Spring-Loaded Wedge Leveling Foot for Heavy-Load Stability
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing leveling solutions for heavy structures on uneven floors, such as storage grids, often fail due to the weight-bearing threads or thin shafts, leading to device failure, and simple wedges are not self-adjusting or difficult to remove once loaded.
Innovation Solution
A self-adjusting leveling foot with a robust design featuring a hollow column, spring, and U-shaped wedge device with locking teeth, where the movable top piece engages the column and wedge to stabilize the structure, allowing for easy adjustment and weight-bearing capability.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If a threaded foot is used to adjust height on uneven floors, then the structure can be leveled, but the threads may fail under heavy weight
Solution Approach 1:
The leveling foot is divided into distinct functional segments: a hollow column containing a spring mechanism, a movable top piece with angled edges, and a U-shaped wedge device. This segmentation allows each component to perform its specific function - the spring provides self-adjustment, the angled edges provide mechanical advantage, and the wedge provides locking - while collectively bearing heavy loads without thread failure
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of using threads to bear the weight directly, the invention inverts the approach by using a wedge mechanism where the angled edges of the top piece bear against the angled surfaces of the wedge. The weight is transferred through compression of the spring and mechanical leverage of the wedge geometry, reversing the load path from direct thread bearing to distributed mechanical advantage
2Device complexity
If a simple wedge is used to level a structure, then the device is simple, but it is not self-adjusting and difficult to remove once loaded
Solution Approach 1:
The spring is pre-loaded within the hollow column before the wedge device is inserted. This preliminary action of spring compression provides the self-adjusting capability, allowing the top piece to automatically rise and engage the wedge at the appropriate height, eliminating the need for manual adjustment while maintaining simplicity
Solution Approach 2:
The teeth on the wedge device and corresponding teeth on the column serve as an intermediary locking mechanism. These teeth engage to prevent the wedge from being accidentally displaced under load, yet allow for deliberate removal when needed, resolving the contradiction between being simple and being securely retainable
3Extent of automation
If a thin shaft is used to support the foot mechanism, then the device can be self-adjusting, but it may fail under heavy weight
Solution Approach 1:
The spring mechanism is extracted from within a thin shaft and placed into a hollow column instead. This extraction allows the use of a much stronger column structure that can bear heavy weights while still accommodating the self-adjusting spring mechanism, separating the automation function from the load-bearing function
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The solution provides a stable and adjustable leveling mechanism that can bear substantial weight, ensuring the structure remains level over time and can be easily re-adjusted as the floor settles, while being easy to remove without damage.
Implementation Method 1
A spring is arranged in the hollow column
Implementation Method 2
A spring is arranged in the hollow column. A moveable top piece engages the column, and is movable in the vertical direction against the force of the spring
Implementation Method 3
A generally U-shaped wedge device is provided that may be pressed into engagement with the base section, whereby a leg of the U engages each side of the column. The top surfaces of the legs of the U-shaped device are angled in the form of wedges
Data Source
AI summary
A leveling foot having a base section with a raised, hollow column. A spring is arranged in the hollow column. A moveable top piece engages the column, and is movable in the vertical direction against the force of the spring. The top piece is slightly larger than the column, such that side walls of the top piece overlap the sides of the column when the spring is compressed. The bottom edges of the side walls of the top piece are angled. A generally U-shaped wedge device is provided that may be pressed into engagement with the base section, whereby a leg of the U engages each side of the column. The top surfaces of the legs of the U-shaped device are angled in the form of wedges, the angles of the top surfaces of the legs corresponding to the angles of the side walls of the movable top piece, such that the side walls of the top piece will rest upon the angled top surfaces of the legs of the wedge device when the top piece is under load.