Simulated Tree Trunk Monopole Structure for Stable Tree House
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Solution Overview
Problem
Real trees used for building tree houses often die or are not ideally located, and prior solutions like building on stilts fail to create a natural, tree-like appearance.
Innovation Solution
A monopole support structure with steel braces and a simulated tree trunk and branches, using rebar rods, wire mesh, and polyurethane coating to create a realistic tree appearance, while anchoring the structure to the ground for stability.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If real live trees are used to build tree houses, then the tree house has a natural appearance and can be built in ideal locations, but the tree may break and die or not be ideally located
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates a simulated tree trunk that copies the visual appearance of a real tree without using actual organic material. The simulated trunk includes textured surfaces, branching structures, and foliage that mimic natural trees, allowing the tree house to maintain a natural appearance while eliminating the reliability issues of real trees
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the fundamental parameter of tree material from organic to synthetic. By using manufactured materials with controlled properties, the structure achieves both enhanced durability and location flexibility, as the simulated tree can be constructed anywhere without depending on natural tree availability or health
2Reliability
If tree houses are built on stilts like beach houses, then the structure is stable and can be built anywhere, but the tree house looks more like a beach house than a tree house
Solution Approach 1:
The simulated tree trunk copies the essential visual characteristics of natural trees including bark texture, branching patterns, and overall form. This allows the structure to maintain stability like a built construction while preserving the aesthetic appearance of a traditional tree house
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies different textures and forms to different parts of the simulated tree trunk to create local visual qualities that mimic natural variation. The trunk features textured surfaces, irregular contours, and branching structures that provide tree-like appearance at specific locations while maintaining overall structural stability
Data Source
AI summary
A tree house propped upon a simulated tree trunk has a platform, a cabin thereon, a main support column supported in a ground anchor, a plurality of diagonal struts, and a variety of simulate tree dressings for the column and struts. The cabin is built upon the platform and forms an inner living space that is served with potable water utilities, waste water utilities, and public-utility electric service. The main support column extends downward from the platform about a relative center of mass of the platform and cabin together, to ultimately sink into the ground anchor. The plurality of diagonal struts extended diagonally downward from the cabin radially spaced away from where the column extends downward from the platform, and join the column intermediate the platform and ground anchor. There furthermore are simulated tree trunk dressing covering the column, and, simulated tree branch dressing covering the struts.