Core and Face Block Corner Assembly with Hook Connectors
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing construction systems for outdoor walls and stairs face challenges in accurately assembling corners due to issues with plastic plugs fitting into core blocks, which can lead to structural weaknesses and assembly difficulties, especially in cold climates where holes may fill with snow or ice.
Innovation Solution
A construction system using core blocks with horizontal front mounting recesses and face blocks with rear mounting recesses, supported by connectors with rear and front hooks, allowing for easy and reliable mounting of face blocks on core blocks, ensuring accurate and durable corner assembly.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If plastic plugs are used to support face blocks on core blocks, then corner assembly is enabled, but structural weakness and assembly difficulty occur in cold climates
Solution Approach 1:
The system divides the corner assembly into separate components: core blocks with recesses, plastic plugs with ridges, and face blocks with grooves. This segmentation allows each component to be optimized independently, with the plug serving as a removable intermediary that enables corner construction without permanently weakening the core blocks.
Solution Approach 2:
The plastic plug acts as an intermediary element between the core block and face block. It provides the necessary support structure for corner assembly while being removable, thus enabling corner construction without creating permanent holes in the core blocks that would compromise structural integrity or allow ice/snow infiltration.
2Ease of operation
If holes are created in core blocks for plastic plug insertion, then face block mounting is enabled, but structural strength and durability are reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The plastic plugs are pre-formed with ridges that match the grooves in face blocks. This preliminary preparation allows for easy insertion into the core block recesses and subsequent mounting of face blocks without requiring forceful insertion that could damage the core blocks or compromise their structural strength.
Solution Approach 2:
The plastic plugs serve as temporary, disposable elements that enable the mounting process. They are inserted into the core block recesses, allow face blocks to be mounted, and then can be removed or left in place without compromising the long-term structural integrity of the core blocks, as the mounting recesses are designed to accommodate this temporary intervention.
3Ease of manufacture
If holes are made in core blocks, then plug insertion is possible, but hole accuracy is difficult to ensure after concrete removal
Solution Approach 1:
The system changes the state of the mounting interface from permanent holes to temporary recesses. The core blocks are formed with recesses that accommodate the plastic plugs, and the plugs themselves are designed with dimensional tolerances that ensure proper fit. This parameter change allows for easier manufacturing of the core blocks while maintaining sufficient precision for plug insertion and face block mounting.
Data Source
AI summary
A construction system using core blocks having a horizontal front mounting recess in the front surface defining a core detent lip, and face blocks having a horizontal rear mounting recess defining a face detent lip, and connectors for supporting stacked courses of the face blocks suspended on the front surfaces of stacked courses of core blocks, the connectors having a rear hook and a front hook, wherein the face blocks are each supported by their rear surfaces with at least one connector, by engagement of the front hook with the face detent lip and engagement of the rear hook with the core detent lip.