Truncated Cone Flying Device with Cambered Airfoil
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Solution Overview
Problem
Traditional footballs, whether pneumatic or foam, face issues of safety due to stiffness and potential for causing injury or property damage, and lack aerodynamic efficiency when thrown, leading to reduced flight distance and unpredictable trajectories.
Innovation Solution
A launchable flying device with a hollow truncated cone shape and cambered airfoil design, featuring a larger front aperture and smaller rear aperture, optimized mass distribution, and grooves for improved grip and spin, enhancing aerodynamic efficiency and safety by reducing caroms and bouncing dynamics.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If a pneumatic football is used to provide appropriate spring and clutchability, then the ball can be readily clutched when caught or carried and has appropriate spring when kicked, but the ball becomes quite stiff and hard when striking a person or object
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the material parameter from pneumatic (air-filled) to foam material with specific density characteristics. The foam material maintains the necessary strength and spring characteristics for clutchability while fundamentally altering the impact characteristics to be softer and safer, directly resolving the contradiction between strength and harmful hardness.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent employs composite construction with an inner foam core and an outer cover layer. This composite structure allows the inner foam to provide shock absorption and softness, while the outer cover maintains the necessary durability and spring characteristics, thereby achieving both clutchability and reduced harmful hardness simultaneously.
2Object-affected harmful factors
If a foam football is used to reduce mass and improve safety, then the ball is much safer in outdoor environments, but it cannot be thrown as far as pneumatic footballs due to less mass and energy absorption
Solution Approach 1:
The patent optimizes the foam density parameter to a specific range that balances safety and flight performance. By carefully selecting the foam density, the ball maintains sufficient mass for distance while retaining the safety advantages of foam material, resolving the contradiction between safety and energy retention.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies different foam densities to different regions of the ball. The core uses a specific density optimized for flight, while the outer layers may have different density characteristics for safety. This local differentiation allows the ball to achieve both long flight distance and enhanced safety simultaneously.
3Ease of manufacture
If a single-density foam ball is used to simplify manufacturing, then the ball can be injection-molded with uniform mass distribution, but the uniform density cannot store as much angular momentum and results in rapid decay of spin
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses composite foam structures with varying densities in different regions. The inner core has one density optimized for angular momentum storage, while outer layers have different densities. This composite approach maintains manufacturability through injection molding while achieving superior spin stability and angular momentum retention.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements local quality variations by placing high-density foam strategically in the core region to maximize angular momentum storage, while using lower-density foam in other regions for safety and manufacturability. This localized optimization resolves the contradiction between manufacturing simplicity and spin stability.
4Strength
If a regulation football with pointed ends is used to achieve aerodynamic shape, then the ball has appropriate spring when kicked, but the pointed ends can be particularly hard and pointed causing injury
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the material parameter from pneumatic or hard foam to a softer foam composition that fundamentally alters the surface characteristics. This material parameter change eliminates the harmful pointed ends while preserving the aerodynamic shape and spring characteristics necessary for football performance.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent employs a more rounded, less pointed geometry at the ends of the football. By increasing the curvature and reducing sharp points, the ball maintains its aerodynamic properties while eliminating the injury-causing pointed ends, directly resolving the contradiction between spring performance and safety.
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 device achieves longer, more predictable flight trajectories with reduced drag and increased aerodynamic efficiency, making it safer and easier to catch and throw, while minimizing bouncing and damage potential.
Implementation Method 1
cambered airfoil design, enhanced aerodynamic efficiency
Implementation Method 2
reduced drag and increased aerodynamic efficiency
Implementation Method 3
spinning is induced by the user or launching device as the ball is released... creates angular momentum that... serves to maintain the football as close as possible to the most efficient aerodynamic orientation
Data Source
AI summary
A launchable or throwable flying device that comprises a tapering tube or hollow truncated cone shape with a front aperture that is larger in diameter than the rear aperture. Various aerodynamic and design features are designed to optimize the device's performance in flight, such as (but not limited to) a tail section that induces the device to tack into the wind when thrown.