Wearable Telescopic Fall Protection for Fast Impact Braking
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing wearable fall protection devices are bulky, uncomfortable, or restrictive, and face challenges in accurately detecting falls, energy absorption, and sensor accuracy, leading to potential false positives or negatives, which can increase the risk of injuries during falls.
Innovation Solution
A wearable device with telescopic rod modules and integrated sensors, including laser range finders and inertial measurement units, that detect falls and deploy telescopic rods to brake the fall, using a processor to determine the direction and activate specific modules for targeted intervention.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If traditional rigid protective structures are used, then protection effectiveness is improved, but device comfort and ease of wear deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs dynamic, deployable telescopic rod structures that transition from a compact, comfortable worn state to an extended, protective configuration only when fall detection is triggered. This dynamic transformation allows the device to provide rigid protection when needed while maintaining comfort and flexibility during normal wear, directly resolving the contradiction between protection effectiveness and ease of wear.
2Reliability
If inflatable systems are used for fall protection, then protection capability is improved, but device complexity and safety risks worsen
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts and eliminates the complex inflatable system components (pumps, valves, air chambers) from the fall protection device. Instead, it uses a mechanically simple deployable rod structure that provides protection through pure mechanical means, thereby reducing device complexity and associated safety risks while maintaining protection capability.
Solution Approach 2:
The telescopic rod modules are designed as simple, potentially single-use mechanical components that deploy and are then replaced rather than reused. This approach simplifies the overall system by avoiding complex recovery mechanisms for the protective elements, reducing both device complexity and long-term safety concerns.
3Reliability
If sensor accuracy is improved to reduce false positives, then fall detection reliability is improved, but device complexity worsens
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines multiple sensor types (accelerometers, gyroscopes, and potentially optical sensors) into an integrated fall detection system that works together to provide accurate fall detection. By merging these sensors and using algorithmic processing to analyze their combined data, the system achieves high detection reliability without requiring each individual sensor to be overly complex, thus managing overall device complexity.
4Speed
If telescopic rods are deployed rapidly to brake fall, then response time is improved, but energy absorption requirements worsen
Solution Approach 1:
The telescopic rod modules are pre-loaded with spring mechanisms in a compact state within the harness. When fall detection triggers deployment, the pre-loaded springs immediately begin the extension and energy absorption process, enabling rapid response to falls while the spring mechanisms are already prepared to handle the impact forces, thus managing the energy absorption requirement.
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 provides unobtrusive, rapid, and effective fall protection by accurately detecting falls and deploying telescopic rods to mitigate impact forces, reducing the risk of serious injuries through controlled deployment and energy absorption.
Implementation Method 1
Each telescopic rod module may further comprise a torsion spring configured to initiate deployment of the telescopic rod module
Implementation Method 2
a solenoid configured to release the torsion spring upon activation by the processor
Implementation Method 3
The plurality of sensors may comprise at least one laser range finder sensor
Implementation Method 4
at least one inertial measurement unit
Data Source
AI summary
The present disclosure provides a wearable fall protection device comprising a harness configured to be worn by a user, a plurality of telescopic rod modules attached to the harness, each telescopic rod module comprising an outer housing, a telescopic rod initially located within the outer housing and rod movement elements configured to move the telescopic rod, a plurality of sensors configured to detect a fall of the user, and a processor configured to receive data from the sensors, determine if the user is falling based on the received data, and activate deployment of at least one of the telescopic rod modules if the user is determined to be falling.