Knotted Filament Flying Disc for Low Momentum Flight
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional flying discs made from soft or deformable materials, such as foam, carry significant linear momentum and are not well-suited for indoor use due to their potential to tip over or cause damage upon impact, requiring careful control and reduced energy for throwing to avoid damage.
Innovation Solution
A flying disc formed entirely of a knotted filament, utilizing a helical stitching pattern with added and dropped stitches to create a flat, circular web and a circumferential lip that generates lift, providing low mass and high elasticity for reduced momentum and increased stability, allowing for safe indoor and outdoor use.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If soft or deformable materials like foam are used for flying discs, then the disc is more elastic and less likely to break objects, but the disc carries significant linear momentum and can still tip over or cause damage upon impact
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the material parameter from traditional foam or rigid plastic to knotted filament, which fundamentally alters the mass-to-volume ratio and elasticity characteristics. The knotted filament structure provides high elasticity while maintaining low mass, thereby reducing linear momentum without sacrificing impact absorption capabilities.
Solution Approach 2:
The flying disc uses a composite construction with knotted filament as the primary material, combining the elasticity of filamentous material with a knotted structure that distributes impact forces. This composite approach creates a material that is both highly elastic and low-mass, resolving the contradiction between elasticity and linear momentum.
2Strength
If soft or deformable materials are used for flying discs, then the disc is more elastic in collision, but the disc retains its basic shape and transfers bulk of energy to the struck object
Solution Approach 1:
The knotted filament structure changes the energy dissipation parameters of the disc. The knotting creates a structure that deforms significantly upon impact, absorbing energy through the deformation of the filament knots themselves rather than transferring it to the struck object. This parameter change in material structure fundamentally alters energy transfer characteristics.
3Strength
If conventional flying discs are made from rigid plastic, then the disc maintains structural integrity, but the disc cannot be used indoors due to potential damage upon impact
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the material parameters from rigid plastic to knotted filament, which has distinct mechanical properties. The knotted filament structure provides sufficient structural integrity for flight while being compliant enough to absorb impact energy without causing damage to indoor surfaces, thereby enabling indoor use.
Solution Approach 2:
The knotted filament creates a flexible yet structurally sound disc body. The filament construction provides a flexible structure that can deform upon impact, protecting both the disc and surrounding objects from damage, while maintaining enough structural integrity to sustain flight.
4Object-affected harmful factors
If foam flying discs are used indoors with controlled throwing energy, then damage is reduced, but the range of the disc is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The knotted filament material changes the mass-to-volume ratio, creating a disc that is lighter than foam discs. This parameter change reduces the disc's weight, allowing it to be thrown with less energy while still achieving adequate range, thereby enabling indoor use without sacrificing flight distance.
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
The knotted filament flying disc achieves low linear momentum and high elasticity, making it suitable for various environments by minimizing impact force and maintaining stability in flight, while being lightweight and easy to manufacture.
Implementation Method 1
The best-known and most popular example of a flying disc—first marketed by Wham-O and currently by Mattel Inc. of El Segundo, Calif.—bears the trademark FRISBEE®. As described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,359,678, 'In the usual embodiment the implement is made of a plastic material in a saucer shape with a rim located around the edge of the saucer, the rim having a somewhat greater thickness than the saucer portion of the implement. The rim curves downwardly from the saucer and has a configuration such that the implement when viewed in elevation approximates the shape of an airfoil.' This airfoil shape provided by the circumferential lip of a flying disc extending out of the plane of the circular disc portion, together with gyroscopic stability from the spin imparted to the disc by the thrower, provides lift as the disc flies through a viscous medium, such as air.
Implementation Method 2
As disclosed in the above-referenced patent, perturbations on the convex (upper) surface of the disc interrupt the smooth flow of air over this surface. This creates a turbulent unseparated boundary layer over the upper surface of the disc, which reduces drag and increases stability in flight.
Data Source
AI summary
A flying disc is formed entirely of a knotted filament, such as knotted, stitched, or crocheted filament, which may comprise yarn, rope, or the like. A generally flat, generally circular web, defining a plane, is formed by pulling loops of the filament through other loops to form successive interconnected rows of knots using, e.g., crochet stitches. In one embodiment, the knotting proceeds in a helical pattern from a central portion of the circular web to a peripheral portion, with stitches added to an otherwise uniform stitching pattern as necessary to maintain a generally flat shape to the web. The center of the circular web may comprise knotted filament, or may include a void or hole. A circumferential lip connected to the periphery of the circular web and extending out of the plane of the circular web, at least during flight, is formed by dropping stitches from a uniform stitching pattern as necessary to create the desired shape.