Wedge Wire Sports Face Guard Asymmetry
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing sports face masks lack optimal impact strength, vision obstruction, and weight/strength ratios, often compromising between visibility and protection due to their round wire designs, which are not efficiently adaptable to various impact directions.
Innovation Solution
The use of wedge wires with a tapered shape and flat surface portions in face masks, allowing for customized strength distribution and reduced vision obstruction by forming double bars with smaller visual impact, while maintaining high impact resistance.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If round wire designs are used in face masks, then the structure is simple and easy to manufacture, but the impact strength is insufficient and vision obstruction is high
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies asymmetry by transitioning from symmetric round wire cross-sections to asymmetric wedge-shaped cross-sections with tapered profiles. The wedge shape features a thicker region for enhanced impact strength and a thinner region for reduced vision obstruction, creating an asymmetric geometry that optimizes both protective function and visual clarity.
Solution Approach 2:
The wedge-shaped wire implements local quality by varying the cross-sectional thickness along its length. The thicker portion is strategically positioned to provide maximum impact resistance where needed, while the thinner portion minimizes visual obstruction in the field of view, allowing different regions of the same component to serve different functional purposes.
2Strength
If thicker wires are used to increase impact strength, then protection is improved, but vision obstruction increases
Solution Approach 1:
The wedge-shaped cross-section creates asymmetry in the wire thickness, with one side being thicker than the other. This asymmetric design allows the thicker portion to block fewer light rays in the critical viewing direction while maintaining structural strength through the thicker region positioned optimally for impact resistance.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention transitions from considering only the cross-sectional area (2D) to incorporating the longitudinal dimension by creating a tapered profile along the wire length. This dimensional change allows the wire to have varying thickness along its length, optimizing the balance between strength and visual obstruction by positioning thicker sections where strength is needed and thinner sections where visibility is critical.
Data Source
Figure 1a~2e
Figure 3a~3p
Figure 4a~4h
AI summary
A sports face guard (501) for a sports headgear includes a plurality of interconnected wires, wherein a wire (20, 150) of the plurality of interconnected wires has a cross section has a wedge surface (SI) with a first longest dimension (LI), the first longest dimension of the wedge surface being in a direction of a major axis of the wire (X); a base surface (S2) with a second longest dimension (L2), the second longest dimension of base surface being in a direction that is perpendicular to the major axis of the wire, the second longest dimension being less than the first longest dimension; wherein the first longest dimension of the wedge surface is longer than the second longest dimension of the second base surface; and wherein the second base surface of the wire comprises a substantially flat or concave surface portion.