System for supporting a human body or a human body segment
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing support systems for the human body, particularly those with a modular structure, face challenges in reducing overall dimensions for transportation and storage, as they often require removal and repositioning, which can lead to incorrect alignment and reduced user comfort or health issues.
Innovation Solution
A modular support system featuring a flexible base element and shaped modular elements that can be easily coupled and decoupled, allowing the system to transition from an extended operating configuration to a folded non-operating configuration, enabling compact storage and transport without compromising user morphology alignment.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a rigid supporting structure is used to ensure correct posture and morphology alignment, then user comfort and health are improved, but the overall dimensions increase and transportation becomes difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The base element is designed to be flexible rather than rigid, allowing it to adapt its shape dynamically. This flexibility enables the support system to conform to the user's morphology while allowing the overall structure to be folded or collapsed for compact storage and transport, thus resolving the contradiction between maintaining reliable posture support and reducing dimensions for mobility.
2Length of moving object
If the support system is removed from the wheelchair frame for folding, then the frame can be folded for transport, but the support system may be repositioned incorrectly
Solution Approach 1:
The flexible base element maintains its ability to conform to the user's morphology even when folded, and the modular elements can be quickly reattached without requiring precise realignment procedures. This dynamic flexibility allows the support system to be removed and reattached multiple times without compromising the reliability of morphology alignment.
3Adaptability or versatility
If a modular structure with multiple interchangeable blocks is used to adapt to individual morphology, then customization is improved, but the number of components and complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The support system is divided into modular elements that can be selectively attached to the flexible base element. This segmentation allows for customization of the support configuration to match individual user morphology while keeping the overall structure simple and manageable through standardized coupling mechanisms.
Solution Approach 2:
The modular elements are designed with universal coupling mechanisms that allow them to be attached to different positions on the flexible base element and to each other, creating a multi-functional system that can adapt to various user needs without requiring a separate set of components for each configuration.
Data Source
AI summary
A system for supporting the human body or a human body segment is provided. The system comprises a base element having a substantially flat shape, and one or more pluralities of shaped modular elements. The base element is flexible, so that it can be brought from an operating, extended configuration to a non-operating, folded configuration. The support system comprises one or more stiffening elements, which are designed in such a way that, on the one hand, they provide the correct stiffness to the backrest when in the operating configuration, and, on the other hand, they do not prevent the possibility of folding the backrest when in the non-operating configuration. The support system can, for example, be made in the form of a seat, a backrest, a mattress, or the like.