AU2001267147A1

AU2001267147A1 - A building structure

Info

Publication number: AU2001267147A1
Application number: AU2001267147A
Authority: AU
Inventors: Brian Davies
Original assignee: Brian Investments Pty Ltd
Current assignee: Brian Investments Pty Ltd
Priority date: 2000-06-26
Filing date: 2001-06-26
Publication date: 2002-03-28
Anticipated expiration: 2021-06-26

Description

A BUILDING STRUCTURE

The present invention relates to a building structure.

The specification accompanying Australian patent application number 27615/00 describes a building structure having a wall including a plurality of wall elements. Each wall element is connected to a plurality of other wall elements so as to form the wall, wherein each wall element includes a connecting means for connecting the adjacent wall elements together to form the wall.

This stracture is particularly suited for grain storage as it may be constructed to be of a dome shape. The inventor has developed an improvement to this structure.

In accordance with the present invention there is provided a building structure having a curved wall including a plurality of wall elements, each wall element connected to a plurality of other wall elements so as to form the wall, wherein each wall element includes a connecting means for connecting the adjacent wall elements together to form the wall, wherein the wall is formed of at least three consecutively connected rings of interlocking wall elements, each of the wall elements in each ring being of the same size, each of the wall elements in a first ring of the consecutively connected rings being larger than the wall elements of a second ring of the consecutively connected rings and each of the elements in the second ring being larger then the wall elements of a third ring of the consecutively connected rings.

Preferably, each wall element includes a first face and a second face opposite the first face. More preferably, each wall element further includes a plurality of sides. Preferably, the connecting means of each wall element includes an interlocking portion located on each side of the wall element for connecting each said side to another side of another wall element.

Preferably each of the wall elements in each subsequent ring after the third ring are smaller than the wall elements of the preceding ring. Preferably the curved wall forms a dome shaped structure.

Preferably, the first face of each wall element is of concave shape. More preferably, the first face of each wall element, in use, collectively forms an interior face of the wall. Preferably, the second face of each wall element is convex in shape. More preferably, the second face of each wall element, in use, collectively forms an exterior face of the wall.

Preferably, each wall element is in the form of a tile.

Preferably, ihe shape of the first face and the second face of each of the wall element tiles is a polygon in plan view. Preferably, the wall element is an irregularly shaped hexagon.

Preferably, the interlocking portions that connect two wall elements together are a complementary projection and recess, one of each formed on each of the sides connected together. Preferably three of the sides of the hexagon have the projection and the other three sides have the recess.

Preferably, all wall elements of each ring are uniform in size and shape.

In accordance with a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of constructing a building structure having a curved wall including the steps of: connecting a plurality of wall elements having a first size together to form a first ring, connecting a plurality of wall elements having a second size, smaller than the first size, together to form a second ring interlocking with the first ring, connecting a plurality of wall elements having a third size, smaller than the second size, together to form a third ring interlocking with the second ring, wherein each wall element having a connection means for connecting each wall element to a corresponding connection means of each adjacent wall element, whereby the interlocking rings of the wall elements form the curved wall. Preferably, adjacent wall elements are connected by placing them with abutting sides together of each of the adjacent wall elements, and connecting an interlocking portion of the connecting means located on each side of each of the adjacent wall elements. Preferably, the wall elements are placed in an arrangement where an inside face of each wall element forms a part of an inside surface of the wall. More preferably, the wall elements are placed in an arrangement where an outside face of each wall element forms a part of an outside surface of the wall.

Preferably, the wall elements are placed in an arrangement where a curve in the body of each wall element contributes to a curve in the wall. More preferably, the wall elements are placed so that a concave curve of the inside face of each wall element contributes to form a constant concave curve in the inside surface of the wall. Still more preferably, the wall elements are placed so that a convex curve of the outside face of each wall element contributes to form a constant convex curve in the outside surface of the wall.

Preferably, the wall elements are placed so as to form a circular wall. More preferably, the wall elements are placed so as to form a dome shaped wall.

Preferably, two wall elements are coupled together by an interlocking means of the wall element. More preferably, an adhesive is used to permanently couple the wall elements together.

Preferably, a couple between the wall elements is sealed by the adhesive acting as a sealant

In order to provide a better understanding of the present invention, an embodiment will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a side view of a schematic representation of an embodiment of a building constructed in accordance with the present invention;

Figure 2 is a plan view of a wall element used to construct a building in accordance with the present invention; Figure 3 is a perspective view of a wall element of figure 2;

Figure 4 is a perspective view of a section of a wall if the building of Figure 1 ; and,

Figure 5 is a perspective view of an example of a section of a wall showing the irregular nature of the wall elements in each ring of wall elements.

Referring to Figure 1, there is shown a building structure 10, which includes a wall 16 comprising a plurality of wall elements 12. The wall elements 12 are connected together to form the wall 16. The wall elements 12 are arranged in rings 15. The wall elements 12 in each ring 15 are of the same size and shape. The rings 15 are of decreasing radius (size) and sit one on top of the other in an interlocking manner. The wall elements 12 of each consecutive'ring are smaller than the wall elements of the previous ring.

As shown in Figures 2 and 3, each wall element 12 in the form of a tile. The wall element 12 includes an inside face 20 and an opposed outside face 22. The wall element 12 also includes a plurality of sides 24. The wall element is roughly hexagonal in plan view, therefore there are six sides 24. The wall elements 12 are not true hexagons though as the length of the sides are not the same size. Sides 24a and 24b are the same length, 24c and 24d are the same length and 24e and 24f are the same length. However sides 24a and 24b are longer than sides 24c and 24d, which are longer than sides 24e and 24f. It can also be seen that opposite sides (for example 24c and 24d) are not parallel.

The body of the wall element 12 is curved. More specifically, the wall element 12 is shaped with a concave curve on the inside face 20. The wall element 12 is also shaped with a convex curve on the outside face 22. The curvature of the body, and the inside and outside faces is such that when the wall elements 12 are coupled together to form the wall

16 the wall is curved so as to form a hollow hemisphere. That is, the radius of curvature of the inside face 20 is the inside radius of the hemisphere and the radius of the curvature of the outside face 22 is the outside radius of the hemisphere.

Each wall element 12 is connected to another wall element by abutting sides of adjacent wall elements and interlocking a complementary projection 30 and recess 32 between the adjacent wall elements. One side of one of the abutted wall elements has the projection 30 and the other has the recess 32. In this case, three of the sides 24 have the projection 30 and three of the sides 24 have the recess 32. There are three projections 30 on three adjacent sides and three recesses 32 on the other three adjacent sides. In this embodiment each projection 30 is in the form of a tongue and each recess 32 is in the form of a groove adapted to receive the tongue in close-fitting relation.

The wall elements may be constructed of high-density foam, aerated concrete, plastic epoxy resin, foamed plastic or any other suitable building material. The wall elements may even be injection moulded on site to reduce transport costs. ft

An adhesive may be used between the projections and recess of each wall member to permanently connect the wall elements together. The adhesive may also act as a sealant so that the join between each wall member is air tight

The interconnection between each wall element may be reinforced by using pins secured through each projection and recess when they interlock together. The pins increased tensile strength across the interlock and provide improved internal loading. Internal reinforcing may be required within each wall element to withstand load stress of the pins on the wall element.

The building structure 10 may be constructed by positioning wall elements in their correct position in each ring 15. There may be, for example, 20 wall elements in each ring. It is preferred that the number of wall elements evenly divide into 360. Layers of wall elements may be formed by placing wall elements in concentric rings. Each ring is formed one on top of the other. In particular, layers rings of the same size of wall element are used. When the layer is completed the next is commenced, with smaller wall elements needed to create the next layer in another ring of smaller radius. Each ring will have the same numbers of elements as the previous ring. Typically there are about 10 rings.

The process is repeated until a single top element can be positioned in the remaining hole.

The top element will have a number of sides equal to twice the number of element in each ring. The first layer of wall elements placed on the foundation 14 may alternate between half elements 12A and complete wall elements 12. This allows the base edge of the wall to be flat and secured on the foundation 14.

Each wall element in the first ring may be, for example, 2 to 3 metres in height. The -actual size of the wall elements will vary depending on the desired radius and size of the building structure to be constructed.

Because of the curve (shown as lines 40) the included angle between each side of the wall elements is not 60° as in the case in an ordinary hexagon . This problem is solved by reducing the size of the tile in each ring ( as described above) and by adjusting the shape of the tile. Figures 2 and 5 show the tile narrowing towards the top just as the lines 40 narrow the closer to the top of the structure you go. Example measurements are shown in figure 5 which represent the relative size relationship between tiles of each ring.

It will be clear to those skilled in the art that the present invention has at least the following advantages:

(i) The building structure may be of a dome shape which is well suited to storing, for example, grain and is also well suited to resist wind loading;

(ii) The building structure may be constructed relatively quickly and easily and will thus provide cost efficiencies.

Modifications and variations can be made to the present invention without departing from the basic inventive concepts, such as the projections and recesses of each wall element may alternate from one side to the next side rather than three projections in a row and three recess in a row.

All such modifications are intended to be considered within the scope of the present invention the nature of which is to be determined from the foregoing description and appended claims.

Claims

1. A building structure having a wall including a plurality of wall elements, each wall element connected to a plurality of other wall elements so as to form the wall, wherein each wall element includes a connecting means for connecting the adjacent wall elements together to form the wall, wherein the wall is formed at least three consecutively connected rings of interlocking wall elements, each of the wall elements in each ring being of the same size, each of the wall elements in a first ring of the consecutively connected rings being larger than the wall elements of a second ring of the consecutively connected rings and each of the elements in the second ring being larger then the wall elements of a third ring of the consecutively connected rings.

2. A building structure according to claim 1, wherein each wall element in each subsequent ring are smaller than the wall elements of the preceding ring.

3. A building structure according to either claim 1 or 2, wherein the curved wall form a domed shaped structure.