Span-Aligned Grid Framing for Repositionable Opening Bays
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing framing systems lack the ability to customize the configuration of framed opening bays without the use of tools and fail to provide a structurally stable and visually appealing solution for variable orientations and positions of vertical supports.
Innovation Solution
A novel framing system featuring horizontal members with a span-aligned-grid pattern of ribs and openings, allowing vertical members to be slidably positioned and repositioned in multiple orientations, creating customizable framed opening bays with no need for tools or fasteners, and providing structural stability and light transmission.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If vertical members are fixed in predetermined positions in traditional framing systems, then structural stability is maintained, but customization of framed opening bays is impossible
Solution Approach 1:
The horizontal members are segmented into multiple sections with regularly spaced openings and ribs, creating a modular grid structure. This segmentation allows vertical members to be positioned at multiple discrete locations along the horizontal members while maintaining structural integrity through the rib framework.
Solution Approach 2:
The horizontal members serve multiple functions: they provide structural support, define the grid pattern for vertical member placement, and create decorative slatted surfaces. The standardized opening and rib configuration allows the same horizontal member design to be used across different bay configurations.
2Ease of operation
If traditional framing systems use tools and fasteners for assembly, then structural stability is ensured, but ease of assembly and reconfiguration is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The vertical members are designed to fit directly into the openings of the horizontal members through complementary geometric shapes, creating self-aligning, tool-free connections. The interlocking geometry of the openings and vertical member cross-sections provides inherent structural stability without requiring fasteners.
3Strength
If horizontal members are made solid for structural strength, then load-bearing capability is maximized, but light transmission and visual appeal are reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The horizontal members incorporate a porous grid structure with regularly spaced openings that allow light transmission while maintaining structural strength through the rib framework. The openings create a slatted appearance that provides visual appeal and light penetration.
Solution Approach 2:
The horizontal members combine solid rib sections with open spaces in a composite configuration, where the ribs provide structural strength and the openings provide light transmission and aesthetic quality. This composite structure achieves both strength and transparency requirements.
4Adaptability or versatility
If vertical members are repositioned in traditional framing systems, then customization is possible, but disassembly and repositioning require tools and fasteners
Solution Approach 1:
The framing system is designed to be dynamically reconfigurable, allowing vertical members to be easily removed from one horizontal member and repositioned to another. The standardized opening geometry enables consistent repositioning across different locations without requiring different assembly procedures.
Data Source
AI summary
A novel framing system where the horizontal members are formed in a span-aligned-grid consisting of a series of ribs and openings, providing variable-support-points for the vertical members, so that within a given assembly the vertical members may be positioned and repositioned at a multitude of available variable-support-points, in a plurality of usable positions and angle orientations in the horizontal directions of left-to-right and forward-to-back, creating customizable framed opening bays, and that the vertical members are guided to interlock with the horizontal members at a multitude of available predetermined positions, which intersect along spans at variable-support-point locations, as guided by said span-aligned-grid.The novel framing system produces a novel design, where the horizontal members are formed with a slatted patterned surface decoration, which is visually evident of the given configuration of said span-aligned-grid.