WO2009126985A1

WO2009126985A1 - Collapsible / demountable building

Info

Publication number: WO2009126985A1
Application number: PCT/AU2008/000718
Authority: WO
Inventors: James Milloy
Original assignee: James Milloy
Priority date: 2008-04-15
Filing date: 2008-05-22
Publication date: 2009-10-22
Also published as: AU2008355063A1; AU2008101275A4

Abstract

A collapsible or demountable building comprising in combination of at least a roof and a floor; a pair of opposed walls, whereby each wall connecting the roof and the floor on the same side. The walls comprised of two or more side panels foldably hinged together where one or more collapsible scissors action braces associated with each wall. A mechanism associated with each scissors action brace adapted to raise or collapse the brace; wherein an operation, the building is placed in a storage and / or transportable configuration when the scissor braces are in the collapsed or non deployed position and wherein the roof and floor overlie and sandwich the side panels, and wherein by deploying the scissor braces to lift the roof panel away from the floor, the side panels are unfolded to form the walls, wherein the walls and the roof are supported by the fully deployed and extended scissor braces in a single operation to erect the building.

Description

COLLAPSIBLE/DEMOUNTABLE BUILDING

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to buildings in particular demountable or collapsible buildings such as dormitories and military operating theatres which are easily collapsible and erected particularly for field emergency operations and the like.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Prior art demountable or collapsible buildings are known. The application for such buildings in emergency situations such as natural disasters and in war zones is well known. Examples include remote housing used for various industries such as in mining and emergency housing in floods and cyclone caused disasters. Problems encountered with such situations include the fact that remoteness of location often acts as a barrier to such housing being supplied quickly, in great quantities and where the building structures are affordable and provide longevity in the face of adverse weather and terrain conditions. Portable houses often require wide roads with added expense of pilot vehicles and heavy machinery to carry the portable houses to the locations required. Temporary portable buildings in the form of tents also require constant upkeep of guyropes, ground Fixtures and fittings which are often difficult to affix successfully in many geographical locations. Furthermore where tents are used as operating theatres, there is a problem with cleanliness and hygiene due to the use of fabric such as canvas and fabric in the structure.

Where tents are to be used, inclement weather is also a major deterrent especially where there is heavy precipitation wherein the tents become saturated with water and are unpleasant to use as a form of shelter. Military application of tents as operating theatres is obviously an example where hygiene is very much an issue. In general, tents and current examples of portable shelters and buildings also require a long time to assemble and to remove from sites.

As previously mentioned more substantial buildings such as compact houses and mobile homes often require transport to the site requiring a pilot vehicle and a large transporter or truck. These units are usually transported in a completed form and often cannot get to remote locations easily.

Some examples of transportable homes are erected on site and can be transported in sections. Such buildings however require the use of tools and often a skilled trades person to erect the building. In these examples there is often the attendant need of having to have a power supply on hand and the possibility of requiring heavy machinery to lift panels and roofs into position.

Where tents are used as mentioned above, there is often a significant footprint required in terms of land space due to the ropes of the tent as an addition to the disadvantages already listed. Furthermore where prior art buildings are required to be erected, the site often has to be prepared by making it level and relatively clear of debris and natural vegetation. Viability and type of prior art building regiment is constrained by space, access to the space and the type of terrain which will determine ultimately the actual portable unit to be used.

OBJECT OF THE INVENTION

It is therefore object of the present invention to provide an improved demountable or collapsible building which seeks to ameliorate or eliminate some of the problems and limitations of prior art portable buildings or to at least provide the public with a useful choice.

SLA TEMENT OF INVENTION

According to one but not necessarily the only aspect, the invention resides in a collapsible or demountable building comprising in combination, at least a roof and a floor; at least a pair of opposed walls; each wall connecting the roof and the floor on the same side; the walls comprised of two or more side panels foldably hinged together; one or more collapsible scissors action braces associated with each wall; a mechanism associated with each scissors action brace adapted to raise or collapse the brace; wherein an operation, the building is placed in a storage and / or transportable configuration when the scissor braces are in the collapsed or non deployed position and wherein the roof and floor overlie and sandwich the side panels, and wherein by deploying the scissor braces to lift the roof panel away from the floor, the side panels are unfolded to form the walls wherein the walls and the roof are supported by the fully deployed and extended scissor braces in a single operation to erect the building.

Preferably the mechanism to raise or collapse the scissor braces are housed between adjacent floor joists supporting the floor panels.

Preferably the floor joists are located and positioned so that a user can lift by means of a forklift the building in either the erected or demounted configurations such as when the demounted buildings are stacked on top of one another for transportation or storage purposes.

Preferably the floor joists are at least 100mm and more preferably 150mm in depth to keep the floor panel off the ground and can be attached to galvanised metal footings to further raise or anchor the building.

Preferably the floor comprises a panel of sheet material supported by a floor joist structure.

More preferably the floor panel is a flat sheet of light gauge steel or can be constructed of a light metal alloy. In a preferred example, the floor can be covered with either a vinyl coating or a marine carpet for durability and to facilitate case of cleaning.

Preferably the side panels of the walls are comprised of an internal and external sheet of aluminium which is core filled with insulation to be functional in different weather conditions.

In a preferred example the walls are approximately 52mm in thickness however wall thickness is not limited to these dimensions and maybe made either thicker or thinner.

Preferably the side wall panels are supported by an internal rib structure.

Preferably the side panels are permanently hinged to the floor.

Preferably there can be window or door apertures in the side panels if required.

More preferably the side panels incorporate lockable and fully functioned door and windows.

In a preferred example a wall comprises a pair of side panels permanently hinged together along a long itudinal edge wherein a top side panel is permanently hinged to the roof and the bottom side panel is permanently hinged to the floor and wherein the hinge between the top and bottom side panels can be collapsed inwardly so that the side panels fold over each other when the scissor braces are collapsed and the roof is brought downwards towards the floor when demounting or collapsing the building. Preferably the roof is made of structural sheet metal such as aluminium to withstand inclement weather conditions.

More preferably the roof is also core insulated and is of a similar construction and thickness to the walls, for example, preferably at a 52mm thick.

Preferably the erecting and demounting of the portable building as herein described requires no tools and can be carried out by a single female operator.

Preferably the mechanism to operate the scissor braces is an externally accessible manual winder incorporating either a screw-jack mechanism or equivalent mechanism that causes the scissor brace members to deploy from a collapsed to an extended operating position.

In a preferred example the manual mechanism can be power assisted or in the alternative replaced by a pneumatic, hydraulic or powered electrical drive means.

Typically, the demountable building as herein described is constructed of alloy and light gauge steel materials however other materials can also be used such as timber, fibreglass, industrial plastics etc.

The demountable building as herein described is designed so that a number of buildings in the collapsed or demountable position can be stacked upon one another for transport or storage purposes.

As will be evident, use of light gauge alloys and light weight materials in the construction of the demountable buildings as herein described facilitate transport by air. Preferably there are lugs or interlocking pins associated with the roof and floor panels of each building which can be used to accurately stack demounted buildings on top of one another that can also be used as tie down or stap down points. In a specialised operation the lugs can also be used for parachute connections wherein the buildings can be dropped from the air to remote and difficult to reach locations.

In the case of the application for road transport, the buildings can be stacked atop one another in a multiple configuration on a flat bed truck or transport vehicle and tied down using the lugs and / or pins.

Where windows or doors are incorporated into the walls of the demountable building, the windows can be either glass or perspex and can also be fitted with security grills. Where doors are incorporated, the door structure can be of aluminium sheet which is core filled with insulation material.

In a preferred example the whole demountable building weighs approximately 3 tonnes and is six (6) metres in length and two and a half (2.5) metres in width and height, respectively.

The demountable building preferably has endwalls which are also permanently hinged to the bottom of the floor.

In the alternative, the endwalls can be removable and buildings can be adjoined end to end to form a single long building. Preferably each demountable building will have a power point connection plate which is able to be connected to a 240volt or 12volt electric power supply.

In a preferred upmarket example, the demountable building can be fitted with a vanity, shower module, storage cupboard, toilet unit, beds, table and chairs with one or more power connections which can be connected to a 240volt or a 12volt power supply.

In a preferred example, the underside of a roof or ceiling can incorporate a single light fitting.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION DRAWINGS

In order that the invention be better understood and put into practical effect, reference will now be made to the accompanying illustrations wherein:

Figure 1 shows a preferred embodiment of the invention in the fully erected position.

Figure 2 to Figure 5 show the building of Figure 1 being erected from the demounted position to the fully erected position of Figure 1.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Referring now to Figure 1 there is shown a preferred demountable or collapsible building according to the invention. To aid in clarity of description and to facilitate a fully enabling disclosure, the numbering of components in each drawing or illustration has been kept consistent throughout the following passages.

The collapsible or demounted building (10) is shown comprising a roof panel (12) preferably of light gauge aluminium or steel sheet metal having a sandwich type construction with core insulation material located between a pair of sheets.

The floor panel (14) is similarly of light weight gauge metal and is supported by a plurality of spaced floor joists (16, 18, 20). The walls (22, 24) of the building comprise a pair of side panels (22a, 22b, 24a, 24b). The top side panel (22a, 24a) is permanently hinged to the roof (12) and the bottom side panel (22b, 24b) is permanently hinged to the floor (14). The side panels are of equal dimensions or size and are also hinged together (22c, 22d).

Although in this example there are two side panels, in various embodiments there can be three or four side panels depending of the height of the building as required. Shown associated with the side panels are the scissor action braces (26, 28) which raise the roof from the floor. The scissor action braces are operated by a screw-jack mechanism (30, 32) which opens or closes the scissors when deploying or collapsing the scissored members.

The demountable building also has end walls (34) which in a prefenred embodiment are permanently hinged to the floor panel. The end walls and the side walls incorporate door (36) and window apertures respectively (38, 40, 42). In this example the scissor braces are operated a mechanism wherein one leg (26a) of a scissor brace is pivotal about a point (20a) in a floor joist (20) and wherein a corresponding end of the other scissor leg (26b) is attached to carriage (44) (not shown) movable in a track (46). Moving the carriage along the track by means of a screw-jack to splay the scissors brace would result in collapsing the demountable building in a single action and wherein moving the scissors legs of a brace together by the screw-jack raises or erects the demountable building.

Referring now to Figure 2 there is shown the demountable building in the fully collapsed position wherein the scissor braces (26, 28) are shown in the completely folded or non- deployed position and the roof (12) and floor panels (14) overlie the side panels of the walls (22, 24) which are hinged inwardly and are thereby sandwiched by the roof and floor panel.

Figure 3 shows the deployment of the scissor braces (26, 28) which raise the roof panel

(12) from the floor panel (14) thereby also unfolding the side panels (22a, 22b, 24a, 24b) of the walls.

Figure 4 shows further deployment of the scissor braces lifting the roof panel upwards away from the floor panel wherein the side panels start to fold further outwards. Also shown are one of the end wall panels (48) which are permanently hinged to the floor panel (14).

Figure 5 shows the scissor braces (26, 28) in their fully extended and operational position wherein the side panels (22a, 22b, 24a, 24b) are now vertically aligned and form the walls of the demountable building. The end walls (48) of which only one is shown can now be raised to attach to the roof (12) thereby completing the erection of the building as is shown in Figure 1.

VARIATIONS

It will of course be realised that while the foregoing has been given by way of illustrative example of this invention, all such and other modifications and variations thereto as would be apparent to persons skilled in the art are deemed to fall within the broad scope and ambit of this invention as is herein set forth.

Throughout the description and claims this specification the word "comprise" and variations of that word such as "comprises" and "comprising", are not intended to exclude other additives, components, integers or steps.

Claims

1. A collapsible or demountable building comprising in combination, at least a roof and a floor; at least a pair of opposed walls; each wall connecting the roof and the floor on the same side; the walls comprised of two or more side panels foldably hinged together; one or more collapsible scissors action braces associated with each wall; a mechanism associated with each scissors action brace adapted to raise or collapse the brace; wherein an operation, the building is placed in a storage and / or transportable configuration when the scissor braces are in the collapsed or non deployed position and wherein the roof and floor overlie and sandwich the side panels, and wherein by deploying the scissor braces to lift the roof panel away from the floor, the side panels are unfolded to form the walls wherein the walls and the roof are supported by the fully deployed and extended scissor braces in a single operation to erect the building.

2. A collapsible or demountable building as claimed in Claim 1 wherein the floor comprises a panel of sheet material supported by a floor joist structure.

3. A collapsible or demountable building as claimed in Claim 2 wherein the floor joists are located and positioned so that a user can lift by means of a fork lift the building in either the erected or demounted configurations such as when the demounted buildings are stacked on top of one another for transportation or storage purposes.

4. A collapsible or demountable building as claimed in Claim 2 wherein the floor joists are of adequate depth to keep the floor off the ground and can be attached to footings to further raise or anchor the building.

5. A collapsible or demountable building as claimed in Claim 2 wherein the floor panel is a flat sheet of light gauge steel or is constructed of a light metal alloy.

6. A collapsible or demountable building as claimed in any of the above claims wherein the floor is covered with a vinyl coating or a marine carpet for durability and to facilitate case of cleaning.

7. A collapsible or demountable building as claimed in Claim 1 wherein the side panels of the walls are comprised of an internal and external sheet of aluminium which is core filled with insulation to be functional in different weather conditions.

8. A collapsible or demountable building as claimed in Claim 7 wherein the side wall panels are supported by an internal rib structure.

9. A collapsible or demountable building as claimed in Claim 1 wherein at least one side panel is permanently hinged to the floor or the roof.

10. A collapsible or demountable building as claimed in Claim 1 wherein there are window or door apertures in the side panels.

11. A collapsible or demountable building as claimed in Claim 10 wherein the side panels incorporate a lockable and fully functional door and windows in the door or window apertures, respectively.

12. A collapsible or demountable building as claimed in Claim 1 wherein the walls each comprise of a pair of side panels permanently hinged together along a longitudinal edge wherein a top side panel is permanently hinged to the roof and the bottom side panel is permanently hinged to the floor and wherein the hinge between the top and bottom side panels can be collapsed inwardly so that the side panels fold over each other when the scissor braces are collapsed and the roof is brought downwards towards the floor when demounting or collapsing the building.

13. A collapsible or demountable building as claimed in Claim 1 wherein the roof is of lightweight structural sheet metal such as aluminium.

14. A collapsible or demountable building as claimed in Claim 13 wherein the roof is core insulated and is of the same construction and thickness as the walls to withstand inclement weather conditions.

15. A collapsible or demountable building as claimed in Claim 1 wherein the erecting and demounting of the collapsible or demountable building requires no tools and can be carried out by a single operator.

16. A collapsible or demountable building as claimed in Claim 1 wherein the mechanism to operate the scissor braces is an externally accessible manual winder incorporating a screw-jack mechanism or equivalent mechanism that causes the scissor brace members to deploy from a collapsed to an extended operating position.

17. A collapsible or demountable building as claimed in Claim 16 wherein the manual mechanism is power assisted or in the alternative replaced by a pneumatic, hydraulic or powered electrical drive means.

18. A collapsible or demountable building as claimed in Claim 2 wherein the mechanism to raise or collapse the scissor braces is housed between adjacent floor joists supporting the floor panels.

19. A collapsible or demountable building as claimed in Claim 1 wherein the demountable building is constructed of materials such as timber, fibreglass, and / or industrial plastics.

20. A collapsible or demountable building as claimed in any of the above Claims wherein a number of buildings in the collapsed or demountable position can be stacked upon one another for transport or storage purposes.

21. A collapsible or demountable building as claimed in any of the above Claims wherein use of light weight materials in the construction of the demountable buildings facilitate transport by air.

22. A collapsible or demountable building as claimed in Claim 1 wherein there are lugs or interlocking pins associated with the roof and floor panels of each building which function to facilitate accurate stacking of buildings in the demounted position or as tie down or strap down points.

23. A collapsible or demountable building as claimed in Claim 2 wherein the lugs are also able to be used for parachute connections wherein the buildings are able to be dropped from the air to remote and difficult to reach locations.

24. A collapsible or demountable building as claimed in Claim 23 wherein in the case of road transport, the buildings can be stacked atop one another in a multiple configuration on a flat bed truck or transport vehicle and tied down using the lugs or pins.

25. A collapsible or demountable building as claimed in Claim 11 wherein windows incorporated into the walls of the demountable building, are glass or perspex and can be fitted with security grills, and wherein the door structure is of aluminium sheet which is core filled with insulation material.

26. A collapsible or demountable building as claimed in Claim 1 wherein the demountable building has end walls which are permanently hinged to the floor.

27. A collapsible or demountable building as claimed in Claim 1 wherein the demountable building has end walls that are removable and two or more buildings can be adjoined end to end to form a single long building.

28. A collapsible or demountable building as claimed in Claim 1 wherein the demountable building has a power point connection plate which is able to be connected to a 240volt or

12volt electric power supply.

29. A collapsible or demountable building as claimed in Claim 1 wherein the demountable building can be fitted with a vanity, shower module, storage cupboard, toilet unit, beds, table and chairs with one or more power connections which can be connected to a 240volt or a 12volt power supply.

30. A collapsible or demountable building as claimed in Claim 1 wherein the underside of a roof or ceiling incorporates a single light fitting.