Design for Manufacturability
Motorcycle Lift Redesign
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Redesign by: Robin Maley Ian McKnight Sarah Yageman James Yarosz Winter 2004 |
The motorcycle lift is a complex lever. To lift a motorcycle, the lift is first placed underneath the motorcycle. Then you press down with your foot on the pedal/lever to bring up the stand. Because of the dimensions of the links and the overall design, the foot pedal stays locked down. To let the motorcycle down, the user simply pulls up on the pedal, and the motorcycle’s weight brings the stand down. Improving this design required modifying the lift so it easily lowers the bike at a controlled and safe rate, while keeping costs low and improving the manufacturability of the bike. We greatly improved the bike lift in terms of quality, cost, and value to the customer and the manufacturer. The functional design improvements that increase the quality and value to the customer include adding an air cylinder (allows the user to lower the bike slowly and safely) and toolboxes (adds more functionality to the lift). We also changed the material from aluminum to steel, which makes the lift lighter and less cumbersome for the user to carry. We molded the rubber on top of the bike lift which mates to the bike, to allow a more stable surface for the bike to rest on. By reducing the number of parts from 49 to 25, reducing weld length from 25” to 15”, and reducing the number of fasteners from 24 to 10 we improved the motorcycle lift in terms of quality, cost, and value to the customer. This redesign was developed by Robin Maley, Ian McKnight, Sarah Yageman, and James Yarosz in Winter 2004, instructors: Prof. Sridhar Kota, Mentor Dr. Donald Malen, and Teaching Assistant Kerr-Jia Lu.
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Project Specifications (pdf) |
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Pictorial Summary
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