AU2006243826A1 - Portable workshop - Google Patents

Description

WO 2006/116819 PCT/AU2006/000584 1 PORTABLE WORKSHOP FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a portable workshop. In a particular form, the present invention relates to a portable workshop that may be conveniently 5 transported to a site by means of road or rail. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Various building, construction or mining sites often require temporary on-site workshop facilities where machinery may be assembled or repaired as 10 desired. One attempt to address this requirement is to build permanent facilities which may then be used by site personnel. Clearly, the installation of a permanent building has implications for the capital costs of a project, especially if the project for which the workshop is required is of a limited duration. Additionally, it may be an environmental requirement that any 15 permanent fixtures be removed once the project has been completed, further adding costs associated with the construction of a permanent building. Another option is the use of transportable buildings and the like. However, these often require specialised transportation due to their size. The 20 requirement for specialised transport results in added costs and additionally they require extensive preparation of the relevant location prior to installation. Another potential solution is the use of a tent or marquee or similar. However, structures of this type do not offer extended protection from the elements and will generally be unsuitable for securely housing what 25 is often expensive and complicated equipment. It is an object of the present invention to provide a portable workshop capable of being conveniently assembled and transported to a remote location.

WO 2006/116819 PCT/AU2006/000584 2 SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In one aspect the present invention accordingly provides a portable workshop, said workshop including 5 a freight container; at least one door pivotably attached to the front of said freight container, said door adapted to open outwards from said container to an open extended position; a removable roof frame structure, wherein said roof frame structure is 10 supported by said freight container and said at least one door in said open extended position. Given the use of a freight container, the portable workshop may be easily and conveniently transported to the desired location by standard transport means. 15 The use of a removable roof frame structure provides for an increased workshop area that is undercover and furthermore does not affect the ease with which the portable workshop may be transported. Preferably, said at least one door includes a pair of doors pivotably attached 20 to opposed upright sides of said freight container and wherein said doors in said open extended position extend substantially at right angles from said container thereby forming a pair of opposed substantially parallel walls located at the front of and substantially in line with said side walls of said container. 25 This configuration provides for a large front area which may be used in combination with the area inside the container.

WO 2006/116819 PCT/AU2006/000584 3 Preferably, said roof frame structure extends to cover said area formed between said pair of opposed substantially parallel walls formed by said doors. 5 Preferably, said roof frame structure extends rearwardly of said freight container. This additional area to the rear of the container may then be advantageously used to locate machinery and personnel. 10 Preferably, said portable workshop further includes a roof covering, said roof covering substantially covering said roof frame structure. Preferably, said roof covering is a tarpaulin or similar material. 15 Preferably, said at least one door includes a bench portion, said bench portion foldable into a recess located in said door. Preferably, said recess is located on an inner surface of said at least one door. 20 Preferably, said portable workshop includes a lockable sliding door forming in part a front wall of said freight container. This provides a secure area inside the container where valuable tools and 25 other items may be secured. Preferably, a rear wall of said container includes a bench portion, said bench portion foldable into a recess located in said rear wall.

WO 2006/116819 PCT/AU2006/000584 4 Preferably, said portable workshop includes electrical wiring means distributed to power points located in said at least one door, said rear wall and an interior of said container. 5 In this manner the portable workshop may be powered from a single power point brought to the container with the power then being distributed to the various work areas in the workshop. Preferably, the removable roof frame structure can be dissembled and stored 10 in said freight container for transport. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS A preferred embodiment of the present invention will be discussed with reference to the accompanying drawings wherein: 15 FIGURE 1 is a front perspective view of a portable workshop with a cutaway view of the roof covering according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention; FIGURE 2 is a front elevation view of the portable workshop illustrated in Figure 1; 20 FIGURE 3 is a rear elevation view of the transportable workshop illustrated in Figure 1 with the rear benches retracted; FIGURE 4 is a side elevation view of the portable workshop illustrated in Figure 1 with the rear benches extended; FIGURE 4a is a side perspective detailed view of a front swinging door with 25 its bench extended; FIGURE 5 is a top floor plan view of the portable workshop illustrated in Figure 1 depicting both the internal and external work areas; FIGURE 6 is a top front perspective view of the portable workshop as illustrated in Figure 1 depicting the roof frame structure in detail; and WO 2006/116819 PCT/AU2006/000584 5 FIGURE 7 is a top rear perspective view of the portable workshop illustrated in Figure 6 depicting the use of bracing cables. In the following description, like reference characters designate like or corresponding parts throughout the several views of the drawings. 5 DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring now to Figures 1 to 7, there is shown a portable workshop 100 according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention. Workshop 100 includes a freight container 10 modified to include a pair of opposed lockable 10 front sliding doors 30. Sliding doors 30 are retained in door guides 31 and in the closed position form in part the front wall of container 10 in combination with fixed front wall portions 35. Sliding doors 30 are lockable in their closed position thereby securing the inside of container 10. Other lockable door means such as a roller door or the like are also contemplated to be within the 15 scope of the invention. Whilst in this preferred embodiment the freight container is a 20 foot shipping container, it will be appreciated by those persons skilled in the art that the present invention could be adapted to freight containers of various sizes and 20 dimensions. Individual swinging doors 20 are attached to the front side upright edges of freight container 10 by hinges 29. Doors 20 open and extend outwards from container 10 to form a pair of forwardly projecting side walls approximately 25 in line with the side walls 12 of the container 10. Doors 20 are further supported by a number of ground engaging post elements 24 whose bottom ends are supported in use by metal plate members placed on the ground (not shown) and which function to suspend each door 20 a short distance from the ground in the process reducing the weight borne by hinges 29.

WO 2006/116819 PCT/AU2006/000584 6 In this preferred embodiment, ground engaging posts 24 may be retracted upwardly within the interior of door 20 by a screw threaded arrangement. Each door 20 also includes a bench 21 supported by stays 23, the bench 21 5 being foldable into a recess 22 located on the interior side of door 20. Similarly, the rear wall 15 of container 10 incorporates a pair of benches 16 which fold out by means of hinge joints 17 and are supported by stays 19 which are inserted into slots 18. A further series of slots 28 located between benches 16 allows a drop in saw bench 27 to be attached to rear wall 15 of 10 container 10 (as best seen in Figures 5 and 7). Doors 20 when closed, lie parallel to sliding doors 30 and fixed front wall portions 35 and extend between opposite sides 12 of container 10 so as to form a false front wall. Further locking means are provided to lock doors 20 in this 15 closed position for transport. Roof frame structure 40 consists of four truss elements 41a, 41b, 41c, 41d that together span an area defined at the front by the ends of the swinging doors 20 when in their opened position to the periphery of the covered area 70 that 20 extends to the rear of container 10. Roof frame structure 40 further includes front and rear cross or tie members 42, 43 and upright central rectangular frame element 44 which together function to laterally brace roof frame structure 40. 25 The ends of front cross member 42 are attached to the respective top front corners of each swinging door 20 by mounting brackets 42a that form part of each swinging door 20, thereby attaching the front of roof frame structure 40. In this manner, the roof frame structure 40 further functions to maintain the WO 2006/116819 PCT/AU2006/000584 7 swinging doors 20 in the outwardly extended position once the roof frame structure 40 has been affixed to swinging doors 20. Roof frame structure 40 is further attached to the top of container 10 by virtue 5 of mounting brackets 44a which extend laterally from the top edge of each side wall 12 of container 10 and are located midway between the front edge 14 and rear edge 13 of roof 11. As such, the roof frame structure 40 is fixed at four points to container 10. Roof frame structure 40 is further supported at a number of other spaced locations on roof 11, with these locations reinforced 10 by reinforcing plates 46 that are welded directly to roof 11. Accordingly, the roof frame structure 40 is attached to container 10 without the need to puncture the roof 11, this being required if bolting arrangements that formed part of roof 11 were used. 15 In this preferred embodiment, roof frame structure 40 is of a lightweight steel frame construction but equally other suitable rigid material such as timber could be used. Additionally, whilst in this preferred embodiment a truss frame structure has been employed, equally a very simple rectangular flat roof frame structure could be used where appropriate. 20 A tarpaulin or other suitable material 80 overlays the roof frame structure 40 thereby forming a pitched canopy arrangement over both the container 10 and a front area formed between doors 30, now serving as a pair of opposed side walls located at the front of container 10, and rear annex area 70 which 25 overlays benches 16 when they are folded out from rear wall 15 (as best seen in Figures 4 and 7). For those occasions where a more permanent roofing structure may be required, other suitable roofing material such as galvanised steel roofing WO 2006/116819 PCT/AU2006/000584 8 sheets or tiles may be attached to the roof frame structure 40 depending on where portable workshop 100 is to be located. The interior of freight container 10 is deployed as a standard workshop (as best seen in Figure 5) and includes a raised floor 60, a number of bench areas 50 and lockable cupboards 55 for 5 the storage of tools and the like. A number of power points 25 are located throughout portable workshop 10, including the rear wall 15, the interior surface of the opened front doors 20 and within the container 10. Electrical power is provided to doors 20 by 10 electrical wiring routed through conduit 26. In this manner, the entire portable workshop 100 can be powered by a single electrical feed which is then wired into the various power points 25 distributed throughout workshop 100. 15 Portable workshop 100 is easily deployed by either rail or road as per a standard shipping or freight container. Specialised forklift or jacking arrangements able to lift or shift a container from a railway carriage or truck are well-known. In terms of site requirements, all that is required is a substantially level area the size of container 10. Alternatively, portable 20 workshop 100 may be supported on suitable joists if required. Doors 30 are then opened outwardly from container 10 and the ground engaging posts 29 deployed to support doors 30. Roofing frame structure 40 is then assembled and attached to doors 30 using mounting brackets 42a and furthermore to the roof 11 of container 10 by virtue of mounting brackets 44a. A shown in Figure 25 7, in those environments where additional strengthening of the roofing frame structure 40 is required, further bracing cables 48 that extend diagonally from the from the front and rear corners to the opposed top ends of central rectangular frame element 44 may be attached and tightened using turnbuckles 49.

WO 2006/116819 PCT/AU2006/000584 9 Finally a tarpaulin 80 or other suitable covering is attached to the roof frame structure 40, thereby providing a substantially enclosed frontal area and a covered rear area 70. Various benches 21, 16 may then be folded down and 5 used as work areas as required. A brief consideration of the above described embodiment will indicate that the invention provides an extremely simple and cost effective solution to the problem of providing an on-site portable workshop at a remote site which 10 employs standard transport and shipping procedures and equipment. During transport, the portable workshop 100 may be moved as a standard container as the roof frame structure 40 is stored within container 10 and furthermore doors 20 when closed do not alter the size or configuration of container 10. 15 Although a preferred embodiment of the present invention has been described in the foregoing detailed description, it will be understood that the invention is not limited to the embodiment disclosed, but is capable of numerous rearrangements, modifications and substitutions without departing from the scope of the invention as set forth and defined by the following 20 claims.

Claims (12)

1. A portable workshop, said workshop including a freight container; at least one door pivotably attached to the front of said freight 5 container, said door adapted to open outwards from said container to an open extended position; a removable roof frame structure, wherein said roof frame structure is supported by said freight container and said at least one door in said open extended position. 10

2. A portable workshop as claimed in claim 1, wherein said at least one door includes a pair of doors pivotably attached to opposed upright sides of said freight container and wherein said doors in said open extended position extend substantially at right angles from said container thereby forming a pair of opposed substantially parallel walls located at the front of and substantially 15 in line with said side walls of said container.

3. A portable workshop as claimed in claim 2, wherein said roof frame structure extends to cover said area formed between said pair of opposed substantially parallel walls formed by said doors.

4. A portable workshop as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, 20 wherein said roof frame structure extends rearwardly of said freight container.

5. A portable workshop as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein said portable workshop further includes a roof covering, said roof covering substantially covering said roof frame structure. WO 2006/116819 PCT/AU2006/000584 11

6. A portable workshop as claimed in claim 5, wherein said roof covering is a tarpaulin or similar material.

7. A portable workshop as claimed in any one of the preceding claims wherein said at least one door includes a bench portion, said bench portion 5 foldable into a recess located in said door.

8. A portable workshop as claimed in claim 7, wherein said recess is located on an inner surface of said at least one door.

9. A portable workshop as claimed in any one of the preceding claims including a lockable sliding door forming in part a front wall of said freight 10 container.

10. A portable workshop as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein a rear wall of said container includes a bench portion, said bench portion foldable into a recess located in said rear wall.

11. A portable workshop as claimed in any one of the preceding claims 15 including electrical wiring means distributed to power points located in said at least one door, said rear wall and an interior of said container.

12. A portable workshop as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein said removable roof frame structure can be dissembled and stored in said freight container for transport. 20