EP0435934B1

EP0435934B1 - Prefabricated building kit

Info

Publication number: EP0435934B1
Application number: EP89911072A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Peter Wimmelmann Larsen
Original assignee: WIMMELMANN LARSEN PETER
Priority date: 1988-09-26
Filing date: 1989-09-26
Publication date: 1993-11-24
Anticipated expiration: 2009-09-26
Also published as: WO1990003477A1; EP0435934A1; AU4331489A; AU632066B2; JPH04502654A; DE68910982D1; GB8822561D0; DE68910982T2

Abstract

A kit of components from which a prefabricated building can be made are arranged such that the kit forms a transportation unit (1) that has the size and shape of a substantially standard container. The structure of this container consists substantially only of components of the prefabricated building and the structure comprises a cuboidal frame having edges which are formed from, and can be separated into, elongate beams (2, 3, 4) for use in the building. Generally all twelve edges of the frame are formed from and can be separated into twelve elongate beams and these beams may be secured to each other at the corners of the frame by corner pieces (5).

Description

The present invention relates to a kit of components for producing a prefabricated building which is formed into a transportation unit which is capable of being transported by machinery designed for transporting standard containers.
It is known, e.g., from US 3,945,157 (DE 2,063,109) and DE 2,854,471, to provide such a kit in the form of a transportation container constructed from the kit. The walls of the container are formed of trays consisting of partially preassembled end and side walls of the eventual building. Accordingly there is inevitably a lot of wasted space in the container, and there are severe restrictions on the size of building that can be transported if the container is to be of conventional size.
In GB-A-1015866 a prefabricated building is transported in collapsed form as a cuboidal transportation unit formed of two rectangular tray sections having their planes arranged substantially horizontally and each comprising a rectangular frame with four edges joined at corner pieces and sheet material across the frame. Vertical columns can be passed through the corner pieces of the upper frame and received in shoes forming the corner pieces of the lower frame, and the upper frame raised whilst being guided up the vertical columns upon erection of the building. The columns are stored for transport between the two trays in the collapsed unit.
In EP-A-0039592 a prefabricated building is transported in knocked down form in which the transportation unit is formed substantially exclusively components for the building. The unit can be cuboidal in shape with the upper and lower horizontal faces each being provided by a performed rectangular floor element joined at the corners by uprights forming integral parts of one or the other perforced floor elements (i.e. those two elements forming the frame structure of the transportation unit are not dismantled before the building is erected). The transportation unit may be provided with a forklift adaptor, i.e. a spacer to raise the unit of the ground and allow engagement of the tines of a forklift truck with the underside of the pack. No other means of transport are specified.
According to the invention a new kit of components is provided for producing a prefabricated building which is packed such that it forms a transportation unit, the structure of which consists substantially only of components of the prefabricated building, and the structure of which comprises a cuboidal frame, the twelve edges of which are formed from, and can be separated into, elongate beams for use in the building and the beams are secured to each other at the corners of the frame by corner pieces (5), characterised in that the unit has the size and shape of a standard container and the corner pieces are each substantially box-shaped units, the three externally facing surfaces being provided with apertures (11, 12, 13) suitable for admitting standard, twist-lockable container handling equipment.
The size of the transportation unit must be such that the unit is carriable by lorries and other vehicles designed for the carriage of conventional containers, and so normally has substantially the same size as a standard container. A conventional container is about 2-3 m high and about 2.44 m (nominally 2.435 m) wide and, usually, about 6.06 m (nominally 6.058 m) long or sometimes shorter (eg about 4.5 m) or longer (eg 12.1 m). Preferably the unit has substantially the size and shape of a container of the type known as a High Cube Container (or a Supercontainer) and which preferably has a height of about 2.6 m and often a length of 12.1 m.
Corner pieces are provided to secure the beams at the corners of the cuboidal frame. Preferably the frame is separated to form at least twelve elongate beams ie from the twelve frame members. Usually the beams are separated from the corner pieces before being used as components of the prefabricated building.
Each edge preferably comprises a single beam for maximum strength and stability of the unit, although for the longest edges, it may be necessary to join two or more beams together. In general each component is capable of being carried by one or, at most, two persons.
The beams forming the edges of the transportation unit are subsequently used in the prefabricated building, for instance as part of a portable foundation which is placed directly on the ground and supports the rest of the building, but preferably the beams are stabilising components for attaching horizontally across the tops of the walls and for attachment of the roof trusses. They are usually L-section. Alternatively the beams may comprise roof supports for the building or may comprise vertical corner units.
Preferably the transportation unit is stabilised by the provision of diagonal struts between edges of the frame, preferably connected as near as possible to the ends of the edges. Usually it is advantageous for the floor of the transportation unit to have such diagonal struts, and for additional stability the ceiling and/or long walls (ie, side walls) may have such struts. Conveniently these diagonal struts may be provided by beams that may be preformed triangular roof trusses. These may be secured to the edges of the transportation unit by bolts, for instance which are subsequently used in the building. Generally the floor of the transportation unit is supported by horizontal cross pieces fixed between the horizontal edges of the lower part of the frame.
The floor, walls and top of the transportation unit are generally provided by panels, which may subsequently be used in the building as wall panels, floor panels or roof panels. Usually the external surfaces of the walls, floor and top of the transportation unit are provided by panels subsequently to be used as roof covering or wall fascia panels for the building. They are for instance made of plywood and are strong and cheap and so unlikely to suffer expensive damage during transportation of the unit and thus protect the more sensitive wall panels stacked behind them.
Preferably substantially all individual or preassembled panels are flat, so as to facilitate close packing of the entire container, although wall corner panel units (e.g., consisting of two narrow panels at right angles to each other) may be included. Preferably one or more faces of the unit are formed from a plurality of separate panels in side-by-side relationship.
Preferably the transportation unit is formed and packed so that it can be dismantled from the inside outwards only and so that as the components are removed they can be used substantially in sequence to construct the building.
Thus the ccmponents are packed into the transportation unit so that they may be removed in the order in which they are required for constructing the building. This minimises the time required for erection of the building and avoids the necessity of repacking the transportation unit shculd construction have to be halted at any time before its completion. Thus preferably the foundation and wall members of the building can be removed from within the unit before having to dismantle the frame of the unit.
In a preferred embodiment, the transportation unit is provided with an entrance door, for instance in the front or rear wall, which can be locked, for instance before or whilst the transportation unit is being dismantled. This door should be the only entrance to the transportation unit and thus must be sufficiently large for the components to pass through. Preferably the door is subsequently used as a door component in the building structure.
For strength, and in order for transportation of the unit to be facilitated, the unit is provided with standard container corner structures in order that it can be handled by the standard container-handling equipment. Thus it comprises corner structures of standard dimensions having standard apertures for container-handling equipment. These corner structures are generally formed of steel, for instance 5-6mm gauge steel, and are connected to the beams forming the frame of the transportation unit either by being bolted or may be integral with the beams for instance they may be welded together.
In some cases these or other corner structures for the frame may be components of the prefabricated building. For instance, they may be used for internal features of the building. However in some cases they may have no function in the building. In a preferred embodiment, each corner structure is welded to the three frame beams which meet at that corner. Usually the corner piece is removed from those beams before the beams are used in the structure of the building, for instance may be severed from the beams using conventional equipment, for instance a disc grinder.
Sometimes the transportation unit may also contain items of furniture for the interior of the building, generally in knock down form for subsequent assembly. For instance there may be storage units, beds, tables, chairs and items of kitchen furniture etc.
In general one building, for instance having a floor area of about 100 m², is provided in the form of a single standard 20 foot (6.058 metre) container. For smaller buildings a single container of that size may comprise sufficient components for building two or three buildings for instance simple shelters each having a floor area of about 45-50 m². For larger buildings a longer transportation unit may be required or, two transportation units may be required.
The buildings which are produced may be residential units or may be commercial or industrial units or may be public service buildings such as schools, hospitals etc. The invention is of particular use for providing emergency shelter accommodation for areas where these are required, for instance, where homes have been destroyed by natural causes or where there are large numbers of refugees to be accommodated. The transportation units are easy to transport by conventional container equipment and the prefabricated buildings are in general simple and quick to construct, even by unskilled workers. The invention is also of use for provision of temporary buildings which need to be dismantled after use and repacked and re-erected elsewhere. Since, in the preferred embodiment, all of the components of the transportation unit, and in particular its frame, form part of the structure of the building, these components are available for reconstruction of the transportation unit on dismantling of the building. It may be necessary to weld components back together which had previously been severed; for instance the beams forming the frame of the unit may have to be welded to their respective corner units.
A preferred embodiment of the invention is illustrated in the following drawings in which:

figure 1 is a plan view of the floor of a transportation unit;
figure 2 is a side view of a transportation unit;
figure 3 is an end on view of a transportation unit;
figure 4 is a partially cut away perspective view of a transportation unit;
figure 5 is a perspective view of a partially constructed building;
figure 6 is a side view of a fully constructed building;
figure 7 is a cross-section along line vii-vii in figure 2; and
figure 8 is a cross-section along lines viii-viii of figure 6.

Figures 1, 2 and 3 are schematic illustrations of a transportation unit 1 packed and ready for transporting. The unit consists of a frame formed from vertical beams 2a to 2d, bottom horizontal beams 3a to 3d and top horizontal beams 4a to 4d, held together by eight corner pieces, 5a to 5h, which in this case are welded to the respective beams. The beams all have L-section and are formed of 5-6 mm gauge steel. The bottom rectangle of the frame formed by horizontal beams 3a to 3d is stabilised by diagonal struts, comprising two triangular roof trusses 6 and 7 that are bolted to the beams. Preferably underneath the roof trusses 6 and 7 there is provided a protective layer across the entire floor area of the transportation unit, for instance formed of sheets of plywood (illustrated in figures 6 and 7) . These plywood sheets are subsequently used as part of the roof covering for the house.
The long side walls of the transportation unit are provided by building wall panels 8 and 9. Preferably, not shown in figs 1, 2 and 3, there is a protective layer of plywood sheets used as the external wall of the transportation unit.
Figure 3 shows an end view of a packed transportation unit showing the wall panels stacked vertically at each side of the container and also showing other components of the building, generally illustrated as 10, stacked in the container. These other components may be further roof trusses, further roof panels or external wall fascias or floor panels used in the building. A preferred building comprises a portable foundation formed from a number of beams and, since these are required in the first stages of erecting the building, they may also be placed in the area 10. The end walls may be provided with a protective layer of plywood, which prevents components being lost or removed during transport, as may the top horizontal walls of the unit.
In the embodiment of transportation unit illustrated in figure 4, along one longitudinal wall there are stacked a number of wall panels 9, some of which have window openings 28, and others of which have door openings 29. Also packed in the unit are preformed triangular roof trusses including large roof trusses 35 and 36 and, fitted inside these, smaller roof trusses 37 and 38. In the embodiment illustrated the large beams 35 and 36 have extensions 39, 40 for supporting the eaves of the building, and so are supported in the transportation unit on props 41 and 42. There is shown by broken lines one larger roof truss 43 which is secured along the other longitudinal wall and acts as a stabilising strut for the structures of the transportation unit by being bolted to the horizontal beam 3a and vertical beam 2a. This roof truss has additional struts 44, 45 -and 4-6 to give it further strength. The shorter roof trusses are used for the construction of roofs having four inclined surfaces, for instance pyramidal roofs.
Figures 7 and 8 show in more detail the construction of the corner units and how they are fitted to the beams. As can be seen beam 3a is L-shaped in cross-section. It is fixed to corner piece 5a by welding. 5a consists of a generally box-shaped unit, the 3 externally facing surfaces being provided with apertures, 11, 12 and 13. These are of a standard shape for admitting standard container-handling equipment, for instance- of cranes for lifting the container or of locking units for locking it onto transportation vehicles, such as trains or lorries. They are thus rectangular so as to be capable of admitting generally rectangular components which can then be twisted to lock them within the corner box. To the long horizontal beam 3a there are fitted a plurality of horizontal struts, through one of which, 14, the section is taken. This cross strut has for most of its length a T-section, but has no leg at the ends where the strut is fixed to the horizontal part 15 of the beam 3a. The T-section gives the beam strength for supporting the floor of the transportation unit. On to these cross struts there is first placed a layer of plywood 16, for instance 16mm plywood. On to the top of the plywood layer 16 there are positioned the two roof trusses, 6 and 7 illustrated in figure 1, one of which, no. 6, is illustrated in figure 7. This truss is bolted to the side beam 3a at various positions along its length and is generally bolted to the second truss, 7, at a plurality of positions along their abutting edges. For protection of the roof trusses a further layer of plywood 17 is placed over them.
There is also welded to the corner unit 5a a vertical beam, 2a. The side wall of the transportation unit has an outer layer of plywood, 18. Wall panels for the house, comprising an outer facing 19, a metal frame 20 and metal sheets 21 and 22 fitted within the frame. Other panels are stacked vertically alongside the illustrated wall panel 8.
Figure 8 illustrates a section along line VIII-VIII in figure 7. This shows a corner unit 5a having an aperture 12 in its lower surface and an aperture 13 in the surface facing outwardly at the end of the container transportation unit. To the corner unit there are secured by welding vertical beam 2a and horizontal beam 3a. Also welded to the corner unit is horizontal transverse beam 3b which is behind the corner unit in the diagrams and so is not shown. At a distance away from the corner unit along beam 3a there is secured a cross beam 14 having a T-shaped cross section. This beam supports the floor of the transportation unit which is provided by an outer covering of plywood 16 and diagonal struts, provided by triangular roof truss 6. A further sheet of plywood, 17 is placed on top of the roof truss 6. The end wall of the transportation unit also has a covering of plywood, 23. Wall panels, including wall panel 8 are stacked vertically parallel with the side walls.
Figures 5 and 6 illustrate generally one type of shelter that may be constructed from the components packed into the transportation unit kit. Figure 5 shows a shelter 24 in partially constructed form. It consists of a portable foundation comprising beams 25 and 26 which are secured to the ground and which are secured to each other by fixing plates, generally at least at the corners. Wall panels 27 are supported on the portable foundation beams by interlocking securing means, not shown in the diagram. Some of the wall units have window openings 28, and others have door openings 29. When all of the wall panels are fitted onto the portable foundation the roof is applied. The roof consists of triangular roof trusses 6 and 7, which have been used as diagonal struts in the base of the transportation unit, as further illustrated in figures 1, 6 and 7. These triangular roof trusses are secured to each other along their abutting portions. The roof trusses are secured above the walls by L-shaped beams 3 which are secured to the trusses, 6 and 7, wall panels 27 and portable foundation beams 25 by long bolts 30. The L-shaped beams are the beams used to form the frame of the transportation unit. The roof may be stabilised against the wind by the provision of struts, for instance across the ceiling of the shelter. Conveniently these struts are formed by the T-shaped beams 14 illustrated in figures 6 and 7, used to support the floor of the transportation unit.
The roof of the shelter is finished by covering with a layer of plywood, 31, using the plywood from the transportation unit. Plywood can also be used as a floor covering 32. In the shelter shown there are also provided gutters 33 and drainpipes 34.
In the kit shown, all of the components of the transportation unit, including the bolts used to secure components to each other during transport, are used in the construction of the shelter. Before use of the beams 3 in the building, the corner units 5 are severed from the beams, for instance using a conventional implement for cutting steel, such as a disk grinder. The corner units can also be used as components of the building, for instance as structural components for supporting cooking apparatus. The transportation unit is packed in a way that allows components to be used in approximately the order in which they are required for constucting the building. Thus the portable foundation beams 25 and 26 can be removed from the transportation unit at an early stage and can be secured to the ground. The wall panels 8 and 9 can then be removed from the transportation unit and secured onto the portable foundation, the roof trusses 6 and 7 then being fitted above the walls. The L-shaped beams 3 are the last components to be dismantled from the transportation unit and are not required until the final stages of the construction of the building.
Preferably the components of the kit are the components of the kit described in the application EP-A-0 436 632 filed by the same applicant entitled Prefabricated Building, the entire disclosure of which is herein incorporated by reference.

Claims

A kit of components for producing a prefabricated building arranged such that the kit forms a transportation unit (1) the structure of which consists substantially only of components of the prefabricated building, and the structure comprises a cuboidal frame having twelve edges which are formed from, and can be separated into, elongate beams (2, 3, 4) for use in the building, and the beams are secured to each other at the corners of the frame by corner pieces (5), characterised in that the unit has the size and shape of a standard container and the corner pieces are each substantially box-shaped units, the three externally facing surfaces being provided with apertures (11, 12, 13) suitable for admitting standard, twist-lockable container handling equipment.
A kit according to claim 1 in which the edges of the frame have an L-section.
A kit according to any preceding claim in which the transportation unit is stabilised by the provision of diagonal struts (6, 7) between edges of the frame close to the ends of the edges, at least one diagonal strut being provided in the floor of the unit and optionally at least one diagonal strut being provided in one or more of the side walls and in the ceiling of the unit, each of the struts being a beam for use in the building.
A kit according to claim 3 including at least one said strut in the floor, ceiling, and each of the side walls of the unit.
A kit according to any preceding claim in which the floor, walls and top of the transportation unit are provided by panels (8, 9), which may subsequently be used in the building as wall panels (2, 7), floor panels or roof panels, and in which the external surfaces of the walls, floor and top of the transportation unit are provided by panels subsequently to be used as roof covering (31) or wall fascia panels for the building.
A kit according to any preceding claim in which the frame is formed of roof members (3) of the building and the transportation unit is formed and packed so that it can be dismantled from the inside outwards so that as the components are removed they can be used substantially in sequence to construct the building.
A kit according to claim 6 in which the transportation unit is provided with a single entrance in the form of a lockable door.
A kit according to claim 7 in which the door is subsequently used as a door component in the building.
A kit according to any preceding claim arranged as a unit having the size and shape of a High Cube Container having a width of 2.44m and a height of 2.6m and a length of 4.5, 6.06 or 12.1m.
A method of assembling a building comprising assembling the building from components provided as one or more kits according to any preceding claim.