Inflatable Survival Platform Self-Sealing Breach and Segmentation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Inflatable survival platforms are prone to deflation when their flexible sheets are breached, and they lack sufficient rigidity and require excessive gas for inflation.
Innovation Solution
A survival platform design featuring two flexible outer sheets sealed together with an inner sheet dividing the void into sub-voids, and reed members joining the outer and inner sheets, which allows gas pressure to force the inner sheet through breaches to block gas escape, along with a flexible skirt for improved stability.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If flexible sheets are used to construct the survival platform, then the platform can be inflated and deployed quickly, but the platform is liable to deflate when the sheets are breached
Solution Approach 1:
The survival platform is divided into multiple independent gas-holding chambers separated by longitudinal partitions. When a breach occurs in one chamber, the other chambers remain intact and continue to provide buoyancy and support, preventing complete deflation of the platform.
Solution Approach 2:
The flexible skirt extending from the circumferences of the outer sheets acts as a protective barrier that adheres to the water surface. This skirt provides beforehand cushioning against breaches by distributing mechanical stresses and protecting the sealed edges from damage during deployment and use.
2Strength
If more gas is introduced to increase rigidity, then the platform becomes more rigid, but the amount of gas required increases excessively
Solution Approach 1:
Dividing the internal void into multiple smaller sub-voids through longitudinal partitions increases the structural rigidity of the platform. The segmented structure provides greater stiffness per unit of gas compared to a single large chamber, reducing the total gas quantity needed to achieve the required rigidity.
Solution Approach 2:
The flexible skirt extending from the circumferences of the outer sheets provides additional structural support and rigidity to the platform edges. This thin flexible structure enhances overall platform stiffness without requiring significant additional gas inflation.
3Reliability
If the inner sheet is forced through a breach by gas pressure, then gas escape is reduced, but the breach creates a potential failure point
Solution Approach 1:
When a breach occurs, the internal gas pressure forces the inner flexible sheet through the breach opening, creating a plug that blocks or reduces gas escape. The harmful breach is converted into a beneficial self-sealing mechanism where the pressure differential drives the sheet to seal the opening.
Solution Approach 2:
The flexible skirt extending from the circumferences of the outer sheets provides protective cushioning that reduces the likelihood and severity of breaches occurring in the first place by distributing mechanical stresses away from the sealed edges.
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 design enhances resistance to breaches, reduces gas requirements, maintains buoyancy even with breaches, and improves stability by adhering to water surfaces, ensuring quick user access and resistance to overturning.
Implementation Method 1
the gas pressure within the void will tend to force the inner sheet through the breach, thereby to block the breach and reduce the level to which gas escapes through the breach
Implementation Method 2
such skirts adhere to the surface of water when the survival platform is used, improving the survival platform's stability
Data Source
Figure 1
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Figure 4
AI summary
A survival platform, comprising two flexible outer sheets (4, 5), the outer sheets each having a circumference (2) and being sealed together at their circumferences (2) to define a void ( 18) therebetween, the survival platform further comprising an inner flexible sheet (6) interposed between the outer sheets (4, 5) and dividing the void (18) into two sub-voids ( 18a, 18b), and means (8) for inflating the survival platform by introducing a gas into the void to increase a gas pressure therewithin, in which the inner sheet (6) is arranged such that, should one of the outer sheets (4, 5) be breached at a breach, the gas pressure within the void will tend to force the inner sheet (6) through the breach, thereby to block the breach and reduce the level to which gas escapes through the breach.