Museum showcase with a bearing platform
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Solution Overview
Problem
The complexity of constructing museum showcases that require high security, adequate insulation, and structural solidity while facilitating production processes.
Innovation Solution
A museum showcase design featuring a bearing frame with joints connected to horizontal beams, where the weight of the walls is supported by the joints, allowing for simple and quick assembly and disassembly, with standardizable joints and adjustable horizontal beams to accommodate various sizes and shapes.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If metallic materials with welded beams are used to ensure structural solidity, then the showcase achieves adequate strength to support transparent walls, but the construction process becomes complex and time-consuming
Solution Approach 1:
The bearing frame is segmented into modular components: standardizable joints and replaceable horizontal beams. The joints are pre-fabricated standardized units that can be assembled with beams of different lengths, allowing the showcase to be constructed in modular sections rather than as a monolithic welded structure.
Solution Approach 2:
The joints are designed as universal standardized components that can serve multiple functions: supporting walls, connecting beams of various lengths, and providing a consistent connection interface regardless of the specific showcase size or configuration. This universality simplifies the construction process by reducing the variety of unique components needed.
2Adaptability or versatility
If custom-sized beams are used to accommodate different showcase dimensions, then the showcase can be made in various sizes and shapes, but the manufacturing and assembly process becomes more complex
Solution Approach 1:
The beam system is segmented into standardized length increments. Instead of custom-sizing each beam, the design uses a set of discrete standard lengths (e.g., 1m, 1.5m, 2m) that can be combined to achieve different total dimensions. This segmentation simplifies manufacturing while maintaining adaptability.
Solution Approach 2:
The showcase dimensions are adjusted by changing the parameter of beam length rather than redesigning the entire structure. By selecting different combinations of standard beam lengths, the same standardized joint design can accommodate various showcase sizes and configurations without requiring custom manufacturing for each dimension.
3Productivity
If standardized joints are used for all showcase sizes, then production is simplified and assembly is quicker, but the joints may be oversized for smaller showcases
Solution Approach 1:
The joints are designed with slightly excessive capacity to accommodate the full range of showcase sizes from small to large. Rather than creating different joint sizes for different showcases, the standardized joint is designed to be robust enough to handle the maximum expected load, accepting some degree of oversizing for smaller applications in exchange for simplified production and assembly.
4Strength
If the weight of walls is supported by both beams and joints, then the structure is more distributed, but the horizontal beams become subject to significant stresses requiring larger sections
Solution Approach 1:
The weight-bearing function is extracted from the horizontal beams and concentrated in the joints. The joints are specifically designed to carry the full weight of the walls, while the horizontal beams serve primarily as spacing elements and structural connectors. This extraction allows the beams to be smaller and simpler while the joints are designed robustly for load-bearing.
Data Source
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AI summary
This museum showcase (10) comprises a bearing frame (11) and fixed and/or openable walls (12) supported by the bearing frame (11). The bearing frame (11) comprises a platform (13) that includes joints (14, 15) connected to horizontal beams (16). The fixed and/or openable walls (12) of the showcase (10) are supported only by the joints (14, 15). The weight of the walls (12) is supported by the joints (14, 15), whereas the horizontal beams (16) are not subjected to significant stresses. It is thus possible to design the showcase (10) in a particularly simple and therefore quick manner, choosing the lengths of each beam according to the dimensions of the showcase and leaving the support of the weights to just the joints.