WO2001020090A1

WO2001020090A1 - Collapsible structure

Info

Publication number: WO2001020090A1
Application number: PCT/AU2000/001124
Authority: WO
Inventors: John Eric Cock; Sergio Danilo Sarri
Original assignee: John Eric Cock; Sergio Danilo Sarri
Priority date: 1999-09-16
Filing date: 2000-09-15
Publication date: 2001-03-22
Also published as: AUPQ288899A0

Abstract

A collapsible structure (10) has floor panels (21, 22) connected by a hinge assembly (26). A roof assembly (40) and end wall panels (61, 62) are hingedly connected to enable erection from a collapsed/transport configuration to an erected configuration. The floor panels (21, 22), roof assembly (40) and end wall assemblies (60) are manufactured from single or multi-layer materials, which may be hollow core, fluted or corrugated, and which are preferably biodegradable (e.g. cardboard).

Description

TITLE: COLLAPSIBLE STRUCTURE

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1 . Field of the Invention

THIS INVENTION relates to a collapsible structure.

The invention is particularly suitable for, but not limited

to, a collapsible structure suitable for use as a shelter; as emergency

response housing (eg., for refugees or victims of natural disasters); as

a temporary store (eg., for food, clothing, medical supplies, military

supplies, or the like); or similar temporary structure.

2. Prior Art

Recent natural disasters in Turkey and Greece

(earthquakes) and Papua New Guinea (tidal wave); terrorism in Russia

(the bombing of apartment blocks in Moscow); and military activity in

the Balkans (eg ., Bosnia-Herzegovina and Kosovo), and Indonesia

(eg., in East Timor), have demonstrated the need for relatively

inexpensive, readily transportable, and easily erectable, temporary

housing and storage facilities.

Aid and relief organisations such as UNHCR and the

ICRC (ie., Red Cross/Red Crescent) currently uses tents, which can

cost up to USD 30,000 each for temporary housing and storage.

Such tents are very large and commonly require 2-3 days

erection by trained teams. Also, they have a large "footprint", where

the supporting/guy ropes cover a large area around the tents. When no longer required, they must be dismantleable,

even though they may no longer be re-usable.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

There is clearly a need for a simpler, less expensive

solution to the temporary accommodation needs for both persons and

goods.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a

collapsible structure which is readily transportable.

It is a preferred object to provide such a structure which

is easily erectable (and dismantleable, if required).

It is a further preferred object to provide a structure

which is relatively inexpensive to manufacture, and which can be

disposable when no longer required.

It is a still further preferred object to provide a structure

which can be manufactured from recycled and/or recyclable materials,

which are preferably biodegradable.

It is a still further preferred object to provide a structure

where the materials can be waterproof or water-resistant, fire

resistant and have insulating properties.

Other preferred objects will become apparent from the

following description.

In one aspect, the present invention resides in a

collapsible structure including: a floor assembly having at least two floor panels

hingedly connected along axes optionally parallel to a longitudinal axis

of the structure;

a roof assembly, connected along (optionally

longitudinal) sides to the floor assembly, the roof assembly being

relatively flexible (preferably substantially parallel to the longitudinal

axis); and

a pair of end wall assemblies, each end wall assembly

having at least one end wall panel hingedly connected to a respective

floor panel and operably movable from a transport position

substantially parallel to the floor panel, and an erected position

substantially normal to the floor panel and engageable with the roof

assembly.

Preferably, adjacent floor panels are interconnected by

an expandible hinge member, enabling adjacent side portions of the

adjacent floor panels to be spaced apart when the floor assembly is

folded to enable the structure to be transported.

Preferably, in one embodiment, the roof assembly is

relatively rigid transverse to the longitudinal axis. Alternatively, the

roof assembly may incorporate one or more roof support members

(eg., bows) hingedly mounted on the floor assembly, to support the

roof assembly intermediate the end wall assemblies. Preferably, the roof assembly is attached to the floor

assembly at, or adjacent, the longitudinal sides of the floor assembly.

In one preferred embodiment, the roof assembly may

incorporate one or more corrugated panels, the corrugations lying

(preferably) parallel to the longitudinal axis. A relative stiff ridge

member may interconnect adjacent roof panels.

In another preferred embodiment, the roof assembly may

incorporate a flexible membrane panel (or panels) .

Preferably, the end walls are hingedly connected to the

floor panels at, or adjacent, the ends of the floor panels. It is

preferred that the ends of the roof assembly overlie the end wall

assemblies to provide "eaves" .

Preferably, the one or more of the end wall panels

incorporate door and/or window means.

Preferably, clip, latch, adhesive strip or tape, locking pins

or other fastening means secure the end wall panels to the roof

assembly.

Preferably, the structure is manufactured from recycled

and/or recyclable materials such as papers, cardboards, and other

cellulose fibre, wood-based or natural-fibre features; plastics; metals

and metal foils, or a combination of two or more of these. The floor,

roof and end wall panels may be of honeycomb or corrugated core

construction, of single or multi-layered sheet construction; of hollow- core multi-skin construction; or a combination of two or more of

these. The panels may be waterproofed; fire proofed; reinforced; and

be treated with coatings/impregnating agents, such as waxes,

chemical treatments, paints or the like; or a combination of these.

Preferably, the materials are biodegradable and will break

down, eg., if buried when the structure is no longer required.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

To enable the invention to be fully understood, preferred

embodiments will now be described with reference to the

accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a first embodiment of the

structure in the collapsed (transport) configuration;

FIGS. 2 to 4 are respective perspective views showing

the erection of the structure of FIG. 1 ;

FIG. 5 is a sectional end view taken on line 5-5 on FIG.

1 ;

FIG. 6 is a similar view on line 6-6 on FIG. 1 ;

FIG . 7 is a sectional view on line A on FIG. 6;

FIGS. 8 and 9 are sectional end views taken intermediate

the erection steps of FIGS. 1 and 2;

FIGS. 10 and 1 1 are sectional end views taken through

the floor and end wall panels of FIG. 2;

FIG. 1 2 is a sectional view on line A on FIG. 1 1 ; FIGS. 1 3 and 1 4 are sectional end views through the

floor and end wall panels of FIG. 3; and

FIG. 1 5 is a perspective view of a second embodiment of

the structure, when erected;

FIG 1 6 is a perspective view of a third embodiment of

the structure, with the collapsed (transport) configuration;

FIGS 1 7 to 1 9 are respective perspective views showing

the erection of the structure of FIG 1 6.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE

PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Referring to FIGS. 1 to 4, the collapsible structure 10 has

a floor assembly 20, a roof assembly 40 and end wall assemblies 60,

to be hereinafter described, which are hingedly connected together

and can be configured in a transportable configuration (see FIG. 1 ),

eg ., to be parachuted from an aircraft, to an erected configuration

(see FIG. 4) with minimal (if any) tools, by unskilled labour. Erection

instructions, not shown, can be printed on, or applied to, the panels

of the structure, eg., in pictogram form. For transport, easily

releasable (or cuttable) straps may be provided around the collapsed

structure.

As will be described in more detail with reference to

FIGS. 5 to 1 3, the floor assembly 20 is initially laid flat (see FIG. 2),

the end wall assembly 60 erected at one end (see FIG. 3), and the second wall assembly 60 raised at the other end (see FIG . 4) . The

end wall assemblies 60 are secured to the interior of the roof

assembly 40 by suitable fasteners (eg., clips, latches, adhesive strips

- not shown), and preferably one of the end wall assemblies 40 is

taller than the other so that a "fall", eg., of 5 °, is generated in the

roof assembly 40 to encourage water on the roof assembly to run to

one end thereof (eg., away from a door or entrance to be collected,

eg ., in a gutter or sump) .

Referring now to FIGS. 5 to 7, the floor assembly 20 has

a pair of floor panels 21 , 22 formed of cardboard with a honeycomb

or corrugated core 23 structure with tough outer skins 24, 25 which

are preferably treated to make them waterproof, fire resistant, mould-

or rot-resistant.

The floor panels 21 , 22 are interconnected by a hinge

assembly 26 which, as shown in FIGS. 8 and 9, and FIGS. 10 and

1 1 , folds back onto itself.

The respective end wall assemblies 60 have end wall

panels 61 , 62 which are hingedly connected to the floor panels 21 ,

22 by hinge assemblies 63, and the end wall panels 61 , 62 are also

interconnected by hinge assemblies 64 (eg ., see FIG. 1 3) .

The end wall panels 61 , 62 may be manufactured from

single- or multi-layer, hollow core materials (eg. "corrugated" or

"fluted" materials including "Triwall" and "Gridcore" (trade mark) type

materials) . Preferably, the end wall panels 61 , 62 at the "front" of

the structure 1 0 are taller than the corresponding panels at the "rear

of the structure to generate a "fall" in the roof assembly 40.

The roof assembly 40 has respective roof panels 41 , 42

connected by a ridge panel 43. The roof panels 41 , 42 are formed of

scorable and foldable single or multi-layer sheet, where the resistant

panels 41 , 42 are of "corrugated" configuration, where the

corrugations run parallel to the longitudinal axis of the structure and

the ridge member 43 is of stiffer construction.

Openings, eg., a door 68 and a window 69 (see FIG. 4)

can be provided in the end wall panels 61 , 62 for access/ventilation

for the interior of the structure 10.

In the second embodiment of FIG. 1 5, the roof assembly

140 of the structure 100 has a roof panel 141 , of hollow core, single

or multi-skin sheet(s) (eg ., "corrugated" or "fluted" materials) or of

flexible plastic(s) membrane material supported over one or more

supporting arches 149 hingedly mounted on the floor panels 1 21 ,

1 22 of the floor assembly 1 20. The roof panel 141 is unfolded, or

unwound from a ridge pole (not shown) to the structure after the

floor panels 1 21 , 1 22 have been laid down and as the end wall

panels 1 61 , 1 62, and arch 1 49, erected. The roof panel, when in the form of a flexible membrane,

may be spirally wound around a ridge pole or beam and be unwound

as the roof assembly is raised - see the third embodiment of FIGS 1 6

to 1 9.

The structure 200 has floor panels 221 , 222 connected

by an expandable hinge 226 as hereinbefore described. The roof

assembly 240 has a flexible membrane roof panel 241 connected to

the floor panels 221 , 222 along its edges and is wound around a

hollow tubular ridge beam 242 (or ridge pole) - see FIGS 1 7 and 1 8.

After the floor panels 221 , 222 have been laid flat, the

roof panel 241 is progressively unwound from the ridge beam 242

and the end wall panels 261 , 262 are erected to support the ridge

beam 242, with the roof panel 241 in tension - see FIG 1 9.

In an alternative embodiment, the roof panel 241 is

attached to the ridge beam 242 (or ridge pole) and is folded when the

structure 200 is in the collapsed configuration of FIG 1 6.

The following design/constructional features may be

taken into consideration regarding the structure of the present

invention.

A. MATERIALS

Generally:

(i) Recycled and recyclable materials such as papers,

cardboards and other cellulose fibre and wood-based materials and

natural fibre fabrics (preferred options); (ii) Plastics materials;

(iii) Metal and foil materials;

(iv) Combinations of any or all of the above.

Base:

Honeycomb or corrugated core with tough outer skins.

Roof:

(i) Single or multi-layer sheet; scorable and foldable.

(ii) Hollow core multi-skin sheets (eg., "corrugated" or

"fluted" materials) .

End walls:

Single- and/or multi-layer, hollow core materials (eg.,

"corrugated" or "fluted" materials including "Triwall" and "Gridcore"

type materials) .

Waterproofing :

All materials may be waterproofed or given improved

water resistance using pre- or post-production processes or a

combination of the two, using surface or impregnating applications or

both of agents such as waxes, chemical treatments, paint-type

finishes and laminates.

Reinforcement:

Materials may be reinforced by interlayering materials

such as fabrics, meshes and foils to improve qualities such as

strength, water resistance, toughness, insulation, impact resistance,

etc. Fire resistance:

Materials may be treated with fire retardants or other

compounds to improve fire resistance or resistance to spread of flame

or both.

B. MATERIAL CONSIDERATIONS

Reusability:

Preferably, the materials are disposable, but there is no

reason they could not be collapsed and re-used elsewhere. The

choice of materials and decisions on final assembly process eg.,

taped to seal will affect this.

Recyclability:

Preferably manufactured using recycled materials which

are themselves biodegradable and recyclable, either for future

reconversion into other products or as mulch. However, this is not

an inherent property of the design per se - there is no reason the

design could or should not be produced from more durable materials.

A version manufactured from metals, plastics, durable membranes,

etc., could be effectively "permanent", or could be collapsed and re¬

used elsewhere, perhaps many times.

Environmental:

Again, preferably choose to use non-harmful, sustainable

materials and treatments, but this is not essential to the invention.

C. CONSTRUCTION

Materials: Many of the component materials may be manufactured

products in their own right - what these materials are and how they

are made are not essential to the invention itself.

Assembly:

Designed for low-tech (appropriate technology) assembly

of components, eg., via manual labour using simple jigs or basic

mechanisation, using prefabrication techniques (cut-to-shape

materials with tabs, knockouts, etc.), simple adhesives and taped

joints, etc.

Erection:

In the folded state, everything collapsed to form a neat

flat bundle occupying minimal space. When opened, action of

flipping parts into place stresses the various components and locks

assembly into place.

D. STRUCTURE

General:

The roof is preferably a membrane supported by a pair of

end walls which act in compression between the roof membrane and

the floor panels.

Roof:

The roof membrane gains additional spanning strength

through being treated as a folded plate, which makes it possible to

dispense with intermediate supports between the end gables. The

strength of the final roof structure is due to the combination of its material strength/stiffness, the depth and number of folds and the

degree of tension into which it is forced by the end gables. The

material must be relatively light and foldable. It may be an advantage

if it is somewhat more stiff in the direction perpendicular to the folds.

As it provides the major protection against weather, the membrane

must be water resistant from the outside. A double skin membrane

may assist in minimising condensation on the inside.

Floor:

The hollow-core honeycomb structure of the floor

reduces weight and provides an insulation layer for the improved

amenity of the occupants. The floor is hinged by means of a flexible

double joint hinge formed integrally using the jointing tapes. The

double joint allows the end gables and folded roof membrane to pack

flat between the floor panels in the collapsed state. The floor must

be inherently stiff and resistant to bending. It should be treated to

resist moisture/dampness ingress from the ground.

Ridge beam:

Incorporated is a ridge beam which is a "vee" of stiffer

material hinged at the top and built in as the centre rib of the roof

membrane. This arrangement increases the overall strength of the

structure and allows the remainder of the roof to be less stiff and

therefore lighter.

End walls:

Essentially rigid boards acting in compression when erected. The boards must be inherently stiff and resistant to

buckling, and reasonably resistant to weather from the outside. The

material must be scorable and suitable for die-, laser- or machine

cutting to shape as well as to perforation and scoring.

E. ALTERNATIVE CONSTRUCTION

General:

This could include the possibility of using a pure tension

membrane as a roof skin. This would probably require one or more

additional internal support gables or arches as the membrane would

have a much reduced spanning capacity.

Membrane:

The materials for such a roof would be the same as for

the folded plate roof, but would need to be less stiff. The membrane

could either fold up in the same sort of way (the folds would be

stretched flat when erected) or could be rolled when collapsed (ie.,

counter-rolled from the centreline.

Ridge:

A ridge would not be important for this design, but might

still be incorporated for other reasons (eg., as something to hang

things from or a rod to roll the membrane around when collapsed) .

Portals:

The portals can be of any shape, to suit the particular intended

application use. F. LOGISTIC CONSIDERATIONS

General:

Because of the emergency response aspect, the logistics

of deploying the shelters in the field, as part of the design

parameters.

Transport:

Chief logistic issue is transport. The shelters are

designed to pack flat, to stack and to be bundle-able into pallet packs

which are suitable for transport in a variety of vehicles, including

utility vehicles, trucks, containers, helicopters and planes. The design

allows for the parachute delivery system from, eg., C-1 30 Hercules or

other military/civilian freight aircraft, and a bundling system which

suits those requirements for freighting and delivery. The shelters, if

suitably dimensioned, can be packed reasonably efficiently into

standard shipping containers.

Storage:

The collapsed shelters are easy to stack in warehouses,

etc.

Mattresses:

Each shelter could include within it the mattresses for

the occupants, eg ., in accordance with UNHCR guidelines. These

could be packed in place so that the shelters would be basically ready

to occupy immediately after being erected . Dimensions:

Without limiting the shelters to specific dimensions, the

design can conform to the UNHCR standard family housing module of

3m x 4m (nett internal floor plan) .

G. OTHER CONSIDERATIONS

Footprint:

An advantage over tents is that the footprint of the

shelter is self-contained, unlike tents which require a space around

the outside for guy ropes, etc.

Hold down:

The lip around the outside is designed to allow a variety

of hold down options to be employed, including sharpened

stakes/pegs, sandbags, rocks, piles of dirt, etc.

Water:

The shelter may include a pack flat cardboard water

tank. These could be packed inside or delivered separately. One

might be able to fit at the low end of each shelter, perhaps collecting

water running off the roof.

Other units:

The basic shelter is just the first part of an emergency

response system. Other units can include food preparation, mess and

ablution facilities. Pallets:

The pack can become its own pallet for storage and

freight, or separate pallets could be used to suit particular forms of

transport.

Applications:

The shelter is designed for emergency response

application, but it would be suitable for other temporary shelter

applications, including construction site sheds, survey shelters,

temporary hides for environmental and scientific use, military

applications, fetes, shows and fairs, etc.

H. FOLDING ACTION

The double jointed hinge is preferred to allow the unit to

fold flat with the end walls in place. What happens is that the end

walls lay flat on the base, then they both hinge about the uppermost

face of the end walls. The double action hinge is a floppy piece

which concertinas flat into the joint between the two base pieces

when flat, and stretches out to allow the pieces to move apart (by the

thickness of the end walls) when folded. Because the end walls are

fixed at the centreline, they prevent the two pieces of the base from

moving apart (sideways) when the base is open flat. When they are

stood up at right angles to the base and restrained at the top by the

locking tab on the ridge beam, they act to make the base rigid,

preventing it folding back up again. This makes the whole structure

stable without the use of any mechanical fasteners, by balancing the compression and tension forces.

Other features, and various changes and modifications,

may be incorporated in the structure without departing from the

present invention.

Claims

Claims:

1 . A collapsible structure including:

a floor assembly having at least two floor panels hingedly

connected along axes (optionally) parallel to a longitudinal axis of the

structure;

a roof assembly, connected along (optionally longitudinal)

sides to the floor assembly, the roof assembly being relatively flexible

(optionally substantially parallel to the longitudinal axis); and

a pair of end wall assemblies, each end wall assembly having

at least one end wall panel hingedly connected to a respective floor

panel and operably movable from a transport position substantially

parallel to the floor panel, and an erected position substantially normal

to the floor panel and engageable with the roof assembly.

2. A structure as claimed in Claim 1 wherein:

adjacent floor panels are interconnected by an expandible hinge

member, enabling adjacent side portions of the adjacent floor panels

to be spaced apart when the floor assembly is folded to enable the

structure to be transported .

3. A structure as claimed in Claim 2 wherein:

the roof assembly is relatively rigid transverse to the

longitudinal axis.

4. A structure as claimed in Claim 3 wherein:

the roof assembly incorporates one or more roof support

members hingedly mounted on the floor assembly, to support the roof

assembly intermediate the end wall assemblies.

5. A structure as claimed in any one of Claims 1 to 4 wherein:

the roof assembly is attached to the floor assembly at, or

adjacent, the longitudinal sides of the floor assembly.

6. A structure as claimed in Claim 5 wherein:

the roof assembly incorporates one or more corrugated panels,

the corrugations lying parallel to the longitudinal axis.

7. A structure as claimed in Claim 6 wherein:

a relative stiff ridge member interconnects adjacent roof panels.

8. A structure as claimed in Claim 5 wherein:

the roof assembly incorporates a flexible membrane panel (or

panels) .

9. A structure as claimed in Claim 8 wherein:

the roof assembly incorporates a ridge beam supported by the

end walls, and the flexible membrane panel (or panels) are connected

to, or wrapped around, the ridge beams.

1 0. A structure as claimed in any one of Claims 1 to 9 wherein:

the end walls are hingedly connected to the floor panels at, or

adjacent, the ends of the floor panels.

1 1 . A structure as claimed in claim 10 wherein:

the ends of the roof assembly overlie the end wall assemblies

to provide "eaves" .

1 2. A structure as claimed in Claim 10 or Claim 1 1 wherein:

one or more of the end wall panels incorporate door and/or

window means.

1 3. A structure as claimed in any one of Claims 10 to 1 2, wherein:

clip, latch, adhesive strip or tape, locking pins or other

fastening means secure the end wall panels to the roof assembly.

14. A structure as claimed in any one of Claims 1 to 1 3 wherein:

the structure is manufactured from recycled and/or recyclable

materials such as papers, cardboards, and other cellulose fibre, wood-

based or natural-fibre features; plastics; metals and metal foils, or a

combination of two or more of these.

1 5. A structure as claimed in Claim 1 4 wherein:

floor, roof and end wall panels are of honeycomb or corrugated

core construction, of single or multi-layered sheet construction; of

hollow-core multi-skin construction; or a combination of two or more

of these.

1 6. A structure as claimed in Claim 1 5 wherein:

the panels are waterproofed; fire proofed; reinforced; and/or

treated with retardants/coatings/impregnating agents, such as waxes,

chemical treatments, paints or the like; or a combination of these to

improve water and fire resistance.

1 7. A structure as claimed in Claim 1 6 wherein:

the materials are biodegradable and will break down if buried

when the structure is no longer required.