HMD Support Assembly with Vapor-Permeable Spacer
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Perspiration management in Head-Mounted Display (HMD) devices is challenging due to the need for adequate support without excessive pressure, which increases perspiration accumulation and discomfort, as conventional support pads are non-breathable and restrict airflow.
Innovation Solution
A perspiration dissipating support assembly that distributes supporting forces over a large area of the head while using a vapor-permeable spacer and wicking layer to facilitate the evaporation of both liquid and vapor perspiration, preventing condensation and heat buildup.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Stress or pressure
If the size of support pads is increased to cover a larger area of the user's head, then the amount of pressure exerted on the user decreases, but airflow is inhibited causing perspiration to accumulate
Solution Approach 1:
The support assembly incorporates a vapor-permeable spacer with porous structure that allows airflow through the support pad while maintaining structural integrity. This porous material enables perspiration to escape through the pad rather than accumulate, resolving the contradiction between needing large contact area for pressure distribution and requiring airflow for perspiration management.
Solution Approach 2:
The support assembly uses a composite structure combining a vapor-permeable spacer with a wicking layer. The spacer provides structural support and airflow channels, while the wicking layer actively transports perspiration away from the user's head. This composite material approach allows the large support pad to both distribute pressure and manage perspiration effectively.
2Stress or pressure
If conventional non-breathable materials are used for large support pads, then supporting forces are distributed over large area, but perspiration is trapped against the user's skin
Solution Approach 1:
Replacing conventional non-breathable materials with a vapor-permeable spacer creates a porous structure that allows perspiration vapor and liquid to pass through the support pad. This maintains the pressure distribution benefit of large pads while eliminating the harmful effect of trapping perspiration and heat against the user's skin.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention extracts the harmful trapping function from the support pad by introducing a dedicated vapor-permeable layer that actively removes perspiration. The wicking layer extracts liquid perspiration from the contact surface and transports it through the porous structure to the exterior, separating the support function from the perspiration management function.
3Quantity of substance
If thick and resilient absorbent materials are used to cover support assemblies, then perspiration is absorbed and held, but airflow is restricted and heat is held against the user's skin increasing perspiration rates
Solution Approach 1:
The vapor-permeable spacer uses a porous structure that provides controlled absorption and rapid evaporation pathways. Unlike thick resilient materials that trap moisture, the porous structure allows perspiration to be absorbed at the contact surface and quickly transported through the material matrix to the exterior where it evaporates, maintaining airflow and preventing heat buildup.
Solution Approach 2:
The support assembly leverages phase transition by facilitating the evaporation of absorbed perspiration. The porous structure and wicking layer transport liquid perspiration to regions where it can evaporate, using the latent heat of vaporization to cool the user's skin rather than retaining heat, thus reducing perspiration rates.
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
This solution effectively reduces perspiration accumulation and discomfort by enhancing airflow and heat dissipation, maintaining the HMD's position without pressure-related issues and improving user comfort.
Implementation Method 1
a wicking layer having an inner surface that contacts the skin on the user's head and an outer surface that is opposite the inner surface and, therefore, faces away from the user's head
Implementation Method 2
configurations of the support assembly described herein are specifically adapted to wick liquid-perspiration away from the user's head and/or to allow sufficient breathability so that vapor perspiration easily escapes into the ambient environment
Implementation Method 3
the technologies described herein are not limited to absorbing and holding onto the user's perspiration during operation. Furthermore, as compared to conventional support assemblies for the heat generating portions of HMD devices, the disclosed technologies increase airflow to the user's skin thereby removing heat from the user's skin and decreasing perspiration rates
Data Source
AI summary
A perspiration dissipating support assembly for head-mounted-display (HMD) devices. Variations of the perspiration dissipating support assembly disclosed herein enable supporting forces for an HMD device to be spread over a large portion of a user's head while facilitating dissipation of both liquid perspiration and vapor perspiration via respective dedicated dissipation mechanisms. In some embodiments, the perspiration dissipating support assembly includes a vapor-permeable contact layer that contacts the user's head and a vapor-permeable spacer that provides a Moisture Vapor Transmission Rate on the order of several times greater than that of the vapor-permeable contact layer. The vapor-permeable contact layer may have wicking properties that tend to draw perspiration (e.g., via capillary action resulting from a particular technical-weave pattern) away from the user's head and into the vapor-permeable spacer through which the perspiration evaporates into the ambient environment. The vapor-permeable spacer may be a three-dimensional fabric and/or an open-cell foam.