This application is a § 371 national stage entry of International Application No. PCT/GB2016/000162, filed Sep. 7, 2016, which claims priority to Great Britain Patent Application No. GB1515774.6, filed Sep. 7, 2015, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.
This invention relates to a building material and system and in particular, but not exclusively, to a building material and system for building houses and other domestic-scale structures.
In the building industry there is a trend towards increasing competitiveness through investment in capital-intensive technology. However, this approach prevents the intended beneficiaries of housing policies to contribute their own abilities to the construction of their homes. Furthermore, the building industry faces economic and environmental issues such as waste, sustainability, energy, and the problems of small construction firms. Concerning the latter, a recent survey of small construction firms by the Feceration of Master Builders found that two-thirds of smaller firms had to turn down new business due to shortages in skilled workers, especially bricklayers, carpenters/joiners and plasterers. The issues call for the use of technology and automation in not only the manufacture of building material but also its transport and offsite/onsite assembly in a manner that maintains the option of labour participation by a semiskilled or unskilled workforce. In summary, there is a lack of environmentally responsible building materials that in their assembly use advanced technology that is inclusive.
In one aspect, the present invention proposes a building system which defines the creation of a building material that can be manufactured by high or medium technology and that can utilise either high or low skilled labour. Furthermore, the building material is suited to off-site and on-site assembly by either automated processes or without the use of rare skills. The present invention also provided a means by which small construction firms can build without being dependent on bricklayers, carpenter/joiners and plasters. In this context, a building system may be defined as a set of interconnected or interrelated parts forming a complex whole, used in constructing something from parts (‘system’ and ‘build’, in: ‘Chambers Concise Dictionary’, Chambers-Harrap, Edinburgh, 2004)
In accordance with a first aspect of the invention there is provided a building system in which one or more planar member, having a planar surface and edges which define the shape of the planar member, is used to form system parts which form at least part of one or more system components, the
system comprising the steps of:
determining the system components to be created and which system parts are required to make the system component,
for each system part, sub-dividing the planar member appropriately to create sections and assembling the sub-divided sections into the system part; to creating the system component using system parts.
Preferably, the planar member is a flat panel or sheet.
Preferably, the planar member comprises a wood containing product.
Preferably, the planar member is sub divided by cutting the sections into strips of a predetermined width.
Preferably, the system part is a tube having a square or rectangular cross section which is formed by fixing together the sections of a predetermined width.
Preferably, one or more inside surface of the tube is reinforced with one or more additional sections.
Preferably, the one or more additional sections are made from a secondary material such as off-cuts and selected waste from a planar member.
Preferably, the tube is cut into lengths to form one or more shorter tube that acts as a spacer.
Preferably, the spacer is secured between planar surfaces of adjacent planar members to separate the planar members.
Preferably, the length, width and height of the spacer is determined by the sizes of the sections fixed together and the length to which the completed tube is cut.
Preferably, the orientation of the spacers may be alternated to increase the resistance of tubular spacers to strengthen against the effects of mechanical stress and strain.
Preferably, the system component is a non-solid panel or block wherein a first and second flat panel are positioned to face one another and a plurality of spacers connected to opposing faces of the flat panels, wherein the spacers separate and connect said planar members.
Preferably, the non-solid panel comprises peripheral spacers which are placed at a distance from the edges of the flat panels that is less than the distance between the spacers.
Preferably, at least two adjacent spacers are positioned near the edges of the flat panels such that the gap between the spacers is sized to secure a permanent or removable connector between the spacers.
Preferably, the system component is a connector sized to securely fit in gaps between spacers in a panel or block wherein the tube is cut into lengths to form shorter tubes that form connectors.
Preferably, the system component is an end piece or panel edge sized to fit in the open edge of a panel or block.
Preferably, the end piece or panel edge comprises the tube which is cut into lengths to form a shorter tube.
Preferably, the system component is a rectangular beam made from a non-solid panel to which the end piece or panel edge are structurally added.
Preferably, the beam is one of the following shaped beams: I-shaped beams, L-shaped beams, T-shaped beams, U-shaped beams, Z-shaped beams, and other beams which have been created by structurally adding to rectangular beams edge pieces, connectors, other rectangular beams and other components in accordance with the system of the present invention.
Preferably, the planar member comprises plywood or other panel products.
Preferably, the planar member comprises particle board.
Preferably, the particle board comprises, the particle board is Oriented Strand Board, OSB.
Preferably, the components are packed for lifting and transport by means of straps fed through supporting rectangular tubes so that they tie the building materials to the tubes.
Preferably, a dedicated set of machine operations is used to manufacture the components in accordance with the system of the present invention.
In accordance with a second aspect of the invention there is provided a non-solid panel made in accordance with the building system of the present invention.
Preferably, the non-solid panel comprises planar members which are positioned to face one another and a plurality of spacers connected to opposing faces of the planar members, wherein the spacers separate and connect said planar members.
Preferably, the non-solid panel comprises peripheral spacers which are placed at a distance from the edges of the planar members that is less than the distance between the spacers.
Preferably, at least two adjacent spacers are positioned near the edges of the planar members such that the gap between the spacers is sized to secure a permanent or removable connector between the spacers.
In accordance with a third aspect of the invention, there is provided, a connector made in accordance with the building system of the first aspect of the present invention.
Preferably, the connecter being sized to securely fit in gaps between spacers in a panel or block wherein the tube is cut into lengths to form shorter tubes that form connectors.
In accordance with a fourth aspect of the invention, there is provided, an end piece made in accordance with the building system of the first aspect of the present invention.
Preferably, the end piece or panel edge sized to fit in the open edge of a panel or block.
In accordance with a fifth aspect of the invention, there is provided, an end piece made in accordance with the building system of the first aspect of the present invention.
In accordance with a sixth aspect of the invention, there is provided, a beam made in accordance with the building system of the first aspect of the present invention.
In one aspect, there is provided a building material comprising system parts that are made from a material forming a single plane, and according to a system that defines those system parts and the way in which these are three dimensionally and permanently composed and made from the material forming a single plane.
The method of manufacture of the tubes, panels and other building elements uses two manufacturing operations, which may be located in the same or in different geographic locations. Each may be tuned to low, medium or advanced levels of technology and corresponding levels of employment of unskilled, semiskilled and skilled labour, compactness of operation, quality control and capital investment.
Despite these differences, the processes are tandem operations and remain so through corresponding updates. In both processes, components are fixed to each other by means of gluing, nailing, stapling, screwing or the like. Preferably, gluing is supplemented by nailing, stapling, screwing or the like so as to avoid the need for hydraulic or similar pressing, and in order to reduce the risk of sudden glue joint failure. Fixings within manufactured tubes, panels and other building elements are treated as permanent. Assemblies of building elements may be screwed, bolted or the like to enable the structure to be dismounted and the elements to be re-used in either re-assemblies or in new assemblies.
In the present invention, modular building elements comprising of entire or parts of panels, panel connectors, panel edges and building elements that are composites of such parts are assembled to form floors, walls, partitions, ceilings and roofs of domestic-scale structures and the like. It will be appreciated that where screws, bolts or other removable fixings are used in the assembly the building material can be disassembled and re-used.
The panels, panel connectors, panel edges and/or the further elements made from these may be integrally or separately insulated as required. It will be appreciated that internal and external surfaces of structures may be clad or finished to suit preferences.
Preferably, the further elements are cut and assembled by an automated process from the panels, panel connectors and panel edges on the basis of required type and quantities. In the process, types, dimensions and quantities of all elements are calculated from the drawings of the building to be built. Factors in these calculations include the methods of transport and construction. Where the latter is aided by mechanical equipment the capabilities of the equipment are taken into account and where the structure is to be constructed by hand the dimensions of the building elements are limited by human scale and its weight determined by the lifting, carrying and placing capacity of one or more persons.
In another aspect of the invention there is provided a building material and system comprising: Modular panels comprising two planar, members or skins that are separated by spacers with their centres placed in an orthogonal array and with opposing and adjacent sides that respectively are morphologically equal and unequal and orthogonally opposed to those of their nearest other spacers, the panels being able to be subdivided into modular subpanels with one or more spacers and having perimeters that allow insertion between the panel skins of enclosing components or panel edges and of jointing components or panel connectors so that after insertion the external faces of the panel edges and the centre lines of the connectors coincide with the module lines of the original panel.
The panel connectors and panel edges of claim 1 comprising of strips of one or more planar members of widths W1 and W2 and nominal thickness T, assembled so that they form components that are rectangular tubes of height W1 and widths of resp. W1 plus 2T and W2 plus 2T, where W1 plus 2T nominally equals 0.5M and W2 plus 2T nominally equals 0.25M, M being the module of claim 1.
The spacers of claim 1 comprising lengths of the tubes of width W1 or W2 and of length 0.5 M. The manufacture operation of the modular panels of claim 1, the panel connectors and the panel edges of claim 2 and the panel spacers.
The manufacture operation and pre-assembly of modular building elements such as portable sub-panels or blocks, beams, columns, lintels, cassettes and the like from the modular panels, panel connectors and panel spacers.
The present invention will now be described by way of example only with reference to the accompanying illustrations, in which:
In one or more embodiment of the present invention as described below, a building system is created where system parts are created from a flat panel or sheet material and system components are created from system parts. A system part may be defined as a basic element of the system such as a tube or spacer; it is made from subdivided sections that have been removed from the flat panel or sheet material.
A system component may be defined as a composition of system-parts that collectively form a pre-fabricated part of a building or structure such as a non-solid panel, block or beam. A tube is a hollow square or rectangular cross section system part.
In this and other examples of the present invention, a connector is a length of tube typically used to connect the semi-solid panels in the same plane
A panel edge is a length of tube that has less width than a connector, typically used to close the open ends of the semi-solid panels, and to connect semi-solid panels at right angles to one another.
Preferably, the spacers are placed at regular centres forming orthogonal rows and columns of spacers. The distances between the centres equal the modules of the building material. Preferably, the spacers are placed so that in each row and column they alternate in direction. In the illustration, the module in both rows and columns is twice the depth D of the panel and twice the width of the spacer tube.
In
In the preferred and illustrated case, spacers are square in plan (ie, their length equals their width, not their height). For instance, where a panel or blocks has a depth of 100 mm and the module is 200 mm, the tube is 100 mm wide but the height of the tube is 100 mm minus 2× the thickness of the skin (planar member). Where the sides of the tube are the same as the thickness of the skin, it is the width of the double thickness strip that forms the top and bottom of tube that has the same dimension as the height of the tube (see
Please note that this narrower tube can also be used to form spacers, which in that case would be not square but elongated in plan. This layout has the advantage of being more economical in the use of material (due to a narrower width of the double strips). Spacers that alternate in orientation can be narrow such as strips of timber or plastic or the like placed on edge, perhaps for a product that is much smaller in scale. Similarly, strips of the planer member or skin, or projections integrally formed as part of one or both of the skims, or just strips of a solid material (eg, wood), can be used to form panels, including panels that have very shallow depth In each case, the alternating orientation of the spacers reduces the amount of material in the spacers.
In summary, alternating orientation:
Increases the resistance of tubular spacers against the effects of wracking (twisting, warping; as occurs in an earthquake). It is noted that for the convenience of correctly locating and fixing connectors and edges to sides of panels/blocks that are 1-3 modules wide, the tubular spacers are preferably square in plan.
May reduce material used in forming spacers, irrespective of the shape of the cross-section of the spacers (such as tubular, solid, I-shape, etc.).
It will be appreciated that other combinations at various scales and proportions can be fabricated to suit a wide range of scales and circumstance. In
The fixings may be inserted through temporary or permanent omission of panel edges or connectors or parts thereof
For smaller lots,
panels, panel connectors and panel edges may be combined in one stack, as illustrated.
In
Improvements and modifications may be incorporated herein without deviating from the scope of the invention.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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1515774.6 | Sep 2015 | GB | national |
Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
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PCT/GB2016/000162 | 9/7/2016 | WO | 00 |
Publishing Document | Publishing Date | Country | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
WO2017/042525 | 3/16/2017 | WO | A |
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Number | Date | Country | |
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20180340330 A1 | Nov 2018 | US |