Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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MULTI-PURPOSE STRUCTURAL COMPONENT
Technical Field
This invention relates to prefabricated structural components adapted to
be assembled to form various demountable building and other structures.
Background Art
Toy construction kits are known wherein a plurality of identical
components are provided adapted to be assembled together in a variety of ways
to form models of a great variety of different articles and structures.
Usually the
individual components are adapted to be held together by inter-engaging
formations providing some frictional restraint on disengagement. Alternatively
specific coupling pieces adapted to be similarly engaged with two or more
basic
components may be provided. In some instances the structural integrity of the
finished model depends upon the simultaneous inter-engagement of more than
two components.
The present invention is not concerned with the assembly of model
structures but rather with the assembly of full scale, load bearing, skeletal
frameworks of buildings and engineering structures generally.
Therefore, possibly more relevant prior art is the well-known
demountable scaffolding used for temporary ancillary structures at building
construction sites. Such scaffolding comprises a multiplicity of basic tubular
members and many and varied coupling elements for fastening the basic
members together. Typically the coupling elements comprise clamps, pins
extending through clearance holes in the members and temporarily held in place
by cross-cotter pins, U-shaped straps on the members adapted to be aligned to
receive wedges and other quick release, fastening devices. The coupling
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elements and the adaptations of the basic members of such scaffolding to their
associated coupling elements frequently displays considerable ingenuity
providing for the rapid assembly and disassembly of the scaffolding without
the
need for tools or anything but the most basic of tools, such as a hammer.
Summary of Invention
The emphasis in prior known scaffolding is on the quick assembly and
disassembly of individually lightweight members able to be manhandled into
position. Thus, strength in the finished scaffolding is ensured by using a
considerable number of closely spaced members. This renders conventional
scaffolding components unsuitable for use in demountable structures that
substantially replicate the load bearing, skeletal structures of finished
buildings
and the like.
An object of the present invention is to provide mufti-purpose, de-
mountable and re-useable structural components that may be used in the
construction of temporary buildings or other structures at construction sites
adapted for habitation or normal use by building workers and others during the
construction of permanent structures at the site in question.
Typically the components of the invention may be used as columns
and/or beams in demountable structures such as: protective pedestrian walkways
adjacent to construction sites; site offices, possibly integrated with such
walkways; mufti-storey towers providing access and service facilities to the
various floors of a mufti-storey building under construction; garages; storage
sheds; barracks; and like temporary building ancillaries required at civil
engineering construction sites.
According to one aspect, the invention consists in a fabricated structural
component having five substantially planar faces corresponding to five faces
of
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a an elongated rectangular prism, namely an elongated side face, including two
longitudinally extending edge margins, two elongated edge faces, and two end
faces;
wherein each said side face is pierced by a plurality of fastener clearance
holes arranged in two straight rows, each extending longitudinally of a
respective one of said margins, wherein the holes in each row in said side
face
have a constant centre to centre pitch distance, wherein the distance from the
centre of each end hole in each row of holes in said side face to a
respectively
adjacent end face of the component is substantially one half of said pitch
distance, wherein the distance from the centre line of each row of holes in
said
side face to a respectively adjacent edge face of the component is
substantially
one half of said pitch distance, and wherein the centre lines of the rows of
holes
in said side face are separated by a distance substantially equal to a whole
number multiple of said pitch distance;
wherein each said edge face is pierced by a plurality of fastener clearance
holes arranged in a straight row extending longitudinally of said each edge
face,
wherein the centre to centre distance between the holes in the row in said
each
edge face equals said pitch distance, wherein the distance from the centre of
each end hole in the row of holes in said each edge face to a respectively
adjacent end face of the component is substantially one half of said pitch
distance, and wherein the distance from the centre line of the row of holes in
said each edge face to the side face of the component is substantially one
half of
said pitch distance; and
wherein each end face is pierced by at least two fastener clearance holes,
wherein the distance from the centre of each of said at least two holes in
each
end face to said side face is substantially one half of said pitch distance
and
wherein the distance from the centre of each of said at least two holes in
each
end face to a respectively adjacent edge face is substantially one half of
said
pitch distance.
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According to a second aspect of the invention, it consists in a fabricated
structural component, having six substantially planar faces corresponding to
the
sides of an elongated rectangular prism, comprising two components, each
according to the first aspect of the invention, united by a plurality of
discrete,
spaced apart spacer means, such that corresponding edge faces of the two
components according to the first aspect are spaced apart and co-planar, and
wherein the spacer means are such that the distance between the centre lines
of
the rows of holes in each pair of corresponding edge faces is a whole number
multiple of said pitch distance.
It is pointed out that the whole number referred to in the above
description of structural components according to the second aspect of the
invention may or may not have the same value as the whole number referred to
in the description of structural components according to the first aspect of
the
W vention.
In preferred embodiments of the first aspect of the invention the
component is fabricated from two, angle sectioned elements, each comprising
two flanges meeting at substantially a ninety degree included angle, for
example
lengths of rolled structural steel angle, spaced apart and rigidly held
together by
discrete and spaced apart spacer plates extending between and welded to co-
planar flanges of the two elements. Thus two parallel, spaced apart, co-planar
flanges of the two elements constitute the margins of said side face, and the
other flanges of the two elements respectively constitute the said edge faces.
Of
course, this spaced apart angle construction carnes through to preferred
embodiments of the second aspect of the invention. This is an important
feature
of the preferred embodiments as it provides hand access to the interior of
components according to the second aspect of the invention, and facilitates
such
access to the side of a component according to the first aspect remote from an
assembler of the components when putting together a structure made of
components according to the invention. Such access is convenient, when
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assembling the components using removable fasteners in the form of bolts and
nuts, to enable both the head of each bolt and a nut threaded on it to be
simultaneously engaged by appropriate spanners.
By way of example two embodiments of the above-described invention
are described in more detail hereinafter with reference to the accompanying
drawings.
Brief description of the Drawings
Figure 1 is a perspective view of an end portion of a structural
component according to the first aspect of the invention.
Figure 2 is a front elevation of the component of figure 1, drawn to a
smaller scale.
Figure 3 is both a plan view and an inverted plan view of the component
of figure 2, in that the component is identical in appearance when viewed from
above or below.
Figure 4 is an end elevation of the component of figure 2.
Figure 5 is a sectional view taken on line 5-5 of figure 2, drawn to a
larger scale.
Figure 6 is a view similar to figure 1 of a component according to the
second aspect of the invention.
Figure 7 is both a front and a rear elevation of the component of figure 6,
in that the component is identical in appearance when viewed from the front
and
the rear, drawn to a smaller scale.
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Figure 8 is an end elevation of the component of figure 7.
Figure 9 is a sectional view taken on line 9-9 of figure 7.
Best Mode of putting the invention into effect.
The multi-purpose structural component illustrated by figures 1 to 5
inclusive comprises two identical, elongated angle sectioned elements 10, each
comprising side flanges 11 and edge flanges 12 (see figure 5), and a plurality
of
discrete and spaced apart spacer plates 13 and 14 extending between and welded
to co-planar flanges 11 of the two angle sectioned elements. Thus, the two
angle sectioned elements 10 are held rigidly together in a parallel, spaced
apart
configuration. The two, co-planar flanges 11 together constitute
longitudinally
extending margins of the side face of the structural component (and for that
reason have been captioned side flanges herein), whereas each of the flanges
12
constitutes an edge face of the component, (and for that reason have been
captioned edge flanges herein).
The two angle sectioned elements 10 are further held and rigidified by
end spacer plates 16, constituting the end faces of the component now being
described.
Each of the side flanges 11 and each of the edge flanges 12 is pierced by
a straight row of fastener clearance holes 15 extending longitudinally of the
respective flanges. In accordance with the invention, and as indicated in
figures 2, 3 and 5, the holes 15 in each row are spaced apart by a common,
centre to centre, pitch distance "p", the distance from the centres of the end
holes in each row to their respectively adjacent ends of the component is
"p/2",
the distance from the centre line of the row of holes in each edge flange 12
to
the side face of the component is "p/2", and the distance from the centre line
of
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each row of holes in the side flanges 11 to their respectively adjacent edge
face
is also "p/2". Moreover the spacer plates 13, 14 and 16 are such that the
distance between the centre lines of the rows of holes in the side flanges 11
is
"np", where "n" is a whole plural number. In the illustrated embodiment "n" is
2, but in other embodiments it may be 1 or a number larger than 2.
Furthermore, each end spacer plate 1G is pierced by two fastener
clearance holes 15, and, as may best be seen in figure 5, the centres of those
two
holes are spaced from the side face and from their respectively adjacent edge
faces by "p/2".
In other examples of the invention, the end spacer plate may be pierced
by one or more further holes disposed in a row of which the tvvo illustrated
holes are end holes of the row. In such instances all holes in the row would
be
equally spaced apart, so as to have a centre to centre pitch distance of "p".
Furthermore some or all of the spacer plates 14 may be replaced by angle
sectioned spacers or T-sectioned spacers, wherein one flange of the angle or
the
head of the T corresponds to the plate 14, provided the other flange of the
angle
or the stem of the T is appropriately spaced from the immediately adjacent
holes 15.
It will be apparent to a man skilled in the art that the structural
component illustrated by figures 1 to 5 would display considerable versatility
as
an element of many and varied, complex, demountable structures. Two such
components may be bolted together in end to end or face to face abutment with
various degrees of overlap, or may be bolted together at Tee or Cross joints
at a
great number of positions, merely by appropriately aligning selected fastener
holes for the receipt of bolts or other fasteners.
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The sriwcW ral component illustrated by figures 6 to 9 inclusive may be
described as a dual component. It comprises two single components, each
according to figures 1-S inclusive, which require no further description, with
each single component's corresponding edge flanges 12 held in a parallel,
spaced apart configuration by spacer plates 17 in register with the single
components' spacer plates 14, and spacer plates 18 in register with the single
components' spacer plates 13. Furthermore the end spacer plates 16 of the two
single components are preferably integrally merged as margins of an end spacer
plate 20 in the dual component.
Also internal cross-braces 19 may be provided in register with one or
more of the pairs of spacer plates 17, to further rigidify the dual component.
The spacer plates 17 and 18 and the end spacer plate 20 are such that the
centre lines of the rows of holes in the corresponding flanges 12 of the
single
components are spaced by a whole number multiple of the pitch distance "p",
which may or may not be the same whole number multiple applicable to the
distance between the rows of holes in the side flanges 11 of the single
components.
