Segmented Wall Panels with Interlocking Recesses
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing prefabricated building components for walls, ceilings, and roofs are heavy, expensive, and require specialized labor and additional fasteners for assembly, making them costly and time-consuming to install, and often necessitate the use of cranes for handling.
Innovation Solution
A system of lightweight, inexpensive components with elongated rectangular plates and spacer webs that connect via complementary recesses and expansion pins, allowing for easy assembly without additional fasteners and enabling manual handling by untrained personnel.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If prefabricated building elements are used to accelerate on-site assembly, then assembly speed is improved, but deadweight increases requiring crane handling
Solution Approach 1:
The building elements are divided into multiple detachable components including panels, spacer webs, and connection elements. Each component is lightweight enough for manual handling, yet they assemble into a structurally sound whole that maintains high assembly speed through pre-fabrication of individual segments.
Solution Approach 2:
Connection elements are integrated within the panel structures, with recesses and protrusions nested into the panel edges. The spacer webs are positioned between panels with connection elements that fit within the panel thickness, creating a compact nested arrangement that reduces overall weight while maintaining structural integrity.
2Productivity
If custom-made prefabricated building elements representing entire wall units are used, then assembly speed is improved, but material intensity and cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of manufacturing entire wall units as single heavy components, the system segments walls into multiple standardized panels connected by spacer webs. This segmentation reduces material per component while allowing rapid assembly of complete wall structures through repetition of standardized units.
Solution Approach 2:
The panels and spacer webs are designed as universal components that can be used in multiple positions and configurations to create different wall, ceiling, and roof structures. This universality reduces the total quantity of material needed compared to custom-made elements for each specific application.
3Strength
If additional fasteners such as screws are used to connect building elements, then connection strength is improved, but assembly time and cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The connection function is merged into the structural components themselves through complementary recesses and protrusions that are integral parts of the panels and spacer webs. This eliminates the need for separate fasteners while maintaining strong connections, reducing assembly time without sacrificing connection strength.
Solution Approach 2:
The building elements are designed to self-connect through their geometric features. The complementary recesses and protrusions automatically align and engage when components are brought together, providing self-aligning and self-connecting capability that eliminates the need for additional fastening operations.
4Manufacturing precision
If specialized personnel are used for assembly, then assembly precision is improved, but labor cost increases
Solution Approach 1:
The complementary geometric features of the components provide self-aligning and self-positioning capabilities during assembly. The recesses and protrusions guide the components into correct alignment automatically, enabling untrained personnel to achieve precise assembly without specialized knowledge or training.
Solution Approach 2:
The asymmetric design of complementary recesses and protrusions ensures that components can only be assembled in the correct orientation and position. This asymmetric geometry provides built-in guidance and alignment features that maintain assembly precision while allowing anyone to perform the assembly correctly.
Data Source
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AI summary
The present invention relates to a system for erecting walls (22), ceilings (23) and/or roofs of buildings, comprising a plurality of identical elements (1, 2), each of which comprises at least two elongate panels (6, 7) that are substantially rectangular and have a uniform width (B), the exterior main surfaces (8) of which panels extend parallel to one another and form exterior surfaces of the element (1, 2), and each of which have spacer webs (9), which connect the panels (6, 7) to one another, wherein: for fastening the element (1, 2) to adjacent elements (1, 2) in an interlocking, releasable manner, each panel longitudinal edge (10) is provided with a recess (12) forming a step (11) and extending along the entire length of the panel longitudinal edge (10); the recesses (12) are complementary to one another, have a constant cross-section in the panel longitudinal direction and have a recess depth (t) which increases from the panel longitudinal edge (10) in the inward direction; the recesses (12) extending along a first element longitudinal side face one another, and the recesses (12) extending along the opposite second element longitudinal side face away from one another; and the panels (6, 7) are arranged offset with respect to one another in the direction of their panel width (B).