Modular Safety Ladder Spacer for Angled Mounting
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Solution Overview
Problem
Modular safety ladders face challenges when mounted on structures with angled shapes, requiring improvements in robustness, visibility, and lifespan, while also being cumbersome and expensive to manufacture and assemble.
Innovation Solution
A modular safety ladder design featuring interchangeable ladder modules connected by a tightening device and spacer, allowing for customizable length and angle adjustments, with a spacer that acts as a pressure absorber and deformable element to maintain stiffness on uneven surfaces, and a simple assembly method.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If modular safety ladders are mounted on structures with angled shapes, then adaptability to different mounting surfaces is improved, but maintaining robustness and stiffness becomes difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The spacer is designed as a deformable element that can dynamically adjust its shape under compression. When the ladder module is mounted on angled surfaces, the spacer deforms to absorb positional discrepancies while maintaining contact between modules, thereby preserving structural stiffness without requiring precise angular alignment.
Solution Approach 2:
The spacer's physical parameters (shape, volume) change under compressive load. This parameter change allows the spacer to adapt to varying mounting angles while maintaining the structural integrity of the ladder module assembly.
2Ease of manufacture
If modular safety ladders are designed with interchangeable modules, then ease of assembly and customization is improved, but manufacturing complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The safety ladder is divided into standardized, interchangeable ladder modules that can be independently manufactured and assembled. Each module contains standardized connection interfaces with spacers, enabling easy assembly while distributing manufacturing complexity across identical modular units.
Solution Approach 2:
The spacer serves multiple functions: it spaces apart guide rail portions, absorbs compression forces, accommodates angled mounting surfaces, and maintains structural stiffness. This multi-functionality reduces the need for additional specialized components, thereby reducing overall manufacturing complexity despite the modular design.
3Adaptability or versatility
If a spacer is used to space apart guide rail portions, then adaptability to uneven surfaces is improved, but the complexity of the connection mechanism increases
Solution Approach 1:
The spacer is designed to automatically perform multiple functions through its deformation characteristics. When installed between ladder modules on uneven or angled surfaces, the spacer self-adjusts its shape under compression to maintain proper spacing and structural alignment without requiring additional adjustment mechanisms or complex connection components.
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 modular design provides a versatile, durable, and cost-effective safety ladder that can be easily assembled and customized for various settings, maintaining stiffness and visibility on angled surfaces, reducing manufacturing and maintenance costs, and allowing for individual part replacement.
Implementation Method 1
tightening of the tightening device will squeeze or pinch or compress said collar part of the spacer between said surfaces
Implementation Method 2
a spacer that acts as a pressure absorber and deformable element to maintain stiffness on uneven surfaces
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3a~3c
AI summary
Disclosed is a modular safety ladder comprising a number of rungs connecting a first and a second guide rail, and an upper ladder module and a lower ladder module, said modular safety ladder being able to be arranged in an un-assembled configuration, in which said upper ladder module is un-attached to said lower ladder module, and an assembled configuration, in which said upper ladder module is attached to said lower ladder module, wherein each ladder module comprises a first and a second guide rail portion, and a rung connecting the first and second guide rail portions, wherein the modular safety ladder further comprises a spacer, the spacer in the assembled configuration being positioned to space apart the first guide rail portion of the upper ladder module from the first guide rail portion of the lower ladder module, and a tightening device which in the assembled configuration upon activation pulls said ladder modules towards each other, wherein at least a part of the spacer in the assembled configuration is positioned between a surface of the first guide rail portion of the upper ladder module and an opposite surface of the first guide rail portion of the lower ladder module so that tightening of the tightening device will squeeze or pinch or compress said at least a part of the spacer between said surfaces.