GB2296728A - Collapsible enclosure - Google Patents

Abstract

A collapsible enclosure, e.g. a housing unit, includes a base frame 12-14, having walls hinged thereto. The hinges 40, 48, 54 are located at different heights relative to the base frame such that the walls are movable between a substantially upright position and a transporter storage position in which the walls lie in substantially horizontal overlapping relation. <IMAGE>

Description

COLLAPSIBLE ENCLOSURE This invention relates to a collapsible enclosure, and in particular but not exclusively to a collapsible housing unit.

Prefabricated and modular cabins have been in wide use for many years in, for example, the construction industry to provide temporary storage and accommodation on-site for equipment and personnel. However, such units are increasingly being utilised to provide permanent or semipermanent housing, particularly in developing countries.

Such units offer numerous advantages over traditional house building methods: the units may be manufactured in large numbers in factory conditions in a single easily accessible location; the units may be erected quickly on site without requiring the services of skilled tradesmen; and the provision of services, such as water and power, is simplified when a housing development consists of a large number of identical units.

Shipping large numbers of assembled or part-assembled units from the factory to the site would involve considerable expense and possible inconvenience, and therefore a number of collapsible units have been developed, as described in, for example, GB-A-2270095 (Roelofsz), WO-A-89/07180 (Rudston-Brown) and WO-A-90/05222 (Sayed). Of the various arrangements disclosed in these documents, perhaps the simplest structure is that described in Roelofsz. In common with the other disclosures, the Roelofsz structure includes walls which fold inwardly to lie parallel to the floor and thus occupy a relatively small space for transport and storage. The walls are mounted on base members of differing heights, in accordance with the thickness of the walls, such that the walls may lie in a compact overlapping relationship in their horizontal position.

It is among the objects of the present invention to provide an improved collapsible enclosure which is particularly suited for use in the provision of low-cost, "quic'-build" housing.

According to the present invention there is provided a collapsible enclosure including base members having walls hinged thereto, the hinges being located at different heights relative to the base members such that the walls are moveable between a substantially upright position and a transport or storage position in which the walls lie in substantially horizontal overlapping relation.

The variation in the height of the hinges relative to the base members allows the enclosure to be constructed utilising base members of common section, unlike the Roelofsz structure described above, in which the base elements vary in height, adding considerably to the material and assembly costs of the structure, and to the weight of the structure.

Preferably, the base members are of common section and define a common base level for the walls in the upright configuration, such that the walls of the enclosure may be of substantially equal height and in, for example, a regular cuboid structure the end and side walls may be of common respective dimensions. This increased commonality of components further decreases material and assembly costs.

Preferably also, the walls are formed of frame members and structural panels. The use of structural panels provides the enclosure with additional rigidity and also reduces the weight of the frame, which is typically formed of welded steel sections. Most preferably, the panels are of common width and the frame dimensions and the panel size are selected such that the panels may be utilised without or with only minimal modification. The panels may have edges configured for interlocking with adjacent panel edges.

This and other aspects of the present invention will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompany drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a plan of a base frame of a collapsible enclosure in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention; Figures 2, 3 and 4 are elevations of the front, rear and side wall frames to be mounted on the base frame of Figure 1; Figures 5 , 6 and 7 are enlarged sectional views on lines 5 - 5, 6 - 6 and 7 - 7 of Figure 1, respectively; Figure 8 is a plan view of the structural wall panels of the walls of the enclosure; and Figure 9 is an elevation of the front wall of the enclosure.

Reference is first made to Figures 1, 2, 3 and 4 of the drawings which illustrate the base and wall frames of a collapsible enclosure, in the form of a collapsible housing unit. Figure 1 illustrates the base frame 10 which has a peripheral frame 11 formed of steel square section members 12, 13, 14, 15. The frame 10 includes two reinforcing cross-members 16, 17 in the form of flat bars.

As will be described, the walls of the enclosure are hingedly mounted on the base frame 10. The front, rear and side wall frames 18, 19, 20 (the side frames are mirror images of one another) include peripheral frames 21, 22, 23, formed of angled sections. The front wall frame 18 also includes angled sections 24 defining a door opening, while the rear and side walls 19, 20 are provided with flat section intermediate frame members 26, 28.

The front, rear and side frames 18, 19, 20 are hinged to the base frame 10 such that the wall frames are movable between an upright position, to define an enclosure, and a horizontal position in which the frames lie adjacent and parallel to the base frame 10, for transport and storage.

To allow the frames 18, 19, 20 to lie one on top of other the heights of the respective hinges relative to the peripheral frame members 12, 13, 14, 15 are varied, as will now be described with reference to Figures 5, 6 and 7 of the drawings. Figure 5 illustrates the hinge arrangement for the side wall frame 20. Each side wall hinge 40 is located at the lower inside corner of the respective base frame member, with one hinge arm 42 welded to a plate 44 itself welded to the lower face of the base member 12, and the other arm 46 welded to the side frame member 23, such that when the side frame 20 is in the horizontal position the inside face of the frame 20 lies level with the lower face of the base frame member 12. Figure 6 illustrates a front wall hinge 48, located at the upper inside corner of the base frame member 13.One hinge arm 50 is welded to the inner face of the base member 13, while the other arm 52 is welded to the inner face of the front frame member 21. Thus, when the front frame 18 is folded inwardly to the horizontal position the front frame 18 may lie on the upper surface of the side frames 20. Figure 7 illustrates one of the rear wall hinges 54, the hinge 54 having one arm 56 welded to inner face of the base frame member 14 and the other, shortened arm 58 welded into a notch cut in the rear wall frame 22. The hinge 54 is thus located above the base frame member such that when the rear frame 19 is folded inwardly it may lie on the upper surface of the front frame 18.

Reference is now made to Figure 8 of the drawings, which illustrates the plan layout of the structural wall panels 60 which are mounted within the wall frames 18, 19, 20. The wall panels 60 are rigid and self-supporting and thus contribute to the rigidity of the walls of the enclosure. The edges 62, 63 of each wall panel 60 are configured to interlock with the edges of adjacent panels and the frames 18, 19, 20 and wall panels 60 are sized such that the panels 60 may be located in the frames with minimum cutting and modification: from Figure 8 it will be evident that the rear and side walls are sized to equal the widths of six and three panels 60, respectively. Further, the front wall 66, as illustrated in Figure 9 of the drawings, is formed of sections of full width panel 60 and two sections of half panel 60a, b which may formed by cutting a single length of panel in half.Accordingly, in fabricating the walls of the illustrated enclosure, only one of the panel need be cut along its length, and the remaining panels are only required to be cut to length.

In this particular example the wall panels 60 are formed of composite panels which are bonded to the wall frames 18, 19, 20. In one preferred embodiment the panels comprise 0.4 mm silicone polyester coated profiled external steel sheeting, a 39 mm CFC-free foam insulation core and 0.4 mm enamel finish flat internal steel sheet. Such a panel provides a wall construction with a minimum "U" value of 0.45 W\M2 C, insulating against both hot and cold, and which is resistant to insect attack. Damaged panels are easily replaceable with minimum technical know-how and skill. Of course panels of other constructions may be utilised.

The roof of the enclosure (not shown) may be formed of any suitable construction or materials and is positioned on the enclosure after the walls have been secured in the upright position. The roof is also sized to sit over the flat unit when dismantled for shipment. In a preferred embodiment the roof is formed by bonding 80 mm thick deep profiled composite panels to the frames 18, 19, 20, each panel comprising 0.4 mm silicone polyester coated deep profiled external steel sheeting, a 35 mm CFC-free foam insulation core and 0.4 mm enamel finish flat internal steel sheet. Similarly, the floor, windows, door and internal finishes may be selected as appropriate for local conditions and needs and may be quickly and easily installed in the assembled enclosure.In a preferred embodiment, two 976 mm wide by 898 mm anodised aluminium allow single glazed windows with fully opening and removable sash and window opening stay are provided.

Powder coated pressed steel flashings are provided around the window openings to form the ingoes and sills. The door may be a steel framed composite panel leaf as per the wall panel construction, complete with lock and handles.

Once the wall frames 18, 19, 20, incorporating the panels 60, are folded up to form an enclosure they are simply bolted together with a single bolt at each top corner. The roof panel is then installed on top of the wall frames and secured to the frames with four bolts. The structure thus formed is inherently strong and stable, whilst utilising a minimum number of simple fixings. I t will be clear to those of skill in the art that the above described enclosure may be readily fabricated from a small range of components and that the resulting enclosure is relatively inexpensive and also relatively light weight.

It will further be clear to those of skill in the art that the above-described embodiment is merely exemplary of the present invention and that various modifications and improvements may be made thereto without departing from the scope of the invention.

Claims (8)

1. A collapsible enclosure including base members having walls hinged thereto, the hinges being located at different heights relative to the base members such that the walls are movable between a substantially upright position and a transport or storage position in which the walls lie in substantially horizontal overlapping relation.

2. The enclosure of claim 1 wherein the base members are of common section and define a common base level for the walls in the upright configuration.

3. The enclosure of claim 2 wherein the walls of the enclosure are of substantially equal height.

4. The enclosure of claim 3 wherein the structure is of regular cuboid form and the end and side walls are of common respective dimensions.

5. The enclosure of any of the preceding claims wherein the walls are formed of frame members and structural panels.

6. The enclosure of claim 5 wherein the panels are of common width and the frame dimensions and the panel size are selected such that the panels may be utilised without or with only minimal modification.

7. The enclosure of claim 5 or claim 6 wherein the panels have edges configured for interlocking with adjacent panel edges.

8. A collapsible enclosure substantially as described herein and as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.