Buoyant Portable Device with Air Cavity and Graphene Components
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional portable electronic devices, such as smartphones, are not designed to float in water and often suffer damage when exposed to liquids, with existing buoyancy accessories being expensive and aesthetically detrimental.
Innovation Solution
A buoyant portable device design featuring a frame with densely packed layers and a hollow cavity filled with air, allowing it to float horizontally with the display screen facing upwards, utilizing a graphene-based battery and a lightweight cover/display layer to achieve a lower overall density than water, and optionally incorporating a motorized mechanism to adjust buoyancy based on environmental conditions.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If conventional portable phones are used without accessories, then the device maintains its original appearance and structure, but it cannot float in water and suffers damage from water exposure
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies buoyancy as a counteracting force to gravity by incorporating a hollow cavity filled with air or low-density material. This creates an upward buoyant force that exceeds the device's weight, enabling the phone to float on water surface and avoid water damage while maintaining its original design without external accessories.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a vertical dimension consideration by designing the device with a hollow cavity that provides buoyancy in the vertical direction (z-axis). This allows the device to float horizontally on water surface with the display facing upward, adding a new dimensional aspect to the device's interaction with water environment.
2Reliability
If accessories are added to provide buoyancy, then the device can float in water, but the accessories are expensive, can damage the device, and take away from the overall look
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the buoyancy function directly into the device housing structure by integrating a hollow cavity within the frame. This eliminates the need for separate external accessories, reducing device complexity while providing inherent buoyancy capability that is aesthetically integrated into the overall design.
Solution Approach 2:
The hollow cavity structure serves multiple functions: it provides buoyancy for floating, contributes to the device's overall aesthetic design, and integrates seamlessly with the housing structure. This multi-functionality eliminates the need for dedicated buoyancy accessories and reduces overall system complexity.
3Ease of operation
If the device is designed to float horizontally with display facing upward, then easy retrieval is enabled, but the center of gravity must be precisely positioned
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs asymmetric internal component arrangement and non-uniform frame thickness to deliberately position the center of gravity. By strategically placing heavier components (battery, electronic layer) and varying frame thickness, the device achieves stable horizontal floating with display upward, enabling easy retrieval while managing manufacturing precision requirements through design-driven weight distribution.
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
The device effectively prevents damage from water exposure by floating on the surface, allowing easy retrieval and maintaining functional internal components without the need for external accessories, while reducing weight and thickness through the use of graphene-based components.
Implementation Method 1
The hollow cavity has a size and shape providing an overall density of the buoyant portable device that is below a density of a liquid (e.g., water) that the buoyant portable device displaces when the buoyant portable device is disposed in the liquid
Implementation Method 2
The battery may comprise a graphene-based battery. The cover/display layer may comprise a graphene-based cover/display
Data Source
AI summary
Systems and methods for providing a buoyant portable device. The buoyant portable device, comprising a frame and layers disposed in the frame. The layers comprise a first layer spaced apart from a stack of densely packed second layers such that a hollow cavity filled with air resides between the first layer and second layers. The hollow cavity has a size/shape providing an overall density of the mobile device that is below a density of a liquid that the mobile device displaces when the mobile device is disposed in the liquid. The second layers comprise an electronic layer residing adjacent to a cover/display layer. The cover/display layer is configured to allow a user to interact with electronic components of the electronic layer and has an overall weight less than a combined weight of the frame and at least the first layer of the plurality of layers.