Patent Application
20200011081
The present invention relates to the field of anti-seismic protection devices, in particular to those devices that allow at least one user to be protected from the consequences of an earthquake.
At the state of the art various safety devices are known.
Recent events, the particular geological configuration of a country, such as Italy, the construction characteristics of homes, media reviews and the mood perceived in people indicate a widespread sense of anxiety with regard to the safety of buildings.
The combination between old buildings and seismic unreliability of the territory make projects aimed at providing solutions that “alleviate” the sense of anxiety in people feasible, producing integrated structures capable of reducing the effects of seismic risk on people.
Besides renovation operations or the construction of new buildings with anti-seismic capacities, there are still few solutions to the problem of guaranteeing the users of an existing home, built in the past (e.g. constructions of historical value) an effective protection in the event of the consequences of an earthquake.
In general, reinforced protective capsules, such as wardrobes, are known, which can be installed in a home to guarantee this protection; however, this solution has an important limit, related to the footprint of the capsule; in fact, in order to perform its function, this latter must always be maintained empty, so as to be immediately accessible when the first signs of the earthquake occur.
However, the Applicant has noted that these capsules are often filled with household effects that the occupants tend to store when there is no other space for them in the home; this in fact makes the capsule unusable because, as when the earthquake occurs, it is already filled with household effects and therefore cannot hold people.
The object of the present invention is to overcome the problems of the prior art.
A further object of the present invention is to provide an anti-seismic protection device that can be installed in a home, which, owing to its nature, is always maintained empty and accessible and does not occupy unnecessary space in the home.
The idea underlying the invention is that of producing an anti-seismic protection device that can be installed in a home that incorporates the functions of a shower cabin; in fact, the Applicant has brilliantly discovered that, despite any possible lack of space in a home, typically the shower cabin is automatically kept free by the occupants, who make use of it.
In this way, it is possible to have available an anti-seismic protection device that does not occupy unnecessary space, that is normally kept empty and accessible and that can replace a normal pre-existing shower cabin or be installed as new shower cabin.
These and other objects of the present invention are achieved by means of a device that incorporates the characteristics of the appended claims, which form an integral part of the present description.
A subject matter of the invention is an anti-seismic protection device that can be installed in a home, comprising
wherein each tubular cap element in operating condition is placed on the vertical of a corresponding base tubular element, spaced therefrom
such that the anti-seismic protection device can be used as a shower cabin.
Further advantageous characteristics are the subject matter of the appended claims, which are intended as an integral part of the present description.
The invention shall be described hereunder with reference to non-limiting examples, provided purely for non-limited explanatory purposes in the accompanying drawings. These drawings illustrate different aspects and embodiments of the invention and, where appropriate, reference numerals illustrating similar structures, components, materials and/or elements in different figures are indicated by similar reference numerals.
In the appended figures:
While the invention is susceptible to various modifications and alternative constructions, some preferred embodiments are shown in the drawings and shall be described in detail hereunder.
However, it is understood that there is no intention to limit the invention to the specific embodiment illustrated but, on the contrary, it intends to cover all modifications, alternative constructions and equivalents that fall within the scope of the invention as defined in the claims.
Unless otherwise indicated, the use of “for example”, “etc.”, “or” indicates non-exclusive alternatives without limitation.
Unless otherwise indicated, the use of “includes” means “includes, but not limited to”.
Indications such as “vertical” and “horizontal”, “upper” and “lower” (in the absence of other indications) must be interpreted with reference to the mounting (or operating) conditions and referring to the normal terminology in use in current language, where “vertical” means a direction substantially parallel to that of the force of gravity vector “g” and horizontal means a direction perpendicular thereto.
The figures illustrate a non-limiting example of an anti-seismic protection device 1 of the invention that can be installed in a home.
The device 1 comprises a base frame portion 2A shown in the detail of
The base frame portion 2A comprises at least four base tubular elements 21A made of carbon fibre, shaped, for example, in the fashion of a cup.
The elements 21A are arranged, in plan, so as to constitute the vertices of a base rectangle, visible in
The tubular elements 21A are connected to each other by means of tubular base frame beams 23A made of carbon fibre.
More in detail, the base frame beams 23A are arranged to form the diagonals of the base rectangle and are preferably joined at the crossing point of the two diagonals.
The base frame portion 2A further comprises a shower tray 3 coupled to the base frame portion 2A provided with at least a water drainage hole 31.
The shower tray 3 is preferably made of plastic material or plastic resin and is coupled to the tubular elements 21A and/or to the base frame beams 23A; in other embodiments, the shower tray 3 integrates the tubular elements 21A and/or the base frame beams 23A.
The device 1 further comprises a cap frame portion 2B, shown in
In mounted condition, the cap frame portion 2B is positioned above and spaced from the base frame portion 2A.
Similarly to the base frame portion, the cap frame portion 2B comprises at least four cap tubular elements 21B, for example cup shaped, made of carbon fibre arranged in plan to form the vertices of a cap rectangle.
The tubular elements 21B are connected to each other by means of cap frame beams 23B, said cap frame beams 23B being arranged to form diagonals of the cap rectangle.
Each tubular cap element 21B in operating condition is placed on the vertical of a corresponding base tubular element 21A, spaced therefrom; similarly, the base frame beams 23A are arranged on the vertical of the cap frame beams 23B.
Preferably the cap frame portion 2B further comprises a perforated cap wall which, in its mounted condition, is horizontal; preferably the perforated cap wall is provided with holes having a diameter less than or equal to one centimetre and is made of carbon fibre; in this way it is possible to protect the occupants from falling debris of a small size, and also at the same time strengthen the overall structure of the device 1.
The device 1 further comprises an intermediate frame portion 2C comprising four tubular uprights 21C each coupled or that can each be coupled at an opposite free end to one of the four base tubular elements 21A and to the corresponding tubular cap element 21B placed on the vertical of the respective base tubular element 21A.
The intermediate frame portion 2C further comprises at least three peripheral walls 22C; each peripheral wall 22C extends between two neighbouring uprights 21C, so as to close the cavity inside the device 1, which contains the occupant, on three sides.
Preferably, the peripheral walls 22C are made of carbon fibre sheets, so as to provide adequate protection in the event of an earthquake combined with optimal lightness; alternatively, the walls could be made of materials suitable for the purpose.
The device 1 further comprises a water dispenser coupled to the cap frame portion 2B or to the intermediate frame portion 2C, according to needs; similarly, pipes for conveying hot and cold water to the dispenser can be included.
In this way, the anti-seismic protection device 1 can advantageously be used as a shower cabin, with the consequence that it usually remains empty and available for prompt use.
Optionally, there is further provided a fourth wall divided in two half-walls each of which is oscillating with respect to a respective upright, so as to form a wing of an access door with two wings.
Preferably, to strengthen the structure, each half-wall comprises a sheet made of plastic material, preferably plexiglass, around which a frame made of carbon fibre extends peripherally.
To make the device 1 sturdy but easy to mount, each tubular upright 21C is preferably coupled to the corresponding base 21A and cap 21B tubular elements by force fitting; in this sense the length of the tubular uprights 21C is greater than that of the lateral walls, so that at least the portion of upright to be fitted into the base 21A and cap 21B tubular elements projects upwards and downwards with respect to the wall, as is visible in
Preferably, the four tubular uprights 21C are made of carbon fibre, while in other embodiments they are made of metal, for example aluminium or steel.
Passing now to the description of
Correspondingly, each upright 21C houses therein at least one metal bar 25C that extends for at least part, or preferably the whole, of the length of the upright and is connected to a vertical edge of an adjacent peripheral wall 22C by means of screw connection means 26C, as is visible, for example, in the section of
Therefore, three sides of the device are completely blind to any passage except for the holes for the taps and for the water dispenser; with their particular strength they totally prevent the access of unwanted elements and at the same time provide amplification of the rigidity of the uprights preventing the “peak load” phenomenon with their coupling by means of continuous fasteners along the whole of the length of the upright which in fact increases the moment of inertia of the panel-tube-panel section, especially due to the particular L-shaped connection.
The aforesaid objects are thus achieved.
Naturally, numerous variants to what has been described so far are possible.
For example, in the case of metal uprights, in place of perforation with bolts, welded studs, for example TIG welded, will be provided to close the angle bar of the wall.
The wall thickness of the tube of the uprights 21C preferably ranges between 0.3 cm and 0.5 cm, more preferably approximately equal to 0.4 cm and the fibre is preferably of a turbostratic type.
The tube thickness of the frame and/or cap beams 23A, 23B preferably ranges between 0.1 cm and 0.3 cm, more preferably approximately equal to 0.2 cm preferably with fibre of a turbostratic type.
The thickness of the lateral wall preferably ranges between 0.2 cm and 0.4 cm, more preferably approximately equal to 0.3 cm with fibre either of a turbostratic or graphitic type.
The measurements can have an oscillation preferably of the order of 15% to be verified by calculation with the exact data of the material during execution.
In an evolved version, in addition to the base and cap beams 23A and 23B arranged to form the diagonals of the respective rectangles, there are also provided additional tubular elements, base and/or cap, arranged to form the sides of the respective rectangles and connected to the respective elements 21A and/or 21B.
The behaviour under load of the device 1 in the embodiment illustrated in
The vertical force is estimated as equal to three times the load coefficient of the slabs of the floor of the homes, thereby estimating the breaking load of the floor: it is deemed that 2,400 kg provide sufficient assurance for the purpose indicated; laterally, a thrust of no more than 1,000 kg, distributed on the surface, is estimated.
Optionally, the device of the invention can be provided with a wireless (i.e. using radio waves) transmission or transceiver system to be found after an earthquake.
In fact, it is important that, if the occupants are unharmed, they are found rapidly, in the event of being unable to reach a safe area on their own due to rubble.
In this case, the transmission or transceiver system provided on the device is able to transmit a signal that can be received by a receiver (even a simple smartphone) to help to locate the position of the device under the rubble. Determining the location can take place by means of a measurement of the intensity of the electromagnetic waves of the transmission or transceiver system and/or by means of their triangulation.
According to a further improvement the device can also be provided with presence and/or movement sensors communicating with the transmission or transceiver system to send signals indicative of the present of an occupant and/or of movement in the device, so as to improve targeted search and rescue operations.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 102016000127242 | Dec 2016 | IT | national |
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/IB2017/057390 | 11/24/2017 | WO | 00 |
