Nested-Tube Bellows Design for Compact Fire-Starting Portability
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing mouth bellows are limited in portability, storage, and adjustability due to fixed lengths, which restricts their use in starting or maintaining fires, especially with damp or dry firewood, as they cannot be easily extended or collapsed to maintain a preferred distance from the fire.
Innovation Solution
An extensible bellows design featuring a plurality of nested tubes with shims that allow for longitudinal movement between extended and retracted configurations, enabling precise aiming and adjustment of air flow, made from durable materials like Grade 201 austenitic stainless steel and beryllium copper alloy for stability and resistance.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Length of moving object
If a fixed-length bellows is used, then the structure is simple and easy to manufacture, but the portability and storage convenience are poor
Solution Approach 1:
The bellows is designed with nested tubes where inner tubes can be inserted into outer tubes, allowing the bellows to be collapsed into a compact form for portability and storage, while maintaining full extended length when needed for fire starting
2Ease of manufacture
If a fixed-length bellows is used, then the manufacturing is simple, but the adjustability and precision in aiming are limited
Solution Approach 1:
The bellows incorporates movable nested tubes that can be adjusted to different extended positions, allowing the user to dynamically change the bellows length and aiming angle to precisely target fuels at different distances while maintaining manufacturing simplicity through straightforward tube assemblies
3Adaptability or versatility
If a telescopic arrangement with hose is used, then the transport flexibility is improved, but the structural complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The bellows uses a nested tube structure where multiple tubes are inserted one into another, providing telescopic capability for flexible transport and storage while maintaining relatively simple construction through straightforward nesting of cylindrical components without complex mechanisms
Data Source
AI summary
Extensible mouth bellows for acceleration of flame, as in kindling a campfire, includes four successively nested tubes in longitudinally movable, frictionally retarded movable relation over a limited range between extended and retracted configurations. Shims cooperate with the tubes and with inwardly constricted ends thereof to directionally stabilize the arrangement of tubes and to prevent separation in forward or rearward direction.