Lightweight Bleachers With Stiffened Rack Elements
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing bleacher structures are difficult to re-erect due to their heaviness and complexity, requiring significant time and being expensive, with known solutions involving thick materials or reduced spans to achieve load-bearing capacity.
Innovation Solution
The bleachers are designed with aluminum rack elements attached to obliquely downward-running upper beams, supported by lattice girder structures, which are rigidly connected using angle supports and transverse stiffeners, allowing for reduced material thickness and easy assembly/disassembly.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If thick materials are used to achieve load-bearing capacity, then structural strength is improved, but weight and manufacturing cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The structure is divided into modular rack elements that can be independently manufactured and assembled. Each rack element is a complete functional unit with integrated stiffening components, allowing the structure to achieve required strength through optimized modular segments rather than uniformly thick materials throughout.
Solution Approach 2:
Transverse stiffeners are added as a dimensional feature to the rack elements, creating a three-dimensional stiffening structure. This additional dimensional element provides structural reinforcement without increasing the base material thickness, thereby maintaining weight efficiency while achieving load-bearing capacity.
2Strength
If many different components are used to achieve load-bearing capacity, then structural strength is improved, but device complexity and assembly difficulty increase
Solution Approach 1:
Multiple functional components are merged into integrated rack elements. The rack element combines the main structural beam, attachment surfaces for seats, and transverse stiffeners into a single unified component. This integration reduces the total number of separate parts while maintaining the structural strength required for load-bearing capacity.
Solution Approach 2:
The rack element is designed as a universal component that performs multiple functions: it provides structural support, attaches seats, connects to adjacent rack elements, and incorporates stiffening features. This multi-functionality reduces the need for specialized components for each function, thereby simplifying the overall structure.
3Stability of the object's composition
If heavy structures are used to achieve stability, then structural strength is improved, but ease of operation and assembly time worsen
Solution Approach 1:
The stable structure is achieved through segmented modular rack elements rather than a single heavy monolithic structure. Each module is lightweight and easy to handle, yet the assembled configuration provides structural stability through the interconnected modular system.
Solution Approach 2:
The rack elements are pre-designed with integrated attachment features and stiffening components during manufacturing. This preliminary action ensures that when assembled, the structure achieves stability without requiring heavy materials or complex field modifications, thereby facilitating easier operation and assembly.
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2a~2b
Figure 3~4
AI summary
The invention relates to lightweight bleachers (10) that are able to be assembled and dismantled. The bleachers (10) comprise rack elements (14) bound to each other front and back, each of which comprises, - a sheet-metal structure, in the profile of which is at least a vertical wall (144) as a flanged structure (144) and a horizontal portion (145) relative to it, and in it a seat portion (146a), to which the seats (12) are attached, and the foot space (146b) of a higher row of seats, - the rack elements (14) are attached to pedestal structures (40) at both ends of the rack element (14) and that - the attachment takes place to an obliquely downwards running support beam (16) of the pedestal structure (40), - a longitudinal flanged strip (146) between the seat portion (146a) and the foot space (146b) in the horizontal portion (145) of the rack element (14), i.e. the seat portion (146a), -the upper and/or lower edge of the rack element (14) includes a flanged edge strip (148, 149) in order to stiffen the structure.