Case Study: Elliptical Bicycle

3.4.1 ElliptiGO

A patent for an elliptical bicycle was first registered in 2008. In 2010 ElliptiGo subsequently secured the exclusive rights to the patents. An elliptical bicycle is a device that uses a running-like elliptical motion to propel a bicycle. The first elliptical bike prototype, codenamed “Alfa,” was completed by mid-2006.

In 2010, the ElliptiGO 8S, the company's first commercially available elliptical bike was brought to the market. Figure3.4.1: ElliptiGo Bicycle (First Elliptical Bicycle)

3.4.2 Improved Feature of Elliptical Bicycle

In 2015, the American Council on Exercise (ACE) commissioned an independent study to determine the effectiveness of a workout on the ElliptiGO bike and how it measures up to accepted fitness industry

The follower arm, which is the link that connects the crank arm to the slider, connects to a pin in the center of sliding object. This pin is considered to be on the linear movement axis. Therefore, to be considered an in-line crank slider, the pivot point of the crank arm must be in-line with this pin point. The stroke (ΔR4) max of an in-line crank slider is defined as the maximum linear distance the slider may travel between the two extreme points of its motion. With an in-line crank slider, the motion of the crank and follower links is symmetric about the sliding axis. This means that the crank angle required to execute a forward stroke is equivalent to the angle required to perform a reverse stroke. For this reason, the in-line slider-crank mechanism produces balanced motion. This balanced motion implies other ideas as well. Assuming the crank arm is driven at a constant velocity, the time it takes to perform a forward stroke is equal to the time it takes to perform a reverse

These generalized relationships are displayed in the form of 3 equations and can be used to determine unknown values for almost any offset slider-crank. These equations express the link lengths, L1, L2, and L3, as a function of the stroke,(ΔR4)max, the imbalance angle, β, and the angle of an arbitrary line L3, θ. Arbitrary line 3 is a designer-unique line that runs through the crank pivot point and the extreme retracted slider position. The 3 equations are as