Modular Structural Component with Spigot and Socket Interfaces
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current methods for creating curved templates or moulds are often expensive and wasteful, as they are typically bespoke and can only be used for specific shapes, limiting their reuse and versatility in forming curved surfaces for furniture or building construction.
Innovation Solution
A modular structural component with a hollow box-like structure featuring a cylindrical spigot and socket design, allowing for connection to identical components to form a self-supported, reusable, and adjustable curved profile, which can be used as a template, former, or mould for various materials.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If bespoke curved templates or moulds are machined from conventional materials, then the curved surface can be formed with high precision, but the cost increases and the template can only be used for specific shapes, limiting reusability
Solution Approach 1:
The curved template is divided into multiple straight modular components that can be assembled together. Each component has standardized spigot and socket interfaces, allowing the same components to be reconfigured for different curved shapes. This segmentation enables the template to be reused for multiple projects while maintaining manufacturing precision through standardized connection geometry.
Solution Approach 2:
The modular components are designed with universal spigot and socket interfaces that can connect to identical components in various configurations. A single set of standardized components can form different curved templates for multiple furniture pieces, making the system multi-functional and highly reusable across different projects while maintaining consistent precision.
2Ease of operation
If modular components are designed with spigot and socket connections, then the structure becomes easier to assemble and disassemble for reconfiguration, but the structural rigidity may be compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The spigot is inserted into the socket, with the spigot being a smaller cylindrical element nested within the larger socket structure. This nesting provides inherent mechanical interlocking that maintains structural rigidity while allowing easy insertion and removal. The nested geometry creates friction and mechanical engagement that prevents unintended disassembly while enabling deliberate reconfiguration.
Solution Approach 2:
The spigot and socket interfaces use cylindrical (curved) geometry rather than flat surfaces. The curved surfaces provide continuous contact area and mechanical interlocking through radial forces, enhancing structural rigidity. The cylindrical shape allows rotational adjustment during assembly while maintaining strength through distributed contact stresses along the curved interface.
3Weight of moving object
If components are made hollow to reduce weight, then the ease of handling improves, but the structural strength and rigidity may be reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The components use thin-walled hollow construction with optimized wall thickness that provides sufficient structural strength while minimizing weight. The hollow cylindrical shape acts as a structural shell that resists bending and buckling forces effectively. The thin-walled design reduces material usage and weight while the cylindrical geometry provides high strength-to-weight ratio through efficient stress distribution.
Solution Approach 2:
The components can be constructed from composite materials or extruded profiles that combine different materials to optimize strength-to-weight ratio. The hollow structure may incorporate reinforcing ribs or internal bracing that adds minimal weight while significantly enhancing structural rigidity. Material selection and cross-sectional geometry are optimized to provide required strength with minimum mass.
Data Source
AI summary
A modular component including an elongate hollow body having first and second attaching elements for attaching the modular component to another modular component. The first attaching element is in the form of cylindrical shaped spigot extending along an external surface of a first side wall of the body. The second attaching element is in the form of socket extending along an external surface of a second side wall of the body directly opposite the spigot. The socket has an internal shape that is sized and of a complementary shape of the spigot for receiving a spigot of another modular component. The socket is connected to the spigot by one or more bracing members that extend in a direction from the first side towards the second side between the spigot and the socket.