Modular Decking Tread with Integrated Locating Projections
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Solution Overview
Problem
Traditional modular decking systems require heavy equipment and substantial foundations, causing damage to environmentally sensitive areas and are prone to errors in installation, especially on irregular terrain, leading to material wastage and delays. The placement of locating pins is time-consuming and hazardous, affecting the structural integrity of the system.
Innovation Solution
The improved tread for modular decking systems features elongate treads with longitudinally spaced locating projections and lateral tongue and groove coupling members, allowing for accurate alignment and visual guidance during installation, reducing the number of components and facilitating inspection for structural integrity.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If locating pins are used to ensure correct tread placement on bearer members, then structural integrity is improved, but installation time and complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The locating pin is extracted from the tread component and integrated into the bearer member as a recess or cavity feature. This eliminates the need for separate locating pins while maintaining the alignment function, thereby reducing installation time and component count while preserving structural integrity.
Solution Approach 2:
The locating feature is merged between the tread and bearer member designs. The tread includes a locating protrusion that fits into a corresponding recess in the bearer member, combining the alignment function into the standard assembly process rather than requiring separate locating operations.
2Manufacturing precision
If locating pins are used for tread alignment, then positioning accuracy is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The locating pin is removed as a separate component and its alignment function is integrated directly into the bearer member structure through recesses or cavities. This reduces the number of parts while maintaining positioning accuracy.
Solution Approach 2:
The bearer member recess serves multiple functions: it provides structural support, ensures correct tread positioning, and enables alignment without requiring separate locating pins. This multi-functionality reduces overall system complexity.
3Stability of the object's composition
If traditional decking systems are used on irregular terrain, then structural stability is improved, but installation difficulty increases
Solution Approach 1:
The bearing plate is designed with adjustable positioning capabilities, allowing it to adapt to irregular terrain conditions. The plate can be positioned at different angles and locations to accommodate uneven ground while maintaining stable support for the tread, reducing installation difficulty.
Solution Approach 2:
The bearing plate dimensions and positioning parameters are made variable to match different terrain conditions. This allows the same basic system to accommodate irregular terrain without requiring complex custom designs, simplifying installation while maintaining stability.
4Reliability
If concrete materials are used for decking, then durability against erosion is improved, but handling and installation complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The concrete decking system is segmented into modular bearing plates and tread components that can be handled and installed separately. This segmentation reduces the handling complexity of large concrete pieces while maintaining the erosion resistance of concrete materials.
Solution Approach 2:
Metal bearing plates serve as intermediaries between the concrete treads and the foundation. These plates facilitate the installation of concrete components by providing easier-to-handle mounting surfaces and simplifying the installation process while the concrete maintains its erosion-resistant properties.
Data Source
AI summary
A tread and bearer member locating system for a modular decking system, the modular decking system including decking in the form of a plurality of treads, and the decking being carried by one or more bearer members. The treads are elongate and have a longitudinal axis, a topside, an underside and a lateral width. The tread and bearer member locating system includes treads and bearer members, wherein the underside of at least one tread includes, at or near each end thereof, a bearer member receiving area, at least one of the bearer member receiving areas being bound longitudinally between a pair of spaced apart, downwardly extending locating projections, and laterally between opposed coupling members capable of, in use, coupling with correspondingly shaped coupling members in adjacent treads.