Herringbone pattern

The herringbone pattern (also herringbone pattern or herringbone ) or ear pattern is a pattern or ornament that is based on the arrangement of bones ( backbone or with bones ) or fruit stands an ear of corn. It has been known since prehistoric times.

Geometric Fundamentals

Its periodically arranged elements usually have a translational symmetry in the right angle or 45 ° to the right angle. Topologically the herringbone pattern is identical to the hexagonal tiling. As a symmetry group it corresponds to the crystallographic plane group pgg.

Use

As a woven fabric, the pattern is one of the herringbone twill weaves, it is robust, with a certain elasticity. In architecture, it can be used to connect rectangular items (including parallelograms ), such as paving stones, bricks, tiles, parquet blocks are used: So it comes about in the tiling (see laying pattern ) or as masonry association (see Opus spicatum ) are used. Besides the pure ornamentation pattern also has technical reasons. In all cases, changing strike for balance of forces ensures, in the former, for the strain in zweiterem in shrinkage and swelling of the wood, in the latter for the static load. The forces can be distributed within the association over slight rotation of the ridged elements without weakening the association.

Then there are the herringbone structure of practical use as herringbone gear in about steam engines transmissions. Here the use is more like a dovetail, so self-locking positive connection, since the two sides of the ridge are not resilient to each other.

Herringbone brick

Herringbone gear