Flexible Magnetic Retrieval Head for Confined Space Access
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Solution Overview
Problem
Small, magnetically attractable objects often become misplaced in confining spaces, making them difficult to retrieve due to their magnetic nature and the limited accessibility of these spaces.
Innovation Solution
A flexible device with a magnetic head and body, designed to be inserted into tight spaces to magnetically adhere to and retrieve small, inanimate objects, utilizing a zip tie structure for flexibility and a strong magnetic affixing element to securely attach to the objects.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If a rigid magnetic tool is used to retrieve objects, then the magnetic force is strong, but the device cannot access confining spaces
Solution Approach 1:
The device is divided into two distinct parts: a flexible body (zip tie) that can navigate confining spaces and a rigid magnetic head that provides strong magnetic force. This segmentation allows each component to fulfill its optimal function - the flexible body accesses difficult spaces while the magnetic head retrieves objects with sufficient force.
Solution Approach 2:
The body of the device uses a flexible zip tie structure that can bend and flex to navigate through confining spaces, tight corners, and narrow passages where rigid tools cannot reach. The flexibility is achieved through the inherent properties of the zip tie material and its geometric design.
2Productivity
If the magnetic force is increased to retrieve objects, then retrieval is more effective, but the device becomes harder to control and may stick to unintended surfaces
Solution Approach 1:
The magnetic force is concentrated exclusively in the head portion of the device, separated from the flexible body. This extraction of the magnetic function to a localized component allows strong magnetic force for effective retrieval while preventing unintended adhesion along the entire length of the device body.
Solution Approach 2:
The magnetic property is applied locally only to the head of the device rather than uniformly throughout the entire structure. This localized quality ensures that magnetic attraction occurs only at the intended point of contact with the target object, providing control precision while maintaining retrieval efficiency.
3Ease of operation
If the device body is made flexible to access tight spaces, then accessibility improves, but the structural integrity and magnetic force transmission may be compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The device segments the flexible body and magnetic head into separate components with distinct material properties. The zip tie body provides flexibility for navigation while the rigid magnetic head maintains structural integrity and magnetic force, eliminating the need for the entire device to be either fully flexible or fully rigid.
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
Enables efficient retrieval of magnetically attractable objects from inaccessible areas with minimal time and effort, also facilitating the threading of magnetically enhanced electrical cords through conduits with elbows.
Implementation Method 1
The head comprises an affixing element comprising a magnetic material with an affixing surface configured to removably affix with magnetic forces to an inanimate magnetically attractable object
Data Source
AI summary
An inanimate magnetically attractable object retrieval apparatus configured to retrieve small, inanimate, magnetically attractable objects from confining spaces with magnetic forces. The apparatus comprises a head comprising magnetic material permanently attached to a first end region of a flexible body that has a tail with a width and a length. The length is able to be reversibly bent in a 180 degree arc with a diameter of 1 inch only in a plane perpendicular to a plane containing the width and the length of the tail and unable to be reversibly bent in a 180 degree arc with a diameter of 1 inch in a plane parallel to the plane containing the width and the length of the tail.