Interlocking Expansion Joint for Modular Floor Stability
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Solution Overview
Problem
Modular floor tiles experience differential thermal expansion and contraction due to temperature fluctuations, leading to buckling or separation, especially when not allowed to float or under heavy objects, necessitating an effective expansion joint solution.
Innovation Solution
A thermoplastic expansion joint composed of two interlocking expansion bodies with fingers and channels that accommodate thermal expansion and contraction, allowing for connection to modular floor tiles and accommodating uneven temperature shifts across the floor surface.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Stability of the object's composition
If floor tiles are installed in a fixed manner to provide stable flooring, then flooring stability is improved, but thermal expansion and contraction cause buckling or separation
Solution Approach 1:
The expansion joint is divided into two separate expansion bodies that can move independently relative to each other. Each expansion body contains fingers that can slide within channels, allowing the joint to segment the thermal movement and prevent buckling while maintaining overall flooring stability.
Solution Approach 2:
The expansion joint incorporates movable fingers that can dynamically adjust their position within channels in response to thermal expansion and contraction. This dynamic mechanism allows the joint to adapt to temperature variations without compromising the stability of the fixed flooring installation.
2Adaptability or versatility
If expansion joint is made separable into two bodies to accommodate thermal movement, then thermal expansion accommodation is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The expansion joint is divided into two separate expansion bodies that can move independently relative to each other. Each expansion body contains fingers that can slide within channels, allowing the joint to segment the thermal movement and prevent buckling while maintaining overall flooring stability.
Solution Approach 2:
The fingers are nested within channels of the opposing expansion body, with the fingers sliding within the channels to accommodate thermal movement. This nesting arrangement provides a compact design that achieves thermal accommodation without excessive complexity.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The solution effectively prevents buckling and separation by allowing for significant thermal expansion and contraction, ensuring a stable flooring surface even under varying temperature conditions and heavy loads.
Implementation Method 1
the floor tiles are installed in areas in which they are exposed to variations in temperature such as direct sunlight or heating and air-conditioning ducts. These temperature variations may cause the floor tiles to expand or contract
Data Source
AI summary
A flooring system includes polymeric modular floor tiles and at least one polymeric expansion joint. The modular floor tiles are affixed to each other, and to first and second expansion bodies of the expansion joint, by mating first and second connectors. The first and second expansion bodies each have interdigitated fingers and channels that extend underneath the expansion body web. The fingers of one expansion body slide in and out of the channels in the other, accommodating the thermal expansion and contraction of the modular floor tiles proximately or remotely joined to the expansion joint.