Wood Frame Module Orientation for Flat Platform Assembly
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Solution Overview
Problem
Construction of extensive platforms in wood framed buildings is labor-intensive and inefficient, leading to high costs and material waste, while prefabricated modular panels have not been widely adopted for floors, ceilings, and roofs due to their complexity and irregular shapes.
Innovation Solution
The use of expeditiously fabricated modules with standardized layouts for floors, walls, and roofs, where modules are oriented with longitudinal axes parallel to the building's length axis and perpendicular to the frame, allowing for automated assembly and improved structural integrity, soundproofing, and thermal insulation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If prefabricated modular panels are used for floors, ceilings, and roofs, then assembly speed and productivity are improved, but device complexity and manufacturing difficulty increase due to irregular shapes and lack of standardization
Solution Approach 1:
The building structure is divided into standardized modular panels that can be independently manufactured and then assembled. Each panel is a self-contained unit with standardized connections, allowing complex building structures to be built from simple, repeated modules. This segmentation enables automated assembly while maintaining structural complexity where needed.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent develops universal modular panels that can serve multiple functions (structural support, insulation, finishing surfaces) and be used across different building types. The standardized panel design allows the same basic module to be adapted for floors, ceilings, and walls, reducing the variety of components needed and simplifying manufacturing while maintaining assembly speed.
2Ease of manufacture
If conventional wood framing is used with individual boards cut at construction sites, then ease of manufacture and adaptability are maintained, but labor requirements and construction time increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The modular panels are manufactured in advance with all connections and fittings pre-assembled in the factory. This preliminary action allows the complex assembly work to be done before construction, so that on-site activity is reduced to simple module installation rather than cutting and fitting individual boards, dramatically increasing construction speed while maintaining design flexibility.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces standardized connection elements and interface mechanisms as intermediaries between modules and the building structure. These intermediaries simplify the assembly process by providing predetermined attachment methods that don't require skilled carpentry or complex tools, enabling faster assembly while maintaining structural integrity and adaptability.
3Ease of manufacture
If modules are fabricated with standardized layouts and orientations, then manufacturing costs and inventory requirements are reduced, but adaptability to different building configurations may be limited
Solution Approach 1:
The modular panel system incorporates dynamic or adjustable connection mechanisms that allow modules to be oriented and positioned in different configurations. The standardized interfaces can accommodate various angles and orientations, enabling the same manufactured modules to adapt to different building layouts and architectural requirements without requiring custom-manufactured components.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent employs nested or interlocking module designs where smaller standardized modules can be combined in various ways to create larger structural units. This nesting approach allows a limited set of standardized module types to be configured in numerous different building patterns and scales, maintaining manufacturing efficiency while achieving high adaptability to different building configurations.
Data Source
AI summary
A method of constructing a frame of a wood frame building structure is shown and described. The method entails fabricating modules establishing nominally flat structural platforms for expediting assembly of floors, walls, ceilings, and a roof. These modules provide structural frames enabling appropriate finishing materials to be affixed thereto. The finishing materials provide continuous, flat surfaces, with exceptions for penetrations. The method includes assembling the modules such that a longitudinal axis of each model is parallel to those of other modules throughout the frame and perpendicular to a building length axis. Also, each module includes ceiling joists, floor joists, and roof rafters, as appropriate, such joists and roof rafters installed parallel to the building length axis and therefore, perpendicular to the joists and roof rafters. This method minimizes assembly costs of modules and of the framing, while retaining conventional framing performance.