Padding Section With Expanding Apertures for Body Conformability
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing protective garments and apparel struggle to conform to diverse body shapes and curvatures, leading to discomfort, excessive wear, or diminished protective features due to improper fit.
Innovation Solution
A padding section with a repeating array of cushioning regions and apertures, featuring cushioning bridges that allow the padding to expand and contract in width upon force application, providing conformability and adaptability to various body shapes and curvatures.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a protective garment is designed to fit closely to the human body, then protective effectiveness is improved, but adaptability to different body shapes and sizes deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The padding is divided into an array of discrete cushioning regions separated by apertures, allowing each region to independently deform and adapt to local body contours while maintaining overall protective coverage. This segmentation enables the padding to conform to diverse body shapes without compromising protective effectiveness.
Solution Approach 2:
The padding structure incorporates apertures that can dynamically expand and contract in response to applied forces, enabling the garment to adapt its shape and size to match different body contours. This dynamic behavior allows the same garment to effectively protect various body types.
2Reliability
If padding material is used to provide cushioning protection, then protective features are improved, but conformability to body contours deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The padding employs a porous structure with an array of apertures distributed throughout the cushioning material. This porous configuration allows the padding to compress and conform to body contours while maintaining sufficient material density to provide effective cushioning protection against impacts.
Solution Approach 2:
The padding combines cushioning material with an integrated aperture pattern, creating a composite structure that merges protective functionality with conformability. The resulting material simultaneously provides impact protection and adapts to complex body surfaces.
3Adaptability or versatility
If the padding section expands in width to accommodate different body sizes, then adaptability is improved, but structural stability deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The padding is segmented into discrete cushioning regions bounded by apertures, which allows the structure to expand and contract in a controlled manner. Each segmented region maintains its structural integrity while the overall padding adapts to different body sizes, preventing structural failure during expansion.
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 padding section effectively conforms to different body shapes and curvatures, enhancing comfort and protective features by expanding and contracting in response to body movements, thereby improving fit and functionality.
Implementation Method 1
the bridges are spaced apart from a midline of the cushioning region sidewalls, wherein when the padding section is subjected to the force, the cushioning regions pivot about the bridges and the apertures expand from a first size to a second size and when the force is removed, the apertures contract from the second size to the first size
Implementation Method 2
upon application of a force, the padding section expands in width from the first width to a second width greater than the first width and when the application of force is removed, the width of the padding section contracts to the first width
Data Source
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AI summary
A protective padding section includes an upper layer (36), an opposing lower layer (38) and a repeating array of cushioning regions (22) disposed between, and continuously bonded to, the upper layer and the lower layer. Each cushioning region has a same first cushion thickness. A repeating array of apertures (28) is disposed between the cushioning regions and each aperture extends through the padding section. The padding section has a first thickness and a first width and upon application of a force, the padding section expands in width from the first width to a second width greater than the first width and when the application of force is removed, the width of the padding section contracts to the first width.