AU2003204011B1 - A modular building and construction thereof - Google Patents

Description

11807AU

ORIGINAL

Complete Specification Applicant: Francesco Antonio Martino Title: A modular building and construction thereof LESICAR PERRIN, 49 Wright Street, Adelaide, South Australia 5000, Australia Address for Service: The following statement is a full description of this invention, including the best method of performing it known to melus: A modular building and construction thereof BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a modular building constructed from individual transportable buildings and to a construction of such a building, in particular the roof, which ensures that the building is generally weatherproof.

Camps have been used for many years to provide shelter and accommodation especially in remote areas. This is especially so in the case of remote camps that are assembled using a number of transportable buildings, some of the buildings used as sleeping quarters, others as the kitchen and dining room facility and others still as recreational areas. It is not uncommon for a camp to consist of sixty to eighty buildings that can accommodate several hundred people.

These camps are completely self-contained in that the transportable buildings provide all of the facilities for a small remote community that may be needed in a particular area.

Accordingly these camps include all of the modem day facilities such as electrical power, water, sewerage, and communication. They therefore also include their own power generation systems, water distribution systems, sewerage treatment plants, and communication facilities such as satellite dishes. The camps typically require a considerable amount of skill, time, and effort to assemble and commission. Once constructed these camps can however provide accommodation indefinitely if the infrastructure is maintained.

In some instances the camps have to be portable or mobile. For example, during construction of infrastructure across a vast area, such as roads or pipelines supplying water or gas, a particular location for a camp housing the construction workers, may only be viable for several weeks or months. As the pipeline is progressively constructed, there is a balance between the economic cost of the travel time of workers housed in the camp to the current work site and time spent constructing the actual pipeline. It is therefore accepted in the industry that if the travel time between a camp and the work location is more than an hour, a new camp has to be constructed that is closer to the work location. At that time, a new camp is therefore constructed one hour ahead of the current construction location or generally up to several hundred kilometres away from the existing camp.

Whilst individual transportable buildings can be used to house accommodation and office space, larger communal areas, such as dining rooms and recreation rooms have to be constructed by adjoining several transportable buildings next to each other that have either no side walls or otherwise a large opening in their side walls to thus define a larger open area.

One of the problems of such a communal or modular building is that water and dust can seep in between adjoining transportable buildings and into the open area, something that is clearly undesirable. Whilst this can be alleviated to some degree by using sealant, such as silicon, this is not entirely satisfactory since the modular building has to be taken apart and assembled a number of times and remaining silicon has to be removed before the modular building can be assembled once again.

An alternate method used has been to use plastic sheets and the like to sheath the gap between transportable buildings. This method is not always entirely successful, requires time to set up and remove, is not very attractive, and its success depends on the person installing it.

It is an object of the present invention to overcome at least some of the abovementioned problems or provide the public with a useful alternative.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide for a modular building comprised of a plurality of transportable buildings and where the roof gap between adjoining buildings is closed to minimise the influx of water and dust into the modular building.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Therefore in one form of the invention there is proposed a modular building including: a plurality of adjacent longitudinal transportable rectangular buildings of the type having two parallel ends and two parallel longitudinal sides generally at right angles to each other and including a floor and a roof, the longitudinal sides of each building adjacent another building including an opening enabling access between adjoining buildings; a profile extending around each longitudinal side having an opening and said roof, said profile including a longitudinal shoulder extending the height of said longitudinal side beyond the height of the roof, said longitudinal shoulder including a top surface, an outer side and an inner side, the outer sides of adjoining profiles abutting against each other; a longitudinal U-shaped capping having downward lips connected by a web, said web extending along said top surface of said longitudinal shoulder, said lips extending downwardly across said inner sides of adjoining profiles.

In preference each said building includes a flashing extending around said longitudinal sides and roof of said transportable building, said profile extending over said flashing. Such a flashing ensures that no water or dust enters the individual buildings between the roof and sides.

In preference said profile includes a lip extending inwardly across said roof from said shoulder inner side. This allows a sealant such as silicon to be placed between the profile and the roof. Since the profile usually remains on the building the silicon or the like is not disturbed as only the capping needs to be removed before individual buildings can be transported.

In preference said profile is made from steel, although it could be made from aluminium to be light.

In preference the shoulder is some 50 mm higher than the roof.

In preference a sealant is used between said capping and said profile.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate several implementations of the invention and, together with the description, serve to explain the advantages and principles of the invention.

In the drawings; Figure 1 is a schematic perspective exploded diagram illustrating a modular building constructed of four adjacent transportable buildings; Figure 2 is a schematic perspective diagram illustrating an assembled modular building from four individual transportable buildings; Figure 3 is a side view of the modular building of Figure 2; Figure 4 is a detailed cross-sectional view of the roof structure of adjoining buildings; and Figure 5 is a perspective view of the profile used in individual buildings embodying the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The following detailed description of the invention refers to the accompanying drawings. Although the description includes exemplary embodiments, other embodiments are possible, and changes may be made to the embodiments described without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Wherever possible, the same reference numbers will be used throughout the drawings and the following description to refer to the same and like parts.

Referring to Figures 1 and 3, there is illustrated a modular building 10 constructed from individual transportable buildings 12, 14, 16, and 18. Each building includes a floor parallel ends 22 and 24, roof 26, and longitudinal side 28 that may include door 30 if the building is the outermost building or alternatively side 32 that includes opening 34 common to adjoining buildings. Window 36 may be located in side 22. Of course, the geometry of individual buildings may vary and it is not intended to limit the present invention to the same exact type of building Affixed to the top of longitudinal side 32 is a longitudinal profile 38, with adjoining profiles from adjoining buildings covered together using longitudinal capping 40. However, as illustrated in Figures 1 and 2, even sides 28 of the outermost buildings may include the profiles 38 to ensure that a particular building is not only a designated "outer" building.

The buildings are mounted on chassis 42 that may include channels 44 allowing each building to be handled by a forklift. Leg supports 46 may also be provided at the corner of each chassis to position the buildings on a site. For details of these features the reader is referred to co-pending applications by the applicant entitled "A transportable building and chassis therefor" and "A transportable building and self-levelling chassis therefor".

Typically covering the corner of the roof 26 and longitudinal side 32 of each building is flashing 48. Profile 38 extends over the top of the flashing and includes outer side 50, top surface 52 and inner side 54 that together define the shoulder that extend the height of the sides 32. Lip 56 extends horizontally inwardly on top of the roof from inner side 54. Cap includes two downward lips connected by a web that sit across and over the top of two adjoining or abutting profiles.

The reader will now appreciate the elegance of the present design. By using a profile that extends the height of the sides 32, and then capping two adjoining profiles, water and dust is prevented from flowing in between adjoining buildings and hence into the modular building defined by adjoining buildings. This is important of in most cases, buildings of this type do not have a sloping roof, and water generally accumulates on the roof flowing out on all sides.

To ensure that the shoulder extends the height of the sides sufficiently, the typical height is some 50 millimetres, the shoulder also being some 50 millimetres wide.

Although not discussed, the flashing, profiles and the capping can be attached to the buildings using appropriate affixing means, such as nuts and bolts. If required, a fine bead of silicon or the like can be applied between the end of lip 38 and roof 26 to further seal the building. Once installed, the profile need not be removed, only the capping when the buildings are being moved from site to site.

Obviously all of the profiles, capping, various sides are of a suitable length to extend longitudinally along the building. Their ultimate size is dependant on the width of the opening 34 between individual buildings.

Use of the capping allows some flexibility in that it accommodates movement between adjoining buildings, something not uncommon where the buildings do not have foundations but generally simply sit on top of supporting legs or modular blocks.

Further advantages and improvements may very well be made to the present invention without deviating from its scope. Although the invention has been shown and described in what is conceived to be the most practical and preferred embodiment, it is recognized that departures may be made therefrom within the scope and spirit of the invention, which is not to be limited to the details disclosed herein but is to be accorded the full scope of the claims so as to embrace any and all equivalent devices and apparatus.

In any claims that follow and in the summary of the invention, except where the context requires otherwise due to express language or necessary implication, the word "comprising" is used in the sense of "including", i.e. the features specified may be associated with further features in various embodiments of the invention.

Claims (7)

1. A modular building including: a plurality of adjacent longitudinal transportable rectangular buildings of the type having two parallel ends and two parallel longitudinal sides generally at right angles to each other and including a floor and a roof, the longitudinal sides of each building adjacent another building including an opening enabling access between adjoining buildings; a profile extending around each longitudinal side having an opening and said roof, said profile including a longitudinal shoulder extending the height of said longitudinal side beyond the height of the roof, said longitudinal shoulder including a top surface, an outer side and an inner side, the outer sides of adjoining profiles abutting against each other; a longitudinal U-shaped capping having downward lips connected by a web, said web extending along said top surface of said longitudinal shoulder, said lips extending downwardly across said inner sides of adjoining profiles.

2. A modular building as in claim I wherein each said building includes a flashing extending around said longitudinal sides and roof of said transportable building, said profile extending over said flashing.

3. A modular building as in claim 1 wherein said profile includes a lip extending inwardly across said roof from said shoulder inner side.

4. A modular building as in claim 1 wherein said profile is made from steel.

A modular building as in claim 1 wherein a sealant is used between said capping and said profile.

6. A modular building as in claim 1 wherein the shoulder is some 50 mm higher than the roof.

7. A modular building substantially as hereinbefore described and with reference to the accompanying drawings.