Expandable Clad Partition With Translucent Cellular Core
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Solution Overview
Problem
Rigid furniture components are cumbersome, difficult to set up, transport, and store, and limit space flexibility and natural light transmission, as they are often opaque and inflexible, making them unsuitable for dynamic space subdivision and reshaping in various environments.
Innovation Solution
A flexible furniture system comprising a core formed from laminar panels of a flaccid material, such as tissue paper or Tyvek, with undulating surfaces and adjustable supports, allowing for extension, retraction, and reshaping, and featuring a translucent outer panel for improved aesthetics and light transmission.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If rigid furniture components are used, then structural strength is improved, but ease of operation deteriorates due to being cumbersome and difficult to set up, transport, and store
Solution Approach 1:
The furniture component transitions from a static rigid structure to a dynamic flexible structure that can change its configuration. The laminar panels are connected to allow relative movement between them, enabling the structure to expand into a functional form or collapse into a compact storage form, thus improving ease of operation while maintaining structural integrity through the flexible connection mechanism
Solution Approach 2:
The invention uses flexible laminar panels instead of rigid panels to construct the furniture component. These thin flexible panels can bend and deform to allow the structure to be collapsed for storage or transport, yet when assembled with proper connections, they maintain sufficient structural strength for their intended function
2Stability of the object's composition
If rigid furniture components are used, then structural stability is improved, but adaptability deteriorates as they cannot be dynamically resized or reshaped
Solution Approach 1:
The furniture component incorporates dynamic elements that allow it to change its configuration from a stable functional form to a compact storage form. The laminar panels are connected through mechanisms that permit relative movement, enabling the structure to be expanded or contracted, resized, or reshaped according to different spatial requirements while maintaining stability in its functional configuration
Solution Approach 2:
The furniture component is divided into multiple laminar panels that are connected but can move relative to each other. This segmentation allows the structure to be flexible and adaptable, as the panels can be reconfigured into different arrangements or collapsed together for storage, providing both stability when assembled and adaptability for different uses
3Object-affected harmful factors
If opaque panels are used, then privacy is improved, but illumination intensity deteriorates due to inhibition of light transmission
Solution Approach 1:
The laminar panels are made from translucent material that allows light to pass through while still providing a degree of privacy. The material's optical properties enable it to diffuse light and obscure views to varying degrees, balancing the need for privacy with the desire to maintain natural lighting levels in the space
Data Source
AI summary
An article of furniture has a core formed from a cellular structure which is expandable upon movement of end faces away from each other. The exterior of the core presents a pair of oppositely directed undulating surfaces. An outer panel is juxtaposed with at least one of the undulating surfaces and secured to it. The outer panel is movable with the core to conform to the surface as the core is extended and retracted.