Cuboid Hoarding Block with Integrated Channels
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Solution Overview
Problem
Traditional hoarding systems for construction sites, primarily made of timber and plywood, are not sustainable as they require cutting down trees and often end up in landfills after use, lacking a closed-loop recycling option and causing environmental harm.
Innovation Solution
A hoarding system utilizing steel and recyclable uPVC materials, featuring a cuboid block design with integrated channels for secure post fixation and a modular structure that allows for repeated reuse, eliminating the need for timber and plywood, and enabling easy disassembly and re-deployment.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If traditional timber and plywood hoarding is used, then the hoarding can be installed quickly and provides adequate barrier function, but it requires cutting down trees and causes environmental harm
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the material parameters from natural timber/plywood to recycled uPVC and steel, transforming the environmental properties while maintaining the functional parameters of barrier strength and installation capability. The uPVC material provides equivalent protective function without the deforestation impact.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements a closed-loop recycling system where hoarding panels are designed to be recovered and reused multiple times. The modular design allows for easy disassembly and relocation, maximizing material recovery and minimizing waste, directly addressing the environmental harm of single-use timber hoarding.
2Quantity of substance
If traditional timber and plywood hoarding is used, then the hoarding can be provided at low cost, but it is not sustainable and ends up in landfills after use
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates a continuous cycle of useful action through repeated reuse. The modular hoarding system is designed to be disassembled, relocated, and reinstalled multiple times across different construction sites, extending the material service life and eliminating the waste problem associated with single-use traditional hoarding.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent establishes a recovery mechanism where hoarding panels are collected and reused rather than discarded. The standardized modular components facilitate efficient recovery and redistribution, creating an economic cycle that reduces material waste while maintaining affordability through reuse rather than continuous new material production.
3Stability of the object's composition
If in-ground hoarding with timber posts and concrete backfill is used, then the hoarding provides stable support, but it requires digging holes and using wet concrete which delays installation
Solution Approach 1:
The patent incorporates pre-formed concrete blocks with integrated channels and mounting features that are prepared in advance. These pre-actioned components eliminate the need for on-site hole digging and wet concrete pouring, allowing for immediate installation while maintaining the structural stability provided by concrete-based support.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent divides the support system into discrete modular segments - individual concrete blocks with integrated channels rather than continuous in-ground construction. This segmentation allows for rapid assembly and disassembly without requiring permanent ground penetration or curing time, resolving the conflict between stability and installation speed.
4Reliability
If steel and recyclable uPVC materials are used, then the hoarding system becomes sustainable and reusable, but the system complexity increases with integrated channels and modular components
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges multiple functions into integrated components - the concrete blocks incorporate channels, mounting features, and structural support in a single unified element. This integration simplifies the overall system by reducing the number of separate parts and assembly steps, achieving sustainability without proportionally increasing complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent designs universal modular components that can be used across different hoarding configurations and sites. The standardized channels and mounting features allow the same basic units to serve multiple purposes and locations, reducing the variety of components needed and simplifying the system despite the advanced materials and integrated features.
Data Source
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AI summary
A substantially cuboid block (1) for supporting a hoarding system comprises a body (2) having a length between a first set of two parallel planes at a front (3) and back (4) of the body, a width between a second set of two parallel planes defined at first and second sides (5,6), each plane of the second set being substantially perpendicular to the planes of the first set, a height being between a third set of two parallel planes defined at a top and bottom surfaces (7,8), each plane of the third set being substantially perpendicular to the planes of the first and second sets, the body having a substantially cuboid void (9), an edge of the void corresponding with an edge between the first side and the front of the body thereby providing an indented front surface (10) and an indented first side surface (22).