Spliced Wooden Barrel Side Panels for Tight Hooping Alignment

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Solution Overview

Problem

Traditional barrel production methods require large logs, leading to reduced wood utilization and high production costs, and result in misaligned panels during the hooping phase.

Innovation Solution

A wooden barrel structure with side panels composed of spliced boards forming an isosceles trapezoidal cross-section, where contact surfaces are perpendicular to the top or bottom base, allowing panels to fit tightly and increasing the number of side panels, reducing log diameter requirements and material costs.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Reliability

If quarter sawn or rift sawn methods are used to make side and end plates, then water tightness is improved, but log utilization decreases and production costs increase

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvewater tightnessVSAvoidlog utilization
Core Design Contradiction:
ReliabilityVSLoss of substance

Solution Approach 1:

The side plates are divided into multiple narrower boards instead of using wide quarter-sawn or rift-sawn boards. This segmentation allows the use of plain-sawn boards with narrower widths, improving log utilization while maintaining water tightness through the spliced construction with tight-fitting contact surfaces.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #1Segmentation

Solution Approach 2:

The invention changes the geometric parameters of the boards, specifically using isosceles trapezoidal cross-sections with contact surfaces perpendicular to the top or bottom base. This parameter change enables tighter fitting and better alignment during hooping, achieving water tightness without requiring wide boards from large logs.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #35Parameter changes

2Manufacturing precision

If panel width is increased to reduce misalignment during hooping, then alignment accuracy is improved, but wood utilization decreases and production costs increase

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvealignment accuracyVSAvoidwood utilization
Core Design Contradiction:
Manufacturing precisionVSLoss of substance

Solution Approach 1:

The invention uses asymmetric isosceles trapezoidal cross-sections for the boards, with contact surfaces perpendicular to either the top or bottom base. This asymmetric design provides self-aligning features during hooping, improving alignment accuracy without increasing panel width, thus maintaining wood utilization efficiency.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #4Asymmetry

3Device complexity

If fewer wider panels are used, then assembly complexity is reduced, but alignment during initial hooping deteriorates

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveassembly complexityVSAvoidalignment during hooping
Core Design Contradiction:
Device complexityVSManufacturing precision

Solution Approach 1:

The boards are pre-formed with isosceles trapezoidal cross-sections and contact surfaces perpendicular to the top or bottom base before assembly. This preliminary preparation ensures that the boards automatically align correctly during the initial hooping phase, improving alignment precision without increasing assembly complexity.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #10Preliminary action

Data Source

PatentEP4699949A1Barrel structure
Publication Date: 2026.02.25 FANG YUNTING
  • EP4699949A1 patent drawingFigure 1
  • EP4699949A1 patent drawingFigure 2
  • EP4699949A1 patent drawingFigure 3(a)~3(c)

AI summary

The invention provides a wooden barrel structure that includes a lower-end plate and side panels distributed circumferentially around the lower-end plate. The side panels are made up of several spliced boards. The side panels include at least one side panel group formed by multiple sideboards. The cross-section of this side panel group is an isosceles trapezoid, with both non-parallel sides pointing toward the central axis of the barrel. Viewed from the crosssectional direction, the contact surfaces between boards within the same group are perpendicular to the top or bottom base of the isosceles trapezoid. The side panel group includes two primary sideboards, whose cross-sections are either right-angled triangles or right trapezoids, positioned on both sides of the panel group. By adopting this side panel group structure, the number of barrel sideboards can be increased, reducing the requirements for the width of quarter sawn or rift sawn boards, thereby decreasing the diameter requirements of logs, improving log utilization, and reducing production costs..