Adjustable Truss Supporting Frame for Undulating Surfaces
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional supporting frame assemblies with rigid trusses are ineffective on undulating surfaces and costly due to extensive welding, which complicates stability and corrosion protection, especially when supporting items like heliostats or wind turbines.
Innovation Solution
A supporting frame assembly with deformable tubular trusses and releasable fasteners allows for adjustable longitudinal movement and secure attachment of pylons, using tubular or angle section frame members with flattened ends and perforated slots for bolts, enabling stability on uneven surfaces without welding.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If rigid trusses with welded connections are used, then structural strength and stability are improved, but adaptability to undulating surfaces deteriorates and manufacturing complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies the dynamics principle by replacing rigid welded trusses with a modular assembly using bolted connections. The frame members and bracing elements can be adjusted and repositioned to accommodate undulating surfaces, transforming a static rigid structure into a dynamically adaptable one. The use of multiple bolt holes at different positions allows the structure to conform to varying ground conditions while maintaining structural integrity.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent segments the traditional rigid truss into separate modular components including frame members, bracing elements, and connection plates that can be independently positioned and assembled. This segmentation allows each component to be optimized for its specific function and enables easy adjustment to undulating surfaces without requiring the entire structure to be custom-fitted through welding.
2Stability of the object's composition
If rigid welded trusses are used, then structural stability is improved, but ease of manufacture and cost deteriorate due to extensive welding and corrosion protection requirements
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the welding mechanical process with a bolting mechanical system. Instead of permanently fusing components through welding, the structure uses bolted connections that are easier to manufacture, assemble, and disassemble. This substitution eliminates the need for specialized welding equipment, skilled welders, and subsequent corrosion protection treatments, significantly simplifying manufacturing while maintaining structural stability through proper bolted joint design.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent employs standard commercial bolted connection components that are inexpensive, readily available, and replaceable. Rather than investing in permanent welded joints that require costly corrosion protection and repair, the design uses affordable fasteners that can be easily replaced if needed, reducing overall manufacturing costs and maintenance expenses.
3Adaptability or versatility
If bolted connections with adjustment slots are used, then adaptability to undulating surfaces is improved, but structural rigidity deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The adjustment slots provide controlled flexibility that allows the structure to adapt to undulating surfaces while maintaining rigidity in the loaded direction. The slots enable positional adjustment during assembly to accommodate ground variations, but once positioned, the bolted connections provide sufficient rigidity to resist operational loads. This dynamic adjustment capability resolves the contradiction between adaptability and rigidity.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies local quality by providing adjustment slots only at specific locations where ground variation compensation is needed, rather than making the entire structure flexible. The bracing elements and frame members maintain their full rigidity in load-bearing directions, while localized adjustment capabilities are provided only where required for adapting to undulating surfaces.
Data Source
AI summary
A supporting frame includes a truss composed of an upper straight frame member and a parallel lower straight frame member supported at their ends in spaced relationship relative to each other. At least two spans of divergent inclined brace member extend between them with the ends of the brace member spans each being securable to the upper or lower straight frame member by means of a fastener. Limited relative longitudinal movement of the upper and lower straight frame members is permitted before a fastener is secured to fix the positions at which the ends of the brace member spans are attached to the upper and lower straight frame members. In one application two trusses meet at a corner with a pylon being urged in the plane of the supporting frame into a corner between two frame members of each pair of trusses to extend at right angles to the frame.