Insulated paneling for active sports
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Solution Overview
Problem
Traditional insulated garments for athletes participating in cold-weather sports are restrictive due to their inability to expand with movement, forcing athletes to remove them temporarily or wear oversized garments, which compromises warmth and mobility.
Innovation Solution
The development of active-insulation paneling components that utilize lightweight inelastic materials with alternating insulated panels and gussets, allowing the garment to expand with movement while maintaining warmth through the use of formation stitch lines, filling with insulation, and folding gussets to overlap panel borders, creating a flexible and insulative structure.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Temperature
If traditional insulated garments are made from insulated materials to provide warmth, then thermal insulation is improved, but the garment becomes restrictive and cannot expand with movement
Solution Approach 1:
The garment is divided into multiple insulated panels separated by gusset sections. The formation stitch lines create discrete insulated panels that are joined by gussets, allowing the garment to segment movement across panels while maintaining insulation within each panel. This segmentation enables the garment to accommodate body movement without compromising thermal insulation.
Solution Approach 2:
The gusset sections between insulated panels are designed to dynamically expand and contract in response to body movement. When the athlete moves, the gussets unfold to accommodate the expansion, and when movement ceases, they return to their original folded state. This dynamic behavior allows the garment to adapt to movement while maintaining insulation integrity.
2Ease of operation
If athletes wear oversized garments to accommodate movement, then mobility is improved, but warmth is compromised due to gaps and reduced insulation effectiveness
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of using a single oversized garment, the invention segments the insulation into multiple panels connected by gussets. This allows the garment to fit closely to the body while the gusset sections provide the necessary expansion capacity for movement, eliminating gaps that would occur with oversized garments while maintaining mobility.
Solution Approach 2:
The dynamic gusset sections allow the garment to expand only when and where needed during movement, rather than requiring constant oversizing. This maintains close contact and effective insulation during rest periods while providing mobility during activity.
3Ease of operation
If athletes remove garments temporarily during movement, then mobility is improved, but warmth is lost when the garment is removed
Solution Approach 1:
The garment is designed to be worn continuously without removal by incorporating dynamic gusset sections that expand during movement. The gussets unfold to accommodate motion and return to their original shape when motion ceases, allowing the athlete to maintain both mobility and warmth throughout the activity without needing to remove the garment.
4Stability of the object's composition
If insulated paneling is made from inelastic material to maintain structure, then shape stability is improved, but the garment cannot expand with movement
Solution Approach 1:
The inelastic insulated panels are segmented and connected by flexible gusset sections. The formation stitch lines create discrete panels that maintain their shape stability, while the gussets between them provide the flexibility needed for expansion during movement. This segmentation allows each component to fulfill its specific function.
Solution Approach 2:
The gusset sections add an extra dimensional element to the structure by folding and unfolding in the direction of movement. This dimensional change allows the overall garment to expand without requiring the inelastic panel material itself to stretch, maintaining shape stability while enabling expandability.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This solution provides athletes with a garment that expands with movement, reducing restriction and maintaining warmth, as the gussets unfold to accommodate motion and return to their original shape when motion ceases, enhancing both mobility and thermal insulation.
Implementation Method 1
the gussets unfold to accommodate motion and return to their original shape when motion ceases
Data Source
Figure 1A
Figure 1B
Figure 2A~2B
AI summary
An active-insulation paneling component and garments including an active-insulation paneling component. The active-insulation paneling component includes insulated panels separated by gussets. The gussets are configured to expand upon an outward pulling force to allow the active-insulation paneling component and/or garment to expand even where the active-insulation paneling component and/or garment are not manufactured from elastic materials.