Protective gear and operating control method thereof

Abstract

Protective gears and operating control methods thereof are provided. The protective gear includes at least one impact-resistant pad, containing a phase-change material and capable of at least partially wrapping a protected area; a phase-change controller, including a heating device and a cooling device configured to control the phase-change material; and a control circuit, configured to send a signal to the phase-change controller to control the phase-change material to be in a solid phase state after detecting a fall-down of the protected area, and send another signal to the phase-change controller to control the phase-change material to be in a liquid phase state after detecting an un-fall-down of the protected area.

1 . A protective gear, comprising:
 at least one impact-resistant pad, containing a phase-change material and capable of at least partially wrapping a protected area;   a phase-change controller, including a heating device and a cooling device configured to control the phase-change material; and   a control circuit, configured to send a signal to the phase-change controller to control the phase-change material to be in a solid phase state after detecting a fall-down of the protected area, and send another signal to the phase-change controller to control the phase-change material to be in a liquid phase state after detecting an un-fall-down of the protected area.   
     
     
         2 . The protective gear of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 an acceleration sensor electrically connected to the control circuit to detect whether a fall-down occurs to the protected area.   
     
     
         3 . The protective gear of  claim 1 , wherein:
 the heating device includes a heating circuit on the wearable support configured to, when switched on, maintain the liquid phase state of the phase-change material in the at least one impact-resistant pad,   wherein the control circuit is electrically connected to the heating circuit, and is configured to switch on the heating circuit in response to detecting the un-fall-down, and to switch off the heating circuit in response to detecting the fall-down.   
     
     
         4 . The protective gear of  claim 1 , wherein:
 the cooling device includes a plurality of semiconductor cooling plates or a refrigeration cycle system.   
     
     
         5 . The protective gear of  claim 1 , wherein:
 the at least one impact-resistant pad is made of polydimethylsiloxane.   
     
     
         6 . The protective gear of  claim 1 , wherein:
 the at least one impact-resistant pad is formed by using an injection-molding process or a 3D-printing process.   
     
     
         7 . The protective gear of  claim 1 , wherein:
 the at least one impact-resistant pad includes a plurality of runners; and   the phase-change material is filled within the plurality of runners.   
     
     
         8 . The protective gear of  claim 7 , wherein:
 the plurality of runners is configured in a gridded form.   
     
     
         9 . The protective gear of  claim 7 , wherein:
 the plurality of runners includes a plurality of spring-like sub-channels each having a central axis perpendicular to a lateral direction of a corresponding impact-resistant pad.   
     
     
         10 . The protective gear of  claim 1 , wherein:
 the phase-change material includes a liquid metal, including at least one of Ga, Ga 67 In 20.5 Sn 12.5 , Ga 75.5 In 24.5 , and Ca 61 In 25 Sn 13 Zn 1 .   
     
     
         11 . The protective gear of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 a wearable support, wherein the at least one impact-resistant pad is on the wearable support and the at least one impact-resistant pad is flexible.   
     
     
         12 . The protective gear of  claim 1 , including:
 at least two impact-resistant pads, configured to respectively wrap different protected areas, each of the impact-resistant pads corresponding to one phase-change controller.   
     
     
         13 . The protective gear of  claim 12 , wherein:
 the control circuit is further electrically connected to each of the phase-change controllers, and is further configured to:   in response to detecting a fall-down, determine which impact-resistant pad to be activated based on detection data of an acceleration sensor, and switch on a phase-change controller to activate the determined impact-resistant pad.   
     
     
         14 . The protective gear of  claim 1 , wherein:
 the protective gear is one of a knee brace, a wristlet, an elbow guard, and an ankle guard.   
     
     
         15 . A method for controlling an operation of a protective gear, comprising:
 obtaining detection data from an acceleration sensor;   determining whether a fall-down of the protected area occurs based on the detection data from the acceleration sensor;   in response to detecting an un-fall-down, switching off a phase-change controller; and   in response to detecting a fall-down, switching on the phase-change controller to cool down a phase-change material within an impact-resistant pad into a solid phase state.   
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 15 , further comprising:
 in response to detecting the un-fall-down, switching on a heating circuit to maintain a liquid phase state of the phase-change material in the impact-resistant pad; and   in response to detecting the fall-down, switching off the heating circuit.   
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 15 , further comprising:
 in response to detecting a fall-down, determining one or more impact-resistant pads to be activated based on the detection data from the acceleration sensor, wherein the one or more impact-resistant pads respectively wrap different protected areas of the human body, each impact-resistant pad corresponding to one phase-change controller respectively; and   switching on one or more phase-change controllers to activate the one or more impact-resistant pads.   
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 15 , wherein:
 the at least one impact-resistant pad includes a plurality of runners; and   the phase-change material is filled within the plurality of runners.   
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 18 , wherein:
 the plurality of runners is configured in a gridded form.   
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 18 , wherein:
 the plurality of runners includes a plurality of spring-like sub-channels each having a central axis perpendicular to a lateral direction of a corresponding impact-resistant pad.