Customizable Knee Pad with Injection-Molded Gel and Recessed Foam
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing knee pads lack customizability and are often expensive to manufacture, requiring intricate molds and processes to adapt to specific applications, while also facing issues with gel inserts shifting over time and fabric separation.
Innovation Solution
A customizable knee pad design featuring a compressible foam main body with an array of recesses on the anterior surface and a fabric sheet on the posterior surface, injection molded with a gel insert to bond the fabric and foam, allowing for adjustable hardness and preventing gel shift or fabric separation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If traditional separate component construction is used for knee pads with gel inserts and fabric covers, then assembly is simple, but gel inserts shift over time and fabric separates from the main body
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the gel insert, fabric sheet, and foam main body into a single integrated molded structure. The injection molding process directly forms the foam material that encapsulates the gel insert and bonds to the fabric sheet, eliminating separate components and their associated assembly issues. This resolves the shifting and separation problems while maintaining manufacturing efficiency through a single-step molding process.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent employs composite material construction by combining foam material with gel inserts and fabric sheets within a single molded structure. The foam acts as a bonding matrix that integrates the gel and fabric components, creating a composite structure that prevents relative movement between components while maintaining the functional benefits of each material type.
2Adaptability or versatility
If customizability is increased to meet diverse consumer needs, then product adaptability improves, but manufacturing complexity and cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent enables customization by allowing variation of geometric parameters in the molding process, such as the size, shape, and distribution of recesses in the foam main body. These parameter changes allow the same basic molded construction to be adapted for different applications and user needs without requiring entirely different manufacturing processes or expensive custom molds, thus maintaining cost-effectiveness while achieving versatility.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent creates a universal molded construction that can serve multiple functions and applications. The single-step injection molding process can produce knee pads with varying characteristics (hardness, cushioning, shape) by modifying the molding parameters rather than creating entirely different products, making the manufacturing system versatile and cost-effective across different market segments.
3Strength
If foam density is increased to improve protection, then protective capability improves, but flexibility and comfort decrease
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by creating regions of varying foam density and structure within the main body. The foam is molded with recesses and varying thickness zones that provide different levels of cushioning and flexibility in different areas. This allows the knee pad to offer strong protection in impact zones while maintaining flexibility and comfort in areas requiring movement, resolving the contradiction between protection and flexibility.
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 easy customization of knee pad hardness, simplifies the molding process, and ensures the gel insert and fabric remain integrated, addressing the limitations of prior art by providing a cost-effective and durable solution.
Implementation Method 1
a main body formed of a compressible material having an anterior or exterior surface and a posterior surface molded to the shape of the knee
Implementation Method 2
a gel pad provided within the main body in close proximity to the fabric sheet
Implementation Method 3
a fabric sheet covers the rear or posterior surface
Data Source
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AI summary
A customizable knee pad includes a foam main body having an anterior surface A and a posterior surface molded to the shape of the knee. The anterior surface is formed with an array of spaced recesses covering the knee to be protected. Each recess defines a negative incremental area and, cumulatively, define an area Ar. The effective area Aeff of the anterior surface is equal to Aeff = A - Ar. A fabric sheet covers the posterior surface. A gel pad is provided within the main body in close proximity to the fabric sheet. The main body of the knee pad is injection molded with the gel pad and fabric sheet in place to bond the fabric sheet and gel pad to the molded main body to be effectively integrated therewith. Changing the recesses' shape and spacing alters the flexibility of the knee pad and renders it harder or softer.