Improvement of Wheel and Joint of Luggage - Assignment Example

This paper relates to the process of identifying the best materials for use in luggage wheels. Its aim is to investigate and propose alternative materials that can improve the durability of luggage wheels at competitive cost. Trends in Development of Wheeled Luggage Wheeled luggage is one of the innovations created to ease travel. Over the last one hundred years, there has been an increase in the number of people travelling across the world. This is because of technological breakthrough in aviation, sailing, and motor vehicle engineering.

Travelers include students, tourists, and business executives. Wheeled luggage makes traveling very convenient. It makes it easy for travelers to tow their luggage easily without straining their backs. Today, there are various versions of wheeled luggage, which include duffel bags, carry-on bags, backpacks, and totes. They all aim at making travelling easier for people. Most of them have telescopic arms that allow travelers to tow the bag without bending. The design of the luggage wheels is the weak link in the luggage design.

Once the wheels are out of service, the luggage becomes cumbersome to carry. Most of them do not have features that allow travelers to carry them easily. The choice of material for the luggage wheels determines the degree of durability of the luggage. A well-designed luggage may become useless if its wheels break down regardless of the durability of the luggage. In this sense, the life of luggage depends on the durability of the wheels. Performance Specifications of Luggage Wheels There are three key conditions that luggage wheels need to meet in order to perform optimally.

These are the ability to support the weight of the luggage, ability to handle torque and friction during motion, and the capacity to carry the full weigh of the luggage without collapsing. When the luggage is in motion, the entire weight of the luggage rests on the axles of the wheel. This means that the wheels require the capacity to support this weight without breaking. The popular models of the luggage have two wheels located axially. The design of the axle must take into account the forces acting in the wheels.

Poor design or poor choice of material for the axle predisposes it to sagging. In this situation, the wheels can lose their alignment leading to increase in frictional forces leading to quicker wear and tear (Ashby and Jones 418). The second performance issue is that the wheel must be able to handle torque when the luggage is in motion. The specific requirement here is the capacity to retain rigidity (Ashby and Jones 419). The wheel must also handle the shear forces on the surface and body of the wheel without losing consistency.

The third aspect that the wheel must handle satisfactorily is friction between the wheels and the axle. A poor design or choice of material for the wheel may lead to enlargement of the centre of the wheel. In summary, apart from environmental factors, a luggage wheel must meet the following performance specifications. 1. Ability to support the entire weight of the luggage 2. Ability to withstand frictional forces at the axle 3. Ability to shear forces on t