Construction Configurations and Construction Methods of Steel Houses

Abstract

The present invention provides construction configurations and a construction method for steel houses that eliminate the shortcoming of the conventional platform construction method for steel houses that complicates the structure because of the need to use metal reinforcements without losing the advantage of the conventional method that facilitates the construction work by using wall panels.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic view showing the first construction step of a structural framework of a steel house according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic view showing the second construction step of the structural framework of the steel house according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a schematic view showing the third construction step of the structural framework of the steel house according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a schematic view showing the fourth construction step of the structural framework of the steel house according to the present invention.

FIG. 5( a) is a detail view of a floor panel supporting structure.

FIG. 5( b) is a detail view of a floor panel supporting structure.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing wall panels being attached to a through vertical frame stud.

FIG. 7( a) is a perspective view of a wall panel.

FIG. 7( b) is a vertical cross-sectional view of a wall panel.

FIG. 8( a) is an explanatory plan view illustrating a step to attach wall panels to a through vertical frame stud.

FIG. 8( b) is an explanatory plan view illustrating a step to attach wall panels to a through vertical frame stud.

FIG. 9 is an explanatory plan view illustrating a step to attach wall panels to a through vertical frame stud.

FIG. 10( a) is a schematic view illustrating a design method for a steel house according to the conventional platform construction method.

FIG. 10( b) is a detail view of part C in FIG. 10(a).

FIG. 11( a) is an explanatory side elevation illustrating how upper and lower stories are joined together by the conventional platform construction method.

FIG. 11( b) is an exploded perspective view of metal connectors.

BEST MODE FOR PRACTICING THE INVENTION

FIGS. 1 to 4 are schematic views illustrating steps for constructing a structural framework of a steel house in an embodiment according to the present invention. FIGS. 5(a) and 5(b) are detail views of a floor panel support structure. FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing wall panels being attached to a through vertical frame stud. FIG. 7(a) and 7(b) are perspective and vertical cross-sectional views of a wall panel. FIGS. 8(a), 8(b) and 9 are explanatory plan views illustrating steps to attach wall panels to through vertical frame studs.

A brief description of the present invention is given by reference to schematic views in FIGS. 1 to 4. According to the steel house panel construction according to the present invention, the floor 19 of the ground story is completed first and, then, multiple through vertical frame studs 20 are erected thereon along and, at given intervals, the four sides of a rectangle (FIG. 1). Next, the ground story wall 22 is completed by attaching wall panels 21 for one story, from outside, to the vertical studs 20 disposed along the four sides of the rectangle (FIG. 2). Wall panels 21a and a lintel panel 28 thereabove form a doorway opening in the ground story wall 22 on two opposite sides, as shown in FIG. 2. The upper end of the wall panel 21b on the other two opposite sides are lower than the upper end of the wall panel 21a on the opposite sides, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3. Next, both ends of a floor panel 24 are mounted on the upper ends of the lower wall panels 21b on the two opposite sides (as shown in FIG. 5(a)).

The floor panel 21 is prepared by attaching a floor plate 32 to the top surface of floor joists (side and end joists) of light gage shapes made from sheet steel. Both ends of the floor panel 24 are connected to the upper ends of the wall panels 21a on the other two opposite sides that constitute the second story wall, as in the case of the ground story wall 22 (as shown in FIG. 5(b)). The ends of the floor joists 31 of the floor panel 24 may also be fastened to the wall frame 36 by way of angles or other horizontal support frames (not shown).

The wall panels 21 disposed along the four sides of a rectangle to form each story are attached to the through vertical frame studs 20, with the lower ends of all wall panels 21 are flush on all sides. Therefore, the upper and lower ends of the wall panels 21a of the upper and lower stories on two opposite sides are directly butt-connected. The ends of the wall panels 21a are connected by using appropriate metal connectors. The lower ends of the wall panels 21b of the upper story on the other two opposite sides hold the top surface of the both ends of the floor panel 24, as shown in FIG. 5(a).

According to the present invention, the ground story wall (the wall of a lower story) 22 is completed first by attaching the wall panels 21 to the through vertical frame studs 20 extending to the upper story, and then the second story (the wall of an upper story) is built by repeating the process described above. By permitting construction of structural frameworks, including walls, of individual stories from lower ones to upper ones, the method of the present invention has the same advantage, that heavy machines and scaffolds are unnecessary, as the conventional platform construction method. Besides, the method of the present invention does not need the hold-down hardware and metal connectors required by the conventional platform construction method that connects the wall panels of the upper and lower stories by way of floor panels, thus streamlining the details of structural frameworks and eliminating the shortcoming of the conventional platform construction method. The floor panel 21 may also be supported by methods other than placing both ends thereof on the upper ends of the wall panels 21b of the lower story.

Concrete structures of the wall panel 21 and the connection between the through vertical frame studs 20 and wall panels 21 are described by reference to FIG. 6 to 9. The wall panel 21 is prepared by fastening a structural face member (an outer wall face member) 37 to the outside of a wall frame 36 prepared by assembling vertical frames 33, a top frame 34 and a bottom frame 35 of light-gage shapes of sheet steel into a rectangular form, as shown in FIGS. 6 and 7. The wall panels 21 are shop-prefabricated and the walls of individual stories are constructed by fastening the wall panels 21 to the sides of the through vertical frame studs 20 from two or three directions, as shown in FIG. 6 and on. The face member 26 for the inner wall shown in FIG. 5 is formed by attaching a wall panel 21 to through vertical frame studs 20 and, then, is fastened to the inside of a wall frame 36 at the worksite.

In attaching wall panels 21 to a through vertical frame stud 20 of a square cross section, wall panels 21 constituting two girder walls and a wall frame of a wall panel 21 constituting a party wall (at this stage, the face member is not yet fastened to the wall frame 36 of the party wall) are brought close to three sides of the through vertical frame stud 20 from the three directions indicated by arrows in FIG. 8(a). Then, the back face of a vertical frame 33, which is a light-gage steel section made from sheet steel, for the wall frame 36 is put against a side of the through vertical frame stud 20, and the wall panel 21 is fastened to the through vertical frame stud 20 by driving a drill screw, a one-side bolt or other fastener 38 through the faces thereof held in contact. The thickness of the wall panel 21 constituting the wall frame 36 is not greater than the width of each side of the through vertical frame studs 20 that are erected at intervals. Therefore, the through vertical frame studs 20 are within the thickness of the wall frame 36 of each wall panel 21 and do not protruding from the side of the wall panel 21.

The present invention (1) streamlines details of the structural framework, eliminates the need for metal reinforcements, reduces work loads at jobsites and simplifies designs because walls of individual stories are constructed by attaching wall panels 21 of upper and lower stories to through vertical frame studs 20 extending to upper stories, and (2) achieves the improvement described in (1) above while maintaining the advantage of the conventional platform construction method by supporting both ends of the floor panel 24 on the upper ends of the wall panels 21 on two opposite sides.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY

The present invention has the following advantages:

(1) the present invention provides greater working efficiency than conventional technologies because vertical frame studs at intersections of wall panels or corners are extended to continue to upper stories and shop-prefabricated wall panels are connected thereto, from lower to upper stories. That is to say, the present invention dispenses with the troublesome task of attaching, at jobsites, structural face members to the wall frames, consisting of pre-erected through vertical frame studs, involved in the conventional construction method. (2) The present invention reduces jobsite work-loads and simplifies design by streamlining the details of structural frameworks and eliminating the need for hold-down hardware and other complex metal reinforcements. (3) The present invention achieves the improvement described in (2) above while maintaining the advantage of the conventional platform construction method that does not need heavy machines and scaffolds because individual stories can be built from below after erecting through vertical frame studs.

Claims

1. A steel house construction configuration made by constructing a structural framework by assembling vertical frame studs and wall panels erected on a foundation and a floor panel, characterized in that the vertical frame studs provided at intersections of the wall panels and corners are through studs continuing to upper stories, the wall panels are prepared by attaching a face member to a wall frame preparing by assembling light gage channels made from sheet steel into a rectangular form, and the walls of an upper story are constructed by connecting the wall panels for the upper story after the walls of a lower story have been constructed by connecting the wall panels for the lower story to said through vertical frame studs.

2. The steel house construction configuration according to claim 1, in which girder walls and party walls are constructed by placing said through vertical frame studs in the thickness of the wall panels by forming the vertical frame studs into a rectangular cross section and joining the wall panels to all sides of the rectangle by means of fasteners.

3. The steel house construction configuration according to claim 1, characterized in that the wall panels to be attached to the through vertical frame studs are disposed along the four sides of a rectangle that constitutes a room, the upper edges of the wall panels of the lower story on two opposite sides are positioned lower than the upper edges of the wall panels of the lower story on the other two opposite sides, and two opposite sides of a floor panel formed by attaching a floor plate to floor joists are supported on the upper end of the two lower wall panels on two opposite sides.

4. The steel house construction configuration according to claim 1, characterized in that in which the through vertical frame studs are made of steel sections, wood or steel-reinforced concrete.

5. The steel house construction configuration according to claim 1, characterized in that the vertical frame studs and wall panels are joined by using fasteners such as drill screws, bolts and one-side bolts.

6. A steel house construction method to construct a panel construction according to claim 1, characterized by erecting through vertical studs continuing to an upper story are erected on the ground, placing wall panels on four sides of a rectangle constituting a room on a lower story and connected to the through vertical frame studs, mounting two opposite sides of a floor panel for an upper story on the upper ends of the wall panels on the other two opposite sides of a lower story, connecting the other two opposite sides of the floor panel to through vertical frame studs, and constructing the walls and floors of upper stories by repeating said procedure.