Design for Transporting a Baby on a bicycle

Design for Transporting a Baby on a bicycle

Speelberg, N.

Prins, J.F. (mentor)
Van Heur, R.J.H.G. (mentor)

Industrial Design Engineering

Industrial Design

Master of Science Integrated Product Design

2012-05-16

This graduation project is done for Steco metaalwaren B.V. This company produces bicycle accesories and had assigned the case of development of there product, the Baby-Mee bike to me. The goal for this project was to go back to the reason of existence for this product and see what opportunities lay there. The assignment therefore became somewhat broader than just a redesign: “The design of a product to transport a baby on a bike” The project had three main focus points: The connection with the bicycle of the current product is supplied by GMG. This company however will in the near future no longer produce this connection. A new connection with the bicycle therefore had to be developed. The requirement for it was to be as compatible with bicycles as possible. Another point was to reduce the volume of the product while still maintaining the compatibility with as much baby seats as possible. The last element that Steco wanted was an optimized suspension. Besides these three points, Steco was also interested in getting to product tested by independent organization. This was interesting for them, because then they would have proof that the product is safe for babies. Based on these elements, I designed the Baby-Mee Frame. The Baby-Mee Frame is Steco’s new and improved baby carrier for the bicycle. The baby is transported in the Baby-Mee Frame using a Maxi Cosi or other baby seat. It is compatible with the all of the most popular baby seats. Besides that, the product can stil be used when the baby outgrows the baby seat. The baby can then be transported in bicycle seats, which fit on the bracket. The bracket can also serve as a second luggage rack floating above the normal rack. It also adds suspension to the product. This suspension is designed to take up vibrations and quickly balance them out. For this to work properly, the bracket needs at least 70 mm of room above the luggage rack. The Baby-Mee Frame is connected not to the luggage rack of the bike but to the seat tube of the frame. The frame mount makes the Baby-Mee Frame compatible with nearly every bicycle. The product can even be positioned on the front of the some bicycles. This enables the parents to see their baby while cycling and enhances the feeling of safety. The certification by an independent organization turned out to be unobtainable. This was because there are no norms or guidelines for transporting a baby on a bicycle.

design
baby
bicycle
car seat

http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:a36a5639-4d34-49b3-8713-c2f98981db3a

2013-05-16

Campus only

Student theses

master thesis

(c) 2012 Speelberg, N.