Single-Track Stacking Panel Covering for Rotation-Free Opening
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing architectural opening coverings, such as sliding doors and windows, lack efficient mechanisms for stacking panels that allow for seamless opening and closing without rotation, compromising aesthetics and functionality.
Innovation Solution
A single-track stacking panel covering system featuring a headrail with slidably attached panels that overlap when opening, allowing each panel to slide behind or in front of adjacent panels, enabling smooth operation and maintaining a stacked configuration when closed.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If panels are allowed to rotate about their vertical axes when closed, then the opening mechanism becomes simpler, but the aesthetic appearance and stacking configuration are compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The system divides the panel control into two independent segments: rotation control (about vertical axis) and translation control (along horizontal axis). This segmentation allows the panels to maintain their stacked configuration when closed by preventing rotation, while still enabling smooth opening through coordinated translation and rotation only during the opening sequence.
Solution Approach 2:
The system dynamically adjusts the operational mode of the panels based on their position. When closed, panels are constrained to maintain a fixed orientation (static configuration). During opening, the system transitions to a dynamic mode where panels rotate and translate. This dynamic control resolves the contradiction by applying different operational rules at different stages of the cycle.
2Shape
If panels are interconnected to form a stacked configuration when opened, then the aesthetic appearance is improved, but the mechanism complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system merges the rotation and translation movements into a single coordinated operation. Instead of using separate mechanisms for rotating panels and moving them horizontally, the interconnection system combines these functions, allowing panels to slide behind one another while simultaneously rotating into the stacked position. This merging reduces overall mechanism complexity while achieving the desired aesthetic configuration.
Solution Approach 2:
The system introduces intermediary connection elements (such as links or couplings) between adjacent panels that mediate the transfer of motion. These intermediaries enable the panels to form a stacked configuration by translating and rotating in a coordinated manner, simplifying the overall interconnection mechanism while maintaining the aesthetic stacking appearance.
3Shape
If panels are prevented from rotating when closed, then the stacking configuration is maintained, but the ease of operation is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary rotation of the panels during the opening sequence before they reach the fully open position. By rotating panels into the stacked configuration in advance, the system eliminates the need for rotation during the closing operation, thereby maintaining the stacking configuration while simplifying the overall ease of operation. The preliminary action prepares the panels for their final positioned without requiring complex coordinated movements during closure.
Data Source
AI summary
A stacking panel covering for an architectural opening includes a headrail and a plurality of suspended from the headrail. The panels form an overlapped stack at one end of the headrail when the stacking panel covering is opened, and cover the architectural opening when the stacking panel covering is closed. The panels are piggybacked on those adjacent thereto, so that they stack, one behind the next, when the stacking panel covering is opened, and so that each pulls the next adjacent thereto as the stacking panel covering is being closed. The panels themselves may be planar, or convexly curved in a horizontal direction and substantially straight in a vertical direction.