Playyard canopy
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional playyard canopies are either too small to provide adequate shade and protection from the sun and rain, or they require frequent adjustments as the sun moves across the sky, and they often fail to completely cover the play area, leaving gaps for bugs and inconsistent airflow.
Innovation Solution
A canopy design featuring resilient sheeting with adjustable flaps and a scissoring frame that can be easily expanded to cover the entire play area, providing shade and protection while allowing for airflow control through various flap configurations, and can be quickly set up and folded for compact storage.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Area of stationary object
If the canopy is made larger to provide greater shade area, then the shade coverage is improved, but the device complexity and storage difficulty increase
Solution Approach 1:
The canopy is divided into multiple triangular panels that are hinged together, allowing the large canopy to be segmented into smaller units for easier storage and transport while maintaining a large total shade area when assembled
Solution Approach 2:
The segmented canopy panels are designed to nest within each other when collapsed, similar to nested dolls, enabling the large canopy structure to be compacted into a small portable form factor for easy storage and transport
2Illumination intensity
If the canopy is made adjustable to track the sun, then the shade effectiveness is improved, but the ease of operation deteriorates due to frequent adjustments
Solution Approach 1:
The canopy incorporates movable panels with hinges that allow dynamic adjustment of the canopy shape and orientation, enabling the structure to adapt to different sun positions while maintaining ease of operation through simple mechanical movements rather than frequent complete reconfigurations
3Object-affected harmful factors
If the canopy is made larger to cover the entire play area, then the bug protection is improved, but the ease of setup deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The canopy is segmented into multiple independent triangular panels that can be assembled separately and quickly connected, reducing the overall setup time while maintaining full coverage for bug protection when all panels are assembled together
Solution Approach 2:
The canopy panels are pre-assembled in smaller manageable units before use, allowing for quicker on-site setup while still achieving complete coverage for bug protection when the pre-assembled units are connected together
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 canopy offers a large, stable, and bug-free play area with adjustable airflow, providing effective shade and protection from the elements while being lightweight, easy to set up, and inexpensive to manufacture.
Implementation Method 1
a resilient element engaged thereto, where the resilient element defines a perimeter of the sheeting
Data Source
AI summary
A canopy for a playyard. The canopy is elongate and includes sheeting with a resilient element defining the perimeter. A first form of the canopy is generally flat. A second form of the canopy is generally U-shaped. A third form of the canopy is compact with three generally circular shapes. The canopy includes a first flap with a first edge and a second flap with a second edge, wherein the first and second edges run cross-wise to each other when the canopy is in the generally flat form and generally parallel and adjacent to each other when the canopy is in the generally U-shaped form.