Secure Communication Device with Rotatable Housing
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Solution Overview
Problem
Electronic communication devices used in incarceration facilities often have externally accessible cavities that can lead to the storage of contraband and potential physical harm due to their design, which includes protruding components and configurations that inmates can misuse.
Innovation Solution
The development of secure electronic communication devices featuring a base and housing with a rotatable coupling mechanism, an integral handset receiver without protruding components, and a semi-transparent impact-resistant material, which securely houses the device while allowing access to essential features for communication, preventing damage and injury.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If externally accessible cavities are provided in electronic communication devices, then ease of access to components is improved, but security and risk of contraband storage deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent removes the traditionally external handset receiver and places it inside the base structure. This extraction of the problematic external cavity eliminates the security vulnerability while maintaining the essential function of handset reception through an internally integrated receiver that protrudes only minimally or not at all from the external surface.
Solution Approach 2:
The handset receiver is nested within the base structure rather than being externally mounted. This nesting approach allows the receiver to be housed securely inside the device while still enabling functional access, thereby resolving the contradiction between accessibility and security.
2Ease of operation
If protruding components are included in electronic communication devices, then ease of operation is improved, but safety and potential for misuse deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent eliminates protruding components by integrating the handset receiver within the base structure. This removal of external protrusions prevents inmates from misusing these components for physical harm while preserving the essential communication functionality through internal integration.
Solution Approach 2:
The handset receiver is merged with the base structure, combining what were previously separate external components into a unified integrated design. This merging eliminates the need for separate protruding elements that could be misused while maintaining functional accessibility.
3Object-affected harmful factors
If secure housing is implemented to prevent contraband storage, then security is improved, but accessibility to communication features deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
By extracting the handset receiver from external cavities and placing it within the secure base structure, the patent achieves both security (preventing contraband storage in external cavities) and functionality (maintaining access to communication features through the integrated receiver).
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies different levels of accessibility to different parts of the device: the base structure provides secure enclosed space to prevent contraband storage, while the integrated receiver provides localized access points that maintain communication functionality. This local differentiation of security and accessibility qualities resolves the contradiction.
Data Source
AI summary
Secure electronic communication devices can, for example, include a baseplate, a base coupled to the baseplate, a housing disposed at least partially within a volume defined by the base, where the housing includes at least a portion of a cavity to house an electronic communication device, and a housing coupling member that rotatably couples the housing to the base.