Coaxial Double Layer Parachute for Low-Height Deployment
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional parachutes require significant height for deployment, are prone to operational failures, and demand complex manual skills, making them unreliable for fire and earthquake rescue operations in urban settings.
Innovation Solution
A coaxial double layer parachute design featuring an inner inflatable body filled with helium for initial buoyancy and an outer canopy that inflates automatically via ambient air inlets, ensuring safe and low-height deployment without manual complexity, with features like fabric panels for axial alignment and a circular plate for structural strength and stability.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If conventional parachutes are used for fire and earthquake rescue, then they can provide deceleration, but they require great height for deployment and complex manual operation
Solution Approach 1:
The parachute system automatically deploys when the payload falls, with the inner inflatable body lifting automatically due to helium buoyancy and the outer canopy inflating automatically when air flows through the air inlets. This eliminates the need for complex manual operations and skills by making the system self-activating and self-regulating throughout the deployment process.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces manual mechanical operation with automatic physical mechanisms: helium gas provides automatic lift to the inner body, and ambient air flow automatically inflates the outer canopy. This substitution of manual control with automatic physical processes resolves the contradiction between ease of operation and device complexity.
2Speed
If conventional parachutes are used, then deceleration can be achieved, but deployment requires great height
Solution Approach 1:
The parachute is divided into two independent functional layers: an inner inflatable body filled with helium for automatic lift and stability, and an outer canopy for drag generation. This segmentation allows the inner body to provide initial buoyancy and positioning at low heights, enabling reliable deployment without requiring great height while maintaining overall system reliability.
Solution Approach 2:
The inner inflatable body filled with helium provides an upward buoyant force that counteracts the downward weight of the payload. This anti-weight mechanism enables the system to deploy at low heights by providing automatic lift and stability during the initial phase, eliminating the need for great deployment height while ensuring reliable operation.
3Reliability
If conventional parachutes are used, then deceleration is provided, but operational failure causing fatalities and injuries occurs
Solution Approach 1:
The dual-layer design with an inner inflatable body provides a backup stability mechanism that prevents operational failures. The inner body maintains coaxial alignment and provides continuous buoyancy support, while the outer canopy provides the primary drag function. This redundant structure cushions against potential failures, eliminating fatalities and injuries by ensuring the system remains functional even if one layer experiences issues.
Solution Approach 2:
The inner inflatable body is nested within the outer canopy, creating a concentric dual-layer structure. This nesting provides multiple levels of safety: the inner body ensures automatic stability and positioning, while the outer canopy provides deceleration. The nested configuration prevents operational failures by ensuring that if the outer canopy experiences issues, the inner body maintains system integrity and continues to function safely.
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
Enables reliable, automatic, and stable deployment at low heights, reducing the risk of failure and operational complexity, while maintaining structural integrity and stability during descent.
Implementation Method 1
the inner inflatable body is filled with helium, a less dense gas than air, to generate a first buoyance
Implementation Method 2
the ambient air flows will enter an inflation space via the annular air inlets at the lower end of the outer canopy to produce a second buoyance
Data Source
AI summary
A coaxial double layer parachute includes an inner inflatable body and an outer canopy which are located along a central axis. Since the inner inflatable body is filled with helium to generate a first buoyance, the inner inflatable body can be obviously lifted to a certain height. When a payload connected to the inner inflatable body and the outer canopy with parachute cords falls, the ambient air flows will enter the inflation space through the annular air inlets to produce a second buoyance, which makes the outer canopy open completely. Hence, a secure descending task from even a very low height can be fulfilled if the coaxial double layer parachute can employed. Apparently, the coaxial double layer parachute can be mainly applied to fire and earthquake rescue actions in the cities when low height deployments, risk-free parachuting, and less complicated manual operation are required.