US20240060295A1

US20240060295A1 - Collapsible Prefabricated Mechanical Soft Wall

Info

Publication number: US20240060295A1
Application number: US17/890,038
Authority: US
Inventors: Zhuangboyu Zhou; Keguan Zou; Han Qin; Jiuqi Wang; Sichen Li; Amy Qin
Original assignee: A&C Future Inc
Current assignee: A&C Future Inc
Priority date: 2022-08-17
Filing date: 2022-08-17
Publication date: 2024-02-22

Abstract

A collapsible prefabricated mechanical soft wall is disclosed. The collapsible prefabricated mechanical soft wall comprises: a housing having a top board, a bottom board and a plurality of side boards formed therebetween, wherein two of the side boards opposite to each other have a slot, respectively, the two slots are parallel to each other, and a long opening is formed on the bottom board; a plurality of movable wall parts each rotatably connected to two adjacent ones; and an adjusting rod with two ends movably installed in the slots, respectively.

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present application relates to a mechanical wall. More particularly, the present application relates to a collapsible prefabricated mechanical soft wall used as a non-load-bearing wall.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

In the traditional construction process, wall building has many steps including framing, filling, board nailing etc. These complicated takes a lot of time and labor. In order to reduce the cost, some prior arts have provided related methods or devices.
For example, US patent application No. 2020/0157806 [hereinafter referred to as D1] discloses a modular fabricated wall system which has a number of interlocking modular prefabricated wall sections. Each wall section has opposed planar face boards and a number of orthogonal spacers adhered to respective inner faces of the face boards for bracing the face boards apart. Vertical joiners are adhered to inner edges of each face board for quickly and easily vertically slotting together adjacent wall sections in a row. Although D1 has advantages in low-cost materials and less labor, transportation cost increases according to the hollow and huge design of the modular prefabricated wall sections.
Another example is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 10,662,646 [hereinafter referred to as D2]. A prefabricated wall for interior is disclosed by D2. The prefabricated wall partitions the indoor space of a building and comprises: a runner installed to face a ceiling and a floor; a plurality of studs vertically installed and fixed on both width-wise sides of the runner; and a finishing panel coupled to the plurality of studs. D2 minimizes the use of screws to facilitate the installation and reassembly of a wall, allows a small number of personnel to simultaneously perform the installation or disassembly work to reduce labor costs, and can shorten the construction period. However, subject to the finishing panel and the studs, the prefabricated wall cannot have a non-straight design.
In order to solve the problems in the prior arts and wall building process, a collapsible prefabricated mechanical soft wall is provided in the present application.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

This paragraph extracts and compiles some features of the present application; other features will be disclosed in the follow-up paragraphs. It is intended to cover various modifications and similar arrangements included within the spirit and scope of the appended claims.
In order to settle the problems mentioned above, a collapsible prefabricated mechanical soft wall is disclosed. The collapsible prefabricated mechanical soft wall comprises: a housing having a top board, a bottom board and a plurality of side boards formed therebetween, wherein two of the side boards opposite to each other have a slot, respectively, the two slots are parallel to each other, and a long opening is formed on the bottom board; a plurality of movable wall parts each rotatably connected to two adjacent ones; and an adjusting rod with two ends movably installed in the slots, respectively. The housing is used to fixed on a high position of a building frame. Some of the movable wall parts are removably stored in the housing. An innermost movable wall part is fixed inside the housing. An outermost movable wall part emerges from the housing through the long opening and is used to pull some of the removably stored movable wall parts out of the housing. The adjusting rod is parallelly arranged on one side of the stored movable wall parts. When the adjusting rod moves along the slots, the removably stored movable wall parts are pushed to line in two and the number of the stored movable wall parts revealed out of the housing is adjusted. The outermost and the revealed stored movable wall parts move along two parallel guiders fixed on the building frame and form a wall body when the outermost movable wall part is fixed on a base of the building frame or ground.
According to the present application, the adjusting rod may comprise: a hollow rod body; and a moving rod, formed on a first end of the hollow rod body to install in a first slot. A worm gear may be connected to a second end of the hollow rod body, and the worm gear and the hollow rod body are located on two sides of a second slot. The housing may further comprise a worm shaft on the side boards and parallel to the second slot. The worm gear is meshed with the worm shaft. The worm shaft rotates to adjust a location of the worm gear relative to the second slot.
According to the present application, the movable wall part may comprise: a main body, comprising: a rectangular section tube; two first connecting tubes formed on two sides of a top surface of the rectangular section tube; and a second connecting tube formed on a middle part of a bottom surface of the rectangular section tube; and a connecting pin, rotatably connecting two adjacent main bodies by being inserted to the two first connecting tubes of one main body and the second connecting tube of the other main body. The rectangular section tube may be filled with a soundproofing material to have a function of reducing external noise. Preferably, the soundproofing material may be cotton, soundproofing spray foam or soundproof sponge. In one embodiment, an outer diameter of the first connecting tube, an outer diameter of the second connecting tube, a width of the top surface of the rectangular section tube and a width of the bottom surface of the rectangular section tube are the same.
Preferably, the parallel guider may be a column with a guide groove, or a channel steel.
According to the present application, the outermost and the revealed stored movable wall parts are and covered by a plurality of fixtures to fix relative positions and shape an appearance thereof after the outermost movable wall part is fixed on the base of the building frame. Preferably, the fixture may be sheetrock, calcium silicate board, mineral fiber board or cement board.
Preferably, the housing may be made of a stainless steel plate or a galvanized steel plate.
Preferably, the movable wall part may be made of stainless steel, fiber reinforced plastics, aluminum alloy, or reinforced concrete.
Preferably the adjusting rod may be made of stainless steel, cast iron, galvanized steel, fiber reinforced plastics, or aluminum alloy.
Preferably, the worm gear may be made of stainless steel or cast iron.
Preferably, the worm shaft may be made of stainless steel or cast iron.
This present application provides a new style of prefabricated mechanical wall as a non-load-bearing wall in the frame structure. By dividing the wall into small movable wall parts similar to the hinge structure, a ‘mechanical soft wall’ is realized. The movable wall parts can be formed by mold and assembled in the factory, which greatly reduces the labor and time of housing construction. Since the movable wall parts can be freely stored into a box (the housing), it is convenient for transportation and on-site installation.
At the construction site, the housing carrying the movable wall parts is suspended on the beams and columns of the steel structure, and the columns on both sides form a groove. When the adjusting rod slides, the movable wall parts expand down along the slot, and the groove will limit the movable wall parts from moving horizontally. After final deployment, the outermost movable wall part can be nailed to the floor to fix the wall body.
After the wall body is unfolded and fixed, formworks can be installed on it, painting can be applied, too. Functions of the collapsible prefabricated mechanical soft wall are equivalent to that used in a traditional house. At the same time, the detachable design also facilitates the modification of the building structure. Internal space of the building structure can be freely expanded, or the internal division can be changed. The housing carrying the movable wall parts can be used as a roof or a second-floor floor, and the interior space of the housing can be used for pipeline installation.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a stereogram of a collapsible prefabricated mechanical soft wall according to the present application.

FIG. 2 shows a left side view of the collapsible prefabricated mechanical soft wall.

FIG. 3 shows a right side view of the collapsible prefabricated mechanical soft wall.

FIG. 4 is a cross sectional view of the collapsible prefabricated mechanical soft wall along line AA′ in FIG. 1 .

FIG. 5 shows a structure of a movable wall part and a way to connect two movable wall parts.

FIG. 6 is a front side view of a main body.

FIG. 7 is another cross sectional view of the collapsible prefabricated mechanical soft wall along line AA′ in FIG. 1 .

FIG. 8 is a stereogram of an adjusting rod according to the present application.

FIG. 9 shows a building frame installed with a number of collapsible prefabricated mechanical soft wall.

FIG. 10 is a side view of the collapsible prefabricated mechanical soft wall in an extension status.

FIG. 11 illustrates how fixtures are fixed to the movable wall parts.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

The present application will now be described more specifically with reference to the following embodiments.
Refer to FIG. 1 . An embodiment of a stereogram of a collapsible prefabricated, mechanical soft wall 1 according to the present application is disclosed. The present application defines a new concept of wall, which is collapsible before/after construction. The collapsible prefabricated mechanical soft wall 1 includes a housing 10, a number of movable wall parts 20, an adjusting rod 30 and a worm gear 40. The collapsible prefabricated mechanical soft wall 1 is used to build a non-load-bearing prefabricated wall in a load-bearing structure. Types, materials, functions, and interactions of the aforementioned technical elements will be described in detail below.
See FIG. 2 and FIG. 3 . FIG. 2 shows a left side view of the collapsible prefabricated mechanical soft wall 1 while FIG. 3 shows a right side view of the collapsible prefabricated mechanical soft wall 1. The housing 10 has a top board 11 and a bottom board 12. It also has a number of side boards formed between the top board 11 and the bottom board 12. In the embodiment, the housing 10 looks like a cuboid. Therefore, the housing 10 has 4 side boards, i.e., a front side board 13, a back side board 14, a left side board 15, a right side board 16 and a worm shaft 18. In other embodiments, the appearance of the housing may vary. For example, the appearance of the housing may be a six-sided cylinder according to the design of a building that the collapsible prefabricated mechanical soft wall 1 applied to. The top board 11 and the bottom board 12 also need not be parallel to each other. According to the present application, no matter what kind of three-dimensional appearance the housing may be, there should be at least two side boards that are parallel to each other. Said two side boards are used to install the adjusting rod 30. In this embodiment, the front side board 13 is parallel to the back side board 14, and the left side board 15 is parallel to the right side board 16.
As mentioned above, in order to install the adjusting rod 30, two of the side boards opposite to each other have a slot, respectively. The slot is straight. In this embodiment, the left side board 15 and the right side board 16 are chosen to form slots. The left side board 15 has a second slot 171. The right side board 16 has a first slot 172. Although the left side board 15 and the right side board 16 are parallel to each other, the slots 171/172 on each side board may not be formed parallel to each other. However, it is required to make the first slot 172 and the second slot 171 parallel to each other according to the present application. Preferably, the first slot 172 and the second slot 171 are formed on the middle portion of the right side board 16 and the left side board 15, respectively. Refer to FIG. 4 . It is a cross sectional view of the collapsible prefabricated mechanical soft wall 1 along line AA′ in FIG. 1 . A long opening 121 (the length direction is perpendicular to FIG. 3 ) is formed on the bottom board 12. A purpose of making the long opening 121 is to let some of the movable wall parts 20 go in and out of the housing 10. Location, type, and function of the worm shaft 18 will be illustrated with the adjusting rod 30.
As to material-wise, since the housing 10 would be a part of the building that the collapsible prefabricated mechanical soft wall 1 applied to after the building is completed, materials for the housing 10 should be light and rigid. Preferably, the housing 10 is made of a stainless steel plate or a galvanized steel plate. If required, the housing 10 can be made of reinforced concrete. The side boards, the side board and the top board 11, and the side board and the bottom board 12 are well bonded. Therefore, there are no interface lines drawn in the drawings. According to the present application, the housing 10 is used to fixed on a high position of a building frame to expend the movable wall parts 20. This feature will be illustrated with an example of assembly of a building later.
The movable wall parts 20 are the key to form a mechanical soft wall. The wall is ‘soft’ since the movable wall parts 20 would rotate and move if no restriction is applied. As shown in FIG. 4 , each movable wall part 20 is rotatably connected to two adjacent ones. See FIG. 5 . It shows a structure of the movable wall part 20 and a way to connect two movable wall parts 20. The movable wall part 20 comprises a main body 21 and a connecting pin 22. The main body 21 is composed of a rectangular section tube 211, two first connecting tubes 212 and a second connecting tube 213. Two first connecting tubes 212 are formed on two sides of a top surface 2111 of the rectangular section tube 211. The second connecting tube 213 is formed on a middle part of a bottom surface 2112 of the rectangular section tube 211. In order to have a better understanding of the structure of the main body 21, please refer to FIG. 6 . It is a front side view of the main body 21. The main body 21 is like an element of a bike chain. One main body 21 can be connected to the adjacent ones by pins and the connecting pin 22 the role. Refer to FIG. 5 again. When two main body 21 are going to be connected, e.g., the upper main body 21 moves to close to the lower main body 21 along the direction as a dashed arrow line shown, the connecting pin 22 rotatably connects the two adjacent main bodies 21 by being inserted to the two first connecting tubes 212 of the upper main body 21 and the second connecting tube 213 of the lower main body 21 following the direction as a dash-dotted arrow line shown. Because the movable wall parts 20 form the soft wall, the surface of the soft wall should be able to be flat, rather than wavy shape, the main body 21 may have a special design: an outer diameter of the first connecting tube 212, an outer diameter of the second connecting tube 213, a width of the top surface 2111 of the rectangular section tube 211 and a width of the bottom surface 2112 of the rectangular section tube 211 are the same. Namely, the outermost portions of the rectangular section tube 211, the first connecting tube 212 and the second connecting tube 213 protrude to the same extent.
Come back to FIG. 4 . It also shows the collapsible prefabricated mechanical soft wall 1 in a collapsed status. Most of the movable wall parts 20 are removably stored in the housing 20. An innermost movable wall part 20 a is fixed inside the housing 20 with a fixture 10 a. The innermost movable wall part 20 a and the fixture 10 a are connected by a pin and act like a hinge. The innermost movable wall part 20 a is fixed inside the housing 20 so that all movable wall parts 20 are not able to fall out of the housing 20. An outermost movable wall part 20 b emerges from the housing 10 through the long opening 121 and is used to pull some of the removably stored movable wall parts 20 out of the housing 10. As shown in FIG. 4 , there is a small space above the outermost movable wall part 20 b in the housing 10. If necessary, during transportation of the collapsible prefabricated mechanical soft wall 1, the outermost movable wall part 20 b may be stuffed into the housing 10 to save the space to stack the collapsible prefabricated mechanical soft wall 1. The outermost movable wall part 20 b may be different from other movable wall parts 20 that it only has first connecting tubes 212 connected with a long plate.
The collapsible prefabricated mechanical soft wall 1 may have a function of reducing external noise. In order to achieve this goal, the rectangular section tube 211 may be filled with a soundproofing material. In practice, the soundproofing material may be, but not limited to cotton, soundproofing spray foam and soundproof sponge. Material-wise, the movable wall part 20, including the main body 21 and the connecting pin 22, may be made of stainless steel, fiber reinforced plastics, aluminum alloy, or reinforced concrete.
The adjusting rod 30 is a tool to adjust the extension of the movable wall parts 20. The adjusting rod 30 is with two ends movably installed in the second slot 171 and the first slot 172, respectively. As shown in FIG. 4 , the adjusting rod 30 is parallelly arranged on one side of the stored movable wall parts 20. When the adjusting rod 30 moves along the slots 171 and 172, the removably stored movable wall parts are pushed to line in two and the number of the stored movable wall parts 20 revealed out of the housing 10 is adjusted. It makes the connection of the stored movable wall parts able to be a U-shape in the housing 10 for storage. Refer to FIG. 7 . It is another cross sectional view of the collapsible prefabricated mechanical soft wall 1 along line AA′ in FIG. 1 while the collapsible prefabricated mechanical soft wall 1 in an extension status. Compare FIG. 4 with FIG. 7 . When the adjusting rod 30 moves to the left side, most of the movable wall parts 20 can slide out of the housing 10 through the long opening 121 and revealed outside (FIG. 7 ). The movable wall parts 20 can be pushed back to the housing 10 while the adjusting rod 30 moves to right side.
The most basic type of adjusting rod 30 can be a long straight rod, directly go straight through these slots 171 and 172. However, the long straight rod may fall out of the slots 171 and 172. It is not easy to move the long straight rod due to the significant weight of the movable wall parts 20. Therefore, the adjusting rod 30 has a special design. Refer to FIG. 8 . It is a stereogram of the adjusting rod 30 according to the present application. The adjusting rod 30 comprises a hollow rod body 31 and a moving rod 32. The hollow rod body 31 is the portion to push the stored movable wall parts 20. An outer diameter of the hollow rod body 31 is designed depending on the movable wall parts 20 (thickness of the soft wall finally formed). Since the maximum angle between two adjacent movable wall parts 20 when they are relatively rotated can be determined, the hollow rod body 31 can be calculated which make the movable wall parts 20 coincidently form a U-shape inside the housing 10. The moving rod 32 is formed on a first end 311 of the hollow rod body 31 to install in the first slot 172 as shown in FIG. 3 . The worm gear 40 is connected to a second end 312 of the hollow rod body 31. As shown in FIG. 1 , the worm gear 40 and the hollow rod body 31 are located on two sides of the second slot 171. In FIG. 2 , the worm shaft 18 are rotatably mounted on the front side board 13 and the back side board 14 and parallel to the second slot 171. The worm gear 40 is meshed with the worm shaft 18. The worm shaft 18 can rotate to adjust a location of the worm gear 18 relative to the second slot 171. Rotation of the worm shaft 18 may be achieved and controlled by a motor or just by hand. When the worm shaft 18 rotates in different direction, the worm gear 40 rotates in a corresponding direction accordingly and moves along the slots 171 and 172, so that the adjusting rod 30 is moved forward or backward in the form of turning. The number of revealed movable wall parts 20 can be controlled, too.
In practice, the adjusting rod 30 may be made of stainless steel, cast iron, galvanized steel, fiber reinforced plastics, or aluminum alloy. The worm gear 40 and the worm shaft 18 need to be rigid and durable. Stainless steel and cast iron may be good material.
Refer to FIG. 9 . FIG. 9 shows a building frame 50 installed with 8 collapsible prefabricated mechanical soft walls 1. In this embodiment, the building frame 50 is a single-story steel structure building and composed of a number of columns 51 and beams 52. The collapsible prefabricated mechanical soft walls 1 are used to form the wall bodies enclosing the building frame 50. Meanwhile, the housings 10 are used to form a balcony of the second floor. Depending on the design, the housings 10 may also form the second floor. The housings 10 are well soldered to a high position of the building frame 50 (with the column 51 and/or beam 52). To resist bending moment, the housings 10 are supported by at least one bracing 53.
To build the wall bodies, some stored movable wall part 20 must be pulled out of the housing 10 and the outermost movable wall part 20 b should be fixed on the base of the building frame 50 or ground. In order to have a better understanding, please see FIG. 10 . It is a side view of one collapsible prefabricated mechanical soft wall 1 in the extension status in FIG. 9 . Before the extension status is fully formed, the outermost movable wall part 20 b and the revealed stored movable wall parts 20 move along two parallel guiders 53 fixed on two adjacent columns 11 of the building frame 50. A wall body is formed when the outermost movable wall part 20 b is fixed on the base of the building frame 50 or ground. According to the present application, the parallel guider 53 is a column with a guide groove. In practice, a channel steel may be used.
The wall body mentioned above is still soft. It may not move horizontally due to the restriction of the parallel guiders 53. However, vertical movement is still possible since the movable wall parts 20 are not fixedly connected. In order to make the soft wall ‘hard, namely, to fixed vertical movement of the movable wall parts 20 and to form a fixed wall body, some fixtures may be used to enhance the connection of the movable wall parts 20. Refer to FIG. 11 . It illustrates how fixtures 60 are fixed to the movable wall parts 20. The outermost movable wall part 20 b and the revealed stored movable wall parts 20 are and covered by a number of fixtures 60 to fix relative positions and shape an appearance of the outermost movable wall part 20 b and the revealed stored movable wall parts 20 after the outermost movable wall part 20 b is fixed on the base of the building frame 50, as shown in the left of FIG. 11 . Size of the fixtures 60 may be the same, may be different. According to the present application, at least, the height of each fixture 60 should be larger than that of one connected movable wall part 20 in the vertical direction indicated by the double arrow line. Thus, the fixture 60 may fix two adjacent movable wall part 20, crossing the gap therebetween. In the embodiment, the fixture 60 is sheetrock and can be nailed to fix to the movable wall parts 20 as shown on the upper right side in FIG. 11 . In other embodiments, the fixture 60 may also be calcium silicate board, mineral fiber board or cement board. A schematic diagram of the combination of the fixtures 60 and the movable wall parts 20 is shown on the lower right side in FIG. 11 . Thus, the completed walls made by the way mentioned above have the same quality as the walls made by the traditional way.
While the present application has been described in terms of what is presently considered to be the most practical and preferred embodiments, it is to be understood that the present application needs not be limited to the disclosed embodiments. On the contrary, it is intended to cover various modifications and similar arrangements included within the spirit and scope of the appended claims, which are to be accorded with the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and similar structures.

Claims

What is claimed is:

1. A collapsible prefabricated mechanical soft wall, comprising:

a housing having a top board, a bottom board and a plurality of side boards formed therebetween, wherein two of the side boards opposite to each other have a slot, respectively, the two slots are parallel to each other, and a long opening is formed on the bottom board;

a plurality of movable wall parts each rotatably connected to two adjacent ones; and

an adjusting rod with two ends movably installed in the slots, respectively,

wherein the housing is used to fixed on a high position of a building frame; some of the movable wall parts are removably stored in the housing; an innermost movable wall part is fixed inside the housing; an outermost movable wall part emerges from the housing through the long opening and is used to pull some of the removably stored movable wall parts out of the housing; the adjusting rod is parallelly arranged on one side of the stored movable wall parts; when, the adjusting rod moves along the slots, the removably stored movable wall parts are pushed to line in two and the number of the stored movable wall parts revealed out of the housing is adjusted; and the outermost and the revealed stored movable wall parts move along two parallel guiders fixed on the building frame and form a wall body when the outermost movable wall part is fixed on a base of the building frame or ground.

2. The collapsible prefabricated mechanical soft wall according to claim 1, wherein the adjusting rod comprises:

a hollow rod body; and

a moving rod, formed on a first end of the hollow rod body to install in a first slot.

3. The collapsible prefabricated mechanical soft wall according to claim 2, wherein a worm gear is connected to a second end of the hollow rod body, and the worm gear and the hollow rod body are located on two sides of a second slot.

4. The collapsible prefabricated mechanical soft wall according to claim 3, wherein the housing further comprises a worm shaft on the side boards and parallel to the second slot, the worm gear is meshed with the worm shaft, and the worm shaft rotates to adjust a location of the worm gear relative to the second slot.

5. The collapsible prefabricated mechanical soft wall according to claim 1, wherein the movable wall part comprises:

a main body, comprising:

a rectangular section tube;

two first connecting tubes formed on two sides of a top surface of the rectangular section tube; and

a second connecting tube formed on a middle part of a bottom surface of the rectangular section tube; and

a connecting pin, rotatably connecting two adjacent main bodies by being inserted to the two first connecting tubes of one main body and the second connecting tube of the other main body.

6. The collapsible prefabricated mechanical soft wall according to claim 5, wherein the rectangular section tube is filled with a soundproofing material.

7. The collapsible prefabricated mechanical soft wall according to claim 6, wherein the soundproofing material is cotton, soundproofing spray foam or soundproof sponge.

8. The collapsible prefabricated mechanical soft wall according to claim 5, wherein an outer diameter of the first connecting tube, an outer diameter of the second connecting tube, a width of the top surface of the rectangular section tube and a width of the bottom surface of the rectangular section tube are the same.

9. The collapsible prefabricated mechanical soft wall according to claim 1, wherein the parallel guider is a column with a guide groove, or a channel steel.

10. The collapsible prefabricated mechanical soft wall according to claim 1, wherein the outermost and the revealed stored movable wall parts are and covered by a plurality of fixtures to fix relative positions and shape an appearance thereof after the outermost movable wall part is fixed on the base of the building frame.

11. The collapsible prefabricated mechanical soft wall according to claim 10, wherein the fixture is sheetrock, calcium silicate board, mineral fiber board or cement board.

12. The collapsible prefabricated mechanical soft wall according to claim 1, wherein the housing is made of a stainless steel plate or a galvanized steel plate.

13. The collapsible prefabricated mechanical soft wall according to claim 1, wherein the movable wall part is made of stainless steel, fiber reinforced plastics, aluminum alloy, or reinforced concrete.

14. The collapsible prefabricated mechanical soft wall according to claim 1, wherein the adjusting rod is made of stainless steel, cast iron, galvanized steel, fiber reinforced plastics, or aluminum alloy.

15. The collapsible prefabricated mechanical soft wall according to claim 3, wherein the worm gear is made of stainless steel or cast iron.

16. The collapsible prefabricated mechanical soft wall according to claim 4, wherein the worm shaft is made of stainless steel or cast iron.