Sliding Strap Animal Restraint for Neck Trauma Mitigation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional animal restraints, such as collars and harnesses, can cause trauma to a dog's neck structures due to direct force transmission and unnatural gait alignment, leading to injuries like tracheal collapse, thyroid damage, and arthritis.
Innovation Solution
An animal restraint system featuring a strap that slides around a track housing with impact-resistant padding, providing cushioning and distributing force across anatomical structures, and a leash attachment ring that glides to maintain proper positioning, reducing pressure on critical neck areas.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If a fixed fastening point is used to connect the leash to the restraint, then the structure is simple and easy to manufacture, but the restraint rotates around the animal's neck when the animal pulls, causing unnatural gait and potential injury
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies the dynamics principle by making the fastening point movable instead of fixed. The leash attachment ring can slide along the strap, allowing the restraint to dynamically adjust its position on the animal's neck during movement. This sliding mechanism prevents rotation and maintains natural gait while the animal pulls, resolving the contradiction between operational ease and structural complexity.
2Ease of operation
If a strap goes around the animal's neck to provide restraint control, then the restraint can effectively control the animal, but force is transmitted directly to the tracheal region causing trauma and injury
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by adding impact-resistant padding specifically at the areas of the neck that contact the restraint. The padding is placed locally at the tracheal and cervical regions to absorb and distribute forces, protecting these vulnerable areas while maintaining the restraint's control function. This resolves the contradiction by preserving control capability while eliminating harmful force concentration.
3Reliability
If the restraint uses a fixed positioning system, then the structure is simple, but the padding does not maintain proper positioning over anatomical structures when pulling force is applied
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies self-service by designing a positioning system where the sliding fastening point automatically maintains proper padding alignment through the animal's own pulling movements. When the animal pulls, the sliding mechanism naturally adjusts to keep the padding centered over the anatomical structures without requiring external adjustment or complex active control systems.
Data Source
AI summary
An animal restraint is disclosed for mitigating collar trauma to critical neck structures of an animal. The animal restraint includes a track housing defining an exterior surface and an interior surface. A plurality of loops are positioned on the exterior surface of the track housing. A strap is threaded through the loops, and is adapted to slide around the exterior surface of the track housing from a pulling force on the animal restraint. The strap includes a leash attachment ring adapted for attachment to a leash. Impact resistant padding is attached to the interior surface of the track housing, and the sliding movement of the strap maintains a proper positioning of the impact resistant padding over corresponding anatomical neck structures of an animal.