Interesting Shimano Dropper Post Patent

Edited Date/Time 10/29/2015 9:32am
Shimano recently published a patent for what looks to be a telescopic dropper post with a bar-mounted, 3-position remote ring trigger.



From what we can decipher, it looks like Shimano is taking a slightly different approach to the idea of a traditional dropper post and adding a second level of adjustability by way of a rack and pinion system that will micro-adjust the post length while still having the standard adjustment of a traditional dropper. This looks to be accomplished by adding a telescoping portion to the post in addition to the normal stanchion, if that makes sense. Check out the picture below:



Above, the rack and pinion is labeled "424" which is likely the "micro-adjust" portion of the post that drives the telescoping "extra travel."

The lever clearly has three positions, so perhaps one (P0 in the diagram below) is post locked out, and the other two control the two different adjustments with (P1) controlling the micro-adjustment and (P2) controlling the standard travel adjustment (or vice-versa).



Why build a secondary adjustment? We can only speculate, but the first thing that came to mind is 9Point8's idea of "Negative Drop" that they partially developed their Pulse "stepper post" around. Meaning, the seat's max height should actually be setup slightly HIGHER than normal, because when you pedal up steep inclines, most riders will scoot forward on the saddle which actually shortens the length between you and the pedals. Since your post still has, say five or ten millimeters of extra available travel, you can now just fully extend your post and be set in the proper body position. This of course means that finding your ideal seat post length for anything but the steepest climbs would be difficult, which could be why Shimano is making a second, completely independent micro-level of adjustment. You follow?

Again, this is just speculation since the language in the patent is pretty, well... tedious and technical, but that's our take.

What we can say for sure though, beyond speculation, is the post will be cable actuated and will still use body weight to push down.

Here's the meat of the Shimano patent (in Shimano speak):

If you want to check out the whole patent, go here.

What is claimed is:

A bicycle seatpost assembly comprising of:
a first cylinder;
a second cylinder configured to be telescopically received in the first cylinder;
a positioning structure configured to relatively position the first cylinder and the second cylinder and configured to switch a state of the bicycle seatpost assembly among a first adjustable state in which a positional relationship between the first cylinder and the second cylinder is adjustable within a first adjustable position range, and
a second adjustable state in which the positional relationship between the first cylinder and the second cylinder is adjustable within a second adjustable position range different from the first adjustable position range;
and an adjusting structure configured to adjust at least one of the first adjustable position range and the second adjustable position range.

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grinch
Posts
200
Joined
10/15/2013
Location
CA
9/3/2015 1:35pm
novel idea. regardless, it should have shimano tight tolerances and manufacturing consistencies. something that sram seems to suffer from
AGR97
Posts
98
Joined
7/17/2015
Location
GB
9/3/2015 3:03pm
Seems to me like Shimano love a complicated product, I have no doubt it will be built well and perform well. But I find myself asking if this extra R&D and money could be spent on making the whole range more affordable, rather than something very few people will be able to notice?
9/3/2015 3:17pm
Shimano gets 10 or more patents granted each month. Most of them are for stuff they will never even prototype, they just want to be sure that no one else can.
I bet they have more people in their "patent department" than most bike companies have design engineers.

Interesting business philosophy for sure....
kc358
Posts
8
Joined
9/1/2014
Location
Cheyenne, WY US
9/5/2015 9:52pm
link to patent didn't work!
Same here, link goes no where. Just 404 error. Do you have the patent number. I searched "Shimano dropper post" in Google patents and found nothing related to this.
9/6/2015 4:48pm
link to patent didn't work!
kc358 wrote:
Same here, link goes no where. Just 404 error. Do you have the patent number. I searched "Shimano dropper post" in Google patents and found nothing...
Same here, link goes no where. Just 404 error. Do you have the patent number. I searched "Shimano dropper post" in Google patents and found nothing related to this.
It's 404 for us now, too. Looks like it was taken down.
shlizzy
Posts
1
Joined
8/4/2016
Location
Milwaukee, WI US
8/5/2016 12:29am
Ahh, I get it, they stick a hydraulic windshield strut upside down, embedding the large end of the strut inside the on top tube (the one with the seat guts). The small moving part of the strut, the rod, is mounted centrally into the bottom end of the other seat post tube (the 30.7 or 31.8 that lives in your bike frame). I bet they're doing this to minimize the length of the larger tube of the dropper post. Most full suspensions within the last 3 or so years have been putting a strength bend mid way between the seat tube, many can not run droppers with excessively long 31.8 or 30.7 dropper seatpost tubes because of the bend in the seat tube on the front triangle of the frame. Especially shorter riders. This design would allow the dropper post to fit easily into the new geometry full suspension frames because the larger tube on the dropper post only needs to be 4-5." And you can still get 6" of movement from the dropper! On top of that, the micro adjust will be pretty useful, if it's built to last and works.

Because this is such a simple design, one could simply buy a $25 Zoom brand grandpa- style suspension seatpost to utilize the larger, already capped and threaded (inside and out) tube. Then one could buy a replacement windshield wiper strut from ANY auto parts store. They say a 13.5" 60Nm windshield wiper strut runs about $20 dollars. This will give a total 6" range from fully extended to fully dropped. I've heard they sell little tiny 5/8" seatposts, with integrated seat guts for a few dollars. It's easy to find anodized black. Check your little brothers bike with the training wheels for it. Convert your old 3x shifter into a dropper remote. It's easy and free! Can stand up to the best designed dropper remote handlebars switches out there if done right.

One may want to take all the plastic and rubber crap off the windshield piston first. I've heard a simple hole and pin actuator would be the easiest and cheapest way to hold it in high and low position as well as allow it to travel. One also might want to use 2-3 $2 kindshock bushings to kill any right left movement of the post. One may want to research and purchase a high strength metal bonding compound to connect the strut into the tiny tubed seat post. This could be done mechanically as well.

You can make a handmade remote dropper post that is simple, self-serviceable, contains minimal parts, is comparatively very light weight, and most of all WORKS for as low as $50!
Note:Using the zoom suspension seat post will not fix the issue of too much length under your seat post clamp. It's the cheapest, easiest option to potentially use, though.

Message me if u have any qsts
-shlizzy
Oz_Taylor
Posts
172
Joined
8/13/2013
Location
SE
8/5/2016 2:58am
shlizzy wrote:
Ahh, I get it, they stick a hydraulic windshield strut upside down, embedding the large end of the strut inside the on top tube (the one...
Ahh, I get it, they stick a hydraulic windshield strut upside down, embedding the large end of the strut inside the on top tube (the one with the seat guts). The small moving part of the strut, the rod, is mounted centrally into the bottom end of the other seat post tube (the 30.7 or 31.8 that lives in your bike frame). I bet they're doing this to minimize the length of the larger tube of the dropper post. Most full suspensions within the last 3 or so years have been putting a strength bend mid way between the seat tube, many can not run droppers with excessively long 31.8 or 30.7 dropper seatpost tubes because of the bend in the seat tube on the front triangle of the frame. Especially shorter riders. This design would allow the dropper post to fit easily into the new geometry full suspension frames because the larger tube on the dropper post only needs to be 4-5." And you can still get 6" of movement from the dropper! On top of that, the micro adjust will be pretty useful, if it's built to last and works.

Because this is such a simple design, one could simply buy a $25 Zoom brand grandpa- style suspension seatpost to utilize the larger, already capped and threaded (inside and out) tube. Then one could buy a replacement windshield wiper strut from ANY auto parts store. They say a 13.5" 60Nm windshield wiper strut runs about $20 dollars. This will give a total 6" range from fully extended to fully dropped. I've heard they sell little tiny 5/8" seatposts, with integrated seat guts for a few dollars. It's easy to find anodized black. Check your little brothers bike with the training wheels for it. Convert your old 3x shifter into a dropper remote. It's easy and free! Can stand up to the best designed dropper remote handlebars switches out there if done right.

One may want to take all the plastic and rubber crap off the windshield piston first. I've heard a simple hole and pin actuator would be the easiest and cheapest way to hold it in high and low position as well as allow it to travel. One also might want to use 2-3 $2 kindshock bushings to kill any right left movement of the post. One may want to research and purchase a high strength metal bonding compound to connect the strut into the tiny tubed seat post. This could be done mechanically as well.

You can make a handmade remote dropper post that is simple, self-serviceable, contains minimal parts, is comparatively very light weight, and most of all WORKS for as low as $50!
Note:Using the zoom suspension seat post will not fix the issue of too much length under your seat post clamp. It's the cheapest, easiest option to potentially use, though.

Message me if u have any qsts
-shlizzy
This sounds just awesome. One could make a bunch of these, test them, fix the issues, make some more, test them again, make them look like something someone would want to use, add packaging, include some margin for warranty, after sales service, spares, overheads, then once you add taxes you could sell them for around $300.

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