Classifications

• • E—FIXED CONSTRUCTIONS
  • E04—BUILDING
  • E04B—GENERAL BUILDING CONSTRUCTIONS; WALLS, e.g. PARTITIONS; ROOFS; FLOORS; CEILINGS; INSULATION OR OTHER PROTECTION OF BUILDINGS
  • E04B1/00—Constructions in general; Structures which are not restricted either to walls, e.g. partitions, or floors or ceilings or roofs
  • E04B1/16—Structures made from masses, e.g. of concrete, cast or similarly formed in situ with or without making use of additional elements, such as permanent forms, substructures to be coated with load-bearing material
  • E04B1/163—Structures made from masses, e.g. of concrete, cast or similarly formed in situ with or without making use of additional elements, such as permanent forms, substructures to be coated with load-bearing material with vertical and horizontal slabs, only the vertical slabs being partially cast in situ
• • E—FIXED CONSTRUCTIONS
  • E04—BUILDING
  • E04B—GENERAL BUILDING CONSTRUCTIONS; WALLS, e.g. PARTITIONS; ROOFS; FLOORS; CEILINGS; INSULATION OR OTHER PROTECTION OF BUILDINGS
  • E04B2/00—Walls, e.g. partitions, for buildings; Wall construction with regard to insulation; Connections specially adapted to walls
  • E04B2/84—Walls made by casting, pouring, or tamping in situ
  • E04B2/86—Walls made by casting, pouring, or tamping in situ made in permanent forms

Definitions

• This invention concerns a modular building of the type comprising a plurality of vertical loadbearing columns and a plurality of prefabricated, essentially identical volume modules which have a rectangular hori- zontal section and which are vertically supported by the columns on one or more floors in such a manner that each of them carries only its own dead weight and load.
• Known building systems of this type include a skele ⁇ ton structure, which mostly is characterised by the fact that vertical and horizontal columns, rods and beams are interconnected in a torsionally rigid manner at junc ⁇ tions. The larger the building is, the higher the struc ⁇ tural requirements placed on these junctions. Horizontal forces, such as wind forces, and vertical forces, such as dead weight and load, are transferred to the skeleton structure, such that the internal, lighter building ele ⁇ ments arranged within the skeleton structure need only take up their own dead weight and load.
• junctions belong to one of toughest problem complexes within the field of construc ⁇ tion engineering.
• time spent at the building site in order to create the junctions is also an impor ⁇ tant factor.
• One object of this invention is, therefore, to pro ⁇ vide a modular building system of the type described by way of introduction, which does not suffer from the above problems associated with the junctions. In order to attain this object, the invention pro ⁇ vides a building having the distinctive features recited in the appended claims.
• the building according to the invention is characterised in that, with respect to force take-up, it is divided into an inner zone, which takes up vertical forces and contains the columns and the volume modules suspended therefrom and which essentially does not take up lateral forces acting on the building, as well as a facade zone, which is arranged immediately outside the inner zone to take up lateral forces in order to stabi ⁇ lise laterally the inner zone, and hence the entire building, and which to this end comprises a plurality of facade panel elements distributed along the outside of the inner zone and vertically oriented in a direction perpendicular to the facade of the building.
• One advantage of the invention is that it enables the conventional junctions to be dispensed with, hence eliminating the problems associated therewith.
• Another advantage of the invention is that it en ⁇ ables the horizontal beams of prior-art skeleton struc ⁇ tures to be dispensed with, which is an advantage in terms of building costs, total weight and building time.
• Yet another advantage of the invention is that it enables the columns of the inner zone to be given a restricted cross-section, since these columns are not intended for use in the formation of torsionally rigid junctions. As a result, time and money are saved when constructing the building.
• the volume modules are suspended from, as well as stabilised by, elongated columns and facade panel elements. These take up all ver- tical and horizontal forces in such a manner that the volume modules suspended from the column and panel struc ⁇ ture are independent of the columns and the facade panel elements as regards stabilisation, as well as possibly identical as regards construction. Loads and dead weights, i.e.
• the volume modules with their loads are distributed amongst, and taken up by, the columns in the inner zone, whereas the horizontal forces acting on the building, such as the wind forces, are wholly or at least chiefly taken up by the facade panel elements in the facade zone, which are perpendicular to the facade.
• This inventive principle differs considerably from that of prior-art skeleton structures, where the lateral forces acting on the building are taken up by a great number of elements and/or junctions distributed throughout the building.
• volume module is not, in this context, to be interpreted to mean a normally closed volume, but rather bears upon an at least initially open room or framework without walls, i.e. a module or cassette defined by surfaces, i.e. a so- called open system unit.
• the lightweight frame structure enables the installations, today consti ⁇ tuting an essential part of the building economy, to be located anywhere in the system. There do not exist any connections to the loadbearing elements, nor do these present any obstacles. This is a considerable advantage of the invention, since the relationship between the loadbearing structure and the maintenance system is an important factor as regards the production costs of the building.
• the inner-zone columns taking up vertical forces are made of concrete or steel, either together or separately, or in combination with some other material applied at the corner points of the volume modules.
• the volume modules are individually suspended from the columns without loading each other.
• the horizontal forces are taken up by the facade panel elements in the facade zone, which may surround the building wholly or partly in the horizontal plane.
• the building comprises, apart from the above standardised volume modules suspended from the columns in the inner zone of the building, a plurality of special prefabri ⁇ cated volume modules termed facade modules, which are located between, and suspended from, the facade panel elements in the facade zone in such a manner that each of them carries only its own dead weight and load.
• facade modules are of smaller horizontal section than the volume modules.
• the facade modules have essentially the same height as the volume modules, enabling the facade modules and the adjoining volume modules to together form rooms in the building.
• the volume modules of the inner zone that are locat ⁇ ed farthest out in the direction of the facade zone may preferably be suspended both from columns located in the inner zone and from facade panel elements located in the facade zone. If so, the facade panel elements may thus replace the columns farthest out in the inner zone, thereby fulfilling two functions: the laterally-stabilis ⁇ ing function intended, as well as the function of taking up vertical forces normally performed by the columns replaced by the facade panel elements.
• the volume modules are, along their vertical corner edges, provided with vertical sectional elements projecting from the modules, such that the columns can be cast in vertical cavities formed between the sectional corner elements of adjoining volume modules, as is known per se from SE-464,924. Suspension plates or the like project from the volume modules into the columns to enable the suspension of the volume modules.
• the facade panel elements may be formed by casting in vertical, panel-shaped cavi- ties defined between the covered end walls of adjoining facade modules of the above type.
• the facade panel elements will obtain a particularly excellent laterally-stabilising function if the end walls of the facade modules are provided with trapezoidal metal sheets or the like, in which the case the adjoining tra ⁇ pezoidal metal sheets of two facade modules together form or form part of a facade panel element.
• a gap between two such trapezoidal metal sheets may be filled with reinforced concrete or some other material, but the casting step may optionally be dispensed with if the lateral forces acting on the building are limited and/or if the facade panel elements are numerous enough or have a horizontal section of sufficient dimensions.
• the trapezoidal metal sheets may be reinforced in some other manner.
• the end walls of these modules can be dimensioned according to varying lateral loads.
• the increasing horizontal forces arising in the case of higher buildings can be taken up simply by broadening the facade modules transversely of the facade.
• the end walls will thus have a greater length transversely of the facade, which will not, however, have any adverse effect on the inner zone of the building or on the standardisation.
• Yet another advantage of the invention is that all stabilising and loadbearing elements, whether of steel or concrete, will be located inside the building.
• the external insulation can be continuously ar ⁇ ranged round the building, thereby avoiding the conven ⁇ tional problems of thermal bridges in the framework.
• the volume and facade modules can be made of thin sheet-metal, which is a completely new industrial build ⁇ ing material.
• a constructive design of thin sheet-metal strips involves high strength and answers its purpose very well indeed. By linear rolling, sheet-metal compo- nents can be manufactured at a low cost.
• FIGs 1A and IB schematically illustrate the force distribution in a building according to the invention
• Fig. 2 is a schematic horizontal section of an exem ⁇ plifying floor of a building according to the invention, this section corresponding to a horizontal section taken along line 2-2 in Fig. 1A
• Fig. 3 is a perspective view of an embodiment of a prefabricated volume module
• Fig. 4A is a broken-away perspective view of an ar ⁇ rangement for forming a column
• Fig. 4B is top plan view corresponding to Fig. 4A
• Fig. 5 is an exploded view showing an upper corner of a volume module illustrated in Fig. 3
• Fig. 6A is a broken-away perspective view of an ar ⁇ rangement for forming a facade panel element
• Fig. 6B is a top plan view corresponding to Fig. 6A
• Fig. 7 is a perspective view of a broken-away lower element of an embodiment of a facade module as seen from the inside.
• Fig. 3 illustrates a standardised volume module 10 of "simple" design, i.e. without any additional components and equipment mounted on it.
• the module 10 is intended to be manufactured elsewhere than at the building site, preferably at a fac ⁇ tory so that one may benefit from its rational materials handling.
• the volume modules 10 can be tailored at the factory and be provided with all the components required. Since the internal mounting of infill and installation components may in its entirety be carried out at the fac ⁇ tory, high-technological and accuracy-requiring working operations may be performed on the factory premises, where the procedure can be monitored and controlled.
• the volume modules may be equipped as wet-room modules, house modules, and so forth.
• a finished room may consist of one or more volume modules, depending on where the wall elements are mounted on the volume modules.
• Such wall elements can be mounted either at the factory or after the volume modules 10 have been arranged in the building.
• the prefabrication of such building elements pre ⁇ supposes that the latter are standardised and prefer ⁇ ably identical, although this is not absolutely neces ⁇ sary.
• all the volume modules 10 of the embodiment described here have the same dimensions and basic design and are twice as long as they are broad. As a result, they can be arranged in the same direction or perpendi ⁇ cularly to each other in a matrix. In the example shown in Fig.
• the volume module 10 illustrated in Fig. 3 consists of a top frame, which is formed of two longitudinal bars 12 connected to a plurality of roof bars 14; a similar bottom frame, which is formed of two longitudinal bars 16 connected to a plurality of bottom bars 18; four vertical sectional corner elements 20; and two pairs of central sectional elements 22 which interconnect opposing corners and central portions of the top and the bottom frame.
• the bars 12, 14, 16 and 18 are made of C-beams of steel.
• the sectional corner elements and the central sec- tional elements 20, 22 are angle elements, preferably made of sheet-metal.
• a distinctive feature of the inven ⁇ tion is that all these bars 12, 14, 16 and 18 and angle elements 20, 22 can be made of thin sheet-metal, i.e. have a thickness of approximately 2 m or less. This goes for the invention generally, and not only the embodiment illustrated.
• Fig. 5 is an exploded view of a top corner of a volume module 10.
• the bottom corners, the central sec ⁇ tional elements 22 and all the roof and bottom bars 14, 16 are mounted in essentially the same way.
• the external roof bar 14 is fixed, to the longitudinal bar 12 by means of two mounting elements 24a, 24b. These elements are provided with recesses 26, which are intended to engage bent flanges 12' of the longitudinal bars 12.
• the roof bar 14 is anchored in the mounting elements 24a, 24b with the aid of bolted joints via bolt holes 28, 30.
• the one mounting element 24a is non-rotationally anchored in the longitudinal bar 12 and the one side 21a of the sectional corner element 20 with the aid of bolted joints via bolt holes 32a in the mounting element 24a, bolt holes 34a in the longitudinal bar 12, and bolt holes 36a in the sectional-element side 21a.
• This bolted joint also retains an L-shaped angle iron 50 on the opposing surface of the sectional-element side 21a.
• the function of the angle iron 50 will be described in more detail below.
• the other mounting element 24b is, by means of bolt ⁇ ed joints, non-rotationally anchored in the longitudinal bar 12 and an angle iron 40, which in turn is, by means of bolted joints, non-rotationally anchored in the other sectional-element side 21b.
• For these bolted joints use is made of bolt holes 32b in the mounting element 24b, bolt holes 34b in the longitudinal bar 12, bolt holes 42 and 44 in the angle iron 40, as well as bolt holes 36b in the sectional-element
• Fig. 5 also shows a sealing strip 46 of special design, which can be applied on the upper edge of the sectional element 20 and is adapted to seal between ver ⁇ tically adjoining volume modules 10.
• the cross-section of the sealing strip 46 is shown on an enlarged scale at the right-hand corner of Fig. 5.
• the components of Fig. 5 have the appearance shown in Figs 4A and 4B, illustrating an arrangement at four adjacent corners of four volume modules 10A-10D.
• the sectional corner elements 20A-20D define a vertical, square cavity for the casting of a column 52 of concrete or some other material. In the erected building, these four corners of the volume modules 10A-10D will be supported by the column 52 via suspension plates rigidly connected to the volume modules and projecting into the concrete.
• each sectional corner element 20 is vertically suspended from an upper and a lower point.
• the central sectional elements 22 of the volume modules 10 will form such cavities for columns 52 when brought together with other central sectional elements 22, in the event that the volume modules 10 are arranged in the same direction, or with sectional corner elements 20, in the event that the volume modules 10 are so ar ⁇ ranged as to be perpendicular to each other.
• angle irons 50 with suspension plates are provided also in that case.
• the sectional corner elements 20 and the central sectional elements 22 are so designed and so disposed that the cast columns 52 are in their entirety located outside the wall-defining planes of the volume modules 10, as well as outside imaginary extensions of these wall-defining planes. This results in a high flexibility as regards functional requirements, as well as site re ⁇ quirements. If, say, two volume modules 10 of the type shown in Fig. 3 are arranged one after the other in their longitudinal direction, the coinciding wall-defining planes of the modules may be provided with walls without the columns 52 constituting an obstacle.
• the sectional corner elements 20 and the central sectional elements 22 are assumed to be made of 2-mm-thin sheet-metal.
• each set of four adjoining sec ⁇ tional elements 20, 22 defining a column cavity is kept together with the aid of an anchor 60.
• Such an anchor 60 comprises an inner element 62 having an essentially cru ⁇ ciform horizontal section and being located in the column cavity, as well as four vertically-extending engagement metal sheets or end plates 64, which each are sealingly applied against the outsides of two adjoining sectional elements 20, 22 (see Figs 4A and 4B) and which are kept in tensioned state with respect to each other by the inner element 62 of the anchor 60.
• the anchor 60 also serves to seal the gaps between the sectional ele- ments 20, 22 so as to prevent concrete leaks.
• the inner element includes rein ⁇ forcement irons which are threaded at the ends in order to receive tensioning nuts 61, whereas the end plates 64 may initially be bent slightly outwards so as to seal effectively against the sectional elements 20, 22.
• volume modules 10 When erecting a building with the aid of volume modules 10 and columns 52 in the manner indicated above, a number of volume modules 10 are first juxtaposed and then interconnected by means of anchors 60, so as to interlock adjoining sectional elements 20, 22. There ⁇ after, reinforcement irons 66 are arranged in the column cavities, which subsequently are filled with concrete. As a result, the suspension plates of the angle irons 50 will be embedded in the cast columns 52, as indicated in Fig. 4B.
• the next floor of volume modules 10 may then be arranged, use being made of apertured positioning and spacer plates 68.
• Each volume module comprises eight plus eight plates 68, namely one in each corner and two in the middle of each longitudinal bar 12, 16. Guiding pins 69 are to be inserted in the apertures of the plates 68, thereby to exactly position superimposed volume modules 10 in relation to each other.
• the next column section is then cast in similar fashion.
• volume modules 10 of the finished construction should only carry their own dead weight, which is to be regarded as including the load, some sort of temporary spacer, such as neoprene plates (not shown), is provided between the spacer plates.
• some sort of temporary spacer such as neoprene plates (not shown) is provided between the spacer plates.
• the neoprene plates will not take up any verti ⁇ cal forces, and each volume module 10 will thus be sepa ⁇ rately suspended from the surrounding columns 52 without being loaded vertically by the superjacent volume modules 10.
• the volume modules 10 may have the same basic construction, being exposed to the same load, re ⁇ gardless of their position in the building.
• Figs 1A and IB Reference is now had to the building illustrated schematically in Figs 1A and IB.
• the above-men ⁇ tioned columns 52, from which the volume modules 10 are separately suspended, are located in an inner zone (IZ) of the building.
• IZ inner zone
• the inner zone IZ lacks a laterally-stabilising skeleton of the type described in SE-464,924 mentioned above.
• the invention provides an outer facade zone FZ, which may wholly or partly enclose the inner zone IZ in the horizontal plane.
• the construction and the function of the component parts of the facade zone, as well as the connection between the facade zone and the inner zone, will now be described in more detail with reference to Figs 6A, 6B and 7.
• FIG. 6B illustrates how a facade panel element 80 is cast between two special volume modules termed facade modules and generally designated 70.
• facade modules For purposes of clarity, the facade modules of this illustrated embo ⁇ diment are designated respectively 70A and 70B.
• each facade module 70 has a top frame and a bottom frame connected thereto.
• the top frame is formed of two transverse bars 72, which are interconnected by two shorter end-wall bars 74 of the type shown in Fig. 5.
• the bottom frame is formed of two transverse bars 76, which are interconnected by two shorter end-wall bars 78.
• the transverse bars 72, 76 of the facade modules 70 are, in the embodiment illustrated, of the same length as the roof and bottom bars 14, 18 of the volume modules 10, such that the shorter wall-defin- ing plane of a volume module 10 may be covered by a facade module 70, while the longer wall-defining plane of a volume module 10 may be covered by two successive facade modules 70.
• the top and the bottom frame of the facade modules 70 are interconnected by four sectional corner elements 82, which are mounted as in Fig. 5, and two end-wall trapezoidal metal sheets 84, which are mounted with the aid of bolted joints and which cover the end walls of the facade modules 70 completely.
• the two inner sectional corner elements 82 may optionally be dispensed with, but are nevertheless preferred for purposes of standardisa- tion.
• the material chosen for the horizontal bars and the vertical sectional elements may be the same in the volume modules 10 and the facade modules 70.
• a horizontal trape ⁇ zoidal metal sheet 86 may, if need be, be mounted in one or both of the top and bottom frames, as is schematically illustrated in Fig. 6A.
• an elongate, panel-shaped cavity 88 between the facade modules is horizontally defined by the two outer sectional corner elements 82, the two opposing tra ⁇ pezoidal metal sheets 84, the two inner sectional corner elements 82 and the adjoining sectional corner elements 20A, 20B of the two inner volume modules 10A, 10B.
• these elements are interlocked by an anchor 100 of essentially the same design and function as the anchor 60 for the standard columns.
• the inner element 102 is in this case longer in the longitudinal direction of the cavity 88.
• the elements forming the cavity 88 in Fig. 6A may in some cases constitute a facade panel element 80 in them ⁇ selves, even without any concrete casting in the cavity 88, as illustrated in Fig. 6B.
• concrete or some other material will, however, be cast in the cavity, in which case the required reinforcement can also be applied.
• the facade modules 70 will be individually suspended from the facade panel elements 80 in the same manner as the volume modules 10 in the inner zone are individually suspended from the columns 52.
• the trapezoidal metal sheets 84 are, on the inside, provided with angle irons 50 with horizontally- projecting suspension plates intended to engage the con ⁇ crete and take up vertical load. Such suspension plates may also be arranged in the sectional corner elements 82.
• the volume modules 10A, 10B situated farthest out in the inner zone and adjoining the facade zone thus are partly suspended from standard columns 52 (not shown) farther into the inner zone, as well as partly suspended from the facade panel elements 80, which as a result take over the function of the stan- dard columns to take up vertical forces.
• the inner element of the facade panel element 80 however constitutes what may be referred to a standard column.
• Fig. 7 illustrates how the facade module 70B on its long side facing the facade of the building is equipped with a facade insula ⁇ tion 90, wall-forming material 92, a window opening 94, a radiator 96, as well as piping 98.
• the piping 98, electric wires and so forth may be arranged in the vertical channels formed between the ridges of the tra- pezoidal metal sheets 84 on the side thereof facing away from the cavity 88.

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• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Architecture (AREA)
• Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
• Electromagnetism (AREA)
• Civil Engineering (AREA)
• Structural Engineering (AREA)
• Buildings Adapted To Withstand Abnormal External Influences (AREA)
• Finishing Walls (AREA)
• Rod-Shaped Construction Members (AREA)
• Load-Bearing And Curtain Walls (AREA)

Priority Applications (8)

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Publications (1)

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Family Applications (1)

Country Status (10)

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Citations (4)

• 1994
  • 1994-11-25 SE SE9404111A patent/SE503479C2/sv not_active IP Right Cessation
• 1995
  • 1995-11-23 DE DE69532453T patent/DE69532453T2/de not_active Expired - Fee Related
  • 1995-11-23 AU AU41260/96A patent/AU4126096A/en not_active Abandoned
  • 1995-11-23 DK DK95939451T patent/DK0793756T3/da active
  • 1995-11-23 WO PCT/SE1995/001398 patent/WO1996017138A1/en active IP Right Grant
  • 1995-11-23 PL PL95320370A patent/PL320370A1/xx unknown
  • 1995-11-23 RO RO97-00952A patent/RO117196B1/ro unknown
  • 1995-11-23 EP EP95939451A patent/EP0793756B1/en not_active Expired - Lifetime
  • 1995-11-23 HU HU9800500A patent/HU220647B1/hu not_active IP Right Cessation
• 1997
  • 1997-05-23 NO NO972361A patent/NO306569B1/no not_active IP Right Cessation

Patent Citations (4)

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