Wearable Life-Saving Device with Deflatable Buoyancy Bag
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional life-saving devices for water, such as life-jackets and buoyancy bags, are bulky and inefficient for storage due to their inflated state, and lack advanced features for emergency response and user safety monitoring.
Innovation Solution
A wearable life-saving device with a deflatable buoyancy bag that inflates automatically upon emergency, equipped with a microcomputer-controlled gas generator, sensors, and multifunctional components like a solar power mechanism, health monitoring, and distress signal transmission, allowing for convenient storage and enhanced user safety.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the buoyancy bag is kept inflated to provide immediate buoyancy, then the buoyancy function is improved, but the storage space requirement increases significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The device performs preliminary action by pre-assembling all components (buoyancy bag, gas generator, controller, sensors) in a compact integrated unit during manufacturing. The buoyancy bag is kept deflated during storage but is ready for immediate inflation when triggered, eliminating the need for large storage space while maintaining rapid response capability.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention uses a gas generator to produce gas that inflates the buoyancy bag on demand. This pneumatic system allows the device to transition from a compact deflated state during storage to a fully inflated functional state in emergencies, resolving the contradiction between storage compactness and buoyancy effectiveness.
2Weight of moving object
If conventional life-saving devices are made simple and lightweight, then portability is improved, but emergency response capability and safety monitoring features are reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The device integrates multiple functions into a single wearable unit: buoyancy provision, automatic detection of drowning conditions, manual emergency triggering, health monitoring, and distress signaling. This multi-functionality allows a relatively lightweight device to provide comprehensive safety coverage that would otherwise require multiple separate devices.
Solution Approach 2:
The device incorporates automatic detection capabilities with pressure sensors and controllers that can autonomously detect drowning conditions and trigger gas generation without requiring user intervention. This self-service feature enhances emergency response capability while keeping the device lightweight, as it eliminates the need for bulky manual operation mechanisms.
3Force
If the buoyancy bag is made large to provide sufficient buoyancy, then the buoyancy force is improved, but the device complexity and storage difficulty increase
Solution Approach 1:
The buoyancy bag transitions from a static compact state during storage to a dynamic inflated state during use. The bag is designed to expand to a large volume only when needed, controlled by the gas generation system. This dynamic characteristic allows the device to provide sufficient buoyancy force when activated while maintaining simple storage characteristics when deflated.
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 efficient buoyancy in emergencies while enabling easy storage, automatic gas inflation, and additional safety features like health monitoring and distress signaling, enhancing user safety and convenience.
Implementation Method 1
a gas generator comprising a gas outlet... The gas generator is disposed in the buoyancy bag or disposed outside the buoyancy bag but inside the second chamber... the gas generator to produce gas entering the buoyancy bag
Implementation Method 2
The flip-flop is a pressure sensor... The pressure sensor senses the water pressure and automatically transmits the measured data to the single-chip microcomputer
Implementation Method 3
The solar generation mechanism is disposed outside the housing... The solar generation mechanism and the battery are connected to the single-chip microcomputer through the power switching circuit. The solar generation mechanism is a substitute for the battery as a power source of the life-saving device
Data Source
AI summary
A life-saving device, including: a buoyancy bag including a cavity; a wearable member including a housing; a controller including a single-chip microcomputer, a battery, a flip-flop, and an integrated circuit board; a gas generator including an input electrode terminal and a gas outlet. The single-chip microcomputer includes a plurality of pins and is disposed on the integrated circuit board; the battery, the flip-flop, and the input electrode terminal of the gas generator are respectively connected to the plurality of pins through the integrated circuit board; the housing includes a first chamber, and the battery, the single-chip microcomputer, and the integrated circuit board are disposed in the first chamber; the cavity of the buoyancy bag communicates with the gas outlet; and the buoyancy bag is deflated when in nonuse for convenience of storage, and inflated with gas produced by the gas generator to expand in an emergency.