Design Challenge - March 2010

Lintje Design

Gordon Adler and Henning Weidhase founded the German design studio in 2005. The company has worked for Liebherr, Daimler, Eon, VW and the Fraunhofer Institute.

Our working motto has always been: ‘design means destruct and combine,’ so for this challenge we went back to basics. Our main question was: ‘why do crane convoys transport so much air?!’ In a nutshell, it’s because standard lattice-boom segments mean you transport huge sections but little mass.

I’ve always had a soft spot for foldable and collapsible contraptions. As a student I worked on the concept, the visuals and the practicalities of a self-erecting zipper patent for replacing poles in tents and photo reflectors etc, although an early possibility was its use in earth drilling machines. So we came up with a simple solution: the boom would be comprised of joinable segment sections that would stick together in a similar way to a felt-tip pen and its cap. Each section would be made up of three interlocking pieces, providing the benefit of stackable elements and enabling a massive increase in the volume that can be transported in one lorry load. Segments of different lengths – perhaps 6-10m, and 1m in diameter – can be used, and the whole system can be built, and lifted up, from the bottom without extra equipment.

More work needs to be done to improve the functionality – the next step would be some finite element analysis, and then a look at the mechanical solution for the joining of the segments. The segments would be manufactured from steel, although this could be substituted with composite materials after more research.

Other interesting variations, like circles or striped cut-outs, were initially under consideration, but we finally settled on triangles – what else? – for their ideal characteristics in meeting shearing and pressure requirements.

We began another futuristic vision of a ‘floral self-growing crane’ as a biogenetic design, a clone of bamboo and oak, but kicked this in to touch in case it was considered too ‘far out’ (see it on the iVT website). Industrial designers are often said to have their heads in the clouds, but on the other hand, who even knows if cranes will still be needed in 2150, when houses may also be self-growing?

Early Concepts

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Section Detail

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Full views

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Growing Tree

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CONTACT DETAILS

Email: adler@lintje.de

Website: www.lintje.de