Insert Piece Coupling Structure for Low-Profile Masonry Joints
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing building blocks with visible joint heights and complex orientation requirements increase production costs and aesthetic drawbacks, necessitating additional grouting and labor.
Innovation Solution
An insert piece with a flat, thin foot and complementary coupling parts on spacers allows for low-profile joint assembly, enabling easy stacking and reusability without visible joints, using synthetic materials like HDPE.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the foot of the insert piece is made thick to accommodate coupling parts, then the coupling function is improved, but the joint height increases and aesthetic appearance deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The insert piece is divided into distinct functional segments: a thin plate-shaped foot for aesthetic appearance and a separate spacer structure for coupling functions. The spacer is positioned within through-holes of the foot, allowing coupling parts to be separated from the visible foot surface while maintaining mechanical connection functionality.
Solution Approach 2:
The coupling parts are relocated from the vertical thickness dimension of the foot to the horizontal plane dimension via spacers extending from the foot surface. This dimensional transition allows the foot to remain thin and aesthetic while the coupling mechanism operates in a different spatial plane, resolving the conflict between appearance and function.
2Shape
If the prismatic body is made with a recess to conceal the foot, then the aesthetic appearance is improved, but the production cost increases and assembly complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The foot is extracted from being a solid integral part of the prismatic body and replaced with a thin plate-shaped component with through-holes. This extraction eliminates the need for complex recesses in the prismatic body while achieving the same aesthetic concealing effect, as the thin foot naturally sits flush with the block surface without requiring additional molding complexity.
3Reliability
If the insert piece requires specific orientation for assembly, then the coupling function is improved, but the assembly time increases
Solution Approach 1:
The spacer structure incorporates asymmetric features including a head portion and a free end with distinct coupling part configurations. This asymmetry provides inherent orientation guidance during assembly, allowing workers to quickly identify the correct insertion direction without requiring rotation or complex alignment, thus reducing assembly time while maintaining reliable coupling.
Data Source
Figure 1~2
Figure 3
Figure 4
AI summary
Insert piece provided with first coupling parts (11) and complementary second coupling parts (12) that cooperate with each other for mutually coupling insert pieces (3), characterised in that the insert pieces (3) are provided with a foot (9) in which through holes (19) are provided, whereby two spacers (6) extend on the foot (9) on which the first and second coupling parts (12) are provided whereby a first part of the through holes (19) is located in the extension of the spacers (6) and a second part of the openings (19) is located next to the spacers (6), such that a first insert piece (3) can be coupled to a second insert piece (3) by inserting the first coupling parts (11) of the first insert piece (3) through the through holes (19) next to the spacers (6) of the second insert piece (3) and moving them until the first coupling parts (11) cooperate with the second, coupling parts (12).