Fluid-Filled EVA Suit Joint Assembly for Constant-Volume Articulation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional EVA suit joints experience significant volume changes during articulation, requiring excessive energy and effort from users due to pressure differences, limiting time in low-pressure environments and increasing resource consumption.
Innovation Solution
A joint assembly with a flexible bladder and reinforcing fibers that maintains a constant internal volume through articulation, using a non-gaseous fluid and self-healing properties to prevent rupture and enhance tensile strength.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If the joint is articulated in a conventional EVA suit, then the joint can bend and move, but the volume inside the joint changes causing significant energy consumption and user fatigue
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the physical state of the fluid from gaseous to non-gaseous (liquid or gel), which fundamentally alters the compressibility characteristics. This parameter change allows the joint to maintain constant volume while articulating, eliminating the energy-consuming volume expansion/contraction cycle that occurs with gaseous fluids.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces the traditional mechanical bellows structure with a fluid-filled bladder system. This substitution eliminates the need for complex mechanical expansion and contraction mechanisms, reducing moving parts and potential failure points while maintaining joint articulation capability.
2Use of energy by moving object
If the EVA suit is pressurised at low pressure (3-4 PSI) to reduce the work required for joint movement, then energy consumption decreases, but oxygen resources are overused and time in space is still limited
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the pressure parameter from low (3-4 PSI) to higher pressures that can sustain 1 atmosphere inside the EVA suit. This is made possible by the constant-volume joint design, which eliminates the energy penalty for joint articulation, thereby allowing normal atmospheric pressure without excessive oxygen consumption.
3Ease of operation
If a bellows structure is used for the joint, then joint articulation is enabled, but the structure is complex and may not maintain constant volume effectively
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the mechanical bellows structure with a simpler fluid-filled bladder system. The bladder with non-gaseous fluid provides the necessary volume maintenance through fluid incompressibility, eliminating the complex folded sheet material structure of traditional bellows while maintaining joint articulation capability.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses hydraulic principles by filling the bladder with non-gaseous fluid (liquid or gel). This hydraulic approach provides inherent volume constancy through fluid incompressibility, replacing the mechanical bellows structure with a simpler pressure-based volume control mechanism.
4Ease of operation
If the joint volume changes during articulation, then joint movement is possible, but this causes significant stress on the user and limits time in the EVA suit
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the compressibility parameter of the joint fluid from compressible (gaseous) to incompressible (non-gaseous liquid or gel). This parameter change enables the joint to maintain constant volume during articulation, eliminating the energy-consuming volume changes that limit user duration in the EVA suit.
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
Reduces the effort required to maneuver in EVA suits, allowing longer durations in low-pressure environments while minimizing resource use and preventing catastrophic failures.
Implementation Method 1
The chamber is partially filled with a non-gaseous fluid which moves within the chamber during articulation of the tubular body
Implementation Method 2
The membrane comprises a plurality of reinforcing fibres arranged to prevent the membrane from expanding or stretching
Implementation Method 3
self-healing properties to prevent rupture and enhance tensile strength
Data Source
Figure 1A~1B
Figure 1C~1D
Figure 2A~2C
AI summary
The present disclosure relates to a joint assembly configured to define a tubular body having a first end, a second end and a passage therebetween. The tubular body is configured for articulation between a first state in which the first end and second end are in a first orientation with respect to one another, and a second state in which the first end and second end are in a second orientation with respect to one another. The body comprises a flexible bladder arranged between opposing supports, each of the bladder and the supports being ring-shaped so as to define an aperture, the respective apertures forming part of the passage. The bladder defines a chamber, and the chamber is partially filled with a fluid which moves within the chamber during articulation of the tubular body from said first state to said second state in order to maintain a constant internal volume of the joint assembly.