Stackable Barrier With Locking Groove For Stable Water Ballast
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional control barriers are limited by their design, which prevents them from being stacked stably and filled with water, making them unsuitable for creating elevated barriers.
Innovation Solution
A barrier system comprising modular barriers with locking mechanisms, such as projections and recesses, and locking shafts, allowing barriers to be securely stacked and filled with ballast like water or other materials.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If conventional control barriers are used, then they can be placed at desired locations to direct traffic and define boundaries, but they cannot be stacked stably and filled with water to create elevated barriers
Solution Approach 1:
The barrier system is divided into modular units with standardized stacking interfaces. Each barrier unit includes protrusions and recesses that enable stable stacking, allowing the system to be assembled into elevated barrier walls of varying heights while maintaining structural stability throughout.
Solution Approach 2:
The barrier units are designed with nested stacking capabilities where each unit fits securely within the stacking sequence. The protrusions on one barrier unit fit into recesses on the unit below, creating a nested-like interlocking structure that provides stable stacking and enables water filling throughout the entire stacked structure.
2Reliability
If conventional control barriers are used, then they can be positioned to direct pedestrian and automobile traffic, but they lack the structural configuration to be filled with water for enhanced stability and elevation
Solution Approach 1:
The barrier units are pre-designed with integrated water-filled chambers and stacking interfaces before deployment. The protrusions and recesses are built into the structure during manufacturing, allowing rapid assembly and immediate water filling capability without requiring complex field modifications or additional stabilization components.
Solution Approach 2:
The barrier units serve multiple functions: they provide traffic direction, define boundaries, create elevated barriers when stacked, and gain enhanced stability when filled with water. The standardized design allows the same basic unit to perform all these functions across different applications without requiring specialized variants.
3Stability of the object's composition
If modular barriers with locking mechanisms are used, then stable stacked barriers can be created, but the locking mechanism adds structural complexity
Solution Approach 1:
The locking mechanism is designed to be self-aligning and self-locking through the protrusion-recess interface. When barriers are stacked, the protrusions automatically engage with the recesses to provide stable locking without requiring external tools, complex mechanisms, or manual adjustment. The structure itself performs the locking function through its geometric design.
Data Source
AI summary
A barrier includes a housing having an exterior surface and an interior surface, the exterior surface having a front face and an opposing back face each extending between a top face and an opposing bottom face and also between a first side face and an opposing second side face, the interior surface bounding a chamber that is adapted to receive a ballast. An elongated first locking groove is recessed on the front face and extends between the top face and the opposing bottom face, the first locking groove including an elongated channel extending between the top face and the bottom face and a constricted mouth through which the channel can be accessed.