Pergola Bracket System for Angled Building Attachment
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional pergolas face issues with strength, stability, and watertightness, particularly when attached to a building, as they require complex notching and cutting angles, and lack a proper 'fall' for water runoff, making them challenging for non-professionals to construct and maintain.
Innovation Solution
The development of a pergola bracket system that allows for attachment of pergola components to a building at various angles using a ledger, with brackets featuring a base, orthogonal sides, and through holes for secure fastening, enabling easy construction and watertightness by allowing a range of angle attachments and incorporating a 'fall' for water runoff.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If conventional pergolas are attached to a building, then they provide structural support, but they require complex notching and cutting angles that are challenging for non-professionals
Solution Approach 1:
The pergola system is divided into separate modular components: brackets, ledger, and pergola components. The brackets are pre-fabricated with standardized features (base, sides, through holes) that simplify on-site assembly. This segmentation eliminates the need for complex notching and cutting by allowing pre-fabricated parts to be assembled through simple fastening operations.
Solution Approach 2:
The bracket serves as an intermediary component between the ledger (attached to the building) and the pergola components. This intermediary element absorbs the complexity of attachment to the building structure, providing standardized mounting holes and geometric features that simplify the connection to pergola components. The bracket mediates between the building attachment requirements and the pergola construction needs.
2Reliability
If conventional pergolas are designed without proper fall, then they are simpler in design, but they cannot provide watertight functionality
Solution Approach 1:
The pergola components incorporate a curved engaging end that allows dynamic adjustment of the component's orientation relative to the bracket. This curved geometry enables the pergola components to be positioned at various angles, creating a proper fall (slope) for water runoff. The dynamic positioning capability allows the structure to achieve watertightness through angle adjustment rather than requiring a fixed complex fall structure.
3Adaptability or versatility
If pergola brackets allow attachment at a range of angles, then they provide flexibility and stability, but they require multiple through holes and fastening mechanisms
Solution Approach 1:
The bracket is designed as a universal component that can accommodate pergola components at multiple angles through its geometric configuration. The base and sides are positioned to receive pergola components with curved engaging ends at various orientations. The standardized through hole pattern (first side through hole, second side through hole, base through holes) provides multi-functional fastening capability, allowing the same bracket design to support multiple attachment configurations without requiring angle-specific specialized components.
Data Source
AI summary
The invention is related to methods and pergola systems comprising a plurality of pergola components, a plurality of pergola brackets that engage with the pergola components and allow for the pergola components to attach to a building at a range of angles with respect to the pergola bracket.