Girth adjustable sleeping bag
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional sleeping bags are restrictive and less comfortable than traditional bedding, fail to accommodate a range of temperature conditions, and do not allow for sufficient freedom of movement, as they cannot be easily adapted to different temperature ranges or user sizes.
Innovation Solution
A girth-adjustable sleeping bag design featuring a top cover and bottom sheet, where the bottom sheet is secured to a sleeping pad with flexible lateral flaps that can be attached and detached from the top cover along curved or linear attachment paths, allowing the bag to convert between wrapped and expanded configurations for varying user sizes and temperature conditions.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If a larger sleeping bag is used to accommodate more users and different sleeping positions, then comfort and freedom of movement are improved, but thermal efficiency deteriorates due to larger interior volume that must be heated
Solution Approach 1:
The sleeping bag incorporates adjustable girth through detachable lateral flaps that can be configured in multiple positions, allowing the interior volume to be dynamically adjusted. Users can expand the girth for comfort or reduce it for thermal efficiency depending on temperature conditions and personal preference, resolving the contradiction between fixed size limitations and adaptive needs.
Solution Approach 2:
The sleeping bag is divided into modular components including detachable lateral flaps and configurable insulation sections. This segmentation allows independent adjustment of different portions of the bag, enabling users to optimize thermal efficiency in certain areas while maintaining comfort in others, thereby addressing both contradictory requirements simultaneously.
2Loss of energy
If a smaller sleeping bag is used to improve thermal efficiency, then energy loss is reduced, but comfort and freedom of movement deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The adjustable girth mechanism allows the sleeping bag to transition between compact and expanded states. Users can start with a smaller configuration for thermal efficiency in cold conditions, then expand the girth by attaching lateral flaps when comfort or freedom of movement becomes necessary, dynamically resolving the contradiction based on immediate needs.
3Adaptability or versatility
If multiple different sleeping bags are acquired to suit different temperature conditions, then adaptability to temperature ranges is improved, but device complexity and weight increase
Solution Approach 1:
The sleeping bag is designed as a universal system that can function across multiple temperature ranges through configuration changes. By adjusting the girth and insulation exposure, a single bag replaces multiple temperature-specific bags, reducing overall system complexity while maintaining broad adaptability to different thermal conditions.
Solution Approach 2:
Multiple functional capabilities (different temperature adaptations, various girth configurations, multiple sleeping position accommodations) are merged into a single sleeping bag system through the adjustable lateral flap mechanism. This consolidation eliminates the need for separate bags for different conditions, addressing both adaptability and complexity concerns.
4Temperature
If insulation is placed beneath the user to provide thermal insulation on the sleeping pad, then thermal insulation is improved, but weight efficiency deteriorates due to dead weight of compressed insulation
Solution Approach 1:
The insulation configuration is made dynamic through adjustable lateral flaps that can be positioned to expose or cover insulation layers. Users can dynamically adjust the insulation exposure based on their position and thermal needs, allowing the system to optimize thermal performance without permanently carrying unnecessary insulation weight in all configurations.
Data Source
AI summary
A sleeping bag includes a top cover and bottom sheet. The bottom sheet can be secured to a sleeping pad and includes a sheet portion and lateral flaps connected to the sheet portion along opposite lateral edges of the sleeping pad when the bottom sheet is secured thereto. The top cover and lateral flaps enable attachment, detachment, and reattachment of the lateral flaps along their lateral edges to a top cover outer surface along corresponding attachment paths displaced medially from top cover lateral edges, enabling a top cover headward portion to assume wrapped and expanded configurations, and enabling conversion between those configurations. When wrapped, headward portions of the top cover outer surface, that are lateral of the attachment paths, are positioned against the sheet portion; when expanded, the lateral flaps and lateral portions of the top cover extend upward or laterally away from the sleeping pad lateral edges.