Inflatable Birthing Pool With Segmented Beams

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Solution Overview

Problem

Current inflatable birthing pools face issues with structural integrity due to punctures, require significant floor space, and have wide sidewalls to contain water, limiting portability and storage convenience.

Innovation Solution

The design features an inflatable birthing pool with a hollow floor section divided by transverse floor beams and a perimeter wall with serpentine-profiled upright beams, allowing for efficient inflation and maintaining structural integrity while minimizing width, along with a liner and cover for temperature retention.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Strength

If wide sidewall thicknesses are used to safely contain water volume, then structural integrity is improved, but portability and storage convenience deteriorate

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvestructural integrityVSAvoidportability

Core Design Contradiction:

StrengthVSWeight of moving object

Solution Approach 1:

The pool wall is divided into multiple longitudinal chambers separated by internal partition walls. This segmentation allows each chamber to be independently inflated to controlled pressures, distributing the water containment load across multiple smaller structures rather than requiring a single thick wall, thereby maintaining structural integrity while reducing overall material usage and improving portability

Inventive Principle:

Principle #1Segmentation

Solution Approach 2:

The pool transitions from a rigid fixed-structure design to a dynamic inflatable structure. The walls are inflated to specific pressures to achieve the required structural strength for water containment, allowing the pool to be compact and lightweight when deflated for storage and transport, yet strong and stable when inflated for use

Inventive Principle:

Principle #15Dynamics

2Ease of manufacture

If circular shape is used for inflatable pool, then manufacturing simplicity is improved, but floor space requirement deteriorates

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvemanufacturing simplicityVSAvoidfloor space

Core Design Contradiction:

Ease of manufactureVSArea of stationary object

Solution Approach 1:

The pool is designed with an asymmetric rectangular shape with rounded corners rather than a circular shape. This allows more efficient use of floor space while maintaining relatively simple manufacturing processes. The rectangular configuration with rounded corners optimizes the balance between manufacturing ease and space utilization

Inventive Principle:

Principle #4Asymmetry

3Reliability

If puncture occurs in existing pools, then structural integrity deteriorates, but reliability should be maintained

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvewater containment reliabilityVSAvoidstructural integrity

Core Design Contradiction:

ReliabilityVSStability of the object's composition

Solution Approach 1:

The pool is divided into multiple independent longitudinal chambers separated by internal partition walls. If a puncture occurs in one chamber, the other chambers remain intact and continue to provide structural support and water containment, maintaining overall pool reliability and preventing total pool failure

Inventive Principle:

Principle #1Segmentation

Solution Approach 2:

The multi-chamber design with internal partition walls provides a built-in backup system. The intact chambers compensate for and cushion the structural impact of punctures in other chambers, ensuring continued reliability and safety even when damage occurs

Inventive Principle:

Principle #11Beforehand cushioning (Prior cushioning)

Data Source

PatentUS10392822B2Birthing pool

Publication Date: 2019.08.27 BETTER PRODUCE INC

AI summary

A birthing pool (10) includes an inflatable floor (12) consisting of a bottom layer (16) and a top layer (18) spaced apart from each other by a series of longitudinal floor beams (20). A separate inflatable perimeter wall (14) is composed of an outer layer (30) and an inner layer (32) spaced apart from each other by upright wall beams (34) that define a serpentine profile along the height of the perimeter wall.