Crate for a building mountable from interlocking units manufactured of a plate type material
The invention relates to a crate for a building mountable from interlocking units manufactured of a plate type material, said building comprising at least
two wall units, said wall unit having at least one locking tab adapted to protrude from its two opposite side edges and provided with an upward open locking recess parallel to said side edge,
a floor unit, which is adapted to be connected and locked over its two opposite side edges between said two wall units, and
two gable units, which, for the locking tabs protruding from the wall unit's side edge, are provided with a number of slots and/or recesses matching the number of said locking tabs for connecting the wall units and the gable units to each other,
the region adjacent to two other opposite side edges of the floor unit being provided with at least one locking slot, and the gable unit having at least one locking tab adapted to protrude from its bottom edge and adapted to extend into the floor unit's locking slot.
It is an object of the invention to provide a crate for the units of a mountable building of the above type, the building units being utilized as much as possible in said crate.
According to the invention, this object is accomplished and a crate of the invention is characterized in that the crate is constructed in such a way that the crate's bottom consists of said floor unit, side walls consist of said wall units, and end walls consist of end blocks specifically designed for the crate,
said end blocks being provided with slots and/or recesses similar to those of the gable units for connecting the end blocks and the wall units to each other, and that the end block has at least one locking tab adapted to protrude from its bottom edge for connecting the end block to the floor unit, said locking tab of the end block being consistent with the gable unit's locking tab, yet being additionally dimensioned to extend through the floor unit and being provided with a locking slot which is adapted to be fitted with a clamping piece for locking the end block and the floor unit to each other.
Preferred evolutions of the invention are disclosed in the dependent claims.
The invention will now be described in more detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:
Fig. 1 shows a floor unit.
Fig. 2 shows a wall unit.
Fig. 3A shows a half of a gable unit (solid gable).
Fig. 3B shows a half of a gable unit (unit provided with a doorway).
Fig. 4 shows an upper floor unit.
Fig. 5 shows a roof unit.
Fig. 6 shows a ridge beam in an end view.
Fig. 7 shows a building according to one embodiment of the invention in an end view.
Fig. 8 shows the building of fig. 7 in a side view.
Fig. 9 shows a crate end of the invention.
Fig. 10 shows a crate of the invention in an end view.
Fig. 11 shows a section along a line XI-XI in fig. 10.
Figs. 1-6 illustrate examples of individual components included in a presently discussed building of the invention, and figs. 7 and 8 illustrate an example of a building 30 mountable from such interlocking units manufactured of a plate or panel type material.
In its simplest form, the building 30 comprises two wall units 4 (fig. 2), two gable units 9, one of which may consist, for example, of two interconnected halves of fig. 3A and the other of two interconnected halves of fig. 3B, two upper units 12 (fig. 4), and a desired type of roof supported upon the gable units 9.
In this simplest of its forms, the building 30 does not have an actual floor but, instead, benches or bunks constituted by the upper floor units 12 on two opposite sides of the building.
However, the inventive building 30 can be provided, for example, with a lower floor unit 1 of fig. 1, as well as for example with a roof consisting of roof units 21 of fig. 5.
The wall unit 4 of fig. 2 has at least one, in the illustrated example two locking tabs 7 adapted to protrude from its two opposite side edges 6. The locking tabs 7 are additionally provided with locking recesses 8 parallel to said side edge 6.
The gable unit 9, which in its basic form consists either of two halves of fig. 3A or 3B connected to each other or is constructed of a continuous panel, is provided with a number of slots 10 and/or recesses 11 matching the number of the locking tabs 7 protruding from the wall unit's 4 side edge 6 for locking the wall units 4 and the gable units 9 to each other. The example of figs. 3A and 3B shows a slot 10 and a recess 11.
In the process of assembling or mounting the building, the locking tabs 7 are inserted in the gable unit's 9 slot 10 and recess 11, whereafter, in the example of figs. 2 and 3, the gable unit 9 pushes itself into the locking recesses 8 present in the wall unit 4 for thereby locking the wall unit 4 and the gable unit 9 to each other.
The upper floor unit 12 (fig. 4) is adapted to extend between two, spaced- apart gable units 9. The upper floor unit's 12 ends 13, which will be set against the gable units 9, are provided with a locking tab 14 protruding from said end, the locking tab 14 being preferably further provided with a locking recess 15 parallel to said end 13 to be set against the gable units 9 for locking the gable unit 9 in place. The gable unit 9 has its side edge 16 provided with a horizontal recess 17, arranged for the upper floor unit's 12 locking tab 14 and having its location determined in such a way that the upper floor unit 12 additionally bears itself on top of the wall unit's 4 top edge 18. The slot 10 has its location arranged in such a way that the wall unit 4 takes up most of the load applied to the upper floor unit 12. Thus, the slot 10 is spaced from the side edge 16 by a distance which is slightly less than the upper floor unit's 12 width.
After the wall units 4 and the gable units 9 are connected to each other, the upper floor units 12 are fitted in place, whereby, after laying an appropriate
roof structure, the inventive building 30 is completed in its simplest form. The structure is braced by the upper floor units for its proper configuration.
In the example of figs. 3A and 3B, the gable unit 9 has two locking tabs 19 adapted to protrude from its upper side edge 16' and provided with locking recesses 20 parallel to said side edge. Thus, on top of the gable units 9 is adapted to be fitted a roof unit 21 as shown in fig. 5, which is provided with slots 22 arranged for the gable units' 9 locking tabs 19.
The roof unit 21 is thereby adapted to lock the upper floor unit 12 in place, whereby the wall units 4 and the gable units 9 are in turn locked by the upper floor unit 12 for an integral assembly, which is only dismountable in a reverse order with respect to the mounting order.
In the illustrated embodiment, the gable units 9 are adapted to provide a ridged-roof structure. Subject to the design of various elements, it is naturally also possible to provide structures in other configurations. In the example of fig. 7, the roof units 21 present on the opposite sides of a roof ridge are adapted to be locked in place by means of a ridge beam 22 (fig. 6) pushed into its position parallel to the ridge, said beam being designed to prevent sliding of the roof unit 21 along the upper side edge 16' and hence releasing of the roof unit from the locking recesses 20.
Consequently, no element can be removed from the structure of fig. 7 until the ridge beam 22 is removed. Dismounting proceeds in a reverse order as compared to mounting.
The above-described solution does not have any actual floor, with the exception of benches or bunks constituted by the upper floor units 12 mounted along the sides of the building. It is also possible to provide the building with a separate floor, comprising a lower floor unit 1 as shown in fig.
1. It has at least two locking tabs 3 adapted to protrude from its two opposite side edges 2, the wall unit 4 (fig. 2) being provided with slots 5 for the lower floor unit's 1 locking tabs 3.
The region adjacent to the lower floor unit's 1 two other opposite side edges 23 is provided with at least one locking slot 24, and the gable unit 9 has at least one locking tab 26 adapted to protrude from its bottom edge 25 and adapted to extend into the lower floor unit's 1 locking slot 24. The locking slots 24 and the locking tabs 26 are not absolutely necessary when using continuous gable units 9. However, they have a major significance in terms of holding together the gable units 9 consisting of separate elements.
The gable unit 9 can be constituted by two elements as shown for example either in fig. 3A or 3B, or by a similar continuous element. However, a continuous gable unit 9 is usually bulky and hence inconvenient to handle.
The locking tabs 3, 7, 14, 19, 26 and the complementary slots 5, 10, 22, 24 and recesses 11, 17 are preferably designed as an integral element with the units by working a plate or panel type material used for making said units. Naturally, the locking tabs can also be made of another material, the most important feature still being that the locking tabs are permanently fixed to avoid losing the same.
The crate is constructed in such a way that the crate's bottom is constituted by said floor unit 1, side walls are constituted by said wall units 4, and end walls are constituted by end blocks 40 manufactured specifically for the crate.
The end blocks 40 are provided with slots 10 and/or recesses 11 similar to those of the gable units 9 for connecting the end blocks 40 and the wall units 4 to each other.
The end block 40 has at least one locking tab 41 adapted to protrude from its bottom edge for connecting the end block 40 to the floor unit 1. The end block's 40 locking tab 41 is consistent with the gable unit's 9 locking tab 26, yet is additionally dimensioned to extend through the floor unit 1 and is provided with a locking slot 42, which is adapted to be fitted with a clamping piece 43 for locking the end block 40 and the floor unit 1 to each other.
The clamping piece 43 may comprise for example a wedge (fig. 11) for locking the floor unit 1 and the end block 40 to each other. At the same time, the wall units 4 are locked in place by the end blocks 40. Consequently, the crate cannot be dismounted until the clamping piece 43 is removed.