Flexible Button With Tapered Perimeter and Voids
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Solution Overview
Problem
Traditional rigid plastic buttons are prone to tearing when exposed to shearing forces and are uncomfortable under weight, and they inhibit breathability due to lack of apertures or voids, increasing their weight and restricting textile functionality.
Innovation Solution
A flexible button with a tapered perimeter and voided portions made from a combination of recycled and non-recycled thermoplastic materials, featuring threading openings and a Shore A durometer hardness value of 80 to 100, designed to reduce material weight, increase flexibility, and enhance breathability.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If rigid plastic buttons are used, then structural strength is improved, but flexibility and comfort deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies parameter changes by transitioning from rigid plastic to flexible materials with specific durometer hardness values (Shore A 20-40 or Shore D 40-60). This material parameter change enables the button to flex and deform under load, improving comfort during sliding and sitting while maintaining sufficient structural strength through optimized hardness parameters.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent employs composite materials by combining flexible polymers with reinforcing elements or using multi-layer constructions. This allows the button to achieve both flexibility for comfort and enhanced strength to resist tearing, resolving the contradiction between structural integrity and operational comfort.
2Ease of manufacture
If uniform thickness is used, then manufacturing simplicity is improved, but performance under load deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by implementing non-uniform thickness distribution in the button structure. The button features a thicker central portion for strength and threading openings, transitioning to thinner edges for flexibility. This localized variation in thickness optimizes both load-bearing performance and manufacturing feasibility through injection molding techniques.
3Object-generated harmful factors
If apertures or voids are added, then breathability is improved, but structural strength deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent incorporates porous materials by adding apertures and voids to the button structure. These openings improve breathability and reduce weight while the overall button strength is maintained through careful design of the aperture size, distribution, and the use of flexible materials that can deform without breaking, compensating for the reduced material continuity.
Data Source
AI summary
Concepts provided are directed to a flexible button that is bendable when exposed to a force. The flexible button in accordance herein has a tapered perimeter portion such that a thickness of a peripheral edge of the perimeter portion is less than a thickness of remaining portions of the flexible button. The low-profile of the flexible button allows the flexible button to easily slip through a respective button hole and to be more easily gripped by a user. Further, the flexible button in accordance with aspects herein provides higher breathability than conventional buttons of the same size by having voided portions on its perimeter portion.