Modular Screen With Telescopic Uprights and Electric Motor Actuation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing modular screen structures for outdoor spaces face issues such as excessive heating due to the greenhouse effect, poor air circulation, and aesthetically unpleasing visual obstacles from transverse elements, as well as manual and non-regulated height adjustment, which limits versatility and adaptability.
Innovation Solution
A modular screen structure with a base element and an upper element, both supported by vertical uprights with hollow profiles, featuring electromechanical actuation units consisting of electric motors, worm screws, and nuts for controlled sliding, allowing remote height adjustment and minimizing visual obstruction.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Temperature
If a single transparent panel is used to protect from the external environment, then shelter is provided during colder months, but excessive heating occurs during dry season due to greenhouse effect and poor air circulation
Solution Approach 1:
The screen structure employs dynamic adjustability through electromechanical actuation units that enable the upper panel to be raised or lowered electrically. This transforms the static single-panel structure into a dynamic system that can adapt its configuration seasonally - providing full coverage during cold months for shelter and raising the panel during dry season to reduce greenhouse effect and improve air circulation, thereby resolving the temperature control versus adaptability contradiction
2Temperature
If the entire demarcation system is removed and reinstalled seasonally, then heating issues are avoided, but the operation becomes long, complex and costly
Solution Approach 1:
Rather than complete removal and reinstallation, the invention enables partial adjustment by electrically raising or lowering the upper panel while maintaining the base element in position. The electromechanical actuation units allow the upper panel to be repositioned seasonally without dismantling the entire structure, dramatically reducing the time and complexity of seasonal adaptation while maintaining temperature control benefits
3Stability of the object's composition
If transverse elements are added to support the panel, then structural stability is improved, but visual obstacles are created in both lowered and raised positions
Solution Approach 1:
The invention extracts the transverse support elements from the visible structure by implementing a telescopic configuration where the upper element's uprights slide within the base element's uprights. This removes the need for visible crosspieces in both lowered and raised positions, eliminating visual obstacles while maintaining structural stability through the telescopic guidance mechanism
Solution Approach 2:
The upper element is nested within the base element through telescopic uprights that slide vertically within each other. This nesting configuration eliminates the need for separate transverse support structures, as the nested telescopic mechanism itself provides the necessary structural stability while maintaining aesthetic quality by removing visual obstacles
4Device complexity
If manual lifting is required to raise the terminal element, then mechanical simplicity is maintained, but considerable energy output is required especially when panel height exceeds operator height
Solution Approach 1:
The invention replaces the manual mechanical lifting system with an electromechanical actuation unit consisting of an electric motor, worm screw, and nut mechanism. This substitution eliminates the need for manual force application, allowing electrically-powered raising and lowering of the upper panel with minimal operator intervention, thereby dramatically improving ease of operation while maintaining controlled mechanical action through the worm screw mechanism
5Ease of operation
If gas springs are used for lifting, then automatic support is provided, but regulation of lifting height is not possible and intermediate positions cannot be maintained
Solution Approach 1:
The worm screw mechanism provides inherent feedback control through its self-locking characteristic, allowing the electric motor to precisely position and hold the upper panel at any intermediate height. The motor can be controlled to stop at desired positions, and the worm screw's friction characteristics prevent unintended movement, enabling height regulation and stable intermediate positions that gas springs cannot achieve
6Ease of manufacture
If the upper element is completely contained in the base element, then aesthetic quality is improved, but the structure lacks versatility for different environmental situations
Solution Approach 1:
The invention implements dynamic versatility through electromechanical actuation that allows the upper element to be positioned anywhere within the range defined by the telescopic uprights. The system can be completely contained for aesthetic quality or extended to various intermediate positions for adaptability to different environmental conditions, providing both aesthetic quality and versatility through controlled dynamic positioning
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 solution provides a modular screen structure that is aesthetically pleasing, offers total vision, is electronically adjustable, and adaptable to various conditions, while ensuring efficient heat management and easy operation.
Implementation Method 1
The sliding of the upper element is regulated by two electromechanical actuation units arranged in the vertical uprights, each of said electromechanical actuation units being formed by an electric motor arranged in the lower part of the vertical upright of the base element, a worm screw actuated by said electric motor and a nut fixed to the profile of the vertical upright of the upper element capable of being engaged by said worm screw
Data Source
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AI summary
A description is given of a modular screen structure (1) for the demarcation of spaces comprising a base element (10) made up of a pair of vertical uprights (12a, 12b) designed to support a first panel (11) and an upper element (20) made up of a pair of vertical uprights (22a, 22b) designed to support a second panel (21), said upper element (20) being designed to be raised and lowered with respect to said base element (10), wherein each of the vertical uprights (12a, 12b) of the base element (10) has a profile such as to slidably accommodate the profile of a respective vertical upright (22a, 22b) of the upper element (20) and is provided with a vertical opening (16) designed to allow the sliding of the upper element (20) is regulated by two electromechanical actuation units placed in the vertical uprights (12a, 12b, 22a, 22b).