version. A specific bike basket we have found was called the Foldable Bike Basket created by Mark D. Uitz. This product evolved over time and is shown by these patents: US582229, US617685, US2209846, US2667995, US2767894. These patents’ titles are: Folding basket for bicycles, Attachment for bicycles, Carrier mounting, Combined merchandising package and article carrier, and Bicycle Basket respectively. The whole process of going through the patents began on May 11, 1897 and ended on October 23, 1956. The figures displayed below show the design of the bike basket.

4.4 Benchmarking

Patent Search Bike Trailer: By Derek J Henden

Bicycle Cart:By: Cory J. Mast

Bicycle Towable Collapsible Cart:Russell S. Robinson

Patent Number 4371184 D383094 5785334

Figure

Feature Bike Trailer Bike Cart Bicycle Towable Collapsible Cart

Mobility 5 5 5

Size 2 4 4

Aesthetics 1 3 3

Collapsible 1 1 5

4.5 Design TargetAfter doing some research, our group has found out that this product would be most useful in areas where there is a high population of street merchants and outdoor markets. The product we are designing is targeted towards merchants who need to travel often with their stored goods. Our group has taken in account that places such as China have very high populations of outdoor merchants/vendors. Because of this, we are leaning towards designing our product to fit the customer needs of outdoor merchants.

5.0 Concept Generation

Morphological Chart

Design Attachable Collapsible

Box shape Yes Yes

Basket No No

T-shaped

Designed a box that unfolds into a flat surface where objects can be displayed

Designed an upside down T shaped base that has foldable shelves on the center board.

6.0 Concept SelectionWhen selecting a concept our group had to determine what was most important to the customer. Luckily, one of our group members had friends in our target market, China. After surveying, we found out that portability was most important compared to the other criteria as shown in Fig. 1. Our group then chose the most portable design out of the concepts we generated. In Fig. 2, the three concepts we selected were compared to each other to find the very best concept. According to the chart we decided to go with Concept 3.

Figure 1. AHP Pairwise Comparison Chart to Determine Weighting for Main Objective Categories

NEEDS PortabilityUser Friendliness Aesthetics Practicality Total Weight

Portability 1 5 5 1 12 .41User Friendliness .33 1 5 1 7.33 .25Aesthetics .20 .20 1 .20 1.60 .06Practicality 1 1 5 1 8 .28

Figure 2. Concept Comparison TableConcept Size Cost Weight Aesthetics TotalConcept 1 B A S EConcept 2 0 0 0 1 1Concept 3 1 1 1 1 4

Concept Size Cost Weight Aesthetics TotalConcept 1 0 0 0 -1 -1Concept 2 B A S EConcept 3 1 1 1 1 4

Concept Size Cost Weight Aesthetics TotalConcept 1 -1 -1 -1 -1 -4Concept 2 -1 -1 -1 0 -3Concept 3 B A S E

Signal(Button)

Energy(Button)

(Human Energy)

Materials

Kinetic Energy

Materials Carried

Materials

Energy

Signal

Push button up in order to open

mechanism

Use human energy to lift and start

Place material on the shelves

Human energy converted to

Kinetic Energy

Materials too heavy they bend shelves

Materials are transported on

shelves

Volume Limitations

7.0 Concept Improvement through Creativity Methods

Fig. 1 Black Box Model

8.0 Final Design

The final design we decided to choose was the box like bike shelf design. After looking at all the other designs, this one seemed the most durable and efficient. This design is made to be attached to the front of a bicycle or motorcycle. The bike shelf has three flaps that unfold, as shown in the pictures above. There are borders around each flap to prevent the goods from sliding off. There are hinges that lock the flaps in the place while traveling as well. The total weight of the design is going to be 20 lb. and the dimensions are: 12” height, 16”x18” base.

8.1 Materials and Material SelectionAfter comparing all the materials with the following criteria, hardness, cost, and density, we decided to use polypropylene because it is a durable yet cost efficient material. The total weight of the bike shelf will be 20 lb. and will be sold in the market for around $20-25 depending on where it is sold.

Figure 2. Material Comparison Table

Criteria Mohr’s Hardness

Norm.

Cost (square ft.)

Norm.

Density Norm.

Total

Weights 0.40 0.40 0.20 0.20 0.40 0.40 1.00

Polypropylene

4 .8 0.22 1 0.855 1.14 8.015

Polycarbonate 5 1 3.00 13.6 1.22 1.6 25.42

Wood (Oak) 2 .4 1.75 7.9 0.75 1 13.8