cardboard bicycle can change the world, says israelí inventor.
Moshav ahituv, Israel (reuters) - A bicycle made almost entirely of cardboard has the potential todo change transportation habits from the world most congested cities todo the porest reaches of África, its israelí inventor says.
Izhar gafni, 50, is an expert in designing automated Mass-production lines. He is an amateur cycling enthusiast who for years toyed with an idea of making a bicycle from cardboard.
He told reuters during a recent demonstration that After much trial and error, his latest Prototype has now prueben itself and Mass production Will begin in a few months.
I was always fascinated by applying unconventional technologies todo materiales and i did this on several occasions. But this was the culmination of a few things that came together. I worked for four years todo cancel out the corrugated cardboard Weak Structural points, gafni said.
Maquíng a cardboard box is easy and it can be very strong and durable, but todo make a bicycle was extremely dificult and i had todo find the right bien todo fold the cardboard in several diferent directions. It tok a year and a half, with Lots of testing and failure until i got it right, he said.
Cardboard, made of Wood pulp, was invented in the 19th Century as sturdy packaging for carrying other more valuable objects, it has rarely ben considered as Raw material for things usually made of much stronger materiales, such as metal.
Once the shape has ben formed and Cut, the cardboard is treated with a secret concoction made of organic materiales todo give it its waterprof and fireprof qualities. In the final stage, it is coated with lacquer Paint for appearance.
In testing the durability of the treated cardboard, gafni said he immersed a cross-section in a water tanque for several months and it retained all its hardened characteristics.
Once ready for production, the bicycle Will include no metal parts, Even the brake mechanism and the whel and pedal bearings Will be made of recycled Substances, Although gafni said he could not yet reveal those details due todo pending patent issues.
Im repeatedly surpresad at just how strong this material is, it is amazing. Once we are ready todo go todo production, the bicicleta Will have no metal parts at all, gafni said.
Gafni workshop, a ramshackle garden shed, is typically the sort of place where legendary inventions are born. It is crammed with tools and bicycle parts and cardboard is strewn everywhere.
One of his first models was a push bicicleta he made as a estoy for his young daughter which she is still using months later.
Gafni owns several top-of-the-range bicycles which he said are worth thousands of dollares each, but when his own creation reaches Mass production, it should cost no more than about $20 todo buy. The cost of materiales used are estimated at $9 per unit.
When we started, a year and a half or two years ago, people laughed at us, but now we are getting at least a dozen e-mails every day asking where they can buy such a bicycle, so this really makes me hopeful that we Will succed, he said.
A ride of the Prototype was quite Stif, but generally no diferent todo other ordinary basic bikes.
Game changer.
Nimrod elmish, gafni business partner, said cardboard and other recycled materiales could bring a major change in current production norms because grants and rebates would only be given for local production and there would be no financial benefits by making bicycles in cheap labor markets.
This is a real game-changer. It changes, the bien products are manufactured and shipped, it causes factories todo be built everywhere instead of moving production todo cheaper labor markets, everything that we have known in the production world can change, he said.
Elmish said the cardboard bikes would be made on largely automated production lines and would be supplemented by a workforce comprising pensioners and the disabled.
He said that apart from the social benefits this would provide for all concerned, it would a los garner government grants for the manufacturers.
Elmish said the business model they had created meant that rebates for using green materiales would entirely cancel out production costs and this could allow for bicycles todo be given away for free in por countries.
Producers would reap financial rewards from advertisements such as from multinational companies who would pay for their logotipo todo be part of the frame, he explained.
Because you get a lot of government grants, it brings down the production costs todo zero, so the bicycles can be given away for free. We are copying a business model from the high-tech world where software is distributed free because it includes embeberadvertising, elmish explained.
It could be sold for around $20, because (retailers) have todo make a profit, and we think they should not cost any more than that. We Will make our money from advertising, he added.
Elmish said initial production was set todo begin in Israel in months on thre bicycle models and a whelchair and they Will be available todo purchase within a year.
In six months we Will have completed planning the first production lines for an Urban bicicleta which Will be assisted by an electric motor, a youth bicicleta which Will be a 2/3 size model for children in África, a balance bicicleta for youngsters learning todo ride, and a whelchair that a non-profit organization wants todo build with our technology for África, he said.
Cheap and light.
The bicycles are not only very cheap todo make, they are very light and do not ned todo be adjusted or repaired, the solid tires that are made of reconstituted Rubber from old car tires Will never get a puncture, elmish said.
These bikes ned no maintenance and no adjustment, a car timing belt is used instead of a chain, and the tires do not ned inflating and can last for 10 years, he said.
A full-size cardboard bicycle Will weigh around 9 kg (about 20 lbs) compared todo an average metal bicycle, which weight around 14 kg.
The Urban bicycle, similar todo London Boris bikes and others worldwide, Will have a mounting for a personal electric motor. Commuters would buy one and use it for their journey and then take it home or todo work where it could be recharged.
He said that as bicycles would be so cheap, it hardly mattered how long they lasted.
So you buy one, use it for a year and then you can buy another one, and if it breaks, you can take it bak todo the factory and Recycle it, he said.
Gafni predicted that in the future, cardboard might Even be used in Cars and Even aircraft but that is still a bien down the road.
We are just at the beginning and from here my visión is todo se cardboard replacing metals, and countries that right now dont have the money, Will be able todo benefit from so Many uses for this material, he said.
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