Ground Mounting Assembly With Deployable Stabilizing Plates
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Solution Overview
Problem
Outdoor structures such as solar panel assemblies, docks, and buildings face instability due to high winds, especially in loose or sandy soil, as conventional mounting posts lack sufficient underground surface area to resist wind forces, leading to loosening and instability issues.
Innovation Solution
The development of ground mounting assemblies that include posts connected to stabilizing elements like flat plates or half-pyramid shaped structures, which are buried underground to provide resistance against lateral and uplift forces, and the use of cross members for additional stability, allowing for temporary, semi-permanent, or permanent mounting configurations.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Stability of the object's composition
If conventional mounting posts are used without additional stabilizing elements, then the device complexity is low, but the stability of the mounting assembly deteriorates under wind forces
Solution Approach 1:
The mounting system is divided into separate functional components: the mounting post and the stabilizing plate. The stabilizing plate is a distinct element that can be attached to the post, allowing the system to provide enhanced stability without requiring a completely different post design. This segmentation enables the stabilizing function to be added independently.
Solution Approach 2:
The stabilizing plate extends the stabilizing function into a new dimensional space by adding lateral surface area perpendicular to the post. This plate geometry distributes wind forces across a broader area, transforming the concentration of forces on the narrow post into distributed forces across the plate's surface, thereby improving stability without increasing post complexity.
2Stability of the object's composition
If cement caps are used to secure mounting posts, then the stability under wind forces is improved, but the adaptability for rearrangement and modification deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The stabilizing plate is designed with adjustable and removable features that allow the mounting system to transition between different states of assembly. The plate can be detached and reattached to different post locations, enabling the system to adapt to changing requirements while maintaining stability through the plate's stabilizing geometry.
Solution Approach 2:
The stabilizing plate serves as a reusable component that can be removed, relocated, and reinstalled without permanent alteration to the ground or mounting structure. Unlike cement caps that permanently fix the post location, the plate can be discarded from one position and recovered for use at another position, providing flexibility for system reconfiguration.
3Strength
If posts with larger underground surface area are used, then the resistance to wind forces is improved, but the ease of installation deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The stabilizing function is segmented into a separate plate component rather than requiring a larger, more complex post design. This allows the post to remain simple and easy to install, while the attached plate provides the additional surface area needed for wind resistance. The segmentation enables independent optimization of each component.
Solution Approach 2:
The stabilizing plate is merged with the mounting post through attachment mechanisms that combine the simple installation characteristics of the post with the enhanced wind resistance of the plate. This merging creates a composite structure that achieves both ease of installation and high strength without compromising either attribute.
Data Source
AI summary
A ground mounting assembly includes one or a plurality of posts, each attached to at least one stabilizing plate or scoop pyramid. The post may be driven into the ground and then lifted to deploy plates into a locking mechanism, or driven into the ground by a pile driver with plate held in place, released, and driven further and deployed into a locking mechanism, or driven into the ground and double pounded inside the post to drive reinforcing plate into slotted winglets, or driven, double pounded and rotated to extend the reinforcing plates horizontally from the pole or pile. The post also can used as a mooring in harbors, lakes, or at sea. A system based on a double pounder pile driven mono pole, optionally extendable in length, is also described.