Torso device
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing tables and horizontal support members are inconvenient for mobile users who need to perform tasks while moving, as they require positioning themselves near a stationary table, lacking a portable and movable horizontal surface solution.
Innovation Solution
A torso device with a central opening and integral front and rear members that compress against the user's torso, maintaining a horizontal position while walking or standing, providing a surface for tasks without additional support.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If conventional tables are made as stand-alone stationary objects, then they provide stable support surfaces, but they require users to move to specific locations to use them, reducing mobility and convenience
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines the table surface function with a wearable torso device, merging the previously separate functions of a stationary table and a portable support system into a single integrated device that can be worn on the user's torso, enabling the table surface to move with the user
Solution Approach 2:
The table device transitions from a static stationary object to a dynamic wearable system that adapts to user movement and body position, allowing the support surface to remain accessible regardless of user location or posture through elastic expansion and contraction
2Adaptability or versatility
If a wearable torso device expands to provide a large horizontal surface, then it enables versatile use while moving, but it requires sufficient elastic force to maintain expansion against user movement
Solution Approach 1:
The elastic members are pre-configured within the device structure to automatically provide the necessary expansion force when the device is worn, eliminating the need for additional active force generation mechanisms and enabling passive adaptation to user movement
Solution Approach 2:
The device utilizes elastic force parameters to control the expansion and contraction of the horizontal surface, allowing the structure to dynamically adjust its configuration based on user movement and body position while maintaining structural integrity
3Stability of the object's composition
If the front member is biased inwardly in a relaxed state, then it provides structural stability, but it requires elastic force to overcome this bias when expanding the passage for user insertion
Solution Approach 1:
The front member's biased configuration creates a dynamic system where the elastic bias provides structural stability at rest but automatically yields when force is applied during user insertion, allowing the passage to expand and contract as needed without permanent deformation
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
Enables users to perform tasks like working on a laptop or reading while moving, maintaining a stable horizontal surface without needing to reposition themselves, using surface area contact and compression force to secure the device to the torso.
Implementation Method 1
The front member includes a closed end that is biased inwardly toward the rear member, touching if not immediately adjacent the rear member when the device is in a relaxed state
Implementation Method 2
the front member and rear member surface areas contact adjacent portions of the torso and also impose a compression force on the torso of the user, wherein the combination of surface area contact and compression force function to maintain a desired placement of the torso device
Data Source
AI summary
Torso devices comprise a body having a central opening, interposed between an integral body front member and body rear member, for placement of user's torso therein. The front member has a top or table surface, and the front and rear members comprise surface areas for contacting the user's torso. The front and rear members are configured to impose a compression force against the user's torso. Together the front and rear member surface area and the compression force function to maintain a desired placement position of the front member relative to the user when placed in the central opening, e.g., perpendicular to the user's torso or parallel to the floor on which the user is standing, when the user moves from a sitting to a standing position and/or when the user is walking, to thereby provide a readily available table surface for facilitating certain tasks or activities.