Modular Structural Support System with Adjustable Rails
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional structural support systems for roofs and staircases lack adaptability and often compromise on strength and stability, especially in longer applications like walk-out settings.
Innovation Solution
A modular structural support system comprising top and bottom rails with sliding connectors and brackets, allowing for adjustable assembly and enhanced stability, utilizing aluminum materials for strength and flexibility.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If conventional trusses are used for roof support, then structural support is provided, but adaptability and on-site modification flexibility are limited
Solution Approach 1:
The support system is divided into modular components including top rails, bottom rails, brackets, and connectors that can be independently manufactured and assembled. This segmentation enables flexible adaptation to different structural configurations while maintaining standardized connection mechanisms that simplify assembly.
Solution Approach 2:
The system incorporates adjustable connectors and modular components that allow on-site modification and reconfiguration. The dynamic assembly process enables adaptability to varying structural requirements without requiring complete redesign, resolving the contradiction between adaptability and complexity.
2Length of stationary object
If staircase length is increased for walk-out settings, then coverage area is extended, but strength and stability are compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The long staircase structure is divided into multiple segments connected by standardized joints and support brackets. This segmentation allows the extended length to be achieved while maintaining structural integrity through repeated modular units, each contributing to overall strength and stability.
Solution Approach 2:
Multiple structural elements including top rails, bottom rails, and support brackets are combined into an integrated system. The merging of these components creates a unified structural framework that maintains strength and stability across extended lengths, preventing the compromise that would occur with simpler extended structures.
3Strength
If material-limited wood trusses are used, then construction simplicity is maintained, but strength and stability are limited
Solution Approach 1:
The system utilizes aluminum extrusions for rails and brackets, combining lightweight properties with high strength-to-weight ratio. This composite material approach achieves superior strength and stability compared to wood while maintaining ease of manufacture through extrusion processes and modular assembly, resolving the contradiction between strength and manufacturing simplicity.
Data Source
AI summary
A structural support system of paired top and bottom rails connected by a plurality of vertically-oriented brackets, for use in construction settings such as truss arrangements and staircases. The rails have elongated slots for receiving and retaining connectors of the brackets. For staircase arrangements, the upper rail further includes an upper elongated slot for receiving step supports, and at least two paired top-bottom rails are positioned laterally for a step to be secured to upper surfaces of the laterally-adjacent step supports. Spacers can be employed in any or all of the slots for providing a desired distance between brackets or step supports.