Width-Adjustable Support Stand with Telescopic Rail Hub Locking
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing width-adjustable support stands are prone to breakage due to the weakness of male guides in their design, which limits their robustness and adaptability to different object sizes.
Innovation Solution
A width-adjustable support stand design featuring telescopically received rail stubs within hollow cavities of rail hubs, with additional locking mechanisms to selectively lock cross-rails at various lengths, providing a more robust and adaptable structure.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If male guides are used in the rail stub design, then the stand allows width adjustment, but the structure becomes prone to breakage
Solution Approach 1:
The rail stub is divided into multiple components: the stub body, male tongues, and slide guides. The male tongues are separate elements that engage with slots in the rail hub, while the slide guides engage with corresponding guides in the hub. This segmentation allows each component to be optimized for its specific function while distributing structural loads across multiple elements rather than concentrating stress in a single male guide structure.
Solution Approach 2:
The rail stub is telescopically received within the rail hub's hollow cavity, creating a nested structure. The stub fits inside the hub with its male tongues extending into slots in the hub wall. This nesting arrangement provides structural support from the surrounding hub cavity while allowing the stub to extend and retract, combining the strength of the enclosed hub structure with the adjustability of the extending stub.
2Reliability
If the stand structure is made more robust to prevent breakage, then reliability improves, but adaptability to different object sizes may be reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The stand incorporates a dynamic width adjustment mechanism where the rail stubs can be extended or retracted within the rail hubs. The male tongues slide within the hub slots, and the slide guides move within the hub's guide cavities, allowing the structure to dynamically change its width configuration. This dynamic capability enables the stand to adapt to different object sizes while maintaining structural integrity through the controlled sliding mechanism.
Solution Approach 2:
The width of the stand is adjusted by changing the extension parameter of the rail stubs. By controlling how far the stubs extend from the hubs, the overall width of the stand can be varied. The structural strength is maintained because the stubs remain connected to the hubs through the slot-and-tongue engagement and slide guide systems, which provide mechanical support throughout the range of motion.
Data Source
AI summary
A width-adjustable support stand has two leg pairs, each composed of two legs interconnected by a length-adjustable cross-rail. Each cross-rail features a pair of rail stubs that are attached to inner sides of the two legs and are telescopically received in hollow cavities of a rail hub at opposing ends thereof. Each rail stub has a pair of slide guides engaged with corresponding slide guides on opposing internal walls of the respective hollow cavity, and also has upper and lower tongues riding in top and bottom slots of the rail hub between in-turned flanges thereof. To lock each leg pair at user-selected width, a lock slot in each rail stub is penetrated by a lock fastener that engages opposing sidewalls of the rail hub on opposite sides of the rail stub, so that tightening of the fastener clamps the rail stub firmly between the sidewalls of the rail hub.