shell ideas for recumbent trike-based velomobile

4.6: places for design ideas:

shells made of Coroplast:
co.mobi/facebook`group"Velomobiles-- Coroplast
Bill Volk's Coroplast Craziness Page!
. cloroplast on riveted aluminum .

. an over-the-head tent-style shell .

pro'composites:
. in 2008 www.cab-bike.blogspot.com's owner
traded the cab-bike in for a mango
. the mango's en.velomobiel.nl link seems to be dead,
but that maker has moved on to the quest:
a $7K Monocoque design with 8m Turning circle
. see the diff of {mango, quest} .
-- Leitra = Leichter individueller Transport .

trike`shell/req's:

4.23: [req]

. build panniers to hold batt for alarm system .

4.23: proj.mobi/trike/shell:

. on the trike, trying to see limits of shell:

. the knees stay under line of sight to fairing`top.bar,

so, extend the seat`back.tubes,

then add a crossbar to them (just under line of sight) .

. the clearance near heels can be tight

but need an opening in the floor there anyway

for feet to back-kick going in reverse .

5.3: getting through doors:

. if the trike with shell won't fit through door sideways,

then it needs to be redesigned .

. one compensation is by removing the rear wheel to lower height;

but then it's a cramped situ'

getting it reinstalled after getting inside the shed .

. another way is to make the top.guard (for shoulder and neck)

be easily removable, eg, buckled onto the body,

and then clicked off from the inside .

sci:

. if the shell stays under the chin,

then the trike will fit atleast through

the [current] kitchen door .

6.14:

. the highest point of shell is determined by chair`back`extension .
[@] trike`shell/body`chair`back`extension
-- assuming the top.guard (for shoulder and neck) is easily removable,
eg, buckled onto the body, and then clicked off from the inside .

mobi/trike`seatbelt:

5.3:

. the backpack strap could be used as a seatbelt,

and would keep the driver under the mats during a rollover .

. this could however place more stress on the neck

unless a rollbar was in place .

. part of staying strapped in would be a buckle system

that was keeping the door from flying up .

5.20: complications:

. this might not be of use without a shoulder strap too .

. the lid is not strapped strongly eno' to act as shoulder straps,

because it is connected to the faring,

which in turn is only weakly connected to the trike frame

by some bands that are practically on stilts .

. finally, a serious accident is highly likely to involve a turn-over,

so that a roll bar may help;

nevertheless, imagine that with a full-face helmet and the shell around your,

a seatbelt is keeping you with the vehicle, its foam, and its visibility .

. in a panic, people may evade the trike while driving right into you! .

mobi/trike`shell/insect guard:

5.8:

. needs an insect guard too,

need trap doors that open to let feet kick backwards,

lifting lid pulls string that opens trap doors .

5.16: security:
. shell needs to prevent dog attacks,
and be modest for deterring theft .

5.11: hand protection is nontrivial:

. to protect the hands,

the tolerance on the shell is tight near the wheel,

as the shell would be too wide if covering the wheel,

and the steering-hand space overlaps the wheel well space .

. the shell has to come close to the wheel and be rigid,

so that a dog can't push the shell aside

to reach the hand .

. the shell can hang over the tire a bit, perhaps 2 inches,

or what would appear to be a fender .

. this would make for better sun protection on the hands,

and would give more triangulation .

5.15: chair`back extention`height:

. height for TT-struct = 13+1/8 inch .

5.30:

. if the rim.rods`ends do attach to the rack,

then a good connection from seat back ext rods is 9"

so then use 10" to give 1" of hang room

. rods pushed down all the way into seat`back`tubes .

. a 33" rod is needed to extend the chair`back tubes 10" .

remaining rod from a 33" cut for the TT-struct is 39"

. if can't use that, then could cut one rod in half (33 * 2 + 6)

or could have extra hang length in case I change mind about height (36*2)

. one of the 39's might be bottom bow under seat .

[1243: can the other 39 be spine along z-axis underneath?]

5.15: chair`back`width:

. tubes`centers are 14" apart .

[23: but the tubes are 0.5"wide,

and the bow is resing on inside corner . ]

5.17: faring cover size:

. 31vert, 24wide .

[23: got some reflectix just 24wide]

5.26: hand signals:

. how can shell be closely enclosing while still being able to

give turn signals ?

. maybe just make it easy for the back part of the lid to lift

(the part ahead of the rear-view mirrors) .

6.14: turn signals:

. either the cabin needs electric turn.signal switches
or part of the lid easily lets left hand escape .

anchor placement restrictions:

5.29:

. bow under seat has to clear brake lever during sharp left turn

-- must be set back near chair`seat`curve's lowpoint .

5.30: TT-struct`width:

. tires are 30" apart and the width could be that at elbows;

but by the time ext reaches height,

it is gone far back behind shoulders

where the tear drop should start narrowing .

5.30: under-seat bow dimensions:

6" deep, 32" wide = 35 -1/8" rod

-- leaves 37" rod .

5.30: faring`vert.bow:

. the faring`vert.bow needs 28" rod .

8.9: mobi/trike/shell/req's/derailleur protection

. may be wise to park in lowest gear,
and have a shell be rigid to show impacts to derailleur in parking lot .
. may need to service all parts of bike to know access needed
and how it will affect shell design .

10.22: mobi/shell/fire resistant:

. metal cover near edges of foam deter temptation to

test flammability with pocket lighter .

trike`shell/body

4.25: mobi/shell/mockup:

. some interesting tension in the design

between how easily it covers driver,

vs how much it can also cut wind smoothly .

. the easiest way is to extend the cone's hor'z.bar,

but the air wants to move the ext`points`z.line

from the hor'z.bar, to my hands,

and the next critical point is my shoulders .

. this curvature may be easy due to the

spring of the fiberglass rods,

as you can form a globe from perp' circles .

. instead of getting out from the top,

most of the body would lift,

hinged from the nose.cone`s horz.bar,

similar to the way a trucker`s cab

lifts to get at the engine .

. the top`horz.rods would be going from

the tips of the cone's hor'z.bar

to some place just under my line of site,

and far eno' apart to allow my head to turn

even while wearing the full-face helmet .

4.30:

. the front wheel bearing house can hold a cross binding

that holds a rod spanning from faring bottom

to midpoint of seat's back rest;

the rod brace should be reinforced with

epoxy and nylon fabric;

then it can attach to faring

with reused mobi locknuts and bolts

to be a side of clams`s bottom half .

. after faring work is done

give the edges of reflectix a light adhesive spray

so it can be pulled up again to disassemble shell .

4.30: proj.trike/shell design:

4.30: handlebars reused for holding the mirrors:

. remove the trike's mirrors

to add them to the mtn.bike handlebars

and make that part of shell's lid .

reuse mtn'bike handlebars for trike:

. reorg shed to get at free mtn bike handle bar;

ensure the mirrors fit in the handlebars:

an inch wider than trike on either side .

. knick the handlebars

so that the rods that cross them

fit inside just a bit

and the bindings main job

is just holding the rods in the knotch,

and then the knotch can do its job

of keeping the handlebars from rolling .

6.16: overview:

. the shell is like a clam's, with a top (called the lid)
hinged to a bottom (called the body)

5.19:
. the architecture has a 3-backbone ribbed design
made of fiberglass for both toughness,
and for creating curves in aerodynamically critical places .
. 2 of the spines are forming the rim of the bowl,
and the other is centered on the bowl's bottom
holding the bows on the bottom in place as if they were ribs of the spine .
. the other places where additional structuring is required
can be done with the al'beams (aluminum beams from windowscreen kit) .

. the rim.rod is a fiberglass.rod structure
that is at the rim of the body,
and is an extension of the faring`bow#top (or rather,
the faring`bow#top is the front segment of the rim.rod) .
. following the rim.rod rearward, it flows over the front wheels;
it's supported by vert's coming up from the under-seat`bow) .
[6.18: this support minimizes the upward swing caused to the rim.rod
from being tied down to the rack .]
. the most rearward supports for the rim.rod are
the vert's extending from the chair`back`tubes;
and finally, near the rear of the trike's rack,
the tips of the rim.rod are connected to each other,
and may optionally be tied to the rack .

obs" trike`shell/TT-shaped struct:
5.3:
. the risers could be 3 rods bound in a circle at their bottom;
this package would then fit in the chair`back`tubings .
. up at the top, the triples of rods would be in a linear array,
with the middle one being shorter
to form a knotch in which the horz'rod could rest .
. a better way to find rigidity for the risers
is to connect them with an X-shaped pair of crossing rods;
. then to give the horz'rod strength,
do some more triangulation from the risers to the tips of the horz'rod .
. finaly, to give the risers from swaying forward-backward,
do triangulations from risers that form the tailbox`top.rods .
. the tailbox should slope to minimize its surface to crosswinds .
5.4:
. to keep the TT struct staying in the chair`back tubes,
the X cross bars create a hilt
that stops it from falling in the tubes very deep,
and then buckles could keep the rods from flying out of the tubes .
5.12:
. the TT raises roughly a foot beyond the seat,
and when meeting eye level is nearly above the rear hub.

5.14: bow tech:
. the way to do the TT-star rod structures is as a bow
where the bow appears to be facing downward and holding 2 arrows .
. this bow shape offers the same sort of triangulation as the TT-star idea .

5.25: bow`joint:

. made a bow`joint,

cut rubber tubes for reinforcing loops .

mis:

. what to do about the cross-rod tube ??!?

. remove rubber tubes as too stiff:

the current loops with large rope is stable

in a figure-8 pattern,

the cross piece loop could have been part of same strap

reducing some stitches .

. find length for one-piece bow joints, and cut;

. notice diff's in strap quality:

camping gear from walmart has looser weave .

5.25: bow`string/strategic placement:
. use bow`joint`s bottom loop to hold bow`string
so that bow tension is not pulling on joint'stitching .
[5.28:
. it might be more stabilizing to have that be
running through both loop (for topology of a figure 8) ] .

5.16:
. if the bow idea is used for triangulation,
how does the bow`arch get attached to the vert's?
. there is alot of downward pull from the bow`points
to push the bow away from the vert, and off the chair`back;
so the primary force is to hold the rods together very tightly;
and this is best done with rope-binding:
. you're in back of, and facing, the seat;
with the vert'poles in the chair`back`tubes,
repeat:
( a loop of rope is around the vert'poles with ends facing you,
then these ends come up and over the bow,
then cross eachother before going around the vert'pole again .
) .
5.19: sway minimized:
. the TT-struct is not concerned with z-axis sway because
the bow points are connected to the trike from by top rods
parallel with z-axis .

5.30: new design requires no cross.rod

. if the rim.rods`ends do attach to the rack,

then they can be attached directly to seat`back`extension.rods,

ie, the TT-struct can be replaced with an ii-architecture .

. instead of using the bow attachment to limit push of vert.rods into chair`tubes,

simply have eno' vert.rod to reach the chair`tubes`bottom .

6.18:
. the bow`string of the faring`bow#top can be bound to the faring`T-bar;
the length of this string determines the width of the body;
-- making the body`width adjustable;
but the lid's construction may depend on this width remaining fixed .
6.25: clarification:
. the faring`bow#top is really part the rim rod,
and as such, it's bow points will be bound parallel with other rods;
rather than holding the bow.string .
. the bow.string is still needed, but needs to be placed out of the way:
at a z-axis point very near the faring
rather than the middle of the cockpit .

6.1: not dependent on rack for support:
. the suspension is moving rack wrt chair
yet rim rod is connected to both?
the rim rods don't need to reach the rack,
needing only a T-joint with the chair back extension
and then a bunji or rope connection to rack .

6.1: detachable lid allows passage through doors:
. if the shell lid is both bowed and detachable
then the chair ext' can be shorter
-- and then it would be easier to fit the shell through a door .
. the lid meets its hinge on the faring by
inserting a pair of beams or rods into a pair of loops .
. when the lid is down, the driver buckles it in place;
and the buckles prevent the lid from moving backward out of the loops .
. these buckles will also work with the bow's ends hooking the bowl,
to stabilize side-to-side motion of the lid near the driver .

6.19: proj.mobi/trike`shell/rear`arch:
. possible to isolate chain but a morass
derailleur gets very low to ground in; low gear .

6.19: vert's near front.wheels:
. when vert is holding up rim rod,
it can be on the trike`crossbeam (main tubes to front.wheels);
but has to avoid both leg.space and steering.space
which includes the brake.controls moving over the crossbeam .

6.4: rim.rod`width:
. why was it desirable to have the rim.rod enclosing the wheel?
it offers only slight performance gains for the speeds I want,
and it complicates design of the vert .

6.4: vert.beam#front.wheels:

twin beam triangulation:
. the way to make the vert#front.wheel curve around over the wheel
in order to let the rim.rod be positioned out past the wheel,
is twin-beam triangulation [@] gear/composites/al'beam/twin-beam triangulation

clearing tube lips:
. the vert can be attached to the steering`bearing`housing.tube like so:
. the housing has a lip that the vert needs to clear,
so make a block that fits between the lips, and protrudes beyond them,
as a base for the vert to attach to .

6.18:
. like the hub`caps, the body`panels should be using loops or hooks
so that they can be removed for doing maintenance .
. every edge of a panel should be matched with
a place on the structure that has either rods or string to wrap hooks on .
. in places where the hooks would be in danger of becoming
unhooked during turbulence,
the situation needs loops connected to strings that are tied to structs .
. divide the body job into floor and sides .
. stitch the floor`shell directly to struts;
in the case of the sides`shell,
the stitching can be done in zipper fashion:
the paneling is flexible, so the part not stitched
can be pulled aside to reach at the current stitch .
. for the last stitches of a panel,
they should be at a place that is reachable;
eg, where you can reach from the inside .

9.11: trice`rack#front/faring-boom mount:

. the bike`rack may be useful on the trike attached to the

( rack`rear: boom

, rack`front: faring) .

. it might help stabilize the faring,

and give the lid more foundation,

while also providing a base for using that empty space for storage .

clam`bottom:

5.3: overview:

. the shell has a clam architecture,

where the bowl-shaped bottom half is hinged to a lid-shaped top half .

. the top rods form the upper rim of the clam`bottom;

they are going from the faring top, over the front wheels,

over and around the driver`shoulders,

and connecting to the chair extension .

5.12:

. another horz.rod is under seat at belt level or below to clear elbows .

5.19:

. the architecture has a 3-backbone ribbed design

made of fiberglass for both toughness,

and for creating curves in aerodynamically critical places .

. 2 of the spines are forming the rim of the bowl,

and the other is centered on the bowl's bottom

holding the bows on the bottom in place as if they were ribs of the spine .

. the other places where additional structuring is required

can be done with the al'beams (aluminum beams from windowscreen kit),

which can be easily connected by bolting to eachother

or bolting and binding to sockets or tabs of nylon straps .

. the easiest way to form the curve around the front wheels

is to form a polygon, first by creating a square,

then triangulating the corners of that square .

5.30:

. I've got the temp' tear-drop rim rod shape
by strapping to front, and tucking ends under rack .
. the rack may be a good place to keep them .
. it does cause the front to bow-up a bit,
but that could be a welcome offset to the bow-down caused by shell`weight .
5.31:
. the clam`bottom`rim needs to be held in place midway
by a vert that can be anchored at the steering`bearing`tubes .
. unless the rim is to hang out beyond the wheel
in which case the anchor point might need to be further inward,
with a max distance given by driver`leg`space .

5.15: ribbing with bows:
. can bring struct to underside,
the string is attached to under chair
and the bowed rod is a rib of shell`bottom;
-- so bow is around trike `frame and chain;
and, shell is enclosing chain except around rear wheel .
5.23:
. the strings of the bottom bows are kept from flexing under shell`weight
by having vert'strings that tie the bow`rod
to the same place on the chair which the bow`string attaches to .

connecting top.rods to faring:
5.6:
. the faring`skeleton is a T-bar, and the horz'bar is hollow tubing;
so then rope can be pushed through the tubing twice,
to form loops at both ends .
5.12:
. to get rope through T -bar, use 2ft of galv'wire as needle .
5.13:
. the top.rods would be bowed out by connecting them to a bowed rod
whose mid.point was connected at the faring`T.bar`bottom;
the connection would occur near the front of the front.wheels .
. alt'ly,
the top.rods could be connected to a bowed rod,
and the bowed rod could be strapped to the faring`T.bar`top,
. the top.rods would then have eno' length to also form the tail box .
. the bowed rod coming from faring`T.bar`bottom would still be used
for extending the nose.cone .

5.30: connecting top.rods to rack
. the rim rod connects to the rack with a deep pocket:
it is a 3" pocket with no cross-rod loop,
instead, the pull.rope loops are reused for tying the pocket
to a cross rod on the rack .
with the above version is that it has no clearance for tight steering .

5.3: mis"base rods flawed:

"(

. the base rods of the clam`bottom are going from each side of faring`bottom to a steering bearing housing,

and perhaps attached to the chair frame,

just under the driver`elbows (about 4" above chair`seat)

. the top`rods are supported from a series of vert's:

risers come up from the base rods, starting from either side of the front wheels .

)

. the problem with the above version is that it has no clearance for tight steering .

5.30: rim.rod:
. the tear-shaped shell`clam.bottom`rim.rod
is composed of 3 overlapping rods, so now looking for overlap tech;
trying to form a splint with 2 al'beams,
I notice that 2 rods can fit in one al'beam at the same time;
so, they can instead be like female-female connectors .
-- makes it easy to hold them atleast temp'ly .

5.30: new design requires no cross.rod
. if the rim.rods`ends do attach to the rack,
then they can be attached directly to seat`back`extension.rods,
ie, the TT-struct can be replaced with an ii-architecture .
. instead of using the bow attachment to limit push of vert.rods into chair`tubes,
simply have eno' vert.rod to reach the chair`tubes`bottom .

trike`shell/floor
6.2: [6.14:] [6.22:]

. how do the feet clear the floor during pedaling ?
. the [incremental] approach is to
first get the main faring struct (the faring`bows) into place .

. a pair of x-axis joists (parallel to the x-axis)
are laid on the faring`bow#bottom at these points:
1: in front of the pedal space:
that is the floor.joist#[in front of pedal.space];
it's length is barely greater than the width of the pedals
because the bow it traverses is rather narrow at that z-axis point .
2: on the string;
that is the floor.joist#[behind pedal.space] .
6.16:
. the string of the faring`bow#bottom is located carefully;
because, if it is too forward then it blocks pedaling;
too rearward, then it reaches the tips of the bow,
or reduces the size of the floor`doors
by which the driver can plant feet on the ground during an exit,
or scoot the feet to push the trike in reverse .

. spanning these x-axis floor joists are z-axis floor.joists;
they are arranged on either side of both feet (there will be 4) .
. these joists help to isolate the tricky space,
where the floor dips to clear the driver's heels .
. non-tricky parts of the floor will not be affected by
any damage incurred from bottoming-out of floor under the heels .
. the floor`heel.space can be floppy
without having the whole floor bouncing with each bump in the road .

under-seat bow:

6.24: tech"connecting to the chair
. to avoid any modifications on the chair webbing,
create looping band that hangs from the chair frame .
. the webbing is reapplied after the looping band is put in place .
. the looping band is a 5"[*] strap with loops on either end .
. after a looping band is on either side of the chair,
the loops are connected to each other by rope .
. on each side, the bottom and top loops are bound to each other,
and these binding ropes have some free length
that is then used for vert's that hold up the underseat bow .
*:
. the 5" is just an estimate for what is needed to get past the webbing .

6.22: multi-string.bow:
. the use of a multi-string.bow could allow new ideas for the under-seat bow:
instead being limited to a D-shape,
it could be extending clear up to the rim.rod .

6.14: [6.16:]
the z-axis point for attaching the bow's string
is at chair`seat`curve's low.point .
[6.24: . there is 6" from that point of the chair`bottom
to the bottom of the shell (about 2" from the ground) . ]

6.24:
. if using only a short bow (one whose depth would fit under the chair),
the under-seat bow provides anchor points just behind each front.wheel;
it provides a strong base for the rim.rod's mid.point vert's .
. if using the multi-string or deep-bow idea,
the rim.rod's mid.point vert's are actually part of the underseat bow .
. is there still room for arms if underseat is changed? yes .
. in either case,
the under-seat bow has to clear the rear.brake`lever during a sharp left turn
(this lever is on the left side facing the driver) .
6.16:
. the points of the under-seat bow provide strength not only against
y-axis vectors, but also in the x-axis,
so that it's not easy to push the shell from the front wheels
thereby preventing a dog from accessing the driver's hands .
. this pair of points is matched above by the points from
the lid`bow [@] shell`lid
. because of the z-axis position of the under-seat bow,
(close to the middle of the body)
there is less need for rim.rod`vert's to be based from the steering hubs .

mis"under-seat`bow`width:
. what is the x-axis distance from the under-seat`bow
to the back of the front wheel ? 5.75"
. to decide the position of this bow's points,
you need to know how you want the rear of the body to be shaped;
eg, a straight line from the back of the front wheel to, say,
3" to the side of the rear wheel
will put the under-seat`bow's point outside the body .
6.18:
. the under-seat`bow's width must be fixed before its rod is cut to size;
because the width of the bow is fixed by ground clearance .
. the current design has this bow's points directly behind the front wheels .
. you need to know how you want the rear of the body to be shaped;
eg, a straight line from the back of the front wheel
to, say, 3" to the side of the rear wheel
will put the under-seat`bow's point outside the body .

6.14: floor`doors:

. doors in the floor are needed for both
using the feet to push the trike in reverse,
and using the ground for setting the feet while standing up to exit the trike .
. given there is a parking brake, exit can also be done by
standing on the trike`frame;
however, this starts the knee at an extreme angle;
[6.16: and makes it less easy to raise the lid while standing up ] .

. there are separate doors for each foot to reach ground;
each is about the size of a shoe box,
and the door`seals can be assisted by having the door and frame
be shaped like a shoebox and its lid .
. the rear of each door is within hand's reach
-- a place where some knobs should go
(the leg`space`bottom is atleast a knob's length from the floor) .
. the door and it's threshold can be made from al'beams .
[@] gear/composites/al'beam/dooring

trike/chain.cover:

8.9:
. thick wire frame can be tied to the
front.derailleur's post and to the cross.tube for then hanging fabric
that could protect the jeans from chain oil .
8.11: attachement to post
. how to get wire inside post for front derailleur?
8.14: there is a plastic cap on the post:
with the cap off, bend a wire's end so that it fits snuggly inside the post;
then drill a hole in the cap,
thread the bend wire through that hole, and remount the cap .
. as the wire exits the post it bends into a horz over the chain;
there are other things attached to the post;
and, they can be used as an anchor for attaching a twist or zip tie
that can hold the horz.wire down .
8.17: tight fit:
. getting between the chain and the pedal crank is a tight fit,
might be easier to start the shield and it's framework
outside the cylindrical space formed by the crank spin .
8.21: al'flashing:
. one why to make a chain guard is with 4 pieces of al'flashing
for each {left, right} side,
there is a top and bottom half that connect eachother
after fitting around the rotating parts .
. these are then capped by having al'flashing bent into a U-shape .
. may be held in place by velcro for easy removal .
...
. this won't work for the right side:
it needs to be held by the skeleton
or be part of the cover piece .

body`chair`back`extension

6.2: material selection:
. how many al'beams fit in chair.tubes?
but that's a critcal struct -- it should use rods for toughness .
[6.14: to fit tightly, those are 23" inside the chair`back`tube ] .


6.14: measure door`widths:
. shed door is 31, 30 easily
side door is 30.75, 29.75 easily
front door is 33 .

6.14: height:
. the height must be low eno' to fit throught a door
(atleast after removing rear wheel),
and be high eno' to clear the shoulders
function of body`height
. the height of body (with lid removed) can be less than 29" .
. this is very near where the shoulder is,
but the rim.rod approaches at an angle from far outside the shoulder`width,
ie, any complications with getting past the shoulder fall on the lid's design .
. to bring the shell`height near 29",
the chair`ext`length need to be near 28"
( 23" inside the chair`back`tube + 5" ext`length ) .

trike`shell`lid

4.23: mobi/shell/hinge at front:

. if the door would hinge from the front,

it would be held in place by the wind .

door/forward hinge:

. the doors can be hinged by the fabrics

that are being used as covering:

for protecting the driver,

shell could include bed roll foam

(highdensity for backpacking ground cover) .

5.27: mobi/trike`shell/clam`lid:

. the lid can be a triangulation

with sloping sides and a horz'plane underneath like a widened letter"A .

. it would be stiffened with beams in an X pattern,

something that would not create sharp obstructions

when the driver was crumpling into it during a collision .

lid/bow over driver's lap
6.1:
. where is knee rise?
a bow that gives the lid a domed shape
can be situ'd over the driver's lap;
this dome-shaping allows the shell`lid to have any height
independent of height of shell's body,
and allows for smoother profile to crosswinds .
. the bow`endpoints can act as hooks over shell bowl rim for stable fit .

6.16:
. the under-seat bow provides strength not only against y-axis vectors,
but also in the x-axis, so that it's not easy to
push the shell from the front wheels
which would allow a dog access to the driver's hands .
. this pair of points is matched above by the points from the lid`bow
[@] shell`lid

6.21: avoids intersecting leg space:
. the lid is curved by the bow,
and near the center the lid is certainly not intersecting leg space;
but what about the sides? this does look possible .
. in the worst case, the lid does not have to be aerodynamic:
instead of flowing from dome to flat going from back to front,
the lid can have a spine architecture,
where the spine is given the highest loft being at the center of the bow;
then ribs can be any shape,
so that the use of flat ribs over the driver`knees
would ensure that the lid was not intersecting leg space .


6.2: lid`connection to rearview mirrors:
. the mirror tube is bound to the lid`bow somewhere in the middle,
and there are z-axis beams all along the lid`bow,
so you have to see where the mirror-holding tube wants to go first,
and then place the z-beams to either side of it .

[6.16:] sci"bow`string clearance:
6.4:
. is the lid`bow clearing the driver's arms? yes:
the purpose of the lid`bow was to raise the lid beyond the rim to the nose .
. the rim height is well above the hands and elbows near the lap,
and rises to above the driver's shoulders as it goes rearward .
6.5:
. even if the rim`height were below the hands
the lid`bow`string doesn't have to be at the very ends of the bow,
only then the bow`string could no longer
double as a place where the lid would rest on the body;
6.16: still, it's essential that the shell`bottom's sides cover the hands,
because if the the lid had to do that,
shaping it around the hands could not be done with a bow,
thereby complicating or weakening the lid's design .


6.25: mobi/trike`shell/lid`x-axis roll-stabilizers:
. the handlebars are embedded into the lid for holding the mirrors
they are usually held from rotating by a friction fit by a T-joint .
. the lightweight way to do this is to drill a set of holes
symmetrically on each side of the handlebars
which are large eno' to allow a fiberglass rod to pass through .
. the rods could be the same used by the lid`hinge mechanism .

9.10: trice/shell`lid/neck adjustment:

. there should be room in the lid for the neck to come forward several inches

as sitting forward may be a fav'position for accelerating rapidly .

. there should also be after that, just a slit

so that rain stays out, but falling forward has

more room to move without choking .

faring

todo.mobi/trike/shell/faring/drill holes for stapling
faring needs
tiny holes along edges to apply staples after reflectix
and to bring foam of shell to faring .


7.18:

proj.mobi/trike/shell/faring/shortening aborted:
. consider faring mod;
that would make it point down more at top,
making the bend too sharp when it hit the shell`top .
-- and much work for little more compactness .

6.1:

prep'ing reflectix:
. to help with cutting the reflectix to fit the faring,
use a piece of paper taped in place
and cut so that the cuts are parallel to direction of headwinds .


5.30: faring`vert.bow:
. the faring`vert.bow needs 28" rod .


5.17: faring cover size:
. 31vert, 24wide .
[23: got some reflectix just 24wide]


. this depends a lot on tech.gear/composites/polycarb,
as the faring's 'carb doesn't mix well with many solvents in adhesives .


reflectix application:
the faring reflectix procedure:
. the reflectix exterior may need a bit flat black to prevent blinding others,
and to keep that black from rubbing off, it needs a thorough coat of clear .

10.14: trike/faring/staples under al'taped reflectix:

. the faring al'works (reflectix and aluminum.tape) go on first,

then staples go through it?

for neater look, staples in place with theses steps:

put al'tape on underside of edges

then staples in place (unbent)

then al'wrap over faring and staples,

then bring al'tape over edges of faring and onto al'wrap,

then panels meshed with staples,

and finally staples bent .

. the faster way is to keep staple`location

a good distance from edge of faring,

so that the full staple job can be done before al'taping .

. al'wire is not as stiff as office.staple`wire

so instead of bending the staples outward after penetration

as was done for the first hub.cap's flag,

bend inward and twist them together .

nose.cone:

. the rods are flexible eno' to form a cone shape;
a bow could be attached to the faring`bottom by its middle,
and then the ends could attach to the top`rods .
5.13:
. an additional bow, again with middle to faring`bottom,
has its ends 2inches above the ground just in front of the front.wheels .
. the bow would be kept taught by a string
that was just in back of the pedal space,
while also being just in front of the kick-road-for-reverse space .
. it would be held in place at its ends by a vert.bar
connected to the bow above .
5.30:
. the placement of the rim should be further back
so that the shell around the feet have a rim.rod over them
making it easy to add walls on either side of the feet
by having matching bows above and below
so that a series of verts can be attached between these bows .
. the top bar of the faring's T-struct needs to be extended,
because it's now attaching to a wider part of the bow .
. this extension can be a 32" rod strapped to faring`T-struct
and capped with the usual T-joints
to hold the bow along with some pull.ropes .
[1630: even better,
since the top.bow now needs some way to keep it from moving along the z-axis,
replace that extension rod with a perp'ly located vert'bow:
. this is a bow whose ends meet the top and bottom of the faring`T-struct;
ie, it's running both vert'ly when looking from the front;
and, it's following the curve of the faring when looking from the side . ]

nose.cone`skin:

5.2: reflectix with spray adhesive:
. how to make the shell adjustable if changing mind about boom length?
. mylar will be a mess to install,
easier to spray adhesive as needed to lay reflectix
over the nose cone starting from center,
then slicing it radially like sun rays .
. see how much trimming to do it with no overlapping .
-- reflectix will be great for this:
instead of radial from a circle,
let it be a rectangle, with the longest side
following the longest dimension of the faring
(vertically then make rays going along with wind flow) .

5.4:
. use spray glue to attach orange flags to reflectix,
then sew the flags edges to assist the glue,
and finally with the sewing complete,
the reflectix can be spray glued to the nose cone .

5.24: flag arrangement:
. for "(why do it that way), flags should go in triangle
-- "(known to be the most visible) .
. 3 flags put their bases together to form a small triangle
with 3 long spikes left, right, and upward .
. just the bases need be sewed to the reflectix
and the other parts will lay flat from the wind,
or if it looks too easy to vandalize,
then sewing should be completed before installation
(gluing reflectix to nose cone);
the installation is an incremental procedure:
glue vert'ly, and then part of is staying in place
to help you see how the rest will have to be cut
in order to lay flat on the curved surface .
. the base of the flags is small,
so there is plenty of room between the flags
for the cuts to be made .

hub`cap:

5.27: req's:

. 8" is the diagonal of cone for hubcap,

the distance from center of wheel beyond q'release lever,

to the inside center of rim .

. flags which could cover the 8" seam are 12"x 9" .

5.12: foam & {fabric, reflectix, suncover}:

. instead of alum&foam

use foam covered uniformly with fabric, or reflectix,

ie, some kind of uv protection ..

5.20: it might be that the camping mats don't need that ?

5.13: impl:

. test wheel cone w paper then use that as template

. use orange flags to patch cone` seam .

5.13: stitch-like staples:

. the way to add foam is staples,

where you bend a wire in half to form a U,

then go in from the back side,

so that the staple is wrapped around one spoke,

then both ends of the staple go in through the same hole of the foam,

then bend the ends around and down with needle nose pliars,

so it appears to be 2 stitches .

. trying this with galvanized wire from walmart`picture-hanging supplies,

it seems cheap and doable;

but wondering if the staple rubbing against the spoke

will need to be insulated .

5.12: thread attachment:

. with the fabric over foam idea,

there can be foam on one side,

and then then the fabric on both sides

then sewn together with the usual needle ...

so the thread will not be bare against the spoke .

5.12: composite tech:

. here is foam but used as a mold for fiber-epoxy,

Zote foam from Mark Mueller at Windwrap Fairings

. he used contact cement on zotefoam to itself and to velcro .

replacing quick-release handles:
6.11:
. how are those skewers looking with handles removed: 0 .
6.12:
. can front.wheel`quickreleases be reversed? yes;
but, a part just fell out of brake:
[@] "[small brake plate spacer]
reminds me to check if was installed correctly,
or if I'm going to reinstall it correctly:
beveled edge of spacer goes away trike`center .
. now that the handles are on the inside,
the front.wheel`hubs are just rounded nuts,
and it will be easy to match them with a hub`cap .
. the cap will be cut from foam
with a hole in the center to fit the nut,
and the cap`outer.surface will come flush with that of the nut .
mis"brake plate not on pin:
. started screwing the axle on before the brake`shoe.unit was in place
and was wondering why the unit looked unalligned .
. the dish.angle will be so gradual while the foam so flexible,
that there may be no need to slice radially
(what would usually be needed to create conic height) .


6.12: sewing:
. disks were cut from backpack ground cover foam;
tried using the sewing.mach' to attach flag to foam:
. doable but a mess; may need to sew by hand .
pre-glue would help make it look neat,
but not sure there is anything that sticks to this waxy plastic .


6.13: stapling flag:

. the coating on the flag's fabric is thick and tough,
so using a machine needle as an awl did not work;
esp'ly for using large wire to make the stitches.
. for attaching the flag,
the best stitch wire came from paper clips,
then the quickest awl was the sharp point of singer sewing scissors .
. straighten the paperclip, cut it in half,
then bend it around needlenose pliars,
so that it was about 5mm wide, and 15mm deep .
. it goes easily through this foam,
and on the other side use 2 needlenose pliars at the same time
to bend the ends outward, to make this shape:
_n_
where the top is grabbing cloth, and the bottom is holding foam .
8.19:

todo: the corners of the hub`flags need very secure stitching .

6.13: stapling hub`cap to wheel

cap.stapling#1:
. my first idea for the attaching the hub to the wheel spokes,
was to install staples whose ends were shaped into hooks or loops:
n
u u
. the loops were then used as eyelets for lacing string
that was also wrapped around the spokes .
. to make sure the string doesn't escape from a hook,
say the lacing is coming from the left,
I'd go to the staples right hook, back to the left hook,
and then repeat at the next staple .
. this required some puzzling as the staples did not match the spokes,
so I had to keep in mind how to lace the current locations
of the surrounding spokes .

cap.stapling#2:
. my plan for the next wheel will pre-lace the spokes,
and then use staples that form open hooks -- never closed loops --
with the hooks pointing towards hub`cap`edge
-- rather than pointing away from staple`center .
6.20:
. tried pre lacing the spokes with backer string:
lacing#1: zigzap:
. go outside of the inside spokes
then inside of the outside spokes
(ie, the long way around, to help the string stay up ... but,
doesn't work: the only thing to keep it in place
is the tension between foam fitting inside the wheel,
the hook grabbing the backer string to keep the foam inside the wheel,
and the foam being stiff eno to keep the string from falling to the hub)
lacing#2: wind the string around all the outside spokes:
. zigzagging was too much of a crap shoot;
because, it may be pulling on the staples in unexpected ways
or leaving the string out of reach;
but, then after winding the string on the outside spokes,
it seemed that things would be too floppy .
lacing#3: wind the string around all the inside spokes:
. since the hub is on the outside and the string is springy,
putting the string on the inside spokes will provide
the distance needed to absorb that springyness .
cap.stapling#3: synch staples with spokes:
. before stapling, mark the cap where the spokes are,
then strategically place staples among spokes .