The present invention relates to foundations for manufactured buildings. More particularly, the present invention relates to a ground pan that reduces frost heaving occurrences to foundations of manufactured buildings.
Manufactured buildings, such as manufactured or mobile homes and offices, are manufactured remote from an instillation site and moved on wheels to the installation site. The manufactured building typically includes long, longitudinal support beams underneath the building to support the floor of the building. During typical installation, a plurality of piers placed between a ground pan and the support beam support the building level on the site. Installed manufactured buildings also are connected to foundation systems to resist lateral and longitudinally wind forces on the building. These foundation systems use a ground pan and an elongated strut connected at a lower end to the ground pan and at the upper end to a support beam of the manufactured building. The elongated strut can be oriented parallel to a longitudinal axis of the support beam or extend laterally from underneath one support beam to connect to the adjacent support beam of the manufactured buildings. Such foundations provide resistance to wind forces in both the lateral and longitudinal directions.
While these foundation assemblies have been successful in resisting wind loads on installed manufactured buildings, there are drawbacks to usage of these foundations in regions of the country in which the ground experiences frost heave. Heave in soil occurs when the water in the ground freezes. The freezing water expands, and causes the ground to heave up or rise up or swell. Frost heave causes the foundation ground pans (or pads) to move. This movement is communicated to the house through the enlongated struts between the ground pan and the support beam, and may contribute to the house becoming out of level. A building that is not level can result in openings in the building becoming out of skew. This causes doors to become skewed and not open or close properly such as in doorways and cabinetry. Windows likewise become difficult to open and close.
It is believed that there are three factors that contribute to frost heave. These factors are the soil being sufficiently saturated with water, the atmospheric temperature, and the duration of the saturation and cold temperatures. Efforts to resist frost heave have been made. Typically in areas that experience significant frost heave, the foundation must be engineered and extend below the frost line. This requires excavation of an in-ground footing and installation of a rigid or engineered foundation such as concrete footers and pilings. In other areas, skirting attaches around the perimeter of the manufactured home. The skirting extends from a lower edge of the manufactured home to the ground. The skirting encloses the space between the ground and the bottom of the manufactured home. The skirting also prevents flow of air under the home. Skirting used on the perimeter of manufactured buildings placed at sites with pier supports is not entirely successful in reducing or eliminating frost heave. Even with skirting, manufactured buildings placed at sites with pier supports and not engineered foundations, are susceptible to frost heave of the ground below the ground pan.
Accordingly, there is a need for an improved ground pan to support piers and foundation of manufactured buildings while resisting frost heave. It is to such that the present invention is directed.
The present invention meets the need in the art by providing a foundation system for supporting a manufactured building having a support beam, comprising a ground pan having a planar surface received on a ground surface and a thermally insulative cap disposed on the ground pan, whereby the ground pan and thermally insulative cap define in situ a proximate thermally isolated ground column thereunder, with a pier positioned on the ground pan and extending into contact with the support beam for vertically supporting the support beam and transferring the mass of the manufactured home to the ground pan, whereby the thermally insulative cap restricts communication of heat from the proximate thermally isolated ground column for resisting frost heave.
In another aspect, the present invention provides a method of resisting frost heave of a foundation system that supports a manufactured building having a support beam, comprising the steps of:
(a) installing a ground pan on a ground surface;
(b) disposing a thermally insulative member on the ground pan;
(c) connecting a foundation support system to the ground pan and to a support beam of a manufactured building,
whereby the ground pan and thermally insulative member define in situ a proximate thermally isolated ground column thereunder, which thermally insulative member restricts communication of heat from the proximate thermally isolated ground column for resisting frost heaving.
Objects, advantages, and features of the present invention will be apparent upon a reading of the detailed description together with observing the drawings and reading the appended claims.
With reference to the drawings, in which like elements have like identifiers, the present invention provides a thermal isolator ground pan 10 for use with a foundation generally 12 of a manufactured buildings 14. Manufactured buildings have at least one longitudinally extended support beam 16, and typically two, or more, such support beams. The ground pan 10 seats on the ground generally 18. The ground pan 10 interacts with the ground 18 for resisting movement. Typically, this is accomplished by providing ground blades 20 that extend in a first direction substantially perpendicularly from a top surface of the ground pan. For example, opposing side edges of the ground pan 10 fold over to define a pair of opposing ground blades 20 that extend a first distance 24 from the top surface. In the illustrated embodiment, the ground pan 10 is formed from a metal sheet. The ground pan 10 includes ground blades that extend from a perimeter of the ground pan and includes a plurality of legs 26, with each leg extending from adjacent ground blades at intersections thereof. The legs 26 extend to a distal extent 28 that is a second distance 30 from the top surface, with the second distance 30 greater than the first distance 24.
The ground pan 10 includes a thermally insulative member 32. In the illustrated embodiment, the thermally insulative member 32 is a sheet that sits on the top surface of the ground pan 10 that spaces or separates the sheet from contact with the ground surface such as that below the ground pan, and can be attached such as with an adhesive. The thermally insulative sheet 32 is a foam sheet such as a STYROFOAM panel or sheet. In an alternate embodiment, the thermally insulative sheet 32 is defined by a spray-on thermal material. The spray-on thermal material sticks or attaches to the ground pan. In an alternate embodiment, the thermally insulative sheet (or spray-on material) seats inwardly on a bottom surface of the ground pan. The sheet 32 provides a thermally insulative layer or coating of between about ¼ inch to ½ inch, or other thickness suitable for restricting thermal communication, as discussed below.
A pier 34 positioned on the ground pan 10 extends between the ground pan and the support beam 16 for vertically supporting the support beam and for transferring the mass of the manufactured home to the ground pan. The pier in the illustrated embodiment comprises a stack of concrete blocks but can be a wood beam or other suitable load bearing material. The pier 34 can sit on the thermal sheet 32, or in a pocket or opening (see 71 in
In the illustrated embodiment, a wood pad 36 seats between an upper surface of the pier 34 and the lower flange of the support beam 16. Conventionally, the wood pad 36 can be tapered for wedging between the pier 34 and the support beam 16.
The ground pan 10 and the thermally insulative sheet 32 cooperatively define in situ a substantially axially aligned ground column generally 38 with a thermally isolated ground column 40 proximate the ground pan 10. The ground column 38 below a frost line generally 42 communicates (generally 43) ground heat into the proximate thermally isolated ground column 40.
With reference to
It is to be appreciated that the thermally isolative ground pan 10 finds gainful use in an alternate embodiment in which the pier or the foundation supports are elongated steel members extending between the ground pan and the support beam. For example the foundation can include or use lateral elongated members and/or longitudinal elongated members (relative to a longitudinal axis of the support beam 16). For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,634,150 discloses a foundation for manufactured homes that uses a lateral brace having a bottom end pivotably supported by the ground pan and a upper end pivotably attached to a beam connector adapted for clamping attachment to a lateral flange of a second support beam lateral of the first support beam. U.S. Pat. No. 7,140,157 discloses a foundation system for a manufactured building for preventing longitudinal movement.
With reference now to the drawings,
During use of the foundation system 60, the arms 62 communicate loading and wind forces to the ground pan 10, while the ground pan and the thermally insulative sheet 32 cooperatively define in situ the ground column 38 and the proximate thermally isolated ground column 40 relative to the ground pan 40 and the frost line 42. The thermally insulative sheet 32 caps the ground pan 10 and restricts heat communication from the ground column 38, and thus reduces occurrences of freezing of the proximate thermally isolated ground column 40. It is to be appreciated that an alternate embodiment can have a single arm 62 (not illustrated) connected to a load bearing ground pan 40 using a pier, and gainfully use the termally insulative sheet 32.
During use of the foundation system 70, the elongated struts 79 in the lateral brace assembly communicate loading and wind forces to the ground pan 10, while the ground pan 10 and the thermally insulative sheet 32 cooperatively define in situ the ground column 38 and the proximate thermally isolated ground column 40 relative to the ground pan 10 and the frost line 42. The thermally insulative sheet 32 caps the ground pan 10 and restricts heat communication from the ground column 38, and thus reduces occurrences of freezing of the proximate thermally isolated ground column 40.
It is to be appreciated that a foundation may readily provide both lateral and longitudinal load resistance by using a longitudinal strut or arm 62 as illustrated in
As with the embodiments discussed above and also with reference to
While the present invention is applied with disclosed foundations having ground pans, it is to be appreciated that the thermal insulative member can readily be used with other anchoring members such as helical shafts or anchors that connect to support beams of the manufactured building for resisting loads.
The present invention accordingly provides the foundation for manufactured buildings with the ground pan to cooperatively with the thermally insulative sheet for defining the proximate thermally isolated ground column to cap communication of ground heat therefrom and thereby resist frost heave occurrences. While this invention has been described in detail with particular references to illustrated embodiments thereof, it should be understood that many modifications, additions and deletions, in additions to those expressly recited, may be made thereto without departure from the spirit and scope of the invention.
The present application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 61/177,103, filed May 11, 2009.
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Number | Date | Country | |
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20100307073 A1 | Dec 2010 | US |
Number | Date | Country | |
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61177103 | May 2009 | US |