VECTr – Variably Expanding Chain Transmission

A Journey by Bike…full circle – In what – A Journey by Bike…full circle – In what – A Journey by Bike…full circle – In what would have been my junior year of college, I left UC-Irvine and started seminary at the Dominican School of Philosophy and Theology in Berkeley, CA. I pretty much had to give away all my worldly possessions, including my beloved bike. In fact, there was a two weeks gap between selling my camper trailer that had been my abode at UC Irvine and enteri… http://ow.ly/32nq1H

A Journey by Bike…full circle – In what – A Journey by Bike…full circle – In what would have been my junior year of college, I left UC-Irvine and started seminary at the Dominican School of Philosophy and Theology in Berkeley, CA. I pretty much had to give away all my worldly possessions, including my beloved bike. In fact, there was a two weeks gap between selling my camper trailer that had been my abode at UC Irvine and entering seminary. Technically homeless for that… http://ow.ly/32kfcf

A Journey by Bike…full circle – In what would have been my junior year of college, I left UC-Irvine and started seminary at the Dominican School of Philosophy and Theology in Berkeley, CA. I pretty much had to give away all my worldly possessions, including my beloved bike. In fact, there was a two weeks gap between selling my camper trailer that had been my abode at UC Irvine and entering seminary. Technically homeless for that two week period, I crashed in a friend’s … http://ow.ly/32gY4F

In what would have been my junior year of college, I left UC-Irvine and started seminary at the Dominican School of Philosophy and Theology in Berkeley, CA. I pretty much had to give away all my worldly possessions, including my beloved bike. In fact, there was a two weeks gap between selling my camper trailer that had been my abode at UC Irvine and entering seminary. Technically homeless for that two week period, I crashed in a friend’s garden shed. It was small and had no ventilation, but it had a mattress to sleep on and a cooler for food.

I had left behind everything – my bike, my not so promising engineering career, and my way of life. The seminary was a big risk, but it was also an adventure. The next four years of my life (1985-1989) were sent studying in seminary and living a religious life. I had chosen the Dominican Order, an order which dates back the Middle Ages and emphasizes preaching and teaching. It was in seminary that I was introduced to the Philosophy Thomas Aquinas and I loved it! It was problem solving on a whole new level – a metaphysical level. After four years in seminary, I made the difficult decision to leave in 1989, and in August 1990, I moved to Houston to pursue a PhD in philosophy – with the goal of becoming a university professor.

The next few years were spent studying and focusing on problems of the metaphysical, rather than physical type. Little did I know that soon I would focus on mechanical issues again. Life has a funny way of bringing you full circle, doesn’t it?

In a lot of ways, inventing is a risk and an adventure. I’m still waiting to find out how the VECTr adventure ends. Thanks for coming along for the ride!

A Journey by Bike… refinements – Making – A Journey by Bike… refinements – Making – A Journey by Bike… refinements – Making – A Journey by Bike… refinements – Making the tiny changes needed to refine the Vectr working model is a challenge… especially when working out of my home with ordinary tools. The latest improvement made has been to the gear segments on the base plate. There was a recurring issue with the segments tilting as they slid horizontally across their chan… http://ow.ly/32dRVc

A Journey by Bike… refinements – Making – A Journey by Bike… refinements – Making – A Journey by Bike… refinements – Making the tiny changes needed to refine the Vectr working model is a challenge… especially when working out of my home with ordinary tools. The latest improvement made has been to the gear segments on the base plate. There was a recurring issue with the segments tilting as they slid horizontally across their channels, resulting in sticking. I have furthe… http://ow.ly/32aRdR

A Journey by Bike… refinements – Making – A Journey by Bike… refinements – Making the tiny changes needed to refine the Vectr working model is a challenge… especially when working out of my home with ordinary tools. The latest improvement made has been to the gear segments on the base plate. There was a recurring issue with the segments tilting as they slid horizontally across their channels, resulting in sticking. I have further simplified the design by replacing the o… http://ow.ly/327Wg9

A Journey by Bike… refinements – Making the tiny changes needed to refine the Vectr working model is a challenge… especially when working out of my home with ordinary tools. The latest improvement made has been to the gear segments on the base plate. There was a recurring issue with the segments tilting as they slid horizontally across their channels, resulting in sticking. I have further simplified the design by replacing the original half inch square gear slides with … http://ow.ly/326lem

Making the tiny changes needed to refine the Vectr working model is a challenge… especially when working out of my home with ordinary tools.

The latest improvement made has been to the gear segments on the base plate. There was a recurring issue with the segments tilting as they slid horizontally across their channels, resulting in sticking. I have further simplified the design by replacing the original half inch square gear slides with two bolts. The original spring that biased the locking pin to keep it in place will be replaced by a strong elastic band which will be smaller and more reliable. The advantage of the new design is that it eliminates three small parts and results in tighter movement. I anticipate that this will bring production costs down even more.

One gear segment in channel of transparent plastic base plate, affixed by double bolts. The actual prototype will be steel.

A Journey by Bike – Coasting – At age 11 – A Journey by Bike – Coasting – At age 11 – A Journey by Bike – Coasting – At age 11, after my Lego rack and pinion steering system, my mother exclaimed: “Joey, you should be an engineer when you grow up!” I probably didn’t even know what an engineer was back then, but my high school teachers echoed my mom’s advice years later. At Servite High School in Anaheim, I excelled at math and science. Not to brag, but I did naturally we… http://ow.ly/324GJj