Folded Architectural Panel With Curved Crease Lines
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing architectural panels with fold/crease lines are considered busy and desire thinner materials and reduced production time, while maintaining aesthetic appeal and ease of installation.
Innovation Solution
A folded architectural panel design using non-linear crease patterns such as semi-circular and semi-parabolic fold lines, allowing for a three-dimensional shape without central fold-lines, enabling faster production and use of thinner materials, and secured by clips or mounting structures.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If traditional fold/crease lines are used to form architectural panels, then the panels can be manufactured and installed, but the appearance becomes busy and complex
Solution Approach 1:
The patent removes the central fold-line from the traditional crease pattern, extracting the essential folding function while eliminating the visually busy central crease. This allows the panel to maintain structural integrity through end folds and side folds alone, achieving a cleaner, more elegant appearance without compromising manufacturability.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent employs curved fold-lines (semi-circular and semi-parabolic) instead of straight crease lines. This curvature transforms the rigid, busy appearance of traditional angular creases into a more fluid, elegant aesthetic while maintaining the necessary structural folding function. The curved geometry reduces visual complexity while preserving panel formation capability.
2Ease of manufacture
If traditional crease patterns with central fold-lines are used, then panels can be formed, but production time increases
Solution Approach 1:
By removing the central fold-line from the crease pattern, the patent reduces the total number of folds that must be created during manufacturing. This extraction of the central crease directly decreases production time while still achieving the necessary three-dimensional panel formation through the remaining end and side folds.
Solution Approach 2:
The curved fold-lines simplify the manufacturing process compared to traditional angular crease patterns. The semi-circular and semi-parabolic curves allow for more efficient folding operations, reducing the time required to form panels while maintaining structural integrity and aesthetic appeal.
3Ease of manufacture
If traditional crease patterns are used, then panels can be manufactured, but thicker materials are required
Solution Approach 1:
The removal of the central fold-line reduces the structural demands on the material. Without the need for a central crease, the panel can use thinner materials while still achieving proper formation and structural integrity through the optimized end and side fold configuration.
Solution Approach 2:
The curved fold-lines distribute structural stresses more efficiently across the panel geometry. This curved geometry allows thinner materials to bear the necessary loads and maintain panel integrity, eliminating the need for thicker materials required by traditional angular crease patterns.
4Shape
If multiple fold-lines are used to create three-dimensional shape, then panels can be formed, but the appearance becomes busy
Solution Approach 1:
The patent achieves three-dimensional panel formation by extracting and eliminating the central fold-line, relying instead on strategically positioned end folds and side folds. This reduction in fold-line quantity maintains the necessary 3D shape while significantly simplifying the overall fold pattern appearance.
Solution Approach 2:
The curved geometry of the remaining fold-lines (semi-circular and semi-parabolic) creates a more elegant, less busy appearance compared to traditional straight crease lines. The curvature softens the visual impact of the folds while maintaining the three-dimensional form, achieving aesthetic simplicity without sacrificing shape.
Data Source
AI summary
An architectural panel folded from a flat sheet includes a first end fold along a first end fold-line adjacent a first longitudinal end of the panel, a second end fold along a second end fold-line adjacent a second longitudinal end of the panel, and a main wall extending between the first and second end fold-lines. The first and second end fold-lines and the second end fold-line allow the main wall to pivot about the first and second end fold-lines and to form an arc with an increase in the depth of the panel at an intermediate portion thereof. The panel further includes curved first and second side folds along respective curved first and second side fold-lines such that, as a consequence of contraction of the first and second end fold-lines towards each other, a respective sidewall is formed on each of respective first and second lateral sides of the panel.