Adjustable Mounting Slot Bracket for Non-Penetrating Panel Attachment
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing methods for mounting structures on standing seam metal panels often puncture the panels, leading to costly damage, leakage, and corrosion issues, and lack flexibility in accommodating different panel thicknesses and configurations.
Innovation Solution
A building system featuring a mounting device with an elongated mounting slot and nut receptacle that allows for adjustable attachment without penetrating the panel, using a nut that can move along the receptacle for secure engagement with an attachment fastener, and is compatible with various panel types such as trapezoidal rib and corrugated panels.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If mounting devices use puncture-based attachment methods on standing seam panels, then secure structural attachment is achieved, but panel damage, leakage, and corrosion issues occur
Solution Approach 1:
The mounting device uses the standing seam itself as an intermediary element. The slot engages with the standing seam profile, and the fastener secures the seam within the slot, using the seam's structural integrity rather than puncturing through it. This mediator approach allows attachment without direct penetration of the panel surface.
Solution Approach 2:
The mounting device is segmented into distinct functional components: a slot portion for receiving the standing seam, and a fastener portion for securing the seam. This segmentation allows each component to perform its specific function - the slot provides mechanical engagement while the fastener provides secure attachment - without requiring puncture of the panel.
2Stability of the object's composition
If mounting devices use fixed attachment positions, then structural stability is achieved, but flexibility for different panel thicknesses and configurations is lost
Solution Approach 1:
The mounting device incorporates dynamic adjustability through the movable fastener along the elongated slot. The fastener can be positioned at different locations within the slot to accommodate varying panel thicknesses and configurations, allowing the device to adapt while maintaining secure attachment. This dynamic positioning resolves the contradiction between stability and adaptability.
Solution Approach 2:
The device allows changing the position parameter of the fastener along the slot length. By adjusting the fastener's position within the elongated slot, the mounting device can accommodate different panel thicknesses and configurations while maintaining secure attachment, thus enabling parameter adaptation without sacrificing structural integrity.
3Strength
If mounting devices use threaded holes for fastener engagement, then secure attachment is achieved, but manufacturing complexity and cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The threading operation is extracted from the mounting device body and transferred to the separate fastener component. The slot portion remains simple and unthreaded, easier to manufacture, while the fastener contains the threading complexity. This extraction simplifies the main mounting device structure and reduces manufacturing complexity while maintaining secure attachment capability.
Data Source
AI summary
A mounting device or bracket for paneled building surfaces is disclosed. The mounting bracket includes an upper wall in the form of a flat surface for supporting various types of attachments. An elongated mounting slot extends through the upper wall, and the mounting bracket includes an elongated nut receptacle that is positioned below this elongated mounting slot. With an attachment being positioned on the upper wall, an attachment fastener may be directed through the attachment, then through the elongated mounting slot, and then may be threadably engaged with a nut that is positioned within and movable along the nut receptacle in its elongated dimension. The elongated configuration of the mounting slot and nut receptacle provides adjustability for the position of the attachment fastener relative to the mounting bracket, including after the mounting bracket has already been installed on the building surface.