Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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TITLE
INTERMODAL CONTAINER BUILDING STRUCTURES AND METHODS
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED PATENTS
The present application claims priority pursuant to 35 U.S.C. 119(e) to U.S.
provisional
patent application no. 62078510, entitled "Intermodal container building
structures and methods",
filed November 12, 2014, and to U.S. provisional patent application No.
62153595, entitled
"Intermodal container tank structure", filed April 28, 2015.
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to methods of using intermodal containers (ICs) as
special purpose
buildings and to building structures produced using such methods. The
invention has particular but
not exclusive application to building structures for housing wastewater
treatment systems.
DESCRIPTION OF RELATED ART
Intermodal containers (ICs) have been used for living space, office space and
industrial
space. Improvements in the application of ICs to building structures for
housing equipment arc
possible.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
For simplicity and clarity of illustration, elements illustrated in the
following figures are not
drawn to common scale. For example, the dimensions of some of the elements are
exaggerated
relative to other elements for clarity. Advantages, features and
characteristics of thc present
invention, as well as methods, operation and functions of related elements of
structure, and the
combinations of parts and economies of manufacture, will become apparent upon
consideration of
the following description and claims with reference to the accompanying
drawings, all of which
form a part of the specification, wherein like reference numerals designate
corresponding parts in
the various figures, and wherein:
FIG. 1 is a schematic plan view of a building structure according to an
embodiment of the
invention, the building structure having a first perimeter profile.
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FIG. 2 is horizontal sectional view of the structure of FIG. 1.
FIG. 3 is a perspective view from the front and one side of a building
structure according to
an embodiment of the invention.
FIG. 4 is a horizontal sectional view of a building structure according to
another
embodiment of the invention having a perimeter profile different from that of
FIGs. 1 and 2.
FIG. 5 is a horizontal sectional view of a building structure according to a
further
embodiment of the invention.
FIG. 6 is a side sectional view of a roof formation for a building structure
according to an
embodiment of the invention.
FIG. 7 is an isometric view from above and one side of a building structure
according to a
further embodiment of the invention.
FIG. 8 is an isometric view from above and the other side of the building
structure of FIG.
7, but with roof removed.
FIG. 9 is a vertical sectional view of a building structure according to a
further embodiment
of the invention.
FIG. 10 is a vertical sectional view of a building structure according to a
further embodiment
of the invention.
FIG. 11 is a side view of a building structure according to yet another
embodiment of the
invention.
FIG. 12 is a plan view of the building structure of FIG. 11 with roof removed.
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DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION INCLUDING THE PRESENTLY
PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
Certain industrial systems such as water treatment systems may include complex
industrial
units which are usually manufactured and tested at a home site and then
shipped to a deployment
site. At the deployment sitc, a building is typically fabricated. The
industrial units are then installed
in the building and connected together to form a system. Typically, the system
will be re-tested
before being put into service at the deployment site.
It can be expensive to hire local labor with very varied expertise
requirements at the
deployment site and to have them follow a complex installation specification.
It is therefore
desirable to do as much as possible at the home site both in building and
testing the system and to
the extent possible in building a structure to house the system units. In this
way, something close to
a turnkey system can bc shipped to the deployment site. It is desirable also
that fabricated or partly
fabricated sub-systems elements are in a condition enabling them to be easily
transported to
. deployment sites.
Intermodal containers provide useful and readily deployable systems equipment
housings.
Properly reinforced, they can even be used as water holding tanks. In
addition, ICs, being
specifically designed for coordinated transportation, over road, rail and sea,
make ideal structures for
transporting sub-systems forming parts of a complex water treatment or like
industrial plant.
A typical intermodal container (also called a shipping container, freight
container, ISO
container, hi-cube container, box, conex box and sea can) is a standardized
reusable steel box used
for the storage and movement of materials and products within a global
containerized intermodal
freight transport system. External lengths of containers, which each have a
unique ISO 6346
reporting mark, vary from 8 feet (2.438 m) to 56 feet (17.07 m) with the most
common lengths
being 20 fcet and 40 fcct. Heights of containers compliant with ISO 6346 are
from 8 feet (2.438 m)
to 9 feet 6 inches (2.9 m). Widths are generally 8 feet.
Referring in detail to FIG. 2, there are shown six intcrmodal containers (IC1
¨ IC6). The
ICs are modified to contain a number of industrial plant units which are
mounted in the ICs and
connected together to make a water treatment system. In the particular
example, the six modified
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intermodal containers (MICs) are arranged in a rectangular array at a site
where the water treatment
system operates. In this particular example, the MICs contain the following
industrial units
including required electrical and water connections to enable the system to
operate:
IC-1: dissolved air flotation tank 66, float pump 68, solid pump 70, recycle
pumps 72;
IC-2: pipe flocculator 73, equalization tank 74, sludge thickening tank 76,
dissolved air flotation
effluent tank 78;
IC-3: multimedia filters 80, organo clay filters 82, sump tank 84;
IC-4: carbon filter tanks 86, hot water tank 88;
IC-5: filter press 90, dumpstcrs 92;
IC-6: bladder tank 94, chemical storage 96, safety station 98.
In operation, water to be treated is pumped into the equalization tank 74, and
is then
pumped through the pipe flocculator 73 where chemicals are added to the water
to coagulate and
flocculate solids as well as break oily emulsions in the water. The water is
then fcd into the
dissolved air flotation tank 66 where tiny bubbles latch onto the solids in
the water and float the dirt
and solids up to the surface where it is skimmed off and transferred to the
sludge thickening tank
76. Treated water from the dissolved air flotation effluent tank 78 is sent
through multimedia filters
80, where finer particulate is captured to prevent premature plugging of
solids in downstream
organo clay and carbon media filters, respectively 82 and 86, which are used
to remove
hydrocarbons. The sludge is pressed at the filter press 90 to form a dry cake
before being
transported off site as waste.
The system of FIG. 2 is one exemplary embodiment of the invention. The MIC
array may
contain a different number of MICs and may contain different water treatment
units in respective
MICs. Alternatively, the MICs may be configured and provisioned for a
different system application
altogether: for example, an air treatment system, a catering system or a
storage application. In
addition, such a MIC array may have a mixed system application with, for
example, one or more of
the I\,IlCs configured to provide office space or washroom facilities.
The MICs are installed on a base 41 such as a cleared gravel base, a rig mat,
or a concrete
slab. In one embodiment, the MICs are simply stacked next to one another with
the weight of the
MICs maintaining the MICs in a preferred relative juxtaposition. In another
embodiment, adjacent
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MICs are bolted together to maintain the MICs in their desired positions
notwithstanding external
buffeting from weather influences such as high wind and flooding, or from
careless movement on
the site of heav-y vehicles.
The structure of FIG. 2 shows the MICs 10 positioned in a rectangular
configuration with
the outer perimeter also being rectangular other than at a main access region
32. However, as
shown in the L-form building structure of FIG. 4, other laterally stacked
configurations are possible
with a correspondingly shaped rectilinear or polygonal outer perimeter. In
both thc FIG. 2 and 4
embodiments, the outer perimeter is defined by a series of laterally adjacent
MIC side walls 16 and
cnd walls 18, adjacent walls being either coplanar with one another or
extending orthogonally to one
another. Attached to the walls 16, 18 forming the outer perimeter of the array
is a layer of cladding
20 which may, for example, be wood, brick, aluminum, steel, vinyl, stone,
stucco, cement or other
suitable material. The cladding 20 can be configured as flat panel, lap
siding, board and batten siding
or other suitable configuration. The cladding can be selected to blend with
cladding materials used
on neighboring buildings and/or to conform to local zoning ordinances.
As shown in FIG s. 1 and 3, the MIC array is covered by a roof 22 which, like
the underlying
MIC array, can also be modular. The roof modules may include outer corner
units 24 which overlie
outer corner regions of the MIC array, inner corner units (not shown) to
overlie inner or re-entrant
corners of the MIC array such as corner 27 shown in the structure of FIG. 4,
and linear spans 28 to
cover lengths of the MIC array. In this respect, a roof outer corner unit 24
may have wings 25
extending somewhat beyond the inside corner where adjacent ICs meet and arc
joined (broken linc).
Similarly, a roof inner corner unit may have wings extending somewhat beyond
thc corner where
underlying MICs meet and are joined at a re-entrant corner. Finally, as shown
by FIGs. 1 and 2, a
linear span 28 may have a length somewhat more or less than the length of a
MIC covered by the
linear span.
'Through the use of suitable wall cladding and appropriately configured roof
components
and materials, the building to house the installed system at the deployment
site is made aesthetically
pleasing and/or coordinated with its surroundings.
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As previously indicated, the invention has particular application to the
installation at a
deployment site of ICs that have been modified at a home site. At thc home
site, a number of ICs
are assembled, thc ICs being of appropriate length to accommodate system units
to be installed in
them. The system units are built or purchased and are mounted in the
appropriate ICs. Unmodified
ICs have access doors at one or both ends but for eventual system installation
at the remote site,
access may alternatively or additionally be through side walls 16 of the
particular IC. Where such a
side access is required, an access opening 14 is cut in the sidc wall 16 as
shown in FIG. 1. System
units which may be too large or unwieldy for installation in an IC are also
built or acquired for
integration into the system. At the home site, a connection matrix is put
together to enable the
assembled system units to be tested in their system configuration. The
conncction matrix typically
includes power, control and monitoring circuits and, for the water treatment
system example, water
connections including piping and sealed ports in the walls of the ICs. Once it
is performing
satisfactorily, the system is partially disassembled so that it can be shipped
as discrete MICs
containing the installed system units together with a small number of
oversized or unwieldy system
units. The MICs offer a convenient method for shipping the main systcm
elements in view of thc
MICs being of standard sizes for transportation on container ships and tractor
trailers. For
shipping, the side wall access openings 14 are blocked temporarily with wooden
panels. The roof
components 24, 28 may also be fabricated at the home site and transported to
the deployment site
or can alternatively be made and installed at the deployment site.
At the deployment site, an area of ground is graded and a concrete slab or
like standing arca
is prepared. The MICs 10 are then arranged so that, except for a main door
access region 32, they
surround a central space 34. The arrangement is effectively a walled courtyard
where the MICs 10
arc the walls and the central space 34 is the courtyard. The MICs are arranged
so that access
openings 14 previously formed in MIC side walls 16 face into the courtyard 34
and some or all of
the access openings are fitted with doors 15 to protect equipment housed
inside the MIC. The
doors 15 may be of any suitable form such as slide or hinged. Immediately
adjacent corners of
adjacent MICs, such as at locations 36, are fastened together using
conventional horizontal twist
locks (not shown). Mechanical interconnections between adjaccnt MICs 10
provide a more stable
structure in thc manner of a prefabricated building in comparison with an
array of unconnected ICs.
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Referring to FIG. 5, in an alternative embociimcnt, at inter-IC junctions
between adjacent
ICs, there is no sidc wall-to-end wall overlap. Instead, adjacent ICs 10 are
positioned with their
inner corners 38 closely adjacent to one another and bolted together. This
creates a square corner
space which is either left unfilled as shown at 40, but confined within
extensions of thc cladding 20
or is appropriately configured as a functional space accessible from the
outside of the building
structure: for example, a washroom facility 42 or corner storage 44. In one
aspect of the invention,
a
MIC 10 is configured as a reinforced water-processing tank 46, the tank
essentially spanning thc
full width of thc MIC. For such a design, end access to the MIC is desirable.
An end corner space
provides a suitable location for an entry portal 48 to access the MIC tank 46,
which may have a
process end wall 49 of the form shown in copending US published patent
application 20140224793
(Converted intermodal container for use as a water processing tank) filed
February 9, 2014. Such an
entry portal can alternatively communicate with an inner end door in the end
of a MIC. An
alternative form of entry portal 50 may be configured at a junction between
linearly aligned, adjacent
MICs as shown in FIG. 5. Whether such a space is unfilled or functional, and
whether located at a
corner or in a side wall of the building structure, the spaces share a
coordinated roof and cladding
arrangement with the roof and cladding parts of the adjacent MICs.
A structure according to anothcr aspect of thc invention is constructed
according to US
provisional patent application 62153595 (Intermodal container building
structures and methods), the
disclosure of which application is hereby incorporated by reference in its
entirety. As shown in
FIGs 7 and 8, ICs are stacked two deep. The vertically stacked ICs arc fixed
together to prevent any
relative movement between the ICs of the top layer relative to the respective
ICs of the underlying
area. To effcct this, vertical stacking connectors (not shown) are attached at
each of the four
corners of a lower IC of a stack and to thc corresponding four corners of the
upper IC of the stack.
A standard vertical stacking connector can be used such as a connectors
complying with
international standard ISO 1161. At the lower level, a central space 34 (FIG.
8) is surrounded by an
array of ICs, adjacent ICs being joined together at corner regions 99. Both
the lower level ICs 97
and the regions 99 where they are joined arc reinforced as described for
example in US provisional
patent application 62153595 and US published patent application 20140224791
which is hereby
incorporated by reference in its entirety. A liner (not shown) is mounted at
inwardly facing IC side
walls 16 flanking central space 34 so that the liner covers the ground in the
central space. The
supported liner provides a tank function, thc tank provisioned and serviced
similar to the MIC tank
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46 of FIG. 5. In the particular example of FIGs. 7 and 8, a further reinforced
IC 99 spans the
structure to divide the courtyard space 34 into two. In such an arrangement,
one space can be used
as an interior tank and the other for other functions, or both central spaces
can function as tanks.
As in the previous embodiments, a roof and cladding arc added and applied to
protect the housed
system units and to disguise and render aesthetic thc industrial plant
function of thc structure.
In a modification of the FIG. 10 embodiment illustrated in FIGs. 11 and 12,
two layers 10,
97 of ICs surround a courtyard arca 34. FIowever, in this case, ICs 10 of the
top layer are inverted
to bring the bottom 29 of thc upper ICs to the top 31 of the lower ICs. The
bottom of an IC is
generally constructed to be more robust than its top because, in a normal
transport application, the
bottom has to bear the full weight of the contents of the IC. Consequently,
the inverted bottom
structure provides a stronger base for attaching and supporting end parts of
trusses 59. In the
illustrated arrangement, side walls of lower ICs are reinforced and lined on
the inside with
waterproof liners. The lower ICs house stacks 51 of membranc filter plates so
as to form IC
membrane bioreactors tanks for cleaning wastewater.
At the system deployment site, roof components are crected over the IC array
with a typical
integrated roof component configuration being shown in FIG. 1 to the same
scale as the IC array
shown in FIG. 2. A central roof portion 52 extends over thc courtyard part
while sloping roof
components 24, 28 are erected over thc ICs 10. As shown in the embodiment of
FIG. 3, thc
integrated roof components form a roof of mono-pitched or shed form, with the
roof itself sloping
upwardly from outer edges of thc MIC wall to a height as shown in FIG. 3.
However, other
configurations are possible. For example, thc roof components can be other
than mono-pitch and
the central roof can be other than flat. The flat roof 52 is built over the
central rectangular
courtyard to span the distance between shed form roof components that are
supported on thc MICs
on opposite sides and ends of the rectangular IC array. Because the flat roof
52 extends to a height
that is the same as the highest level reached by thc roof parts 24, 28 over
the MICs, the flat roof
cannot be seen from a position outside the structure except from a position
higher than the top of
the building walls. Any of the roof sections 24, 28 and 52 can be provided
with hatches, such as
hatch 65 in FIG 1 so that units that have to be periodically cleaned,
refurbished or replaced can be
lifted and out of the applicable IC by crane.
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As shown in FIGs. 1 and 3, at the main access location 32, a roof component 54
is installed
which covers an access door 56. This may be configured as an extension to
neighboring parts of the
roof as shown in FIG. 1 or can be narrower than the width of the roof
components over the
adjacent MICs, but still dimensioned and fabricated to blend aesthetically
with the other roof
components as shown in FIG. 3.
The illustrated configuration has particular value where the system equipment
to bc installed
includes oversize or unwieldy industrial units which cannot easily be fitted
into an IC. Such
awkward equipment is instead mounted at a convenient location in the central
courtyard in such a
way that it can be integrated with other units housed in the surrounding ICs.
Because, the courtyard
is larger in area than any of the ICs and the roof section 52 over the
courtyard is, in most
embodiments, higher than the ICs, the courtyard makes an ideal location for
housing the oversize
units. For a water treatment system, such units might typically include large
(or wide) tanks,
clarifiers, dissolved air flotation units, media filters, filter presses and
waste bins.
In a further roof form example illustrated in FIG. 6, a top roof truss 58
spans thc full width
of a structure embodying the invention and is joined to side trusses 60 at
each end. The trusses arc
dimensioned such that they arc supported as shown on telescopic posts 62 which
are placed on, and
supported by, compressively strong corner posts 64 that characterize a
conventional IC container
structure. The position, orientation and dimensions of strut elements (not
shown) in the trusses 58,
60 arc selected so that individual elements of the trusses are either in
tension or compression along
their length. The trusses may be planar trusses (as shown) or space trusses
adapted for corner
regions of thc building structure.
In yet another roof form example illustrated in FIG. 9, trusses 59 arc
supported only by the
inner side walls 17 of the ICs 10 between which the trusses extend. The IC
sidewalls 17 bearing the
weight of the trusses 59 are typically reinforced by any suitable method,
including any of the
methods described in published previously mentioned U.S. patent application
20140224791. IC
tops 31 are generally constructed to be slightly domed to prevent rain water
falling onto an IC from
pooling. In the FIG. 9 structure, this means that some of the rainwater
falling onto the IC will tend
to collect at the junction region 33. To prevent water damage to the IC, a
liner 27 is installed at the
junction 33 so as to extend across the top 31 of the IC 10 and to extend up
the end wall of the truss
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59. The trusses can, as shown in FIG. 9, be configured for a flat roof.
However, other roof forms
are possible including a sloped roof resulting from using trusses 59 such as
that shown in FIG. 10.
In the FIG. 10 embodiment, an oversize truss 59 is used, so that its end
portions 45 cover the ICs
that are spanned and the extreme ends 47 extend beyond the outer side walls 19
of the spanned ICs
to form cave regions 53.
The courtyard arrangement is an efficient structure because the MICs, together
with the
courtyard surrounded by them, provide a cost effective building in the sense
that it is fabricated at a
site away from the system deployment site using economies of scale provided by
the IC fabrication
industry. The courtyard arrangement can also be erected very quickly at the
deployment site because
there is very little site work required other than preparing the site,
positioning the MICs and adding
the roof components and surface finishing and applying the cladding. Overall,
remote site
installation of a system in this way using ICs previously modified at a homc
site offers relatively low
installation cost, fast time from system commissioning to delivery, and less
deployment site
installation time.
While ICs have bccn used to house industrial sub-systems, the illustrated
I\4IC wall and
courtyard arrangement of the present invention can require less container
space or fewer containers
because the MIC walls can be packed tightly with system units. The reason for
this is that space-
taking access walkways inside the MICs are generally not required: instead
access is obtained from
the courtyard through suitable openings in the IC walls 16.
Other variations and modifications will be apparent to those skilled in the
art. The
embodiments of the invention described and illustrated are not intended to be
limiting. The
principles of the invention contemplate many alternatives having advantages
and properties evident
in thc exemplary embodiments.
