Collapsible Canopy Central Lock and Reinforcement Bars
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Solution Overview
Problem
Collapsible canopies face issues with cumbersome locking mechanisms, uneven stress distribution among supporting legs, and instability under external forces like wind, leading to deformation and reduced service life.
Innovation Solution
A collapsible canopy design featuring a self-locking central lock and reinforcement bars that connect between supporting legs, allowing for secure locking and unfolding, and maintaining shape integrity through pivotally connected outer and inner retractable units and reinforcement bars.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a locking pin mechanism is used on each supporting leg, then the canopy can be locked in an unfolded position, but the locking operation becomes cumbersome and requires multiple people to cooperate
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines multiple locking functions into a single central lock mechanism located at the top center of the canopy. This central lock simultaneously controls all supporting legs, replacing the need for separate locking pins on each leg. The user operates one central lock to secure the entire canopy structure, significantly simplifying the locking operation while maintaining reliability.
Solution Approach 2:
The central lock mechanism serves multiple functions: it locks all supporting legs simultaneously, provides a unified control point for the entire canopy structure, and enables single-person operation. This multi-functional design eliminates the need for separate locking mechanisms on each leg while achieving the same security and stability objectives.
2Reliability
If locking pins are inserted through holes in supporting legs, then the canopy can be locked, but the holes weaken the supporting strength and legs are damaged reducing service life
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the locking function from the supporting legs themselves and relocates it to a separate central lock mechanism at the top center of the canopy. This eliminates the need to create holes in the supporting legs, preserving their structural integrity and strength while maintaining the locking capability through an external centralized mechanism.
3Reliability
If multiple people are required to unfold the canopy, then proper locking can be achieved, but the operation becomes complex and time-consuming
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines all locking operations into a single centralized action. The central lock mechanism allows one user to simultaneously secure all supporting legs with a single operation, eliminating the need for multiple people to coordinate separate locking actions on different legs. This dramatically reduces the time and complexity of the unfolding and locking process.
4Ease of operation
If the canopy structure is simplified for easy operation, then single-person operation is possible, but the canopy becomes unstable under external forces like wind
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges all stabilizing and locking functions into a single central lock mechanism that simultaneously secures all supporting legs. This centralized design provides uniform stress distribution across the entire structure, enhancing stability under external forces like wind while maintaining simple single-person operation. The central location provides optimal leverage and control for the user.
Data Source
AI summary
A collapsible canopy with an improved locking mechanism. The collapsible canopy has at least three supporting legs. The collapsible canopy also has a central lock that is used for locking the collapsible canopy in an unfolded state and permits the collapsible canopy to be folded into a folded state when the central lock is unlocked. An outer retractable unit is connected between each adjacent supporting leg. An inner retractable unit having an inner end is connected between each supporting leg and the central lock. The inner end of the inner retractable unit is connected through the central lock. Reinforcement bars are pivotally connected between the outer retractable units and the inner retractable units, the reinforcement bars function to maintain the shape of the collapsible canopy when the collapsible canopy is in a locked and unfolded position.