EP1604073A1

EP1604073A1 - A method and components for erecting a building

Info

Publication number: EP1604073A1
Application number: EP04714726A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Henrik Lambreth
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2003-02-28
Filing date: 2004-02-26
Publication date: 2005-12-14
Also published as: WO2004076762A1; US20060230704A1

Abstract

The invention provides a method for erecting a building on a construction site. The building is made from components which are pre-fitted for the building and for a container for transporting the components to a construction site. The pre-fitted components can be joined and refitted to allow reuse of the components. The invention further provides a set of components which are pre-fitted to allow construction of a container of one shape and a building of a different shape. The invention further provides a configuration system for configuring a set of components for a building or a container, a container made from such components, and a building made from such components.

Description

A METHOD AND COMPONENTS FOR ERECTING A BUILDING

INTRODUCTION

The present invention relates to a method and components for moving, configuring and erecting a modular building. The invention further relates to a building and a container for moving components for the building to a construction site.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

In general, movable and configurable construction units for buildings exist. As an example, construction workers are often housed in modular systems comprising numbers of containers stacked to form temporary apartments. Such systems offer a certain degree of freedom with respect to the size of a construction and to a certain extent also to the shape of the construction. As an example, the number of interconnected containers may be varied and the containers may be connected sideways in rows, upwardly in piles or a larger number of containers may be joined both sideways and upwardly to form larger buildings. Furthermore, some of the existing containers may have walls which can be shifted sideways to enlarge one dimension of the container or the containers may have walls which are pivotally attached to the rest of the container and which therefore can be tilted to form a roof, a floor or a sidewall of a building. As an example, such containers are used in mobile exhibition platforms, concert stages etc.

Container based construction units allow an easy, fast and often very price efficient construction of buildings. Despite the fact that buildings of various sizes can be established in short time by connecting a number of containers, it is typically experienced that buildings made from containers are less attractive seen from an architectural point of view. The shape of the container determines the shape of the resulting building, in practise without the opportunity to redesign. Moreover, the outer dimensions of the containers are normally fitted to international standards for transportation. As an example, regular shipping containers are made in 3 different sizes all having the same cross-sectional size but having a length of 20, 40 and 40+ foot. The standardised and uniform sizing of the containers limits the freedom to combine such containers into fully functional buildings, and often, the outcome is a building with rooms of a size which does not match the needs of the user, e.g. a too large kitchen but a too small living room. US 3,979,862 shows an example of a modular building formed of wall sections of superimposed logs. The document is, however, silent about the flexibility towards transportation of the building.

DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved method for transporting building components to a construction site and for erecting a building. Accordingly, the invention, in a first aspect, provides a method for erecting a building on a construction site, wherein the building is made from building components comprising components which are pre-fitted for the building, and wherein at least a first part of the components are transported to the construction site in a container which is at least partly made from a second part of the components. The second part of the components comprising components which are pre-fitted for the building and which can be joined and separated, preferably reversibly.

Since the container is made from pre-fitted building components which can be joined and separated, it is possible to transport building components to a construction site in a container which, at the construction site, can be disassembled into single pre-fitted components which can be joined to form the building. Since the container can be disassembled into smaller pre- fitted building components, it is possible more freely to design a building and to reuse the components in various buildings. Moreover, it is possible to join the components to form a container with a size and shape suitable for transporting building components to a specific building.

The building could be used as a residential property, as a hotel, an office building, as a factory building, a hospital, a laboratory, a storage building, a kinder garden, a school or in fact for any purpose.

In a second aspect, the invention provides a set of components which can be used to make a container or a building, respectively. The container or building is in the following referred to as a unit. The components could be combined with other components to form larger buildings. Those other components could be transported to the construction site inside the container. As an example, a house may be erected from one unit. Over time, joining additional units to the first unit can extend the building, or removal of such additional units can shrink the building if the requirement for space changes. The units can be connected either vertically, horizontally or both vertically and horizontally. If such resizing of a building should be necessitated, the components could be reassembled into a container for transport of the components away from the construction site. The components of the unit are shaped and sized to support modular construction of the building and/or the container, i.e. the components can be joined in various ways to form a construction of various shapes and sizes. The unit may be used to form rooms which do not necessarily have to be closed rooms but which can rather be open constructions, e.g. shelter like constructions.

Typically, the unit is prefabricated and consists of components of either standardised shape and size, components selected from a library of components of standardised shape and size or components which have a customer specified shape and size. As will be discussed in further details later, the unit can be customised and ordered via a computer system, e.g. over the Internet.

In particular, the set comprises beams or plates with fittings allowing the components to be joined to form a container of one shape for transporting other components to a construction site, and allowing separation into single components and rejoining to form a building of another shape being different from the shape of the container.

Some of the components are load bearing components which are pre-fitted to form a load bearing framework of the container and to form a load bearing framework of the building. As an example, the container may comprise 12 load bearing beams arranged along side edges of a box-shaped container and joined in end-joints. The components could comprise joint- components for joining other components. The joint-components could e.g. form corner points of the building or the container, and they could be separate components or they could be an integrated part of the beams and/or the plates. Preferably, the components are fastened to each other by hand, e.g. via fastening means, e.g. in the form of a hasp of the kind known from window or door closing mechanisms. Preferably, the fastening means should be capable of locking and/or unlocking a neighbouring component without the use of any external tools. In general, the components, i.e. beams and/or plates can be assembled via snap locking means, by use of bolts, splits, nails, rivets, by gluing, welding, seaming or in any other way. However, according to one embodiment of the invention, the components are joined magnetically. In this case, an electrical field can be used for the disassembling thereof. Since bolts, splits, rivets and the like are avoided, the total number of required components can be reduced. Moreover, magnetically joined components may have more smooth outer surfaces from which water and dirt can easily come off and during the assembly and disassembly operations, considerable amounts of time may be saved.

The fastening means could either be an integrated part of the pre-fitted components or they could be provided as loose parts, e.g. to be transported inside a container made from the pre-fitted components. The joint-components may have rotational joints allowing two components which are joined by the joint-component to be rotated in relation to each other. In that way, a 2 dimensional or a 3-dimentional, spatial, structure could be erected by unfolding a number of rotationally interconnected components. In this respect, 2-dimentional should be understood as a structure which extends no further into a 3^rd dimension than a single individual component of the set of components. In one specific embodiment, the rotational joint may allow one component to be transported in a state wherein it is folded to abut another component. At the construction site, the component is unfolded to extend away from the other component and thus to form a spatial structure of a building. It is possible to reuse beams in constructions of various kinds, e.g. buildings of various designs. In particular, relatively short beams which can be connected to other beams to form a frame, can be used in constructions of almost any size. Depending on a specific design, an amount of beams can be connected to form either planar or spatial static frames. Accordingly, the method according to the present invention may use beams having connecting means for connection with other beams to form static frames. Alternatively, corner joints fitted to receive and sustain a number of beams and/or plates and which thus can form corner points in a static frame structure may be used. Moreover, plates comprised in the second part of the components could be detachably joined to other plates or to beams to form the container and/or the building.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention, at least three beams are connected in at least three corners or beam joints to form a plane frame or at least six beams are connected in at least three beam joints to form a space-frame, such frame constructions typically posses excellent strength to weight ratios. If the beams are of a type having a variable length, the size of the frame can be fixed by a stiffening element attached to the frame. As an example, a stiff bar may be link two of the beam joints, or, a plate, e.g. a stiff sheet of metal, plastic, glass fibre or carbon fibre reinforced polyester or epoxy, could be attached in the open plans defined by the joined beams. The plates could be attached directly to the beams or to the beam joints, e.g. by use of snap coupling attachment means, e.g. without the use of tools.

As an alternative, or in combination with the beams, four or more plates may be joined to form a spatial structure. If the beams are of a type wherein the length is fixed, or wherein the length can be fixed, or if the spatial structure is made by use of interconnected plates, all components can be joined by use of wires, lines or similar components capable of absorbing tension only. As an example, a quadrangular building or container could be made from eight corners each having means for receiving at least three beams or plates. During the assembly operation, at least twelve beams and/or at least six plates are inserted into the corners to form the quadrangle. The beams and/or the plates can be fastened either magnetically or mechanically to the corners, or, a wire or similar component capable of absorbing tension can be used to join the corners. The beams could have a length which is resizable, e.g. by interconnecting beam segments telescopically.

In order to utilise the space of the container, the container could simply be made from a plurality of components, e.g. plate shaped components or plane frames made from beams, e.g. from four beams connected in their endpoints, the components being stacked to form a container body and being joined, e.g. by means of corner fittings or by means of an elongate assembling member. The elongate assembly member could be arranged from a bottom component to a top component in the stack of components, e.g. through openings in the stacked components. The assembly member could be a cable, a robe or a rod with a flange in each end. One of the flanges could be made with an arrangement allowing lifting with a crane. The corner fittings could form three contact surfaces for contacting three surfaces of a component which is arranged in top of, or in bottom of the stack of components. In that case, the container may further have braces extending between a corner fitting in a top corner of the stack and a corner fitting in an opposite bottom corner of the stack.

Some of the beams could be made from a plurality of beam segments which could be assembled or disassembled to provide a beam of a variable length, and in one specific embodiment, beams are provided in a lengths corresponding to the width, the length or the height of containers for international standard container transport.

During erection of the building, it may be an advantage if the joint-components and the resizable beams allow simultaneous operation to allow resizing of a frame which is assembled there from. As an example, the beams and the joint-components could be assembled into a cubic structure, and after the assembling, the size and shape of the cubic structure could be fitted to a specific need by simultaneous rotation and resizing of the length of some of the beams and joint-components. In particular, resizing in the scale of 1:3 would be applicable, e.g. for using a frame structure, e.g. comprising 12 beam joined in 8 joint-components both for a container and for a part of a building by resizing the length and changing the angles of some of the joint-components without disassembling the joint-components from the beams.

In particular, the set may have a static structure incorporating at least one beam which is extractable from the static structure to form anchoring means. The static structure could be a block of concrete or a block of solid steel and the structure could form the foundation of the building, or the structure could form an elevator shaft, or a staircase shaft for the building. In the container, the static structure could form the bottom of the container or the structure could form a saddle to be lifted by a truck during transportation, or the structure could form a lifting body for attachment of the container to a crane. The anchoring means of the static structure may comprise a locking member which is hinged to allow movement between a position wherein the locking member extends in a direction towards the static structure and a position wherein the member extends substantially perpendicular to the beam. In that way, the anchoring means could be pounded into the ground prior to the erection of the building and by a pull in an opposite direction the locking member could be unfolded underneath the ground and thus lock the foundation safely to the ground. The static structure may comprise fastening means, e.g. flanges, holes, protrusions etc. for attachment of other components thereto.

The inner and/or outer surface of the unit could be made of brick-stones, concrete, wood, glass, steel, carbon and/or glass fibres etc. Preferably, the building components are pre-fitted with technical installations, e.g. pipes for water and waste-water, electrical power and/or control cables, ventilation ducts, fittings, linen etc. For this purpose, the components may have connectors arranged to engage connectors of neighbouring components in an assembled state. Preferably, the components are provided with connectors on all free edges. Those connectors, which are not engaging connectors of neighbouring components when the building or container is assembled, can be closed by detachable closures.

Preferably, the components are categorised depending upon their use in the building. One category could be components for technical installations. Such components may carry all the most technical parts of the building, e.g. bathroom and kitchen installations, heating and/or ventilation system such as a boiler and/or an air-conditioning system etc. Another category could be high strength components capable of carrying loads, e.g. from a roof or from units arranged above. Other components may have a luxury finish and thus be used for decorative purposes. In addition, components may be categorised in more than one category, e.g. as a component carrying a bathroom installation and having a strength allowing stacking of other units in a pile.

The components can be pre-insulated or they may be made from highly insulating materials, e.g. polyurethane foam or from a similar foam material or Rockwool™, Glasswool™ or similar insulating material. As an example, the components can be made from a sheet or from sheets of metal, e.g. aluminium or from cardboard, wood, plasterboard etc. On one side or both sides, a layer of a foam material, Rockwool™, Glasswool™ or similar insulating material can be applied depending upon the requirements for thermal and/or noise insulation.

As an example, some buildings may have outer walls made from elongate boards of a certain length. In this case, the transport container could be made from pre-fitted beams and in a dimension suitable for transporting the elongate boards. At the construction site, the , container is disassembled and the beams are used for making a carrying frame for the building while the elongate boards transported therein, are used for making the outer walls. In another example, the container could be made from plates which can be disassembled and used as outer walls of the building. Other components for the building could be transported within the container, e.g. electrical equipment, plumbing equipment, doors, windows, interior outfitting etc. A particularly good flexibility can be achieved by using a number of pre-fitted parts, e.g. beams or plates e.g. plan plates made from a sheet material, e.g. metal, cardboard, plywood, laminate etc. The beams and plates can be used to form frames and sidewalls, respectively, of either the container or the building.

In order to allow the pre-fitted components to be reused, they may be adapted for multiple and reversible joining and separation. As an example, the same component may be used in a container for transporting other components to a construction site. At the construction site, a building comprising this component is erected and used for a period of time. Subsequently, the building is disassembled and some components are joined to form a container for moving other components to a new construction site. Again, the container is disassembled and the components joint to form the new building. In fact, a building can entirely or at least almost entirely be made from pre-fitted and modular components and by intelligent design of the components, a very high degree of reuse of equal components in forming either a container and/or a building can be achieved.

The beams and/or the plates could as an example be made from steel, plastic or from a composite material such as glass or carbon fibre reinforced polyester or epoxy. Moreover, the beams and or the plates could be made from wood, concrete, or even from laminates e.g. made of compressed paper. The plates could even be made of glass, e.g. reinforced glass.

The corners, e.g. the beam joints may comprise attachment means for attaching handling equipment to the joint, e.g. holes for a cranes hook or similar.

In general, the units may be used for buildings either on a solid foundation, e.g. of concrete or they may be installed on piles.

In order to allow fast and easy erection of a building from the components, some components of the set may be pre-fitted with technical installations, e.g. piping for water and/or waste water, lining, bathroom or kitchen equipment, heating and/or air conditioning equipment etc. Moreover, windows, doors, panels and similar parts may be pre-installed in the components. In order to allow an easy and fast configuration of a building from a set of components, the component may preferably be categorised depending on their use in the building, e.g. one category for technical components, one for decorative components and one for high strength components. In particular the technical components such as a kitchen or bathroom component may have connecters arranged to engage connectors of neighbouring components in an assembled state. Most preferably, such connectors are arranged in standardised locations on all those edges which are supposed abut neighbouring components and those connectors which are not going to be used, can be sealed by detachable closures. In fact, such connectors may connect both hot and cold water supplies, heating and cooling supplies, electrical supplies as well as antenna, telephone or broadband connections for televisions, computers, telephones and similar electrical devices or control cables e.g. for switching light on and off.

A set of components may include peripheral parts enabling the assembling of the building, e.g. corner joints, cables, plugs, draining fittings, hoses, or even curtains, wall paper, paint etc.

In one embodiment, the set comprises a number of beams which can be assembled, to form a frame, and which can be disassembled into single elongate beams or beam segments. As an example, the beams can be assembled into a quadrangular container frame having size and shape in accordance with the international standard for container transport. The sidewalls, bottom and/or roof could be made from plates or elongate boards. At the construction site, the beams could be disassembled and the separate beams can be used e.g. for the carrying structure of the floor, walls or roof of the building. Analogously, the plates or elongate boards which had formed the sidewalls, bottom and/or roof of the container can be reused for almost any purpose in the building, e.g. for making outer panels, floors, inner or outer roof etc.

According to a third aspect, the present invention relates to a configuration system for configuring a set of components to form a building or a container, said system comprising first data input means for entering user selected data relating to a desired size and shape of a building or a container and data processing means for processing the user selected data to determine a set of components which can be assembled to form a building or container in accordance with the desired size and shape.

The determined components could be selected from a library of pre-defined components, or, the user via a user interface could specify the size, shape and material of the components.

In order for the user to better understand the configuration of the building and/or the container, the system may comprise visualisation and/or simulation tools for visualising the components and/or a preferred assembly procedure for the assembling of the components to form the building and/or the container. In order to allow a user to operate the system remotely, the user input means and/or the visualisation and/or the simulation tools may be accessible via the Internet.

According to a fourth aspect, the present invention provides to a container for transporting building components comprising pre-formed components for erecting a building, the container being at least partly made from the pre-formed components. The container may e.g. be sized and shaped in accordance with the requirements for standardised containers according to ISO/DIS 8323.

According to a fifth aspect, the invention provides a building made from components and in accordance with the first and second aspect of the invention. In particular, one room of the building may contain all the technical installations of the building, and this particular room may constitute one single component of the container and the building. I.e. this component is not assembled and disassembled during the transition from a container to a building, vice versa.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

In the following, preferred embodiments of the invention will be described in further details with reference to the drawing in which:

Fig. 1 shows a container made from pre-fitted components for a building,

Fig. 2 shows expansion of an elongate component into a 3-dimentional structure,

Figs. 3 and 4 show components for a building, the components being made from components from the container of Fig. 1, and

Figs. 5-65 show various designs of components, joint components and static structures for a container and/or for a building.

As shown in Fig. 1, the container and/or building according to the present invention may have a quadrangular shape like a cube made from 12 beams 1-12. Each beam is connected to at least two neighbouring beams in the end points thus forming beam joints in the 8 corners 13. The beams could be joined e.g. in joint-components which are capable of rotating one of the beams in relation to another beam. The beams could be made from steel, wood, compressed paper, a carbon, Kevlar or glass-fibre reinforced resin e.g. epoxy or polyester based, aluminium or from any metal alloy. During transport to a construction site, the container houses a number of building components.

Fig. 2 illustrates how a substantially oblong element 50 made from beams which are joined by rotational joints can be unfolded, in a first step to form a 2-dimentional frame structure 51, i.e. extending only the thickness of the beams in a third dimension. In the next step, the frame structure is unfolded into a spatial frame structure 52. In a next step, the spatial frame structure is expanded in its height by expansion of 4 beams 53. In the final step, the spatial frame structure is expanded in its width by expansion of 4 other beams 54.

In Fig. 3, the container of Fig. 1 has been disassembled and two rectangular frames made from the beams 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19 and 20 are shown. In Fig. 4, it is shown how the components is further disassembled and reassembled to form two portals 6, 9, 10 and 1,3,12, two wall segments for carrying a window of a building 4, 7, 8, 5 and 14, 16, 17, 18 and two smaller portals 15, 19, 21 and 2, 11, 20. Fig. 4 further shows a building made from the components.

Fig. 5 shows an alternative architectural design of a set of components and a corresponding building made from such components. Again, the components are derived by disassembling and rejoining of components from the container shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 6 shows a container with components for a building. The components of the container corresponds to the components of the building disclosed e.g. in Fig. 5.

Fig. 7 shows a container with a side-portion which can be pulled out to form a balcony of a building, and in Fig. 8, a widest side of the container or building component is expanded to form a catwalk or a balcony of a larger size. Fig. 9 shows a container or building component being expanded, in Fig. 10, it is disclosed how a beam can be extended lengthwise in a telescopic way by extraction of one beam segment within another beam segment. Fig. 11 shows expansion of a container end-face.

Fig. 12 show a static structure comprising a quadrangular static body 121 made from 12 beams joint in 8 corner joints. From corners of the static body 121, arm segments 122 are extracted to form fastening points 123 for a stiffening element 124, e.g. a cable or a rod.

Fig. 13 shows a building component wherein one side surface 131 is rotated as indicated by the dotted line 132 to expand the component. Fig. 14 shows a container comprising elements for a building. The wheels 81 can be used during handling and transport of the container to and from a construction site. In order to form the building shown in Fig. 15, the components 82 and 83 are shifted upwardly and other components, 84, 85, are attached.

In Fig. 16, corner joints 101 capable of receiving plates 103 or beams 104 for assembling a container or building, is shown. The joints may have upwardly extending flanges 102 e.g. for lifting the assembled container or building or for connecting the container or building to adjacent buildings, e.g. to form a multiple storage building.

Fig. 17 shows another embodiment of corner joints 171 for assembling a number of beams 172 in corners. The holes 173 serve e.g. for attaching lifting equipment to the corner joint for lifting the building or container or for connecting the container or building to adjacent buildings or e.g. for connecting one corner joint to another corner joint. In Fig. 18, the corner joints 181 are connected diagonally via flexband™ 182 or similar belts, cables, robes or lines capable of absorbing tension. As shown, the beams 183 are fitted with connecting elements 184 made with holes 185 allowing the beams to be fastened to the corner joints by inserting a bolt, rivet or similar fastening element through the corner joint and the beam. The disclosed corner joints are made with contact surfaces 186 for contacting an underlying support surface, e.g. an underlying building or container or a base foundation or for carrying buildings or containers in piles.

In Fig. 19 is shown how one single plate or 2-dimentionally shaped component 191 may be connected in its corners 192 to elongate drawbars 193. The drawbars have lifting means 194 in each of their longitudinally disposed end sections. In the top, the lifting means are interconnected by braces 195.

Figs. 20 and 21 show two containers assembled with corner joints. In Fig. 21, the corner joints are connected via flexband™ or similar belts 215. In Fig. 20, the container is made from a number of plates 201, 202 attached to a frame made from 12 beams 203 joined in 8 corner joints 204. In Fig. 21, the container is made from a number of oblong plates, e.g. wooden boards and triangular plates 212, the plates are attached in a frame made of beams 213 joined in corner joints 214. The corner joints served to join the beams and supports hoisting of the building or container. After disassembling of the container, the oblong plates could serve e.g. for making the floor of the building. In order to protect the finish of such plates, the side facing outwardly on the container could be turned downwardly when the plates are used for making the floor. Figs. 22-31 show collapsing and/or expansion of a component made from beams joined by rotational joints. In Fig. 22, it is shown how 8 rotational corner joints can be applied to allow collapsing of a 3-dimensional structure into a 2 dimensional structure. In Figs. 23-25, elevation of the 3-dimensional structure is shown by elongation of beams. Note the diagonal beam 251 which is capable of absorbing compression and tension.

Fig. 32 shows a surface plate element which is expandable by displacement of one element 321 in relation to another element 322. The two elements may be joined by joints which allows the displacement. In Fig. 33 it is shown that the element 321 and 322 could be wall elements which are expanded in their thickness 331. Fig. 34 shows that the thickness may be limited by the delimiting feature 333.

In Fig. 35 is shown how a container can be made from a plurality of components 351 being stacked to form a body. The components are joined in the vicinity of rim portions of the components. In the disclosed embodiment, the components are joined by elongate assembling members 352 which penetrates openings in the stacked components and which in one end terminates in end fittings 353 and which comprises lifting fittings 354 facilitating lifting of the container. In order to reduce sideways displacement of the components, fittings 355 have been arranged between the components. The fittings can be seen more clearly in Figs. 36-40 showing different embodiments of the fitting. The fitting shown in Fig. 37 comprises three surfaces for contacting three surfaces 371, 372, 372 of the components of the stack of components, and the opening 374 is provided for an elongate assembling member in the form of a rod or a cable.

Fig. 41 shows an alternative embodiment of the stacking of components wherein the corner fitting corresponds to the fitting shown in Fig. 40. \

Figs. 42-45 show various ways of stacking components to form containers.

Figs. 46-47 show a method of arranging a roof element 461 down into a container and by turning the roof element 461 around, a higher building is achieved.

Figs. 48- 53 show various examples of curved elements 480 stacked in containers and unfolded to form a building with a curved outer shape. As shown, the container still comprises elements 481, 482 which can be disassembled and rejoined in various shapes.

As shown, the components comprise circular segments and cylindrical segments which can be joined into various shapes. The circular segments 483 can be joined to form smaller or larger circular segments, and the 484 has a mating shape which can form a side-wall or a column etc. 485 shows a cylindrical segment.

Fig. 54 shows further examples of curved elements. The elements may in combination form circular segments, wherein the separate elements may be arranged in the container to take up very little space.

In Fig. 55, the beams which form building components have various segments interconnected to allow extraction or rotation of single segments in relation to other segments. The beam 551 comprises a first segment 552, and a second segment 553. Since the two segments are joined in rotational joints, one segment can be rotated in relation to the other segment. Fig. 64 shows an example of a joint component which offers the flexibility of rotating one attached beam segments in relation to another attached beam segment. In 64 a, the hinge part is internal, i.e. being arranged above the beam. The shown joint component provides a diagonal displacement of one of the attached beam segments in relation to another one of the attached beam segments while the joint component shown in Fig. 65 shows perpendicular displacement of one of the attached beam segments in relation to another one of the attached beam segments.

Figs. 60-62 shows further examples of beams of a larger strength which form static structures which can be used for elevator shafts, and in Fig. 63, it is shown how the static structures may be further joined to form larger buildings.

Claims

1. A method for erecting a building on a construction site, the building being made from building components comprising components pre-fitted for the building, wherein at least a first part of the components are transported to the construction site in a container, said container being at least partly made from a second part of the components, the second part of the components comprising components which are pre-fitted for the building, and which can be joined and separated.

2. A method according to claim 1, wherein the second part of the components comprises beans or plates being joined to form a spatial structure.

3. A method according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the components are connected by joints which form separate components.

4. A method according to claims 2-3, wherein the size of the spatial structure is adjusted by varying the length of beams.

5. A method according to claims 2-4, wherein the size of the spatial structure is changed by changing a degree of overlap between plates.

6. A method according to claims 4-5, wherein the size is fixed by attaching a stiffening element to the spatial structure.

7. A method according to claim 6, wherein the plate is attached inside a frame made from the beams and surrounded by the beams.

8. A method according to any of the preceding claims, wherein at least some components of the second part of components are joined magnetically to form the container and/or the building.

9. A method according to claims 3-8, wherein a frame is assembled from at least three beams joined in at least three joints, and wherein the beams are capable of absorbing only tensile stress.

10. A set of components comprising beams or plates, the components comprising fittings allowing the components to be joined to form a container of one shape for transporting other components to a construction site, and allowing separation into single components and rejoining to form a building of another shape being different from the shape of the container.

11. A set according to claim 10, wherein the components comprises load bearing components which are pre-fitted to form a load bearing framework of the container and to form a load bearing framework of the building.

12. A set according to claims 10-11, wherein the components comprises joint-components for joining other components.

13. A set according to claim 12, wherein the joint-components comprises fastening means for attachment of other components by hand.

14. A set according to claims 12-13, wherein the joint-components comprise rotational joints allowing two components which are joined by the joint-component to be rotated in relation to each other.

15. A set according to claims 12-14, wherein the joint-components constitute integrated parts of beams or plates.

16. A set according to any of the preceding claims, comprising a first component which is joined to a second component in a rotational joint which allows rotation of the first component in relation to the second component to form a spatial, 3-dimensional structure into a substantially planar structure extending primarily in two dimensions.

17. A set according to any of claims 10-16, wherein the components comprises at least one beam with a length which is resizable.

18. A set according to claim 17, wherein the resizing is achieved telescopically by one beam element moving in a longitudinal direction with respect to another beam element.

19. A set according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the container comprises a plurality of components being stacked to form a body and being joined in the vicinity of rim portions of the components.

20. A set according to claim 19, wherein the components are joined by at least one elongate assembling member which penetrates openings in the stacked components and which in one end terminates in lifting fittings facilitating lifting of the container.

21. A set according to claim 19, wherein the components are joined by corner fittings which form three contact surfaces for contacting three surfaces of a component which is arranged in top of, or in bottom of the stack of components, the container further comprises braces extending between a corner fitting in a top corner of the stack and a corner fitting in an opposite bottom corner of the stack.

22. A set according to claims 11-21, wherein at least one of the components comprises pre- fitted technical installations, the component being provided with a connector for connecting the installations to mating installations of other components or to external sources.

23. A set according to claim 22, wherein a connector is provided on all edges of the component.

24. A set according to any of claims 11-23, comprising beams which have end portions with integrated fastening means allowing assembling of one of the beams with other beans either to form a frame of special structure or to form a new beam of a length which exceeds the length of the beam.

25. A set according to claims 12-24, comprising load bearing components in the form of beams having a lengths corresponding to the width, length and height of containers for international standard container transport.

26. A set according to any of claims 16-25, wherein the beams and the fastening means are adapted to allow expansion and contraction of a frame assembled from beams and fastening means by rotation of the beams in relation to each other and simultaneous resizing of the length of the beams.

27. A set according to claim 26, wherein the frame is expandable and/or contractible in a scale of 1 to 3.

28. A set according to any of claims 11-27, comprising a static structure incorporating at least one beam which is extractable from the static structure to form anchoring means.

29. A set according to claim 28, wherein the anchoring means comprises a locking member which is hinged to allow movement between a position wherein the locking member extends in a direction towards the static structure and a position wherein the member extends substantially perpendicular to the beam.

30. A set according to claims 28-29, wherein the static structure comprises fastening means for attachment of other components thereto.

31. A set according to claims 28-30, wherein the static structure is designed to form a lift shaft or a cable shaft of the building.

32. A set according to claims 28-31, wherein the static structure comprises an element made from concrete.

33. A configuration system for configuring a set of components to form a building or a container, said system comprising first data input means for entering user selected data relating to a desired size and shape of a building or a container and data processing means for processing the user selected data to determine a set of components which can be assembled to form a building or container in accordance with the desired size and shape.

34. A configuration system according to claim 32, wherein determined components are selected from a library of pre-defined components.

35. A configuration system according to claim 32 or 33, comprising a visualisation tool for visualising the determined components.

36. A configuration system according to claims 32-34, comprising a simulation tool for visualising an assembly operation for the assembling of the determined components to form the building or container.

37. A configuration system according to claims 30-33, wherein the data input means is adapted to receive the user selected data via the Internet.

38. A configuration system according to claims 32-34, wherein the visualisation tool is adapted to visualise the determined components via the Internet.

39. A configuration system according to claims 33-35, wherein the simulation tool is adapted to visualise the assembly operation via the Internet.

40. A configuration system according to claims 33-36, further comprising second data input means allowing the user to design customer specified components.

41. A configuration system according to claim 37, wherein the second data input means is adapted to receive data via the Internet.

42. A container for transporting building components comprising pre-formed components for erecting a building, the container being at least partly made from the pre-formed components which can be disassembled and reassembled to form the building.

43. A container according to claim 40, being in accordance with the requirements for standardised containers according to ISO/DIS 8323.

44. A building made from components which have been comprised in a container for transporting building components to a construction site, the components comprising fittings allowing the components to be joined to form a container of one shape for transporting other components to a construction site, and allowing separation into single components and rejoining to form the building which is of another shape than the container.

45. A building according to claim 44 wherein at least one room of the building comprises technical installations, which room constitutes one single component of the container and the building.