Compression Stocking Assist Device with Spring-Loaded Support Poles
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Solution Overview
Problem
Users with limited mobility or strength, such as those with advanced age, illness, or vascular problems, face difficulties in putting on and taking off compression stockings due to the required tensioning force, which is often beyond their capabilities.
Innovation Solution
A assist device with a spring element that provides varying initial and end spring forces, allowing for easier mounting and dismounting of compression stockings, featuring support poles with spoon-like expanding elements and a grip member with a spring element that can be integrated or separate, designed to accommodate users with reduced mobility and strength.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a compression stocking is designed to exert sufficient tensioning force for therapeutic effect, then the therapeutic effectiveness is improved, but the difficulty of putting on and taking off the stocking increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces an assist device as an intermediary tool between the user and the compression stocking. The device includes a support structure with a spring element that temporarily holds the stocking during application and removal, mediating the interaction between the user's limited strength and the stocking's high tensioning requirements. This allows users with reduced mobility to benefit from therapeutic compression without needing sufficient manual strength.
2Ease of operation
If the spring force is increased to help users with limited strength, then the ease of operation is improved, but excessive pressure on the leg may occur
Solution Approach 1:
The spring element is positioned to provide localized assistance only at the distal ends of the support poles where the stocking is applied. The spring force is concentrated at the point of contact with the stocking, allowing high force output to overcome the stocking's elastic resistance without distributing excessive pressure along the entire length of the support structure or onto the user's leg. This localized quality enables high spring force without causing harmful pressure.
3Stability of the object's composition
If the support poles are made rigid to prevent bending, then the structural stability is improved, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The support structure is segmented into distinct functional components: rigid support poles for structural stability, a separate spring element for providing assistive force, and connection elements for joining them. This segmentation allows the support poles to remain simple and rigid without needing to incorporate spring mechanisms, reducing overall device complexity while maintaining both structural stability and ease of operation.
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 enables users to easily put on and take off compression stockings with minimal force and mobility, providing sufficient spring force to manage the elastic energy of the stockings while preventing excessive pressure on the leg, making it suitable for users with limited mobility and strength.
Implementation Method 1
the spring element (60)... offering sufficient spring force against the elastic energy stored in the stocking applied to the device
Data Source
Figure 1A~1B
Figure 2~3
Figure 4~5
AI summary
An assist device (1) for pulling a compression stocking on and off a leg is disclosed. The assist device (1) has a pair of elongated support poles (5a, 5b), each with a proximal end (7a, 7b) and a distal end (8a, 8b). The support poles (5a, 5b) are joined at their proximal end (7a, 7b) by a grip member (6) and at their distal end (8a, 8b) each comprise a stocking expanding element (14a, 14b, 15a, 15b) forming an adjacently placed pair over which an compression stocking can be arranged. The grip member (6) is also equipped with a spring element (60) configured to move the distal ends (8a, 8b) of the support poles (5a, 5b) under bias towards and away from one another in a transverse direction. A method using the assist device (1) is also described.