Artificial Flagstone Segmented Base and Irregular Top
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing artificial surface coverings, such as flagstones and pavers, lack the natural appearance and variability of custom stone installations due to their geometric shapes and regular joint patterns, making them recognizable and aesthetically inferior to natural stone coverings.
Innovation Solution
Artificial flagstones with a regular geometric base portion for fitting arrangement and an irregularly shaped top portion with a natural appearance, featuring a depending rim and intermediate portion for enhanced variability and alignment during dry casting, allowing for a durable and irregular surface pattern.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If artificial flagstones are made with regular geometric shapes for mass production, then manufacturing cost and ease of installation are improved, but natural appearance and aesthetic quality deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The flagstone is divided into two distinct portions: a base portion with regular geometric shape for easy installation and mass production, and a top portion with irregular natural shape for aesthetic appearance. This segmentation allows each portion to serve its specific function independently, resolving the contradiction between manufacturability and natural appearance.
Solution Approach 2:
Different portions of the flagstone are given different qualities: the base portion has uniform geometric properties optimized for manufacturing and installation, while the top portion has variable irregular properties optimized for natural appearance. This local differentiation allows the whole object to satisfy conflicting requirements in different regions.
2Shape
If artificial flagstones are made with irregular shapes to mimic natural stone, then natural appearance is improved, but installation complexity and joint regularity worsen
Solution Approach 1:
By separating the flagstone into a regular base portion and an irregular top portion, the installation complexity is reduced to that of handling regular geometric shapes, while the natural appearance is preserved through the irregular top portion. The base portion's regularity simplifies fitting and joint alignment during installation.
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of making the entire flagstone irregular to achieve natural appearance, the invention inverts the approach by making the visible top portion irregular while the installation-critical base portion remains regular. This inversion allows natural appearance without installation complexity.
3Stability of the object's composition
If flagstones have identical top and bottom contours for fitting arrangement, then structural stability is improved, but natural appearance and joint variability deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The flagstone's contours are segmented into two distinct forms: the base portion maintains a regular geometric contour for stable fitting arrangement, while the top portion features an irregular natural contour for aesthetic variability. This segmentation allows stability and variability to coexist in different portions of the same object.
Solution Approach 2:
The flagstone employs asymmetric contours between its top and bottom portions. The base portion has symmetric regular geometry for stable installation, while the top portion has asymmetric irregular geometry for natural appearance. This asymmetry resolves the contradiction by applying different symmetry requirements to different functional regions.
Data Source
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AI summary
An artificial stone is disclosed for use in creating a covering a supporting surface. The artificial stone includes a base portion for placement on the supporting surface, which base portion is shaped as a right regular prism for patterned, fitting arrangement of the flagstone with like flagstones to produce a continuous surface covering. The base portion has a regular base contour. The stone further includes a top portion with a facing surface, the facing surface having an irregularly shaped top contour different from the base contour and an intermediate portion connecting the top portion with the base portion. The intermediate portion has an inclined wall extending between the top portion and a sidewall of the base portion. Stones of this construction can easily be arranged in a regular, repeated pattern to generate a continuous covering for the supporting surface without the surface of the resulting covering having a regular, patterned appearance. The irregular top contours of the stones, simulate the appearance of natural stone.