Baffled insulating garment / blanket panel
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Solution Overview
Problem
Insulating particles in blankets and garments, such as feathers or synthetic fibers, tend to escape or protrude through stitch openings during laundering, leading to a loss of insulation and aesthetic issues.
Innovation Solution
A baffled insulating panel design featuring multiple layers with trough-shaped walls and insulating particle layers, where the second insulating particle layer spans across the top of the troughs, concealing the underlying walls and stitching, thereby reducing particle loss during laundering.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If insulating particles are used in blankets and garments, then insulation performance is improved, but particles escape or protrude through stitch openings during laundering
Solution Approach 1:
The panel is divided into multiple compartments by trough-shaped walls formed from folded layers, creating separate chambers that contain insulating particles. This segmentation prevents particles from migrating across the entire panel and reduces their ability to escape through stitch openings by confining them within individual compartments.
Solution Approach 2:
The trough-shaped walls are formed by folding layers back on themselves, creating nested structures where the folded layers contain one another. The insulating particles are nested within the troughs formed by these folded layers, and the structure is further nested within the multi-layer panel construction, creating multiple containment levels that prevent particle escape.
2Loss of substance
If multiple layers with trough-shaped walls are used to retain particles, then particle retention is improved, but structural complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The folded layers that create the trough-shaped walls serve multiple functions simultaneously: they provide structural support for the panel, create the compartmentalization necessary for particle retention, and form the insulation chambers themselves. This multi-functionality reduces the need for separate components and simplifies the overall construction despite the complex appearance.
Solution Approach 2:
The layers are folded into dynamic trough-shaped configurations rather than rigid fixed structures, allowing the panel to maintain its particle-retention function while adapting to movement and laundering stresses. The folded structure can flex and deform without breaking, maintaining particle containment throughout the garment's lifecycle.
3Shape
If trough tops are concealed to improve aesthetics, then visual appearance is improved, but manufacturing complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The concealment of trough tops is achieved by merging additional layers over the trough openings, integrating the aesthetic function directly into the structural layers of the panel. Rather than adding separate cosmetic components, the same layers that provide structural support and particle containment are extended or folded to conceal the trough tops, combining multiple functions in a single manufacturing step.
Data Source
Figure 1~2C
Figure 3~4
Figure 5~6
AI summary
A baffled insulating garment/blanket panel (20, 520) may include a first layer (40), a second layer (42), an insulating particle layer (44) and a third layer (46). The second layer (42) may have folds (52) forming trough-shaped walls comprising a first wall (54-1), a second wall (54-2, 54-6) and a third wall (54-3, 54-4), each of which is secured to the first layer (40). The insulating particle layer (44) may include a first portion (60-1, 80-3) between the first wall (54-1) and the second wall (54-2, 54-6) and sandwiched between the first layer (40) and the second layer (42) and a second portion (60-2, 80-1) between the second wall (54-2, 54-6) and the third wall (54-3, 54-4) and sandwiched between the first layer (40) and the second layer (42). The third layer (46) may include folds (62) forming consecutive trough-shaped walls comprising a fourth wall (64-1) secured within the first wall (54-1) and a fifth wall (64-2, 64-3) secured within the third wall (54-3, 54-4), wherein portions of the third layer (46) between the fourth wall (64-1) and the fifth wall (64-2, 64-3) span across a top of the second wall (54-2, 54-6).