Self-aligning Structural Joint with Profiled Mating Faces
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional structural joints in building construction face challenges such as alignment issues, material deformation, and increased costs due to the need for precise alignment and welding, especially in situations where access is limited or components are not axially aligned.
Innovation Solution
A self-supporting and self-aligning structural joint design that utilizes profiled mating faces and splice plates, allowing for easy assembly and alignment of structural members, which can be secured using fasteners and nut carrier plates, eliminating the need for internal nuts and reducing the requirement for precise alignment and welding.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If conventional structural joints use precise alignment and welding, then structural integrity is improved, but assembly complexity and construction costs increase
Solution Approach 1:
The joint system is divided into separate components: splice plates attached to structural members, nut carrier plates with internal nuts, and fasteners. This segmentation allows each component to be manufactured and prepared independently, simplifying assembly while maintaining structural integrity through the coordinated interaction of these discrete elements.
Solution Approach 2:
Nut carrier plates serve as intermediary elements that bridge the structural member and the fastener. These carriers provide a convenient interface for attaching internal nuts to the structural member, eliminating the need for precise alignment during fastener installation and reducing assembly complexity while maintaining joint strength.
2Strength
If conventional structural joints require precise alignment, then joint strength is improved, but assembly time and labor costs increase
Solution Approach 1:
Internal nuts are pre-attached to nut carrier plates, and splice plates are pre-attached to structural members. This preliminary preparation eliminates the need for precise alignment during the actual assembly process, as components are designed to accommodate normal construction tolerances, significantly reducing assembly time while maintaining joint strength.
Solution Approach 2:
The joint design changes the alignment parameter from requiring precise alignment to accommodating normal construction tolerances. The profiled mating faces and the geometry of the splice plates and nut carrier plates are designed to provide self-alignment, transforming the alignment requirement from a critical precision parameter to a tolerant parameter that simplifies assembly.
3Strength
If conventional structural joints use welding, then structural integrity is improved, but material deformation and construction costs increase
Solution Approach 1:
The invention replaces the thermal welding process with a mechanical fastening system consisting of splice plates, nut carrier plates, and fasteners. This mechanical substitution eliminates the heat-affected zone and material deformation associated with welding, while maintaining structural integrity through the mechanical connection. The system also eliminates construction costs related to welding equipment and skilled welder labor.
4Strength
If conventional structural joints require access from both sides, then joint strength is improved, but ease of installation deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of requiring fasteners to pass through both structural members from opposite sides, the invention inverts the approach by attaching internal nuts to the structural member via nut carrier plates. This allows fasteners to be installed from one side only, significantly improving ease of installation in locations with limited access, while maintaining joint strength through the secure attachment of the nut carrier plate to the structural member.
Data Source
AI summary
A structural joint system connects hollow structural members that provide load transfer and alignment for the connection between structural members is described. The structural members may comprise a plurality of beams each having a first and second structural members. A first and second members being joined may or may not be axially aligned.In some embodiments, the structural joint includes a first structural member having a first mating face at one end of the first structural member, the first mating face having a two dimensional profile, a second structural member having a second mating face at one end of the second structural member and positioned proximate to the first mating face of the first structural member, the second mating face having a two dimensional profile that is similar to the two dimensional profile of the first mating face, a splice plate secured to the first structural member at the first mating face and removably secured to the second structural member at the second mating face, and fasteners that secure the splice plate to the first structural member and removably attach the splice plate to the second structural member.