Flexible Door with Resilient Support for Air Isolation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Rigid doors often hinder passage due to the need to duck under plastic curtains and require significant clearance for unimpeded opening and closing, especially in high-traffic areas like supermarkets and hospitals, where air isolation and temperature control are crucial.
Innovation Solution
A flexible door structure with a resilient support member and hinge arrangement that allows bending without hinged movement up to a threshold force, transitioning to hinged movement when a higher force is applied, minimizing clearance requirements and enhancing user accessibility.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If rigid doors are used for air isolation, then air isolation and temperature control are improved, but ease of passage deteriorates due to the need to duck under plastic curtains
Solution Approach 1:
The door employs a flexible membrane structure composed of multiple layers including a rigid support layer and flexible face layers. This flexible shell design allows the door to bend and flex under applied forces, enabling users to pass through without ducking, while still maintaining effective air isolation when closed.
Solution Approach 2:
The door transitions from a static rigid structure to a dynamic flexible structure that can adapt its shape. The flexible membrane allows the door to deform dynamically under user interaction forces, bending to accommodate passage while returning to its closed position to maintain air isolation, thus resolving the contradiction between rigidity for sealing and flexibility for ease of passage.
2Reliability
If rigid doors with sub-frames are used, then air isolation is improved, but clearance requirements increase hindering ease of passage
Solution Approach 1:
The flexible membrane construction eliminates the need for rigid sub-frames and heavy hardware. The thin, flexible nature of the door allows it to be installed in tight spaces with minimal clearance requirements on either side, while the membrane material itself provides the air isolation barrier, thus reducing the clearance needed compared to traditional rigid door assemblies.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention changes the physical parameters of the door from rigid with large structural dimensions to flexible with reduced thickness and clearance requirements. The flexible membrane can deform to fit within smaller clearance envelopes, allowing the door to open and close unimpeded in spaces where rigid doors would require excessive clearance.
3Ease of operation
If flexible plastic curtains are used, then ease of passage is improved, but air isolation capability deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The door utilizes a composite membrane structure with multiple layers serving different functions. The rigid support layer provides structural integrity and air isolation capability, while the flexible face layers provide durability and flexibility for ease of passage. This composite construction combines the benefits of both rigid and flexible materials, achieving effective air isolation without requiring users to duck under curtains.
4Ease of operation
If flexible membrane structures are used, then clearance requirements are reduced, but structural strength deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The flexible membrane is constructed as a composite structure with a rigid support layer embedded within flexible face layers. The rigid support layer, made from materials such as polycarbonate or aluminum, provides the necessary structural strength and dimensional stability, while the flexible thermoplastic face layers provide durability and flexibility. This composite construction maintains structural strength despite the reduced clearance requirements enabled by the flexible membrane design.
Solution Approach 2:
Different regions of the door have different properties optimized for their specific functions. The rigid support layer is positioned to provide structural strength where needed, while the flexible face layers are positioned to provide durability and flexibility for areas subject to user interaction. This local differentiation of material properties allows the door to achieve both reduced clearance requirements and adequate structural strength.
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 flexible door design facilitates easy passage by bending under lower forces and opening with minimal clearance, maintaining air isolation and temperature control while accommodating high traffic and bulky loads.
Implementation Method 1
the main door structure comprises at least a resilient support member adapted to allow the door to bend through a bend radius when an opening force is imparted on the door
Implementation Method 2
when an opening force up to a threshold opening force is imparted on the door, the resilient support member and hence the main door structure will bend under the action of such force substantially without any hinged movement occurring
Data Source
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AI summary
The invention relates to a flexible door having a main door structure, fixings for securing the main door structure to a door frame, and a hinge which allows hinged movement of the main door structure on the door frame between a closed position and an open position. The main door structure includes a resilient support member which allows the door to bend through a bend radius when an opening force is imparted on the door. The resilience provided by the resilient support member is such that, when an opening force up to a threshold opening force is imparted on the door, the resilient support member and hence the main door structure will bend under the action of such force without any hinged movement occurring at the hinge arrangement. When an opening force above the threshold opening force is imparted on the door, in addition to the resilient support member and hence the main door structure bending under the action of such force, hinged movement of the door will occur at the hinge arrangement.