US3815297A

US3815297A - Construction of traveling building

Info

Publication number: US3815297A
Application number: US00291544A
Authority: US
Inventors: Y Pasquier
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1971-09-24
Filing date: 1972-09-25
Publication date: 1974-06-11
Anticipated expiration: 1991-06-11
Also published as: DE2246481A1; DE2246481B2; IT975068B; FR2153797A5

Abstract

A trailer for transporting a stack of roof elements and for subsequently supporting the roof elements in edge-to-edge relationship in essentially a single horizontal plane, said trailer comprising a generally horizontal rectangular platform carrying an upstanding pillar at each of at least two adjacent corners; a support arm pivoted at one end to the upper end of each pillar for swinging movement in a horizontal plane between an at-rest position parallel to the platform and a working position in which the two arms are at right angles to the platform and parallel to each other so that roof elements may be inserted between the arms, each arm being provided with at least one lengthwise support groove for slidably receiving and supporting a cooperating part of each of a plurality of roof elements.

Description

A United States Patent 1191 Pasquier 1111 3,s15,297 1451 June 11, 1974 CONSTRUCTION OF TRAVELING BUILDING lnventor: Yves Pasquier, Les Lilas n 11,

Residence Charcot Spanel, Cherbourg, France Filed: Sept. 25, 1972 App]. No.: 291,544

Foreign Application Priority Data Sept. 24, 1971 France 71.34397 US. Cl 52/64, 52/73, 52/143 Int. Cl E04b 1/343 Field of Search 52/143, 6, 7, 71,64, 127,

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 12/1966 Heise 52/73 X ll/1968 Brell 52/143 X 12/1968 Jaffe 52/73 X 6/1969 Caffa et a1. 52/108 X Primary Examiner-Price C. Faw, Jr.

Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Cushman, Darby & Cushman [57] ABSTRACT 1 position in which the two arms are at right angles to the platform and parallel to each other so that roof elements may be inserted between the arms, each arm being provided with at least one lengthwise support groove for slidably receiving and supporting a cooperating part of each of a plurality of roof elements.

9 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures 3815297 SHEET 10F 2 PATENTEUJUH 1 I 1974 hmfi R R E w w R @vS/M Q 1 MG RE PAIENTEDJHNH I914 3.815297 SHEEI an: 2

CONSTRUCTION OF TRAVELING BUILDING The present invention relates to the construction of traveling buildings, i.e., to buildings that are put up and taken down rapidly for transporting on the road. Many varieties of buildings of this type exist; there can be cited in particular, moveable facilities such as traveling skooter, rinks, dance floors, theaters and cinemas, field hospitals used by the army, construction shacks or temporary storehouses, exposition halls, etc.

The invention relates more particularly to the putting up, taking down and arranging of roof elements for shipping. In the following explanation, for reasons of clarity, reference will be made more particularly to the case of a traveling skooter rink, but it is understood that the use of the invention is in no way limited by this case.

As is known, a skooter rink essentially consists of a track, generally rectangular in shape, surrounded by pillars connected at their upper part by beams on which rest the roof elements supporting the power intake grid for the trolleys of the electric vehicles.

It is also known how to use transparent or translucid elements, often of polyester, to make the roof. Each of these elements generally has the shape of a trough turned upside down with a bottom bulging outward with two divergent plane side walls, and, at the time of placement, the troughs are connected by interlocking of their edges. Of course, the roof should be rainproof and protect from the rain the spectators who are on the peripheral walk and in front of the railing.

for shipping, the polyester elements, after the roof has been taken down, are superposed and fitted on to one another'on a bed of a trailer, which also carries an elevator system assuring the vertical movement of the elements. a

At thetime of installation or taking down of a rink, all the operations of handling, placement or dismounting of the roof elements are partly performed by this elevator, partly manually. Consequently, the time spent for putting up, taking down and putting such a roof up again is always considerable and prejudicial to traveling organizations whose maneuvers must be as fast and efficient as possible.

The present invention is proposed to perform the putting up, taking down and stacking of the roof elements for shipping by semi-automatic means requiring minimum handling time.

It has for its object a trailer for transporting stacks of roof elements, particularly of polyester, and which can be used for putting up and taking down this roof, characterized in that the rectangular platform of the trailer carries at each corners a post at the top of .which is connected an arm able to pivot 90 in'a horizontal plane to pass from a position of rest lengthwise to the sideboard of the trailer to a perpendicular working position outside the trailer and back again, each arm being provided with lengthwise grooves in which, at the time of putting up and taking down of the roof, can roll guide and support rollers, carried by the end sections of the polyester elements, and this occurs at the level corresponding to that of its roof.

However, it is necessary to consider the different cases posed by different types of buildings which are the following:

a. The trailer, by its platform, is made a part of the track and is placed in the middle of the track.

b. The trailer is a part of the track and is at one end of the track.

c. The trailer is independent of the track, but it is temporarily placed at the end of the track at the time of putting up and taking down the roof.

First, it will be assumed that the first case mentioned above is involved and in the following explanation, there will be described the putting up and taking down of a roof made. up of eleven elements, with reference to the accompanying drawing.

In this drawing:

FIG. [is a plan view of the track of the rink with its peripheral walk.

' FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the chassis of the trailer with a sideboard laid horizontal and showing the device according to the invention, supposed at rest, for putting up and taking down the rink roof- FIG. 4 is a partial view in section of the rink roof showing the lateral sliding of a polyester element along the arm of the device according to the invention.

FIG. 5 is a lengthwise section of a completed assembled roof.

As shown in FIG. 1, corresponding to case a) mentioned above, there can be seen platform 10 of the trailer with

sideboards

11 and 12 laid horizontal; the rest of the rectangular track is made up of a pavement of sheets 13 forming a sort of staggered arrangement on both sides of the sideboards. The track then is made up of the platform and sideboards of the trailer with sheets 13; it is surrounded by a peripheral wood walk 14 sepa rated from the track by a rail 15, for example, a drawn sheet strip put. up around the track.

In FIG. 2, can be seen the floor or platform 10 of the trailer with the two

sideboards

11 and 12 raised vertically. The 11 roof elements are stacked on anelevator 16 which is driven, at the time ofthe up and down movements, by a motor, not shown, or a hand winch;

the end of the power intake grid 17, in a roll on the platform, is also attached to this elevator, which is supposed here to be a frame for simplifiication.

The l l polyester elements all have the same general shape of an upturned trough; but in FIG. 2 there should be distinguished the upper five elements 18 forming the 7 right part of the roof, the following five elements 19 forming the left part and the last lower element 20 being the roof of the trailer.

The right edge of each element 18 ends in a small gutter 21 serving for runoff of the rain and tight fitting on the left edge of the adjacent element; the left edge of each element 19 has the same shape of asmall gutter 22 playing the identical role on the left side of the roof; finally, element 20 above the trailer is provided on each side with the same

small gutter

23, 24 to assure, with runoff of the rain, the connection. between the left and right parts of the roof.

The assembled roof therefore in section has, crosswise to the polyester elements, the profile shown by HG. 5 and the dimensions are such that the roof, extended peripherally by eaves, assures protection from the weather for the track and its walk;

gutters

21, 22, 23 and 24 should be sloped slightly to facilitatecollecb ing of the water toward the outside.

Generally each roof element isprovided with two neon tubes to light the track at: night; placement of these tubes is such that it is not necessary to remove them during stacking for shipping-,in FIG. 2 are shown by 25 these lighting tubes for the ensemble of the roof elements.

In the perspective view of FIG. 3, the trailer is assumed to be loaded but stopped on a site where the rink will be built; for better showing of the organs of the device for putting the roof in place, only polyester elements l9 constituting the left part of the roof are shown.

Elevator 16 is. in the low position, while only sideboard 11 of the trailer is vertical.

The trains of carrying wheels 26 can be seen under platform and also jacks 27 can be seen which serve to regulate the horizontal position of the plane 'of the platform; en route, these jacks are lifted and fixed under the platform. v

The device for putting in place the roof elements is made up of four identical pillars 28 mounted at the four comers of the platform; each of these pillars is surmounted by a vertical shaft serving as the end pivot of a horizontal arm 29 which can be a trellis girder whose length corresponds to that of the portion of the roof to be supported; on each side of the trailer, the two adjacent arms 29at rest are placed horizontal against one another and lengthwise to the plane of the sideboard; each sideboard is connected to an elevator not shown, at each end by a taut cable passing through a pulley attached to' the upper part of adjacent pillar 28; there is shown in the figure a single cable 30 passing through corresponding pulley 31; thus the raising of this elevator will automatically cause the progressive bending out of the sideboards in the horizontal plane of platform 10.

There is shown on the left side of FIG. 3 the position of one of arms 29 in the working position, after having pivoted horizontally 90 in the direction of arrow 29a.

FIG. 4 shows, in a section perpendicular to one of arms 29 in working position, how any

element

18 or 19 form the same maneuver with the following element and so, both on the right and left side of the roof. During assembly, care is taken that all the roof elements are interlocked successively, as indicated by FIG. 5.

Passage from the stack position to the position of FIG. 5 can be facilitated by use of an intermediate crosspiece mounted temporarily between two adjacent pillars 28. The end of grid 17, fastened to the elevator, is at the same time in high position, the roll being partly unwound; the grid is then unwound and fastened under the roof, the eaves are put in place and the track laid and the accessory installations arranged.

Later disassembly of the roof and grid will be performed by an exactly opposite maneuver, the elevator being in the high position at the start.

The embodiment just described is in no way limiting of the invention on the following points:

I. Placing of the trailer lengthwise to the track can be in any way and the length of arms 29 is established in relation to this. In particular, if the trailer is placed at one end of the track (case b, cited above), only the arms of two pillars 28 adjacent to the track will be used and these arms should obviously have a length greater than that of the trailer. In this case, each arm, to be placed in rest position, should be in two articulated sections that can fold against one another; the platform and sideboards of the trailer can be incorporated or not in the track and its surroundings.

2. According to a variant of the invention, the trailer can be independent of the track and can be used simply for transporting the roof elements and the device for mounting it (case 0, cited above). Outside the installation of the rink, the trailer is placed at the end of the track and, for example, arms 29, deployed in the working position are disconnected from'pillars 28'after anchoring to the pillars of the end of the track.

Further, in this case, elevator 16 can be replaced by a lifting crane carried by the trailer to lift the successive is guided and'supported during and after assembly of the roof. 1

As shown by this figure, each arm carries laterally two lengthwise rolling

grooves

32, 33 directed toward the inside in relation to the'track (working) or the trailer (rest). Each roof element (18, 19) is provided at each end with rollers 34 with a vertical shaft and rollers 35 with lengthwise shaft intended to work with these grooves: rollers 34 assure the guiding by rolling in the bottom of upper groove 32, while rollers 35 assure carrying by rolling between the walls of lower groove 33; in general, each element l8, 19 will be provided on the end section with a pair of

rollers

34 and 35 placed symmetrically at the end of the divergent walls of the trough.

Putting the roof in place is then performed under the following conditions: the trailer being parked as indicated by FIG. 3, the frame (pillars and crosspieces) of the rink is previously assembled. Then, successively each arm 29 is put in the working position where they come to rest on the end supports; then elevator 16 is raised one step, i.e., until the first element 18 is at the horizontal level of the roof, the rollers being opposite the entry of the grooves; this element is shoved or pulled toward the right, it is rolled and guided into

corresponding grooves

32 and 33 until its final placement in the roofielevator '16 is raised a second step to perelements of the roofto the level of the sliding grooves.

3. It should be recalled, as was stated at the beginning of the present description, that the invention is applicable to anyportable building other'than a skooter rink.

It goes without saying that it is possible, without going outside the scope of the invention, to make any modifications in the embodiments that have just been described.

In particular, whereas it has been envisaged to use the means employed by the invention to cover portable buildings, the invention also obviously applies to stationary buildings such as, for example, those which at certain periods, seasons, or even periods of the day, have to be covered or uncovered temporarily. As a non-limiting example, swimming pools or green houses could be equipped with such removeable roofs.

I claim: 7

1. A trailer for transporting a stack of roof elements and for subsequently supporting the roof elements in edge-to-edge relationship in' essentially a single hori zontal plane, said trailer comprising a generally horizontal rectangular platform carrying an upstanding pillar at each of at least two adjacent corners; a support arm pivoted at one end to the upper end of each pillar for swinging movement in a horizontal plane between an at-rest position parallel to the platform and a working position in which the two arms are at right angles to the platform and parallel to each other so that roof elements may be inserted between the arms, each arm being provided with at least one lengthwise support groove for slidably receiving and supporting a cooperating part of each of a plurality of roof elements.

2. A trailer as in claim 1 wherein the arms are trellis beams.

3. A trailer as in claim 1 including a side board hinged to each longitudinal edge of the platform for swinging movement between a vertical position and a horizontal lateral position.

4. A trailer as in claim 1 including elevator means forming part of the trailer for raising a stack of room elements upwardly from the platform so that each roof element can be brought in sequence to the elevation of the arms.

5. A trailer as in claim 1 wherein said arms are re movable from their respective pillars.

6. A trailer as in claim 1 in combination with a plurality of roof elements having a length and width about equal to the length and width, respectively, of the platform, each roof element having means at its ends for cooperating with the support grooves in said arms.

7. A trailer as in claim 1 wherein each roof element has the shape of an inverted trough, one longitudinal edge of the trough being shaped as a rain gutter and the cooperating with respective grooves.

Claims

1. A trailer for transporting a stack of roof elements and for subsequently supporting the roof elements in edge-to-edge relationship in essentially a single horizontal plane, said trailer comprising a generally horizontal rectangular platform carrying an upstanding pillar at each of at least two adjacent corners; a support arm pivoted at one end to the upper end of each pillar for swinging movement in a horizontal plane between an at-rest position parallel to the platform and a working position in which the two arms are at right angles to the platform and parallel to each other so that roof elements may be inserted between the arms, each arm being provided with at least one lengthwise support groove for slidably receiving and supporting a cooperating part of each of a plurality of roof elements.

2. A trailer as in claim 1 wherein the arms are trellis beams.

5. A trailer as in claim 1 wherein said arms are removable from their respective pillars.

7. A trailer as in claim 1 wheRein each roof element has the shape of an inverted trough, one longitudinal edge of the trough being shaped as a rain gutter and the other edge being shaped to rest in the rain gutter of an adjacent roof element.

8. A trailer as in claim 6 wherein the means on the ends of the roof elements for cooperating with the support grooves in said arms includes rollers.

9. A trailer as in claim 8 wherein each support arm includes two support grooves, one facing upwardly and the other facing horizontally and wherein each end of each roof element carries first and second rollers for cooperating with respective grooves.