Modular Tube Connectors With Clip Locking for Weight-Bearing Play Structures
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Solution Overview
Problem
Traditional construction sets are not strong enough to support a child's weight, limiting their use due to inadequate sturdiness and complex locking mechanisms.
Innovation Solution
A tube construction set featuring durable tubes with strategically placed holes and a simple locking mechanism using connectors and clips, allowing for robust structures that can support weight, including the use of PVC materials and precise manufacturing processes for hole placement and connector design.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If traditional construction set materials and locking mechanisms are used, then the structure can be assembled, but the structure cannot support a child's weight due to insufficient strength and sturdiness
Solution Approach 1:
The construction set is divided into separate modular components (tubes and connectors) that can be assembled to create weight-bearing structures. Each tube is a discrete segment with standardized connection points, allowing the building of distributed load-bearing frameworks rather than monolithic structures.
Solution Approach 2:
Connector clips serve as intermediary elements that join tubes together to form stable geometric shapes. These clips act as mediators that transfer and distribute forces between tube segments, enabling the creation of rigid triangular and rectangular frameworks capable of supporting weight.
2Reliability
If complex locking mechanisms are used to improve sturdiness, then the structure can support weight, but the device becomes expensive and complex
Solution Approach 1:
The complex internal locking mechanisms are extracted and replaced with simple external connector clips that snap onto standardized holes. This removes the need for complicated threaded fasteners, cam locks, or adhesive systems while maintaining structural integrity through geometric stability.
Solution Approach 2:
The connector clips are designed to be self-locking through simple snap-fit mechanisms that require no tools or complex operations. The clips automatically secure tubes together when inserted into the hole pattern, and the geometric configuration of the connected tubes provides inherent stability without additional locking features.
3Device complexity
If simple locking mechanisms are used to reduce complexity, then the device becomes affordable and easy to operate, but the structure lacks the strength to support weight
Solution Approach 1:
Strength is concentrated at the connection points where tubes join through standardized hole patterns and connector clips. The tubes themselves can be simple hollow cylinders, but the local geometry at joint locations (with holes positioned to form triangles and rectangles) provides the necessary structural reinforcement exactly where forces are applied.
Solution Approach 2:
The construction set combines different materials strategically: durable plastic tubes for lightweight strength, rigid connector clips for joint stability, and potentially metal reinforcement elements in high-stress areas. This composite approach allows simple overall design with localized strength enhancements.
Data Source
AI summary
A tube construction set. The tube construction set includes a set of tubes. Each tube includes a wall, where the wall is the body of the tube, a first end and a second end, where the second end is opposite the first end. Each tube also includes four holes near the first end of tube and four holes near the second end of the tube. The tube construction set also includes a set of connectors. Each connector is configured to attach two or more tubes to one another and includes a first port, where the first port is configured to receive a first tube a second port, where the second port is configured to receive a second tube. Each connector also includes a first hole near the first port and a second hole near the second port.