Pet Impact Protector Viscoelastic Foam Design
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current pet safety devices in vehicles do not provide adequate protection during sudden stops or accidents, and they often lack ease of installation, removal, and cleaning, as well as compatibility with various pet sizes and vehicle dimensions.
Innovation Solution
A pet impact protector made of soft, cushioning materials like polyurethane-polyurea foam, which is adjustable and can be easily installed and removed, featuring a design that folds to form a protective impact area around the pet during vehicle deceleration, with optional tethering and attachment to vehicle restraints for enhanced safety.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If harnesses and tethers are used to connect the pet to the seatbelt system, then pet safety is improved, but device complexity and ease of operation deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The pet safety device is divided into separate modular components: a pet seat portion and an impact cushion portion. This segmentation allows each component to be independently installed, removed, and cleaned, significantly improving ease of operation while maintaining safety effectiveness through the coordinated function of the separated parts.
Solution Approach 2:
The impact cushion is extracted as a separate removable component from the pet seat structure. This extraction allows the cushion to be independently installed and removed without affecting the pet seat, simplifying the installation process and enabling easy cleaning of the cushion without removing the entire restraint system.
2Reliability
If harnesses and tethers are used to connect the pet to the seatbelt system, then pet safety is improved, but device complexity worsens
Solution Approach 1:
The device is segmented into distinct functional modules: a pet seat portion for positioning and an impact cushion portion for protection. This segmentation reduces overall device complexity by allowing each module to be independently designed, installed, and maintained, while the combination provides comprehensive safety functionality.
Solution Approach 2:
The impact cushion serves multiple functions: it acts as a protective barrier during impacts, provides cushioning for the pet, and can be independently removed for cleaning. This multi-functionality reduces the need for additional separate components, thereby reducing device complexity while maintaining or enhancing safety performance.
3Ease of operation
If the pet safety device is designed to be easily stored when not in use, then ease of operation is improved, but device complexity may worsen
Solution Approach 1:
The pet safety device is segmented into separable components that can be independently stored. The impact cushion can be removed from the pet seat and stored separately when not in use, providing easy storage capability without requiring complex folding or compression mechanisms, thus maintaining 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 pet impact protector effectively reduces injury to pets by absorbing impact forces and providing structural protection, while being easy to install, remove, and clean, and accommodating different pet and vehicle sizes.
Implementation Method 1
a polyurethane-polyurea foam formulation having desirable properties such as viscoelasticity, slow recovery, low density, flexible, integral skin/self skinning, optimum shock absorption and flexibility
Implementation Method 2
optimum shock absorption and flexibility
Data Source
AI summary
A pet impact protector is disclosed. This device is directed to a cleanable, removable device for a vehicle car seat comprising a contiguous pliable material having a pet seating area and a pet capture area. The pet impact protector is designed such that the force of the pet impact protector plus the pet, upon impact with the vehicle during a stop or slowing of the vehicle, causes the pet impact protector to partially collapse and form a protective impact area around the pet. This device is directed to the reduction of injury to a pet riding in a vehicle during an accident, stop or slowdown of the vehicle.