Suction-Mountable Display Device with Periphery Bend
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional suction-mountable devices with non-circular peripheries face challenges in maintaining a secure connection due to non-uniform reflex forces, which are not effectively balanced by vacuum forces, leading to instability and potential detachment from mounting surfaces.
Innovation Solution
A deformable device with a body that includes a concave inner surface featuring a suction portion and a bend adjacent the boundary, allowing for uniform reflex force distribution by curving away from the mounting surface, thereby enhancing suction force creation and securing the device in place.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If a non-circular periphery is used, then the device can have various shapes and better adaptability, but non-uniform reflex forces are generated that cannot be balanced by vacuum forces, reducing mounting reliability
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a bend in the inner surface at a specific location adjacent to the suction portion boundary, creating local structural variation. This bend causes the inner surface to curve away from the mounting surface, locally reducing material thickness and reflex forces in that specific region. This local modification allows non-circular peripheries to maintain uniform reflex force distribution without requiring overall thickness tapering, thus preserving both shape adaptability and mounting reliability.
2Reliability
If the body thickness is tapered toward the periphery, then uniform reflex forces are achieved, but the manufacturing process becomes more complex and the device structure is compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the inner surface into distinct functional regions: a suction portion boundary, an additional portion, and a bend region. By introducing the bend as a separate structural element in the additional portion, the patent achieves uniform reflex force distribution without requiring gradual thickness tapering throughout the entire body. This segmented approach simplifies manufacturing compared to continuous tapering while maintaining force uniformity.
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of tapering the thickness from the center outward (conventional approach), the patent inverts the approach by introducing a bend that curves the inner surface away from the mounting surface at a specific location. This inversion creates the desired uniform reflex force effect through localized geometric modification rather than gradual thickness reduction, simplifying the overall body structure.
3Area of stationary object
If the inner surface is positioned flush against the mounting surface, then maximum suction area is achieved, but non-uniform reflex forces cause instability and potential detachment
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a bend in the inner surface that proactively counteracts the non-uniform reflex forces before they can cause instability. By curving the inner surface away from the mounting surface at the bend location, the structure pre-balances the reflex force distribution, preventing the instability that would otherwise occur with non-circular peripheries. This preliminary counter-action maintains both full suction area contact and mounting stability.
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 solution ensures stable and secure mounting on various surfaces by balancing reflex and suction forces, allowing for reliable attachment and detachment without the need for tapering the device thickness, enabling a range of periphery shapes without compromising mounting strength.
Implementation Method 1
deforming the body to the actuated shape thereby sealing the body against the mounting surface and forcing fluid out of the cavity to create a suction between the body and the mounting surface thereby securing the body to the mounting surface
Data Source
AI summary
A deformable device mountable by suction on a mounting surface including a body having an inner surface and a periphery. The inner surface has a concave portion and a suction portion contiguous with suction created to mount the body on the mounting surface. The inner surface includes a boundary defining the suction portion, an additional portion between the boundary and the periphery, and a bend adjacent the boundary at which the inner surface curves away from the mounting surface. The body is deformable from an undeformed shape to an actuated shape to mount the body on the mounting surface by positioning the inner surface of the undeformed body adjacent the mounting surface thereby forming a cavity and deforming the body to the actuated shape thereby sealing the body against the mounting surface and forcing fluid from the cavity to create suction between the body and the mounting surface.