Neck Harness Lighting System with Multi-Zone Illumination
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current mobile lighting solutions for outdoor activities, such as camping, hiking, and pet walking, are limited in their ability to provide simultaneous illumination and mobility, as they often require users to hold a flashlight or wear a headlamp, which restricts hand use and field of view, and lack multi-functionality, auto-sensing capabilities, and electronic controls.
Innovation Solution
A wearable neck harness, named Zipray, with integrated lights, sensors, and a microprocessor-controlled system that allows hands-free and head-free operation, offering adjustable lighting, auto-sensing for safety, and integration with audio features and mobile app control, providing a versatile and comfortable lighting solution for various activities.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If a handheld flashlight is used for mobile lighting, then the user can carry the lighting device easily, but the user cannot work with both hands simultaneously and loses mobility when the flashlight is set down
Solution Approach 1:
The lighting system is segmented into multiple independent light sources positioned at different locations (front, back, sides) of the body-worn device, allowing different lighting functions to operate independently and simultaneously, enabling hands-free operation while maintaining full hand availability for tasks
Solution Approach 2:
The body-worn lighting device integrates multiple lighting functions including forward illumination, backward illumination, ambient lighting, and task-specific lighting zones, allowing a single device to replace multiple traditional lighting solutions and enable simultaneous two-handed operation
2Productivity
If a headlamp is affixed to the user's forehead to enable both hands to be used, then the user can maintain mobility, but the user's field of view is restricted and the light beams uncomfortably into the eyes of others during conversation
Solution Approach 1:
The lighting system transitions from a single forward-pointing headlamp to a multi-dimensional array of light sources distributed across the body (front, back, sides), creating multiple lighting zones that illuminate different spatial dimensions simultaneously, expanding the effective field of view without compromising social comfort
Solution Approach 2:
Different regions of the body-worn device emit light with different characteristics appropriate to their function: forward-facing lights provide task illumination, backward-facing lights provide courtesy illumination, and ambient lights provide general area illumination, allowing each zone to be optimized for its specific purpose
3Ease of operation
If a body light is clipped on clothing for pet walking or night reading, then the user can have hands-free operation, but the device lacks multi-functionality, back light mode, and sensing capabilities
Solution Approach 1:
The body-worn lighting device integrates multiple lighting functions including forward illumination, backward illumination, ambient lighting, and task-specific lighting zones, allowing a single device to replace multiple traditional lighting solutions and enable simultaneous two-handed operation
Solution Approach 2:
The device incorporates sensors that detect environmental conditions and automatically adjust lighting functions, such as detecting darkness to activate lights, detecting motion to adjust brightness, or detecting proximity to objects to provide appropriate illumination levels, enabling adaptive multi-functional operation
Data Source
AI summary
A wearable, torso-worn, hands free multi-illumination system having a fabric harness worn over the shoulders and adjacent the chest and back of a user. The fabric harness has an adjustable aperture to receive the head of the user, and a fastener along the rim of the aperture, where the fastener adjusts the size of the aperture. The fabric harness includes a front panel and a rear panel, with an ambient light and a light sensor mounted on the front panel. An electronic control system is mounted on the fabric harness, including a control board, LEDs, and light sensor. The ambient light and the light sensor are electrically connected to the control board. Switches are mounted to the front panel, and are electrically connected to the control board. An electric power source is removably mounted on the rear panel, and the power source is electrically connected to the control board.