An Inventor's Quest for the NHL Pt. 34

A Big Design Change

This series follows my attempt to develop a product that I dream of getting into the elite levels of hockey. Previously on the Quest: Part 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, Concept Launch, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33

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I am relieved to announce that I’ve quit 

DRAMATIC PAUSE

… on the crossbar.

As a reminder, the crossbar was the metal bar that spanned across the Uncage.

It had two main functions. First, it gave the cage some shape. Without it, the rope “bars” of the Uncage would’ve been uncomfortably close to a goalie’s nose. Second, it tied all the ropes together, making them act like a net.

But that’s not all it did. It also bent, broke, caused instability, and broke ropes. Looking back, nearly every single failure in the last few months was on or because of the crossbar. So why did I stick with it for so long?

I may be a little stubborn. You are, after all, reading part 34 of this series.

Even in my last update, I mentioned I had an idea on how to fix the latest crossbar issue – a bend caused by a lack of lateral support. (The analogy I used was of an arch on ice.)

My idea to fix the issue was to widen the crossbar. That way, the geometry of the ropes would change and, under tension, the ropes would pull inwards on the crossbar and provide that lateral support I needed.

This seemed like a great idea until I made a quick mockup in CAD, where it became clear that I was going to turn my goalies into Darla from Finding Nemo.

Even if the idea worked and, by some miracle, didn’t look terrible, there were still so many open issues with the crossbar: side impacts (the load paths didn’t look promising there), general chunkiness, the interface with the ropes, and much more!

I found myself wishing I could just get rid of the crossbar. And that idle thought stuck. 

What if I could get rid of the crossbar? What would that look like?

Once I got on that line of thinking, the vision came quickly. I’d have a little projection that would protect the goalie’s nose. That would take care of one of the crossbar’s functions without adding any long, unsupported bars.

This definitely felt like the right direction. Actually, it felt more like the drive home after leaving a job for the last time. Like a whole bunch of issues and worries were being left behind.

After adding some more details and settling on a rope pattern, I knew I was looking at the next version that I would build.

It’s not the cleanest design yet, but it does everything I need it to do. The pattern is tight enough to prevent sticks from getting through. The U-shaped bars provide a smooth, radiused point for the ropes to turn a corner. The frame should be stiff enough to avoid the “clamshelling” issue I was having earlier. The ropes are connected together with other ropes like a traditional net.

Basically, it’s a redesign that takes into account everything I’ve learned from all my failures over the last year. And it’s given me a fresh injection of optimism.

More reasons for optimism: I set up a very quick and dirty test of a crossbar-less cage, which survived 100 shots and is still intact. I also found a rope manufacturer that is helping on the technical side of things and that can create a customized solution for me.

Let’s see how far all that takes us. As always, thanks for reading.

Surjan