Folded structure, interconnection of elements, sandwich panel, as well as folding process and folding tool

摘要

A three dimensional folded structure, for use in lightweight design and lightweight construction, is folded at regular intervals and cannot be folded flat. The folded structure substantially extends in two directions and includes a small number of folded ply sheets. Each of the ply sheets is formed by an originally planar blank of an initially flat material lying in a zero plane and includes fold lines and polygonal holes disposed at regular distances. Each of the ply sheets is subdivided into a plurality of segments, each in the form of a polygonal planar entity that is, except at a border of the ply sheet, delimited by the fold lines and the border-edge-sections of a respective polygonal hole. Each ply sheet is folded up in two directions. During folding, the holes close into slits. Each slit of one ply-sheet is completely bridged by the other ply-sheet.

主权项

1. A three dimensional folded structure that is folded at regular intervals and cannot be folded flat, for use in lightweight design and lightweight construction, the folded structure substantially extending in two directions including a longitudinal direction and a transverse direction, and the folded structure comprising:
a small number of folded ply sheets, each of the ply sheets being folded up in two directions, each of the ply sheets being formed by an originally planar blank of an initially flat material lying in a zero plane and including fold lines and polygonal holes disposed at regular distances, each of the ply sheets being subdivided into a plurality of segments, each in the form of a polygonal planar entity that is, except at a border of the ply sheet, delimited by a small number of the fold lines and a small number of edge-sections of a respective polygonal hole, the segments being so numerous that no more than two holes border on each segment, the ply sheets, in the planar state, being congruent, except for a specially formed blank border or a possible slight parallel offset of the fold lines and of said edge-sections to account for material thickness, the plurality of segments being arranged so as to occupy polygons, side by side, along common fold lines and to line up so as form virtual chains, the virtual chains being arranged to form a virtual net in which the polygonal holes are located in virtual meshes of the virtual net so as to be free of polygons, each ply sheet being folded so as to close each respective polygonal hole into a slit-configuration including at least two slit-chains that meet in at least one key-point and so as to shorten the blank in the longitudinal and transverse directions, the folded ply sheet having, except for the slit-chains, an uninterrupted gapless closed form including a bilaterally relief-shaped surface with a plurality of faceted bumps lined up in several directions of the zero plane, in the folded state, a portion of the plurality of segments being H-segments that are horizontally parallel to the zero plane and a remainder of the plurality of segments being V-segments that are at an angle to the zero plane, and one of both relief-shaped surfaces of each ply sheet being defined by an identically shaped virtual system surface of gapless cohering polygons including H-polygons occupied by no more than two gapless neighboring H-segments and V-polygons occupied by no more than two gapless neighboring V-segments, the system surfaces of the at least two of the ply sheets coinciding at least partially in a regular arrangement by extensive contact of respective surfaces of the ply sheets, the ply sheets being tightly conjoined so as to contact not only entirely over horizontal contact-faces from one H-segment to another H-segment, but also at least partially in obliquely inclined contact-faces from one V-segment to another V-segment so as to provide a gapless folded structure by the at least two ply sheets, the at least two ply sheets being conjoined such that each straight slit provided as a section of a slit-chain of one of the ply sheets is bridged over its entire length by at least one segment of the other of the ply sheets.