a. Patent Description
Tensegrity Patent
R. BUCKMINSTER
FULLER
(1962):
TENSEGRITY (1962)*
US Patent No.:
Application:
August 31, 1959
Serial No.:
837,073
Patented:
November 13, 1962
*-
Inventions, The Patented Works of
R. Buckminster Fuller,
R. Buckminster Fuller
(1983)
Sphere which results from the Tensegrity assembly of tubes working in compression, tied and held together without making contact with one another, by a network of cables working
in tension.
The Tensegrity principle is generally described as the physical phenomenon that produces a stable geometric structure with solid members that are arranged in tandem with tense metal cables where the solid members of this system do not touch or support each other directly. In this case, the Tensegrity pattern is arranged as three solid rods are assembled in a triangular configuration held together by a network of tension cables.
This configuration is repeated and arrayed six times around a center to form a pentagonal center with six triangular frames around its edges. This forms the top section of the dome’s frame, from which the remainder frame sections will be added consecutively along three rings or tiers. This prototype was also developed into the Tensegrity Module Patent (1980).
This case can result in even, non-oriented, and discontinuous enclosures.