EP2181225B1

EP2181225B1 - Building comprising a plurality of modules

Info

Publication number: EP2181225B1
Application number: EP07856638A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Winston Theler
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2007-07-23
Filing date: 2007-12-12
Publication date: 2011-02-16
Anticipated expiration: 2027-12-12
Also published as: PL2181225T3; DK2181225T3; EA201070166A1; WO2009012801A1; DE602007012597D1; EP2181225A1; CN101802319A; DE202007010218U1; ES2361374T3; ATE498745T1

Abstract

A building having at least in one building portion an arrangement of a plurality of modules (20) positioned side by side, said modules in each case: having prefabricated module design, having a size so as to be transportable with a road vehicle, and having a useful room (14) as well as at least a partial width of a corridor section (12a) adjacent the useful room; and said modules (20) being positioned side by side with adjacent corridor sections (12a). Modules (20) for erecting such a portion of a building (2). Method for erecting such a portion of a building (2).

Description

This invention relates to the field of buildings constructed using modules. In particular, the invention relates to the building; to the module a plurality of which are present in the building; and to a method for erecting the building.
In the traditional manner buildings are erected by transporting building materials, in particular bricks, sand, cement, structural steel, roofing tiles, windows, doors, conduit pipes for liquids, electric cables, signal cables, floor coverings, etc., to a construction site and erecting the building there gradually in the course of many months making use of transport devices and hoists and a considerable amount of manpower. It is typical of this construction method that the individual installations must be carried out one after the other or only with a limited time overlap. For example, the roof of the building can only be erected when all the stories are standing. Furthermore, the workers are exposed to the outside weather at least during a first part of the time of erection of the building.
In the past, the building industry has already made use of modules, i.e. units that are considerably larger than the building blocks used in the construction of buildings and therefore reduce the number of units to be assembled on the erection site of the building. Thus, there is occasional mention of ceiling modules and wall modules. On the other hand, the term is frequently used to designate units that have considerable extension in all three dimensions and occupy a considerable volume. Examples to be mentioned are prefabricated garages and modules enclosing a whole useful room, e.g. a room to be used by persons, see e.g. DE 14 34 667 A . The invention lies in the field of such three-dimensional modules.
DE 298 19179 discloses a system of transportable containers for housing of persons having at least one container for living with at least two entrances or exits and a bathroom container adapted to the container for living and accessible through one of the at least two entrances of exits.
WO 94/05879 discloses a transportable, heat insulated and completely equipped dwelling unit based upon an ISO container and designed for being connected to one or several corresponding dwelling units to form a united group of separate dwelling units.
US 6,179,358 B1 discloses a mobile hospital system that can be moved by tractors, helicopters, railway locomotives and/or sea vessels and provide comprehensive diagnoses and medical treatments to casualties and patients, wherein a plurality of container wagons functionally operate as part of a hospital.
FR 2 465 848 discloses a mobile building system generally in the form of a norm container. DE 203 20 135 discloses a modular laboratory on the basis of norm containers.
The invention is based on the problem of providing a building or building portion comprising a plurality of modules which is adapted to be erected on the erection site of the building or building portion with comparatively very little labor and time consumption due to the design of the modules. The invention has the result that the production steps take place to a greater extent than hitherto in the module manufacturing plant, where they take place unimpaired by weather influences - assuming a hall-like manufacturing facility - and can be carried out very economically due to the recurrence of identical operations. It is much easier to transport the materials and single parts for the individual modules consistently to the module manufacturing plant than to transport the building materials and single parts to changing construction sites. The disturbances to be observed again and again on construction sites for conventional buildings due to delayed delivery, wrong delivery and assembly mistakes (e.g. because the specific assembly activity in question is not familiar to those performing it here) are eliminated almost entirely. The manufacturing plant can look for suppliers that do not have to overcome large transport distances and are nevertheless used for a very large number of modules and thus a considerable number of buildings. The required preliminary work at the erection site of the building is limited to a very small extent compared with conventional buildings. Inventive buildings can be dismantled again and rebuilt in another place quickly and with comparatively little effort, e.g. if the need for utilization decreases at the first erection site and there is greater need for utilization in another place.
The subjects of the invention are a room module according to claim 1, a building according to claim 9, and a method for erecting a portion of a building according to claim 14. Preferred embodiments of the subjects of the invention are stated in claims 2 to 8, claims 10 to 13, and claim 15.
Particularly, the present patent discloses a building having at least in one building portion an arrangement of a plurality of modules positioned side by side,
said modules in each case
- having prefabricated module design,
- having a size so as to be transportable with a road vehicle,
- and having a useful room as well as at least a partial width of a corridor section adjacent the useful room;
and said modules being positioned side by side with adjacent corridor sections.
The side-by-side positioning is preferably carried out such that the corridor sections are thereby adjacent in the longitudinal direction of the corridor.
The inventive modules used in the invention have prefabricated module design, i.e. they can be produced in a manufacturing plant in a condition close to the ready-for-use condition; for erecting the building portion or building it is only necessary to assemble the modules and do a few supplementary operations. This of course does not rule out that certain completion operations must still also be carried out on the modules themselves on the construction site, typically after the modules have been assembled to form the building portion or building; this is particularly applicable when individual final operations can be performed more efficiently on the construction site than in said manufacturing plant.
The inclusion of at least a partial width of a corridor section in the module in question signifies an important step toward higher prefabrication depth in the manufacturing plant. Useful room and corridor section need no longer be assembled on the construction site. In many cases the corridor section has a width (measured transversely to the longitudinal extension of the corridor) that corresponds to the corridor width; however, it is also possible to work e.g. with substantially half the corridor width. Examples below will make this clearer.
The modules used according to the invention have a size so as to be transportable with a road vehicle, preferably without requiring an escort vehicle besides the actual transportation vehicle to fulfill regulations. This means in practice that the modules used according to the invention have a maximum width that is permissible as the maximum width for trucks in the country in question. The stated corridor section is located as a rule adjacent a transverse boundary of a useful room, so that the corridor section increases the length of the module, but not the width. The inventive module is an optimal compromise between large module dimensions (which are favorable for assembly to form the building portion or building) and unproblematic transport of the modules to the construction site. The module used according to the invention is by no means restricted to having only one useful room. The size of the useful room naturally also plays a part here. On the other hand, it is in fact an embodiment of the invention that is important for practical application if the module has only one useful room (optionally with a sanitary unit as a subroom) and at least the partial width of a corridor section. Practicable sizes of the useful room for many building types are ten to twenty square meters. On the other hand, a particularly attractive embodiment of the invention is obtained if the module comprises two useful rooms with the corridor section (in the full corridor width) therebetween, preferably consisting of the two useful rooms (optionally each with a subroom) and the corridor section therebetween.
The inventive building is preferably provided with modules wherein the term "useful room" means a useful room that is enclosed, of course with the exception of windows, doors, passages or the like. In the broader sense, however, modules can also be used wherein the useful room is completely or largely open on one, two or, in extreme cases, three sides. Such modules can be used to construct e.g. hall-like building portions comprising e.g. the base area of a plurality of useful rooms substantially without dividing walls.
The modules used according to the invention are in general positioned side by side, longitudinal side against longitudinal side. This is not a mandatory condition, however, and in particular does not exclude neighboring modules being also attached transverse side against transverse side.
Furthermore, comments will hereinafter be made on these embodiments but also on other, possible embodiments of the invention.
The modules used according to the invention are preferably executed in metal truss design. This permits the required strength to be obtained at the same time as comparatively low inherent weight, which facilitates the transportability of the module. The term "metal truss design" relates to the load-bearing skeleton of the module. The non-load-bearing or less load-bearing components of the module can be made of lighter materials or parts, in particular plate-like parts. On the other hand, it is preferred that the module has a substantially horizontal, preferably reinforced, concrete slab in its lower end area. The concrete slab is a heavy component of the module but, on the other hand, gives it high strength and reduced sound conduction through the floor.
For the ceiling of the module used according to the invention it is preferable to work with a metal panel disposed altogether substantially horizontally and profiled in its cross section in the longitudinal direction of the module or in its cross section in the transverse direction of the module, which increases its stiffness. Between the metal ceiling panel and the concrete floor of the module located thereabove, if present, there is preferably a certain space which can be filled e.g. with insulating material. The ceiling area of the module can be formed as a roof, preferably having insulation above the regular ceiling or metal panel and thereabove a waterproof roof cover. The latter can also be inclined.
The modules used according to the invention are preferably so executed as to have inherent stability at least for their transport and for the building assembly, e.g. by means of a mobile crane, so that temporary stiffening measures for transport and the assembly process are dispensable. The module design is preferably such that the building or the building portion in question is constructed from inherently stable modules without an additional supporting structure, which involves great advantages for assembly on the erection site of the building, but also great cost advantages. It is also possible to proceed in such a way, however, that the inherent module stability suffices for e.g. two-story or three-story buildings but an additional supporting structure is used for yet higher buildings. Further, it is possible to work with modules having higher inherent stability for the lower stories and to provide modules having an inherent stability that is lower by comparison for the stories located higher up.
After positioning on the erection site of the building, modules located side by side and/or one above the other are preferably connected firmly with each other, e.g. by connecting elements of the screw or bolt type. This increases the stability of the building or building portion or is even required therefor; furthermore, it avoids relative motions between the modules during the time of utilization of the building.
The module used according to the invention is preferably present in such prefabricated module design as to be equipped with an integrated sanitary unit having a toilet, a shower and a wash basin. The installation of such sanitary facilities only on the erection site of the building comprises working steps that cannot be carried out very efficiently on the erection site of the building.
The module used according to the invention is preferably executed in such prefabricated module design that fresh water installation (as a rule cold and hot) and/or waste water installation and/or cooling/heating and/or waste air ducts and/or electrical and signal line installation are already provided by the manufacturing plant. This contributes to increased efficiency of production.
The inventive modular design of the building or building portion can be preferably utilized for working with a design of the building foundation that can be produced particularly efficiently. This is of special importance because the foundation is a part that must necessarily be constructed on the erection site of the building or building portion. The building foundation is preferably constructed with concrete strips at least along the outer edges of the building or building portion. Where no foundation strips are present it is possible to work with foundation blocks which are present at the corners of the modules, but also at intermediate points on the outer longitudinal module side in question or the outer transverse module side in question. The preferable manner of working is such that between the floor sides of the modules of the lowermost story of the building or building portion there is a distance between the floor side and the top ground surface. This makes it possible to omit a moisture barrier from below.
It is emphasized that it is possible, on the one hand, to erect a total building or a total story of a building only from inventive modules practically completely. On the other hand, however, it is also possible to erect only a partial building portion or a plurality of partial building portions from inventive modules and to erect the rest of the building by another construction method. In this case the advantages obtained according to the invention take effect for those building portions that are erected from inventive modules.
It is basically possible to erect practically all those types of buildings with inventive modules that have a sequence of subunits. However, the efficiency effect of the invention is most noticeable when the buildings involved have a considerable number of identical or similar subunits in succession. Particularly preferable inventive buildings or building portions are hotel buildings, hospital buildings, hostel buildings (e.g. hostels beside large civil projects such as stadium construction, dam construction; hostels after natural disasters), or buildings whose useful rooms are for storage. The invention allows for various gradations of comfort, size, feature package of the modules, depending on the intended purpose.
The invention is not restricted to the building or one contemplated building portion consisting exclusively of equally large modules. It is e.g. quite possible to construct a first building portion from modules of a first type and to construct a second, adjoining or also somewhat remote building portion from modules of a second type. However, one can also alternate regularly or irregularly between the first type and the second type. The first type and the second type can differ in particular by the size of the useful room, but also by the package features and other features.
A further subject of the invention is a useful room module in prefabricated module design which
- has a size so as to be transportable with a road vehicle;
- has a useful room as well as at least a partial width of a corridor section adjacent the useful room;
- and has a design such that upon side-by-side positioning with at least one further useful room module having the abovementioned features, with adjacent corridor sections, it yields the area of a building as is disclosed in the present application.
Yet a further subject of the invention is a method for erecting a building portion as is disclosed in the present application, characterized in that
(a) a plurality of transportable modules are produced in a manufacturing plant in prefabricated module design, which each have a useful room and at least a partial width of a corridor section adjacent the useful room;
(b) a plurality of stated modules are transported on trucks to the erection site of the building;
(c) staggered in time a plurality of stated modules are raised with a crane from the truck in question and positioned side by side with adjacent corridor sections;
(d) and at least one pipe for liquid and/or at least one line for electricity or electrical signals which extends substantially in the horizontal direction over a plurality of modules is produced either by coupling pipe or line sections which are present in the modules per module, or by installing a multimodule pipe or line and coupling pipes or lines present in the modules to the multimodule pipe or line in the manner of branch lines.
In a preferable embodiment, the useful room module is substantially cuboid and has at least four substantially vertical metal trusses positioned in the four corners of the module or in at least three corners of a useful room, as well as substantially horizontal metal trusses between the upper end areas and between the lower end areas of the substantially vertical metal trusses.
Preferably, the module is present in such prefabricated module design that the waste water installation of the module is present, with or without downpipe section(s) extending from above to below substantially over the height of the module.
Preferably, the module is present in such prefabricated module design that the module is equipped either with a unit for producing a flow of cooled air or with a unit which can alternatively produce a flow of cooled air or of heated air.
Preferably, the module is present in such prefabricated module design that the module contains at least one waste air pipe section.
Preferably, the module has a suspended ceiling either in the corridor section or in the corridor section as well as at least a part of a useful room.
In a preferable embodiment of the inventive building, in the uppermost story of the building, said modules are present which have in their upper end area a substantially horizontally extending insulation and thereabove a waterproof roof cover.
Preferably, the building is characterized in that said modules are present which have at least one outer building wall with an at least two-leaf design and insulation therebetween.
Preferably, the building is characterized in that an outer leaf of an outer wall is constructed with metal panels.
Preferably, the building is characterized in that said modules are present which have at least one inside building wall with an at least two-leaf design and sound insulation therebetween.
Preferably, the building is characterized in that a building foundation is constructed with concrete strips at least along the outer edges of the building.
Preferably, a building foundation is so formed that said modules of a lowermost story of the building have a space between their underside and the top ground surface.
Preferably, the building is a one-story, a two-story, a three-story, a four-story, a five-story or a six-story building, whereby at least one story has said modules in said arrangement.
Preferably, the building has at least one story in which said modules occupy more than 50% of the story area.
The invention will hereinafter be explained more closely with reference to an embodiment shown by drawings. These show:

Fig. 1 a side view of a building;
Fig. 2 a ground plan of the ground floor of the building of Fig. 1;
Fig. 3 a ground plan of a module of the building of Fig. 1;
Fig. 4 the module of Fig. 3 in an angled vertical section (but now as a module of the uppermost story of the building);
Fig. 5 a side view of the window side of a module of a building.

The building shown in Fig. 1 is a two-story hotel building, whereby some details, in particular components of the building air conditioning system located on the roof of the building, are omitted.
As will become clearer from the ground plan of Fig. 2, the building has 23 double rooms on the ground floor, some general rooms on the ground floor and 30 double rooms on the upper floor. This is only an example. The building could have a greater length and have further stories. Furthermore, it is possible to erect a plurality of such buildings simultaneously, with the required distance therebetween, to thereby have a building complex of greater capacity. The presence of general rooms in the building is discretionary. The building could also be constructed exclusively or almost exclusively from hotel rooms, optionally with stairs and an elevator, and the general rooms e.g. provided in a separate building.
The shown building 2 is a hotel building, but could - optionally with certain modifications - also be a hospital building or a hostel building.
The main entrance 4 to the building is located on the narrow side on the left in Fig. 1. On the narrow side of the building 2 on the right in Fig. 1 there is a stairwell 6 provided outside the building body. One can furthermore see two side entrances 8 and 10 of the building which lead to certain rooms inside the building 2.
We will now turn to Fig. 2. One can see the entrance 4 on the left and the stairwell 6 on the right. Over a large part of the length of the building 2 a corridor 12 extends along the building 2 in the middle thereof. On both sides of the corridor 12 there are altogether 23 double rooms 14 which are all of at least substantially identical design in the shown example. However, this is discretionary. It is also possible to have e.g. two (or more) different room sizes, and the rooms could e.g. have different interior décors. The double rooms 14 are double rooms with a place to sleep for a third person in this embodiment.
Each pair of rooms 14 opposing each other with a section 12a of the corridor 12, including the corridor section 12a located therebetween, is formed by a common module 20, as will become clearer below with reference to Figs. 3 and 4. The rooms 14 belonging to a common module 20 are designed as the mirror image of each other, the center line of the corridor 12 being the symmetry axis. One can furthermore see that two modules 20, respectively, positioned side by side are designed in mirror image relative to the partition wall located therebetween. The building 2 has a row of twelve rooms 14 located above the corridor 12 in Fig. 2 and a row of eleven rooms located below the corridor 12 in Fig. 2.
The left end of the lower row of rooms in Fig. 2 is followed by some general rooms, substantially in the following order: room for technical installations with access door 10, toilets, toilets and shower room for handicapped persons, water heating room, stock room for cleaning materials, stock room for clean laundry, room for used laundry with access door 8, storeroom, reception. An elevator 22 is furthermore provided there. Following the upper row of rooms there is first a stairway 24 and then a lounge 26 with tables and chairs and with vending machines for foods and drinks.
The area or portion to the left of the rooms 14 is also constructed from modules which have the same format and the same basic structure as the modules 20 for the rooms 14. However, with the exception of the outer walls on the outer sides of the building 2, a considerable portion of the walls of the modules is omitted (this is especially clear with the lounge 26 where there are no more inside walls at all apart from the partition wall beside the stairwell 24); in some places there are internal partitions which the modules 20 for the rooms 14 do not have.
One can see that at the left end of the upper row of rooms there are three rooms 14 with a larger sanitary unit 30 for handicapped persons.
It is emphasized that it is alternatively possible to construct e.g. the building portion not occupied by rooms 14 in a different way without modules. In this case, only that building portion comprising the upper row of rooms (with the exception of the far left room) and the lower row of rooms is constructed from inventive modules 20.
It is possible, but not necessary, to construct the upper floor exclusively from hotel rooms, with the exception of only the stairwell 24 and the elevator 22.
Fig. 3 shows an individual module 20 somewhere from the non-end area of the corridor 12, which has two double rooms 14 and the corridor section 12a in question therebetween. Each hotel room 14, designated by the more general term "useful room" in the claims (in order to include rooms with other functions as well, e.g. store-rooms or laboratory rooms), is equipped with a sanitary unit 30 in the described embodiment. The sanitary unit 30 is made mostly of plastic, whereby a few large-sized components (e.g. floor component, several large wall components, ceiling component) are conjoined. Apart from these components constituting the perimeter of the sanitary unit, the sanitary unit 30 contains a wash basin 32 (optionally likewise co-formed integrally from the plastic), a shower area 34 and a toilet 36. The sanitary unit 30 is accessible from the rest of the room 14 through a door 38. The sanitary unit 30 contains the usual sanitary installations such as faucets on the wash basin 32 and in the shower area 34, shower head, water cistern, mirror, shelves. The actual sanitary installations such as cold fresh water pipes, hot fresh water pipes, waste water pipe, as well as electrical installations for electrical outlets and light sources are likewise present.
Each room furthermore contains substantially a lower double bed 40, a narrower bunk bed 42 positioned above a part of the double bed 40, a desk 44, a chair 46 in front of the desk 44. On the outer transverse wall 50 of the room 14 in question there is a window 52 for approximately half the width of the room 14. In the other transverse wall 54 of the room 14, beside the sanitary unit 30, there is a door 56 leading to the corridor 12 or to the corridor section 12a there, which has a length corresponding to the width of the two adjacent rooms 14.
The module 20 shown in Fig. 3 is produced in a manufacturing plant in the condition shown in Fig. 3 (optionally without the beds 40, 42, without the desk 44, without the chair 46, without or with the floor covering not shown in the drawing, in the room 14 in question), and driven by truck to the erection site of the building 2. There, the module 20 can be taken off the truck conveniently and with low time expenditure in particular by mobile crane and inserted at the desired position in the building 2 and fastened there.
In the present example the module is about 3 m wide, about 13 m long, whereby about 1.6 m is allotted to the corridor width, and a good 3 m high.
We will now turn to Fig. 4. Here one can see more clearly than in the other figures that the module 20 is executed in metal truss design with a concrete floor slab The main support frame of each module 20 consists of six vertical steel trusses 60 with an e.g. hollow square cross section, and horizontal steel trusses 62 extending between the upper ends and the lower ends of the vertical steel trusses 60, as well as a lower concrete slab 64. The vertical steel trusses are located at the four corners of each room 14, but with the exception of that corner where a door 54 is located; alternatively it is possible to work with four vertical steel trusses at the four corners of each room 14 and thus altogether eight vertical steel trusses. For the concrete slab 64 a strong sheet-metal plate 66 - either profiled in the longitudinal direction of the room 14 or profiled in the transverse direction of the room 14 - was inserted between the lower, horizontal steel trusses 62, and then thereabove a reinforcement steel mesh as is usual when concreting reinforced concrete floors. Concreting was then done, either only on the steel sheet or also including the underside of the steel sheet.
The horizontal steel trusses on the longitudinal sides of the module 20 can have an H-section if a non-end module is involved, and a U-section with a vertical base web if a longitudinal side at the end of the building is involved. In both cases it is readily possible to insert there the profiled sheet-metal plates 66 both for the floor and for the ceiling.
Quite generally it is possible, but not necessary, to proceed in such a way that greater cross sections and/or material thicknesses for the vertical trusses 60 and/or the horizontal trusses 62 are used for the modules 20 of the ground floor (optionally also of one or more upper floors if the building 2 has a relatively large number of stories) than in the stories located higher up. Several gradations can also be provided. The decision is made according to static requirements.
The trusses 60 and 62 can be coated with e.g. TECWOOL (registered trademark) to ensure the fireproofing.
To construct the ceiling of the module 20 a strong, profiled steel sheet 66 is likewise inserted with the upper, horizontal steel trusses 62. Above the steel sheet 66 there are insulation layers 68, and thereabove - if the module 20 is in the uppermost story of a contemplated building 2 - a water-impermeable roof cover 70.
The outer walls of the module 20 forming outside building walls - i.e. the two transverse outer walls 50 in Fig. 3 - are of multi-leaf structure. There is a row of spaced, vertical metal posts 72, plated on the inner side with e.g. plasterboards 74, and covered on the outside with e.g. plastic-coated metal panels 76. Between the plasterboards 74 and the metal panels 76 there is an insulation 78.
Vertical, spaced metal posts 72 are also provided for the longitudinal walls 80 of the rooms 14 or modules 20. However, here one can virtually only work in single-leaf fashion with e.g. plasterboards 74 on the inner side, and on the outer side, i.e. facing the next module 20, one can work with only a middle insulating layer between the two remaining longitudinal walls 80. For the partition walls 55 toward the corridor section 12a one can work e.g. with plasterboards on both sides of the partition wall 55 in question.
The described structure and the described materials of the walls were by way of example. There are quite a number of possible embodiments known among experts here. The walls can have on the inside a final finish, e.g. paint, wallpaper, etc.
Fig. 4 shows that the module 20 is equipped with suspended ceilings 82 both in the rooms 14 and in the corridor section 12a, which are suspended lower in the area above the sanitary unit and above the part of the room located beside the sanitary unit 30 than in the remaining room 14 and in the corridor section 12a. The suspended ceilings 82 provide free insulating space between themselves and the metal sheet 66 and provide free space for convenient installation of technical equipment.
Fig. 3 shows schematically the cold fresh water installation 84 by thick lines and the hot fresh water installation 86 by thick, broken lines, and also one vertical waste water pipe 88 for each sanitary unit 30. Further, one waste air pipe 90 for each sanitary unit 30 is shown schematically. Finally, an electrical installation is shown by thin lines very schematically and only up to the onset of the particular room 14. It comprises feeders 92 for light, for cooling and heating, and for other consumers to be supplied via electrical outlets. It furthermore comprises signal lines, in particular for antenna signals, telephone lines, Internet lines, etc.
The prefabricated module design of the particular module 20 preferably goes so far that the installations for cold fresh water, hot fresh water, waste water, waste air, electricity, electrical signals are already provided completely or very largely by the manufacturing plant. In the most extreme variant, it is only necessary at the erection site of the building to make connections at the interfaces to neighboring modules, i.e. connections e.g. with flexible pipe sections between the cold fresh water pipes along the corridor section 12a, analogously for the hot fresh water pipes, analogously for the waste water pipe 88 at the upper or lower interface of the contemplated module 20, analogously for the waste air pipe 90 at the upper or lower interface of the contemplated module 20, and e.g. the plug connection from the electrical lines or signal lines located in the corridor section 12a to the particular neighboring module 20, for everything see the coupling points 96. As one can see, the longitudinal pipes or lines extending along the corridor 12 and supplying a plurality of modules 20 are located in the suspended ceiling of the corridor 12. However, one can also go one step less far in the extent of factory prefabrication of the particular module 12 and install the longitudinal pipe or line sections (water or electricity or signals) and/or the vertical pipe sections (waste water and waste air) only on the erection site of the building 2 and then either produce the lateral branches, as are indicated with reference sign 94, completely on the erection site or proceed by coupling to prepared branching points.
One can see from Figs. 4 and 5 that each room is equipped with a combined cooling and heating unit 100 which has a fan not shown in the drawing. For the heating, electrical heating wires are installed. For the cooling, there are basically two possible embodiments, namely the presence of a refrigerant evaporator in the unit 100 or the presence of a heat exchanger which releases heat from a cold cooling liquid (e.g. saltwater or water-glycol mixture) into the warm ambient air without evaporation. The actual cold production is effected by means of a cold production unit 102 on the roof of the building 2 where refrigerant is compressed with a compressor and then condensed in a heat exchange condenser. In the first described possible embodiment, the condensed refrigerant is passed to one or more cooling and heating units and passed back upward after evaporation. In the second described possible embodiment, the cold cooling liquid is produced in or near the cold production unit 102 by heat exchange in a refrigerant evaporator, then passed to one or more units 100 and finally passed back upward in a heated state (intermediate circuit for cooling liquid).
One cold production unit 102 is preferably provided for a plurality of units 100, e.g. for four units 100.
The prefabrication of the module 20 in question at the manufacturing plant can, but need not, go so far that the rooms 14 ex works already have a finished floor covering, e.g. of wood, so-called laminate, or carpeting. In the corridor 12, however, it is more practical to provide the floor covering, here preferably as carpeting, only at the end of the construction work on the erection site of the building 2. The joints between the corridor sections 12a are previously sealed e.g. with plastic strips.
It is emphasized that the modules 20 have sufficient inherent stability to be transported to the erection site of the building without problem by truck and inserted into the building 2 there e.g. by means of a crane. The inherent stability of the modules 20 is so great that the building 2 does not require an additional supporting structure. Modules 20 positioned side by side are fastened to each other e.g. by screwed connections between adjacent vertical steel trusses 60. Modules 20 positioned one above the other are fastened to each other e.g. by metal bolts which are inserted in each case by half into an upper or lower end of a vertical steel truss 60 and screwed together there.
In Fig. 4 one can also see that one longitudinal side of the shown module 20 rests on a continuous foundation strip 96 made of concrete. One can proceed in such a way that such foundation strips 96 are present along all four outer walls of the building 2, but otherwise foundation blocks of concrete spaced apart by e.g. about 3 m for the longitudinal outer sides, so that the lower, horizontal steel trusses of the modules 20 of the ground floor can be supported there. Instead of said spaced foundation blocks, one can also work with foundation strips 96 for all or many of the module sides.
An inventive module 20 need not necessarily have the structure shown in Fig. 3 with two useful rooms and a corridor section therebetween. One could in particular divide the shown module 20 in half in the middle of the corridor, so that each module would then only contain one useful room and half the corridor width. A further possibility would be a separation on the corridor side beside an inner transverse wall of a room 14, so that a first module would then practically comprise only one room and the other module one room with an attached corridor section 12a with the full corridor width.

Claims

A room module (20) in prefabricated module design which
- has a size so as to be transportable with a road vehicle;

- has an enclosed useful room (14) as well as at least a partial width of a corridor section (12a) adjacent a transverse boundary (55) of the enclosed useful room (14),

- wherein the enclosed useful room (14) is accessible from the corridor section (12a):

- and has a design such that upon side-by-side positioning with at least one further room module (20) having the abovementioned features, with adjacent corridor sections, it yields at least a portion of a building (2).
A room module (20) according to claim 1, characterized in that said module (20) comprises two enclosed useful rooms (14) with the corridor section (1 2a) therebetween.
A room module (20) according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that said module (20) is substantially rectangular in a plan view with a width of 2.4 to 3.6 m and a length of 5.0 to 8.5 m when designed for one enclosed useful room, or of 10.0 to 16.5 m when designed for two enclosed useful rooms.
A room module (20) according to any of to claims 1 to 3, characterized in that said module (20) is executed in metal truss design.
A room module (20) according to any of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that said module (20) has inherent stability at least for its transport and for assembly of the building.
A room module (20) according to any of claims 1 to 5. characterized in that said module (20) is present in such prefabricated module design as to be equipped with an integrated sanitary unit (30) having a toilet, a shower and a wash basin.
A room module (20) according to any of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that said module (20) is present in such prefabricated module design that the electrical installation (92) of the module (20) is present, with or without line section(s) (92) along the corridor section (12a).
A room module (20) according to any of claims 1 to 7. characterized in that said module (20) is present in such prefabricated module design that the fresh water installation (84: 86) of the module (20) is present, with or without fresh water pipe section(s) (84; 86) along the corridor section (12a).
A building having at least in one building portion an arrangement of a plurality of room modules (20) positioned side by side and each designed as specified in any of claims 1 to 8.
A building according to claim 9. characterized in that the building (2) is constructed from inherently stable modules (20) without an additional supporting structure.
A building according to claim 9 or 10, characterized in that said modules (20) are present which are connected in their side-by-side positioning and/or characterized in that said modules (20) are present in one-above-the-other positioning which are connected in their one-above-the-other positioning.
A building according to any of claims 9 to 11, characterized in that a building foundation has foundation blocks on which a module (20) in question which is substantially rectangular in a plan view is seated with at least one longitudinal outer side (80) and/or transverse outer side somewhere between its corners.
A building according to any of claim 9 to 12, characterized in that it is a hotel building, a hospital building, a hostel building or a building with useful rooms for storage.
A method for erecting said portion of a building (2) according to any of claims 9 to 13, characterized in that
(a) a plurality of said modules (20) are produced in a manufacturing plant;

(b) a plurality of said modules (20) are transported on trucks to the erection site of the building (2);

(c) staggered in time a plurality of said modules (20) are raised with a crane from the truck in question and positioned side by side with adjacent corridor sections (12a);

(d) and at least one pipe for liquid and/or at least one line for electricity (84; 86; 92) or electrical signals which extends substantially in the horizontal direction over a plurality of modules (20) is produced by either coupling pipe or line sections present in the modules (20) per module (20), or by installing a multimodule pipe or line and coupling pipes or lines present in the modules (20) to the multimodule pipe or line in the manner of branch lines.
A method according to claim 14, characterized in that in the stated manner a plurality of said portions of a building (2) are erected in a plurality of stories, and at least one waste water pipe (88) and/or at least one waste air pipe (90) which extends substantially in the vertical direction over a plurality of modules (20) is produced by either coupling pipe sections present in the modules (20) per module (20), or by installing a multimodule pipe and coupling pipes present in the modules (20) to the multimodule pipe in the manner of branch lines.