US3430398A

US3430398A - Modular building construction

Info

Publication number: US3430398A
Application number: US622671A
Authority: US
Inventors: Raymond E Green
Original assignee: Trygve Hoff & Associates
Current assignee: Trygve Hoff & Associates
Priority date: 1967-03-13
Filing date: 1967-03-13
Publication date: 1969-03-04
Anticipated expiration: 1986-03-04

Description

March 4, 1969 Filed March 13, 1967 R. E. GREEN MODULAR BUILDING CONSTRUCTION Sheet INVENTOR.

Y RAYMOND E. GREEN ATTORNEYS March 4, 1969 R. E. GREEN MODULAR BUILDING CONSTRUCTION Sheet 2 of 2.

Filed March 13, 1967 INVENTOR.

RAYMOND E. GREEN ATTORNEYS United States Patent 3,430,398 MODULAR BUILDING CONSTRUCTION Raymond E. Green, Cleveland, Ohio, assignor to Trygve Hoff 8; Associates, Cleveland, Ohio, a corporation of Ohio Filed Mar. 13, 1967, Ser. No. 622,671 US. Cl. 52-236 Int. Cl. E04b 1/348, 1/35; E0411 1/00 Claim ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE The invention relates to building construction and more particularly to buildings formed of prefabricated, modular units stacked in a predetermined manner to form a multistory building.

Apartment and oflice buildings are usually individually designed and are constructed by first erecting a steel framework of horizontal and vertical columns, and then applying the exterior and interior Walls to such framework. Such construction is unusually expensive and needlessly time consuming.

Additionally, it is desirable in building construction that the design be standardized. This will result in significant speed and economy of construction compared to conventionally designed buildings, due to efiiciency for builders in fabricating and assembling repetitive standardized components. Within the building there must be wide flexibility so that various types of activity may be accommodated.

Therefore, it is a primary object of the invention to provide a building or building unit having construction features which will permit complete fabrication thereof at the factory and which may be transported fully assembled and equipped to a building site wherein the same may be assembled with other like units to form the finished building.

A further object of the invention is to provide a modular building structure which may be assembled from factory finished units with greater speed, safety and economy than has been possible heretofore with prior modular structures and methods.

A further object of the invention is to provide a building module structure which provides wide flexibility as to rooms and activities which it will accommodate and which can be combined multilaterally with other modules to form a pleasing, function and efficient structure.

A further object of the invention is to provide a modular building structure having sufficient inherent rigidity to withstand strains attending transportation, raising, or any movement thereof as a complete unit.

A further object of the invention is to provide a modular building structure including modular units arranged in spaced side wall to open end relationship and vertically stacked in checkerboard, overlapping, off-set relation to form a building.

A further obpject of the invention is to provide a modular building structure formed of individual modular units and utilizing a minimum number of such units.

A further object of the invention is to provide a building construction comprising a plurality of prefabricated modular units that are assembled to form a building on a building foundation without requiring any additional or preexisting framework to support and align the units.

Briefly, the foregoing objects are accomplished by providing a plurality of standardized, prefabricated, modular, box-shaped units of substantially the same dimensions, each contributing to the commutal space of the building. Each of the units includes a framework of horizontal and vertical beams in the form of a rectangular parallelepiped. The units are vertically stacked, with their longitudinal axes parallel, in checkerboard, overlapping, offset, relation to form the building, whereby at least some of the units of the upper stories are each suported on and by a pair of spaced units therebeneath. All units on each floor are laterally spaced from each other a distance less than the Width of a unit. Thus, all units on the second story and above include units stacked on units therebelow and covering the space therebetween. This structure permits the space between units to be utilized as rooms without any additional structural framework. The outermost units on certain of the floors may be supported on a diagonally adjacent unit on the floor therebelow and on vertical columns interposed between said outermost units and a unit therebelow.

With this construction, the invention provides for erecting a structure in the shortest period, utilizing the least amount of units, materials, and labor, and at a cost considerably lower than that required by conventional methods of construction. Prefabrication of the modular units assures all benefits of planned quantity production with savings of time, cost of labor, and materials of construction. Such prefabricated construction also advances the completion date of the structure as compared to the time required by methods of construction heretofore used.

Thus, the invention includes a building comprising at least two dwelling floors, and is constructed from a plurality of box-shaped, prefabricated modular units, each of which comprises at least a part of a dwelling space, such units alone forming the supporting structure of the building.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following description taken in conjunction with the drawings therein:

FIGURE 1 is a front elevational diagrammatic View of a building constructed in accordance with the invention;

FIGURE 2 is a view similar to FIGURE 1, but showing a modified form of construction thereof;

FIGURE 3 is a perspective diagrammatic view of a building constructed with the modifications shown in FIGURES 1 and 2;

FIGURE 4 is a front elevational view of the building shown in FIGURE 3;

FIGURE 5 is a perspective diagrammatic view of the assembled modular units shown in the FIGURE 3 construction;

FIGURE 6 is a perspective diagrammatic view similar to FIGURE 3, but showing modifications thereof;

FIGURE 7 is a perspective view of one of the modular units shown in FIGURES 1 through 6.

Although the invention is shown and described herein with reference to apartment buildings, it will be understood that it may be used for the construction of any type of plural story building.

Referring to the drawings, there are shown buildings (FIGURES 1-6) having a plurality of stories formed of standardized prefabricated modular box-shaped units all of substantially the same dimension with each unit contributing to the commutual space of the building. FIG- URE 7 shows the structural details of a unit. The invention includes certain unit structural details and also the stacking arrangement of such units to form the build- Each unit includes a framework of horizontal and vertical beams assembled in the form of a rectangular parallelepiped to which the walls, ceiling and floors for the building are fastened, as shown in FIGURE 7. The assembled structure of such vertical and horizontal beams, per se, forms no part of the invention and, hence, will not be described in detail. For present purposes, each unit includes upper longitudinal (straight) edges 10 and 12 and lower longitudinal edges comprising inverted L-shaped beams 14 and 16 adapted for engagement with the respective upper longitudinal edges of units therebelow to provide rigid structural nested units when stacked in checkerboard offset relation as will be hereinafter described.

To provide for longitudinal alignment of the units when stacked, certain hollow

vertical columns

20, 22, 24 and 26 may be provided. Additionally, coacting

fitting tubes

30, 32, 34, and 36 may be provided on the lower longitudinal edges of each unit as shown. In practice, such tube fittings are telescoped into the hollow of such vertical beams, respectively, in units therebelow to align all units longitudinally when stacked.

Referring now to FIGURE 1 which illustrates one form of the stacking arrangement of the invention, there is shown

modular units

40, 42, and 44 of the invention vertically stacked with their longitudinal axes parallel, in pyramid style on a suitable foundation 46 to form a building. The units 40 and 42 are laterally spaced from each other a distance slightly less than the width of a unit to form the first floor. This permits the unit 44 (second floor) to be placed on and be supported by the spaced units 40 and 42 and, additionally, enclose the space 48 which can be finished off into a completed room without any additional framing structure, such being one of the features of the invention. Accordingly, the

units

40, 42 and 44 are vertically stacked, whereby at least some of the units in the upper stories are each supported on and by a pair of spaced units therebeneath with the lowermost units of at least two in number being supported on the foundation, such units having their longitudinal axes parallel. Thus the units are stacked in checkerboard overlapping offset relation to form the building. Suitable floor, ceiling and interior and exterior walls are then added to complete the building. Thus, a building of any suitable size may be formed of a plurality of such units constructed in accordance with such FIGURE 1 stacking arrangement.

In FIGURE 2, the unit 50 rests on the foundation 52 and supports the inner edges of the units 54 and 56 (second floor), with the outer edges of such latter units being supported on

columns

57 and 58 to form a building. The

units

54 and 56 are the outermost units on the second floor of the building and the

columns

57 and 58 are interposed between such outermost units, respectively, and the foundation 52. The

spaces

60 and 61 may be provided with suitable outer walls to form rooms therein. The space 62 may be provided with a suitable roof to form a room between the

units

54 and 56 without additional framing structure. Thus, the FIGURE 2 embodiment includes a building formed of a plurality of

units

50, 54 and 56 Vertically stacked with their longitudinal axes parallel in overlapping offset relation with units on any given floor being laterally spaced a distance less than the width of a unit.

FIGURES 3, 4 and illustrate diagrammatically a building formed of the units of the invention and stacked in accordance with the embodiments of FIGURES 1 and 2. Specifically; the first floor comprises

units

80, 81 and 82 resting on a foundation 83. The second floor includes the

units

85 and 86, and the third floor contains the

units

87, 88 and 89. With this construction the outermost units (87 and 89) on certain floors above the second floor are supported on an adjacent unit on the floor therebelow and on vertical columns (90, 91 and 92 for example) interposed between such outermost units and a unit (80, 82), respectively, therebelow. Suitable ceiling, floors and interior and exterior walls are added to complete the building. All spaces between units need no additional framework thereby effecting substantial savings in building costs.

In the FIGURE 6 embodiment, interior halls or arcades two, three, four or more stories high may be formed in the building by omitting one or more units interiorly thereof and supporting the remaining units thereabove on columns. Specifically, the unit 95 is supported by the

column

96 and 97, the unit 98 is supported by the columns 99 and 100, and the unit 101 is supported by the columns 102 and 103.

Thus, the invention provides modular units and methods of assembly thereof utilizing prefabricated components one bay wide, one story high and five bays long, although it will be understood that units may be formed of different heights, widths and lengths. Each erection unit includes all the structural components within its boundaries including a floor system for two floors. Erection involves stacking the prefabricated units in a vertical checkerboard pattern and field welding the connections. Structural tubing may be used extensively in the framing. Suitable wind bracing members may be provided if required. The floors may be either a metal deck or a sandwich type unit which, either by itself or in conjunction with added insulation materials, will provide satisfactory thermal and acoustic insulation. The floor deck may be welded to its supports, thereby providing sufiicient diaphragm stiffness to distribute horizontal layers on each floor.

In order to facilitate the handlin and erection of the units at the building site, a handling jig could be rigidly attached to the unit at the time of fabrication at the site. Such a jig could be left in place until the unit is in its final erected position in the building and then returned in an empty carrier for placement on another unit.

Heating, cooling, plumbing and electrical services have been considered in the arrangement of the building and the structural framing system. It is contemplated that a hung ceiling will permit concealment of pipe, conduit and ductwork. Pipe chase openings can be left in the floor panels as required.

Considerable economy can be achieved through prior shop fabrication, on an assembly line basis of many standardized shipping units of the invention involved in the constructing, for example, of a high-rise apartment building. Erection costs of the units and ensuing floor systems are markedlyinexpensive.

Thus the invention offers significant opportunities for reducing the cost of constructing a building such as highrise apartment buildings and the like.

The terms and expressions which have been employed are used as terms of description, and not of limitation, and there is no intention, in the use of such terms and expressions, of excluding any equivalents of the features shown and described or portions thereof, but it is recognized that various modifications are possible within the scope of the invention claimed.

What is claimed is:

1. A building having a plurality of stories for erection on a foundation comprising; a plurality of standardized prefabricated modular box-shaped units of substantially the same dimensions each contributing to the commutual space of the building; each of said units including a framework of horizontal and vertical beams in the form of a rectangular parallelepiped; said units being vertically stacked with their longitudinal axes parallel in checkerboard overlapping offset relation to form the building; whereby at least some of the units in the upper stories are each supported on the top surfaces of and by a pair of spaced units therebeneath, with the lowermost units of at least two in number being supported on the foundation, all units on each floor being laterally spaced from each other a distance less than the width of a unit, the first story of said building comprising a plurality of said units disposed on said foundation, the second story comprising units stacked on the first floor units with each second floor unit resting on two first fioor units and covering the space therebetween, each unit on each floor above the first fioor being disposed on two units of the floor therebelow and covering the space between such latter two units, the outermost units on all odd-numbered floors above the second floor being supported on an adjacent unit on the floor therebelow and on vertical columns interposed between said outermost units and a unit therebelow, certain of the units on each floor above the second floor being supported on an adjacent unit on the floor therebelow and on vertical columns interposed between said certain units and a unit therebelow, the lower longitudinal edges of the units being formed of inverted L-shaped beams for engagement with the respective upper longitudinal edges of units therebelow to provide rigid structural nesting of the units,

fitting tubes being disposed along said lower longitudinal edges, certain of the vertical beams being hollow whereby said fitting tubes are telescoped into the hollow of certain of such vertical beams in units therebelow to align all units longitudinally when stacked.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,154,142 4/1939 Whelan 52 79 3,256,652 6/1966 Van Der Lely 52 79 3,289,382 12/1966 Van Der Lely 52 -79 FOREIGN PATENTS 289,953 6/1965 Netherlands.

302,799 10/1965 Netherlands.

1,269,321 6/1961 France.

JOHN E. MURTAGH, Primary Examiner.

US. Cl. X.R.