Design of a transport box for bicycle that can be converted into a cargo trailer

Abstract: Both commuting to work and long-distance travelling with one's own bicycle have been intrend for years and a large market has emerged. While the reasons on the customer side aremainly sustainability and sporting activity, the companies offer customised products for manydifferent use-cases.In this master's thesis, a transport box for bicycles is being developed that can be taken on aplane, for example, and converted into a cargo trailer at the destination. A market researchshows that such a product is already available for certain folding bikes, whereas the goal is auniversal solution for utility bikes as well as mountain bikes.The methodological development follows a standard that divides the process into four phases.After the market research, main functions of the product are identified, which are "Transport abicycle as luggage" and "Carry goods during the bicycle ride". These are then divided intosub-functions in order to find different design variants for each function, combine them intodifferent drafts with the help of a morphological box and finally evaluate according totechnical and economic criteria, so that a final draft is determined at the end of this phase. It isa hard case providing enough space for different types of bicycles, that can be converted intoa trailer by mounting two wheels on the sides and a tow bar.In phase 3, the wheel size is set at 12 inches due to small space requirements and weight, andthe material is set to ABS-plastic for reasons of sustainability and mechanical properties.The final phase involves 3D design using Fusion360 with drawing derivation and validationof the model. The model shows that the requirements regarding geometry and weight havebeen implemented and that a practical transport option for bicycles has been found. In order topotentially launch the product on the market, further investigations such as FEM analysis ordynamic simulations are necessary.