Swim Cap Inside Surface Imprinted Indicia for Event Tracking
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Solution Overview
Problem
Children competing in swimming meets face challenges in identifying their assigned events, heats, and lanes, leading to potential mistakes and stress for both the swimmers and meet officials, as they rely on writing this information on their bodies with body ink markers, which can be difficult to interpret and may not be reliable.
Innovation Solution
A swimming/bathing cap with a multiple indicia form imprinted on its inside surface using a dye sublimation heat transfer process, featuring the words 'Event', 'Heat', and 'Lane' with space for alphanumeric characters to be written with a body ink marker, allowing easy identification of scheduled events, heats, and lanes, and a kit including the cap, marker, and hand sanitizer for convenient use.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If children write event, heat, and lane information on their bodies with body ink markers, then they have a method to track their assignments, but the information is difficult to interpret and may not be reliable
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies the copying principle by transferring the assignment information from the swimmer's body to a card or tag that can be easily read and interpreted. The card contains printed event, heat, and lane information that is clearly formatted and visible, eliminating the interpretation difficulties associated with handwritten body markings. This copying mechanism ensures reliable and unambiguous information display.
2Reliability
If children continuously check the swimming heat data schedule and ask coaches for verification, then they can verify their assignments, but this creates stress for swimmers, parents, and meet officials
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements self-service by providing swimmers with personal cards or tags that contain all their assignment information in one place. Instead of needing to continuously check schedules or ask coaches for verification, swimmers can independently read their own event, heat, and lane assignments from their cards. This eliminates the stress of repeated verification and reduces the burden on coaches and meet officials.
3Ease of manufacture
If body ink markers are used to write assignment information, then swimmers can have their information visible, but the markers can smudge or fade during swimming
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies copying by transferring information from temporary body markings to a durable physical card or tag. The card serves as a permanent copy of the assignment information that does not smudge or fade during swimming. This resolves the reliability issue while maintaining the simplicity of information application, as the card is pre-printed with the required details.
4Ease of operation
If swimmers rely on handwritten notes on their bodies, then they have portable assignment information, but mistakes can lead to swimming in wrong events or lanes
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses copying to create an accurate, pre-printed record of assignment information on cards or tags. These cards serve as reliable copies that eliminate handwriting errors. The information is accurately transferred from the official schedule to the swimmer's card, ensuring correctness while maintaining portability and ease of access during the competition.
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
This solution provides a reliable and stress-reduced method for swimmers to know their assignments, hidden from view, and allows for easy removal and reuse of information, reducing errors and improving the overall swimming meet experience.
Implementation Method 1
A multiple indicia form may be imprinted on an inside facing surface of a swimming/bathing cap using a dye sublimation heat transfer process
Data Source
AI summary
A method and product suited to keep track of swimming meet events, heats and lanes. There is a swimming/bathing cap whose inside facing surface is imprinted or stamped with indicia in the form of swimming competition words or abbreviations of such words, namely, “meet, event, heat, lane” with a sufficient space to the right of each indicia for the cap wearer to write in information pertaining to the indicia. The information may be the name of the swimming meet, name of the event, heat number and lane number. Other items of the kit may be an ink body marker and a remover of the mark left by the ink body marker. All may be sealed in a common package. The ink of the ink body marker is resistant to erasure from water submersion.