Foldable Sheet Material for 3D Signage Production
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current post and panel signage installations require time-consuming painting processes for color changes, and existing materials often arrive in raw or limited factory finishes, necessitating additional support structures for rigidity.
Innovation Solution
A foldable sheet material with pre-defined fold lines that can be digitally printed and configured into three-dimensional shapes, including elongated tubes and polygon forms, to replicate post and rail systems, allowing for rapid decoration and assembly into aesthetically pleasing structures.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If traditional painting processes are used to change colors of signage components, then color customization is achieved, but production time increases significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by pre-printing decorative patterns, colors, and graphics onto the flat sheet material before forming it into three-dimensional signage. This allows the decoration to be prepared in advance during manufacturing, eliminating the need for time-consuming on-site painting operations while maintaining full color customization capabilities.
2Strength
If rigid panel substrates are used for signage, then structural strength is improved, but additional support structures are required adding to device complexity
Solution Approach 1:
The patent utilizes a flat sheet material that forms flexible yet structurally adequate signage components when shaped into three-dimensional forms. The material is configured to wrap around and conform to support posts, creating rigid-appearing signage structures without requiring additional rigid panels or complex support frameworks.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention transitions from traditional two-dimensional rigid panels to three-dimensional formed structures created from flat sheets. By folding and shaping the sheet material around vertical posts, the signage gains structural rigidity through dimensional transformation rather than relying on additional support elements.
3Reliability
If factory-painted finishes are applied to signage components, then exterior durability is improved, but color variety is limited
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements color changes by incorporating digitally printed decorative patterns, colors, and graphics directly onto the flat sheet material during manufacturing. This allows for a wide variety of colors and designs to be applied in the factory setting, providing both exterior durability through protective coatings and unlimited color variety without requiring post-installation painting.
Data Source
AI summary
A system in which flat sheet stock can be digitally printed then formed and folded through a pattern process to rapidly create digitally decorated simulated tubing, and/or other unique three-dimensional shapes includes a foldable blank of a flat sheet of material with a plurality of fold lines formed into the flat sheet of material to allow the foldable blank, when folded, to configure at least one post which replicates extruded plastic or metal tubing. The post may define an elongated interior configured to receive an elongated support, after the folding along the fold lines. In a plurality of foldable blanks, each foldable blank including a flat sheet of material, and a plurality of fold lines formed into the flat sheet of material, the flat sheets of material are each foldable along their respective fold lines to configure a plurality of elements fittable together to form a standing display.