Signal Guide Channels Reduce Sensor Footprint
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional sensor devices have a large footprint and lack aesthetic appeal due to their visible components, making them unsuitable for integration with certain electrical devices and compromising their design and functionality.
Innovation Solution
The use of signal guides with varying cross-sectional profiles and configurations that form continuous channels to transmit signals between transceiver elements and the ambient environment, reducing the visible footprint of sensor devices by redirecting and consolidating signal pathways, allowing for more discreet and flexible placement.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Area of stationary object
If conventional sensor devices are used with visible components, then signal transmission functionality is achieved, but the device footprint becomes large and aesthetic appeal is compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The signal guide channels extend in the vertical dimension through the housing, allowing signal transmission pathways to be routed three-dimensionally rather than requiring larger horizontal space. The channels traverse from proximal surfaces near transceiver elements through the housing body to distal exterior surfaces, utilizing the depth dimension to reduce the device's visible footprint while maintaining effective signal transmission paths.
Solution Approach 2:
The signal guide channels are nested within the housing structure itself, with channels embedded in the housing body rather than requiring separate external routing. The channels are formed as integral or integrated components within the housing material, allowing the signal transmission infrastructure to be contained within the existing device envelope without adding external bulk or visible complexity.
2Area of stationary object
If signal pathways are redirected through signal guides, then aesthetic appeal and footprint are improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The housing structure serves multiple functions simultaneously: it provides mechanical protection for internal components, defines the device's exterior aesthetic appearance, and acts as the medium containing the signal guide channels for signal transmission. By integrating the channel-containing housing as a single component, the design eliminates the need for separate structural and signaling elements, thereby reducing overall device complexity despite the sophisticated signal routing capability.
Solution Approach 2:
The signal guide channels and housing are merged into a single integrated structure, where the housing body itself contains and forms the channels rather than requiring separate channel components. This merging of functions reduces the total number of discrete parts and assembly steps, simplifying manufacturing and device construction while achieving the desired signal routing and aesthetic goals.
Data Source
AI summary
A signal guide for a sensor device is disclosed herein. The signal guide can include a base having a first proximal aperture, where the first proximal aperture has a first cross-sectional profile, where the first proximal aperture is configured to be disposed proximate to a first transceiver element of the sensor device. The signal guide can also include a body disposed adjacent to the base, wherein the body comprises a first main channel that adjoins the first proximal aperture. The signal guide can further include a distal end disposed adjacent to the body opposite the base, where the distal end includes a first distal aperture that adjoins the first main channel, where the first distal aperture has a second cross-sectional profile, where the first distal aperture is configured to be disposed proximate to an ambient environment.