Patent Application
20230366202
The present disclosure claims the benefit of Singapore Patent Application No. 10202009717Y filed on 30 Sep. 2020, which is incorporated in its entirety by reference herein.
The present disclosure generally relates to an elongated section for construction structures. More particularly, the present disclosure describes various embodiments of an elongated section and a construction structure comprising the elongated section.
Many construction structures are temporary or semi-permanent structures that are made for various events such as, for example, exhibitions, sporting events, conferences, seminars, symposiums, construction projects, disaster relief centres, and so forth. These construction structures may include accommodation, offices, storage and warehousing facilities, display stands, exhibition spaces, greenhouses, reception rooms, temporary flooring, cafes, restaurants, bistros, and so forth. They may be required for a few days, several months, or even years, depending on the duration of the events. These construction structures are often specially constructed using conventional construction techniques which are usually time-consuming, expensive, and the construction structures may be difficult to construct and dismantle. Moreover, the materials used for the construction structures often cannot be reused or recycled.
Therefore, in order to address or alleviate at least one of the aforementioned problems and/or disadvantages, there is a need to provide an improved construction structure.
According to a first aspect of the present disclosure, there is an elongated section for construction structures. The elongated section comprises a plurality of sides, each side comprising a first retaining channel and a second retaining channel adjacent a respective corner of the elongated section, the first and second retaining channels being a mirror image of each other. Each retaining channel is configured for engaging a respective retaining member for supporting a structural panel between the retaining members. Each retaining channel comprises a channel slot extending perpendicularly into the side, the channel slot for engaging a first end of the respective retaining member; and a channel end opposite to the channel slot for engaging a second end of the respective retaining member.
According to a second aspect of the present disclosure, there is a construction structure comprising the elongated section and a first retaining member for engaging with the first retaining channel of the elongated section. The first retaining member comprises the first end for engaging with the channel slot of the first retaining channel; and the second end opposite to the first end, the second end for engaging with the channel end of the first retaining channel.
An elongated section, as well as a construction structure comprising the elongated section, according to the present disclosure is thus disclosed herein. Various features, aspects, and advantages of the present disclosure will become more apparent from the following detailed description of the embodiments of the present disclosure, by way of non-limiting examples only, along with the accompanying drawings.
Descriptions of embodiments of the present disclosure are directed to an elongated section and a construction structure comprising the elongated section, in accordance with the drawings. While aspects of the present disclosure will be described in conjunction with the embodiments provided herein, it will be understood that they are not intended to limit the present disclosure to these embodiments. On the contrary, the present disclosure is intended to cover alternatives, modifications and equivalents to the embodiments described herein, which are included within the scope of the present disclosure as defined by the appended claims. Furthermore, in the following detailed description, specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the present disclosure. However, it will be recognized by an individual having ordinary skill in the art, i.e. a skilled person, that the present disclosure may be practiced without specific details, and/or with multiple details arising from combinations of aspects of particular embodiments. In a number of instances, known systems, methods, procedures, and components have not been described in detail so as to not unnecessarily obscure aspects of the embodiments of the present disclosure.
In embodiments of the present disclosure, depiction of a given element or consideration or use of a particular element number in a particular figure or a reference thereto in corresponding descriptive material can encompass the same, an equivalent, or an analogous element or element number identified in another figure or descriptive material associated therewith.
References to “an embodiment/example”, “another embodiment/example”, “some embodiments/examples”, “some other embodiments/examples”, and so on, indicate that the embodiment(s)/example(s) so described may include a particular feature, structure, characteristic, property, element, or limitation, but that not every embodiment/example necessarily includes that particular feature, structure, characteristic, property, element or limitation. Furthermore, repeated use of the phrase “in an embodiment/example” or “in another embodiment/example” does not necessarily refer to the same embodiment/example.
The terms “comprising”, “including”, “having”, and the like do not exclude the presence of other features/elements/steps than those listed in an embodiment. Recitation of certain features/elements/steps in mutually different embodiments does not indicate that a combination of these features/elements/steps cannot be used in an embodiment.
As used herein, the terms “a” and “an” are defined as one or more than one. The use of “I” in a figure or associated text is understood to mean “and/or” unless otherwise indicated. The recitation of a particular numerical value or value range herein is understood to include or be a recitation of an approximate numerical value or value range. The term “set” is defined as a non-empty finite organization of elements that mathematically exhibits a cardinality of at least one (e.g. a set as defined herein can correspond to a unit, singlet, or single-element set, or a multiple-element set), in accordance with known mathematical definitions. The terms “first” and “second” are used merely as labels or identifiers and are not intended to impose numerical requirements on their associated terms. The term “each other” represents a reciprocal relation between two or more elements.
Representative or exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure describe an elongated section 101 for construction structures, as shown in
Each side 102 has a first retaining channel 104 and a second retaining channel 105 adjacent a respective corner 106 of the elongated section 101. The retaining channels 104,105 are a mirror image of each other about a central longitudinal axis 121 of the respective side 102. The retaining channels 104,105 may be identical to, spaced apart from, and/or parallel to each other.
Further as shown in
Further as shown in
In some embodiments as shown in
Each retaining member 201 is adapted to engage with the respective retaining channel 104,105 by first locating the first end 204 into the channel slot 197 and then compressing the rear face 205 so that the rear face 205 can move closer to the front face 202. The second end 206 with the hook can then engage with the notch at the channel end 198. The compression is released so that the rear face 205 can move away from the front face 202, thereby providing a secure engagement of the retaining member 201 with the respective retaining channel 104,105. By having the retaining member 201 inserted into place in a clip-like manner rather than a sliding manner, installation can be done more quickly and retaining members 201 with long lengths may be used without difficulty. Comparatively, normal sliding engagements across the whole length of the retaining member 201 can cause jamming during engagement, or may require great strength due to the frictional forces involved.
In some embodiments as shown in
The structural panel 301 can then be inserted towards the central mounting channel 110 and in between the first retaining member 201a and second retaining member 201b. The structural panel 301 may alternatively be inserted before inserting the second retaining member 201b into the second retaining channel 105. Accordingly, the first retaining member 201a and second retaining member 201b sandwich the structural panel 301 to secure it to the elongated section 101. Further as shown in
The engagements of the first ends 204 of the retaining members 201 with the longitudinal channel slots 197 of the retaining channels 104,105 enable the structural panel 301 to be more securely attached to the elongated section 101. The structural panel 301 can withstand high wind loads when used outdoors. The structural panel 301 can support heavier wall systems when used in a larger construction system.
As shown in
In some embodiments as shown in
Further as shown in
As shown in
The elongated section 101 is configured to be used with corner blocks 410 and connectors 420, as shown in
The elongated section 101 can be fabricated by various manufacturing methods using various materials such as metals. In some embodiments, the elongated section 101 is manufactured by extrusion. In some embodiments, the elongated section 101 or a product comprising it may be formed by a manufacturing process that includes an additive manufacturing process. A common example of additive manufacturing is three-dimensional (3D) printing; however, other methods of additive manufacturing are available. Rapid prototyping or rapid manufacturing are also terms which may be used to describe additive manufacturing processes.
As used herein, “additive manufacturing” refers generally to manufacturing processes wherein successive layers of material(s) are provided on each other to “build-up” layer-by-layer or “additively fabricate”, a 3D component. This is compared to some subtractive manufacturing methods (such as milling or drilling), wherein material is successively removed to fabricate the part. The successive layers generally fuse together to form a monolithic component which may have a variety of integral sub-components. In particular, the manufacturing process may allow an example of the disclosure to be integrally formed and include a variety of features not possible when using prior manufacturing methods.
Additive manufacturing methods described herein enable manufacture to any suitable size and shape with various features which may not have been possible using prior manufacturing methods. Additive manufacturing can create complex geometries without the use of any sort of tools, moulds, or fixtures, and with little or no waste material. Instead of machining components from solid billets of plastic or metal, much of which is cut away and discarded, the only material used in additive manufacturing is what is required to shape the part.
Suitable additive manufacturing techniques in accordance with the present disclosure include, for example, Fused Deposition Modelling (FDM), Selective Laser Sintering (SLS), 3D printing such as by inkjets and laserjets, Stereolithography (SLA), Direct Selective Laser Sintering (DSLS), Electron Beam Sintering (EBS), Electron Beam Melting (EBM), Laser Engineered Net Shaping (LENS), Electron Beam Additive Manufacturing (EBAM), Laser Net Shape Manufacturing (LNS), Direct Metal Deposition (DMD), Digital Light Processing (DLP), Continuous Digital Light Processing (CDLP), Direct Selective Laser Melting (DSLM), Selective Laser Melting (SLM), Direct Metal Laser Melting (DMLM), Direct Metal Laser Sintering (DMLS), Material Jetting (MJ), NanoParticle Jetting (NPJ), Drop On Demand (DOD), Binder Jetting (BJ), Multi Jet Fusion (MJF), Laminated Object Manufacturing (LOM), and other known processes.
The additive manufacturing processes described herein may be used for forming components using any suitable material. For example, the material may be metal, plastic, polymer, composite, or any other suitable material that may be in solid, liquid, powder, sheet material, wire, or any other suitable form or combinations thereof. More specifically, according to exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure, the additively manufactured components described herein may be formed in part, in whole, or in some combination of materials suitable for use in additive manufacturing processes and which may be suitable for the fabrication of examples described herein.
As noted above, the additive manufacturing process disclosed herein allows a single component to be formed from multiple materials. Thus, the examples described herein may be formed from any suitable mixtures of the above materials. For example, a component may include multiple layers, segments, or parts that are formed using different materials, processes, and/or on different additive manufacturing machines. In this manner, components may be constructed which have different materials and material properties for meeting the demands of any particular application. In addition, although the components described herein are constructed entirely by additive manufacturing processes, it should be appreciated that in alternate embodiments, all or a portion of these components may be formed via casting, machining, and/or any other suitable manufacturing process. Indeed, any suitable combination of materials and manufacturing methods may be used to form these components.
Additive manufacturing processes typically fabricate components based on 3D information, for example a 3D computer model (or design file), of the component. Accordingly, examples described herein not only include products or components as described herein, but also methods of manufacturing such products or components via additive manufacturing and computer software, firmware or hardware for controlling the manufacture of such products via additive manufacturing.
The structure of the product may be represented digitally in the form of a design file. A design file, or computer aided design (CAD) file, is a configuration file that encodes one or more of the surface or volumetric configuration of the shape of the product. That is, a design file represents the geometrical arrangement or shape of the product.
Design files can take any now known or later developed file format. For example, design files may be in the Stereolithography or “Standard Tessellation Language” (.stl) format which was created for Stereolithography CAD programs of 3D Systems, or the Additive Manufacturing File (.amf) format, which is an American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) standard that is an extensible markup-language (XML) based format designed to allow any CAD software to describe the shape and composition of any 3D object to be fabricated on any additive manufacturing printer. Further examples of design file formats include AutoCAD (.dwg) files, Blender (.blend) files, Parasolid (.x_t) files, 3D Manufacturing Format (.3mf) files, Autodesk (3ds) files, Collada (.dae) files and Wavefront (.obj) files, although many other file formats exist.
Design files can be produced using modelling (e.g. CAD modelling) software and/or through scanning the surface of a product to measure the surface configuration of the product. Once obtained, a design file may be converted into a set of computer executable instructions that, once executed by a processer, cause the processor to control an additive manufacturing apparatus to produce a product according to the geometrical arrangement specified in the design file. The conversion may convert the design file into slices or layers that are to be formed sequentially by the additive manufacturing apparatus. The instructions (otherwise known as geometric code or “G-code”) may be calibrated to the specific additive manufacturing apparatus and may specify the precise location and amount of material that is to be formed at each stage in the manufacturing process. As discussed above, the formation may be through deposition, through sintering, or through any other form of additive manufacturing method.
The code or instructions may be translated between different formats, converted into a set of data signals and transmitted, received as a set of data signals and converted to code, stored, etc., as necessary. The instructions may be an input to the additive manufacturing system and may come from a part designer, an intellectual property (IP) provider, a design company, the operator or owner of the additive manufacturing system, or from other sources. An additive manufacturing system may execute the instructions to fabricate the product using any of the technologies or methods disclosed herein.
Design files or computer executable instructions may be stored in a (transitory or non-transitory) computer readable storage medium (e.g., memory, storage system, etc.) storing code, or computer readable instructions, representative of the product to be produced. As noted, the code or computer readable instructions defining the product that can be used to physically generate the object, upon execution of the code or instructions by an additive manufacturing system. For example, the instructions may include a precisely defined 3D model of the product and can be generated from any of a large variety of well-known CAD software systems such as AutoCAD®, TurboCAD®, DesignCAD 3D Max, etc. Alternatively, a model or prototype of the product may be scanned to determine the 3D information of the product. Accordingly, by controlling an additive manufacturing apparatus according to the computer executable instructions, the additive manufacturing apparatus can be instructed to print out the product.
In light of the above, embodiments include methods of manufacture via additive manufacturing. This includes the steps of obtaining a design file representing the product and instructing an additive manufacturing apparatus to manufacture the product according to the design file. The additive manufacturing apparatus may include a processor that is configured to automatically convert the design file into computer executable instructions for controlling the manufacture of the product. In these embodiments, the design file itself can automatically cause the production of the product once input into the additive manufacturing apparatus. Accordingly, in this embodiment, the design file itself may be considered computer executable instructions that cause the additive manufacturing apparatus to manufacture the product. Alternatively, the design file may be converted into instructions by an external computing system, with the resulting computer executable instructions being provided to the additive manufacturing apparatus.
Given the above, the design and manufacture of implementations of the subject matter and the operations described in this specification can be realized using digital electronic circuitry, or in computer software, firmware, or hardware, including the structures disclosed in this specification and their structural equivalents, or in combinations of one or more of them. For instance, hardware may include processors, microprocessors, electronic circuitry, electronic components, integrated circuits, etc. Implementations of the subject matter described in this specification can be realized using one or more computer programs, i.e., one or more modules of computer program instructions, encoded on computer storage medium for execution by, or to control the operation of, data processing apparatus. Alternatively or in addition, the program instructions can be encoded on an artificially generated propagated signal, e.g., a machine-generated electrical, optical, or electromagnetic signal that is generated to encode information for transmission to suitable receiver apparatus for execution by a data processing apparatus. A computer storage medium can be, or be included in, a computer-readable storage device, a computer-readable storage substrate, a random or serial access memory array or device, or a combination of one or more of them. Moreover, while a computer storage medium is not a propagated signal, a computer storage medium can be a source or destination of computer program instructions encoded in an artificially generated propagated signal. The computer storage medium can also be, or be included in, one or more separate physical components or media (e.g., multiple CDs, disks, or other storage devices).
Although additive manufacturing technology is described herein as enabling fabrication of complex objects by building objects point-by-point, layer-by-layer, typically in a vertical direction, other methods of fabrication are possible and within the scope of the present subject matter. For example, although the discussion herein refers to the addition of material to form successive layers, one skilled in the art will appreciate that the methods and structures disclosed herein may be practiced with any additive manufacturing technique or other manufacturing technology.
In the foregoing detailed description, embodiments of the present disclosure in relation to an elongated section and a construction structure comprising the elongated section are described with reference to the provided figures. The description of the various embodiments herein is not intended to call out or be limited only to specific or particular representations of the present disclosure, but merely to illustrate non-limiting examples of the present disclosure. The present disclosure serves to address at least one of the mentioned problems and issues associated with the prior art. Although only some embodiments of the present disclosure are disclosed herein, it will be apparent to a person having ordinary skill in the art in view of this disclosure that a variety of changes and/or modifications can be made to the disclosed embodiments without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. Therefore, the scope of the disclosure as well as the scope of the following claims is not limited to embodiments described herein.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10202009717Y | Sep 2020 | SG | national |
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/SG2021/050589 | 9/30/2021 | WO |
