Wing-Shaped Flap Asymmetry for Secure Underwear Fixation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing absorbent articles with wing-shaped flaps face difficulties in secure fixation to underwear due to challenging folding mechanisms, where the flaps are often obliquely bent or partially folded, leading to incomplete adhesion and separation issues.
Innovation Solution
The design features wing-shaped flaps with a front side outline and a back side outline, where the tip end side outline includes a wavy line formed by convex and concave curves, allowing for continuous hand movement and secure fixation by positioning the outermost side end portion on the front side with respect to the center point, and a ratio of lengths between the front and back side outlines optimized between 1:1.5 to 1:3, facilitating easy folding and adherence.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the wing-shaped flaps are folded back to fix the absorbent article to underwear, then the fixation is achieved, but the flaps may be obliquely bent or partially folded leading to incomplete adhesion and separation issues
Solution Approach 1:
The tip end side outline incorporates convex and concave curves instead of straight lines, creating a wavy pattern that guides the folding process. This curvature design ensures the flap folds back smoothly along the correct path, preventing oblique bending and ensuring complete adhesion to the underwear.
Solution Approach 2:
The return line is pre-defined by the geometric configuration of the wing-shaped flap, with the tip end side outline showing the exact folding path. This preliminary design of the folding trajectory eliminates the need for complex folding operations and ensures accurate placement without separation issues.
2Ease of manufacture
If the tip end side outline is formed with straight lines, then the manufacturing is simple, but the hand cannot move continuously along the flap width making secure fixation difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The tip end side outline uses convex and concave curves to create a continuous, smooth path that guides hand movement during the folding operation. This curved design allows the hand to move continuously along the entire width of the flap without interruption, ensuring secure fixation while remaining manufacturable.
3Shape
If the outermost side end portion is positioned at the center, then the symmetry is maintained, but the fixation security is reduced due to oblique bending
Solution Approach 1:
The design intentionally positions the outermost side end portion asymmetrically on the front side relative to the center point of the main body part. This asymmetric positioning, combined with the wavy tip end side outline, prevents oblique bending during folding and ensures the flap adheres securely to the underwear, prioritizing fixation reliability over symmetry.
Data Source
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AI summary
[Object] A wing-shaped flap is securely fixed to underwear by putting a hand therealong to a tip end of the wing-shaped flap. [Solution to Problem] A wing-shaped flap (W) is formed with a front side outline (10) which is extended outward from a main body part, a back side outline (11) which is extended outward from the main body part and a tip end side outline (12) which connects the front side outline (10) and the back side outline (11). The tip end side outline (12) includes a tip end side outline front portion (12a) which is extended outward from an end portion (A) of the front side outline (10) and a tip end side outline back portion (12b) which is extended outward from an end portion (C) of the back side outline (11), and an intersection (B) between the tip end side outline front portion (12a) and the tip end side outline back portion (12b) forms an outermost side end portion in a width direction of the wing-shaped flap (W) and is located on a front side with respect to a center point (K/2) of a length between the end portion (A) of the front side outline (10) and the end portion (C) of the back side outline (11) in a longitudinal direction of a napkin.