Abstract
As Melbourne continues to expand, conventional methods of commuting such as personal vehicles and public transport stress the infrastructure that supports them due to overuse and exceeding their capacity during peak times. Cycling to work can reduce this stress as well as provide both physical and mental benefits to those who ride. However, the people who cycle sit in the minority.
The rapid emergence of E-bikes is proving to be a great alternative for those who may not have the ability to cycle, whether that’s due to personal fitness, geographic barriers or distance. However, due to differences in weight and function E-bikes struggle to fit within conventional bicycle parking infrastructure.
Vertilock addresses this issue of parking by providing an accessible high-density parking solution that assists the E-bike into the vertical position while also providing the facilities to charge and securely lock the bike.
Vertilock
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Exploded View/Components of Parking System
The Vertilock system is constructed using standard sheet metal gauges, tube steel diameters and fasteners. Its means of manufacture consist of conventional processes including laser/plasma cutting, tube bending and welding.
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Exploded View/Components of Charging System
The charging components of Vertilock consist of injection-moulded housings, printed circuited boards and other integrated electronics such as wireless charging coils.
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Product Dimensions
Vertilock’s dimensions adhere to the Australian Standard (AS2890.3) for Compliant Bicycle Parking. This allows the product to be situated in a range of environments including sidewalks, end of journey facilities and car parks
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Use
The system functions by the user simply inserting the front wheel into the wheel mount and pushing on the rear of the saddle using their body weight. The bike and mount then slide up into the vertical position, engaging the charging system.
This charging system consists of an internal power supply/regulator and an external wireless charger fastened to the wheel mounting system. This sends power to the receiver mounted to the forks charging the users battery.
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Step by step
1. Approach:
The first step is to approach the system by dismounting and rolling the bike forwards.2. Front Wheel Lock-in:
Next is to slightly raise the front wheel and insert it into the wheel mount.3. Rear Saddle Push:
Then push in the rear of the bike by using your body weight, leaning into the saddle. Keep pushing the bike until it reaches the vertical position.4. Locking:
Finally, lock the bike in the vertical position using a U-lock.
Process
Being an honours project the process of Vertilocks development began with extensive research into its design opportunity and the issue it was going to resolve. This included research surveys, existing product analysis and testing. Once a concept was formed, its primary function (raising the bike) was validated through scale models and full-scale proxies. Finally, its visual language and identity were progressed so that it would suit a range of environments and be unintrusive and intuitive to use.
Outcome
The Vertilock system reduces the footprint required to park an e-bike by allowing the user to shift their bike into the vertical position while also providing facilities to charge. The vertical position reduces the systems ground footprint significantly in comparison to conventional bike parking methods. This provides the opportunity for the Vertilock system to be utilised on sidewalks and other low footprint areas such as narrow corridors and spaces in bike parking/end of journey facilities and car parks.