Portable Structure Tool-Free Rigid Joints
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing portable structures in the entertainment industry, such as scaffolding, require loose fasteners and lack rigidly engageable joints, making assembly and disassembly time-consuming and requiring tools, while also allowing for rotational and axial movement, which is not secure.
Innovation Solution
A portable structure with manually actuatable and self-contained engagement features between beams and junction devices, forming multi-point connections that are rigid and fail-safe, allowing for easy assembly and disassembly without tools, while maintaining stability.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If loose fasteners and non-rigid joints are used in portable structures, then assembly and disassembly can be performed with tools, but assembly and disassembly time is excessive and the structure lacks stability
Solution Approach 1:
The structure is divided into modular components (beams, junction devices, engagement features) that can be independently assembled and disassembled. Each junction device contains integrated engagement features that segment the connection function into specific geometric interfaces, enabling rapid tool-free assembly while maintaining structural integrity through multi-point rigid connections.
Solution Approach 2:
The engagement features are designed to be self-contained and manually actuatable, eliminating the need for external tools or operators during assembly and disassembly. The self-service mechanism allows workers to quickly connect and disconnect structural members through simple manual manipulation of the engagement features, dramatically reducing assembly time while ensuring reliable rigid connections.
2Ease of operation
If loose fasteners are used to permit disassembly, then the structure can be taken apart, but the joints are not rigidly engageable and permit rotational and axial movement
Solution Approach 1:
The engagement features combine multiple functions into a single integrated component: manual actuation capability, rigid multi-point connection, and rotational/axial movement prevention are merged into the junction device assembly. This unified design eliminates the need for separate fasteners and locking mechanisms, providing both ease of manual operation and joint rigidity simultaneously.
Solution Approach 2:
The engagement features utilize geometric parameter changes through tapered surfaces and corresponding receptacles that transition from a disengaged state to an engaged state. As the engagement feature is manually actuated, the geometric parameters (angle, position, contact points) change to create rigid multi-point contact, transforming the joint from a movable connection to a rigidly engaged connection while remaining manually actuatable.
3Productivity
If traditional scaffolding with loose fasteners is used, then disassembly is possible, but tools are required and assembly/disassembly processes are complex
Solution Approach 1:
The invention extracts and eliminates the need for separate tools, loose fasteners, and complex locking mechanisms from the traditional scaffolding system. The engagement features are integrated directly into the structural members themselves, removing extraneous components and simplifying the overall system while enabling rapid tool-free assembly and disassembly, thereby increasing productivity and reducing operational complexity.
Data Source
AI summary
A portable structure including a plurality of beams having a first engagement feature and a plurality of junction devices having a second engagement feature. The first engagement features and corresponding second engagement features are rigidly engageable, the rigidly engaged engagement features defining a multi-point connection therebetween. The engagement features are manually actuatable and self-contained.