INV-14091
Description
Patients suffering from tremors, such as in Parkinson’s Disease, often face difficulty in performing tasks requiring small muscle movements. Even small children are not very comfortable in managing these tasks independently. One of such tasks is alignment of two ends of an open ended zipper. Currently, zippers are designed with three-dimensional fitment mechanism, which is extremely tedious to manage, especially for these groups of individuals. To address this issue, some of the zipper guides (such as Under Armour Device) are currently available in the market; however, the existing solutions are non-modular in nature. Moreover, they are selectively designed for specific zipper materials and are thus expensive. This invention relates to the development and use of a novel zipper aid, which can be attached to any zippered garment enabling these individuals to perform smooth zipping, overcoming prior art limitations and/or unmet needs.
Value Proposition
The aid/guide:
•Is modular in nature
•Doesn’t integrate into the garment itself
•Is highly cost effective as compared to prior art techniques
•Can be attached non-invasively/reversibly to any zippered garment with no modification
•Can be outfitted to existing zippers of different materials and geometries
•Effective widens the margin of error associated with the alignment
•Eliminates two degrees of freedom, reducing a three-dimensional precision task into a one-dimensional push
•Would be commercially useful for:
oTremor patients
oChildren having difficulty with zippers
oPeople with arthritis or those with difficulty in using their hands or arms
oAmputees or those without hands
oThe blind or visually impaired