Flexible Foot Abduction Apparatus with Shape Memory Bar
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current club foot abduction devices restrict mobility in horizontal and vertical planes due to their rigid design, making everyday movements like walking and crawling difficult for patients.
Innovation Solution
A flexible elongated bar system that maintains a specific angle for treating club foot, allowing users to bend and move in both vertical and horizontal planes while wearing the device, returning to its original shape when force is removed, with various embodiments featuring connection means like plates, slide and clip mechanisms, and shape memory materials.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Stability of the object's composition
If a rigid bar is used in the foot abduction apparatus, then the structural stability and ability to maintain abduction angle is improved, but the user's mobility in horizontal and vertical planes is restricted
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the rigid bar with a flexible bar that can bend and deform to accommodate user movement while maintaining the abduction correction function. The flexible bar allows the user to move their feet in horizontal and vertical planes during walking and crawling, resolving the contradiction between structural stability and user mobility.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent transitions from a static rigid structure to a dynamic flexible structure that can adapt its shape during use. The flexible bar dynamically adjusts to the user's movements while maintaining the therapeutic abduction angle, enabling both structural integrity and user mobility.
2Manufacturing precision
If a rigid foot abduction apparatus is used, then the abduction angle control is precise, but any movement by the user becomes difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The flexible bar maintains the prescribed abduction angle through its elastic properties while allowing necessary movements. The material flexibility enables the bar to deform during user movement and return to its original shape, preserving angle control precision without restricting user motion.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the physical parameter of the bar from rigid to flexible, allowing the structure to accommodate movement while maintaining functional precision. The flexible bar's elastic deformation enables user movement without compromising the therapeutic abduction angle control.
3Ease of operation
If greater mobility in horizontal and vertical planes is allowed, then user ease of movement is improved, but the device complexity increases due to requiring complex pivot points
Solution Approach 1:
The patent eliminates the need for complex pivot points by using a flexible bar that naturally accommodates movement through elastic deformation. This simple flexible structure provides greater user mobility without increasing device complexity, as the flexibility itself serves the function that would otherwise require complex mechanical mechanisms.
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
Enhances user mobility during treatment by enabling easier walking and crawling while maintaining the necessary outward rotation for club foot correction, with the flexible design accommodating different movement needs and allowing for varied angles of treatment.
Implementation Method 1
The elongated bar after bending resumes its original shape after the user no longer exerts a force on the elongated bar
Data Source
AI summary
A flexible foot abduction apparatus allowing movement in a horizontal and vertical plane with an elongated member made of a shape memory material. The elongated bar is shaped such that it has both vertical and horizontal aspects to allow a user to more easily manipulate the apparatus in one or both planes. The elongated member has an original shape which can be selectively forced into a second shape by a user and then return to the original shape.