Floor Support Foot with Sandwiched Dampening
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing floor support structures with dampening materials between joists and level adjustment screws face issues with adhesive reliability, high costs due to vulcanization, and material wear, necessitating a cost-efficient and easier assembly method.
Innovation Solution
A floor support device with a snap-fitted design where the dampening material is sandwiched between the upper and lower parts of the foot, allowing for compression and expansion while preventing detachment, using prongs or hooks to secure the parts without the need for adhesives or vulcanization, enabling free choice of dampening material and reducing assembly time and cost.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If adhesive is used to attach dampening material to foot parts, then assembly is simplified, but structural strength and reliability are insufficient
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines the dampening material attachment function with the mechanical connection structure. The lower part's engagement features (protrusions/recesses) simultaneously provide both structural connection and dampening material retention, eliminating the need for separate adhesive application while maintaining both simplicity and strength.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses a composite structure combining rigid foot parts (upper and lower parts) with flexible dampening material. This composite design allows the rigid parts to provide structural strength through mechanical engagement while the dampening material provides vibration reduction, achieving both strength requirements and damping functionality.
2Strength
If rubber material is vulcanized to foot parts, then structural strength is satisfactory, but cost and assembly time increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the foot into distinct upper and lower parts with intermediate dampening material. This segmentation allows each part to be manufactured separately and assembled through simple mechanical engagement without requiring time-consuming vulcanization processes, while maintaining structural integrity through the engagement features.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces the chemical/thermal vulcanization process with a purely mechanical engagement system. The protrusions and recesses provide immediate structural connection upon assembly, eliminating the need for heat, pressure, or chemical reactions required in vulcanization, thus reducing both cost and assembly time.
3Reliability
If rubber dampening material is used, then dampening properties are achieved, but material wear and tiredness occur
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the material selection parameters by allowing free choice of dampening material without being constrained by vulcanization requirements. This enables selection of materials optimized for specific service life and wear resistance characteristics while maintaining dampening functionality through the mechanical engagement design.
4Ease of manufacture
If dampening material is sandwiched between foot parts with mechanical engagement, then assembly is easier and cheaper, but detachment prevention must be ensured
Solution Approach 1:
The patent incorporates the dampening material between the upper and lower foot parts as a cushioning element that prevents direct rigid contact. This beforehand cushioning design allows the mechanical engagement features to secure the assembly while the dampening material absorbs stresses and prevents detachment, ensuring both ease of assembly and connection reliability.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The solution provides a strong, cost-effective, and easily assembled floor support system with improved dampening properties, allowing for mechanical connection and movement restriction, thus enhancing structural integrity and reducing material waste.
Implementation Method 1
a dampening material sandwiched between the lower surface and the upper surface
Implementation Method 2
allowing compression of the floor support device
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2a~2b
Figure 3~4
AI summary
A floor support device comprising a foot and a level adjustment screw, wherein the foot comprises an upper part arranged to receive the level adjustment screw, a lower part intended to contact an underlying surface, and a dampening material sandwiched between the lower part and the upper part. The lower part engages with one of the upper part and the level adjustment screw so as to prevent detachment of the lower surface from the upper surface, while allowing compression of the floor support device. By having the lower part of the foot engage with the upper part of the foot while having the dampening material sandwiched in between, the foot is held together without the dampening material having to be processed, such as by adhesive or vulcanization.