Stretch function-added loading sheet, and chair provided herewith
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional chairs and loading sheets lack adequate elasticity and shape conformability, making them uncomfortable for users and ineffective in distributing load evenly, especially when used for loading objects of varying shapes and sizes.
Innovation Solution
A stretch function-added loading sheet is introduced, featuring forced crimping units with pinching block plates and a pinching jig that allows the sheet to extend and contract, providing elasticity and shape conformability through a mechanism that opens and closes with applied tensile force, allowing the sheet to conform to objects and distribute load effectively.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If a general-purpose sheet with thickness of approximately 1 mm or less is used, then the sheet is flexible and easy to use, but it cannot provide sufficient strength and elasticity to support the weight of a person
Solution Approach 1:
The sheet is divided into multiple unit portions, each containing crimping units. These segmented crimping units can independently deform under load, allowing the overall sheet to maintain flexibility while providing distributed elastic support. The segmentation enables each unit to contribute to load-bearing capacity without requiring the entire sheet to be thick or rigid.
Solution Approach 2:
The crimping units create curved or folded structures within the sheet. These curved portions can deform elastically under applied load, providing cushioning and elastic support. The curvature allows the thin sheet to absorb and distribute mechanical energy, generating the required elasticity without increasing material thickness.
2Device complexity
If a single sheet is used as a container for loading objects, then the structure is simple, but it lacks shape conformability to adapt to variations in shape or location of objects
Solution Approach 1:
The sheet is divided into multiple unit portions with crimping units distributed across the surface. Each unit can independently deform to conform to the shape and location of loaded objects. This segmentation allows the simple single-sheet structure to achieve complex shape adaptability, as each unit responds locally to the contours and position of placed objects.
Solution Approach 2:
The crimping units are designed to dynamically respond to applied loads. When objects are placed on the sheet, the crimping units deform to match the object's shape and position. This dynamic adaptability allows the simple single-sheet structure to conform to various object configurations without requiring a complex pre-formed structure.
3Ease of manufacture
If conventional chairs and loading sheets are used, then manufacturing is simple, but they lack adequate elasticity and comfort when a person is placed thereon
Solution Approach 1:
The crimping units are pre-formed or pre-crimped into the sheet during manufacturing. This preliminary action creates the elastic structures in advance, so that when a person sits on the chair, the elastic response is immediately available. This approach maintains manufacturing simplicity while ensuring comfort is built into the structure before use.
Solution Approach 2:
The crimping units create curved or folded structures that are formed during manufacturing. These pre-formed curves provide elastic deformation capacity, allowing the sheet to conform to the user's body and provide comfort. The curvature is built into the structure during simple manufacturing processes, avoiding the need for complex assembly while ensuring comfort performance.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The stretch function-added loading sheet achieves improved comfort and load distribution by providing elasticity and shape conformability, enhancing the usability of chairs and loading sheets for both people and objects of varying shapes and sizes.
Implementation Method 1
the stretch function-added loading sheet has a stretch function in which the sheet body extends as the pinching jig opens by means of an opening/closing mechanism that the pinching jig has, which is caused by an application of a tensile force
Data Source
AI summary
This stretch function-added loading sheet is provided with one sheet body and a force crimping unit. The force crimping unit comprises two clamping block plates and one clamping jig, and on one surface of the sheet body, the two clamping block plates are fixed on both sides of a folding centerline on the sheet body. In a state in which the sheet body is folded along the folding centerline such that the two clamping block plates overlap each other with the sheet body on the inside, the clamping jig is fixed to the two clamping block plates so as to clamp the two clamping block plates. The stretch function-added loading sheet has a stretch function with which the sheet body stretches by the clamping jig opening through application of a tensile force perpendicular to the folding centerline to the sheet body, and shrinks when said tensile force is reduced.