[翻譯練習 謝謝指教 by鷹番犬]引用:http://www.economist.com/blogs/babbage/2012/11/cardboard-bicycles?spc=scode&spv=xm&ah=9d7f7ab945510a56fa6d37c30b6f1709Cardboard bicycles 紙板腳踏車Re-cycling 資源回收
THE first bicycles were made of wood. After that, manufacturers used steel
tubes. These days, for high-end bikes where weight is at a premium, they turn to
aluminium alloys or even to carbon fibre. But Izhar Gafni, an amateur cyclist
who owns a number of such high-end bikes, wonders whether the original inventors
had a point. He proposes to go back to using wood—or, rather, a derivative of
wood, namely cardboard.
第一輛腳踏車是木頭做的.之後是鐵管做的.現在重視重量的高階車種改用鋁合金甚至是碳纖維.但是擁有許多高階車種的業餘腳踏車玩家 Izhar Gafni想到一個原創的點子.他想回頭使用木頭,或使用木頭的衍生物,紙板.
Mr Gafni, who is based in Ahituv, Israel, spent years trying to work out how to make a cardboard bicycle able to support the weight of a human being. The trick is twofold. First, he folds the cardboard—commercial-grade material, made from recycled paper—to increase its strength. (He worked out the exact pattern of folding for each of the machine’s components using the principles of origami.) Then, once it is folded, he treats the result with a proprietary resin that holds it in shape and stiffens it, before cutting it into the form of the component required. A second application of resin renders the component waterproof, and a lick of lacquer makes it look good. The result, Mr Gafni claims, is stronger than carbon fibre.
The bike’s frame, wheels, handlebars and saddle are all made of cardboard in this way, and then fitted together. The tyres—again harking back to the early days of cycling—are composed of solid rubber, recycled from old car tyres. That makes the ride a little harder than if they were pneumatic, but means they cannot be punctured.
Gafni在以色列花了好幾年時間試著做出可承受人體的重量的紙板腳踏車.技巧是折兩折.首先他用商業等級的回收紙材質來增加強度.他用摺紙的原則做出每個件的模板.折了之後在剪之前,他會用樹脂保持形狀和變硬.第二部用樹酯塗層來防水,並上漆讓外型更好看.Gafni 宣稱紙做的比碳纖維的還勇.車的框架,輪子,手把,踏板,都用紙板做再組起來.輪胎也是古早味,用車胎回收的硬橡膠.雖然和充氣胎比騎起來較不舒服,但不會被刺破.
The chain, whose design is based on the timing belt of a car, is also made from car-tyre rubber. The pedals are plastic recycled from bottles. And the brakes are also recycled materials, though Mr Gafni is not yet ready to disclose exactly what. The finished product weighs 9kg and can carry a rider weighing 220kg.
Mr Gafni’s target market is the poorer countries of the world. Since manufacturing the cardboard bike will, he reckons, cost $9-12 a unit, his velocipedes should find demand which metal bikes cannot. But people in rich countries may be interested too. In Tel Aviv, the commercial capital of Mr Gafni’s native land, 2,000 stolen bikes were recently put on display by police, for their owners to claim. If bicycles cost less than the locks that chained them to lampposts, it might cease to be worthwhile stealing them.
鍊條設計是採用車的同步帶,材質也是回收橡膠車胎. 煞車也是用回收物製成,但尚未公布材質.車重九公斤,可載重兩百二十公斤.Gafni的目標市場是窮鄉僻壤.因為製作這台車的動機,他估計約九到十二塊美元,是金屬車辦不到的價格. 但有錢國家也許也會有興趣. Gafni家鄉的公司,替車主發聲,警察最近展出兩千輛被偷的腳踏車. 如果腳踏車的成本比鎖在燈柱的車鎖還低,車就不再值得被偷了.
第一輛腳踏車是木頭做的.之後是鐵管做的.現在重視重量的高階車種改用鋁合金甚至是碳纖維.但是擁有許多高階車種的業餘腳踏車玩家 Izhar Gafni想到一個原創的點子.他想回頭使用木頭,或使用木頭的衍生物,紙板.
Mr Gafni, who is based in Ahituv, Israel, spent years trying to work out how to make a cardboard bicycle able to support the weight of a human being. The trick is twofold. First, he folds the cardboard—commercial-grade material, made from recycled paper—to increase its strength. (He worked out the exact pattern of folding for each of the machine’s components using the principles of origami.) Then, once it is folded, he treats the result with a proprietary resin that holds it in shape and stiffens it, before cutting it into the form of the component required. A second application of resin renders the component waterproof, and a lick of lacquer makes it look good. The result, Mr Gafni claims, is stronger than carbon fibre.
The bike’s frame, wheels, handlebars and saddle are all made of cardboard in this way, and then fitted together. The tyres—again harking back to the early days of cycling—are composed of solid rubber, recycled from old car tyres. That makes the ride a little harder than if they were pneumatic, but means they cannot be punctured.
Gafni在以色列花了好幾年時間試著做出可承受人體的重量的紙板腳踏車.技巧是折兩折.首先他用商業等級的回收紙材質來增加強度.他用摺紙的原則做出每個件的模板.折了之後在剪之前,他會用樹脂保持形狀和變硬.第二部用樹酯塗層來防水,並上漆讓外型更好看.Gafni 宣稱紙做的比碳纖維的還勇.車的框架,輪子,手把,踏板,都用紙板做再組起來.輪胎也是古早味,用車胎回收的硬橡膠.雖然和充氣胎比騎起來較不舒服,但不會被刺破.
The chain, whose design is based on the timing belt of a car, is also made from car-tyre rubber. The pedals are plastic recycled from bottles. And the brakes are also recycled materials, though Mr Gafni is not yet ready to disclose exactly what. The finished product weighs 9kg and can carry a rider weighing 220kg.
Mr Gafni’s target market is the poorer countries of the world. Since manufacturing the cardboard bike will, he reckons, cost $9-12 a unit, his velocipedes should find demand which metal bikes cannot. But people in rich countries may be interested too. In Tel Aviv, the commercial capital of Mr Gafni’s native land, 2,000 stolen bikes were recently put on display by police, for their owners to claim. If bicycles cost less than the locks that chained them to lampposts, it might cease to be worthwhile stealing them.
鍊條設計是採用車的同步帶,材質也是回收橡膠車胎. 煞車也是用回收物製成,但尚未公布材質.車重九公斤,可載重兩百二十公斤.Gafni的目標市場是窮鄉僻壤.因為製作這台車的動機,他估計約九到十二塊美元,是金屬車辦不到的價格. 但有錢國家也許也會有興趣. Gafni家鄉的公司,替車主發聲,警察最近展出兩千輛被偷的腳踏車. 如果腳踏車的成本比鎖在燈柱的車鎖還低,車就不再值得被偷了.
