Concealed Fastener Head Assemblies for Wind Uplift Resistance
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing pedestal systems face issues with visually exposed fasteners causing an unaesthetic appearance and material mismatch leading to instability and unpredictability under varying weather conditions, particularly in high wind zones.
Innovation Solution
A pedestal system with a concealed fastener design using a single material construction for both the pedestal and head assembly, ensuring consistent thermal expansion and contraction rates, and allowing for reliable testing across different climates.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If fasteners are used to secure floor panels to pedestals, then wind uplift resistance is improved, but aesthetic appearance deteriorates due to visually exposed fasteners
Solution Approach 1:
The fastener is extracted from its traditional exposed position and repositioned to face towards the pedestal, effectively hiding it from view while maintaining its structural function. The fastener is integrated into the pedestal structure rather than being attached externally, allowing it to be concealed while still providing wind uplift resistance.
Solution Approach 2:
The fastener is nested within the pedestal structure, with the fastener head positioned inside or on the surface of the pedestal. This nesting approach allows the fastener to be concealed within the existing pedestal form, eliminating the need for separate fastener components visible from above.
2Ease of manufacture
If dissimilar materials are used for accessory and pedestal, then manufacturing flexibility is improved, but structural stability deteriorates due to differential thermal expansion
Solution Approach 1:
The accessory and pedestal are both manufactured from the same material (polymer), creating a homogeneous structure. This material uniformity ensures that both components expand and contract at the same rate during temperature changes, eliminating differential thermal expansion stresses that would compromise structural stability.
3Shape
If concealed fasteners with dissimilar materials are used, then aesthetic appearance is improved, but reliability deteriorates due to unpredictable behavior under weather conditions
Solution Approach 1:
By using the same material for both the accessory and pedestal, the system achieves homogeneous thermal expansion characteristics. This eliminates the unpredictability associated with dissimilar materials, ensuring reliable and consistent performance under varying weather conditions while maintaining the concealed fastener aesthetic.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The system provides a secure, aesthetically pleasing, and structurally stable solution that meets Category 5 Hurricane Wind Levels by concealing fasteners and ensuring reliable performance across various weather conditions.
Implementation Method 1
unlike materials are untestable or cannot be examined for various weather conditions. This is due to freeze/thaw or expansion/contraction of dissimilar materials makes the concealed fasteners with unlike products unstable and unpredictable. This issue is of concern, due to mismatches in the material coefficient of thermal expansion/contraction in the pedestal assembly.
Data Source
AI summary
An elevated pedestal system including a pedestal having a first end portion and a second end portion opposite the first end portion, the first end portion being attachable to a floor surface, the pedestal made from a first material, and a head assembly including a first surface portion facing towards the pedestal and a second surface portion facing away from the pedestal, the first surface portion includes a plurality of fasteners that are cooperatively engageable with a plurality of openings on the pedestal to conceal the plurality of fasteners. The head assembly is made from a second material being of the same material as the first material of the pedestal.