Claims
- 1. A method of constructing a building cluster comprising the steps of manufacturing in a factory a plurality of building units, each said building unit forming at least one room at least when connected to one or more adjacent building units, each said bulding unit being cnstructed sedparately from any other building unit in said building cluster by using a stressed skin floor member and a stressed skin roof member both the same length and width, and a pllurality of wall panel members on at least two sides of said separately constructed building unit, disposing said wall panel members between said floor member and said roof member, removably connecting said wall panel members to said flor member and said roof member by inserting lug members on the center line of the top and bottom edges of said wall panel members, arraging at least some of which removable connections of said lugs to the edges of said floor members and said roof members so as to resist shear forces due to side sway or lozenging forces on said building unit without changing the configuration of said wall panel members, each said building unit being of a width and length seleced from a plurality of a modular unit dimension, said plurality of a modular unit dimension being arranged in two directions as a horizontal modular grid, each said building unit being arranged to be joined together to form said building cluster so that the center line of any joint between said building units coincides with any selected grid line of said moldular grid and so that any wall between any two adjacent said rooms formed by any two adjacent said building units is a wall common to both said building units, and is further arranged so that the center line of said wall coincides with the center line of any said joint between said building units and with said selected line of said modular grid, spacing said wall panel members apart from but connected to each other in their vertical edges by use of removable spacing members such that at the connection of at least two said wall panel members a continous cavity is formed the least dimension of which is at least concident with the thickness of any said wall panel member arranged to enable changes selected from removal and addition of any said wall panel member without disturbing any other said wall panel member in the building unit and without materially disturbing any electrical wires in the cavity, arranging the relationship of the edges of said floor members and said roof members and said wall panel members to said modular grid so that where M represents said modular unit dimension and n represents any whole member and nM represents any plurality of said modular unit dimension, and where d represents the spaced distance apart of the edges of any two adjacent said floor members or the edges of any two adjacent roof members and coincides with the thickness of any one said lug t represents the thickness of any one said wall panel member and is always greater than d then any said floor member and any said roof member has a length or width of nM-d and any said wall panel member has a width of no greater then nM-t and no less than nM-2t so that any said floor member or any said roof member or any said wall panel members has a fixed relationship of its vertical edges to said modular grid regardless of the plurality of modular unit dimensions selected for its horizontal dimensions, and so that the intersection of the center lines of at least three said wall panel member, when one said wall panel member is at right angles to the other two said wall panel members, will coincide with the center line of the joint between at least two building units and with the intersection of the lines of said horizontal modular grid with the vertical edges of these panels a fixed distance away from said intersection so that such vertical edges define a space between the panels, transporting said plurality of building units to a building site, arranging said plurality of building units in a building cluster when mounted on previously prepared foundations, removably fixing said building units to each other and to said foundations, and completing said building by providing a roof over said building cluster, joint covers between said building units, and connections to electrical and plumbing supply and the like available on said building site and arranging the center line of any joint between any two said building units, and the center line of any wall, being either a common wall between any two said building units, or an exterior wall to said building cluster to coincide with any selected grid line of said modular grid, thus enabling said plurality of building units to be arranged in any desired form or size of building cluster.
Parent Case Info
This application is now U.S. Pat. No. 4,067,159 a divisional of application Ser. No. 627,857, filed Oct. 31, 1975 which in turn is a Rule 60 continuation of U.S. Ser. No. 418,216, filed Nov. 23, 1973, now abandoned.
There exists a need for a system of constructing buildings and building clusters which reduces the delay and high costs inherent in erecting a building on unprotected sites by completing the buildings as far as possible entirely inside a factory and transporting the entire building or major completed portions of such a building such as rooms or group of rooms to the eventual site, thereby reducing the time and effort involved on the site to the operations of placing the building or group of rooms or rooms on its or their foundations and making the connections of such services as water, drainage and electricity. Also it is desirable to reduce the time and skill involved in erecting a building cluster from a large number of small components which are provided in an unfinished or semi-finished state, by making the greatest possible use of the limited number of completely finished components, each capable of manufacture at relatively high speed under controlled conditions in the factory, and all of which are capable of assembly under factory conditions with a minimum of skill.
Still further, it is desirable to reduce the difficulty and cost of altering and removing buildings, including in the changing of position and removal and insertion of doors, windows or walls, the addition or subtraction of rooms or wings of the building, and the shifting of all or any portion of the building from the site on which it was originally erected to any other site, by construction of a building in such a manner that whole or any part of it may be dismantled easily and either removed altogether or replaced with some other part which is compatible with the original.
It is also desirable that the building should be designed to modular design restraints in a manner such that replacement of structural elements is assisted by the modular design and assembly of buildings into a building cluster can also be facilitated by the use of modular design restraints.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a method of building which will meet the foregoing desiderata in a simple yet effective manner or which will at least provide the public with a useful choice.
Accordingly in one aspect the invention consists in a method of constructing a building comprising the steps of manufacturing in a factory a plurality of building units, each said building unit forming at least one room at least when connected to one or more adjacent building units, and each said building unit being completed with all necessary ceilings, floors, walls, windows, doors, interior and exterior finishes, electrical and plumbing services and the like in said factory, each said building unit being made of length and width selected from a plurality of a modular unit dimension arranged in two directions as a horizontal modular grid so that the center line of any joint between any two said building units, coincides with any selected grid line of said modular grid, transporting said plurality of building units to a building site, arranging said plurality of building units in a building cluster, when mounted on previously prepared foundations with the center line of any wall, being either a common wall between any two said building units, or an exterior wall to said building cluster, coincides with any selected grid line of said modular grid, thus enabling said plurality of building units to be arranged in any desired form or size of building cluster, removably fixing said building units to each other and to said foundations, and completing said building by providing roofing over said building cluster, joint covers between said building units, and connections to electrical and plumbing supply and the like available on said building site.
To those skilled in the art to which this invention relates, many changes in construction and widely differing embodiments and applications of the invention will suggest themselves without departing from the scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims. The disclosures and the description herein are purely illustrative and are not intended to be in any sense limiting.
US Referenced Citations (9)
Foreign Referenced Citations (1)
| Number |
Date |
Country |
| 854,172 |
Apr 1940 |
FRX |
Non-Patent Literature Citations (2)
| Entry |
| Popular Mechanics, Jun. 1951, vol. 95, "Factory-Built Houses Cut Up for Delivery". |
| Excavating Engineer, Jul. 1949, "Housing Project Pays Off", Tom Riley. |
Divisions (1)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
| Parent |
627857 |
Oct 1975 |
|
Continuations (1)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
| Parent |
418216 |
Nov 1973 |
|
Patent Grant
4124964
