防止受傷的神奇襯墊開始流行
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Pow! Amazing Pain-Protecting Pad Is A Smash Hit
WEARING clothes fitted with thin sheets of a new, light rubbery material can turn you - almost - into a Superhero, preventing serious injury to vital joints and organs.
The invention is called d3o and when the wearer moves, the hundreds of flexible cells of d3o in padding in the clothing also move. The material remains supple enough to allow you to leap, roll and kick with perfect ease.
But when d3o lining is hit by a heavy object or during a fall on hard ground, it tenses up and the force of the blow is absorbed by the material, with the wearer feeling hardly any contact.
Seconds later, the unique material made of “intelligent molecules” returns to its original pliable state. It could save lives as well as change entire industries globally.
d3o is similar to children’s Play-Doh, with the orange sheets of the foam matrix able to be shaped in many ways. It is being incorporated into various things - from protective sportswear, shin pads and motorcycle clothing, to police body armour. Its applications are almost infinite, says its inventor.
Snowboarders can buy d3o-lined woollen beanie hats; US police are trying out gloves with d3o-reinforced knuckles. Sewn into ski suits, the material helped several US racers to shrug off accidents and glide towards gold at the Winter Olympics in Turin. It has been adopted enthusiastically by the four-times Everest climber Kenton Cool and Olympic cyclist Craig McClean.
The creator of d3o, engineer Richard Palmer, is confident enough of its protective properties to give personal demonstrations, showing he comes to no harm. He decided to create d3o in his United Kingdom workshop after “suffering one snowboarding accident too many”.
Palmer added: “The faster the impact, the better the material works. Hopefully, you will never have to use it but if you do receive an impact you will get a much higher level of protection than normal. We don’t like to call it armour, because that implies rigidity. This is a soft, flexible material, like padding, until you hit it.
“It provides the same level of protection performance as a bicycle helmet but it also provides comfort. It’s the first material that combines freedom of movement with impact protection, and it represents a step change in the design philosophy behind these products.”
When Palmer revealed his theory of d3o - technically, an advanced polymer with shear thickening properties - experts laughed at the idea, saying “impossible”. To make it work, he says he was driven to the edge of ruin.
Now, the company believes it could have global takings of two billion pounds after his invention has been praised. Recently, Palmer received the O2 X Entrepreneur of the Year award for 2007 in a ceremony in London.
Presenting the award, O2 director Simon Devonshire said: “Richard is an inspiration to anyone with a dream and the drive to realise it.” d3o is being hailed as an invention with the potential to create novel manufacturing opportunities and save lives.
“It has been a battle to get this far,” said Richard Palmer. “I have had to struggle against ignorance of the major players, work out of a back bedroom and beg, borrow and steal to keep development going … but I never doubted that it could be done.”
An engineer by training, it was while studying design at the Royal College of Art that he set up a consultancy to find solutions to problems using new technologies. One quest was to make a protection “shield” that is flexible and unobtrusive. The answer came from using certain types of “thickening liquids”.
“That was the easy bit,” he said. Then followed years of struggle as Palmer searched for seed funding to bring his revolutionary material to market. Before setting up the company in 2001, he sold his house and car, moved into a friend’s spare room. With little money he started the development, calling in help from friends and raising d3o to the point where it was ready for production.
The research took more than 18 months; he met hundreds of potential investors but no one wanted to take a risk on such an ambitious idea. That struggle eventually led him to get capital from the Business Angels group.
The British Business Angels Association is the national trade association for the UK’s Business Angel Networks and the early-stage investment market. It is backed by the Department for Business, Enterprise & Regulatory Reform (BERR - formerly the Department of Trade & Industry).
Palmer said: “Business angels tend not to require security and, having decided that we needed a substantial investment without having to cede too much day-to-day control, we decided that business angel funding was ideal for our business.
“Armed with our business plan, we contacted the British Business Angels Association who introduced us to several angels. As a small but growing business, our choice of angel was based largely on the sort of practical assistance they were offering. We pitched our proposal to a shortlist of investors to show them the benefits of their involvement. One investor decided to invest after our first meeting.”
d3o now has 20 staff in its Brighton headquarters and key customers such as Quiksilver and Spyder. Palmer estimates that another 30-40 clients could sign on soon. “Every day brings fresh enquiries about potential new applications for d3o from airlines, police forces and car manufacturers.”
What is d3o?
Palmer explains it is a polymer with similar properties to a lump of wet sand, or cornflour and water. When you try to move them quickly, they stick together; d3o is similar to a thick liquid - when shocked, it turns into a solid.
But he warns that d3o-lined clothing and hats are not a substitute for specially designed protective wear. Palmer said: “Our beanie will not give you the same protection as a helmet. But for those snowboarders who choose to wear it, it is a lot better than a normal beanie.”
The development lab team has already produced a range of other products. These include a rigid Frisbee that folds into a soft handkerchief when you catch it, and the world’s first bullet-proof wallpaper - a lightweight covering that absorbs and contains projectile shrapnel generated when a bullet is shot into a building and smashes.
“I know it must sound like we are trying to build a Bat lab here, but I make no apology for that,” said Richard Palmer. “This is what science is supposed to be - something that excites the imagination and inspires the mind.”
一種可以防止受傷的神奇襯墊開始流行
把用新型、輕薄的彈性材料裁減成適合衣服尺寸的薄片襯在穿著的衣服上，可以防止重要關(guān)節(jié)和器官受到嚴(yán)重傷害，讓你變得像個(gè)“超級(jí)英雄”。
這種新發(fā)明材料叫做d3o，當(dāng)人穿著它行動(dòng)時(shí)，其中數(shù)以百計(jì)的柔軟細(xì)胞就會(huì)跟著運(yùn)動(dòng)。而且這種材料不會(huì)限制你的動(dòng)作，穿上它你還可以自由、輕松地跑跳、翻滾、踢球。
一旦d3o襯墊受到重物碰撞打擊，或者是重摔在堅(jiān)硬的地面上，它就會(huì)立刻繃緊變硬，材料就會(huì)將所受到的力道吸收，這樣穿著者幾乎感覺不到疼痛。
幾秒鐘之后，這種用 “智能分子”制造而成的材料就會(huì)恢復(fù)原來的柔軟狀態(tài)。這是一種可以拯救生命的材料，一種可能改變整個(gè)全球工業(yè)的材料。
d3o與兒童玩的培樂多（Play-Doh）彩泥相似，是一種泡沫狀的橙色薄片，可以被隨意擠壓成多種形狀。它可以用來制作多種用品，從防護(hù)型運(yùn)動(dòng)裝、護(hù)腿板、摩托車服，到警用防彈衣等等。據(jù)它的發(fā)明人講，它的適用范圍是不可限量的。
滑雪者可以購買有d3o線紋的羊毛無檐帽，美國(guó)警察正在試著在手套里加進(jìn)d3o，以保護(hù)指關(guān)節(jié)。把這種材料縫在滑雪服里，在都靈冬季奧運(yùn)會(huì)上，美國(guó)的幾名滑雪運(yùn)動(dòng)員就是穿了這樣的衣服才避免了在意外事故中受傷，并取得了金牌。這種材料受到了曾四次攀上珠穆朗瑪峰的登山者Kenton Cool以及奧運(yùn)會(huì)自行車冠軍克雷格•麥克林（Craig McClean）的熱捧。
d3o的發(fā)明者、工程師理查德•帕默（Richard Palmer）對(duì)他的防護(hù)用品非常有信心，他進(jìn)行了親身示范，結(jié)果顯示他沒有受到任何傷害。在滑雪時(shí)多次受到意外傷害之后，他決定在他位于英國(guó)的工作室內(nèi)研發(fā)d3o。
帕默補(bǔ)充說：“受到碰撞打擊的速度越快，材料發(fā)揮效用的性能越好。我希望你永遠(yuǎn)都沒有機(jī)會(huì)用到它，但是如果一旦遇到了碰撞打擊，你就會(huì)得到比通常情況下高出許多倍的保護(hù)。我們不想把它稱作‘盔甲’，因?yàn)榭淄馕吨┯病?。而我們提供的是一種柔軟、靈活的材料，就像是襯料。只有在你受到碰撞打擊的時(shí)候，它才會(huì)變得堅(jiān)硬起來?！?/P>
“它能起到與自行車頭盔相同的保護(hù)作用，但同時(shí)它還能提供舒適感。它是能將自由活動(dòng)與碰撞打擊保護(hù)結(jié)合在一起的首選材料，而且它還代表著防護(hù)用具背后蘊(yùn)含的設(shè)計(jì)理念上的改變?！?/P>
在帕默從技術(shù)上宣布了他的d3o理論――即在工藝上制造出具有受力變厚性能的高級(jí)聚合體之后，專家們對(duì)他的想法予以嘲笑，并斷言說這是“不可能的”。為了讓自己的產(chǎn)品能夠發(fā)揮應(yīng)有的作用，他說自己幾乎是走到了崩潰的邊緣。
現(xiàn)在，在得到普遍的認(rèn)同后，公司認(rèn)為它在全球的獲益可以達(dá)到20億英鎊。最近，在倫敦舉行的“O2 X 2007年度最佳企業(yè)人”頒獎(jiǎng)禮上，帕默獲此殊榮。
在頒發(fā)獎(jiǎng)項(xiàng)的時(shí)候，O2主管Simon Devonshire說：“對(duì)于任何一個(gè)懷有夢(mèng)想的人來說，理查德的成功為他們帶來了啟發(fā)，讓他們獲得實(shí)現(xiàn)夢(mèng)想的動(dòng)力?！庇捎诰哂袨橹圃鞓I(yè)帶來全新機(jī)會(huì)以及挽救生命的潛力，所以作為一項(xiàng)發(fā)明創(chuàng)造d3o受到了熱烈地歡迎。
“能夠走到今天，感覺像是經(jīng)歷了一場(chǎng)戰(zhàn)爭(zhēng)” ，理查德•帕默說到，“我必需要和那些專家們的不屑一顧做斗爭(zhēng)，必需要應(yīng)對(duì)各種規(guī)章制度，四處求人、借債、還要偷偷摸摸地，才能保證工作的進(jìn)行……但是，我從來沒有懷疑過自己的夢(mèng)想是否會(huì)實(shí)現(xiàn)?！?/P>
作為一名受過專業(yè)培訓(xùn)的工程師，在他還在皇家藝術(shù)學(xué)院學(xué)習(xí)設(shè)計(jì)的時(shí)候，就成立了一家顧問公司，通過使用新技術(shù)來提供解決問題的辦法。其中有一個(gè)問題是如何使起保護(hù)作用的“防護(hù)物”能夠既柔軟又隱蔽，答案是使用某種形式的“黏稠液體”。
“這還不是最困難的”，他說。在接下來的數(shù)年辛勤工作中，帕默要尋找到資金，將他的具有革命性質(zhì)的材料推向市場(chǎng)。在2001年成立公司之前，他賣掉自己的房子和車子，把家搬到一位朋友閑置的房子內(nèi)。在幾乎沒有什么資金的情況下，他開始了研發(fā)，經(jīng)常要求助于朋友。在生產(chǎn)出產(chǎn)品之后成立了d3o公司。
研究共花費(fèi)了18個(gè)月的時(shí)間，會(huì)見了數(shù)百個(gè)投資者，但是沒有一個(gè)人愿意在這個(gè)富有雄心的創(chuàng)意上冒險(xiǎn)。但是，經(jīng)過他的不懈努力，終于獲得了天使投資集團(tuán)（Business Angels group）的資金。
英國(guó)天使投資協(xié)會(huì)（Business Angels Association）是英國(guó)天使投資網(wǎng)絡(luò)（Business Angel Networks）和早期投資市場(chǎng)的全國(guó)性貿(mào)易協(xié)會(huì)。協(xié)會(huì)得到了英國(guó)商業(yè)、企業(yè)和改革部（BERR―，前身是英國(guó)貿(mào)工部）的支持。
帕默說：“天使投資并不要求投資的完全安全性，而我們覺得自己需要的是實(shí)實(shí)在在的投資，而且我們也不能放棄過多的日常管理權(quán)，所以我們認(rèn)為天使投資提供的資金符合我們的商業(yè)運(yùn)作理念?！?/P>
“在有了這樣的商業(yè)計(jì)劃之后，我們開始接觸英國(guó)天使投資協(xié)會(huì)，他們?yōu)槲覀兘榻B了幾家天使投資。作為一個(gè)在穩(wěn)步發(fā)展的小公司，對(duì)于如何選擇天使投資，很大程度上是基于他們能為我們提供什么樣的實(shí)際幫助。我們把自己的計(jì)劃書提交給挑選出來的投資者，讓他們了解參與我們的事業(yè)能獲得的好處。其中有一個(gè)投資者在我們見過一次面后就決定為我們投資?！?/P>
在位于布賴頓的總部?jī)?nèi)，d3o公司有20名員工，它的主要客戶是像Quiksilver和Spyder這樣的品牌。帕默估計(jì)很快就會(huì)有30到40個(gè)客戶與他們簽約?！懊刻於紩?huì)有新客戶來詢問d3o還有什么新的應(yīng)用范疇，有航空部門、警察部門和汽車制造商?！?/P>
什么是d3o？
帕默解釋說這是一種聚合體，類似于潮濕沙子混合著玉米淀粉和水。當(dāng)你試圖快速地將其移除時(shí)，它會(huì)緊緊地粘在一起。d3o類似于黏稠的液體，當(dāng)受到擊打時(shí)，就會(huì)變得固體般堅(jiān)硬。
但他也警告，d3o襯里的衣服和帽子不能替代一些專門設(shè)計(jì)的防護(hù)穿戴。帕默說：“我們的無檐帽不能起到頭盔所具有的保護(hù)作用。但是對(duì)于滑雪者來說，他們選擇戴這種帽子能起到比普通帽子強(qiáng)很多的保護(hù)作用?！?/P>
研發(fā)實(shí)驗(yàn)室小組還生產(chǎn)出了一系列其他產(chǎn)品，包括：一個(gè)堅(jiān)硬的飛盤，當(dāng)你接住它的時(shí)候就可以把它包在一塊柔軟的手絹里；世界上首個(gè)防彈壁紙，一種輕質(zhì)的遮蓋物，可以吸收和收納子彈射擊到建筑物炸開后產(chǎn)生的彈片。
“我知道，這些聽起來好像我們要建立一個(gè)防衛(wèi)實(shí)驗(yàn)室似的，對(duì)此我不會(huì)辯解什么?！崩聿榈?#8226;帕默說到?！斑@正是我們期望科學(xué)所能做到的――一些事情會(huì)激發(fā)我們的想象，啟發(fā)我們的智慧。
