Modular Scaffolding Pin-Connected Frame Beams
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing modular scaffolding systems for bridge maintenance require heavy equipment like cranes for erection and are hazardous due to the need for manual handling of heavy components, making them cumbersome, expensive, and difficult to assemble around obstacles and in tight spaces.
Innovation Solution
A modular platform design featuring lightweight aluminum frame beams and deck support beams with strategically spaced apertures for pin attachment, allowing for easy assembly and disassembly by a single person without cranes, and enabling flexibility in positioning and attachment around obstacles.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If heavy-duty materials and traditional scaffolding designs are used, then structural strength and stability are improved, but weight increases making manual handling dangerous and requiring cranes
Solution Approach 1:
The platform is divided into modular components (frame assemblies, deck sections, support beams) that can be independently assembled and handled. Each module is designed to be lightweight yet structurally sound, allowing workers to assemble the entire platform without heavy equipment while maintaining overall structural integrity.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent employs composite construction combining aluminum extrusions (for lightweight structural elements) with strategic reinforcement at connection points. This allows the structure to achieve necessary strength-to-weight ratio, providing both durability and ease of manual handling.
2Ease of operation
If modular components are designed for easy assembly, then ease of operation and assembly speed are improved, but structural complexity increases requiring more connection points and hardware
Solution Approach 1:
Standardized connectors and connection hardware are designed to serve multiple functions: structural attachment, alignment guidance, and quick-release capability. This universal connection system simplifies assembly procedures while managing structural complexity through design integration rather than proliferation of parts.
Solution Approach 2:
Connection points and alignment features are pre-configured during manufacturing of individual modules. This preliminary preparation of connection interfaces enables rapid field assembly without complex alignment procedures or specialized tools, balancing ease of operation with controlled structural complexity.
3Stability of the object's composition
If traditional scaffolding systems are used, then structural stability is improved, but adaptability to confined areas and obstacles decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The modular platform design allows dynamic reconfiguration of frame assemblies and deck sections to adapt to varying bridge geometries, obstacles, and confined spaces. Connection mechanisms enable easy adjustment of module positions and orientations while maintaining structural stability through engineered load paths in each configuration.
Solution Approach 2:
Modular components are designed to nest within or alongside each other, allowing the platform to conform to irregular bridge structures and navigate around obstacles. This nesting capability enables the system to maintain stability while adapting to complex geometries that traditional rigid scaffolding cannot accommodate.
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2~4
Figure 5
AI summary
A combination of parts for and method of constructing a modular platform. A frame beam connector member is connected to respective end portions of a pair of frame beams while the pair of frame beams are in substantially a side-by-side relation. One of the frame beams is then swung relative to the other to a co-axial position of the frame beams relative to each other. Then another frame beam connector member is connected to the respective end portions of the frame beams while the frame beams are in the co-axial position thereby to maintain the pair of frame beams in the co-axial position. A deck support beam is connected to a frame beam while in substantially a side-by-side relation therewith. The deck support beam is then swung to a position normal to the frame beams. The deck support beam is then connected to another frame beam.