Building system for dismountable buildings
This invention relates to a building system for dismountable buildings comprising several floor structures with secondary beams, floor panel and/or ceiling elements which are supported by primary beams transmitting the loads by means of columns to ground plates resting on the ground. In building of constructions one has traditionally aimed at constructions of permanent design and appearance. For this reason details of and complete buildings are usually designed for fixed joints and assemblings.
Certain buildings of temporary character such as barracks and pavilions have been produced of pre-fabricated building components. It has however been found that the purpose of reusing the components was achieved only for a few re-assemblings. Then the components or the fittings were damaged by the handling and had to be replaced. The reason for this is that the chosen material and the design of the details did not satisfy the demands put on a dismountable building. Further a great number of dismountable inner wall constructions have been introduced. Many of them serve their purpose but the drawback is that per se they are an isolated component of the otherwise fixed surrounding, the body of the building.
Thus, it can be established that not even pre-fabricated components have proved to have the qualities required in a flexible and dismountable building.
The purpose of the invention is to solve the problem of achieving a completely flexible and dismountable building, including components which after repeated mounting operations still possess such a strength and durability of shape that they function and can be reused. The outer and inner design of a building is often determined by local taste and tradition. Within the same region also the personal want and taste vary considerably. Thus, it is important that all different tastes and traditions can be satisfied. This has also been considered when designing the system according to the invention. The advantages mentioned are achieved because the primary beams are load supporting units and stepless fastening means for secondary beams, exterior elements and insulating blocks. Thus the building is made as a framework construction, i.e. the load supporting components comprise beams and columns, and this is different from constructions where the walls support the occurring loads.
Jhe vertical load supporting system comprises columns of steel or metal of known type. The design of the horizontal load supporting system and the details thereof differ completely from known constructions. The horizontal beam system comprises primary and secondary beams. The primary beams are of two main types, one of which, a so-called peripheral beam, is placed in line with the outer wall of the building, and the other type is used within the building when the span exceeds what the secondary beams are dimensioned for. Beams of the latter type are parallel to the peripheral beams supporting the floor structure and replace the central girders in a conventional construction. In the following they will be called central beams. The central beam is made of steel or another metal and is principally shaped as an open framework beam. The primary beams are a rail construction which is up-ended, having rails which are static active as upper and lower beam flanges and also function as paths for supporting yokes for the secondary beams and for plates, nut and other fittings for locking the supplement- ary elements of the framework. The peripheral beam is divided into two vertical layers of which the inner one, consisting of profiled steel, takes up the loads from the floor structure and the outer one, in combination with the inner one, takes up the weight of the components of the curtain wall and transfers wind loads to the floor structure. The outer layer has also a heat-insulating function. The rail path of the peripheral beam faces the inside of the building, and the central beam has double paths in order to take up floor structure load from both sides of the beam. The complete framework structure also includes secondary beams of steel. These are supported by the primary beams and are of less height.
The primary beams are mounted to the columns by means of detachable bolts. The secondary beams are placed in yokes which have been fitted with bolt and sliding nut in the rail paths of the primary beams. Thus, the secondary beams have two functions, firstly they take up the active loads and secondly they are a complete fastening means for slidable mounting fittings.
One embodiment of the invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings of which Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a building where the load supporting framework is mounted. Fig. 2 is the same view where the framework has been completed with secondary beams, floor and roof panels. Fig. 3 shows in the same view another embodiment of the roof and mounting of the exterior elements. Fig. 4 is a vertical section through the ground floor structure with peripheral beams and columns. Fig. 5 shows the same arrangement in a plan view. Fig. 6 shows in a perspective view how the peripheral beams of the ground floor have been connected to the columns and how the secondary beams and their load supporting yokes are mounted to the peripheral beams. Fig. 7 shows ϋH
the device in a later stage of mounting of the arrangement in Fig. 6. Fig. 8 is a vertical section through a middle floor structure seen towards the central beams. Fig. 9 is the same construction in a plan view. Fig. 10 is a perspective view of the peripheral beam and column of the middle floor structure. The secondary beam is connected to the peripheral beam and the central beam, not shown, and the floor panel is in place. Fig. 11 shows in a perspective view how the peripheral beam and the central beam are connected to the column at the roof structure. Fig. 12 shows the same device, as Fig. 11 but completed with roof panel, heat insulation and water insulation and exterior elements. Fig. 13 is a vertical section through a complete outer wall and shows how it is connected to the peripheral beams at its upper and lower edges. Fig. 14 shows in a perspective view a complete con¬ struction at the outer wall and on the middle floor structure level. Fig. 15 shows a vertical section through a roof rail and ceiling elements and how these are mounted to the secondary beams. Fig. 16 is a vertical section through a building mounted according to the invention adapted for absorbing solar energy.
The invention will be described in the following with reference to . a two- storey building but it can of course be applied also to other types of buildings.
The primary framework structure according to Fig. 1 comprises ground plates 1 having height adjusting and fastening means to which columns 2 of steel are connected. The columns are connected to each other and stayed by means of peripheral beams 3, 4, 5 and 6 and by central beams 7. The beams 3, 5 and 7 are load supporting components for the floor structures 8, 9 and 10 in Fig. 2. The beams 4 support the weight of the curtain wall and take up horizontal loads from ground in co-operation with the floor structure. The beams 6 take up the weight of the curtain wall and take up and transmit wind loads to the floor structure 6. For mounting reasons the beams are made in accordance with the beams 5.
The peripheral beams 3, 5 and 6 are single and the central beams 7 double, up-ended rail beams. In Fig. 2 the framework with the floor structure 10 is shown, and a secondary beam 11 with a beam yoke 12 is mounted to a peripheral beam 5 and a central beam 7. Moreover, a floor panel 13 is shown in the floor structures 8 and 9 and a roof panel 14 in the floor structure 10.
From Figs. 4 - 6 appears that the secondary beam 11 is mounted to the yokes 12 and that these are movable and can be locked in any chosen position along two sliding rails, an upper one 15 and a lower one 16, by means of locking means not shown. The sliding rails are fixed to end plates 17, and these are bolted to a back plate 18 forming a web in the peripheral beam 3. The rails 15 and 16 form flanges in the beam and steplεss fastening means for the secondary beams 11. The construction which is outside the back plate 18 is a support for the
outer wall, which is placed above, takes up ground loads and heat insulates the space which is located under the ground floor structure 8. The peripheral beam 3 is fastened at each end to the columns 2 by means of two bolts 19 through the end plate 17. The secondary beam 11 is fastened to the yoke 12 by means of a locking pin. The peripheral beam 4, which does not take up any floor structure load, has no sliding rails but is otherwise identical with. the beam 3.
In the later stage of mounting shown in Fig. 7 the floor panel 13 has been placed perpendicularly to the length direction of the secondary beams 11. The panel is locked by means of hooked plates, not shown, which are placed in the joint of the panel. The hook plates are fastened to the downwards directed flange 20 of the secondary beam. The secondary beam also has a flange 21 directed upwards. At this stage there is a platform to work from.
In the middle floor structure shown in Figs. 8 - 10 the sliding rails 15 and 16 are welded at each side of the central beam 7 in a web diagonal 22, and thus the central beam can support the secondary beams 11 from two sides.
The peripheral beam 5 has a web steel plate 23 which is fastened by screws to an insulating part located outside of the plate. Function and mounting for the middle floor structure are the same as for the ground floor structure 8.
The roof structure shown in Fig. 11 and the floor structure 9 have identic design, function and mounting principle.
In order to get a tight building as soon as possible, the framework is completed first, as appears from Fig. 12, by positioning the roof panel 14 on the secondary beams 11 with the ends on the peripheral beams 5. The heat insula¬ tion 24 of the roof is placed on the roof panel, after which a water-resistant layer 25 of synthetic rubber or plastics material is placed directly on the heat insulating material. The layer 25 is applied to a profile 26 situated at the end of the roof and is fastened to the profile. The water and heat insulations are kept in place for instance by a layer of shingle.
Then the exterior elements 27 are mounted. This is shown in Figs. 3, 7, 10, 12 and 13. The outer wall is divided into two layers. The outer layer Is the exterior element and consists of plates of different types mounted on a frame of light steel profiles. The inner layer is a sandwich block which is a heat insulation and also serves as a finϊshable surface of the wall of the room inside.
The construction of the peripheral beams 3, 4 and 6 includes a rail 28 which is placed on the upper edge of the beam. The dimensions of the rail correspond to the frame of the exterior element 27 so that a part of the exterior element and a support plate 29 which is fastened to the bottom of the element can engage with the rail. The exterior element is raised with its lower edge abutting the rail 28
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and is then tipped to vertical position whereby the upper part of the exterior element abuts a supporting notch 30 on the lower edge of the peripheral beam. By applying a lateral force the element will be caused to slide on the rail and the supporting notch until it abuts an element previously raised. The element is locked to the upper part by means of a wedge plate 31 which is pressed into a groove 32 in the lower edge of the peripheral beam. The elements are fastened laterally to each other by means of a compression yoke or screw-nut-joints through the vertical frame profiles of the elements. Window and door elements are mounted in a similar way. The exterior element is then locked in its right position, and wind loads can be taken up and transmitted to the peripheral beams and the floor structure. The exterior of the building is then completed with window and door elements, which are mounted as described above.
When the exterior elements have been mounted in their positions, insulating blocks 33 are mounted. The insulating blocks are supported by the inside of the elements and are kept in vertical position by means of a support rim 34 fastened to the floor. The blocks are locked at their upper edges by means of sliding plates 35 which are steplessly fastened to the sliding rails 16 by means of the bolt and nut 36.
The elements for mounting the ceiling shown in Figs. 14 and 15 comprise a ceiling rail 37 having three profiles, an outer C-shaped. channel profile .38 and an inner C-shaped channel profile 39, the vertical flanges being placed at a certain distance from each other, and a sliding profile 40. Moreover, the ceiling rail has a cover 41. The profiles are of steel and combined to one unit in the factory. The ceiling rails 37 can also be extruded so as to have a profile of identic function. The ceiling rail is a channel for electric wires and for lighting and is also a support means for the ceiling elements. The ceiling rail is suspended in pen¬ dulums 42 which at their tops are fastened to a hook 43 which can slide steplessly on the upward directed flange 21 of the secondary beam 11. At the bottom of the pendulum the ceiling rail is suspended in sliding knobs 44 which are movable in the sliding profile 40. The ceiling rail with the pendulum can in mounted position take up tensile forces as well as compression forces of the size normally exerted on a ceiling.
Figs. 13 and 14 show how the ceiling element is placed on a ceiling list 46 at the outer wall. Locking and resistance against pressure from . below are achieved by pins 47, fastened to the sliding plates 35. The ceiling rail is pressed against the side of the ceiling element, and the element is locked by means of pins 48 which are pressed through pre-punched holes in the flanges of the channel profiles 38 and 39 and into grooves 49 extending along the ceiling element. The pre-punched
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holes are on the same horizontal line and are mainly in line with each other. Turning is avoided since the pin has two support. points in the channel. The ceiling element is then locked in its final position, and the next element is mounted in the same way to the ceiling rails which are parallel to the first-mentioned rail. When all the elements have been mounted, the bottom of the ceiling rail is closed by the covers 41 which are fastened to the profiles by snap action. The side walls of the elements are guided by means of pins in corresponding grooves which are not shown in the drawings. In order to achieve the purpose of dismounting the whole ceiling or. parts thereof without damaging the finish of the element, visible joints are used in the surface of the ceiling. If a smooth ceiling is preferred, the joints are covered with tape and the complete surface is painted, in the traditional way.
The floor structures in the building construction are also ntended to be used as a space for installation. For servicing and for complementary work it is important that the installations already made are easily accessible. Therefore the construction of the ceiling is separated from the load supporting part of the floor structure.
If it is desired to increase the noise reduction or resistance against fire, a mineral- wool insulation 50 is placed on the ceiling elements and on the upper side of the ceiling rail, according to what is shown in Fig. 15. The building is completed by placing non-lαad-supporting inner wall ele¬ ments of known type in positions determined by the user. If needed, the elements can be taken down and be reused in new combinations of rooms. The inner walls are not shown in the drawings.
By using this system a highly rationalized manufacturing process is achiev- ed. All components are pre-fabricated and ready for mounting when delivered to the building site. All components are light and of small valume which has a positive influence on the transportation and handling costs. Because of the design of the details the mounting work is so simple that skilled workers are not needed, and the tools which are needed are mainly a screw driver and a wrench. It is of great importance that the material used in the primary and secondary framework structure is steel or another metal. Firstly, this creates the conditions for dismounting and reuse, and secondly the tensile properties of the material used are internationally accepted so that it is much simpler to obtain acceptance of the construction by the authorities concerned than for instance in the use of wood for the framework structure. Thus, the building system has other important advantages which make it suited for international markets both in industrial and in developing countries.
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The building technique according to the invention is also suited to the demand which has come up in recent years for maximum energy efficiency. Fig. 16 shows a vertical section of an outer wall of a building having a basement and a flat roof. A ground load supporting construction is placed outside the framework of the basement, arid an air channel 51 is formed between the insulating blocks 33 and exterior plates 52. In the top floor of the building a similar channel can be created by moving the exterior elements 27 outwards to be supported by the ground load supporting construction, as shown in the Figure, or, when there is no basement, by brackets which are fastened to the peripheral beams 3 - 6. The exterior element in this case has a surface layer of glass. The roof insulation is covered by a trapezoid-shaped corrugated panel. The panel is covered by a thin plate which thus together with the panel forms an air channel plate 53. The roof is provided with a water-resistant layer according to what has been described above. The space formed between the ground floor structure 8 and the ground is used as a climate room 54 and a storage for solar energy which has been absorbed. The solar energy is absorbed by the large face and roof surfaces and is transmitted via a heated air stream, circulating in an air channel around the building, to the climate room. The energy absorbed can be used directly, be transmitted to radiators or water heaters by a heat pump, be used to cool air for air conditioning or be stored in order to be dispersed when the energy supply is insufficient.