GB2051172A

GB2051172A - Containers and Buildings Made Therefrom

Info

Publication number: GB2051172A
Application number: GB7917996A
Authority: GB
Original assignee: Internationale de Participation et D'investissement Cipari SA
Current assignee: Internationale de Participation et D'investissement Cipari SA
Priority date: 1979-05-23
Filing date: 1979-05-23
Publication date: 1981-01-14
Also published as: DE3019433A1; FR2457233A1; IT8022263A1; IT8022263A0; IT1193939B; DE8013713U1; BE883303A; FR2457233B1

Abstract

A container comprises a bottom wall (1) and a roof wall (2) connected to each other by vertical front, back and side walls (3, 4, 5). The roof wall (2) and/or the bottom wall (1) are hinged to at least one said wall of the container, along the adjacent edges of said walls, so that the container may be converted into a building Fig. 16 or a building part Fig. 7 for storing goods, devices and/or machines which have been conveyed in the container. The building may be formed by several unfolded containers placed side by side against each other or at a certain distance from each other. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Containers and Buildings Made Therefrom This invention relates to a container for conveying goods or articles, such a container comprising a bottom wall and a roof wall connected to each other by vertical front, back and side walls. The invention relates also to buildings made from at least one container.

The term "building" as used in this specification and in the claims means any construction similar to a house, bungalow, warehouse, workshop, factory and the like where goods, machines, devices, may be enclosed.

It is known that such containers, which have usually corrugated metal walls attached together by means of a framework, are used a great number of times for the transportation of goods by railway, road, aircraft or ship to the places where said goods have to be used or distributed.

For example, it is known to convey machines or devices in such containers, said machines or devices being removed from the containers when the latter have reached the place where the machines or devices are to be used. It is even known to use containers for the transportation of all the machines and devices needed, for example, for a plant of a workshop, such as a bakery or glucose producing plant. In this case, the various machines or devices such as mixers, ovens, molds and the like, must still be positioned at the proper place in a building.

It has now been found that it is possible to use containers both for the transportation of goods and/or devices, machines and the like and for forming at least part of a building, in which said goods and/or devices, machines and the like, are stored or suitably positioned.

It is an object of this invention to adapt containers so that they can be converted, after transportation of goods or articles of any kind, into at least a part of a building for supporting or even shelve said goods or articles.

This invention relates therefore to a container comprising a bottom wall and a roof wall connected to each other by vertical front, back and side walls, said container being essentially characterized by the fact that the roof wall and/or the bottom wall is hinged to at least one side wall of the container, along the adjacent edges of said walls.

According to a first embodiment of the invention, the roof wall is hinged to one of the side walls of the container, along the adjacent edges of said walls.

According to a second embodiment of the invention, the roof wall of the container is hinged to the two side walls, along the edges of said side walls, which are adjacent to the roof wall, whereas one of the side walls may also be hinged to the bottom wall along its iower edge.

According to a feature of this invention, one of the walls of the container hinged to another wall of it is adapted so as to be separable from the other walls to which it is linked.

According to another feature of the invention, the edges of a side wall, other than the edge thereof, which is hinged to the roof wall, are adapted so as to be detachable from the front and back walls, and from the bottom wall, so as to enable a pivoting movement of the hinged side wall towards the outside of the container in a dextrorsum direction.

According to an additional feature of this invention, devices are fixed to walls, inside the container, in the position wherein said devices will be used, when the container has been converted into a building part or a building.

The walls of the container may advantageously contain, for example within the grooves of their corrugated surface, all the necessary service equipment, such as electricity, water and steam supply equipment, which needs merely to be connected to a central control board.

This invention relates also to a building, characterized by the fact that it comprises at least one container, the roof wall and/or a side wall of which has been raised, along a hinge axis, towards the outside of the container in order to form a roof supported along its free edge by supporting means such as posts. The open side of the building may be closed by panels possibly provided with a window or a door.

According to another embodiment of the invention building, the latter comprises at least one pair of containers positioned as as to be parallel to each other and at a distance from each other, the side walls of containers which face each other having been raised towards each other, along a hinge line extending at their upper longitudinal edge so as to form a median roof extending between the roof walls of the containers, said median roof being coplanar with the roof walls of the containers or being made of inclined sections making an outer angle of more than 900 with the roof walls of the containers.In this case, the space respectively between the front walls of the containers and between the back walls of the containers being closed by panels, whereas, when the median roof is formed by two inclined sections, the triangular space formed between said inclined sections on the one hand, and the front walls or the back walls of the containers, on the other side, is closed by a panel, said panels being possibly provided with windows.

According to a feature of the building characterized in the preceding paragraph, the roof walls of each container may also be raised along a hinge line located in the vicinity of the upper edge of the outer side walls of the containers, the side walls facing each other of the distant containers, as well as the roofs wall of each container having been raised by pivoting so as to form a roof having two inclined sections having the shape of an inverted V, supporting means such as posts or inner walls, being provided for supporting the roof sections between their ends, preferably at the place where a hinge line extends in said roof sections, whereas panels possibly provided with windows and/or doors, are positioned in the spaces where no container walls extend.

Other details and features of the invention will appear in the following description, in which reference is made to the attached drawings, which represent schematically various embodiments of containers, building parts, and complete buildings in accordance with this invention.

In said drawings.

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a container of a known type, figure 2 is a vertical section of a first embodiment of a container according to this invention; figure 3 is a vertical section of the container of figure 2 when converted into a building part; figure 4 is a vertical section of a second embodiment of a container according to the invention; figure 5 is a vertical section of the container of figure 4 when converted into a building part; figure 6 is a vertical section of a third embodiment of a container according to the invention; figure 7 is a front view of the container of figure 6 after conversion of said container into a building part; figure 8 shows, in vertical section, two containers according to this invention, the side walls of one container being parallel to those of the other one;; figure 9 is a front view of the two containers of figure 8 when converted into a building; figures 10 and 11 are respectively similar to figures 8 and 9, except that each container has a side wall hinged to the roof wall, the latter being also hinged, along its outside edge to the outer side wall of the containers; figure 12 is a plan view of two pairs of contiguous containers which may be used for erecting a building similar to those shown in figure 9 or 11, except that the length of the building is equal to the sum of the length of the contiguous containers; figure 13 is a vertical section of three containers placed side by side; figure 14 is a front view of a building partly st ee zy means of the three juxtaposed containers offigure 13;; figures 15 and 16 are front views of other embodiments of building made by means of containers according to this invention, and figure 1 7 is a perspective view of a building part obtained from two containers placed lengthwise.

As schematically shown in figure 1, a known container for conveying goods, which can be loaded on a conveyor (truck, railway waggon, aircraft, ship and the like) by means of a crane or a fork-lift comprises a bottom wall 1, a roof wall 2, a vertical front wall 3, a vertical back wall 4, a first vertical side wall 5, a second vertical side wall 6.

These various walls are maintained by means of edge or corner stiffening elements 7 to which said walls which are generally corrugated are fixed.

A two wing door 8 is generally provided in the front wall 3 or back wall 4. As known, the walls are generally made of a corrugated outer metallic sheet which may carry, on its inner face, a heat insulating layer. The bottom wall 1 carries frequently an inner floor which may be made of wood.

Containers of the type described in the preceding paragraphs are nowadays frequently used for conveying many kind of goods, including machines or machine parts.

The container according to this invention schematically shown in igure 1 comprises means, such as a longitudinal hinge 9, between a side wall 5 and the roof wall 2, so that it is possible, when said side wall has been detached from the other walls to which it is fixed, i.e. from the bottom wall 1, the front wall 3 and the back wall 4, to cause said side wall to pivot around the hinge means 9 in the dextrorsum direction (indicated by arrow X) on an angle of at least 900.

Due to said hinge means 9, a building or building part as shown on figure 3 can be easily obtained. This building comprises the container, the side wall 5 of which has been raised so as to be an extension of the roof wall 2. Of course, means 10, such as a wall or posts, must be provided for supporting the free end of the side wall 5 at the desired level.

Figure 4 shows a second embodiment of a container according to this invention. In this embodiment, the side wall 5 is hinged (in 9), at its upper edge, to one edge of the roof wall 2, the opposite edge of which is hinged (in 10) to the upper part of side wall 6. Due to the hinge means 9 and 10, it is possible, when the roof wall 2 and the side wall 6 have been released along their unhinged edges, to cause said walls 2 and 6 to pivot in a dextrorsum direction (arrow X), so that these two walls form an inclined roof as shown in figure 5. Supporting means 10, such as posts, pillars, props, beams, walls or a framework, are used for maintaining the roof 2, 6, in the position shown in figure 5. The supporting means 10 may comprise a wall or panel 12 for supporting the free end of the roof part 5, whereas a beam or framework 13 may be provided for supporting the roof part 2. In this manner, a building is obtained, as shown in figure 5, for storing goods or commercial or industrial equipment.

Figure 6 shows a container in which each of the side walls 5 and 6 is hinged to the bottom wall 1, as indicated in 13 and 14, whereas the roof wall 2 is hinged to the right side wall 6. To each of the side walls 5 and 6, as well as to the bottom wall 1 and the roof wall 2 are fixed permanently equipments, such as machines or devices which may be complementary and arranged to be used as a complete equipment for a commercial or industrial plant, when the container is unfolded as shown in figure 7. For that purpose, the side wall 5 is lowered from the vertical position shown in figure 6 to the horizontal position illustrated in figure 7, by pivoting around hinge 13 in the sinistrorsum direction (as indicated by arrow Y). The other side wall is also caused to pivot in the direction of arrow X around hinge 14, so as to reach the horizontal position shown in figure 7.Finally, the roof wall 2 is caused to pivot around hinge 10, in the direction of arrow X, so that the walls 1, 2, 5 and 6 extend horizontally as shown in figure 7.

Figures 6 and 7 show machines or devices 15, 1 6, 1 7 and 18 attached to the walls of the container, so that when said walls form a horizontal platform as illustrated in figure 7. The machines and devices 15, 16, 17 and 18 are located in the position in which they have to be used, said machines or devices having merely to be connected, if necessary, to means for power and/or water supply, said means being for example an electrical supply equipment and/or a water supply equipment suitably mounted in advance in the walls of the container. In this manner, it is only sufficient to connect the machines or devices to said supply means for the operation of the plant or equipment supported by the platform shown in figure 7.

Figure 8 shows two containers parallel to each other, the side wall 6 of one container being spaced from the side wall 5 of the other container, said distance being shorter than the height of said side walls. The side wall 6 of the left container is hinged, by means of a longitudinal link 10 to the roof wall 2 of the same container, whereas the side wall 5 of the right container is hinged (as shown by 9) to the roof wall 2 of the latter container.

When the side wall 6 of the left container is raised in the direction of arrow Y and the side wall 5 of the right container in the direction of arrow X, an intermediate roof 1 9 is obtained between the containers, as shown in figure 9.

Figure 10 is similar to figure 8, except that the roof walls 2 of both containers are linked, respectively at 9 and 10, to the adjacent side walls, so that said roof walls 2 can also be pivoted respectively in the direction of arrows Y and X, so as to form a roof 20 having two inclined roof sections as shown ;n figure 11. The open spaces 27 in the front and in the back of the building may be closed by panels, which may comprise doors and/or windows (not shown). The triangular space defined by the roof sections 2, 10, 5, 2 and by the front walls 3 or the back walls 4 of the containers may be closed by means of a framework 20 which may comprise glazed portions giving light to the inner of the building.

Figure 12 shows in plan view from above two rows 21 and 22 comprising each two containers juxtaposed so that the back wall of one container is adjacent to the front wall of the other container in each of the rows 21 and 22. The containers of each of the rows 21 and 22 may be adapted in the same manner as those of figure 8 or figure 10.

By using such rows 21 and 22 of at least two containers, it is possible to erect a building similar to those illustrated in figures 9 and 11, except that the length of this building corresponds substantially to the sum of the lengths of the side walls of the juxtaposed containers of each row.

In figure 13, three containers 23, 24, 25, have been placed side by side, the side wall 6 of container 23 extending against the side wall 5 of container 23, the other side wall 6 of which is placed against the side wall 5 of container 24.

In the containers 23 and 25, the roof walls 2 are hinged (10) to the corresponding side walls 6, whereas the roof wall 2 of the container 24 is hinged (9) to its side wall 5.

Due to this arrangement, it is possible to erect a building as shown in figure 14, the roof walls 2 of containers 23 and 25 being pivoted in the dextrorsum direction (arrow X) whereas the roof wall 2 of the container 24 is pivoted in the opposite direction (arrow Y). A panel 26 may be used for closing the left open space between the raised end of the roof wall 2 of container 23 and the side wall 5 of this container.

Figure 1 5 of the attached drawings show schematically a building obtained by means of three containers spaced from each other, said containers being designated by the general references 23, 24 and 25. The left portion of the building has been obtained by causing the roof wall 2 and the side wall 6 of container 23 to pivot around hinges 9 and 10 in the sinistrorsum direction, whereas the roof wall 2 and the side wall 5 of the container 24 have been raised in the dextrorsum direction around the hinges 9 and 10.

The hinge 10 is adapted so as to enable a pivoting of the side wall 6 of the container 24 in the sinistrorsum direction, said pivoting being possible on an angle of about 1 800, so that said side wall 6 may reach a substantially vertical position as shown in figure 1 5. The third container 25 of figure 1 5 is identical to the container shown in figure 4. Thus, this container comprises two hinges 9 and 10 allowing the positioning of the roof wall 2 and the side wall 5 of said container 23 for forming a roof having a single inclined section as shown in figure 1 5. In fact, the container 23 is used in this case for enlarging the building formed by containers 23 and 24.

The distance between the side walls 6 and 5 facing each other of the containers 23 and 24 may be shorter than the height of said walls, so that an opening 28 is provided at the ridge of the roof formed by the two roof sections 2,6 and 5,2, for example for enabling a ventilation of the building. Above the opening 28 a ridge cover 29 with side openings (not shown) may be mounted, in order to avoid entry of rain into the building, whiie permitting a proper ventilation thereof.

Figure 1 6 represents schematically a building obtained from three containers 23, 24 and 25 spaced from each other. The container 23 is of the type described above in reference to figures 4 and 5, whereas the containers 24 and 25 are of the same type as containers 24 and 25 illustrated in folded position in figure 1 5. It is of course possible to use any number of containers, i.e. less or more than three containers for erecting a building of the type illustrated in figure 16.

Figure 1 7 shows a building part obtained from two containers 26 and 27 positioned lengthwise against each other, the back walls 4 of the two containers 26 and 27 being contiguous.

The building part represented in figure 1 7 is obtained by the following steps: The roof wall 2 of each container, which is hinged along its upper edge 28 to the vertical side wall 5 of the containers, is pivoted in the direction of arrow X until it extends vertically above said side wall 5. On the other hand, the side wall 6 of the containers, which is hinged along its lower edge 29 to the bottom wall 1 of the containers, is pivoted in the direction of arrow Y on an angle of 900,so as to be at the same level than said bottom wall. Finally, the contiguous back walls of the containers 26 and 27 are removed from their position indicated in dotted lines in figure 17 and placed in a vertical position so as to form an extension of the vertical front walls 3 of the two containers.For finishing the so obtained building part, a roof and a front wall need only to be added to said building part.

The dimensions of the containers according to this invention may vary between wide limits. For example, it is possible to use containers having a length of 5.75 metres, a width of 2.20 metres and a height of 2.30 metres. If containers of such dimensions are used in the manner described in reference to figure 12, it is possible to erect a building having a length of 11.5 metres and a width of about 8.5 metres.

From the foregoing description, it appears that, due to the fact that the containers according to this invention comprise hinges or equivalent means, it is possible to use the containers, once they have been conveyed to the desired place, for erecting permanent buildings, in which the goods, machines or articles conveyed in said containers may be stored or placed.

It has been found that it is possible to achieve very substantial labour and cost savings, by conveying in containers according to this invention all the materials (including apparatuses, machines and the like) needed for the production of articles such as food, said materials being fixed at the desired place within the containers, before converting the latter into a building, wherein the desired operations may be performed as soon as such a conversion is finished.

Claims

1. A container comprising a bottom wall and a roof wall connected to each other by vertical front, back and side walls, the roof wall and/or the bottom wall being hinged to at least one side wall of the container, along the adjacent edges of said walls.

2. A container according to claim 1 , wherein the roof wall is hinged to at least one of the side walls of the container.

3. A container according to claim 1 , wherein the roof wall is hinged to the two side walls along the side edges of said walls, which are adjacent to the roof wall.

4. A container according to claim 1 or 2, wherein one of the side walls is hinged to the bottom wall along its lower edge.

5. A container according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein one of the side walls of the container hinged to another wall of it is adapted so as to be separable from the other walls to which it is linked.

6. A container according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the edges of a side wall, other than the edge thereof which is hinged to the roof wall, are adapted so as to be detachable from the front and back walls and from the bottom wall, so as to enable a pivoting movement of the hinged side wall towards the outside of the container in a dextrorsum direction.

7. A container according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the edges of a side wall, other than the edge thereof which is hinged to the bottom wall, are adapted so as to be detachable from the front and back walls as well as from the roof wall, so as to enable a pivoting movement of said side wall towards the outside of the container in a sinistrorsum direction.

8. A building which comprises at least one container, the roof wall and/or a side wall of which has been raised, along a hinge axis, towards the outside of the container in order to form a roof supported along its free edge by supporting means.

9. A building according to claim 8, wherein the supporting means consist of posts.

10. A building according to claim 8, wherein the supporting means consist of panels.

11. A building according to claim 8, wherein the supporting means consist of framework.

12. A building according to claim 8, which comprises at least one pair of containers positioned so as to be parallel to each other and at a distance from each other, the side walls of the containers which face each other having been raised towards each other, along a hinge line extending at their upper longitudinal edge so as to form a median roof extending between the roof walls of the containers.

1 3. A building according to claim 12, wherein the median roof is coplanar with the roof walls of the two containers.

14. A building according to claim 12, wherein the median roof consists of two inclined sections making an outer angle of more than 900 with the roof walls of the containers.

1 5. A building according to claim 12, wherein the roof walls of the containers, hinged to the outer side walls of the containers to which they belong, are positioned so as to be inclined towards the outside of container and to form together with the raised side walls a roof having the shape of an inverted V.

1 6. A building according to any one of claims 8 to 11, which comprises a plurality of containers spaced from each other, one of the side walls and the roof wall of the first container having been raised so as to form an inclined roof, the free edge of which is maintained by supporting means, whereas the other side wall of the same container has been pivoted at an angle of about 1800, the other containers having also an inclined roof connected to the side wall of the preceding container which has been pivoted at an angle of about 1800.

1 7. A container or containers substantially as herein described with reference to Figures 2 and 3, or Figure 4, or Figure 6, or Figure 8, or Figure 10, or Figure 12, or Figure 13 of the accompanying drawings.

1 8. A building substantially as herein described with reference to Figure 5, or Figure 7, or Figure 9, or Figure 11, or Figure 14, or Figure 15, or Figure 16, or Figure 17, of the accompanying drawings.