One-Piece Rescue Sling With Interlocking Slots
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current rescue slings are labor-intensive and costly to manufacture, and there is a need for an improved method to produce a one-piece, flame-resistant, and cut-resistant rescue sling that is easier and less expensive to produce.
Innovation Solution
The rescue sling is constructed using multiple elongated webbing sections with alternating slotted and non-slotted sections, woven with solution-dyed Kevlar yarns in different colors, and manufactured using a shuttle or shuttless loom, featuring a unique weave pattern for identification and a self-interlocking design.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If multiple separate webbing sections are looped together to form a rescue sling, then the sling can be constructed with color-coded sections for identification, but the manufacturing process becomes labor-intensive and costly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines multiple separate webbing sections into a single integral webbing structure. The rescue sling is formed from one continuous piece of webbing with slots formed therein, eliminating the need to loop and connect multiple separate sections. This merging reduces manufacturing complexity and labor while maintaining the color-coded identification sections.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent segments the single integral webbing into functional sections by forming slots at specific locations. The color-coded sections are created by incorporating different colored yarns into specific regions of the webbing during manufacturing. This segmentation allows the sling to have distinct functional areas (handle section, retaining sections) while being manufactured as one piece.
2Strength
If separate webbing sections are sewn together to form loops, then the sling can be assembled, but the sewing process reduces the original strength of the webbing
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the need for sewing connections by forming slots directly in the integral webbing. The slots are created by removing material or creating openings in the single webbing piece, allowing sections to interlock without sewing. This eliminates the strength-reducing effect of needle holes and seam weakening while maintaining assembly capability.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent creates a nested structure where slots in one webbing section receive and interlock with adjacent sections. The color-coded sections are nested within the integral webbing structure, with each section's slots fitting together to form the complete rescue sling configuration without external fasteners.
3Reliability
If conventional webbing materials are used, then the sling can be manufactured easily, but the sling lacks flame resistance and cut resistance
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses composite webbing material made from solution-dyed Kevlar yarns. Kevlar is a aramid fiber composite that provides both flame resistance and cut resistance while maintaining strength. The solution-dyed process incorporates color throughout the yarn structure, allowing color-coded sections to be manufactured with the base material itself rather than added later.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the material parameters by specifying solution-dyed Kevlar with specific yarn constructions (e.g., 1500/2 denier warp, 1500/1 denier filling). These parameter changes ensure the webbing has the required flame and cut resistance properties while allowing standard weaving processes to manufacture the material.
Data Source
AI summary
A rescue sling that includes multiple elongated webbing sections including contiguous alternating slotted and non-slotted webbing sections. One of the slotted webbing sections forms a handle opening meant to be grasped by a rescuer, and at least two other slotted webbing sections oppositely coupled from the one slotted webbing section and forms respective retaining openings for receiving therethrough limbs of one being rescued. Two additional slotted webbing sections are disposed distally of the respective at least two slotted webbing sections and form respective additional retaining openings for receiving therethrough additional limbs of the one being rescued.