FreeFlow Technologies

Miles

Miles

100 TW
Joined
Mar 16, 2007
Messages
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Location
London UK
Can someone please explain this to me? :)

http://www.freeflowtechnologies.com/about-us/


FreeFlow Technologies is a company that supplies innovative products and solutions for the transport and leisure market place.

The main difference with our technology is that it looks at Newtons second law F=ma in a different light to how all other transport excluding aviation have looked at it before. In that within bikes, cars, trucks… even conveyor belt motors use a reasonably heavy mass with a slow acceleration (that we can control) to give the right amount of force on to the drive system.

While our way of thinking is why not use high acceleration and low mass to give the same force on to the drive system. The reason this has not been done in ground based transport is if you have to suddenly stop, thus instantly putting force back through the drive system causing the motor to stop spinning and the motor does not have enough mass to absorb the sudden inertia it blows up. That is where our Patent published transmission system comes in, when the force from the motor goes through the drive shaft and in turn our transmission system. It is mechanically impossible for the Force to travel back on to the drive shaft, thus instantly decoupling the motor and allowing it time to slow down on its own accord.

When our technology is applied to a e-bike our system automatically calculates the vehicle and user weight allowing the user to input any cargo weight. Then we use other sensors to work out if you are on the flat, incline, decline, if the cranks are turning forward and at what speed, the gear you are in and the speed from the wheel. We then process the collective information real time allowing us to work out the correct acceleration to apply to the mass to give the correct force on to the drive shaft.

Why is this important it is important because it should take a different amount of energy to get a 75Kg rider to the top of a 100ft hill with a 1:3 incline than it takes to get a 100Kg rider. With our system we take the correct amount of power to spin the motor at very high speeds however increase that speed (thus draw more energy to spin the motor faster) for heavier riders making a lighter rider be able to go further as they will pull less energy from the battery.
Click to expand...
 
I can prepare a summary Miles. I have experience with this type of summary, as it's the same summary traditionally used for 99.9% of all battery related press releases.

"Blah blah blah, suckers give us money."
 
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duck_test, there is a crude equivalent but you get the idea.
 
liveforphysics said:
it's the same summary traditionally used for 99.9% of all battery related press releases.
Click to expand...
Thanks Luke. Are they all that inarticulate? :)

I love this:

ip-of-frame.jpg
 
made_in_the_alps_legacy said:
Quite an elegant design, I wonder if they do store braking energy in a high rpm spinning mass when I read "over running clutch"
Click to expand...
It doesn't appears so. An over-running clutch is just another name for a freewheel. All their patent shows is a dual freewheeling arrangement.

The compounded losses on that transmission will be high....
 
Miles said:
made_in_the_alps_legacy said:
Quite an elegant design, I wonder if they do store braking energy in a high rpm spinning mass when I read "over running clutch"
Click to expand...
It doesn't appears so. An over-running clutch is just another name for a freewheel. All their patent shows is a dual freewheeling arrangement.
The compounded losses on that transmission will be high....
Click to expand...
maybe it's the other way around then : they reduced to a minimum the rotating masses with their clutches, not sure why the losses would be high
 
So other than the attempt to pitch to customers with a pile of barely-legible word salad, the difference between this and the Gruber/Vivax Assist setup is what, exactly? As far as I can tell, they've patented a rig with a high-ish RPM motor in the downtube, which runs through a pair of bevel gears and then two freewheels, all inside the bottom bracket; I'm not entirely sure how this got patented unless Gruber/Vivax didn't get there first.
 
made_in_the_alps_legacy said:
maybe it's the other way around then : they reduced to a minimum the rotating masses with their clutches, not sure why the losses would be high
Click to expand...
The losses will be from the double stage planetary reduction, bevel gear, chain and hub gear.
 
according to Wikipedia "The efficiency loss in a planetary gear train is 3% per stage." (and is impicitly recognized as low loss)
and ~2% for the "bevel gear". chain and hub gear are anyway needed so they should not be considered.
 
made_in_the_alps_legacy said:
according to Wikipedia "The efficiency loss in a planetary gear train is 3% per stage." (and is impicitly recognized as low loss)
and ~2% for the "bevel gear". chain and hub gear are anyway needed so they should not be considered.
Click to expand...
You can judge whatever way you want. The fact is that, even if the motor were 95% efficient, the total drive efficiency would still be around 80%.
 
made_in_the_alps_legacy said:
.97 x .98 x .95 = .90
Leaving 10% of losses to be attributed to "chain and hub gear" to support your 80% overall efficiency guess -
if this make sens to you, I have nothing against your way to judge that.
Click to expand...

0.95 x 0.97 x 0.97 x 0.98 x 0.98 x 0.95..............

If we are comparing ways of adding motors to bicycles, it's the overall efficiency that matters.
 
out of topic : I would be very pleased to know how those (whatever) "% of overall efficiency" can actually be used for (more usefull) indicators such as [Wh/km]
 
Miles said:
Ah! > http://uk.linkedin.com/in/neilmacmartin It makes sense now!

https://www.angelsden.com/project-view/FreeFlow-Technologies/
Click to expand...

Astounding nearly a quarter of a million quid raised from investors. There is an opportunity for your vastly superior bike Miles.
 
Clearly this is a mild-assist and low-powered drive, designed by a guy fro Scotland. "Looks like" an RC outrunner on a double reduction using gears. Its in proprietary frame with the drive inside a fatter-then-average downtube, carbon gates belt-drive to a NuVinci rear hub. They are looking for funding through a European version of "Kickstarter".

http://www.technologicvehicles.com/...lectric-bike-with-infinite-range#.VGTLSjSKKuo

MidDriveFactory1.png

MidDriveFactory2.png
 
The phrase 'infinite range' in the title tells you all you need to know.
 
So it's a nicely packaged, low-assist crank drive. No problem with that, just the ton of horse-shit that comes with it.

That and I don't see a controller or battery, and the top tube is welded to the middle of the down tube, which on the face of it is retarded.
 
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