Wave-Shaped Web Configuration for Level Frame Rigidity
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Solution Overview
Problem
Molded frame levels lack structural rigidity due to material strength limitations, leading to flexing and twisting under pressure, which can be mitigated by increasing web thickness but results in higher material and manufacturing costs.
Innovation Solution
A level with a wave-shaped web configuration that adds strength and rigidity without significantly increasing material usage, featuring undulating designs such as sinusoidal, triangular, or square wave patterns to reduce flexing and twisting forces.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If web thickness is increased to reduce flexing and twisting, then structural rigidity is improved, but material usage and manufacturing cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The web is configured with an undulating or wave-shaped pattern featuring multiple arches or curves along its length, replacing the traditional flat planar design. This curvature allows the web to resist bending and twisting forces more effectively while using the same material thickness, thereby improving structural rigidity without increasing material consumption.
Solution Approach 2:
The web design transitions from a two-dimensional flat plane to a three-dimensional undulating structure with vertical arches and curves. This dimensional change creates additional structural complexity that enhances rigidity and resistance to lateral forces while maintaining the same material quantity, as the wave pattern distributes stresses more effectively across the web.
2Strength
If web thickness is increased to improve structural rigidity, then resistance to lateral forces is improved, but manufacturing cost increases
Solution Approach 1:
The undulating web configuration with its arches and curves provides enhanced resistance to lateral and twisting forces compared to a flat web of the same thickness. This curvature-based design achieves superior structural performance without requiring thicker material, thereby avoiding the increased manufacturing costs associated with thicker webs while maintaining ease of molding.
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of changing the material thickness parameter to improve strength, the invention changes the geometric configuration parameter by introducing wave patterns and arches into the web structure. This parameter change allows the same material quantity to provide enhanced lateral force resistance through improved structural distribution of stresses.
Data Source
AI summary
A molded plastic yet structurally rigid tool, such as a level, with a web extending in a generally undulating configuration. The undulating configuration of the web acts to strengthen and make the level more rigid when compared to a level with a planar web. The undulating configuration of the web is substantially symmetrical about the centerline of the level over its entire length, but may also be arranged in a number of non-planar embodiments.