Multilayered Textile for Dispersing Bodily Fluids
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing textile materials that absorb bodily fluids often hold them against the skin, causing discomfort and potentially leading to rashes and infections due to moisture retention.
Innovation Solution
A multilayered textile material designed to disperse and transport bodily fluids away from the skin-contacting surface, utilizing a first layer with hydrophobic and hydrophilic sublayers to spread and draw fluids downwards, a second layer for absorption, a third layer for confinement, and a fourth layer for aesthetic integration into garments.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If bodily fluids are absorbed into fabric, then the fluid is contained, but the fluid is held against the skin causing discomfort and potential skin issues
Solution Approach 1:
The textile material is divided into multiple functional layers: a skin-contacting layer that remains dry, a transport layer that moves fluid away from skin, and an absorbent layer that contains fluid at a distance from skin. This segmentation resolves the contradiction by separating the containment function from skin contact.
Solution Approach 2:
A fluid transport layer acts as an intermediary between the skin-contacting layer and the absorbent layer. This intermediary layer actively transports fluid away from the skin using capillary action and pressure gradients, preventing direct contact between absorbed fluid and skin while maintaining effective containment.
2Ease of operation
If moisture wicking fabrics are used, then bodily fluids are moved to outer surface for evaporation, but these fabrics cannot discretely contain fluids like breast milk, menstrual fluids, and urine
Solution Approach 1:
The textile material integrates multiple functions into a single system: the skin-contacting layer provides moisture wicking for comfort, the transport layer handles fluid movement, and the absorbent layer provides discrete containment for various bodily fluids. This multi-functional design resolves the contradiction by enabling both evaporation-based comfort and discrete containment within one material system.
Solution Approach 2:
Different layers are assigned specific functions: the outer skin-contacting layer handles evaporative moisture management, while the inner absorbent layer provides discrete containment. This functional segmentation allows the material to handle different fluid types and management strategies simultaneously, achieving both ease of operation and reliability.
3Object-affected harmful factors
If a multilayered structure is implemented to transport fluid away from skin, then user comfort is enhanced, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The textile utilizes porous structures with varying pore sizes and connectivity across layers. The skin-contacting layer has porous structure for breathability, the transport layer has capillary channels for fluid movement, and the absorbent layer has high porosity for fluid storage. This porous material approach achieves fluid transport and skin protection while maintaining a relatively simple textile construction.
Solution Approach 2:
The textile combines different material properties in layers: hydrophobic/hydrophilic balance in the skin-contacting layer, capillary-active materials in the transport layer, and high-absorbency materials in the absorbent layer. This composite material strategy enables complex functionality through material selection rather than structural complexity, resolving the contradiction between performance and simplicity.
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 textile material effectively keeps the skin-contacting surface dry, enhancing user comfort while discreetly managing and containing bodily fluids, thereby reducing the risk of skin irritation and infection.
Implementation Method 1
a first layer having an inner surface and an outer surface, wherein the first layer is configured to draw the bodily fluid through a thickness of the first layer from the inner surface to the outer surface while dispersing the bodily fluid laterally across the first layer
Implementation Method 2
a second layer in contact with the outer surface of the first layer, wherein the second layer is configured to pull the bodily fluid away from the outer surface and hold the bodily fluid in the second layer
Implementation Method 3
a third layer opposite the second layer from the first layer, wherein the third layer is configured to confine the bodily fluid within the second layer
Data Source
AI summary
A reusable textile material for managing a bodily fluids and associated systems and methods are disclosed herein. In some embodiments, the textile material includes a first layer having an inner surface and an outer surface, a second layer in contact with the outer surface of the first layer, and a third layer opposite the second layer from the first layer. In some embodiments, the first layer is configured to draw the bodily fluid through the first layer from the inner surface to the outer surface while dispersing the bodily fluid laterally across the first layer. In some embodiments, the second layer is configured to pull the bodily fluid away from the outer surface and hold the bodily fluid in the second layer. In some embodiments, the third layer is configured to confine the bodily fluid from in the second layer.