GB2545630A

GB2545630A - Lifting and assembly method for floating buildings and other heavy components

Info

Publication number: GB2545630A
Application number: GB1519016.8A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Atureliya Senake
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2015-10-28
Filing date: 2015-10-28
Publication date: 2017-06-28
Also published as: GB201519016D0

Abstract

A container with a base and flexible sides 7 which may be lowered to enable loading of a floatable object within the container, and then raised to allow the container to be filled with liquid 4, preferably water, to lift the contained object. Preferably the sides of the container are reinforced with a series of circumferential rings. Preferably the upper section of the container walls have buoyancy tanks. In one embodiment the sides of the container are inflatable, and in an alternative embodiment the sides of the container can be raised by mechanical actuators. The container is intended to be used to lift a building 1, preferably a spherical building. Once a building has been raised, it can be secured with supports 9, and may be connected to other buildings 14. There are independent claims for physical supports for buildings which provide a means for good or people to move between buildings. Another independent claim is for a plurality of indentations in the ground to securely place a building.

Description

LIFTING AND ASSEMBLY METHOD FOR FLOATING BUILDINGS AND OTHER HEAVY COMPONENTS

The piece of equipment that is most commonly used to lift and assemble very heavy components on are tower cranes however these typically have an upper weight limit of 18 metric tonnes. Truck mounted cranes are available with 150 tonne capacities but these are costly and slow to transport to site.

This invention describes a lighter and lower cost solution to enable the lifting and assembly of heavy components on a construction site. These components may include floatable buildings produced by a combination of 3D printing and assembly as described in a previously filed patent application GB1407109.6. The calculated weight of a 100 square metre building produced in this way is estimated to be around 120 metric tonnes.

In the context of this description the term building refers to any container that can float on a liquid in which people and animals may live or objects may be stored.

In the context of this description the term Biorock refers to calcium carbonate that is extracted from seawater and deposited onto a steel framework using electrolysis. The process of Brorock production is described in the US patent 4246075 issued to its inventor on the 20th January 1981.

According to one aspect of this invention there is a container made up of a base and flexible sides. The flexible sides may be lowered to enable the positioning of a liquid floatable component on the base inside the container. The sides may then be raised to allow the container to be filled with sufficient liquid to enable the component to be floated of the base of the container.

In a preferred arrangement of this invention the sides of the container would be reinforced with a series of circumferential rings so that they could still be raised or lowered but so they did not burst enabling the liquid to leak out or deform to an extent where the liquid spilled over the top.

In a preferred arrangement of this invention there would be buoyancy tanks built into or fixed onto the upper sections of the sides of the container so that the sides raised themselves higher as the container was filled with liquid.

In an alternative arrangement of this invention the sides of the container would be raised by pumping air into a multiplicity of chambers build into the sides of the container.

In an alternative arrangement of this invention the sides of the container would be raised by mechanical actuators located wither inside or outside the container.

In a preferred arrangement of this invention the container would be circular so that the force of the liquid on the sides of the container was uniform along its length.

In a preferred arrangement of this invention the liquid used would be water.

In a preferred arrangement of this invention the building to be elevated would be spherical or cylindrical or conical or have at least one largely circular profile so that it could be rolled into the container when its sides were lowered.

In a preferred arrangement of this invention the ground on which the container is placed would have an indentation dug into it into which the lowered sides sit so that they are level with the base of the container and do not constitute and obstruction over which floating building needs to be rolled.

In a preferred arrangement of this invention the building would be positioned in the container by any combination of its own propulsion units and a multiplicity of cables attached between it and the sides of the container or a structures external to the container.

In a preferred arrangement of this invention once the building had been raised to the required height a multiplicity of physical supports between either the ground and the building or other buildings or other objects to enable the liquid to be drained away and the container optionally removed with the building still held in the elevated position.

In a preferred arrangement of this invention a multiplicity of buildings would be arranged in such a way and installed in such an order such that there was space to position the container to lift additional buildings to an even higher elevations without the lower components getting in the way.

In an alternative arrangement of this invention the supports would house a means by which either goods or people could move between the buildings.

In a preferred arrangement of this invention the means of moving people between the buildings would be a staircase enclose in a hollow tube.

In a preferred arrangement of this invention the buildings would incorporate sufficient buoyancy to enable them to float high enough over the sides of the container so that straight supports can be affixed between the building and the ground or other buildings or other objects.

In a preferred arrangement of this invention the buildings sitting on the ground would be located in an indentation to keep them in place when subjected to any lateral force applied through the supports by buildings or any other object that they are supporting.

In an alternative arrangement of this invention where the walls of the container would be in the way preventing supports from being optimally positioned possibly as a result of the building or other object being lifted floating much lower in the liquid then the container would be constructed such that it encompassed all of the buildings or at least those upon which the raised building would be supported so that the supports could be installed within the container under the surface of the liquid.

The invention will now be describes by a series of illustrative drawing figures. While the various embodiments of the invention described in detail below help the reader of this document to better understand this invention, it should be appreciated that the invention provides many applicable inventive concepts that can be embodied in a wide variety of specific contexts. The specific embodiments discussed herein are merely illustrative of specific ways to make and use the invention and do not delimit its scope. FIGURE 1 shows a floatable building 1 with temporarily sealed off apertures 2 being manoeuvred onto the base 6 of a container with flexible walls 7 that are collapsed down into an indentation 8 in the ground. A multiplicity of cables 2 attached to a multiplicity of fixing points 11 on the building are either reeled in or fed out by winches 5 to guide the building into place. FIGURE 2 shows the floatable building 1 positioned on the base of the container 6 having been rolled over the folded walls 7 pulled by the cables 2. A multiplicity of supports 9 have been loosely attached to fixing points 12 at one end so that these get lifted with the building. FIGURE 3 shows the container filled with water 4 from pump 13. The walls of the container 7 have been lifted by the bouyancy tanks 4 build into its top rim. The supports 9 have been positioned between the lifted building 1 and those that support it 14. FIGURE 4 shows a building 15 that has been rolled between buildings on the ground 18 that form parts of three existing multi storey groups of buildings. It has been lifted using the same water filled container solution 16 and is now supported on the raised buildings 17 in the existing mult storey groups. FIGURE 5 shows the water filled container lifting solution being put to use to create a multi storey installation where these is no space to position the container under the uppermost building to be lifted because these are buildings or other objects directly below it. In this example a multiplicity of water filled containers 20 are used to lift the assembled multi storey structure 19 so that additional buildings 21 can be positioned underneath them. In this case the buildings are being moved by construction machinery 22 as opposed to winches and cables. The new supports 23 are being lifted into place by towers cranes 24. FIGURE 6 shows an alternative use of the solution by means of a cross sectional view through a container 25 where the building to be lifted 28 floats much lower in the water 27 so that the wall of the container 25 prevent straight supports from being optimally positioned between the raised building 28 and those upon which it is supported 26. In this case the container 25 is built around the all of the buildings or at least those 26 upon which the building 28 is supported.

Claims

1. A container made up of a base and flexible sides that may be lowered to enable the positioning of a liquid floatable component on the base inside the container and then be raised to allow the container to be filled with sufficient liquid to enable the component to be floated off the base of the container.

2. A container as per claim 1 where the sides of the container are reinforced with a series of circumferential rings so that they could still flex in a vertical direction but so they cannot excessively deform in a largely horizontal direction to an extent where liquid can spill over the tops of the sides.

3. A container as per claim 1 where the sides of the container are reinforced with a series of circumferential rings allow the sides to flex in a vertical direction but add strength in a horizontal direction to minimise the risk of the container bursting due to the pressure exerted upon it by the liquid contained within it.

4. A container as per claim 1 or claim 2 that has buoyancy tanks built into or fixed onto the upper sections of the sides of the container so that the sides raise themselves as the container is filled with liquid.

5. A container as per claim 1 or claim 2 whose sides can be raised by pumping air into a multiplicity of chambers build into the sides of the container.

6. A container as per claim 1 or claim 2 whose sides can be raised by mechanical actuators located either inside or outside the container.

7. A container as per claim 1 or claim 2 that is circular in shape so that the force exerted on the sides of the container by the liquid inside the container and objects floating on it is approximately uniform along its length.

8. A container as per any of the claims 1 to 7 where the liquid used to fill the container is water.

9. A building or building component that is spherical or cylindrical or conical or has at least one largely circular profile so that it could be rolled into the container as per any of the claims 1 to 7 when its sides are lowered.

10. The creation of indentations in the ground upon which a multiplicity of containers as per any of the claims 1 to 7 into which the sides fit when lowered sit so that they do not constitute an obstruction over which the floating object as per claim 9 needs to be rolled.

11. The creation of indentations in the ground upon which a multiplicity of containers as per any of the claims 1 to 7 into which the sides fit when lowered sit so that they do not constitute an obstruction over which floating building as per claim 9 needs to be rolled.

12. A propulsion unit located within the floatable object to enable it to be positioned within the container when the sides are lowered.

13. A multiplicity of cables attached between the floatable object and the sides of the container or a structures external to the container to enable the object to be positioned within the container when the sides are lowered.

14. The insertion of a multiplicity of physical supports into the container as per any of the claims 1 to 7 between either the ground and the building or other buildings or other objects once the buildings have been raised to the required heights so that they are held in their elevated positions once the liquid is drained away and the container optionally removed.

15. The installation and arrangement of a multiplicity of buildings leaving adequate space between them and their supports so that containers as per any of the claims 1 to 7 can fit between them and be used to lift additional buildings to an even higher elevations without the lower existing buildings or components getting in the way.

16. Physical supports that house a means by which either goods or people can move between the buildings.

17. Physical supports that comprise of hollow tubes containing a staircase to enable people to move between the buildings.

18. A building that incorporates sufficient buoyancy to enable it to float high enough over the sides of the container as per any of the claims 1 to 7 so that straight supports as per claims 14 or 16 or 17 can be affixed between it and the ground or other buildings or other objects.

19. A multiplicity of indentations in the ground upon which the lowest level buildings sit to keep them in place when subjected to any lateral force applied through the supports by buildings or any other object that they are supporting.

20. A container as per any of the claims 1 to 7 that encompasses all of the buildings or at least those upon which the raised buildings are supported where the walls of containers that just supported individual containers would get in the way preventing supports from being optimally positioned and the installation of supports within the container under the surface of the liquid.