Foldable Fibre Duct with Shape-Memory Fold Lines for Compact Storage
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Solution Overview
Problem
Ventilation ducts face challenges in achieving large cross-sectional areas with low flow resistance, fire resistance, high insulation, and economical manufacturing, storage, transportation, and installation, while maintaining foldability and returning to their original shape.
Innovation Solution
A duct made from fibre material and binder agent with weakened fold lines, allowing it to be pushed into a folded state and returning to its original shape, combined with a lamination process using metal and polymer layers for fire resistance and ease of installation, and a manufacturing method involving heat compression and fibre crushing to create fold lines.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If the duct is made rigid to maintain structural integrity and fire resistance, then strength and fire resistance are improved, but foldability and ease of installation deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The duct is segmented into rigid sections separated by flexible fold lines. The fold lines contain crushed fibres that allow bending while the sections between maintain structural integrity. This segmentation enables the duct to be folded for installation while retaining strength where needed.
Solution Approach 2:
Different parts of the duct have different properties: the fold lines are made flexible with crushed fibres to enable bending, while the sections between fold lines maintain full fibre density and rigidity for structural integrity and fire resistance. This local differentiation resolves the contradiction between foldability and strength.
2Reliability
If the duct is made with high fibre density for fire resistance and insulation, then fire resistance and insulation capability are improved, but compressibility and foldability deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The duct structure segments intact fibre sections (for fire resistance) from crushed fibre fold lines (for compressibility). This allows the duct to achieve high fire resistance in the sections while maintaining compressibility at the fold lines through the crushed fibre structure.
Solution Approach 2:
The fibre material has locally different densities: high density in sections for fire resistance, and low density with crushed fibres at fold lines for compressibility. This local quality differentiation allows the duct to be both fire resistant and compressible where needed.
3Productivity
If the duct is manufactured in large cross-sectional areas to reduce flow resistance, then flow resistance is improved, but ease of storage and transportation deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The duct transitions from a static rigid structure to a dynamic foldable structure. The fold lines with crushed fibres allow the duct to dynamically change shape between a large cross-sectional area (for flow capacity) and a compressed folded state (for storage and transportation).
Solution Approach 2:
The duct can be folded into a compact nested configuration for storage and transportation, then expanded to its full large cross-sectional area for use. The fold lines enable this nesting and expansion without compromising the structural integrity when expanded.
4Ease of operation
If the duct is made foldable with weakened material at fold lines, then ease of installation is improved, but structural integrity at fold lines deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The fold lines have locally reduced fibre density with crushed fibres to enable easy folding and installation. The sections between fold lines maintain full fibre density for structural integrity. This local quality differentiation allows easy installation at fold lines while preserving overall structural strength.
Solution Approach 2:
The duct is pre-formed with fold lines during manufacturing, so the weakened sections are created in advance. This preliminary action allows the duct to be easily folded and installed without requiring additional weakening steps during installation, while maintaining structural integrity in the intact sections.
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 duct is cost-effective, easy to store and install, maintains high insulation and fire resistance, and automatically returns to its original shape, addressing the challenges of foldability and installation complexity.
Implementation Method 1
the origin fibre material with binder agent is compressible under the influence of heat so that the sides are compressed to about a third of the thickness of the origin fibre material with binder agent
Implementation Method 2
compressing it between the core and an outside form under the influence of heat
Implementation Method 3
the material remembers the original shape and state and thus expand and return to its original shape and state when released from a folded state
Data Source
AI summary
A duct of fiber material and binder agent, at least two fold lines are present lengthwise for providing a foldability of the duct by weakened material along the fold lines. The duct is pushable into a folded state and the material remembers the original shape and return to its original shape when released from a folded state. A method of manufacturing a duct: applying a web of origin fiber material with binder agent to a core and compressing the web by an outside form under the influence of heat against the core, wherein the core and/or the outside form is provided with a number of lengthwise ridges corresponding to the desired number of fold lines, to a third of the original thickness of the sides and at the ridges a tenth to a twentieth of the original thickness, and in that the fiber and binder agent web weighs 1.5-3 kg/m2.