Modular Building Blocks with Interlocking Anchors
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing modular prefabricated building structures exhibit reduced strength, elasticity, and anti-seismic properties, with unstable and imprecise couplings, leading to increased construction costs and reduced insulation efficiency, and are often made from ecologically non-compatible materials.
Innovation Solution
A modular building structure comprising a bearing block with complementary shaped joints and reinforcing bars that form a reinforcement mesh, allowing for strong, flexible, and quickly coupled modules with improved insulation and impact resistance, using environmentally friendly materials.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If external anchoring elements such as brackets are used to connect prefabricated panels, then the assembly process becomes simpler, but the structural strength and elasticity are reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The invention merges the anchoring function with the block structure itself by creating interlocking cavities and protrusions that are integral parts of the modular blocks. This eliminates the need for separate external brackets while maintaining assembly simplicity and significantly improving structural strength through direct mechanical interlocking.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention uses composite construction by combining modular blocks with reinforcing bars that pass through the interlocking cavities. This creates a composite structure where the modular blocks provide the basic framework while the reinforcing bars enhance the overall strength and elasticity, resolving the contradiction between simple assembly and structural strength.
2Ease of manufacture
If external anchoring elements are used to connect prefabricated panels, then assembly becomes easier, but assembly time increases
Solution Approach 1:
By integrating the anchoring mechanism into the block design itself through interlocking cavities and protrusions, the invention eliminates the need for separate anchoring components. This reduces the number of assembly steps and components to handle, making assembly both easier and faster simultaneously.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention segments the anchoring function into the basic block unit design, where each block contains its own interlocking features. This allows for rapid assembly by simply connecting blocks together without requiring additional anchoring operations, significantly reducing assembly time while maintaining ease of assembly.
3Ease of manufacture
If traditional anchoring methods are used, then assembly is simpler, but coupling precision and stability are reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The invention employs asymmetric interlocking features where the cavities and protrusions are specifically shaped to guide and constrain the joining of blocks. This asymmetric design ensures precise alignment and stable coupling while maintaining simple assembly, as the geometry itself provides the precision rather than requiring complex external anchoring systems.
4Productivity
If modular prefabricated structures are used, then construction speed increases, but structural flexibility and anti-seismic properties are reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The invention creates a dynamic structural system where the interlocking cavities and protrusions allow for controlled movement and flexibility. The modular blocks can shift and adjust relative to each other under seismic loads while maintaining their connections, providing both construction speed and structural flexibility simultaneously.
Solution Approach 2:
By combining modular blocks with reinforcing bars that pass through the interlocking joints, the invention creates a composite structure that provides both the speed of modular assembly and the flexibility of reinforced construction. The reinforcing bars allow the structure to deform and absorb seismic energy while maintaining overall integrity.
Data Source
AI summary
A module for realizing modular building structures comprises a bearing block having pairs of flat faces with complementary shaped joints for coupling with further similar modules arranged in side by side position, means for anchoring the bearing block to bearing blocks of side-by-side modules for realizing the building structure. The anchoring means comprise one pair of passages mutually perpendicular and staggered along a first transverse direction, the passages extending in the block from respective flat faces. The anchoring means also comprise reinforcing bars adapted to be inserted in a pair of consecutive passages belonging to two mutually side-by-side modules to define a reinforcement meshed armor. Each bar has ends associated with male and female connecting elements for coupling with facing ends of contiguous bars belonging to a side-by-side module.