Buckle Release Lever Aid for High-Force Child Seat Buttons
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Individuals with arthritis or other hand ailments face difficulty in depressing the actuator button of occupant restraint systems, requiring significant thumb or finger strength, which can lead to discomfort and safety risks, especially when trying to release child restraint seat buckles.
Innovation Solution
A buckle release assistive device with a lever arm mechanism that reduces the required pressure, allowing the button to be depressed using the palm or without grasping, featuring ergonomically designed wings and a protuberance to increase torque and pressure, enabling easier release with less force and discomfort.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a standard actuator button is used in the buckle, then the buckle release mechanism is simple and reliable, but individuals with arthritis or hand ailments cannot depress the button with sufficient force to release the buckle
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces an intermediary device (assistive tool with lever arm and button-depressing mechanism) that mediates between the user's hand and the actuator button. This intermediary amplifies the user's input force and applies it to the button, enabling individuals with limited hand strength to operate the buckle release while maintaining the original button design and its reliability.
2Reliability
If the actuator button requires 40 N of force for depression (as per FMVSS standards), then the buckle release is secure and prevents accidental unlatching, but this force requirement creates barriers for users with reduced hand strength
Solution Approach 1:
The assistive device incorporates a lever arm mechanism that provides mechanical advantage, dynamically transforming a small input force from the user's hand into a larger output force on the actuator button. This dynamic force multiplication allows the system to maintain the 40 N force requirement for reliable operation while enabling users with limited strength to achieve the necessary force through leveraged motion.
3Ease of operation
If a larger actuator button surface area is provided to reduce required depression force, then ease of operation improves, but the buckle release mechanism complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the buckle release system into two independent components: the original buckle mechanism (with its actuator button and latching system) and the external assistive device. This segmentation allows the buckle itself to remain simple and unchanged, while the complexity of force amplification is isolated to the separate assistive tool, avoiding increases in the buckle mechanism's complexity.
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
Facilitates the release of occupant restraint systems with reduced manual effort and discomfort, making it safer and more convenient for individuals with limited hand strength or chronic pain to use, particularly in child restraint seats.
Implementation Method 1
A buckle release assistive device with a lever arm mechanism that reduces the required pressure
Implementation Method 2
featuring ergonomically designed wings and a protuberance to increase torque and pressure
Data Source
AI summary
An apparatus for assisted buckle release employing a generally C-shaped, V-shaped, or U-shaped assistive device adapted to depress a buckle's release button, such as a button typical of a child car seat restraint harness, and thereby assist in unlocking the buckle.