US2019162A

US2019162A - Building construction

Info

Publication number: US2019162A
Application number: US735593A
Authority: US
Inventors: Robert J Sipchen
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1934-07-17
Filing date: 1934-07-17
Publication date: 1935-10-29
Anticipated expiration: 1952-10-29

Description

0ct. 29, 1935. R. J. slPcHEN BUILDING CONSTRUCTION Filed July 1'7, 1934 2 Sheets-Sheet l Oct. 29, 1935. R. .1. srPcHEN 2,019,162

BUILDING CONSTRUCTION Filed July 17, 1954 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 25k/@HW 2; u /My//MMM Patented Oct. 29, 1935 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE,

3 Claims.

' vide a construction embodying a skating rink and a movable floor section which may be positioned over the rink and removed therefrom at will, so that the same space may be used interchangeably for skating or other purposes, such, for ex- Y ample, as a dance floor.

Another object of the invention is to provide a construction of the above indicated character in which the movable floor section embodies heat insulating means whereby to protect the ice of the skating rink against excessive loss of heat when the movable floor section is positioned thereover, thereby permitting the skating rink to. be located out of doors in a position exposed to the heat of the sun during a large part of the time or in other positions where it would be difcult or impossible to maintain a sheet of ice in properly frozen condition if it were exposed at all times.

A further object of the invention is to provide operating and control means for controlling the movements of the movable floor section between a position covering the skating rink and another position removed therefrom.

The above and other objects and advantages of the invention will appear more fully, and the invention will be better understood, by reference to the detailed description of a preferred embodiment of the same appearing hereinafter, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings forming a part hereof, in which:

Figure 1 is a plan view of the principal parts of a construction in which the invention is embodied, certain of the parts being broken away to illustrate other details of the construction more fully;

Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional view taken on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary vertical sectional view taken on the line 3 3 of Fig. l; and

Fig. 4 is an enlarged fragmentary vertical sectional view taken on the line lI-4 of Fig. 1.

Referring rst to Figs. 1 and 2 of the drawings a sheet of ice forming a skating rink is designated by the reference character II. The ice may be frozen and maintained in that condition by any suitable refrigerating means, which means per se do not form a part of the present invention and accordingly are illustrated diagrammatically simply in the form of pipes or (C1. 2li-0.5)

tubes I2 extending through the ice layer for the purpose of conducting a refrigerating medium therethrough. The invention provides a construction which permits the maintenance of the ice in properly frozen condition when located out 5 of doors or otherwise exposed to high temperatures and. accordingly is rrot illustrated as being enclosed in a building, although it will be understood, of course, that it may be so arranged if desired. The structure may, therefore, include Awalls or barriers of any desired height around the skating rink, but since such elements do not constitute an essential part of the construction, they are not illustrated in the drawings.

The location of the skating rink out of doors l5, or in other locations where the temperature may become relatively high, is facilitated by the provision of a movable floor section I3, which is of substantially the same dimensions as the skating rink and which may be positioned thereover or removed therefrom at will. This movable floor section is supported on wheels ifi and is movable by means of an electric motor I5 and intermediate power transmission means described in greater detail hereinafter. In one position of the 2,5 movable door section I3 the same covers the skating rink as illustrated in the drawings and serves to protect the same from excessive loss of heat, particularly by reason of the construction of said oor section as an insulating element, as later described.

` Adjacent the skating rink is a fixed structural section I6 which may constitute a pavement, as of a sidewalk or roadway, or the floor of an adjacent room or building. Beneath this fixed structural section a recess II is provided in alignment with the movable floor section I3 whereby the latter may be withdrawn from the position covering the skating rink into said recess to render the ice surface available for use. The movable floor section I3 is illustrated in dotted lines in Fig. 2 in the position which it occupies when thus removed from covering relation to the skating rink.

The motor I5 is located in a pit I8 beneath the 45 path of travel of the movable floor section I3, as shown.

Figs. 3 and 4 illustrate in greater detail the mechanism for actuating the movable floor section. As shown in Fig. 3, the wheels Ill supporting the movable floor section I3 are arranged to run on rails I9, I9 supported on

suitable foundations

20, 20 which extend along the sides of the skating rink. The element I3 is composed of structural members including a top surfacing ll layer 2l which may be conveniently made of wood and finished to provide a dance oor or a flooring usable for other purposes when the movable floor section or platform is in extended position over the skating rink. The ooring 2l is supported by

structural frame members

22, 22 and intermediate

transverse beams

23, 23 and also preferably by diagonal braces 24, 24 (Fig. 1). The

transverse beams

23, 23 and the

end frame members

22, 22 which are parallel thereto are preferably arched or cambered slightly for strength and also to provide a slope on the ooring for drainage purposes, as when the same is located out of doors and exposed to rain.

Secured to the bottoms of the

transverse beams

23, 23 and the

end frame members

22, 22 parallel thereto are a channel member 25 and a rack 26 located inside the channel member, as best shown in Fig. 3. The rack 26 meshes with a driving pinion 21, which is driven by the electric motor l5 through a suitable speed-reducing mechanism 28. The driving mechanism, including the motor, speed reducer, and pinion, is mounted by a suitable bracket 28 on a wall ofthe pit I8 in such position that the platform or movable floor section passes over the same throughout its path of travel. Supporting rollers 35, 30 are also carried by the bracket 29 and are positioned to receive the downwardly extending flanges of the channel member 25 to support the rack 26 in proper relation to the pinion 27.

The motor l5 is connected to a suitable power supply line, not shown, through switching means preferably comprising a magnetically `operated reversing switch indicated diagrammatically at 3| in Fig. 1, and the switching means may be provided with a relay control diagrammatically shown at 32. From the relay control mechanism connections indicated by the line 33 extend to a control station 34 from which an operator may start, stop and reverse the movement of the platform or movable floor section I3. Other suitably arranged connections preferably extend from the control relay means 32 to limit switches 35 and 36, which respectively cooperate with limit stops 3l and 38 to limit the movements of the platform or movable oor section at the respective ends of its path of travel. It will be understood that the limit switches may be located on the movable floor section to cooperate with fixed stops as shown, in which case connections will be made to the limit switches through suitable sliding contacts or flexible cables, or that the stops may be mounted on the movable floor section and the cooperating limit switches located on the stationary parts of the structure.

The control system may be of any standard type, such for example, as a push button control in which the control station 34 will consist of a forward button, a reverse button and a stop button. Pushing the forward button will start the movable floor section moving in one direction and pushing the reverse button will start its movement in the other direction. Such movements can be interrupted at any point by pressing the stop button, but otherwise will continue until the movable floor section reaches its extreme position in the direction in which it is moving. As it approaches either of these extreme positions the corresponding limit switch 31 or 38 will be operated to interrupt the control circuit which governs the movement in that direction. These control operations may be effected through a standard control relay means 32 serving to open and close the usual forward and rewithin the movable element, so that the same will provide a highly efficient insulating member for protecting the ice `of the skating rink against 15 excessive loss of heat when the movable floor section is positioned thereover. 'I'he ice layer Il is preferably insulated by marginal sections of cork 4| or other suitable insulating material and an inserted layer of similar or other insulating 20 material 42 between layers 43, 44 of concrete in the foundation of the rink, so that when the movable platform is positioned over the rink the latter will be insulated on all sides against loss of heat and the refrigerating means l2 will be able 25 to lower its temperature rapidly and maintain it at the low degree necessary to keep the ice frozen under all conditions. It has been found in actual practice that the ice layer may be readily maintained out of doors where it is subj jected to the suns rays when exposed by removal of the movable floor section. After the skating rink has been used for a desired period of time the same may be scraped and sprayed with water, which will freeze quickly upon movg5 ing the movable floor section over the same to provide the necessary degree of insulation, during which time said floor section may be used as a dance iloor or for other purposes. After the ice has been thus resurfaced the movable floor o section may be readily withdrawn in the manner already described to make the skating rink available for further use.

Drainage from the surface of the movable floor y section may be accommodated by

gutters

45, 45 5 extending along the sides of said movable section and draining into elongated pits or

runways

46, 46 which preferably extend along the sides of the structure outside the foundations 2U, 20.

While only one specic embodiment of the in- 50 vention has been shown and described herein it will be readily understood by those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications may be made in the details of design and arrangel, ment of parts without departing from the spirit 55 and scope of the invention, as set forth in the appended claims.

What is claimed as new and is desired to secure by Letters Patent, therefore, is:

l. A floor structure comprising a sheet of ice 00 forming a skating rink, a platform adapted to cover the same, means for supporting said platform for movement to and from covering relation to said rink, and means embodied in said i.. platform for insulating said sheet of ice against 65 excessive loss of heat when said platform is lin covering relation thereto, said platformY having its upper surface nished to provide a dance floor or the like when positioned over said rink, whereby the skating rink and the dance floor or the 70 like may be used interchangeably.

2. A floor structure comprising a fixed structural section having a recess thereunder, a sheet of ice forming a skating rink, a platform adapted to cover the same, means for supporting said u platform for movement between a position covering said rink and a position within said recess, and means embodied in said platform for insulating said sheet of ice against excessive loss of heat when said platform is in covering relation thereto, said platform having its upper surface finished to` provide a dance floor or the like when positioned over said rink, whereby the skating rink and the dance oor or the like may be m used interchangeably.

3. The combination with a skating rink, of a platform adapted to cover the same, means for movably supporting said platform, means forming a pit beneath the path of movement of the platform, a rack secured to the bottom of said platform, and actuating means located in said pit and comprising a pinion intermeshing with said rack for moving said platform to and from a position covering the rink.

ROBERT J. SIPCHEN.