GB2407072A

GB2407072A - Temporary cabin

Info

Publication number: GB2407072A
Application number: GB0423063A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Francis Stanley Chapman
Original assignee: Gee Group Ltd
Current assignee: Gee Group Ltd
Priority date: 2003-10-16
Filing date: 2004-10-18
Publication date: 2005-04-20
Also published as: GB0324182D0; GB0423063D0

Abstract

A temporary cabin suitable for the provision of welfare facilities on a construction site has a cabin 10 removably attached to a wheeled trailer 20. The cabin 10 includes a plurality of ground support leg assemblies 30 for stabilising the cabin when positioned at a required location. Each leg assembly 30 has a carrier provided internally within the cabin 10, a leg 32 being slidably mounted on the carrier and a locking arrangement 33,34,35 being provided to secure the leg 32 at a required extended position from the cabin 10 so that the cabin may be stabilised at a required location while still mounted on the trailer 20 with the leg assemblies 30 supporting the cabin.

Description

TEMPORARY CABIN

This invention relates to wheeled temporary cabins, and in particular- but not exclusively - to such cabins configured to provide welfare facilities, for example on a construction or building site or other places where temporary washroom or toilet facilities have to be provided.

The term "welfare" is used herein to refer to such facilities as are usually found in a welfare unit. Thus, in addition to simple hand-washing facilities, there normally would also be provided one or more toilets (we) and also cooking facilities, and sometimes a shower unit and a urinal, or maybe just an open plan area for use as an office. All such facilities are for convenience referred to herein to simply as "welfare facilities".

Though this invention may find other applications besides the provision of temporary welfare facilities on construction sites, it will hereinafter be described exclusively with reference to the provision of such facilities. However, the invention is not to be regarded as limited thereto.

s A known form of temporary welfare facility comprises a wheeled trailer having a body constructed integrally therewith, the required facilities being provided within the body. On a conventional mobile trailer of this kind, it is usual to provide scissor jacks near each corner of the body. These are employed both to level and stabilise the trailer but when in use, the majority of the weight is still carried on the wheels of the trailer. Such an arrangement is in general unsatisfactory if the unit is to remain on a construction site in one position for an extended period of time, due to settlement, possible changes in tyre pressure, - 2 movement of the unit caused by people entering and leaving the facility, wind forces and so on.

It is also known to provide temporary welfare facilities within a conventional cargo container, fitting out that container internally with the required equipment as well as doors, windows and so on. Such a container may be moved from place to place on a conventional cargo container trailer, the container being craned or otherwise lifted off the trailer at the site where it is required for use. Such a container must be supported at a suitable height above the ground, for example by being deposited on baulks of timber, packing being employed as required to make to the container level.

It is a principal object of the present invention to provide temporary accommodation - such as welfare facilities - which may readily be moved from place to place such as on a construction site, but which when positioned at a required location for use displays excellent stability, as compared to that which s may be achieved with a known trailer-based welfare facility.

According to the present invention, therefore, there is provided a wheeled temporary cabin comprising: - a wheeled trailer having ground wheels, a draw-bar and a plurality of spaced cabin mounts; go - cabin removably attached to the mounts of the trailer and configured to provide temporary accommodation; and - a plurality of ground support leg assemblies to stabilise the cabin when positioned at a required location, each of which ground support leg assemblies has - 3 a carrier provided on the cabin, a leg slidably mounted on the carrier and locking means to secure the leg at a required position with respect to the carrier, whereby the cabin may be stabilised at a required location while still mounted on the trailer, using the leg assemblies to support the cabin.

It will be appreciated that with the arrangement of this invention, it becomes possible stably to support a temporary cabin - such as may be employed for welfare facilities - at a required site using ground support legs associated with that cabin, even though the cabin remains mounted on a wheeled trailer permitting the cabin to moved from place to place. In this way, most - if not all - of the weight of the cabin may be removed from the trailer and its wheels, so making the installed cabin less prone to unwanted movement, even if employed at one location for an extended period.

In a preferred embodiment, each carrier of the ground support leg assemblies is provided internally of the cabin. In this case, the associated leg will s project through the floor of the cabin in order to contact the ground. Such an arrangement does not increase the overall width of the cabin and so enables the use of a cabin of the greatest permitted width for transport on public roads without requiring a special escort or other safety measures.

Preferably, each carrier is secured to an internal side wall of the cabin. For a case where the cabin comprises a converted cargo container, the side walls will be of metal, and typically steel, so permitting the direct attachment thereto of the carriers in the alternative, the cabin may have a base frame including a pair of opposed side rails from which the side walls of the cabin upstand. For such a case, the carriers of the ground support leg assemblies may be mounted on the side rails of the base frame. Preferably, there are four leg assemblies, each disposed in the region of a corner of the cabin, to give the greatest stability to the cabin, when installed at a required location.

Each ground support leg assembly may have a tubular carrier within which the respective leg is slidably mounted for movement towards and away from the ground. For example, each carrier may be of hollow rectangular crosssectional shape, each leg also being of rectangular cross-section, so as to be slidable without rotation within the hollow carrier. For such an arrangement, the locking to means may comprise a transverse hole formed through the carrier, the associated leg having a series of axially-spaced bores through which a locking pin may be inserted when a bore is in alignment with the transverse hole of the carrier. Such an arrangement permits the positioning of a leg at only one of a number of discreet positions, with respect to the cabin. If levelling of the cabin requires a leg to be set to an intermediate position, it is possible to provide packing beneath the bottom of the leg and the ground. As an alternative, a ground pad at the lower end of each leg may be adjustably connected to the leg. For instance, a screw-threaded jacking arrangement may be provided, to connect each pad to its leg.

The trailer employed in this invention preferably comprises a closecoupled four-wheeled trailer with a forward-projecting drawbar for connection to a suitable towing vehicle. Most preferably, the wheels of the trailer are disposed beneath the cabin and lie within the width thereof, in order to allow the cabin to have the maximum permissible width for transport. Most advantageously, the wheels are of a relatively small diameter so that the floor of the cabin is located at a reasonable height above the ground and so enabling use of welfare facilities provided within the cabin without requiring users to ascend a significant flight of steps.

By way of example only, one specific embodiment of this invention, in the form of movable temporary welfare facilities, will now be described in detail, reference being made to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a diagrammatic side view of the embodiment of movable temporary accommodation, but showing only the lower portion of the cabin providing the welfare facilities; to Figure 2 is a plan view on the arrangement of Figure 1; and Figure 3 is a detailed view on an enlarged scale of a ground support leg assembly, used in the arrangement of Figures 1 and 2.

Referring to the drawings, there is illustrated in part a temporary welfare facility which is readily transportable from place to place, and yet which may be s highly stable when installed at a required location. The welfare facility is constructed within a rigid cabin 10, typically in the form of 4.6 metre (15 feet) cargo container, converted to provide the required accommodation by fitting windows, door openings and internal walls, as well as the welfare facilities therewithin. Since the internal arrangements of the cabin form no part of this invention, they will be not be discussed in further detail here.

The cabin 10 has a base frame 11 including front and rear rails 12,13 connected together by opposed side rails 14. Constructed on those rails is a floor 15, from which upstands front, rear and side walls 16, 17 and 18. Typically, the - 6 cabin walls are of steel panels suitably connected together and a flat steel roof (not shown) is provided parallel to the floor, at the top of the walls. Such a cabin is of an essentially conventional cargo container design.

The front and rear rails 12,13 of the frame 11 are provided at their outer ends with respective sockets for twist-lock mechanisms 19, as widely employed to secure cargo containers to vehicle trailers. Again, the provision of such a socket on the frame 11 is essentially conventional.

The cabin 10 described above, created by the conversion of a cargo container to provide welfare facilities, is rendered transportable by virtue of being to mounted on a trailer 20. This trailer has a main frame 21 beneath which is provided a sub-frame 22 supporting two pairs of wheels 23 in a close-coupled relationship. Projecting forwardly from the sub-frame 22 is an A-frame drawbar 24 having at its forward end a coupling eye 25 for use with a conventional pin-type coupling as provided on towing vehicles. An adjustable jockey wheel 26 is mounted on one of the bars making up the A-frame drawbar 24, adjacent the coupling eye 25, to allow adjustment of the height of the eye so as to suit the coupling of a towing vehicle; once coupled, the jockey wheel is raised clear of the ground so that the entire nose weight of the trailer is carried by the towing vehicle.

The main frame 21 of the trailer includes front and rear cross members 27, 28 provided at their respective outer ends with twist lock mechanisms, for use with the twist lock sockets of the cabin 10. By releasing the mechanisms, the cabin 10 may be lifted away from the trailer 20; conversely, by lowering the cabin 10 on to the main frame 21 of the trailer 20 such that the twist lock sockets engage with the - 7 corresponding connectors of the trailer, and then locking the two components together, the cabin becomes securely connected to the trailer to form an integral unit, therewith.

The cabin 10 includes four ground support leg assemblies 30, two on each side wall 14 of the cabin, and respectively disposed adjacent the front and rear ends of the side walls. Each such ground support leg assembly comprises a hollow box section carrier 31 in the form of a sleeve within which a leg 32 of rectangular cross section is slidably received. The leg 32 has a series of axially spaced through-bores 33, typically 75 mm apart, and the carrier 31 has a single to transverse hole 34, on the level of the frame 11 of the cabin. A locking pin 35 having a head 36 may be inserted through the hole 34 in the carrier 31 and a registering bore 33 of the leg, when set to the required position. The pin 35 should be inserted until the head 36 is adjacent the carrier 31, "hereafter a locking pin 37 may be fitted to the other end of the pin, to prevent accidental withdrawal of that s pin.

Each leg 32 has a ground engagement pad 38 at its lower end, in order to spread the load over the ground. That pad 38 may be rigidly secured to the lower end of the leg, in which case fine adjustments to the level of the cabin may be performed by suitable packing between the ground and the pad 38. In the alternative, the pad 38 may be made adjustable with respect to its leg 32, for example by means of a screw-threaded pin upstanding from the pin and engaged in a threaded axial bore in the leg. - 8

As shown in the drawings, the wheels 23 are of a relatively small diameter and are disposed beneath the cabin 10, and wholly within the width thereof. In this way, the widest possible container may be used for the construction of the cabin and yet the floor 15, supported on the frame 11, will not be at an inappropriate height above the ground. As the trailer is of a close-coupled design, it may be towed from place to place relatively easily, and when at the required final position, the entire weight of the cabin may be taken by the four ground support leg assemblies 30, so removing essentially all of the weight from the wheels 23. The cabin remains locked to the trailer, but the cabin will be stably located at that to position until it is transported elsewhere, at which point the legs 32 may be raised again, so transferring weight back to the wheels 23, ready for towing. - 9 -

Claims

1. A wheeled temporary cabin comprising: - a wheeled trailer having ground wheels, a draw-bar and a plurality of spaced cabin mounts; - cabin removably attached to the mounts of the trailer unit and configured to provide temporary accommodation; and - a plurality of ground support leg assemblies to stabilise the cabin when positioned at a required location, each of which ground support leg assemblies has a carrier provided on the cabin, a leg slidably mounted on the carrier and locking means to secure the leg at a required position with respect to the carrier, whereby to the cabin may be stabilised at a required location while still mounted on the trailer, using the leg assemblies to support the cabin.

2. A temporary cabin as claimed in claim 1, wherein each carrier is provided internally of the cabin, whereby the leg projects though the floor of the cabin to contact the ground.

3. A temporary cabin as claimed in claim 2, wherein the carriers are secured to the side walls of the cabin, adjacent the ends thereof.

4. A temporary cabin as claimed in any of the preceding claims, wherein the cabin has a base frame including a pair of opposed side rails, and front and rear rails, a floor being provided on the base frame from which the side walls of the no cabin upstand.

5. A temporary cabin as claimed in any of the preceding claims, wherein the carriers are tubular and the respective leg is slidably mounted within the carrier.

- 1o -

6. A temporary cabin as claimed in claim 5, wherein each carrier is of hollow rectangular cross-section and each leg is also of rectangular cross-section, slidable within the hollow carrier.

7. A temporary cabin as claimed in any of the preceding claims, wherein the locking means for each ground support leg assembly comprises a transverse hole through the carrier, a series of transverse axiallyspaced bores through the associated leg, and a locking pin insertable into a leg bore aligned with the transverse hole.

8. A temporary cabin as claimed in any of the preceding claims, wherein each to leg is provided with a ground pad at its lower end.

9. A temporary cabin as claimed in claim 8, wherein each ground pad is adjustably connected to its associated leg.

10. A temporary cabin as claimed in claim 9, wherein each ground pad has an upstanding screw-threaded pin which is received in a threaded bore in the lower end portion of the associated leg.

11. A temporary cabin as claimed in any of the preceding claims, wherein the trailer comprise a close-coupled four-wheeled trailer including a pair of support bars for the two ends of the cabin.

12. A temporary cabin as claimed in claim 12, wherein the wheels of the trailer are disposed beneath the cabin and lie within the width of the cabin.

13. A temporary cabin as claimed in any of the preceding claims, wherein there are four ground support leg assemblies disposed one adjacent each corner of the cabin. - 1 1

14. A temporary cabin as claimed in any of the preceding claims, wherein the cabin is configured internally to provide welfare facilities.

15. A temporary cabin as claimed in claim 1 and substantially as hereinbefore described, with reference to and as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.