Triangular Knee Support with Pullable Aid for Active Bending
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional health appliances fail to actively assist the bending movement of the knee joint, often applying excessive load or not promoting the movement effectively.
Innovation Solution
A health appliance with a triangular prism-shaped support and an aid that can be pulled by the user, allowing for active bending movement by fitting the support under the knee joint and using a band or string to assist in pulling the leg towards the thigh, preventing excessive load on the joint.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a triangular prism cushion supports the knee joint by sandwiching the whole thigh and calf, then the knee joint is supported at an appropriate height, but the appliance cannot actively promote the movement of the knee joint
Solution Approach 1:
The support is divided into two functional parts: a triangular prism cushion for stable support and a separate pullable aid for active movement assistance. This segmentation allows each component to perform its specific function optimally without interfering with the other.
Solution Approach 2:
A pullable aid (towel, string, or band) is introduced as an intermediary element that connects the user's hand to the leg below the knee. This intermediary enables active bending movement assistance while maintaining the stability provided by the triangular prism support.
2Ease of operation
If pipes support the knee joint from directly below with the leg below the knee in a floating state, then the knee joint can move, but the appliance applies excess load to the knee joint which is unsuitable for appropriate assistance of the bending movement
Solution Approach 1:
The triangular prism support provides localized support at specific points (thigh and calf contact areas) rather than uniform support, creating stable support zones while maintaining a gap space that allows natural knee movement without excessive loading.
Solution Approach 2:
The user actively participates in the bending movement by pulling the aid with their hand, making the system self-regulating. The user controls the amount of force applied, ensuring appropriate load on the knee joint without requiring complex mechanical assistance mechanisms.
3Ease of operation
If one leg is entangled with the other leg to allow the knee joint to move, then the knee joint can bend, but the appliance forcibly pulls the floating leg and applies excess load to the knee joint
Solution Approach 1:
The harmful entanglement between legs is eliminated by extracting the movement assistance function into a separate pullable aid. This allows the leg to be pulled for bending movement without the harmful side effect of forcing the other leg or applying excessive load through entanglement.
Data Source
AI summary
Provide is a health appliance and a method using the same which achieve active and appropriate assistance of bending of a knee joint. The health appliance, which allows a user lying or seated to move their knee joint while supporting the knee joint, includes a support 1 which is a triangular prism having one side surfaces as a bottom surface 11, and an aid 2 mounted on the leg below the knee and can be pulled by the user. The support 1 has a width W at which one knee is supported, and has a cross section forming a triangle with a base corresponding to one side surface 11 and an acute diagonal angle θ1. When sandwiched under the user's knee, the base angle θ2 adjacent to the toe is larger than the diagonal angle θ1 and smaller than the base angle θ3 adjacent to the thigh.