Bicycle Storage Utilizing a Four Bar Linkage

Carl Josephson AME40423 901555693 September 21, 2011

Abstract
The purpose of this project was to design a four bar mechanism raise a bicycle above a dorm room bed without interfering with the walls or floor of the room. A three position method was used to determine the link lengths and grounded link position. It was found that a mechanism with link lengths of 39.31, 33.89, 25.71, and 6.87 inches performed the task at hand. The 6.87 inch link was grounded, while the 25.71 inch link was attached to the bicycle.

1 Engineering Analysis
To find a four bar linkage that would work for the given application, as shown in Section 5.4.1 of Mechanics and Machines, the three position procedure described in section 5.2 was used. First, a location for the zero position was defined. This made it possible to perform all calculations from the top of the bicycle rack. This location can be seen in the following Figure 1, which is a modified version of Figure 5.7 found in Mechanics and Machines.

Figure 1. Location of Origin Second, the three positions to be used as constraints were defined, as well as rotation at those positions. The first was at the origin, the second at an arbitrary point, and the third at the final

resting position of the bicycle. A moving pivot, , near the bicycle was then chosen. From Equation (5.8) values for and were calculated. Equation (5.10) was then used to locate the fixed pivot, . The radius, , of the newly found link was then calculated using the location of the fixed point and that of the first position. This process was then repeated for another moving pivot location. The design using the original parameters was refined by changing the location of the moving pivots and rotation angle of the three position constraints. Although the position of was slightly high, this design resulted in shorter link arms, thus reducing weight.

2 Results
The calculations previously described were programmed into MATLAB and then computed. These computations can be found in Appendix A. The results of the calculations can be seen in the following Table 1. Table 1. Calculated Dimension of Four Bar Linkages
Parameter Location (in.) Location (in.) Link 1 Radius (in.) Link 2 Radius (in.) Moving Pivot Location (in.) Moving Pivot Location (in.) Mid Position Rotation (Radians) Design 1 (-36.98,12.063) (-40.88,9.65) 42.98 43.66 (-6,-12) (0,-25) Design 2 (-32.04,15.96) (-27.76,10.57) 39.32 33.88 (-6,-6) (0,-30)

These results were then used to construct the following Figure 1 and Figure 2, which are animations of the two designs.

Figure 1. Animation of Design 1

Figure 2. Animation of Design 2

3 Conclusions
The three position problem worked well to create a four bar linkage to raise a bicycle above a dorm room bed. This process allowed for four input variables, allowing a wide range of possible designs. Each of these parameters could be optimized to create a bicycle lift with the best possible dimensions. The ideal bicycle lift would have the shortest possible link arms, while still not interfering with the surrounding walls and floor, but still bringing the bicycle to the desired final position. Computer optimization would assist in the design of such a mechanism.

4 References
Stanisic, Michael. August 15, 2011, AME40423 Mechanisms and Machines.