Shock absorbers are an integral part of vehicle design today. Airbags and flexible parts that can lessen the impact of a car crash, or the classic seat belt is always included in the modern cars. Even then, to make sure that crashes and shocks become less of a problem, measures are made; like the self driving car being pushed by Google, Nissan and Volvo and many other companies. But what about the wheel chairs and the bicycles? Surely they experience shocks too!
Well for them, there is a solution – called the SoftWheel.
Now SoftWheel doesn’t protect against crashes but it definitely lessens the impact of injuries and the reason for its existence was a particularly devastating injury. Israeli farmer Gilad Wolf broke his pelvis in 2008 and as a result, was left to tend his fields in a wheel chair. What he did to make sure that his work would not be hindered by discomfort could be a whole new direction for building tires.
Gilad Wolf broke one of the fundamental rules of making wheels, he shifted the hub from the center. The wheel’s hub is attached to the rim by three spokes that all make a different angle with it. In addition to this as the wheel is rotating the pressure on the tire contracts and absorbs the energy imparted to it by pushing against the ground and thus the hub shifts position. When the tire expands again the energy is converted in to motion and the wheel chair receives an extra push as it goes forward.