Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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This invention is directed to a building
structure of a type used primarily on construction sites
where the structure must withstand constant abuse and yet
be capable of rapid and efficient assembly and disassembly.
~, Building structures take many forms for
different purposes. The present structure is intended to
be used where efficient and rapid assembly is of great
importance. An example of such use would be by plumbers,
, pipe fitters, and electricians who spend relatively short
i 10 periods working on construction sites, in heavy plants and
,~ the like. These workers require a readily erected building
s on a level site to store materials and to use as a workshop.
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As soon as the job is compeleted the structure must be
dismantled for erection on the next job site.
- It is an object of the present invention to
provide a robust building structure which is both readily
~!~ assembled and readily dismantled.
~`, Accordingly a building structure is provided
'- having a base frame adapted to be placed on a level site,
20 end walls, side walls, and a roof. Parts making up the walls
are adapted to be interlocked with the base frame and
releasably fastened to one another quite simply for ease of
assembly and disassembly.
The invention will be better understood with
reference to the drawings, in which:
Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a partially
erected building structure incorporating a preferred embodi-
ment of the invention and indicating parts of the completed
building structure in ghost outline;
Fig. 2 is-an exploded perspective view of
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a part of the building structure indicated in Fig. 1
generally by the numeral 2;
; Fig. 3 is a perspective view of part of a
base frame receiving a first end section during assembly of
the building structure;
- Fig. 4 is a view similar to Fig. 3 showing
the first end section assembled and a second end section
- being positioned on the base frame;
Fig. 5 is a view to a reduced scale of a
plurality of roof-and-side sections illustrating the stack-
ing and lifting of these sections;
, Fig. 6 is a perspective view of one of the
sections being positioned in the building structure;
Fig. 7 is a sectional side view on the compound
~` sectional line 7-7 shown in Fig. l;
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Fig. 8 (drawn adjacent Fig. 1) is a sectional
~' plan view on line 8-8 of Fig. l;
-~ Fig. 9 (drawn adjacent Fig. 1) is a sectional
plan view on line 9-9;
Fig. 10 (drawn adjacent Fig. 1) is a sectional
,i side view on line 10-10;
.
Fig. 11 is a perspective view of the opposite
end of the building structure from that shown in Fig. 1 and
illustrating a doorway in the structure;
- Fig. 12 is a sectional side view on line 12-12
of Fig. 11; and
Fig. 13 is a sectional side view on line 13-13
of Fig. 11.
The building structure shown in the drawings
illustrates a preferred embodiment in the sense that the
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preferred form of the various elements used to make the
building structure are shown. However the building
structure could be larger or smaller depending on the
required length as will become apparent and consequently
it should not be inferred that there is any preference for
the size of the building structure shown in the drawings.
As seen in Fig. 1, a building structure is
indicated generally by the numeral 20 and includes a
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peripheral base frame 22 supporting a first end wall 24,
a second end wall 26, and roof-and-side sections 28a, 28b,
28c, 30a, 30b, and 30c. Each of these sections defines a
part of one of the side walls together with a part of an
apex roof.
The exemplary building structure shown in
Fig. 1 will be described in detail before describing how
various different sizes of building structure can be built.
After introducing a part of the building structure, the
assembly of this part will be described.
To commence assembly a site is cleared and
- 20 a layer of crushed stone or gravel is then placed on the
ground. The base frame is embedded to some extent in the
gravel and levelled during assembly so that the completed
base frame provides a level support for the rest of the
- building structure.
As seen in Fig. 1, the base frame 22 includes
a generally U-shaped first end section 32, a pair of side
sections 34, 36 and a U-shaped second end section 38. As
better seen in Fig. 2 all of the sections forming the base
frame are of an I-shaped cross-section. End section 32 has
a pair of plates 40 attached one to each of its ends and
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1079923
these plates combine with fasteners 42 to couple the
end section 32 to respective first ends of the side
sections 34 and 36. Similarly, the other ends of the
sections 34, 36 have plates attached and these plates
combine with further fasteners to attach these side
sections to the end section 38.
It will be seen in Fig. 1 that all of the
sections forming the base frame define notches 44 in the
upper and inner flange of the frame. The notches are
used to facilitate assembly of the various wall sections
on the base frame as will be described.
Reference is next made to Fig. 3 which
illustrates end section 32 of the base frame 22 about
to receive a first end wall panel 45 of the wall 24
(Fig. 1). The panel 45 is reinforced by a peripheral
frame 46 made up of rolled channel sections and having
two steel sheets 48, 50 attached to the outer surfaces
of the frame 46. The sheets 48 and 5Q meet at
inwardly turned flanges 52, 54 which are spot welded to
one another. The structure is further rigidified by
three stiffeners 56 (two of which are seen in Fig. 3)
and the centre one of which is attached to both sheets
48, 50 about the flanges 52, 54. The stiffeners 56 are
also spot welded to the sheets 48, 50.
The end wall panel 45 also includes two
pairs of C-shaped coupling elements 58, 60 welded to the
bottom of the peripheral frame 46. These elements extend
in pairs below the bottom of the frame 46 and are
spaced apart to encompass the top f1ange of the end portion
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- 32 of the base frame. The elements of each pair combine
,' to define a mouth which is too small to receive the top
flanges. Assembly is expedited by positioning the end
wall panel 45 with the outermost coupling elements
hooked under the outer of the top flanges and then tipping
~, the panel 45 towards a vertical position so that the
innermost of the coupling elements will pass through the
.
notches 44 bringing the bottom of the peripheral frame 46
~ into face-to-face engagement with the top of the base
,~ 10 frame 22. In this position the wall panel 45 projects
:- sideways beyond the side of the base frame. The panel
is located finally by sliding it along the base frame
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guided by the coupling elements 58, 60 into the position
shown in Fig. 4. The end wall panel 45 is then retained
in position by the coupling elements in a manner similar
to that illustrated for a roof-and-side section 28a at
the foot of Fig. 7.
~ Returning now to Fig. 4, a second end wall-
panel 62 is asseimbled on the end portion 32 of the base
; 20 frame 22 in a s`imilar fashion to that described with
reference to wall panel 45 so that these panels can be
attached to one another using four fasteners 64 tone of
which is shown). For safety it may be preferable to use
; a suitable prop to retain the panels in an upright
,, condition at this stage.
Reference is next made to Fig. 5 which
illustrates a series of roof-and-side sections such as
those described with reference to Fig. 1 to a smaller
, scale. Some of these sections are stacked while this
figure also shows how the sections would be lifted off
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,~ the stack. It will be evident that the sections can be
`~ stacked in this manner for storage and transportation ,
thereby limiting storage space requirements.
~ Figs. 5 and 6 illustrate the roof-and-side
-~ section 28a coupled to a lifting element 66 which is in
~', turn releasably attached to a cable 68 of a suitable
light crane or the like. It will be seen in Fig. 6 that
the lifting element 66 consists of upper and lower arms
70, 72 integrally attached to a connecting portion 74.
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,' 10 The arm 70 is slightly longer than half the width of the
section 28a and terminates at a lifting eye 76 to facilitate
attachment to the cable 68. The lower arm 72 carries
a pair of opposed connectors 78, 80 which include respect-
ive pins 82, 84 for engagement in lugs 86, 88 on the
; section 28a. The connectors 78, 80 are adjustable on the
arm 72 and i~ would normally only be necessary to move
one of these connectors in order to engage and disengage
the lifting element 66 on the section 28a.
; It should be noted that the pins 82, 84 of
the lifting elements 78, 80 are free to rotate in the
respective lugs 86, 88 so that the section 28a can pivot
, with respect to the lifting element 66. Returning to
Fig. 5, it will be evident that as the lifting commences
there will be a pivoting action until the section 28a takes
up a position shown to the right of Fig. 5 and dictated
by the placement of lugs 86, 88 relative to the centre
of gravity of the section. Section 28a is then in the
correct position for assembly as will be described after
more description of section 28a.
As seen in Figs. 6 and 7, the section 28a
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which is typical of all of the other sections shown in
Fig. 1 defines a side wall part 91 and a roof part 93.
Two strong side elements 90, 92 (which are mirror images
of one another) have respective lower segments 94, 96
associated with the side wall part 91 and upper segments
; 98, 100 associated with the roof part 93 of the section.
The segments of each pair lie at an angle to one
another defined by the required apex of the roof.
Segments 94, 96, 98 and 100 are broadest
at the junction between segments and narrowest furthest
away from this junction. This tapering provides structural
rigidity which is enhanced by the general U-shaped cross-
section of the segment.
The section 28a terminates at its bottom
periphery in a channel element 102 to which 2 pairs of
coupling elements 104, 106 are attached. As seen in
-; Fig. 7, these elements are coupled to the base frame in
a similar manner to that described with reference to the
~ elements on the end wall panel 45 shown in Fig. 3.
- 20 The side elements 90, 92 support 4 standard
8 feet by 4 feet metal sheets 108, 110, 112, and 114. As
better seen in Fig. 7, the sheets 108, 110 meet at flanges
7- contained within an internal stiffener 116 in a similar
fashion to that described with reference to the stiffener
. 56 shown in Fig. 3. A stiffener 118 is provided centrally
on the sheet 108 and a further stiffener 120 is provided
on the sheet 110.
The sheets 112, 114 which extend between
the upper segments 98, 100 of the section 28a also meet
at inturned flanges where they are spot welded to one
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another and these flanges are contained within a stiffener
122. Further stiffeners 124 and 126 are provided and
it will be noted that the sheet 112 is turned downwardly
over the upper extremity of the sheet 110 where the two
sheets are spot welded to one another to direct water
draining off the roof down the wall rather than into
the building structure. At its upper extremity, the
sheet 114 is wrapped over a top channel element 128
which is adapted to be engaged in back-to-back relation-
ship with an element of an opposite section so that theseelements can be attached to one another using suitable
fasteners (not shown). Similarly, the section 28a is
attached to an adjacent section using four fasteners in
each of the segments 94, 96, 98 and 100.
Returning to a descriptlon of the assembly
- of the section 28a, after lifting this section as shown
, .,
~ in Fig. 5 and Fig. 6, the section is positioned on the base
.,
' frame with the outermost of the coupling elements 104,
, ~
106 engaged under the outermost top flange of the base
frame and with the section 28a spaced slightly away from
.
the end wall panel 45. The innermost of the elements 104, -
106 are aligned with notches in the base frame and then
using the lifting equipment associated with cable 68,
the section 28a is tilted to bring the wall part of the
section into an upright condition. The innermost of the
coupling elements then passes through the associated
notches and the underside of the channel element 102
comes into face-to-face relationship with the top of the
base frame 22. Next the side-and-roof section 28a is
slid on the base frame towards the end wall panel 45
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where it can be attached to this panel using four
fasteners in a similar fashion to that described for
fastening the panel 45 to the panel 62 (Fig. 4) and as
shown in Fig. 8.
After the side of roof section 28a has
been attached to the panel 45 (Fig. 1), the side-and-
roof panel 38a is assembled and attached to the panel 62. -
Any prop that has been used to retain the panels 45, 62 ~ -
in an upright condition can now be removed and a gable
10 panel 130 is positioned to rest on the panels 45, 62
in engagement with the sections 28a, 30a.
The gable panel 130 is proportioned to lie
between the upper extremities of the panels 45 and 62
and the planes of the apex roof. As seen in Figs. 1, 9
and 10 the panel 130 includes a lower peripheral element
132 for attachment to peripheral frame 46 of panel 45
and to a corresponding frame of panel 62. Two upper
elements 134, 136 are inclined to extend from ends of
element 132 to meet at the apex of the roof and at the
top of a strengthening piece 138. This piece also forms
an attachment surface for triangular sheets 140, 142
which are spot welded to this piece and to the elements
132, 134 and 136. Stiffeners 144, 146 are provided on
the respective sheets 140, 142.
Assembly of the building is continued by
adding side-and-roof sections 28b, 28c, 30b, 30c. As
shown in the drawing these panels can vary slightly from
one another by the inclusion of a window or a door. Other-
wise the panels are similar and interchangeable. After
assembling all six of the side-and-roof sections, the
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other end wall 26 is assembled~ As seen in Fig. 11,
this end wall includes two sliding doors for ease of
access to store equipment.
As seen in Figs. 11, 12 and 13, the end
wall 26 is made up of two smaller end wall panels 148,
150 which are of similar construction to panels 45, 62
(Fig. 1). Also a gable panel 152 is similar to gable
panel 130 but panel 152 has a track 154 attached for
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receiving door hanger equipment for sliding doors 156,
10158. A bottom track 160 is also provided. The doors
and associated hardware are conventional.
.~ Fig. 11 also illustrates how the building
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; structure is weatherproofed. An adhesive tape 162 is
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applied over all of the joints and especially those where
rain could enter. This tape is sold by the 3M Company and
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is a polyvinylchloride tape designated no. 471.
It will be evident that the preferred form
of the parts of the building structure can be used to
make buildings of various sizes and with different window
and access arrangements. Longer buildings will require
. . ,
more side portions and roof-and-side sections.
The resulting structure is readily dismantled
- and because of the relatively small number of parts in
the structure there is little possibility of losing
important parts or finding it difficult to understand
how to assemble the structure.
- In some instances it may be preferable to
use a flat roof or more generally a roof which is built
- up separately on top of the side and end walls. It will
be evident that this can be done by using panels for
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side walls in a similar fashion to those used for end
wall 24 with suitable strengthening to support a
separate roof. Such a structure could still take
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advantage of the simple connection between the side and
end walls and the base frame 22.
A further possible structural variation
is to form notches 44 (Fig. 1) of the base frame 22 in
the outer top flange rather than in the inner flange
,; as shown. The inner flange is preferred both for
appearance and to make use of the convenient lifting
;~ system for the roof and side sections described with
, reference to Figs. 5 and 6.
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