Flexible PVC Pass-Through Device for Environmental Suits
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing pass-through devices for environmental protection suits compromise the suit's integrity and reduce fluid flow due to rigid materials, incompatibility with flexible tubing, and discomfort from strain and wear, leading to heat-related issues during use.
Innovation Solution
A pass-through device with an inner and outer housing made from flexible PVC, featuring sealed channels connected via peripheral retention screws and barrel nuts, providing a secure and flexible connection that maintains the suit's integrity and prevents fluid leakage.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If rigid plastic pass-through devices with barbed fittings are used, then structural strength and secure connection are improved, but inner diameter reduction and fluid flow impairment occur
Solution Approach 1:
The pass-through device uses a flexible housing made of soft, flexible material instead of rigid plastic. This flexible construction eliminates the need for barbed fittings that constrict tubing, maintaining full inner diameter and optimal fluid flow while achieving secure connections through the flexible material's ability to conform and seal around the tubing.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention changes the material parameter from rigid plastic to soft flexible material. This parameter change fundamentally alters how the device achieves structural integrity and connections - through flexibility and conformability rather than rigid barbed fittings - thereby eliminating inner diameter reduction and maintaining high fluid flow rates.
2Strength
If rigid pass-through materials are used, then connection strength is improved, but compatibility with flexible tubing and user comfort deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The pass-through device is constructed from uniform flexible material throughout its structure, matching the flexibility characteristics of the PVC tubing it connects. This homogeneity in material properties ensures optimal compatibility, allowing the device to move and flex with the tubing without creating stress concentration points or connection failures.
Solution Approach 2:
The flexible housing construction allows the device to adapt to the natural curvatures and movements of both the tubing and human body. This flexibility creates superior compatibility with flexible tubing compared to rigid materials, while the integrated flange design provides adequate attachment strength to the suit fabric.
3Stability of the object's composition
If rigid pass-through devices are used, then structural integrity is improved, but conformability to body movements and strain on tubing increase
Solution Approach 1:
The pass-through device transitions from a static rigid structure to a dynamic flexible structure that can adapt its shape and position. The flexible housing allows the device to move with the user's body and the suit's fabric, eliminating strain on the tubing while maintaining secure connections through its ability to conform to changing geometries during movement.
Solution Approach 2:
The flexible material construction enables the device to conform to the natural movements and curvatures of the human body and suit fabric. This flexibility maintains structural integrity through continuous conformability rather than rigid fixation, reducing strain on connected tubing while ensuring stable attachment during physical activity.
Data Source
AI summary
A pass-through device is provided with one or more sealed connection channels which permit fluid to pass through an environmental protection suit. The device includes an inner housing and an outer housing formed from a flexible PVC with one or more respective inner channels and outer channels configured in each, such that when the inner housing and outer housing are connected, the inner channels and outer channels are sealably connected at a central channel opening to provide sealed conduits through which a fluid or gas passes. The inner housing and outer housing may be connected via a plurality of peripheral retention screws on the inner housing which interface with a plurality of peripheral barrel nuts on the outer housing.