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Stroller speed governer

 Prevent runaway child conveyances.
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The stroller speed governer is a device that prevents uncontrolled acceleration of strollers down hills.

It would be quite simple. When the stroller is on an incline, a small pendulum (staying vertical) engages a gear that connects the rear axle to a high-resistance bearing. The resistance should be such that the stroller can go at normal walking speed up and down hills, but should the parent let go, the stroller will never accelerate faster than that on its own. You can disengage the pendulum for those jogging-strollers.

A more sophisticated version would have a dead-man's switch on the handle, so when the parent lets go, the bearing engages and slows the stroller to a stop, even on flat surfaces. Just think how different "The Battleship Potemkin" would have been with one of these bad boys.

—ejs, May 21 2001

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       "The Battleship Potemkin"?   

       Is a good idea, I think, although the implementation might be somewhat more difficult. A pendulum connecting a set of gears might not work without some more force behind it...   

       I wouldn't disengage it for the jogging strollers, but the deadman switch sounds like a better idea. Brake just the rear wheels and it'll be less likely to tip over forward.   

       <And THIS is the .5Bakery at it's finest.>
—StarChaser, May 21 2001
   

       A simpler form might be to put the pendulum near said gears. This way, if the stoller is going to fast, the pendulum will swing into the gears and (hopefully) jam them.
—nick_n_uit, May 22 2001
   

       See my "Baby Buggy Booster" which embodies downhill hold-back electrically.
—rayfo, May 22 2001
   

       Look inside a gramophone. There are three weights on leaf springs that pull a disc towards a felt piece when the speed increases. This is connected by a worm gear to the turntable. Take the same idea and put it on a stroller.
—Amishman35, Jun 20 2002
   
      
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