WO1997044541A1

WO1997044541A1 - House construction and constructional element as well as a method of erecting such a house construction

Info

Publication number: WO1997044541A1
Application number: PCT/SE1997/000758
Authority: WO
Inventors: Göran Nilsson
Original assignee: Nilsson Goeran
Priority date: 1996-05-17
Filing date: 1997-05-07
Publication date: 1997-11-27
Also published as: AU2918697A; SE9601887D0; EP0898626A1; SE9601887L; SE506587C2

Abstract

A house construction comprises a roof part (1), a bottom part (2)and walls (4, 5) which are all made of constructional elements, each one of which comprising a thick core part (8) of a heat-insulating material; an outer, at least 1.5 mm thick, and thereby weldable, metal plate (9) which is plane and intimately joined to a plane outer surface of the core part and the purpose of which is to form a form-stiff, load-carrying part of the element; and a plane inner board (10) which, together with the core part, form a secondary unit with the purpose of counteracting buckling the primarily load-carrying outer plate (9) under load stress. All elements are arranged with the primarily load-carrying outer plates (9) thereof turned outwards and joined to each other via welded joints (14), the plates (9) together forming a radiation screening shell enclosing the construction as a whole from all sides.

Description

HOUSE CONSTRUCTION AND CONSTRUCTIONAL ELEMENT AS WELL AS A METHOD OF ERECTING SUCH A HOUSE CONSTRUCTION

Technical Field of the Invention This invention relates to a house construction compris¬ ing a roof part, a bottom part and a plurality of walls extend¬ ing therebetween.

Background of the Invention and Prior Art There exists an increasing need for building-in and in different respects protecting valuable technical equipment of varying kinds. Mobile telephone installations, telephone switchboards, electronic installations, reserve power stations, hydraulic equipments, interlocking plants, relay stations and the like may be mentioned as examples of such equipment. Equip¬ ment of this kind is refined and developed at a faster and faster pace, and therefore the costs for and the value of the equipment increase. This is something which in turn accentuates the need for a safe and functional protection of said equip- ment.

A previously commonly used way to try to satisfy the above-mentioned need is to use a conventional container made of profiled sheet which is internally insulated in an appropriate way so as to satisfy given requirements of indoor temperature, air moisture, condensing safety, noise level, radiation protec¬ tion and the like. Such a mass-produced and afterwards insu¬ lated container has the advantage of being mobile, whereby said container may be installed in a densely built-up area as well as out in an arbitrary terrain. Another way to store expensive technical equipment is to erect a stationary building which is put together by a carrying steel framework and an insulated interior, e.g. in the form of mineral wool insulations, cellu¬ lar plastic boards and/or sandwich blocks.

However, common for all previously known ways of build- ing-in and protecting expensive technical equipment is that they have the nature of provisional arrangements which only passably is able to satisfy today's need for e.g. impenetrabil¬ ity, strength, safety, service life, radiation protection, indoor climate, flexibility and suitability. In the future, these requirements are expected to increase and become uncondi¬ tional on the part of the users.

Objects and Features of the Invention The present invention aims at obviating the above-men¬ tioned shortcomings of previously known house constructions for building-in expensive technical equipment and at creating an improved house construction. Thus, a primary object of the invention is to provide a house construction which, on one hand, enables a rational and cost-effective production with a large precision and dimensional accuracy and, on the other hand, meets far-reaching requirements on strength, safety, service life, radiation protection, earthing, indoor climate and flexibility of the finished house construction. As for the requirements of strength and safety, the invention particularly aims at creating a house construction which gives an extremely form-stiff and stable final construction in spite of using com¬ paratively simple and cheap starting materials. A further object of the invention is to create a house construction which protects against radiation in a reliable way, not only in the direction out of the house but also in the opposite direction depending on the individual need.

In a first aspect of the invention, at least the primary object is attained by the features defined in the characteriz- ing clause of claim 1. A preferred embodiment of the house con¬ struction according to the invention is furthermore defined in the dependent claim 2.

In a second aspect, the invention relates to a construc¬ tional element intended for erecting house constructions. The features of this individual constructional element are evident from claims 3 to 4.

In a third aspect, the invention also relates to a method for manufacturing a house construction according to the invention. The features of this manufacturing method are evi- dent from claims 5 to 6.

Further Elucidation of Prior Art

In CH 370 222 a sandwich element is disclosed which is composed of a relatively thick, board-formed core part of insu- lating material which on both sides has comparatively thin sheets, of conformal thickness, e.g. of steel or aluminium, which at the opposite edges thereof have oblique flanges for connecting the element to adjacent sandwich elements. As an example of several different connection or joining methods, welding is mentioned in the specification. More precisely, such welding is effected in the oblique flanges. Unlike this type of sandwich element, which uses similar sheets on both sides of the core part, the present invention is based on using a con¬ structional element which it is true has the character of a sandwich element, but which uses one single relatively thick, carrying plate, viz. as an outer board in the element, while the opposite, inner board does not have any carrying function at all, and therefore said inner plate may be made of a com¬ pletely different material than robust plate, e.g. cross veneer, laminated plastic, thin decorative sheet or the like. Thus, the function of the inner board in the constructional element according to the invention is mainly to form a secon¬ dary unit together with the core part which prevents or coun¬ teracts web-buckling of the carrying outer plate so as to guar- antee board effect therein at the same time as it often suita¬ bly may be used as a finished interior lining in the composed house construction.

In CH 452 850, a sandwich element having a large area is described which is composed of individual part elements, the stiff boards of which, arranged on both sides of a core part, may consist of e.g. steel, light metal, glass fibre reinforced plastic plates, cross-veneer or asbestos cement plates. In the specification it is mentioned that adjacent part plates may be mutually connected by welded butt joints. However, the patent specification in question does not contain any theory in the direction towards using relatively heavy plate as carrying outer boards which are permanently united to each other via continuous welding seams throughout in the different parts of a house construction. In EP 0 289 098 and SE 9102004-0, sandwich elements are disclosed which consist of a thick, heat-insulating core part and thin metal sheets on the outside thereof. However, in these cases the elements are inter-connected by means of mechanical connections in the form of particular coupling devices and groove and tenon joints; i.e. not by means of weldings. Brief Description of the Appended Drawings In the drawings:

Fig 1 is a schematic and partly cut perspective view of a house construction according to the invention,

Fig 2-10 are enlarged detailed sections showing different manufacturing steps and different types of edge con¬ nections between different constructional elements included in the house according to fig 1, Fig 11 is a further schematic perspective view showing a first type of roof part of the house construction according to the invention,

Fig 12 is a similar perspective view showing an alternative, second embodiment of a roof part, and Fig 13-18 are enlarged detailed sections showing portions of constructional elements included in the house con¬ struction according to fig 11 and 12.

Detailed Description of Preferred Embodiments of the Invention In fig 1 a house construction is schematically shown which comprises a roof part generally designated 1, a bottom or floor part 2 as well as a plurality of walls 4, 5 extending therebetween. In the example, the roof part 1 is in the shape of a saddle roof comprising two board units 1', 1" leaning from a common ridge. The number of walls 4, 5 amounts to four. The bottom part 2 is in the shape of a rectangular board unit which along all the edges is permanently united to the walls, which extend vertically, i.e. perpendicularly to the bottom part. Recessions or openings 6, 7 for a door and a window respec- tively are shown in the walls.

In accordance with the invention, all parts 1', 1", 2, 4 and 5 in the shown construction are made of constructional ele¬ ments, the nature of which will be described closer below with reference to, in the first place, figures 2 to 10. Thus, in fig 2 is shown how the individual constructional element is com¬ posed of a relatively thick core part 8 and two boards 9, 10 arranged at opposite sides thereof. Of these, the board 9 is intended to be turned outwards in the composed house, while the board 10 is to be turned inwards. The outer board 9 consists of an at least 1,5 mm thick, and thereby weldable, metal plate which is plane and intimately united to the likewise plane outer surface of the core part 8. The purpose of the outer board or plate 9 is to form a form-stiff and load-carrying part of the element. The internal board 10 is of another character than the outer board 9, although it is likewise plane and inti¬ mately united with a plane inner surface of the core part 8. The inner board 10 form, together with the core part 8, a secondary unit with the purpose of counteracting buckling of the primarily load-carrying outer plate 9 under load stress and thereby guarantee a form-stability of each constructional ele¬ ment in its entirety.

In practice, the core part 8 may be made of expanded, cellular polystyrene or polyurethane as an example, although also other stiff and heat-insulating materials are conceivable, e.g. boards made of transverse fibres. The outer plate 9 may advantageously consist of conventional, plane steel plate, although it is also feasible to use aluminium. The least thick¬ ness which the plate should have in order to guarantee a good load-carrying as well as a good weldability, more precisely welding by means of butt joints, amounts to 1,5 mm. However, the thickness of the plate may in practice be much larger, e.g. within the range of 2-4 or preferably 3 mm. However, for con¬ ventional purposes the plate should not be thicker than approx. 5 mm. The internal board 10 may advantageously consist of cross veneer having a thickness within the range of 6-15 or prefera¬ bly 9-12 mm. Such a cross veneer board may advantageously be lacquered or otherwise surfaced so as to form a finished, internal lining in the composed house construction. Instead of cross veneer, it is also conceivable to use other board-forming materials, such as thin decorative metal sheet (0,5-1,0 mm thick, possibly surfaced metal sheet) , plastic boards, perfo¬ rated sheet iron or the like. The core part 8 may initially consist of a finished, parallelepipedical board body on the two large surfaces of which the boards 9, 10 are applied by gluing. In doing so, it is feasible to connect the boards to the core part via particular glue layers, although also heat gluing by melting the surface material of the core part is possible. In the finished parallelepipedical element, the edges of the outer plate and the inner board are in alignment with the edge sur- faces of the core part, all of which extend perpendicularly to the main plane of the element .

In fig 3 and 4 is illustrated how a hole is brought about in the element according to fig 2 in a preferred way according to the invention. Thus, in fig 3 is shown how a groove 11 is milled from the interior of the element as a first step. Said groove, which in practice may be of a width of 10-15 mm, does not only cut through the inner board 10 (which may consist of a cross veneer board) but also the entire core part 8, whereby the inner surface of the outer plate 9 is laid bare. In the next step, which is shown in fig 4, the plate 9 is also being cut through by a dividing cut 12, which may be brought about by means of laser beam cutting in a known way per se . In this way, by first forming a distinct delimited, relatively thin groove in the core part and the inner board, it is guaran¬ teed that the material in the core part is not destroyed in connection with laser cutting the dividing cut 12. Such cutting of the outer plate may take place either from the inside or the outside. A particular advantage of the invention is that the part of the constructional element which is removed from the reces¬ sion 6, 7 may be used to form a door and a shutter respec¬ tively. This is something which implies an effective use of material . In fig 5 a first alternative embodiment of an edge por¬ tion of an element according to the invention is shown. In this case, a portion 9' of the plate 9 protrudes a bit from a plane end surface 13 of the core part 8. Said end surface 13 extends perpendicularly to the plane of the plate 9, the protruding plate piece 9 ' having a width which mainly corresponds with the total width of the core part 8 and the inner board 10. There¬ fore, as shown in fig 6, an element according to fig 5 may be combined with an element having a completely plane end surface, the outer plates 9 meeting each other along a line where weld- ing may be effected, more precisely by means of a continuous butt weld 14. The joining method illustrated in fig 5 and 6 may be applied not only between two walls meeting each other per¬ pendicularly, but also between a wall and either a roof part or a bottom part . In fig 7 and 8, an alternative joining method is shown according to which the individual element is formed with an end surface 13' which extends at an angle of 45° with the main plane of the element . Said end surface may be brought about by simultaneous sawing or milling in the core part and the inner board 10. When two analogous element are composed in the way which is shown in fig 8 a corner of 90° is obtained in which the outer plates meet each other in such a way that a continu¬ ous butt weld 14 may be applied in the way described above. In the composed state according to fig 8, the bevelled surfaces 13' are in close contact with each other without any spaces therebetween.

In fig 9 and 10 is illustrated how the individual sand¬ wich element may be formed with an end surface 13" extending at another arbitrary angle than 45° and 90° respectively relative to the main plane of the element. Therefore, when two elements are inter-connected via a butt weld 14 according to fig 10, the elements will extend at an obtuse angle towards each other instead of at an angle of 90°. Referring to fig 1, it should be pointed out that all four walls 4, 5 are united to the bottom part 2 by means of continuous weldings which extend along the lower edges of the outer plates 9 of the elements, the lower edges of the plates enclosing the bottom part, the outer plate of which is turned downwards. In an analogous way, the outer plates of the long side walls 5 are, at the upper edges thereof, welded against the bottom side of the outer plates of the roof parts 1', 1" by means of continuous butt welds extending along the entire length of the long side walls. The outer plates of the gable walls 4 are, in the same way, welded against the bottom side of the outer plates of the roof parts along the oblique edge por¬ tions thereof.

In fig 11 the roof part according to fig 1 is shown lifted-off from the house body, it clearly being seen how the gable walls of the house body are formed with wedge-shaped upper portions. In fig 12, an alternative embodiment is shown, according to which the gable walls 4 ' are rectangular or quad¬ rangular, the roof part 1A having the form of one single plane constructional element of the kind described above. On top of this house construction, a decorative roof in its entirety des- ignated 15, e.g. in the form of a simple wood construction, may be mounted afterwards.

In fig 13, a connection between a gable wall 4 and a roof element 1 is shown in section, it being clear how the outer plate of the roof element protrudes a bit from the wound¬ up outer plate of the gable wall. A gable board 19 may easily be welded on the free edge of the protruding plate. In fig 14 a connection between a long side wall 5 and a leaning roof ele¬ ment 1' according to fig 1 is shown. It may be clearly seen in the section how the core parts of the elements 1', 5 are obliquely cut so as to fit together and that the outer plate of the long side wall is drawn up so as to abut against the bottom side of the roof outer plate during mounting in order to apply a continuous butt weld 14 between the plates. In fig 15, a sec- tion through an external wall of the construction according to fig 12 is shown. The outer plate of the long side wall 5 is drawn up and, at the upper edge thereof, permanently united to the outer plate of the roof part 1A by a welded butt joint 14. In the finished house construction, the decorative roof 15 is mounted. In fig 16 is shown how an internal bead 16 may be applied in the corner between two walls 4, 5 meeting each other. In fig 17 the bevelled version according to fig 7 and 8 is shown. Finally, in fig 18 is shown how e.g. the window open¬ ing 7 may be delimited by a welded frame 17 made of a plate. The detail 18 illustrates how the house construction may be mounted on a simple foundation.

Advantages of the Invention

When the constructional elements according to the inven- tion are inter-united in the described way by means of continu¬ ous butt welds, more precisely with all the carrying plates turned outwards, a very stiff and form-stable house construc¬ tion is obtained. Buckling of the primarily carrying plates is counter-acted in an effective way by means of the secondary unit in each element which is formed by the core part and the internal, stiff board. Neither the inner board nor the core part has any proper carrying functions, but by the fact that the inner board and the core part are mutually agglutinated as well as agglutinated with the outer plate, a so called board effect of the outer plate is obtained, i.e. the secondary unit prevents deformation of the carrying plate axau uuuex exuxeπie load stresses.

By the three-dimensional connection in the form of weld¬ ing seams between outer plates meeting each other at an angle, an extremely form-stiff house construction is obtained, thank to said board effect.

Another substantial advantage is that each individual constructional element offers a carrying as well as an insulat¬ ing or screening function at the same time as the internal board of the element may be made as a finished internal sur¬ face. In other words, a particular surfacing of the elements does not need to be made after the house construction once has been mounted. Furthermore, the described manufacturing method admits a high dimensional accuracy and a good precision of mounting. Furthermore, the manufacturing method, by the sim¬ plicity thereof, enables very low manufacturing costs. In addi¬ tion, the finished house construction works as a "Faraday's cage" with reference to radiation security, i.e. the plates composed in a continuous shell effectively protect against e.g. electro-magnetic radiation on one hand in the direction from inside and out, but, on the other hand, also in the direction from outside and in. It should furthermore be pointed out that the finished house construction does not have any thermal bridges at all in the different parts thereof, whereby very high climate requirement may be met. Also, the finished house construction has a very low weight compared to conventional house constructions, i.e. constructions of the type equipped steel container and steel framework with additional insulation built on-site respectively. Other obvious advantages are that blasting and surfacing to a very good corrosion resistance may be made in a simple way and that the manufacturing time is extremely short. Furthermore, high security against burglary and damage is obtained at the same time as the construction may be given high security class for e.g. military purposes. This is particularly the case if high-tensile steel is used as an outer board in the elements. By the fact that the outer plates of the house construction never need to be bent, high-tensile steel in relatively thin dimensions may give a good strength and load-uptake ability. In conclusion it may also be pointed out that the individual constructional element may be stored and transported in a very compact state in order to ready-mount the house construction at site.

Claims

1. A house construction comprising a roof part (1) , a bottom part (2) and a plurality of walls (4, 5) extending therebe- tween, c h a r a c t e r i z e d in that the roof part (1) , the bottom part (2) and all walls (4, 5) are made of individual constructional elements, each one of which comprises a thick core part (8) of a heat-insulating material; an outer board consisting of an at least 1,5 mm thick, and thereby weldable, metal plate (9) , which is plane and intimately joined to a plane outer surface of the core part (8) and the purpose of which is to form a form-stiff, load-carrying part of the ele¬ ment; and an inner board (10), consisting of another material than the outer plate (9) , which is likewise plane and intimate- ly joined to a plane inner surface of the core part (8) so as to form therewith a secondary unit with the purpose of counter¬ acting buckling the primarily load-carrying outer plate (9) under load stress and thereby guarantee a form-stability of each constructional element in its entirety, and that all con- structional elements of the house construction are arranged with the primarily load-carrying outer plates (9) thereof turned outwards and joined to each other via welded joints (14) , the plates (9) together forming a radiation screening shell enclosing the construction as a whole from all sides.

2. House construction according to claim 1, c h a r a c ¬ t e r i z e d in that outer plates (9) meeting each other at an angle are welded by means of straight, continuous butt welds (14) .

3. Constructional element for erecting a house construction according to claim 1, c h a r a c t e r i z e d in that a thick core part (8) of a heat-insulating material, an outer board consisting of an at least 1,5 mm thick, and thereby weldable, metal plate (9) , which is plane and intimately joined to a plane outer surface of the core part (8) and the purpose of which is to form a form-stiff, load-carrying part of the ele¬ ment, and an inner board (10) , consisting of another material than the outer plate (9) , which is likewise plane and intimate- ly joined to a plane inner surface of the core part (8) so as to form therewith a secondary unit with the purpose of counter¬ acting buckling the primarily load-carrying outer plate (9) under load stress and thereby guarantee a form-stability of the constructional element as a whole.

4. Constructional element according to claim 3, c h a r a c ¬ t e r i z e d in that the inner board (10) consists of a cross veneer board.

5. Method of erecting a house construction of the kind which comprises a roof part (1) , a bottom part (2) and a plurality of walls (4, 5) extending therebetween, c h a r a c t e r i z e d in that the roof part (1) , the bottom part (2) and all walls (4, 5) are made of individual constructional elements, each one of which comprising a thick core part (8) of a heat-insulating material; an outer board consisting of an at least 1,5 mm thick, and thereby weldable, metal plate (9) , which is plane and intimately joined to a plane outer surface of the core part

(8) and the purpose of which is to form a form-stiff, load-car- rying part of the element; and an inner board (10) , consisting of another material than the outer plate (9) , which is likewise plane and intimately joined to a plane inner surface of the core part (8) so as to form therewith a secondary unit with the purpose of counteracting buckling the primarily load-carrying outer plate (9) under load stress and thereby guarantee a form- stability of each constructional element in its entirety, and that all constructional elements of the house construction are arranged with the primarily load-carrying outer plates (9) thereof turned outwards and joined to each other via welded joints (14) , the plates together forming a radiation screening shell enclosing the construction as a whole from all sides.

6. Method according to claim 5, c h a r a c t e r i z e d in that recessions (6, 7) , e.g. for doors or windows, are achieved in the constructional elements by, as a first step, milling grooves (11) in the inner board (10) together with the core part (8) from an inside and then to cut through the outer plate

(9) by means of laser beam machining.