Donning and Doffing Aid with Protrusions for Compression Stocking Ease
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Solution Overview
Problem
Donning and doffing compression stockings can be particularly difficult for individuals with limited mobility, older adults, or those who require assistance, as they often struggle to manage the stocking's external pressure and tubular shape.
Innovation Solution
A donning and doffing aid featuring a support element with a semi-circular, partially tubular guide and protrusions (doff tabs) that allow the stocking to be easily spanned and removed, facilitating both donning and doffing processes.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If compression stockings are designed with external pressure and tubular shape, then therapeutic effectiveness is improved, but donning and doffing difficulty increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a donning and doffing aid as an intermediary device between the user and the compression stocking. This aid includes a support element with a receiving space that temporarily holds the stocking in an expanded state, and a pulling element that provides mechanical assistance to don and doff the stocking. The intermediary device resolves the contradiction by making the stocking accessible and manageable without compromising its therapeutic compression properties.
Solution Approach 2:
The donning and doffing aid performs preliminary actions by pre-expanding the stocking in the receiving space before actual donning. The stocking is prepared in an expanded, manageable state within the aid's receiving space, and the pulling element is positioned in advance to facilitate easy donning. This preliminary preparation eliminates the difficulty of directly handling the compressed stocking.
2Reliability
If compression stockings provide strong external pressure, then therapeutic effect is improved, but ease of doffing deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The donning and doffing aid serves as a mediator that facilitates doffing without compromising the stocking's compression function. The receiving space temporarily holds the stocking, and the pulling element provides the necessary mechanical force to overcome the compression resistance during doffing, making the process easy despite the strong therapeutic pressure.
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of trying to directly pull the compressed stocking off the limb (which is difficult), the invention inverts the approach by using the pulling element to draw the stocking off through the receiving space. The aid reverses the difficult direct-pulling action into a guided, assisted removal process that overcomes the compression resistance effectively.
3Ease of operation
If donning and doffing aid provides comprehensive support, then ease of use is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The donning and doffing aid is segmented into distinct functional components: a support element with a receiving space for holding the stocking, and a separate pulling element for facilitating donning and doffing. This segmentation allows each component to perform its specific function simply, while together they provide comprehensive assistance, reducing overall device complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The support element with its receiving space serves multiple functions: it holds the stocking during donning, facilitates doffing when combined with the pulling element, and can be used for both compression and non-compression stockings. This multi-functionality reduces the need for multiple specialized devices, simplifying the overall solution while maintaining ease of use.
Data Source
AI summary
A donning and doffing aid is used for donning and doffing a stocking, in particular a compression stocking. The donning and doffing aid comprises a support element (1) which is adapted in such a way that the stocking can be spanned on it in a tubular manner. Furthermore, the donning and doffing aid has at least one protrusion (4) on which the stocking (6) can be spanned for doffing.