INFLATING INFLATABLES: AIR VALVE

The form of the inflatable shelter needs to endure less pressure than a bouncy castle. Hence it is safe to use the air pump equipments that is used in a bouncy castle.

Blower used by bouncy castle: 450W Air Duster Blower Pump Fan 0.7HP Inflatable Bouncy Castle Jumper 4M Cord CE

Air Valve and Pipe

Valve dimensions:

 

Branding

Photoshopping light from the projector on to this scene
An option inheriting the Netflix style – black as base colour makes it  mysterious but unnecessarily dark. Designing the graphics to go with it, will upload tomorrow. 
Interior – white screen. From Wikipedia: In commercial movie theaters, the screen is a reflective surface that may be either aluminized (for high contrast in moderate ambient light) or a white surface with small glass beads (for high brilliance under dark conditions). Seats has been changed to white with silver metal base. Other equipments in the cinema are metal silver as default until style is confirmed.

Just an alternative idea to the style which I’m giving option to.

An option with bright colours. Inspired from orchid colours again. A festive feel with a brand on its own.

Working on this now. The display of the screen and the short animation of the tilting chair. Will I be penalised if I rely heavily on graphics and minimal images of renderings?

 

 

PRINT READY

 

The new horn speaker I have cadded but yet to detail it is base.
Thread holes
Space enlarged.
Base; two concentric rings to support the base, one marine board platform (outermost), 16 slices of metal sheets (pizza-shaped)
Removed the Bose speakers. Projector shortened to be throw projector.

SECURING INFLATABLES 2

I wonder if it is worth the effort to create the inflatable. It doesn’t look good 🙁

Fog tent mechanism. This uses tension in the hard sheet material to create a convex curve. A quarter of this fog tent looks just like the entrance of my own design. This method will drive a pole in the middle of my design. Not good.
Geodesic hub connector

 

Scalable polygonal and polyhedral geometric construction system

Cantilever’s supports

I searched for cantilever products to come up with a clean and sleek solution, and was inspired by the following items:

This is my favourite. It looks light and does not obstruct space or break the form as much as the current design.

Inflatable architecture references from Pinterest

Cantilever inflatable, both sides touching ground. Indents on the surface because of the supports within the inflatable.
Many inflatable pieces in one base.
Cantilever inflatable rain machine. I find that it is hard for the dome to be cantilever without many supports, and without a base. Base makes it look heavy in my opinion. Idealistically it can be like this cantilever rain machine.

 

UPDATES:

Entrance. The different “pieces of inflatables” are connected to form 2 major pieces. Turnbuckles and cables pull the inflatable back to ensure it is erect.

One large floor panel and 3 curved floor panels connected to the large center piece. Material: Marine board for all. Perhaps base center can be disconnected for transportation.
Looking from the interior; Steel rods connect the center base to the Marine board below the inflatables. Inflatables connected are pegged down to the marine board. On second thought this looks messy (unclean).

 

UPDATES: CANTILEVER UMBRELLA SUPPORTS

I removed the gears and knobs and opted for an accessorising approach when designing the supports for the exhibition. This adds a little interest rather than using boring technical details. There will be 2 supports to a 1/2 hemisphere. 

 

ORCHID CHAIR WITH HINGE

Orchid. The second layer of orchid is actually a foot rest. The third layer is the sheet that guides the movement.

Tilting on CAD, I discovered that the curvature for the last piece appears too… G2. Followed up by changing the bottom curvature to tangent to pivot point.

Corrected the base curvature to be able to tilt at wider angle.

Tilt angle: 11.22 degrees, left and right.

 

SECURING INFLATABLES

According to Singapore’s law, an inflatable which is characteristic of the below is considered an amusement park.

  • An inflatable which a patron may enter upon or within or climb on:
    1. which has any enclosed space that is fully or partially roofed over or covered, the base of which enclosed space occupies an area equal to or exceeding 30 square metres;
    2. which has any enclosed space that is fully or partially roofed over or covered of any size, within which the maximum vertical displacement of a patron using the inflatable is equal to or exceeds 5 metres; or
    3. the base of which occupies an area equal to or exceeding 150 square metres, whether or not the inflatable has any enclosed space

Hence it has to adhere to structural & mechanical and process guidelines  and is required to be assessed and certified by a qualified person (QP), who is a specialist professional engineer, registered in the discipline of amusement ride engineering with the Professional Engineers Board.

Quoting the same website,

“For a major amusement ride with a higher risk and safety profile, the qualifed person will be required to engage and consider the advice and opinion of a conformity assessor (CA). A conformity assessor is a person or body of persons whose expertise is or includes the carrying out of procedures (including inspections, tests and certifications) for determining whether the design and specifications, the proposed installation method or programme or the proposed modification method or programme relating to a major amusement ride or the major modification thereof conform to any technical standard or requirement. A conformity assessor could be incorporated or not, and could be local or foreign.

Besides technical support, the conformity assessor will complement the qualified person with expertise in non-technical but critical aspects of ride safety such as ride management (e.g. layout of queue areas) and crowd control (e.g. access routes and barriers).”

https://www.bca.gov.sg/AmusementRideSafety/arsa_rides.html

No rough guideline was provided by the website. But according to UK’s guidelines, any inflatable set up outdoors on hard standing must have 165kg of pressure on each anchor point. An option to that is the drill and bolt system.

UK website, http://www.hse.gov.uk/entertainment/fairgrounds/inflatables.htm. states this:

  1. If you are buying an inflatable for work or renting one for an event, ensure it has been built to the current British Standard (BS EN 14960) and if it has, there will be a label on it saying so. If there is no label you may be taking a risk with the safety of those using it.
  2. The label will tell you when it was made, how many people can use it and what heights they should be.
  3. Every inflatable should have at least 6 anchor points, though bigger ones will need more. The operator manual that should be supplied with the inflatable will tell you how many there should be. BS EN 14960 also provides more information regarding the calculations to be used to work out anchor point requirements.
  4. All the anchor points must be used, preferably with metal ground stakes at least 380mm length and 16mm diameter with a rounded top. Anchor points on the inflatable should have a welded metal ‘0’ or ‘D’ ring fitted to the end. If ground stakes cannot be used then a system of ballast using water or sand barrels or tying down to vehicles that will give at least the same level of protection should be used. Each anchor point should have the equivalent of 163kgs to give this. Beware of tripping hazards if you secure in this way.
  5. Have a good look at the inflatable when it is blown up and before use. You should check:
    • the site is suitable;
    • all anchorages are secure and in place;
    • ancillary equipment is in position (e.g. impact-absorbing mats);
    • there are no significant holes or rips in the fabric or seams;
    • the correct blower is being used;
    • the internal air pressure is sufficient to give a firm and reliable footing;
    • there are no exposed electrical parts and no wear on cables;
    • plugs, sockets, switches, etc. are not damaged;
    • the connection tube and blower are firmly attached to each other;
    • the outer edges of the front step are in line with the centre of each of the front uprights. Under no circumstances should the width of the step be less than this. The whole unit should look symmetrical and those bits that should upright, should be upright. If it looks misshapen or deformed there may be internal problems which may make bouncing unpredictable.
  6. If there is an electrical blower with the inflatable this must also be tested at regular intervals. The law requires electrical equipment to be maintained to prevent danger. The type and frequency of user checks, inspections and testing needed will depend on the equipment, the environment in which it is used and the results of previous checks.

British Standard (BS EN 14960) costs 114 pounds to buy, and it will be unnecessarily time-unfriendly. I will adhere to what I can find on the above UK website.

O ring
D ring, sticky

Turnbuckles

Cable to turnbuckle

Jaw and jaw, or Jaw and eye
Floor shackles (Protruding)
Floor shackles (Recessed)

The floor panel holding the shackles must be able to withstand harsh  outdoor environments.

HDPE Marine Board
High Density Polyethylene Marine Board is specially formulated to withstand the rigors of harsh outdoor marine environments. It is UV-stabilized to resist damage and retain its beauty, even after years of direct sunlight. Increasingly, Marine Board is replacing wood and laminates in boating applications. It does not splinter, crack, delaminate, rot, swell or absorb water like traditional materials. Even under heavy foot traffic on yacht decks, it remains virtually maintenance-free.

 

Raw marine plywood
Application on boat hulls