IL32778A - Modular building structure - Google Patents

Description

MODULAR BUILDIW STRUCTURE SHELLEY WILENSKY SHELLEY U.S. 762.668 The present invention relates to a modular building construction and more particularly to such building construction in which the units are preformed or prefabricated of material such, as concrete, or the like.

The present invention provides a prefabricated modular building construction particularly designed for apartments but also useful for office buildings or other structures, in which a plurality of prefabricated units may be readily assembled together and in which the utilities will be part of the pre-assembly and can afterwards be connected together in the final assembled structure.

In accordance with the present invention there is provided a modular building structure, which comprises a plurality of preformed boxlike units., each, of which has side walls, a ceiling and a floor slab, said units being stacked staggered and overlapped at the sides thereof beyond the width of the side walls which are provided with vertical columns superimposed upon one another, and connecting means extending through said columns vertically from the lowest to the uppermost of said boxlike units, said boxes being positioned so that there will be an open space between each two boxlike units in the same horizontal plane, with upper and lower boxlike units covering said open spaces at the intermediate levels, and each boxlike unit at said intermediate levels being stacked between four other units 0 The invention thus provides a modular overlapped staggered building construction in which the units are staggered in respect to each other so that they will have open areas in between which can also be utilized and/or converted into additional living space,, work space or space for other purposes.

The invention further provides a modular overlapped staggered building construction in which the units are assembled together by means of corner columns or intermediate columns or both, as for example by post-tensioning arrangements which will form a permanent connection between the units „ The invention also provides a prefabricated building unit which will be made entirely out of pre-cast elements and in which the outside walls and inside walls, floor and ceiling may be assembled together into a single unit where the floor and ceiling slabs and partitions and walls are connected together by reinforcing rods and/or post-tensioning cables through the partitions to form economical prefabricated structural units to be assembled into the building structure,, A still further feature of the invention is to provide a modular overlapped staggered building construction in which the utilities, including electricity, gas, water, sewage and the like are all assembled in a predetermined location as part of the pre -cast unit, ready for assembly into the final building structure.

It has been found most suitable to form an elongated rectangular boxlike unit, in which, the side walls, floor and ceiling are formed of concrete and in which, the front and back n or intermediate walls may also be formed of concrete or of other materials, after assembly.

In the preferred construction, the outside walls are provided with a series of inwardly or outwardly projecting columns having central openings through which post-tensioning cables may be extended at the end of the assembly,, For example, normally a certain number of floors may be provided and the post-tensioning cables may be used, and this can be followed by other successive series of units in which, the post-tensioning cables may be employed* In the desired units, the rear or front of the structure or both, may be provided with a corridor or walkway, which may communicate with, an elevator structure or staircase « This corridor or walk-way may be supported by cantilever beams projecting from the columns or walls of the prefabricated box or boxes or boxlike structures.

In forming these pre-cast concrete structures, the exterior walls, and also if desired the interior walls, may be first formed and placed upon a base upon which the floor or ceiling may be cast afterwards 0 It is after this structure is formed that the partial unit may be turned over and the missing floor or ceiling then be cast so as to form the integral unite Desirably, one unit will consist of end bedrooms with an intervening bath, and normally the free space between the basic units may be formed into a dining and living space, with the kitchen being at one side of the unit and immediately adjacent the alcove for carrying the kitchen cabinet and utilities, so that the kitchen cabinet and bath unit will be adjacent at one end to the shaft carrying the piping and other utilities.

Alternately the kitchen enclosure can be in the free space adjoining the utility shaft for easy connection of the utilities i The free space or the box unit may contain a balcony, either externally projecting or internally projecting of the structure o Alternate boxlike units might have a cantilever, front or back, to increase the apartment space.

End units must be provided with special pre-cast units which might receive kitchen and/or libraries and/or closet facilities.

Where air conditioning is to be employed, conduits can be provided through the utility shaft and other areas, and false ceilings may be employed.

In the preferred design, the bath unit is generally adjacent to the kitchen facilities so that both may use common utility lines.

The open spaces of the uppermost floor may have special pre-cast ceilings, for example of flat or U-shaped cross-section structure, to cover them0 The invention will now be described in greater detail, with, reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein: Fig. 1 is a diagrammatic front perspective view showing the assembly of the boxlike modular overlapping units as they have been placed in position to form a complete building structure.

Fig. 2 is a horizontal transverse sectional view illustrating one living unit, upon an enlarged scale as compared to Fig. 1.

Figo 3 is a transverse diagrammatic sectional view showing the post-tensioning cable extending between two ov Fig. 4 is a fragmentary transverse sectional view showing the utility column or shaft between two overlapped building units, upon an enlarged scale as compared to Figs. 1 and 2 Fig. 5 is a front elevation of a typical post-tensioned overlapping modular arrangement, upon about the samte scale as Fig. 1.

Figl 6 is a diagrammatic transverse sectional view showing the cable extending through a foundation slab, a single boxlike unit, as well as the ceiling slab, and being attached at its lower. and upper ends, upon an enlarged scale as compared to Figs. 1, 2 and 5» Fig, 7 is similar to Fig. 2 but eliminating the various interior additions to the modular construction.

Fig. 8 is a diagrammatic vertical transverse sectional view showing the connection between upper and lower slabs of a single unit through the interior partitions.

Referring to Fig. 1,, there is shown a series of pre-assembled pre-formed modular units A which are overlapped at B. The interspaces C, which are shown open in Fig. 1, may receive additional living space upon being closed off at their front and back, The interspaces at the base are preferably provided with overlapping base slabs D, either cast in place or prefabricated and overlapping under the adjacent boxlike units A. The overhanging units A may be provided with connecting columns E, which may be replaced by walls. The units A as shown in Fig. 1 are provided with the end windows or openings F.

Referring to the diagrammatic horizontal transverse sectional view of a typical unit as shown in Fig. 2, there 2lj. extending from front to back, and the transverse partitions 25, 26, 27 and 28. The width of the unit extends from and between the side walls 20 and 21F as indicated by the arrowed line 29» and there are provided vertical enlargements or columns 30, 31, 32, 33 , 3 t 35, 36, and 37, which may receive post-tensioning cables.

In the plan shown, there is also provided a utility column or receptacle i+6 which will receive the water, sewage, electricity, air conditioning, gas and other utilities. The interior may have the front bedrooms 38 and 39, the rear bedroom I.0, the bathroom I.I having the washbasin I4.2, the bath or shower I.3 , and the toilet I4J.. These are connected to the utility shaft I4.6, both for entrance of water and disposal of sewage.

Between the units A are the interspaces C, which, may receive the kitchen 50 having the sink 51, kitchen cabinet and stove 52, table 53 and refrigerator 5^· In the unit as shown closets may be provided at 55 and 56 , 57, 58 and 59o It will be noted that the side wall 20 has no open-ings therein but that the side wall 21 has openings at 60 to communicate with the kitchen 50 and at 61 to communicate with the living room 620 The utility room 63 may communicate with the kitchen through the opening 60 in the wall 210 A laundry or other washing machine may be placed at 61+ in the utility room 63 As shown in Pig. 2, the front of the living room 62 may be provided with the folding doors 70 and the flower boxes 71 upon the balcony 72. The rear of the unit of Fig0 2 may have a walk-way or corridor 73 extending to elevators or stairs at the end of the unit (not shown). This walk-way or corridor may be supported from the columns 30 and by cantilevers or other structures.

In Pigo 3 there is shown the overlapping corners 80 of an upper unit and 8l of a lower unit which are at the lower end of the column 82 and at the upper end of column 83, with the floor slab 8I . directly connected to the column 82 in the upper unit A and the floor slab 85 directly connected to the column 83 in the lower unit A, The space 86 between the corners may be sealed by means of grouting or other sealing materials. Interiorly the units are held together by one or more cables 87, which, extend through the space 88, The space 88 is grouted after the cable or cables have been tensioned in position.

This cable may extend through all of the units vertically from the ground to the top or it may extend through a series of units 0 Referring to Pig0 I ., there is shown the utility shaft 90, which is enclosed in an opening formed between the outside wall 91 and the inside partition 93 o For the lower box or module the utility shaft is positioned between the outside wall 92 and the inside wall -* These are shown in Pigo as being prefabricated and formed unitarily with the floor or ceiling structure 95 and 96. They also may be fabricated separately of asbestos, cement or other material or by removable panels to allow access for repairs 0 The space 97 is grouted or otherwise sealed with suitable material. There are shown illustratively various pipes 98 and 99 for conducting water, sewage, or other utility purposes. The openings 100 and 101 are in the floor and ceiling, and permit communication from one unit to another. The utilities may be placed in position, together with the units and connected from one unit to the next upper or lower unit thereof, or they may be placed in after the overlapping units have been assembled. The pipes are usually in a straight line and sufficient space is provided to permit whatever utilities are necessar , and considerable connections are made to the kitchen and bathroom in each unit.

In Fig, 5 , there is shown a diagrammatic front elevational view of a series of units A assembled together with the overlapping portions B, the windows F and the balcony railings G. There is shown a section of the ground at 110 but this may be replaced by slabs extending over the entire area or only under the open spaces C.

In Fig. 2 , the columns 30 through 37 may all be post-tensioned by cables, such as indicated at 87 in Fig. 3 , and the utility receptacle 46 may consist Of an opening · extending through the various units vertically, part or all of which may match the opening in the next lower unit at the overlap, so that straight pipes and conduits may extend the entire length of the building.

The floor and ceiling slabs, together with the partitions may be tied into a single structural unit by tensioned cables or rods which extend through the partitions or enlarged portions thereof.

Fig, 7 represents the structural unit only and it does not show the various appliances and other additions such as are indicated in Fig. 2. In Fig. 2 the columns 30 through 37 may all be post-tensioned by cables, such as indicated at 87 in Fig. 3, and the utility receptacle 46 may consist of an opening extending through the various units vertically, part or all of Interiorly there also are provided, in connection ▼ with the enlargements in the thickness of the partitions, as indicated at 111, 112* 113 and 114* through. which tensioned cables or rods may be extended for the purpose of tying the floor and ceiling slabs, together with the partitions, into a single structural unit.

In Fig, 8 is shown a unit such as Pig. 7, with a ceiling 115, a floor 116 and the vertical partitions 117 and 113, or enlargements upon such partitions through which may be extended the rods or tensioning cables 119 and 120, which may be mounted in position by means of the reinforcements 121 and 122* At the top, as indicated at 123 and 124, there is shown location of suitable securing means, particularly in case of cables. As indicated at the left of Fig. 8, the ceiling 115 is shown as having an extension 125 and a guard rail 126 for the walk-way on the outside of the structure.

In Fig. 8 there are shown a wall 128 and a window 127 and 129.

In Fig. 6, the post-tensioned cable 140 is mounted by means of the securing plates 141 and 142 and a securing device 143 In the opening 144 in the footing structure 145· This footing structure may be buried in the ground and may extend upwardly to a point 146 directly below the floor slab 147. This floor slab may be positioned directly below the open spaces II .8 between the modular unit II .9 of the ground floor. The upper modular unit is indicated at 150 and it will have a top slab 151 over the space between the modular unit of the uppermost floor.

The broken space as indicated at 1 2 indicates that any number of modular units may be positioned between the lowermost unit II .9 and the uppermost unit 1 0, The top slab 151 will be provided with a recess 153 receiving the plates 1 1+ and 15 and the securing device 156 for the top of the post-tensioning cable llj.0. The recess 153 is then filled in with grout or other suitable material 0 The spaces indicated at 158, 159, I60 and l6l may also be filled with grout.

As shown, the walls and partitions such, as indicated at 20, 21, 22 and 23 in Pig. 2 may be pre-cast, preferably horizontally, and then placed vertically in position in a second pre-cast setting and connected by a lower slab and thereafter in place, pre-cast by an upper slab which will respectively serve as floors and ceilings. The slabs are preferably poured in place so that the unit, as indicated in Pigo 2, may be assembled in the building structure of Pigs0 1 and 5 The post-tensioning indicated by the cable II4.O in Fig o 6 or 87 in Pig. 3 may be accomplished after the units have been assembled.

Thus all the boxes or units A will be unitarily assembled together with the overlapping portions B being highly compressed. In addition, the walls and partitions of each unit may be vertically provided with reinforcing tensioning cables or rods. These units, being assembled in this way, will act both vertically and horizontally as beam structures in view of the monolithic structure of both floor . and celling slabs tied together and the vertical walls and partitions sandwiched therebetween.

The structure design is particularly resistant to earthquakes because of the high rigidity of the individual boxes and modular units and at the same time because of the flexibility of the entire structure, due to the overlap staggered system of post-tensioning cables where each unit is post-tensioned not between two other units but between four other units on the four comers thereof.

In forming the shaft openings 90 and 89, as indicated in Fig. 4, it will be noted that the opening only partially overlap in the superimposed units, and the extraspace 150 and 151 is used for access Or for repair purposes. To achieve this overlapping of the spaces 89 and 90, the units of Fig* 2 are made mirror images for alternate floors, so that one mirror image will be superimposed above another mirror image and there will be one shaft for every second vertical line of walls in the connection between boxlike units* In other words, although the post-tensioning cables may extend through every overlapping wall, the shaft for utilities extends through only every second overlapping wall.

By overlapping so that the overlap extends substantially beyond the thickness of the wallsm there is a sufficient overlap to provide space for the utility shaft and the columns are located one upon the other* Since a utility shaft is required at only every second vertical line of walls, a building can be constructed according to the present invention by stacking the units with overlap at only one side wall of each unit* As many changes could be made in the above modular post-tensioned overlapped staggered building construction, and many widely different embodiments of this invention could be made without departure from the scope of the claims, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense. lla

Claims (1)

1. lo A modular building structure, which comprises a plurality of preformed boxlike units, each of which has side walls, a ceiling and a floor slab, said, units being or at least one(side stacked staggered and overlapped J fc the .s-Ades thereof beyond the width of the side walls which are provided with vertical columns superimposed upon one another, and connecting means extending through said columns vertically from the lowest to the uppermost of said boxlike units, said boxes being positioned so that there will be an open space between each two boxlike units in the same horizontal plane, with upper and lower boxlike units covering said open spaces at the intermediate levels, and each boxlike unit at said intermediate levels being stacked between four other units o o A building structure according to claim 1, in which the connecting means comprises post-tensioning means which extend through the sides of alternate staggered overlapping boxlike units extending in opposite directions. 3. A building structure according to claim 1 or 2 , in which each plan of each boxlike unit in the floor is a mirror image of the plan of the boxlike unit in the next upper and lower floor 0 i o A building structure according to any one of claims 1 to 3>> in which an open shaft for utilities extends vertically through the overlapping portions of each boxlike unit. o A building structure according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein each unit is provided with interior partitions e 6. A building structure according to claim 5» in which the partitions are provided with reinforcing connections extending therethrough and mounted at their ends in the ceiling and floor slabs. 7. A building structure according to claim 6, in which the reinforcing connections comprise post-tension means . 80 A method of making the boxlike units of the building structure defined in claim 5, in which the walls and partitions are first pre-cast and then set into a precast unit for pre-casting the floor slab thereto and then subsequently set so that the ceiling will be cast to produce a monolithic unitary boxlike structure. 9o A method of making the boxlike units of the building structure defined in claim » in which the walls and partitions are first pre-cast and then set into a precast unit for pre-casting one floor slab thereto and then subsequently inverted and the other floor slab is cast to produce a monolithic unitary boxlike structure, 10 o A modular building structure, substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings „