Patent Application
20240060289
Embodiments of the invention relate generally to structural framing systems. More particularly, embodiments of the invention relate to a foldable steel structural framing system that can reduce on-site framing time.
The following background information may present examples of specific aspects of the prior art (e.g., without limitation, approaches, facts, or common wisdom) that, while expected to be helpful to further educate the reader as to additional aspects of the prior art, is not to be construed as limiting the present invention, or any embodiments thereof, to anything stated or implied therein or inferred thereupon.
As the population grows, the demand for housing is increasing. To adapt to this change, solutions are sought out as to how to improve traditional construction methods by making the way houses are built modular and simple, thus increasing the speed of construction. In the traditional construction method, framing is a required process, but can prove both time-consuming and laborious.
Conventional basic framing structure includes a sole plate and a top plate with wall studs spanning therebetween. Typically, this structure is built on-site with wood or steel structural elements. This requires substantial on-site labor to erect such a framing structure. Further, such framing may be performed before the outer envelope of the structure is complete, subjecting the materials and builders to the environment during the laborious construction process.
In view of the foregoing, there is a need for an improved framing process that can reduce required on-site labor time in constructing a building frame.
Embodiments of the present invention relate to a foldable steel frame structure that allows people to finish the steel structure building framing process very quickly. The frames can be manufactured in the factory and can be transported to a construction site by folding into substantially flat pieces. Then, the framing process includes spreading the folded framing structure out and locating them in specific locations. By joining several frames together, a one-story building can be formed. By piling on the layers, a building structure can be formed. In addition to faster erection as compared to conventional framing processes, embodiments of the present invention permit the disassembly of the structure to, for example, move the structure to other places. Therefore, the frame structure according to embodiments of the present invention can also be treated as a mobile house structure.
Embodiments of the present invention provide a building frame comprising at least two end frame structures, each end frame structure including: a side wall beam assembly including an upper side wall beam and a lower side wall beam; first and second corner columns attached at respective ends of the side wall beam assembly, wherein the upper side wall beam attaches to an upper end of the first and second corner columns and the lower side wall beam attaches to a lower end of the first and second corner columns; a front wall beam assembly including an upper front wall beam and a lower front wall beam, the front wall beam assembly pivotably attached, with a first pivot connection, at an attachment end thereof to the first corner column, wherein the upper front wall beam attaches to an upper end of the first corner column and the lower front wall beam attaches to a lower end of the first corner column; a rear wall beam assembly including an upper rear wall beam and a lower rear wall beam, the rear wall beam assembly pivotably attached, with a second pivot connection, at an attachment end thereof to the second corner column, wherein the upper rear wall beam attaches to an upper end of the second corner column and the lower rear wall beam attaches to a lower end of the second corner column; and first and second end studs, the first end stud spanning between the upper front wall beam and the lower front wall beam at an end opposite the attachment end thereof, the second end stud spanning between the upper rear wall beam and the lower rear wall beam at an end opposite the attachment end thereof, wherein each of the at least two end frame structures are operable to attach to each other to form a building frame; and each of the at least two end frame structures are movable between a flat, folded configuration, and an expanded configuration having a squared C-shape.
Embodiments of the present invention further provide a steel building frame comprising at least two end frame structures, each end frame structure including: a side wall beam assembly including an upper side wall beam and a lower side wall beam; first and second corner columns attached at respective ends of the side wall beam assembly, wherein the upper side wall beam attaches to an upper end of the first and second corner columns and the lower side wall beam attaches to a lower end of the first and second corner columns; a front wall beam assembly including an upper front wall beam and a lower front wall beam, the front wall beam assembly pivotably attached, with a first pivot connection, at an attachment end thereof to the first corner column, wherein the upper front wall beam attaches to an upper end of the first corner column and the lower front wall beam attaches to a lower end of the first corner column; a rear wall beam assembly including an upper rear wall beam and a lower rear wall beam, the rear wall beam assembly pivotably attached, with a second pivot connection, at an attachment end thereof to the second corner column, wherein the upper rear wall beam attaches to an upper end of the second corner column and the lower rear wall beam attaches to a lower end of the second corner column; and first and second end studs, the first end stud spanning between the upper front wall beam and the lower front wall beam at an end opposite the attachment end thereof, the second end stud spanning between the upper rear wall beam and the lower rear wall beam at an end opposite the attachment end thereof, wherein each of the at least two end frame structures are movable between a flat, folded configuration, and an expanded configuration having a squared C-shape; and a middle frame structure, the middle frame structure comprising: a front wall beam assembly including an upper front wall middle frame beam and a lower front wall middle frame beam, the upper front wall middle frame beam having a first upper wall middle frame beam portion and a second upper wall middle frame beam portion, the lower front wall middle frame beam having a first lower wall middle frame beam portion and a second lower wall middle frame beam portion; a front wall column pivotably attached, with a seventh pivot connection, as its upper end, to first ends of the first and second upper wall middle frame portions, the front wall column further pivotably attached, with an eighth pivot connection, at its lower end, to first ends of the first and second lower wall middle frame portions; a first wall stud spanning second ends of the first upper and lower middle frame beam portions; a second wall stud spanning second ends of the second upper and lower middle frame beam portions; upper and lower fixed beams attached, at a first fixed beam end, to the front wall column, wherein, in a folded configuration, the upper and lower fixed beams are substantially parallel with the upper and lower front wall middle frame beams, and, in an expanded configuration, the upper and lower fixed beams are substantially orthogonal with the upper and lower front wall middle frame beams; a rear wall beam assembly including an upper rear wall middle frame beam and a lower rear wall middle frame beam, the upper rear wall middle frame beam having a first upper wall middle frame beam portion and a second upper wall middle frame beam portion, the lower rear wall middle frame beam having a first lower wall middle frame beam portion and a second lower wall middle frame beam portion; a rear wall column pivotably attached, with a ninth pivot connection, at its upper end, to first ends of the first and second upper wall middle frame portions of the rear wall beam assembly, the rear wall column further pivotably attached, with a tenth pivot connection, at its lower end, to first ends of the first and second lower wall middle frame portions of the rear wall beam assembly; a first rear wall stud spanning second ends of the first upper and lower middle frame beam portions; a second rear wall stud spanning second ends of the second upper and lower middle frame beam portions; upper and lower rear fixed beams attached, at a first fixed beam end, to the rear wall column, wherein, in a folded configuration, the upper and lower rear fixed beams are substantially parallel with the upper and lower rear wall middle frame beams, and, in an expanded configuration, the upper and lower rear fixed beams are substantially orthogonal with the upper and lower rear wall middle frame beams; and a central middle frame column pivotably connected, with an eleventh pivot connection, at its upper end, to the upper fixed beam and the upper rear fixed beam at respective second ends thereof, the central middle frame column further pivotably connected, with a twelfth pivot connection, at its lower end, to the lower fixed beam and the lower rear fixed beam at respective second ends thereof.
These and other features, aspects and advantages of the present invention will become better understood with reference to the following drawings, description and claims.
Some embodiments of the present invention are illustrated as an example and are not limited by the figures of the accompanying drawings, in which like references may indicate similar elements.
Unless otherwise indicated illustrations in the figures are not necessarily drawn to scale.
The invention and its various embodiments can now be better understood by turning to the following detailed description wherein illustrated embodiments are described. It is to be expressly understood that the illustrated embodiments are set forth as examples and not by way of limitations on the invention as ultimately defined in the claims.
The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the invention. As used herein, the term “and/or” includes any and all combinations of one or more of the associated listed items. As used herein, the singular forms “a,” “an,” and “the” are intended to include the plural forms as well as the singular forms, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms “comprises” and/or “comprising,” when used in this specification, specify the presence of stated features, steps, operations, elements, and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, steps, operations, elements, components, and/or groups thereof.
Unless otherwise defined, all terms (including technical and scientific terms) used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one having ordinary skill in the art to which this invention belongs. It will be further understood that terms, such as those defined in commonly used dictionaries, should be interpreted as having a meaning that is consistent with their meaning in the context of the relevant art and the present disclosure and will not be interpreted in an idealized or overly formal sense unless expressly so defined herein.
In describing the invention, it will be understood that a number of techniques and steps are disclosed. Each of these has individual benefit and each can also be used in conjunction with one or more, or in some cases all, of the other disclosed techniques. Accordingly, for the sake of clarity, this description will refrain from repeating every possible combination of the individual steps in an unnecessary fashion. Nevertheless, the specification and claims should be read with the understanding that such combinations are entirely within the scope of the invention and the claims.
In the following description, for purposes of explanation, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the present invention. It will be evident, however, to one skilled in the art that the present invention may be practiced without these specific details.
The present disclosure is to be considered as an exemplification of the invention and is not intended to limit the invention to the specific embodiments illustrated by the figures or description below.
As is well known to those skilled in the art, many careful considerations and compromises typically must be made when designing for the optimal configuration of a commercial implementation of any system, and in particular, the embodiments of the present invention. A commercial implementation in accordance with the spirit and teachings of the present invention may be configured according to the needs of the particular application, whereby any aspect(s), feature(s), function(s), result(s), component(s), approach(es), or step(s) of the teachings related to any described embodiment of the present invention may be suitably omitted, included, adapted, mixed and matched, or improved and/or optimized by those skilled in the art, using their average skills and known techniques, to achieve the desired implementation that addresses the needs of the particular application.
Broadly, embodiments of the present invention provide a mechanically foldable frame for a steel structure framing process. Since the framing process costs a lot of time in the house building process, a foldable steel structure can realize fast framing. The foldable frame structure includes beams and columns can be folded into flat frames for transportation. The foldable frame structure can save on-site operation time by replacing the framing process with factory-made mechanical equipment.
The spindles 404 may be disposed on an opening 402 in the platform 400 such that there is a space entirely about the spindle 404. The beams may be attached to the spindles by various manners. In some embodiments, the beams may be placed in position and the spindles 404 may be inserted from a top end of the column 204, for example. In some embodiments, the top of the columns may be removable to permit access to the spindle 404. Once the beam is attached, the top cover can be placed on top to block the spindle. In some embodiments, the top cover may also block the opening 402 after assembly.
All the features disclosed in this specification, including any accompanying abstract and drawings, may be replaced by alternative features serving the same, equivalent or similar purpose, unless expressly stated otherwise. Thus, unless expressly stated otherwise, each feature disclosed is one example only of a generic series of equivalent or similar features.
Claim elements and steps herein may have been numbered and/or lettered solely as an aid in readability and understanding. Any such numbering and lettering in itself is not intended to and should not be taken to indicate the ordering of elements and/or steps in the claims.
Many alterations and modifications may be made by those having ordinary skill in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Therefore, it must be understood that the illustrated embodiments have been set forth only for the purposes of examples and that they should not be taken as limiting the invention as defined by the following claims. For example, notwithstanding the fact that the elements of a claim are set forth below in a certain combination, it must be expressly understood that the invention includes other combinations of fewer, more or different ones of the disclosed elements.
The words used in this specification to describe the invention and its various embodiments are to be understood not only in the sense of their commonly defined meanings, but to include by special definition in this specification the generic structure, material or acts of which they represent a single species.
The definitions of the words or elements of the following claims are, therefore, defined in this specification to not only include the combination of elements which are literally set forth. In this sense it is therefore contemplated that an equivalent substitution of two or more elements may be made for any one of the elements in the claims below or that a single element may be substituted for two or more elements in a claim. Although elements may be described above as acting in certain combinations and even initially claimed as such, it is to be expressly understood that one or more elements from a claimed combination can in some cases be excised from the combination and that the claimed combination may be directed to a subcombination or variation of a subcombination.
Insubstantial changes from the claimed subject matter as viewed by a person with ordinary skill in the art, now known or later devised, are expressly contemplated as being equivalently within the scope of the claims. Therefore, obvious substitutions now or later known to one with ordinary skill in the art are defined to be within the scope of the defined elements.
The claims are thus to be understood to include what is specifically illustrated and described above, what is conceptually equivalent, what can be obviously substituted and also what incorporates the essential idea of the invention.
