Modular Canopy System Using Segmented Rods and Magnetic Fasteners
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing canopy systems are often custom-made and expensive, lacking cost-effective solutions that utilize readily available components for easy setup and adjustment.
Innovation Solution
A canopy system comprising parallel elongated rods, canopy pieces with attached elongated bars, and connection mechanisms that can be suspended from supports, allowing for modular expansion and adjustment, with features like tubular channels, tracks, and magnetic assemblies for secure attachment and easy positioning.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If custom-made canopy systems are used to meet various design needs, then adaptability and design flexibility are improved, but manufacturing cost and complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The canopy system is divided into separate modular components: support posts, cross members, canopy pieces, and connection mechanisms. Each component can be independently manufactured using standard sizes and then assembled in various configurations to meet different design needs, resolving the contradiction between adaptability and manufacturing cost.
Solution Approach 2:
The support posts and cross members are designed as universal components that can be used in multiple canopy configurations. The standardized connection mechanisms allow the same components to serve different structural and aesthetic requirements, providing design flexibility without requiring custom manufacturing for each application.
2Adaptability or versatility
If custom-made canopy systems are used to meet various design needs, then adaptability and design flexibility are improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
By segmenting the canopy into standardized modules (support posts, cross members, canopy pieces), the system achieves design flexibility through simple combinations of basic components rather than complex custom-designed integrated structures, reducing overall system complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The connection mechanisms feature nested components where telescopic sections fit within larger structural elements, allowing for adjustable lengths and configurations while maintaining a compact standardized form factor, thereby achieving adaptability without increasing complexity.
3Ease of manufacture
If standardized components are used to reduce cost and complexity, then ease of manufacture and device simplicity are improved, but adaptability and design flexibility may be limited
Solution Approach 1:
The support posts incorporate telescopic sections that can be extended or retracted to different lengths, and the connection mechanisms allow for adjustable positioning. This dynamic adjustability enables standardized components to adapt to various span requirements and design configurations, maintaining manufacturing simplicity while achieving design flexibility.
Solution Approach 2:
The standardized components are designed with variable parameters such as adjustable lengths, multiple connection points, and configurable assembly orientations. These parameter changes allow the same standardized parts to be adapted to different design requirements without requiring custom manufacturing.
Data Source
AI summary
There is described a canopy system comprising two or more parallel elongated rods, one or more canopy pieces having two parallel edges, two or more elongated bars connected to each of the two or more parallel elongated rods and attached to each of the two parallel edges of the one or more canopy pieces, and at least one connection mechanism attached to each of the elongated rods having a connector that is capable of being suspended from a support. The elongated rods may include at least one lower cavity having two channels each configured to detachably and slidably receive each of the elongated bars. The lower cavity may have a groove that is configured to detachably and slidably receive an accessory. The elongated rods each may include at least one upper cavity configured to detachably and slidably receive each connection mechanism and a second accessory.