Post-Bar Facade Guide Rail Assembly With Decoupled Bolt Mounting
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing guide rail arrangements for sun protection systems on post-and-beam facades either transfer forces directly to the cover plate, causing potential damage, or require screws that penetrate the facade, risking structural integrity.
Innovation Solution
A guide rail arrangement using holders with internal threads or through holes that attach to existing threaded bolts, allowing for a force-based decoupling from the facade surface, combined with a base profile that uses snap-fit, clamping, or screw connections to secure guide grooves, preventing force transmission to the facade.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If a cover plate pressed onto the post is used to support guide rails, then the guide rail arrangement can be mounted on the facade, but all forces acting on the guide rail are transferred into the cover plate which is merely pressed on, causing potential damage to the facade
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces threaded bolts as an intermediary mounting element that connects the guide rail arrangement to the facade post. The holders are screwed onto these threaded bolts, creating a secure mechanical connection that transfers forces directly to the anchored bolts rather than to the pressed-on cover plate. This intermediary connection mechanism resolves the contradiction by providing both easy mounting (through the standardized threaded bolt interface) and strong force transmission (through the anchored bolts in the post).
Solution Approach 2:
The guide rail arrangement is segmented into separate functional components: holders that attach to threaded bolts, a base profile that carries guide grooves, and fastening devices that secure the components together. This segmentation allows the mounting function (holders on bolts) to be separated from the guiding function (base profile with grooves), enabling the mounting system to be optimized for strength independently while maintaining ease of assembly through modular construction.
2Reliability
If screws are used to attach the base profile to the post, then the guide rail can be securely mounted, but the screws penetrate the facade surface, risking structural integrity and aesthetics
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the fastening function from the mounting-to-facade function. Instead of using screws that penetrate the facade, the design uses threaded bolts that are pre-anchored in the post (extracting the penetration requirement from the installation phase). The base profile is then attached to the holders using fastening devices that connect components without penetrating the facade exterior. This extraction resolves the contradiction by separating the structural anchoring (done once with bolts) from the component assembly (done without facade penetration).
Solution Approach 2:
The threaded bolts are pre-installed and anchored in the facade post before the guide rail arrangement is mounted. This preliminary action creates ready-to-use mounting points that eliminate the need for penetration during the actual guide rail installation. The holders are simply screwed onto these pre-positioned bolts, providing reliable mounting without any new penetrations into the facade surface.
3Strength
If a rigid screw connection between brackets and post is used, then the guide rail arrangement is securely attached, but compressive and tensile forces from wind loads are transmitted into the post and cover plate, potentially causing damage
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs a dynamic fastening system where the base profile can be attached to the holders with some degree of flexibility. The fastening devices (screws, rivets, or snap-fit connections) allow the base profile to be securely fixed to the holders while the holders themselves remain rotatable on the threaded bolts. This dynamic arrangement allows the system to absorb wind-induced compressive and tensile forces through rotational movement and elastic deformation, rather than transmitting these forces rigidly to the facade post and cover plate.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the mechanical parameters of the connection system by using threaded bolts with holders that can rotate and adjust their position. This parameter change (from fixed rigid connection to adjustable semi-rigid connection) allows the system to accommodate force variations from wind loads. The fastening devices provide sufficient attachment strength while the overall system flexibility prevents harmful force transmission to the facade structure.
Data Source
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AI summary
The invention relates to a guide rail arrangement for sun protection systems, suitable for mounting on a post of a post-and-beam facade in which threaded bolts (2) projecting vertically along the post are anchored at intervals, with a plurality of holders (3), each of which has an inner surface facing the post on which an internal thread (11a) matching one of the threaded bolts (2) or a corresponding through-hole (11b) opens, so that the respective holder (3) can be screwed directly and/or by means of a number of nuts (25a, 25b) onto one of the threaded bolts (2), and a base profile (4; 44) that can be attached to the screwed-on holders (3), which carries at least one guide groove (24) that serves for the lateral guidance of a sun protection curtain that can be raised and lowered, wherein a fastening device (12, 13, 14, 23) is provided to fasten the slid-on base profile (4; 44) to the holders (3) to fasten.The invention further relates to a post-and-beam facade equipped with such guide rail arrangements and a method for mounting the guide rail arrangement on a post of the post-and-beam facade.