Deployable Garment Venting Device with Deformable Frame
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing garments, particularly uniforms and professional attire, lack effective means to vent heat and moisture from the lower back area, leading to overheating in hot and humid environments, as traditional venting solutions are either permanently deployed or not conveniently stowable.
Innovation Solution
A belt-worn, deformable frame with a mesh material that clips to the waistline, allowing easy deployment and stowage, creating an air gap between the trousers and the wearer's lower back for heat dissipation, featuring a flexible frame that compresses into a planar state for storage and deforms into a non-planar shape for ventilation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If traditional venting solutions are sewn into garments, then ventilation function is provided, but the device cannot be deployed or stowed conveniently and cannot be used with uniforms or professional attire
Solution Approach 1:
The venting device is separated from the garment itself, becoming an independent clip-on component rather than being sewn into the fabric. This segmentation allows the device to be attached to or removed from various types of trousers including uniforms and professional attire, while maintaining the ventilation function.
Solution Approach 2:
The device is designed with universal applicability to work with different types of trousers and uniforms through adjustable straps and clips. The same device can be used across multiple garment types and contexts, providing ventilation functionality without being limited to specific garment constructions.
2Temperature
If spacer elements are introduced to create air flow, then heat dissipation is improved, but the spacers are not conveniently stowable or carriable between uses
Solution Approach 1:
The frame structure transitions between two states: a compact planar configuration for easy storage and carrying, and an expanded three-dimensional configuration that creates the air gap for heat dissipation. This dynamic transformation allows the device to provide ventilation when needed while being conveniently stowable when not in use.
Solution Approach 2:
The mesh material and spacer elements are nested within the frame structure in a compact planar state for storage. When deployed, the frame expands outward to create the ventilation chamber, allowing the functional components to be contained within a small form factor during transport.
3Object-generated harmful factors
If a deformable frame with mesh material is used to create air gap, then heat and moisture venting is enhanced, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The device uses a flexible mesh material within the frame structure to create the venting surface. This thin film approach provides effective heat and moisture ventilation without requiring bulky or complex rigid structures, maintaining relative simplicity while achieving the desired ventilation function.
4Ease of operation
If the device remains clipped to the wearer in stowed state, then it is always available for deployment, but it may be visible or create unwanted offset
Solution Approach 1:
The frame dynamically changes its shape between a flat planar state for discreet carrying and an expanded state for active ventilation. When in the planar state, the device presents a minimal visual profile and can be concealed within clothing, while remaining ready for rapid deployment when needed.
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
Enhances heat regulation by allowing airflow and moisture release from the trousers, reducing the risk of overheating and discomfort in hot environments without requiring manual handling or storage space, suitable for military, business professionals, and workers in uniform attire.
Implementation Method 1
a mesh material that allows airflow therethrough
Implementation Method 2
evaporative cooling via sweat evaporation
Data Source
AI summary
Disclosed is a deployable garment venting device that offsets the beltline of a wearer's trousers from the body of the wearer to allow an air gap such that heat and moisture is released and airflow is achieved across the trouser beltline. The device comprises a flexible frame member bordering an internal mesh web. The preferred embodiment comprises a pair of straps that deform the frame into a deployed state, bowing out the frame and creating a non-planar structure to offset a trouser beltline. The straps comprise clips for attachment to the wearer's beltline, whereby the frame can be released from the strap tension and thus stowed against the user's body in a planar state. Embodiments include of the frame straps include hooks that releasable maintain the frame's distorted shape, tensionable straps, and a frame that folds onto itself when disconnected from the user for condensed storage.