Foldable Five-Star Foot with Segmented Legs for Strength and Storage
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing foldable five-star feet suffer from unstable structures, reduced strength during use, and issues with accidental unfolding, leading to unnecessary complexity and waste, especially when made of plastics that tend to shrink and collapse.
Innovation Solution
A foldable five-star foot design featuring a center body with first and second mounting grooves and connecting blocks, along with limiting and clamping mechanisms, ensures strong and stable connection and fixation of legs, preventing slipping and collapse, and facilitating easy folding and assembly.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If a radiative integrated structure is used for the five-star foot, then the structure is simple and strong, but when one leg is broken the whole five-star foot must be replaced causing waste, and the integrated structure occupies large space during storage and transport
Solution Approach 1:
The five-star foot is divided into a center body and multiple detachable legs. Each leg can be independently connected or disconnected from the center body through mounting grooves and mounting blocks. This segmentation allows individual legs to be replaced without discarding the entire five-star foot structure, reducing material waste while maintaining structural integrity during use.
Solution Approach 2:
The legs are designed to be foldable and nestable within the center body when not in use. The mounting blocks can be retracted into the mounting grooves, allowing the legs to be folded against the center body. This nesting capability significantly reduces the space occupied during storage and transport while maintaining the full structural strength when deployed.
2Volume of moving object
If the five-star foot is made foldable for easy storage and transport, then space occupation is reduced, but the use strength is lowered and the structure becomes unstable
Solution Approach 1:
The five-star foot employs a dynamic design where the legs can transition between folded and unfolded states. When unfolded for use, the legs extend fully to provide maximum structural strength and stability. When folded for storage, the legs retract into the center body. The mounting mechanism with mounting grooves and mounting blocks ensures secure connection in the unfolded state while enabling compact folding in the stored state, thus achieving both space efficiency and structural strength.
3Ease of operation
If existing foldable five-star feet are designed for easy folding, then operability is improved, but the structure tends to unfold accidentally and separates from the center body requiring complicated reinstallation
Solution Approach 1:
The mounting mechanism is designed to be self-locking through the interaction between mounting blocks and mounting grooves. When the legs are unfolded, the mounting blocks automatically engage with the mounting grooves, providing secure connection without requiring additional locking actions. The limiting blocks and limiting portions further ensure that the legs remain firmly connected during use. For folding, the mounting blocks can be easily disengaged by simple manual manipulation, allowing convenient folding without complex operations. This self-service mechanism ensures both ease of operation and connection reliability.
Data Source
AI summary
Disclosed is a foldable five-star foot, comprising a center body and five legs; each one of the legs is provided with a first mounting block and a second mounting block; each one of the first mounting blocks corresponds to a first mounting groove; each one of the second mounting blocks corresponds to a second mounting groove; and the first and second mounting grooves are formed on the center body. The first mounting groove and the second mounting groove are internally provided with a pair of a first connecting block and a second connecting block; each one of the first connecting blocks is connected with each corresponding one of the first mounting blocks, and each one of the second connecting blocks is connected with each corresponding one of the second mounting blocks. The five-star foot is advantaged in simple and reliable structure, convenient folding, large application scope and easy popularization.