Elastic Compensating Body in Drinking Vessels for Stable Liquid Level
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional drinking vessels with spouts pose a high risk of aspiration for elderly and sick individuals due to the need for excessive head tilting, which is exacerbated by the difficulty in emptying the vessel and the challenge of maintaining a stable liquid level, leading to potential pneumonia and dehydration issues.
Innovation Solution
A drinking vessel with a compensating body made of an elastic component that expands under liquid weight, allowing for a constant liquid level during consumption, reducing the tilting angle required to empty the vessel and preventing aspiration, and featuring a design that is easy to clean and retrofit.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Quantity of substance
If conventional beakers are tilted to empty the liquid completely, then the liquid can be fully consumed, but the tilting angle becomes excessively large (50° or more) increasing aspiration risk
Solution Approach 1:
A compensating body is introduced as an intermediary element between the liquid and the beaker wall. This compensating body maintains a stable liquid level by compensating for volume changes, allowing the liquid to be consumed without requiring excessive tilting angles, thus reducing aspiration risk while ensuring complete consumption.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention changes the parameter of liquid level stability by introducing a compensating body that adjusts its volume or position in response to liquid consumption. This maintains a relatively constant liquid level throughout the drinking process, enabling complete consumption at lower tilting angles and reducing aspiration hazards.
2Quantity of substance
If the head is overextended to empty the beaker, then the liquid can be fully consumed, but the risk of liquid entering the airways increases significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The compensating body serves as a mediator that stabilizes the liquid level, allowing patients to consume the entire liquid volume without needing to overextend their heads. The stable liquid level reduces the required tilting angle to a safe range (5°-20°), preventing aspiration while ensuring complete consumption.
Solution Approach 2:
The compensating body provides beforehand cushioning by maintaining a stable liquid level that prevents the need for sudden or excessive head movements. This prior stabilization cushions against the harmful effect of aspiration by eliminating the condition (excessive tilting) that would otherwise be necessary to complete liquid consumption.
3Stability of the object's composition
If known compensating bodies are designed to slide sealingly on the inner wall, then liquid level compensation is achieved, but the design becomes complicated and ease of use is inhibited
Solution Approach 1:
The invention extracts the sealing function from the compensating body's interaction with the inner wall. Instead of requiring the compensating body to slide sealingly along the inner wall, the design separates this function, allowing the compensating body to perform its liquid level compensation function without complex sealing mechanisms, thereby improving ease of use while maintaining liquid level stability.
4Stability of the object's composition
If a compressible compensating body is used, then liquid level compensation is possible, but a dead volume arises making accurate liquid quantity documentation difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The invention extracts and eliminates the dead volume problem by designing a compensating body that does not create compressible spaces. The compensating body is designed to maintain accurate liquid level correspondence without trapping air or creating measurement dead zones, thereby preserving both liquid level stability and measurement precision for accurate documentation.
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 elastic compensating body allows for complete vessel emptying at a reduced tilting angle of 5° to 20°, minimizing the risk of aspiration and facilitating accurate liquid quantity documentation, while being easy to use and maintain, especially for elderly and sick patients.
Implementation Method 1
the compensating body (20) comprises an elastic component (21) which, under the weight forces (F) of a liquid volume, enlarges its shape, i.e. the volume of the compensating body (20), and which, when the acting weight forces (F) cease, returns the compensating body (20) to a smaller original shape
Data Source
AI summary
A drinking vessel has a drink container with a body that compensates for changes in the liquid level in the drink container. The compensating body includes an elastic component which, under the influence of weight forces of a liquid volume, enlarges its shape, i.e. the volume of the compensating body. When the acting weight forces cease, the compensating body returns to a smaller original shape. There is no need for a sliding-movement-based sealing action of the compensating body in relation to the inner walls of the drink container. Therefore, the user does not have to first put the drink container down in order for the liquid level to stabilize.