Stackable Fence Panel With Nested Cross-Member Design
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing temporary fencing systems are inefficient in stacking and transportation due to the lack of a robust and compact design, leading to increased labor, storage, and transportation costs.
Innovation Solution
A stackable fencing panel design featuring a frame composed of outside posts, cross-members, and interface plates, with wire mesh affixed within the frame, allowing for optimal nesting and alignment during stacking.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If traditional fencing panels are used without a specialized stacking design, then the structure is simple to manufacture, but the stacking efficiency and transportation capacity are poor
Solution Approach 1:
The fencing panel is designed with nested stacking capability where panels can be stacked horizontally within each other. The frame structure includes recesses and protrusions that allow one panel to nest inside another, maximizing space utilization during storage and transportation while maintaining structural integrity.
Solution Approach 2:
The fencing panel is divided into modular components including frame members, interface plates, and wire mesh sections. This segmentation allows for standardized stacking configurations and enables the panel to be assembled and disassembled efficiently, improving stacking productivity without excessive complexity.
2Quantity of substance
If fencing panels are stacked horizontally for transportation, then the transportation capacity increases, but the panels require precise alignment and nesting features
Solution Approach 1:
Alignment features such as recesses, protrusions, and interface plates are pre-formed during manufacturing. These features guide the stacking process and ensure proper alignment between panels without requiring high-precision manual adjustment during assembly, thus enabling high transportation capacity with manageable manufacturing precision requirements.
Solution Approach 2:
Interface plates serve as intermediary elements between the frame members and wire mesh, and also facilitate the stacking connection between adjacent panels. These intermediary components provide standardized connection points that simplify alignment and enable efficient horizontal stacking.
3Volume of moving object
If the interface plate thickness is reduced to allow better nesting, then the stacking compactness improves, but the structural strength may be compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The interface plates are designed using composite construction or optimized material selection that provides high strength-to-thickness ratio. This allows the plates to be thin enough for compact nesting while maintaining sufficient structural strength to withstand stacking loads and transportation forces.
Solution Approach 2:
The interface plates have varying thickness or reinforcement at critical locations where loads are concentrated, while maintaining thinner sections in areas where compactness is prioritized. This localized quality optimization achieves both stacking compactness and structural strength requirements.
Data Source
AI summary
There is provided a stackable fencing panel and a method for stacking fencing panels. The fencing panel including: a first outside post including a post depth; a second outside post opposing the first outside post and including the post depth; and two or more horizontal cross-members each intermediate the first outside post and the second outside post, each horizontal cross-member including a cross-member depth, each horizontal cross-member including a narrowed section proximate both the first outside post and the second outside post, the narrowed sections including a narrowed depth less than the post depth.