Movable Tile Platform with Extended Fork Seats to Reduce Tile Damage
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing movable supporting platforms for tiles, particularly large ceramic slabs, face challenges in preventing damage during transport and storage due to flexion stresses and limited load capacity.
Innovation Solution
A movable supporting platform design with aligned support feet and fork seats that allow for a continuous, convex or concave arc-shaped deformation, minimizing stress on tiles, and enabling increased load capacity through optimized stacking and fork engagement.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Object-affected harmful factors
If the fork seats have greater length than the width of the loading plane, then the flexion stress on tiles during transport is reduced, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The fork seats are designed with a curved longitudinal profile that extends beyond the loading plane boundaries. This curvature allows the forks to engage the fork seats at multiple points along their length, distributing the lifting force and reducing concentrated flexion stresses on the tiles during transport.
Solution Approach 2:
The fork seats extend in the longitudinal dimension beyond the transverse width of the loading plane, creating a three-dimensional engagement zone. This dimensional extension allows the forks to apply force at optimal locations that reduce tile stress while maintaining structural efficiency.
2Quantity of substance
If the support feet are aligned with the fork seats, then the load capacity of the platform is increased, but the manufacturing precision requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The support system is segmented into discrete support feet positioned at specific locations that align with the fork seat engagement points. This segmentation allows each support foot to independently bear load while maintaining overall alignment, distributing the precision requirement across multiple identical components rather than requiring perfect alignment of the entire structure.
Solution Approach 2:
The design specifies particular geometric parameters for the support feet positions and fork seat dimensions that, when maintained within tolerances, ensure proper alignment. By defining these parameters clearly, the system achieves high load capacity through precise but manufacturable alignment specifications.
3Object-affected harmful factors
If the loading plane is allowed to flex with continuous curvature, then the tile damage is reduced, but the structural strength requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The loading plane is designed with controlled flexibility that allows it to dynamically adapt its shape during loading and transport. The plane can develop continuous curvature profiles in response to applied loads, transforming from a rigid structure to a dynamically responsive surface that conforms to the tile stack geometry, thereby reducing stress concentrations.
Solution Approach 2:
The fork seats and support feet are pre-positioned to guide the loading plane into its optimal curved configuration before the tiles are fully loaded. This preliminary structuring of the support system ensures that when tiles are placed, the loading plane naturally assumes the stress-distributing continuous curvature shape without requiring excessive structural strength.
Data Source
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AI summary
A movable supporting platform (30) for temporarily supporting tiles, comprising: a loading plane (31) configured to supportingly receive a tile or a plurality of stacked tiles; at least two pairs of support feet (32) configured to keep the loading plane (31) elevated from the ground, wherein each support foot (32) has a lower end (33) arranged distal from the loading plane (31) and an opposite upper end (34) arranged proximal to the loading plane (31); a pair of fork seats (312) which can be forked by the forks of a carrier for transporting the movable supporting platform (30) and arranged between an upper surface of the loading plane (31) and the lower end (33) of the support feet (32); wherein the fork seats (312) have a greater length than a width of the loading plane (31), in such a way that each fork seat (312) projects, with a relative projecting axial portion (3120), beyond a larger beam (310) of the loading plane (31).