Cover assembly with biasing seams for improved folding
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional large outdoor covers are cumbersome to handle and difficult to fold for storage, often resulting in permanent creases that affect their appearance and durability.
Innovation Solution
A cover assembly with biased outside and inside seams that automatically fold together when removed from an object, using handles and a retention strip to facilitate easy manipulation and compact storage while minimizing creases.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If conventional large and stiff pieces of fabric or canvas are used to make covers, then the covers provide adequate protection and durability, but the covers become unwieldly to handle and difficult to fold for storage
Solution Approach 1:
The cover is divided into multiple panels that are interconnected through seams. This segmentation allows the cover to be folded in a structured manner, with each panel moving relative to the others, transforming the single large stiff piece into a manageable multi-panel structure that folds compactly while maintaining overall strength through the interconnected seam system.
Solution Approach 2:
The seams are designed with biasing that allows dynamic movement between panels. The biasing seams enable the cover to transition from an expanded protective configuration to a collapsed storage configuration, providing adaptability in handling while maintaining structural integrity through the elastic properties of the biased seams.
2Ease of operation
If conventional covers are folded for storage, then compact storage is achieved, but the folds permanently crease the fabric material affecting visual appearance and creating weak spots
Solution Approach 1:
By segmenting the cover into panels connected at seams, the folding action is concentrated at the seam locations rather than distributing creases across the entire fabric surface. The panels themselves remain relatively flat and free of permanent creases, maintaining aesthetic appearance while the seam structure absorbs the folding stress.
Solution Approach 2:
The biasing seams are pre-configured with elastic properties that cushion and absorb the stress of folding. This beforehand cushioning through the elastic seam construction prevents the formation of permanent creases and weak spots in the fabric, as the biasing material absorbs and distributes the mechanical stress of repeated folding and unfolding operations.
3Ease of operation
If the cover is made from a single large piece of fabric, then manufacturing is simpler, but handling and manipulation become difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The cover is constructed from multiple smaller panels that are easier to manufacture, handle, and assemble individually. These panels are then connected through seams to form the complete cover structure, improving ease of handling during both manufacturing and end-use while maintaining adequate protection through the assembled panel configuration.
Data Source
AI summary
A cover assembly for an indoor or outdoor item. The cover assembly is moveable between an expanded configuration and a collapsed configuration and includes panels of a textile material stitched together with inside seams and outside seams. The cover assembly receives the selected item within an interior area defined by the panels and the selected item holds the cover assembly in the expanded configuration. The outside seams are biased to close toward an interior area of the cover assembly and the inside seams are biased to close away from the interior area such that, when the cover assembly is removed from the selected item, the cover assembly is biased to close along the inside and outside seams to cause the cover assembly to move to the collapsed configuration to increase the ease of folding and storing the cover assembly.