Fall Arrest Sling With Progressive Seam Dissipation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing fall braking devices cause sudden decelerations and high stress peaks, leading to potential injuries due to uneven deceleration forces across different body weights, and are often bulky, expensive, and prone to fiber degradation over time.
Innovation Solution
A device comprising a sling with a folded section and a braking element that uses synergistic resistance and friction to gradually dissipate energy, allowing for adjustable deceleration forces and reduced complexity and size, by having a braking element with passages that interact with the sling to amplify the braking force through combined resistance and friction.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Length of stationary object
If high strength seams are implemented to immediately dissipate energy and limit fall length, then the fall length is reduced, but the deceleration becomes sudden and exceeds 9g causing physical damages
Solution Approach 1:
The dissipator is divided into multiple stages, each with progressively stronger seams. During a fall, the body weight progressively tears through stages of increasing strength, creating a gradual deceleration profile rather than a sudden stop. This segmentation allows energy dissipation to occur over a longer distance with controlled force increments, preventing deceleration forces from exceeding 9g while still limiting overall fall length.
2Adaptability or versatility
If a dissipator is calibrated for lightweight bodies, then lightweight bodies are protected, but heavy bodies tear all seams and experience sudden deceleration
Solution Approach 1:
The dissipator features dynamically adjustable resistance through multiple stages of seams with increasing strength. As the load increases, the system automatically adapts by progressing through more stages before final arrest. This dynamic structure allows the same dissipator to safely handle both lightweight bodies (using only the first few stages) and heavy bodies (progressing through all stages), with the deceleration profile automatically matching the applied load.
3Object-affected harmful factors
If gradual dissipation devices with several stages are implemented, then both lightweight and heavy people are decelerated gradually, but the device becomes bulky and complex
Solution Approach 1:
Multiple dissipating stages are merged into a single compact textile structure using progressive seam reinforcement techniques. Instead of separate physical components for each stage, the invention integrates multiple energy dissipation mechanisms within a unified textile assembly, where each layer of stitching represents a stage. This merging approach achieves gradual deceleration for various body weights while maintaining a compact, simple device structure.
4Loss of energy
If friction-based absorbers are used, then energy is dissipated into heat, but the braking force is not sufficient to prevent high deceleration peaks
Solution Approach 1:
The dissipator combines multiple energy dissipation mechanisms within a composite textile structure: friction between textile layers, progressive seam tearing, and controlled deformation of the textile matrix. This composite approach creates synergistic energy dissipation that is greater than the sum of individual mechanisms, sufficient to limit deceleration to under 9g while effectively absorbing fall energy through combined thermal and mechanical processes.
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 device provides a more gradual and effective energy dissipation, reducing the risk of injury by maintaining a consistent deceleration force across varying weights, while being simpler, cheaper, and less prone to material degradation.
Implementation Method 1
a braking element (3) provided with a plurality of passages (3a, 3b) for the sling (2), wherein a first free section (24) of the sling (2) crosses at least one first passage (3a) and a second free section (25) of the sling (2) crosses at least one second passage (3b), characterized in that the friction caused by the sling (2) sliding and contacting the braking element (3) counters a traction force (FT) applied to the two ends (21, 22) of the sling (2)
Data Source
AI summary
A device (1) is described for braking the fall of a load comprising a sling (2) and a braking element (3, 30), said sling (2) comprising a first end (21) constrainable to an anchoring point; a second end (22) constrainable to said load; a folded section (23) comprising a first portion (23a) of said sling (2) reversibly joined to a second portion (23b) of said sling (2), said folded section (23) providing a resistance to the separation of said first and second portions (23a, 23b). The sling further comprises a first free section (24) comprised between said first portion (23a) of said folded section (23) and said first end (21); and a second free section (25) comprised between said second portion (23b) of said folded section (23) and said second end (22). The braking element (3, 30) comprises a plurality of passages for said sling (2), said first free section (24) crossing at least one first passage (3a), said second free section (25) crossing at least one second passage (3b), so that said first portion (23a), as a consequence of the application of a traction force (FT, FT′) higher than a threshold value to at least one of said two ends (21, 22), separates from said second portion (23b) and crosses said first passage (3a), and said second portion 23b crosses said second passage (3b).