Light Pole Support Structure With Variable Flange Lengths
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current light poles with integrated telecommunication equipment face challenges in withstanding high wind loads and maintaining accessibility for maintenance due to the limited diameter and strength requirements, especially in multi-tenancy setups with multiple vendors.
Innovation Solution
A light pole design featuring a support structure with an H-shaped or 'dog-bone' cross-section, where flanges are longer at the ends than the center, providing enhanced strength and allowing for easy accommodation and protection of telecommunication equipment while facilitating modular assembly and installation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If the diameter of the light pole is increased to accommodate multiple telecommunication equipment for multi-tenancy, then the strength and wind load resistance is improved, but the aesthetic appearance and urban landscape compatibility deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The support structure is divided into multiple segments including a base portion, mid-portion, and top portion, with the base portion containing internal structural elements (H-shaped frame, cross-bracing) that provide strength without increasing the external diameter. This segmentation allows the pole to maintain a compact external profile while incorporating complex internal reinforcement structures.
Solution Approach 2:
Multiple structural elements are nested within the base portion of the light pole, including an H-shaped frame inside a circular wall, with cross-bracing elements nested within the H-shaped frame structure. This nesting arrangement maximizes structural strength within the limited diameter constraint, allowing multiple telecommunication equipment to be mounted on the cross-bracing without increasing the pole's external dimensions.
2Adaptability or versatility
If more telecommunication equipment is installed in the base portion to support multi-tenancy, then the network capacity is improved, but the accessibility for maintenance deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The cross-bracing elements are designed as movable or adjustable structures that can be reconfigured to provide access pathways to the telecommunication equipment mounted on them. This dynamic capability allows maintenance personnel to access equipment without permanently compromising the structural integrity or wind load resistance of the pole.
Solution Approach 2:
The cross-bracing structure serves as an intermediary element between the base portion housing and the telecommunication equipment mounted above it. The cross-bracing provides both structural support and a platform for mounting equipment, while also serving as an access pathway for maintenance, thus mediating between structural requirements and maintenance accessibility requirements.
3Adaptability or versatility
If the base portion is enlarged to house more telecommunication equipment, then the network densification capability is improved, but the structural stability and wind load resistance deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of enlarging the base portion in radial dimensions, the invention utilizes the vertical dimension by extending the H-shaped frame and cross-bracing structures upward within the existing diameter constraints. This dimensional shift allows more equipment mounting positions to be created vertically without compromising the radial structural stability needed for wind load resistance.
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2~3b
Figure 4
AI summary
A light pole (100), wherein the light pole extends along a principal axis, A. The light pole comprises a housing (110) extending along the principal axis, and a support structure (120) arranged within the housing. The support structure comprises a board-shaped segment (130) extending along the principal axis, and flanges (140a, 140b) extending along the principal axis and arranged on either, longitudinal side of the segment. The flanges, in a cross-section of the support structure perpendicular to the principal axis, extend in a plane perpendicular to the principal axis. The length, L, of the flanges in said plane is larger at respective end portions (150a, 150b) of the support structure than at a central portion (160) of the support structure along the principal axis.