The present invention relates to modular buildings.
It is well known to provide for modular building structures in which a plurality of prefabricated, portable, modular units are assembled into a complete building construction. Such structures are typically used in circumstances where accommodation is needed in an emergency or on a temporary basis and this has to be rapidly and easily assembled to meet the demand for emergency habitable structures in times, for example, of natural or other disasters. In addition, such buildings are often required in remote locations by workers employed in the construction industry where temporary accommodation is needed during the term of the construction project.
There is a need for an all-purpose modular building system that can be exploited by both the residential and commercial construction sectors of industry. To date, portable and prefabricated building designs have not proved suitable for application in both sectors. Modular buildings have the advantages that they are easy and quick to erect, dismantle or relocate, are readily transportable, and flexible in that they are re-configurable to meet changing size or other requirements. Unfortunately existing designs of such buildings are generally of a temporary nature and are not suited to long-term or permanent applications.
Existing modular buildings suffer from several disadvantages including: racking which causes wear and tear to the structure of the building and often leads to leaks, creaks and structural damage; condensation; inadequate interior temperature control; ineffective noise insulation; and an excessive ingress of dirt and dust (particularly in environments such as construction sites).
A modular building structure that obviates or mitigates the aforesaid disadvantages is described in my PCT patent application No. WO 00/01898. The modular building structures described therein comprise a corridor walkway module to which are connected separate accommodation modules that form offices or accommodation etc. The floor or ceiling of the corridor walkway carries mains services to the accommodation modules. The structures have improved life expectancies whilst retaining the benefits of modular construction.
The object of the present invention is to provide for a modular building structure that is an improvement over the designs described in my aforementioned PCT application.
According to a first aspect of the present invention there is provided a building module having an open-ended box structure with top, bottom and opposed side walls and comprising a plurality of interconnected coaxial module segments each being moulded as an open-ended box structure from a composite material, at least one of the segments having a strengthening beam spanning the opposed side walls.
The segmented structure of the building module of the present invention provides for a very flexible arrangement in which the length of a module can be varied by selection of the appropriate number of segments. By moulding the composite material of one or more segments around a lifting frame the module is compact but easily transportable. The open-ended box structure provides for a very rigid construction without the need for expensive superstructures or foundations and with resistance to racking. Moulds may be produced of different widths.
The beam provides extra strength to counteract racking or other similar movement and provides a neat and compact formation on which a floor or ceiling structure can be mounted. It is preferably connected to one or other of the top and bottom walls.
The strengthening beam may be connected to the bottom wall and may support a floor structure or may be, additionally or alternatively, connected to the top wall and may support a ceiling structure. The beam or beams may be integrally moulded with the segment.
The beam of each segment preferably has ports to allow passage of service conduits below the module floor or above the module ceiling. Service conduits such as water or waste pipes and electrical cables can thus be disposed easily below floor or above ceiling level before passing through the floor or ceiling to feed appliances in the module.
At least one of the segments may have an integral lifting frame by which the module may be lifted for transportation or assembly into a building structure.
In a preferred embodiment at least two of the segments have a lifting frame and the frames are interconnected by a plurality of elongate support members.
The elongate support members may be connected to the segments via part of the lifting frame.
At least some of said elongate support members may be disposed above a ceiling of the module and at least some of said elongate support members may be disposed, additionally or alternatively, below a floor of the module. In each case the members preferably pass through apertures in the corner of the segment and ideally through apertures in the beams.
In a preferred embodiment the end segments of the module have integral frames and a mid-module segment also has an integral frame.
The frame may comprise a pair of spaced substantially vertical posts interconnected by upper and lower cross-members. The posts may be connected to the cross-members by means of corner plate members.
Preferably the corner plate members comprise first and second connector portions disposed substantially at a right angle to each other. Furthermore, the first and second connector portions may be joined by an intermediate arcuate portion in which part of the post is received.
The corner plate may be connected to the elongate support member.
Ideally the posts have adjustable feet for altering the height of the module relative to the ground.
An upper end of the post may be fitted with a lifting attachment by which the module may be lifted. Alternatively an upper end of the post is fitted with an inter-module connector for interconnecting vertically adjacent modules.
The exterior of the side and end walls of the module may have at least one channel in which is received a resiliently flexible material.
The composite material is preferably a water extendable polyester resin with a mineral filler.
At least one of the segments may have an upper wall in which there is disposed reinforcing mesh material.
The segments may be connected to one another by a tongue and groove formation. Although alternative joints may be used.
The module has a side wall in which there may be ports that allow passage of service conduits. Such ports allow the service conduits to pass laterally of the module to adjacent modules or elsewhere, preferably above ceiling level or below floor level. The segments are preferably of a unitary construction but may be formed of one or more connected parts.
According to a second aspect of the present invention there is provided a building structure comprising a plurality of building modules as defined above.
According to a third aspect of the present invention there is provided a building structure comprising a plurality of interconnected open-ended box structure building modules, wherein there is provided a resiliently deformable material sandwiched between adjacent walls of at least two modules.
A specific embodiment of the present invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:
a and 16b are part-sectioned views of an upper portion of the post of
a and 17b show part-sectioned views of a lower portion of the post of
a and 25b are sectioned side views of part of two modules of the present invention and illustrate the interconnection between adjacent modules;
Referring now to the drawings, an exemplary embodiment of a modular building structure of the present invention is illustrated in
The building modules 10, 11 are each constructed from a plurality of coaxial segments 15 of open-ended box shape as shown in schematic arrangement in
In the exemplary embodiment shown in
Each intermediate segment 19 (shown in detail in
The remaining segments are of the same general construction as the intermediate segments. Features that differ from the intermediate segments will be described below.
The front end fascia segment 16 (
The rear end fascia segment 17 (
The mid-support segment 18 is of substantially the same configuration as the front end fascia segment 16 and has only a vertical beam 39 that corresponds to those on the front and rear end fascia segments 16, 17.
The side walls of each of the segments may have internal vertical conduits formed during the moulding process. These are used, typically, to receive electrical cables. The conduits extend from below the floor to above the ceiling.
Moreover, suitable blanks in the modules may be used to form openings in the side walls for doors or windows.
The segments 15 of each building module are held together by four parallel longitudinally extending tie bars 40 that pass through the aforementioned corner apertures 30 of each segment 16-19 as shown in
The front and rear end segments 16, 17 are moulded around the end frame 42 components of the lifting frame as shown in
Each of the posts 44 of the end frames 42 have vertically spaced spigots 57 for connection to lifting tackle (not shown in the drawings). The post may also be fitted at vertically spaced intervals with a cladding support member that projects to the outer surface of the moulded segment and has exposed sockets for the receipt of fixings that secure cladding to the module surface.
Referring now to
The upper end of each post 44 is closed by a cap 65 that has a central threaded aperture 66 for receiving fastenings as shown in
At the lower end of the posts 44 the support legs 61 may be replaced by a half grommet fastening 69 has shown in
The dotted lines 73 in
The top ends of the posts 44 of the lifting frame 41 are exposed to the exterior surface of the upper wall 21 of the module as shown in
The interconnection of adjacent modules 10, 11 is illustrated in
Where an end face of a module is connected to the side wall 23 of another (e.g. a corridor) the grommet housings are received in parts 33 of the beams 31 of the end fascia and two half fillet strips 80 (shown in
Vertically stacked modules are separated by a fillet pad 81 (shown in
The same basic structure of an accommodation module can be used to form a stairwell 90 as is shown in
The service module 105 contains a water boiler 110 for the supply of hot water to each of the accommodation modules 107 via water conduits 111, and electrical switchgear 112. The water conduits 111 pass along the corridor module 106 (under the floor or above the ceiling) and feed into a bathroom unit 113 in each accommodation module 107. The boiler 110 also feeds a central heating system and the associated conduits 114 pass from the boiler 110 laterally out of the side wall ports 27 in the service module 105 and into the adjacent accommodation module 108 through side wall ports 27 under the floor 12. The conduits 114 connect to a radiator 115 in that module and pass through the side wall ports 27, 34 and/or the ports 28, 29, 31, 32, 33 in the beams to radiators 115 in each of the successive modules as shown, before returning to the boiler 110.
Each module is similarly attached to an external waste disposal system 120 with waste conduits 121 passing laterally under the module floor 12 from the bathroom fixtures of each module to connect with the main waste disposal system outside the module.
It will be appreciated that the segmented configuration of the modules allows modules of differing sizes to be constructed. In
It is to be appreciated that whilst the aspects of the present invention have been described with reference to exemplary embodiments taking the form of hotel modules, they may apply to other building structures such as, for example, offices, leisure, retail or industrial complexes or other forms of accommodation.
The general open-ended box structure with strengthening beams provides for a very versatile and robust building module.
The open-end box configuration provides the versatility in that it can be connected to another module in many different ways (e.g. end-to-end or end-to-side) and can receive any suitable end wall for the particular application.
The strengthening beams provide rigidity against racking or other deformation of the box structure and may conveniently be used to support a floor and/or ceiling structure.
The segmented configuration of the structure provides for versatility in that a module may be constructed of any desired length. Moreover, such a configuration permits easy manufacture by moulding.
The segments may be produced in a range of different sizes to suit different applications. In addition to differences in depth, the relative lengths, and thickness of the walls or the width of the segments may be varied.
The provision of ports in the side walls and beams at regular intervals enhances the modular and flexible nature of the product. The side wall ports allow services to be provided from any direction. This is in contrast to the arrangement described in my aforementioned patent application in which services were provided along a corridor for supply through an end face of each building module. The present arrangement eliminates the need for a supply corridor module.
It is also to be appreciated that numerous embodiments may be made to the described embodiments without departing from the scope of the present invention as defined in the appended claims. For example, the end frame section of the lifting frame may be provided only one segment where the module is short in length, although end frames are preferably provided at least on each end segment. In an alternative embodiment the lifting frame may be eliminated entirely.
This application is a continuation and claims priority from the U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/363,351, filed Aug. 1, 2003 now abandoned, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
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Number | Date | Country | |
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20060130422 A1 | Jun 2006 | US |
Number | Date | Country | |
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Parent | 10363351 | Aug 2003 | US |
Child | 11287476 | US |