This application relates generally to structures, and more particularly to a monolithic tornado shelter that can be easily installed in or around a finished building such as a home or school.
Tornados kill dozens of people in the United States alone each year. They can arise suddenly and with extreme violence, making it difficult or impossible for many to seek community shelter. Hardened tornado shelters are typically expensive and require extensive construction, permits and significant money. Tornado shelters may also be unavailable for existing homes with a small yard for the same reasons. What is needed is a robust and affordable tornado shelter that can be easily installed in a garage or on a concrete pad near a home with minimal skill and expense required.
A tornado shelter is described herein. The tornado shelter has a base that defines four sides, four corners and a center. A plurality of rods, such as rebar, extend upwardly from each of the four sides. The rods may be welded to the base.
Walls extend upwardly from each of the four sides of the base. An upper portion of the rods extend above a top surface of each of the walls. The upper portion of each of said rods are bent towards said center of the base for strengthening a ceiling portion of the shelter. The rods located inside each of the walls and the upper portion of the rods inside said ceiling portion are encased in a monolithic concrete member resulting from a single pour.
A door is preferably provided within a door opening formed in at least one of the walls. A conduit may be provided within at least one of the walls and the ceiling portion. An orifice may be provided within at least one of the walls for air ventilation. A bench may be affixed to the base.
The tornado shelter may be constructed by placing the base at a desired location. The base provided with an outer angle iron extending upwardly at each of said four corners and an inner angle iron extending upwardly at each of the four corners. The vertical rods are affixed to the base. An inside concrete form is placed adjacent to the inner angle iron and an outside concrete form is placed adjacent to the outer angle iron. The vertical rods are between the inside concrete form and said outside concrete form. A top ceiling form is placed on a top surface of the inside concrete form. An upper portion of the rods that extend above the top surface of the inside concrete form and the outside concrete form are bent towards the center of the base. A single pour of concrete is poured for filling a space between the inside concrete form and the outside concrete form and for covering the upper portion of the rods above the top ceiling form.
After the concrete cures, the inside concrete form, the outside concrete form and the top ceiling form may be removed. A door may be hingedly affixed in a door opening in one of the walls. A conduit may be placed in between the inside and outside concrete forms and above the ceiling form. Vents may be formed in at least one of the walls. A bench may be affixed to the base.
Tornado shelters are disclosed that are made from a monolithic steel frame welded together onsite or in a factory and then transported to the shelter location where concrete is poured into the frame creating a robust, durable, and safe shelter.
In one embodiment, a channel, such as a steel channel is placed for a base in a square or rectangular configuration. In a preferred embodiment, the channel is 6″ in width.
An angle iron is vertically affixed at an inside corner and an outside corner at each corner of the base. In a preferred embodiment, the angle iron and rebar are welded to the base. In a preferred embodiment, the rebar is 10′ in length. The upper 4′ of the rebar is bent towards the inside of the building for strength.
Inside forms and outside forms are placed adjacent to the vertical angle iron and rebar. A top ceiling form is placed on a top surface of the inside forms. The rebar is further bent to the center of the structure over the top panel.
A single pour of cement is poured to deliver concrete between the inside forms and outside forms and above the top ceiling form. The inside forms and the ceiling form is removed after the cement has cured.
A door is constructed with square tubing. The door preferably has steel skin on both sides. The door components will be layered and welded to a flat area in front to the doorway framed wall channel. All of the door structure is welded together for strength. Preferably, the door will swing to the inside and will be provided with two cross-door latch bars to lock the door in place.
In a preferred embodiment, the units will have conduit located in the walls for future electric installations. Additionally, the unit is preferably provided with two 4″ by 16″ orifices for air ventilation. The unit is preferably provided with two welded benches located in the unit.
The following description supplies specific details in order to provide a thorough understanding. Nevertheless, the skilled artisan would understand that embodiments of tornado shelter frames and associated methods of using them can be implemented and used without employing these specific details. Indeed, exemplary embodiments and associated methods can be placed into practice by modifying the illustrated units and associated methods and can be used in conjunction with any other devices and techniques conventionally used in the industry. For example, while the description below generally focuses on an embodiment with a complete frame constructed prior to transportation, the frame may be formed in panels or sections prior to final welding and assembly on site.
One exemplary embodiment of a monolithic tornado shelter frame (shelter) 100 is illustrated in
Turning to
Turning to
Roof or ceiling 130 may have a slight pitch and overhang from welding angle iron to each other to form the overhang and basic roof structure. The overhang will depend on the size of angle iron used and placed as desired. Roof 130 also includes a ridge that may be formed by welding angle iron together. It is important to note that structure 100 is made very strong by welding all structural components of shelter frame 100 together. Frame 110 may be formed using angle iron welded into the corners of base 120 and then welding to top plates of angle iron to form a structure for a poured concrete ceiling and roof within frame member of roof 130.
As shown in
In some embodiments, a shelter frame such as is shown in the figures may be manufactured in a factory to avail cheaper labor and faster manufacturing. The frame may then be loaded onto a truck and placed at the desired location. The sizes of tornado shelter frames may be selected to fit inside of average garages and could be rolled into the garage under the garage door with dolly wheels, making installation fairly easy and without requiring structural modification and expensive building permits. The shelter 100 may be less than 7′ tall to accommodate garages, under patios, etc.
Once in place, base 120 may be secured to the floor and concrete forms may be put into place and concrete poured to fill the walls and ceiling using conventional methods such as concrete pumps to allow the tornado shelter to be finally installed. Using this method, many homes may have tornado shelters that in the past may have cost lives.
Referring now to
In one embodiment, base channel 202 (
Still referring to
Inside forms 220 are placed adjacent to inner angle iron 214. Outside forms 222 are placed adjacent to outer angle iron 216 (
A single pour of cement 230 is poured to deliver concrete between inside forms 220 and outside forms 222 and above top ceiling form 224. Inside forms 220 and top ceiling form 224 is preferably removed after cement 230 has cured.
Door 240 is preferably constructed with square tubing. Door 240 preferably has steel skin on an inside surface and an outside surface. Components of door 240 are layered and welded to a flat area in front to a doorway framed wall channel. All of the structure of door 240 is preferably welded together for strength. Preferably, door 240 swings to the inside of structure 200 and will be provided with two cross-door latch bars to lock door 240 in place.
In a preferred embodiment, shelter 200 has conduit 250 located cement 230 forming the walls and/or ceiling of shelter 200 for possible electric installations. Additionally, shelter 200 may be provided with vents 260, e.g., two 4″ by 16″ orifices for air ventilation. Shelter 200 is preferably provided with two welded benches located inside shelter 200.
In addition to any previously indicated modification, numerous other variations and alternative arrangements can be devised by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of this description, and appended claims are intended to cover such modifications and arrangements. Thus, while the information has been described above with particularity and detail in connection with what is presently deemed to be the most practical and preferred aspects, it will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art that numerous modifications, including, but not limited to, form, function, manner of operation and use can be made without departing from the principles and concepts set forth herein. Also, as used herein, examples are meant to be illustrative only and should not be construed to be limiting in any manner.
Although particular embodiments have been described herein, it will be appreciated that the invention is not limited thereto and that many modifications and additions thereto may be made within the scope of the invention. For example, various combinations of the features of the following dependent claims can be made with the features of the independent claims without departing from the scope of the present invention.
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Abandoned U.S. Appl. No. 15/276,685 by Steve Galindo filed Sep. 26, 2016; not published. |