Modular Drainage Body With Nesting Spacers for Stable High-Capacity Stacking

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Solution Overview

Problem

Existing trench elements for infiltration systems lack stability and are cumbersome to transport and store due to their design, limiting their capacity and efficiency in constructing taller systems.

Innovation Solution

A trench body design featuring spacer elements with a truncated cone or pyramid shape and interlocking mechanisms, allowing for stable stacking and assembly into larger, self-contained units, with additional features like corrugated surfaces and side walls for enhanced stability and ease of installation.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Quantity of substance

If trench units are designed with large storage volume, then water storage capacity is improved, but transportability and stacking efficiency deteriorate

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvewater storage capacityVSAvoidtransportability
Core Design Contradiction:
Quantity of substanceVSEase of operation

Solution Approach 1:

The trench body is divided into multiple modular units that can be individually transported and then assembled together to form large-capacity infiltration systems. Each unit contains spacer elements that enable stable stacking, allowing multiple smaller units to be combined into a larger storage capacity while maintaining ease of transport.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #1Segmentation

2Stability of the object's composition

If trench units are designed for stable stacking, then structural stability is improved, but device complexity increases

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvestacking stabilityVSAvoidstructural complexity
Core Design Contradiction:
Stability of the object's compositionVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

Spacer elements are designed with nested hollow structures where inner cross-sections are congruent with outer cross-sections, allowing spacers to be inserted into one another. This nesting design provides stable interlocking for stacking while maintaining relatively simple individual component geometry.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #7Nested doll (Nesting)

Solution Approach 2:

The trench body combines different structural elements (base units, lid units, spacer elements, side walls) into a composite modular system. Each component is relatively simple in design but their combination creates stable, stackable structures with enhanced overall functionality.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #40Composite materials

3Quantity of substance

If infiltration systems are constructed with larger volume, then water storage capacity is improved, but stability deteriorates

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvewater storage capacityVSAvoidsystem stability
Core Design Contradiction:
Quantity of substanceVSStability of the object's composition

Solution Approach 1:

Large-capacity infiltration systems are constructed by assembling multiple modular trench body units rather than using single large structures. The spacer elements in each unit provide stable stacking characteristics, and when units are assembled together, the distributed spacing and interlocking mechanisms maintain overall system stability even at large total volumes.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #1Segmentation

Data Source

PatentEP2470722B2Drainage body
Publication Date: 2026.04.15 ACO AHLMANN SE & CO KG
  • EP2470722B2 patent drawingFigure 1~6
  • EP2470722B2 patent drawingFigure 7~11
  • EP2470722B2 patent drawingFigure 12~14

AI summary

The invention presents a drainage body which has two substantially identically formed surface-area units, namely a base unit and a substantially identically formed cover unit, which can be connected to one another in an installed state via spacer elements. It is proposed to design the surface-area units such that they can be stacked in a substantially interengaging manner such that the spacing between the surface-area units in the installed state is substantially greater than the spacing therebetween in the stacked state, wherein the spacer elements are substantially in the form of a, for example, truncated cone or truncated pyramid with a circumscribed cross-sectional surface area which decreases as the spacing from the surface-area units increases. As an alternative to this, provision may be made for the spacer elements to be arranged on the surface-area units such that the base units and the cover units can be laid to overlap one another in the manner of a masonrywork assembly. This gives rise to a high level of stability with, at the same time, space-saving storage capability and transportation capability.