Wearable Garment Friction Jamming Flexibility Control
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current safety equipment is often cumbersome, expensive, and requires extensive training, limiting its effectiveness and usability in everyday activities, particularly as populations age and the need for affordable, effective injury protection grows.
Innovation Solution
A wearable garment with a sheet structure that can transition between flexible and inflexible states using a mechanism called friction jamming, where a valve system controls pressure within a chamber to adjust the friction between overlapping layers, allowing for quick changes in flexibility in response to detected conditions.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If traditional safety equipment is used to provide injury protection, then protection effectiveness is improved, but device complexity and ease of operation deteriorate due to cumbersome design and extensive training requirements
Solution Approach 1:
The garment incorporates adjustable flexibility through a tensioning mechanism that can dynamically change the mechanical properties of the sheet structure. The system transitions from a static safety device to a dynamic one that can adapt its protective characteristics based on operational requirements, allowing it to be comfortable during normal activities and rigid when protection is needed
Solution Approach 2:
The invention changes the physical parameter of flexibility by applying tension to the sheet structure through the tensioning mechanism. By adjusting the tension parameter, the garment transitions between flexible and rigid states, enabling it to provide protection only when necessary while maintaining comfort during everyday activities
2Reliability
If traditional safety equipment is designed to provide comprehensive protection, then protection effectiveness is improved, but device complexity and ease of manufacture worsen due to cumbersome design
Solution Approach 1:
The safety garment is divided into functional segments: a flexible sheet structure for protection, a tensioning mechanism for adjusting flexibility, and a control system for operation. This segmentation allows each component to be manufactured independently using standard techniques, reducing overall manufacturing complexity while maintaining protection effectiveness
Solution Approach 2:
The sheet structure serves multiple functions: it provides injury protection, acts as a flexible barrier, and can be tensioned to become rigid. This multi-functionality eliminates the need for separate rigid and flexible components, simplifying the overall device design and manufacturing process
3Reliability
If safety equipment is made rigid to provide protection, then protection effectiveness is improved, but ease of operation deteriorates due to lack of flexibility in everyday activities
Solution Approach 1:
The garment transitions from a static rigid structure to a dynamic system that can adjust its flexibility in real-time. The tensioning mechanism allows the sheet structure to be rigid when protection is needed and flexible during normal activities, providing adaptability to different situations
Solution Approach 2:
By changing the tension parameter of the sheet structure, the garment adapts its mechanical properties to match different operational requirements. This parameter adjustment enables the same structure to provide both protection and comfort, enhancing versatility
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 a wearable safety solution that can adapt to different situations, providing enhanced protection without the need for extensive training and maintaining usability in various activities, while being comfortable and affordable.
Implementation Method 1
A region internal to the sheet structure may allow for a small volume of fluid (such as air, oxygen, water or the like) to be disposed therein. When a pressure level of such a fluid is relatively close to an ambient pressure of an environment surrounding the sheet structure, that ambient pressure is more likely to allow for bending of the sheet structure. However, when the pressure level of such a fluid is decreased—e.g., by decreasing the volume of the fluid in the internal region—the ambient pressure of the surrounding environment is more likely bring internal surfaces within the sheet structure into pressurized contact with one another. As a result, overlapping layer portions of the sheet structure are more likely to exhibit deformation and/or increased friction between one another, which in turn results in increased resistance to forces that would otherwise bend the sheet portion.
Data Source
AI summary
Techniques and mechanisms for changing a flexibility of a sheet structure. In an embodiment, a garment or other device includes sheet structure, where an interface region is disposed between overlapping layer portions of a sheet structure. While a pressure differential is maintained between the interface region and a chamber of the garment, a valve of the garment is opened to allow an exchange of fluid between the interface region and the chamber. In another embodiment, the exchange of fluid changes a flexibility of the sheet structure by initiating or alleviating friction jamming between the overlapping layer portions.