Adjustable Multi-Band Spine Brace With Slidable Lateral Panels
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional adjustable spine braces often fail to provide a proper fit, leading to inadequate compression and stabilization, particularly for wearers with petite or small torsos, due to their uniform sizing and narrow anterior regions, which can cause discomfort and inefficiency in pain reduction and healing.
Innovation Solution
A spine brace system featuring slidable, internal lateral panels and a multi-band configuration with adjustable pulley mechanisms, allowing for independent adjustment of each band to accommodate different body sizes and contours, providing customizable fit and support.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If uniform sizing is used for anterior panels, then manufacturing is simplified, but fit and comfort for wearers with petite or small torsos deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The anterior panel is divided into multiple segments or sections that can be independently adjusted. This segmentation allows the panel to be customized for different torso sizes and shapes while maintaining a standardized base design, thus resolving the contradiction between manufacturing simplicity and fit accommodation.
Solution Approach 2:
The anterior panel incorporates dynamic adjustment mechanisms that allow it to change configuration based on the wearer's body dimensions. This dynamic capability enables a single uniform panel design to adapt to various torso sizes, maintaining manufacturing simplicity while improving fit and comfort.
2Device complexity
If the anterior region is made narrow, then the brace structure is simplified, but comfort and effectiveness for wearers with larger torsos deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The lateral panels are segmented to allow independent adjustment of width and positioning. This segmentation enables the brace to accommodate different torso widths without requiring completely different structural designs, thus maintaining structural simplicity while improving adaptability.
Solution Approach 2:
The lateral panels are designed with multi-functional adjustment capabilities, allowing them to serve multiple sizing requirements through a single universal component design. This universal design approach maintains structural simplicity while enabling accommodation of various torso sizes.
3Manufacturing precision
If the brace circumference is fixed, then manufacturing precision is improved, but proper compression and stabilization for different body sizes deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The brace incorporates dynamic adjustment mechanisms that allow the circumference to be modified after manufacturing. This dynamic capability enables a single precision-manufactured base size to provide proper compression for different body sizes, maintaining manufacturing precision while improving compression effectiveness.
Solution Approach 2:
The brace design allows for parameter changes in circumference and panel dimensions through adjustable components. This parameter adjustability enables a standardized precision-manufactured base design to provide reliable compression and stabilization across different body sizes.
Data Source
AI summary
A spine bracing system featuring one or more anterior panels that are trimmable to provide different sized anterior panels, all of which would include finished (fused) edges.