EP3418460B1

EP3418460B1 - Prefabricated unit

Info

Publication number: EP3418460B1
Application number: EP18178221.0A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Sergio POLETTO; Fabio Poletto; Luigino POLETTO
Original assignee: Edil Euganea Srl
Current assignee: Edil Euganea Srl
Priority date: 2017-06-19
Filing date: 2018-06-18
Publication date: 2021-12-08
Anticipated expiration: 2038-06-18
Also published as: EP3418460A1; IT201700067562A1

Description

The present invention relates to a prefabricated unit.
The invention can be applied in the area of construction, industry and agriculture.
In particular the invention can be applied on building sites or plant engineering sites, but it can also be advantageously applied in other areas such as, for example, intermodal goods transport, air quality analysis and monitoring stations or habitats.
Nowadays there is wide scope for using prefabricated units, including emergency dwellings, construction sites, intermodal transport, and medical clinics in the inaccessible regions of some countries.
Generally a prefabricated unit comprises a structure provided with elements made of different types of materials: for example, wood and metals but also cement, which are made separately and then assembled in the factory or on site.
In particular, prefabricated units with a structure made of metallic material are usually represented by parallelepipeds with internationally-standardized measurements. The floor, the side walls and the roof are connected by way of structural elements (posts and beams) which are welded together. The structure is fully assembled during production and is then transported to the place of use.
Such known art has a number of drawbacks.
The welding between structural elements entails fixed connections. The structure must therefore be transported in its final configuration, resulting in onerous transport costs; in addition, there is a high level of atmospheric pollution due to the emission of gases by the necessary transport vehicles.
Furthermore the welded structures require considerable storage spaces.
Last but not least, the provision of welded structures determines major limitations on the versatility of use of the product.
JP2011140860 discloses a building unit having an upper unit, a lower unit and column bodies. The upper end of the column body is joined to the lower end of an upper column member, and the lower end of the column body is joined to the upper end of a lower column member. The height of the building unit can thereby be increased by lengthening the length of at least one of the column body, upper column member and lower column member. The upper unit and the lower unit are placed to face each other by making the upper column members and the lower column members butt on each other.
DE202014101864 discloses a plug system with at least one plug-in element comprising at least two or three rod elements, wherein each rod element has a first area with a larger outside diameter and a second area with a smaller outside diameter, wherein the first regions of the rod elements are interconnected via a connection region, support elements being provided between each two rod elements and at least one rod an outer diameter greater than the outer diameter of the second region of the plug element, and wherein the rod with each end on the second region of the plug element can be plugged and connected.
WO2013120129 discloses a height adjustable shipping container usable as a building structure. The container having vertical corner columns and at least three side walls which may be transported at a reduced height as a shipping container and expanded at the receiving end. At least some of the vertical corner columns expand in length during expansion of the reduced height shipping container. The shipping container is able to transport therein structural components, such as wall panel, roof and even fittings to build a building structure that is the equivalent in floor area to that of at least two shipping containers.
The aim of the present invention is to provide a prefabricated unit that is capable of improving the known art in the above mentioned aspects.
Within this aim, an object of the invention is to provide a prefabricated unit that reduces the costs of transport and the pollution associated therewith.
Another object of the invention is to provide a prefabricated unit that reduces the storage space necessary.
A further object of the invention is to provide a prefabricated unit that offers greater versatility and multifunctionality.
Furthermore, another object of the present invention is to overcome the drawbacks of the known art in an alternative manner to any existing solutions.
Another object of the invention is to provide a prefabricated unit that is highly reliable, easy to implement and low cost.
This aim and these and other objects which will become better apparent hereinafter are achieved by a prefabricated unit according to the invention which comprises a structure constituted by modular elements.
Further characteristics and advantages of the invention will become better apparent from the detailed description that follows of a preferred, but not exclusive, embodiment of the prefabricated unit according to the invention, which is illustrated for the purposes of non-limiting example in the accompanying drawings wherein:

Figure 1 is a general view of the prefabricated unit according to the invention;
Figure 2 is an exploded view of the prefabricated unit of Figure 1;
Figure 3 is a view of a detail of the prefabricated unit of Figure 1;
Figures 4 and 5 are views of details of the prefabricated unit of Figure 1.

With reference to the figures, the prefabricated unit according to the invention, generally designated by the reference numeral 10, comprises a frame 11 for the floor, a frame 12 for the roof and some tubular posts 13 for connection between the frames, at the corners of the structure. These metallic elements can be made of, for example, galvanized steel. The frames 11 and 12 are represented by grids constituted by bars, generally tubular, arranged in the most advantageous configuration to support the floor or the roof and the loads placed thereon.
The peculiarity of this structure is the connection system between the posts 13 and the frames 11 and 12.
At the corners of the frame 11 of the floor there are angular elements 15, which have a tubular cross-section and which comprise vertical tabs, also tubular, which are directed upward. The angular elements 15 have a tubular cross-section that coincides with that of the posts 13. Similarly, at the corners of the frame 12 of the roof there are angular elements 18, with a tubular cross-section that coincides with that of the posts 13 and which is parallel to the plane of extension of the frame 12. To join frames and posts, means for removable mutual connection 14 are used. The means for mutual connection 14 can be for example pins, which have a smaller tubular cross-section than that of the posts 13 and of the tubular elements 15 and 18. The pins 14, made for example from steel, are inserted partially into the posts 13 and partially into the angular elements 15 and 18 which are arranged at the corners respectively of the frames 11 and 12.
The frames 11 and 12 can have the most advantageous dimensions for the specific sector of use of the prefabricated unit. Similarly, the height of the posts 13 can also be the most advantageous according to the field of use of the prefabricated unit.
In particular the cross-section of the tubular posts 13 could be for example square, measuring 80 mm on a side and with a thickness of 4 mm, and the tubular cross-section of the pins 14 could also be square, measuring 70 mm on a side and with a thickness of 6 mm.
At the ends of each post 13, on the faces that will define the outer corner of the structure, and on each angular element 15 and 18, on the faces that will define the outer corner of the structure, there are advantageously through holes 16, for example arranged on vertical rows, two for each face. In the same way, on each means for mutual connection 14, there are, on the faces that will line up with the outer corners of the structure, through holes 17 with a similar arrangement to that of the holes 16. After having inserted the pins 14 into the posts 13 and into the angular elements 15 or 18 and after having lined up the holes 16 with the corresponding holes 17, each "post/pin/angular element" connection is fixed by way of screws, not shown in the figures. Flared flat head screws could be used, for example.
In this manner the posts 13 can be removed from the frames 11 and 12 as needed.
On the internal faces of the posts 13, instead, there are elements 20 which are suitably provided for attaching external walls, if any. Similarly, on the external perimetric bars of the frame 11 there are elements 21 and below the perimetric bars of the frame 12 there are elements 22 for anchoring thereon floors and ceilings which are prefabricated or assembled on site.
By way of using the elements 20, 21 and 22 it is possible to also couple a plurality of wall elements, which are advantageously provided as a function of the purpose of the prefabricated unit. For example, walls can be coupled which are provided with a layer of thermal or acoustic insulation for prefabricated units for use as machine rooms in production plants, walls can be inserted with a plurality of doors for prefabricated units for use as technical areas for accommodating electrical switchboards, or also walls can be coupled which are provided with tool holders for prefabricated units for use as workshops.
Internal divider walls can advantageously be coupled to the external walls to define a plurality of rooms inside the prefabricated unit.
With reference to Figure 4, on the pin 14 intended to be inserted into the frame for the roof 12 there is a tab 19 that protrudes from the angular element 18. The presence of the tab 19 makes it possible to stack several prefabricated units one on top of the other. The tab 19 can have, for example, a height of 30 mm and the tubular cross-section corresponding to that of the pin 14. The tab 19 is inserted at the base of the angular element 15 and its through holes 23 are made to line up with the through holes 24 provided in the lower part of the angular element 15. There are at least two holes 23 on each pin 14, one per external angular face, and a corresponding number of holes 24 on each element 15. Then screws are introduced into the holes to fix the upper prefabricated unit on the lower one. Such screws, not shown in the figures, can be, for example, flared flat head screws.
The pin 14, with its tab 19, is also compatible with some types of prefabricated unit with a welded structure which already exist on the market.
It should be noted that the presence of the frames 11 and 12, of the posts 13 and of the pins 14 enables the on-site assembly of the prefabricated unit, thus reducing the costs of transport and the pollution owing to exhaust gases of the vehicles necessary for transport.
It should also be noted that the presence of modular elements enables a greater versatility of the product: the prefabricated unit can be configured by choosing a frame for the floor and for the roof from a range of frames of different sizes and by selecting the posts of the most advantageous height; furthermore it will be possible to provide a complex by stacking several prefabricated units according to the invention.
Finally, it should be noted that a prefabricated unit according to the invention necessitates reduced storage space precisely because of the ability to separate its constituent elements.
In practice it has been found that the invention fully achieves the intended aim and objects by providing a prefabricated unit with modular elements.
The invention, thus conceived, is susceptible of numerous modifications and variations, all of which are within the scope of the appended claims. Moreover, all the details may be substituted by other, technically equivalent elements.
In practice the materials employed, provided they are compatible with the specific use, and the contingent dimensions and shapes, may be any according to requirements and to the state of the art.
Where technical features mentioned in any claim are followed by reference signs, those reference signs have been included for the sole purpose of increasing the intelligibility of the claims and accordingly, such reference signs do not have any limiting effect on the interpretation of each element identified by way of example by such reference signs.

Claims

A prefabricated unit (10), comprising:
a prefabricated modular frame for the floor (11) comprising four sides and four corners,

a prefabricated modular frame for the roof (12) comprising four sides and four corners,

modular posts (13) for connection between the frames (11, 12), and

modular pins (14) for removable mutual connection between said posts (13) and said frames (11, 12), said posts (13) having a tubular cross-section, each of said prefabricated modular frames (11, 12) being provided with angular elements (15, 18) at said corners of said frames (11, 12), said angular elements (15, 18) having a tubular cross-section, said pins (14) having a tubular cross-section smaller than that of said posts (13) and of said angular elements (15, 18), said pins (14) being inserted partially into the ends of said posts (13) and partially into said angular elements (15, 18), said posts (13) and said angular elements (15, 18) being provided with through holes (16) and said pins (14) being provided with corresponding through holes (17), said pins (14) being fixed to said posts (13) and to said angular elements (15, 18) by way of screws.
The prefabricated unit (10) according to claim 1, characterized in that said pins (14) which are adapted to be inserted into said frame of the roof (12) are provided with tabs (19) which are adapted to protrude from said angular elements (18) of said frame for the roof (12).
The prefabricated unit (10) according to claim 2, characterized in that said tab (19) is provided with through holes (23) and in that said angular elements (15) are provided with corresponding through holes (24).
The prefabricated unit (10) according to claim 3, characterized in that said tabs (19) are fixed to said angular elements (15) by way of screws.
The prefabricated unit (10) according to one or more of the preceding claims, characterized in that said posts (13) and the perimetric bars of said frames (11, 12) are provided with elements (20, 21, 22) which are adapted to engage walls, floor and ceiling.