Patent Application
20190106877
The present invention addresses to the field of Engineering, Civil Construction and, more specifically, to the area of Building Industrialization and vertical line of production, since it refers to an industrial process for building construction.
In the international market, we find companies that have a partial industrialization of the constructive components of the Building, for example, precast slabs and walls, bathrooms and others. However, these constructive elements are added to the building according to conventional processes. Because of the cost and frequency of maintenance, buildings are predominantly made of reinforced concrete, and the construction is done in a sequence of activities that evolves from the bottom up.
Pillars, beams and slabs are molded “in loco” in a repetitive process that happens in each floor, in a succession of works to make the formworks of the pillars and the beams, the shoring to support the formwork of the slab, if molded “in-place” or pre-molded panels, the assembly of steel armoring for pillars, beams, slabs and the installation of embedded elements. Naturally, these activities demand time because they are sequential and are exposed to the sun and rain, with random deformations that undermine the leveling, the vertical shafts and the squares requiring continuous manual revision of the alignments and leveling until the concreting of the slab that needs a cure of 28 days for the concrete to get resistance.
As the building goes up, the concreting of a new slab (depending on the project) requires the permanence of the shoring of one or two previous slabs, whereby the shoring is removed and transferred to two or three floors above to support the new slab. The vertical transport of material by internal winches (to the perimeter of the building) is intense and the use of external cranes is a frequent complementation.
The amount of material used in construction is large and requires intermediate storage as pavements become available, which causes a lot of handling loss.
The fitting of precast elements in the construction of buildings has to be very well planned because of the precariousness in which the receiving molds are prepared.
Unlike the conventional construction process, the construction technique described in this invention concentrates 70% of the civil construction activities if the chassis is of concrete and approximately 50% if it is of a metal structure at a single point at ground level. The construction steps are subjected to inspection during manufacturing and the tests of utility systems (embedded into the slab) are performed as a routine activity that adds quality to the product (building).
The proposed construction technique innovates not only due to design, but also by systems of:
The basic installation is a mold or formwork at the ground floor integrated into an operational platform where the handling of raw materials is processed: stone, sand, cement, steel sheets and bars, tubes and wires, dosed, densified, glued, welded, etc. are subjected to a heat treatment and are transformed into a monolithic concrete massive solid called chassis consisting of a slab (in concrete or metallic profiles) with hydro-sanitary systems, electrical duct networks, communication and signal networks that are embedded, tested and suitable for integration with the lower floors of the building through the vertical shafts and drop tubes in the stairwell and near the elevator shaft.
This is the basis of where the chassis rises at once, for each floor in a vertical line of production. Once the chassis is secured to the floor it will be released for completion of all installation and finishing activities while simultaneously the lower floor chassis is produced at the ground floor. Therefore, there will be simultaneous activities in all the fixed floors of the building, which constitutes a significant reduction of the time of execution of the work.
The logistics of the process foresee a “Ford” sequence of a certain amount of chassis, according to the floors of the new building and with serial execution where a new chassis can only be prepared after the previous one has been raised.
The architectural design for each building should adapt its occupancy needs to the floor area, respecting the positions of the columns. The insertion of elevators and stairs will be done by opening the necessary spans in the positions required by the designs.
Any minor alterations in the slab area, or in the overload, or in the internal installations, for a given product may be accepted, depending on technical evaluation, but in general these changes will require different designs, i.e., new chassis.
The geometrically arranged columns are guides for the vertical displacement of the rings. The geometry of the columns can be four or more profiles, in a configuration of a square or rectangle, hexagon, octagon, etc., depending on the area and height of the product (building).
The industrial process for the construction of buildings, denominated Zaina, is similar to the industrial assembly lines. The activities at the ground floor are repetitive, always in the same place, with easy access to the machines and personnel, where it is possible to use the more developed techniques of launching, densification and curing of the concrete, as well as assembling the metallic profiles, both for the connections by welding or screwing, with almost no generation of debris and waste.
Another relevant aspect is the vertical transport of building materials. While in the conventional process it is usual to use cranes or construction elevators, in the Zaina process all the building materials of each floor rise up on their respective chassis. This reduces external vertical transport to a people elevator and reduces the risk of accidents at the construction site.
This new construction process reduces construction time by at least half. It is estimated that a building with 325 m2 in reference floor, has a chassis run, hoisted, positioned and fixed on the respective floor in 15 days and the building of 10 floors completed in 10/12 months. The speed in the execution of the Building allows a significant reduction in the cost and the return of the investment.
Document U.S. Pat. No. 6,082,058 relates to a top-down, hydraulic-powered constructive method installed in a 2-story basement where the pumps operate and the oil tanks are located. The columns of the building are hollow to house the cylinders that make the elevation of the floors and the connections of screws and weld are used to fix the columns and beams of the pavements. The elevation is not at once; instead of that, it is made in scale with halts on all lower floors.
The slab lift processes, especially those using hydraulic cylinders that lift in successive steps, usually require a lot of time to lift the floors, are delicate and unstable. Any hydraulic process always involves its own infrastructure with the inherent risks of the process and leakage of the product with possibilities of environmental problems.
Such a document does not conflict with the present invention, as the Zaina constructive process adopts columns formed by a set of robust, interlocked, braced and interlocked metal profiles throughout the building and accommodates the cable system making the lifting of the chassis in one simple, fast, clean and safe way. The chassis are run in the same way for all floors of the building, one after the other, and are hoisted to the definitive positions in an industrial logistics of “vertical production line”, which assembly sequence is from top to bottom.
Document U.S. Pat. No. 3,468,084 refers to a bearing for slab support which allows the ascending passage of the slab and then makes the support, in a simple and independent manner. It allows the adjustment of the levels by means of wedge-type shims with automatic locking.
In the 1960s, the Americans developed a construction method for lifting slabs next to metal columns and was called “lift-slab type”. This sustaining support or slab seat is attached to the column and is capable of receiving and transferring the load from the slab to the column.
The Zaina construction process is very different because there are no single and independent devices for support. The slab is a single monolithic chassis that is the same for all pavements and has a structurally solid ring with eyebolts that are previously prepared to be connected to the eyebolts of the metal inserts of the columns, also previously prepared, by locking bars that are remotely driven when the chassis reaches the desired level for attachment to the column. Both ring and column eyebolts are compatible to ensure secure and perfectly level attachment.
Document U.S. Pat. No. 2,758,467 discloses a building slab construction apparatus which constitutes a step-by-step assembly with the hinged columns on each floor, i.e., the column has no structural continuity, even with many reinforcing devices on the links to seek some rigidity. The device comprises, in combination: a plurality of vertical support columns wherein there are at least two concentric lifting rods within each column, one in turn acting as a hydraulic jack for lifting. The hydraulic drive is done by a central from where the pressurized lines exit to move the jacks in a controlled way in each column. This system is hydraulic, complex, certainly time consuming and with restrictions as to the height of the building.
It is very far from the Zaina constructive process, which has columns formed by a set of robust, interconnected, braced and stiffened metal profiles, previously installed for any height of building, and which accommodate a system of steel cables that lift the monolithic chassis at once, cleanly, quickly and securely to the final positions of the floors from the highest to the lowest.
Document U.S. Pat. No. 2,686,420 describes a slab lift apparatus. The slabs are executed and accumulated at ground level with the proper cavity to receive the columns and this apparatus refers to the means for lifting these slabs. The lifting of the slabs is described as comprising a tensioning screw (endless screw) or lifting rod and a hydraulic jack mounted on each column. Elevation takes place in successive steps of floor by floor.
This document does not conflict with the Zaina construction process because it has an industrial concept similar to the assembly lines of machines and/or vehicles, adapted for a production column. The columns made of robust metal profiles are the first to be installed at the height of the building and are designed to accommodate all lifting cables. The chassis are manufactured in the same mold, one at a time, are monolithic with all utility systems embedded, perfectly leveled and hoisted as soon as they have been run, by a system of steel cables at once to the floor where it will be installed in the columns, through remotely actuated locking rods in an easy, fast, clean and safe way from the highest to the lowest floor.
The present invention relates to the construction process called Zaina, designed to industrialize building construction. As in an industry that receives raw materials and turns them into a product, the Zaina construction process establishes a vertical line of analogous production and which end product is a building. It is an industrial process that is installed in the place of delivery of the product, i.e., the building.
The construction conceived as an industrial process is comprehensive and involves the design starting from the structural concept. The number of columns must be (four) or more, depending on the area of the reference floor and the height of the building and will consist of a set of robust metallic profiles and distributed in the vertices of geometric figures such as a square, rectangle, hexagon, octagon, etc.
The reference floor plan for four-column buildings is basically a rectangle with a longitudinal central corridor and two stairs, one at each end and elevators in the center. The plan is divided into 2 halves which fluid facility sewage is directed to the stairwells where drop pipes or vertical shafts will be housed in an easily accessible cabinet to receive the effluent from the floors and transfer them to ground level.
The networks of power, command, telephony, signal, etc. electrical installations will be housed in 2 shelves, one on each side of the elevator shaft, to meet their respective half area.
The metal profiles of the columns, sized to withstand the static and dynamic loads of the building, are interconnected, braced and stiffened with the metallic inserts where the eyebolts are installed, and the keys or tongues that when remotely actuated by screws of thread without end, they move 6 or 7 cm to fit into the eyebolts of the metal ring of the chassis to lock the pavement. In two opposite profiles of each column will be installed a rack from top to bottom to allow the traffic of a removable elevator for up to 2 people.
The Zaina construction process consists of the integration of hydro-sanitary, gas, electric installations and communication network to the structural system hardware inside a mold or formwork at the ground level. This formwork that accommodates the hardware of beams and slabs, metal inserts and embedded utility systems under an operational platform receives the handling of raw materials for execution “in loco” of a monolithic chassis that is the pavement itself of each floor.
These chassis run in the same formwork, for all floors of the building one after the other and therefore each one that gets ready needs to be removed to the end of the vertical production line, i.e., to the last floor of the building, to give sequence in the production that is an inherent procedure of the process.
These chassis are hoisted at once to the definitive positions in an industrial logistics of “vertical production line”, which assembly sequence is from top to bottom, i.e., from the highest to the lowest floor.
This constructive process abandons manufacturing and industrializes the building. The product is a standardized building identified by the number of floors (6, 8, 10, 12, n) and area (x m2) of the pavement with multiple occupancy possibilities (Residential apartments, Commercial units, Hotels, Hospitals, Schools, Parking lots and etc.).
The present invention describes the industrial process for building buildings comprising the steps of:
It is important to point out that, before beginning the construction process as described here, some steps inherent to any type of construction are necessary:
After the completion of these pre-steps, the industrial process of building construction will begin.
In step (b), the foundation block of the columns will be embodied, in accordance with
After positioning and fixing the columns, the foundation block will have the finished concrete (both by steam curing) with the rag bolts grated and torqued to ensure the lifting of the chassis.
Clamps and/or tie rods to anchor the metallic formwork with the surface prepared to receive the casting of all the chassis of the building will also be executed in this area.
In step (c), the operational platform will be prepared at the site of the construction immediately after the execution of the foundation blocks and the Formwork in compacted flat area and with paved accesses, according to
On the fixed formwork on the floor, with adequate space for the assembly of the metal ring, above the foundation block and next to the starter of the columns will be assembled the steel armors of both the beams and the slabs, for a concreting in two levels to allow utilities to be installed and accelerate concrete curing time.
At a level just above the Formwork, mobile platforms (expansive swivel arms) will be installed that will allow people and materials access to the assembly, checking, testing and sampling work of both hardware and concrete and of utility grids across the entire chassis surface. The accessibility of the responsible professionals and technicians is fundamental to the performance of the tests of quality of materials and services as well as of the operation of the utility grids that are embedded in the chassis. A little away from the perimeter of the chassis, there will be a grid of utilities to meet the productive activities (water, compressed air, energy, steam, communication, floodlights, etc.) and in the ground a drainage network to guarantee a circulation of machines and people in a dry, clean stable and safe area. These devices that we call the operational platform are installed at the ground floor and allow access to the formwork that has the conformation of the bottom of the slab to be used for molding the chassis, which can be manufactured in: reinforced concrete with or without carbon fiber and/or prestressing steel; in metallic structure and/or mixed structure of metallic and concrete profiles.
A command cabin shall be installed at an elevation just above the operational platform with a panoramic view, outside the perimeter of the building, to follow all construction activities up and proceed with remote control of all chassis lift operations.
In step (d) the columns will be assembled, with the installation of the lifting and fitting cables of the first ring on the Formwork. The columns are made of rolled steel profiles, distributed in the vertices of geometric figures of 4 or more sides, to accommodate the installation of the drag cables with their respective accessories (blocks, slings, shackles, shoes, hooks and etc.). They are interconnected, braced, stiffened with bars containing holes, protrusions, through- and threaded holes, racks, and prepared to receive other engagement devices or lifting equipment, that are also metallic, in the sequence of assembly of the chassis, as shown in
The columns are manufactured in a boiler shop in four segments: the starter, the standard module, the top with pulleys and that of the water tank; are held in stock and transported and then assembled on site.
The first segment called “starter” is smaller and has a base plate with a hole for the rag bolts in order to facilitate handling during the placement. The other standard modules can be up to 15 meters long to meet the traffic conditions legislation in the streets and roads of São Paulo, Brazil. These measures may be altered in accordance with local transport legislation.
The last module is equipped with hydraulic cylinders and pulleys for tension adjustment in the cables and possible level correction for the support bar attachment and will be removed after lifting all the chassis to allow the installation of the water tanks.
The columns will be provided with small removable elevators that will externally surround the columns. In buildings with large pavement areas, the internal space between columns can be used by permanent elevators to carry people.
Column starters are short and relatively light segments to allow for easy handling and adjustment during the placement (positioning). However, the other segments of the columns require a crane to assemble them all, one after the other, and to enable the installation of the steel cable system for lifting the chassis. For a very tall building, upon the assembly, the columns will receive a locking at the top constituted by a frame of trussed metal beams. This crane should return at the end of the work to remove the last segment with the cables collected and the pulley at the top of the column, and assemble the metal reservoirs for fire water, drinking water and reuse water in the place thereof.
Once the foundation blocks have been completed, the specific modules of the columns will be mounted over the starters and in sequence those containing the pulleys.
The top pulleys are hydraulically supported to allow a millimetric vertical displacement with remote control in the cabin to allow the necessary adjustment of the lifting of the chassis for introduction of the locking bar through a hydraulic device into the holes of the chassis inserts and of the column to lock and support the floor in the final position.
The steel cables that will draw the chassis will also be as many as required and will be housed and anchored in metal inserts in the inscribed space of the columns with free access for the vertical displacements of the accessories, both in the vertical shaft of the metal ring hook of the chassis, as well as in the vertical shaft of the drag cable down to the pulley of the foundation block.
The hoisting cable system is previously prepared on the ground and consists of two motorized steel cable winders.
One of the cable winders contains the steel cable in its entire length, properly housed with the other accessories incorporated, and is attached to the column in the top segment near the pulleys.
The other winder also contains housed steel cables and is fixed to the first segment of the column, close to the starter.
In each column there will always be a pair of cable winders (one upper and one lower) for each steel cable, which will work together. The removable elevator allows the installation and removal of cables by a professional at the start and end of hoisting operations.
In step (e) the chassis will be casted into operational platform at the ground level. The chassis will be fitted with a sturdy metal ring, structurally integral and specially prepared to wrap and displace along the columns with a device to connect the lifting hooks and also the eyebolts for engaging the locking and supporting bars of the chassis.
This metal ring is circumscribed to the perimeter of the column and is inserted into the structural concrete of the chassis or welded in the profiles if the chassis is of a metallic structure, always ensuring the structural integration with the chassis, but totally isolated from the metallic formwork fixed to the ground to be hoisted together with the chassis.
The metallic ring, a key to the operation of the system, is split and its assembly takes place in the surroundings of the column starters by the union of the two parts that should engage in the formwork of the platform.
The chassis will be made in the same way in two phases to allow the placement of all “embedded elements” such as: electric wire conduits, telephone cables, computer cables and pipes for water pipes, sewage, gas, fire water, alarm systems, guides for fixing the sealing panels; of frames and for junction boxes, etc.
Finished the installing of the “embedded elements”, the chassis will be concreted and the concrete cured by steam, with strict quality control. The 3- to 4-day time required to reach the massive resistance will be used to correct an eventual deformation of the chassis and running of the hydro-sanitary installations at half height and also to deposit the finishing material and pavement seal on the surface of the chassis that will move up.
Thus, the chassis will be obtained after the second concreting phase when the concrete solidifies and becomes a rigid and resistant plate with all utility networks incorporated and tested. The slabs supported on the columns have a deformation in the center and free edges that grow proportionally with the increase in the distance between the columns. For each product, the sags in these points are evaluated and the correction to obtain the leveling of the chassis will be done with the application of propensity cables (Dywidag type) and/or carbon fiber in the manufacturing phase.
This time is what is needed to prepare winches, hoisting cables, locking rod drive devices for fixing the chassis to the columns, and small metal truss beams securing the personnel lift tower to the chassis.
On the scheduled day of hoisting, which should take from 2 to 6 hours, the productive activity on the operational platform will be temporarily halted until the chassis fixation is completed.
In the sequence, there will be made the inspections and tests to release the lifting of the chassis that will be fixed to the columns in the definitive position.
After the tests, when the chassis are ready for hoisting, the hydraulic devices will be mounted, which are responsible for actuating the displacement of the locking and lifting bars when the chassis reaches the designed level. These hydraulic devices are equipped with cameras to enable remote control in the command cabin.
As the chassis execution process is continuous as soon as it is executed, it must be transferred to the end of the production column, i.e., the highest pavement.
In strategic positions nozzles will be installed to inject compressed air in the formwork that is the removal of the chassis of the Formwork and to make the hoisting possible.
In step (f), the lifting columns will receive the chassis that are ready. The chassis will be erected with the columns as guides and fixed in a sequence from top to bottom, that is, first the penthouse, then the last floor, then the next to last floor and in this sequence to the lowest floor, i.e., the first as shown in
The foundation block houses an inner pulley that directs one or more steel cables that descend from the pulleys at the top of the column to the winch cable winder and allow adjustments in the location and elevation of the columns, since the process is industrial and accuracy is millimetric.
The hoist is made by steel cables that hang from the pulleys at the top of the columns engage the hooks in the insertion elements of the metal ring of the chassis and are driven by drag winches located outside the perimeter of the building, as shown in
The hoisting process can be done by hydraulic winches installed at the top of the columns or by winches on the ground, which must work simultaneously synchronously to draw the cables and perform lifting of the chassis.
Winches installed in the ground in opposite positions along the longitudinal axis of the building, on suitable foundations a little further from the perimeter of the chassis must have high traction capacity for drag and low speed of the cable.
The diameter of the cable winders shall accommodate the entire length of the cable in a single turn, which requires lifting the chassis to the final position in the most unfavorable condition.
The winches must be braked, mechanically locked and operated with programmed halts under remote control.
After being connected to the metal ring hooks of the chassis, the cables will be subjected to an initial tension adjustment prior to lifting. This adjustment will be made by the vertical displacement of the pulley at the top of the columns promoted by hydraulic devices under remote control and will ensure that the robust winches with large load capacity will work simultaneously synchronized and with constant speed.
At the start of the hoisting operation, the fasteners of the steel cable conditioning system of the upper cable winder in the columns will be released; however, the two ends of the steel cable will be kept fixed, wherein the steel cable of the lower cable winder pulls the traction hook of the metal ring of the chassis throughout the column height.
Then the same lower winder cable pulls one of the now released ends of the steel cable that passes over the pulley and is housed in the upper winder to be connected to the tow winch. The other end will remain fixed on the upper cable winder. During the process, whenever a chassis rises, it is necessary to pull back the hook for connection to the next chassis. At the end of hoisting operations, the cables will be collected on both the lower and upper cable winder with all the incorporated accessories.
The upper winder, which houses the entire length of cable required for the hoisting procedure, is conditioned and fixed to the column in the top segment with the pulleys to be removed and to give rise to the installation of the water tank. The lower winder, which has thinner steel cable and smaller length, is simply removed for later use.
When the chassis reaches the programmed position, it will need to be mechanically automatically locked to allow the cable to be re-adjusted, if necessary, by means of small displacements of the pulleys at the top of the column until it reaches the correct elevation for allow the locking rods to be inserted into the holes of the insertion elements in the column.
Winches and other hoisting devices, operating under a unified command, need to work synchronously and harmonically integrated into the process.
The chassis after hoisting, positioning and locking will have a tray mounted on the lower part in each column, fixed by special screws, to receive a grouting that assures the perfect and solid support of the chassis in the column.
In parallel, in step (g) there will continuously be the closing and finishing activities of the floors in the top-down assembly sequence.
As soon as the chassis are fixed to the columns, the installation of the panels (in plasterboard, dry wall, cement board, etc.) will be started to divide, isolate and complete the “half-height” of the hydro-sanitary installations with their respective doors, windows and other constructive elements.
In step (h), the insertion of elevators and ladders that will preferably be metallic will be released for execution soon after the fixation of the chassis of the first floor and at the end of the fixation of the chassis the last module of the columns will be replaced by another module with reservoirs that meet the demand for drinking water, for fire and reuse water.
After that, in step (i) there will be the interconnection of utility systems with the feeding grids and the and effluent elements of the systems with the vertical shafts and/or down pipes to connect to the header networks for reuse or disposal, as well as the interconnection of other electrical systems, telephone systems, signal, etc.
Finally, in step (j) there will be the removal of the operational platform and the Formwork for concreting of the floor with execution of constructions foreseen in the architectural project.
The entire operation, not only of manufacturing, but also of lifting and fixing the chassis are controlled through monitors in a Command Cabin to ensure quality, time, cost and safety.
After the finished process, external treatments for vehicle parking and landscaping take place. In case of buildings in reinforced concrete, it is recommended that the ground floor subsoil be preserved. A possible excavation of the subsoil for car parking construction, according to conventional procedures, may occur outside the perimeter of the building. However, if the building is in metallic structure, there are no restrictions on the occupation of the subsoil.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| BR10 2016 0079268 | Apr 2016 | BR | national |
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/BR2017/000033 | 4/10/2017 | WO | 00 |
