DONKEYCALFRAISE: Concept 1

Last crawled date: 1 year, 10 months ago

The goal with this concept padding system is to provide a very strong and sturdy platform, but keep the aesthetics in context with
The sport equipment environment, it should look as though it belongs in a gym and not on a car, or plane, or other environment.

The main clamping system is a basic friction cam style design that is widely used in a variety of industries and it’s tried and tested method of applying a Strong clamping force. Please note that the "black and orange model" was uploaded before the multiple size requirements were added so it will only fit the 28mm bar. However, The uploaded IGS includes the modified clamping system which has a small screw dial to allow the adjustment for 25mm to 28mm bar sizings.

The clamping components can either be made from injected molded plastic, cold forged or CNC machined from aluminum; with injection Molding being the cheapest method of manufacturing. The aluminum can either be powder coated or anodized for color. Also, a combination of the two materials can be used, perhaps the handle can be injection molded while other parts are CNC machined.
Standard off the shelf nuts and bolts can be used for the pivot joints or custom screws can be made.

The clamping unit quickly attaches to the back support unit via a large 9/16” linch pin which can be removed very quickly without any tools; therefore this allows the opportunity for expansion of the product line for use with other types of support systems that could be created in the future, the same clamping mechanism can be used for multiple support systems.

The back support consists of a short spine made from cromoly steel tubing with curved ribs and mounts welded onto it. The ribs are then fitted with foam rubber padding for comfort. The foam padding can easily be removed for Cleaning. Although the rib system spreads slightly less load than a back full pad, it also allows room for air circulation, less surface contact for sweat and germs to accumulate and larger, softer or harder padding can more easily be adapted as opposed to a full back support.


Due to the models design, I was not able to run FEA analysis testing but I'm sure the cromolly tubing and backbone would be sufficiently strong to support the loading. If anything, it's a simiple matter of increasing wall thickness of the tubing, determining if weld strength will be enough.

Thank you for looking…

CAD files available upon request.