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Description  |
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BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a modular building system and to
individual modules or components that are useable therewith. Individual
modules are at least substantially finished in a factory environment
according to a predetermined design, after which they are transported to a
proposed building site where they are set in place as a single module
structure, or are coupled to other modules to yield a composite structure.
A significantly short period of time is consumed at the building site due
to the high degree of completion of the unit achieved at the factory.
Modular concepts of construction, in which individual building modules are
pre-fabricated and moved to a building site, and secured to additional
modules to produce a desired structure are well established in the art.
Similarly other known modular techniques involve remote prefabrication of
components followed by component erection and completion of the structure
at the building site. Generally speaking, however, both of the noted prior
modular concepts have been fraught with problems and/or inherent
limitations, such that the use of same has been severely limited.
Specifically, while transport of the prefabricated module has precluded
use of many conventional materials and has limited architectural design
due to dimensional and structural considerations, prefabrication of
components only, through less stringent in transport restrictions is both
labor intensive and time consuming at the building site.
Exemplary of prior attempts at prefabrication of modules include the
manufacture of rectangular-shaped modules which are limited in design and
use by virtue of the necessity for supports internally of the modules.
Such internal supports limit coupling of modules, restrict placement of
internal walls within the module, or protrude into the intended useable
interior where the supports must be enclosed, presenting aesthetically
undesirable interior module features. In general, necessity for the
internal supports has been dictated by lack of structural integrity of the
system, per se, and in fact, one such system employs one or more temporary
vertical supports during the manufacture of the module which remain in
place until the modules are connected into a composite structure, at which
time additional hidden supports are provided adequate to permit the
removal of the temporary internal supports, whereby an unobstructed
interior of at least a portion of the composite structure is achieved.
Other systems avoid the above noted problem by designing the module so that
critical support elements are located around the exterior of the module.
In these systems, though the interior of the modules may be unobstructed,
the exterior becomes potentially aesthetically unappealing. Further, in
both of the above described systems, the structural frames employed limit
the modules to use in a totally cubic deployment.
Due to the lack of structural integrity of the individual prefabricated
modules of the prior art, individual modules are generally assembled into
a composite building with the aid of tensioning cables, tie rods, rigid
support couplings, support beams that extend across joints between modules
and the like. These various means that are utilized to strengthen the
prior art modules are adequate to perhaps properly unite adjacent modules
into an overall structure, but are not adequate to overcome the patent
lack of structural integrity of the modules per se which may be
ascertained simply by movement about the interior of the structure. By way
of example, one outstanding noticeable feature of normal modular
construction is a lack of stability and rigidity of the floor. Normally
floors in prefabricated, transportable structures exhibit resilience when
one walks thereacross due to a lack of strength or rigidity that is
exhibited by conventional flooring.
Prior attempts to overcome the noticeable floor effect of prefabricated
construction have included fabrication of the floor from a reinforced
concrete floor or conventional material at the building site, or the
placement of structural reinforcement beneath the module at the building
site, both of which detract from the efficiencies of the system, per se.
In fact, prior to the present invention, there has been no modular
construction that has employed a factory fabricated lightweight,
reinforced concrete floor in the module which could be successfully
transported from the factory to the building site without damage to the
floor.
Prior art modular building systems involving fabrication of modules in a
factory, followed by transport of the virtually completed module to a
building site have followed two general structural techniques. One such
technique includes exterior load bearing walls to achieve the degree of
structural integrity and rigidity necessary for transportability of the
module, and in fact, such modules generally include exterior load bearing
walls of reinforced concrete, which is both architecturally and
aesthetically limiting to the system. The second structural technique for
such modular systems involves the inclusion of a load bearing structural
framework to which non-load bearing exterior and interior walls are
suitably affixed. Vertical load bearing columns are utilized in the
framework, generally located at the four corners of the rectangular shaped
module and at intermediate locations therebetween. The vertical columns
may be secured between horizontal structural elements of the framework for
the floor and roof of the module, or alternatively, the horizontal
framework elements may be secured to the columns. Such structural
framework arrangements of the prior art possess inherent disadvantages due
to the requirement for intermediate supports between corner vertical
supports, exposure of the vertical support columns around the exterior of
the module, or the necessity to enclose the protruding vertical columns
within the interior of the module.
All in all, reflecting on prior art modular construction systems, no system
has existed heretofore in which basically conventional construction
materials were utilized as would normally be found in an office, an
industrial building, or a dwelling that was totally constructed on site.
With the present invention, however, the modules, after virtually complete
fabrication in the factory, are transportable to the building site without
damage during transit. At the building site the modules are placed in the
appropriate configuration according to the intended design for the
structure, and adjacent modules are coupled to each other to ensure
continuity of planar surfaces within the modules, such as the walls,
floors, ceilings and the like, and generally without the necessity of
additional structural coupling of the modules.
Insofar as the modular system according to the present invention is
concerned, a number of important features are present that are totally
devoid and unsuggested by the prior art. First, no internal supports are
generally necessary other than at the corners of a basic support frame,
whereby an endless series of modules could be coupled in side-by-side or
end-to-end fashion to achieve any desired architectural arrangement
compatible with conventional construction. In fact, if desired, modules
according to the present invention may even be utilized in construction
according to architectural designs other than the basic cubic or
rectangular configuration. Cantilevered sections may be added to the basic
support frame. Further, conventional materials are utilizable without
damage during transit. Hence, once the modules are assembled at the
building site and the finishing touches added, the overall structure from
an exterior and an interior viewpoint is virtually undetectable as being
modular in nature. Instead, though the houses constructed according to the
present invention are modular in nature, once completed, the structure
gives the appearance of a conventionally constructed building. In fact, as
opposed to the norm for modular structures, maintenance and repairs to
electrical or plumbing lines and conduits, and air handling ducts are
easily achieved without destruction of a wall of the module.
Further, heretofore, modular structures that were intended for transport
could not satisfactorily include monolithic concrete floors or gypsum type
wall board panels, for during transport with the prior modular structures,
damage would occur to both. According to the present invention, however, a
monolithic reinforced concrete floor is employed that is capable of
withstanding transit without even hairline fractures occurring in same,
while in like fashion, gypsum wall panels may be utilized as interior wall
surfaces without a danger of same becoming unsecured from the wall studs
or fracturing as the result of induced stress during transit.
In general, while the prior art in the area of modular construction is
quite voluminous, as exemplified below, none of the known prior art
teaches or suggests the present invention. Exemplary of the prior art are
the following listed patents.
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U.S. Pat. No. 3,225,434
U.S. Pat. No. 3,738,069
U.S. Pat. No. 3,256,652
U.S. Pat. No. 3,771,069
U.S. Pat. No. 3,289,382
U.S. Pat. No. 3,874,134
U.S. Pat. No. 3,292,327
U.S. Pat. No. 3,940,890
U.S. Pat. No. 3,377,755
U.S. Pat. No. 4,012,871
U.S. Pat. No. 3,442,056
U.S. Pat. No. 4,023,315
U.S. Pat. No. 3,470,660
U.S. Pat. No. 4,048,769
U.S. Pat. No. 3,484,999
U.S. Pat. No. 4,065,905
U.S. Pat. No. 3,550,334
U.S. Pat. No. 4,077,170
U.S. Pat. No. 3,568,380
U.S. Pat. No. 4,253,288
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SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved interior
wall structure for use in construction of a transportable building module.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an interior wall
structure for a building module to be fabricated in a factory and
transported to a building site without damage to the interior walls.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide an interior
wall structure for a transportable building module in which gypsum panels
may be employed without damage during transit.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a modular
building system that has extreme architectural design flexibility, and
with interior walls of same being virtually indistinguishable from
conventionally constructed buildings.
Still further, another object of the present invention is to provide an
interior wall structure for a modular building system in which the
interior walls will undergo transit without damage, whereby such walls may
be finished in the factory.
Still further, another object of the present invention is to provide an
improved interior wall structure for a transportable building, which walls
include gypsum panels.
Generally speaking, the interior wall according to the present invention is
for a transportable building structure which includes a frame, a floor
associated with said frame, a roof associated with said frame, and at
least one exterior wall associated with said frame, and comprises lower
horizontal support members rigidly secured to said floor; upper horizontal
support members flexibly associated with said frame; a plurality of spaced
apart vertical support members secured between said lower and upper
horizontal support members; and wall panels secured to said vertical
support members, whereby during transit of said module, stresses induced
in said interior wall will not cause damage to same.
More specifically, one of the problems inherent with a prefabricated
structure that is intended to be transported from a factory to a building
site is integrity of the walls associated with same, particularly internal
walls. For example, in general, the floor and roof of a module fabricated
in a factory have different rigidities with the floor normally being more
rigid than the roof. During transit of the module, harmonic vibrations are
created in the floor and the roof, and due to the difference in rigidity
have different amplitudes. Accordingly, should the amplitudes of vibration
of the floor and roof become out of phase, stresses are induced in the
wall structures. Should the wall structures be rigidly secured at both
upper and lower ends, and should the amplitudes be of great enough
magnitude, rupture of the structure will result. Such occurrence is
particularly in point according to a most preferred embodiment of the
present invention, in which the module has a concrete floor and a roof
constructed of exterior grade plywood that is secured to the roof purlins.
Rigid securement of an interior wall between the concrete floor and the
roof thus causes rupture of the support system for the wall panels, i.e.,
the studs. When, however, according to the present invention, the interior
wall is rigidly secured to the floor only and is flexibly associated with
the module frame at an upper end, the wall is free to give adequate to
relieve stresses induced by vibration such that rupture does not result.
Flexible association between the upper portion of an interior wall and the
module frame can take several different forms. For example, a L-shaped
bracket may be secured to a frame element with a leg depending therefrom
and extending away from the point of securement (inwardly of the frame)
where the outer end of the leg is free from securement, and where the
bracket is of a material such that some flexing is possible. In a totally
ordered structure, a portion of the wall structure, per se, may be secured
directly to the outer free end of the flexible bracket leg, though such an
arrangement is not normally present. Instead, where a random wall location
is probable, or where a standardized module is preferred to accommodate a
wall at generally any location, at least one further elongated member is
secured to the outer free legs around the pertinent portion of the
perimeter of the module. Appropriate wall elements are then secured to the
further elongated element. Further, furring strips may be utilized to
define a ceiling grid, with peripheral furring strips secured to the outer
free ends of the legs. Wall mounting means may then be secured to the
ceiling grid. Such arrangement is preferred for the entire ceiling and
upper wall structure will then flex as a unit. Also an internal wall could
then be located as desired within the interior of the module.
One further problem that has existed with modular constructed units that
are intended to be transported to a building site. Certain wall panels
such as gypsum board, wall board, or the like has traditionally been
unacceptable for use in such environment. Particularly, such type panels
are quite fragile and susceptible to fracture should an adequate force be
applied thereto. Additionally, fastening members that are utilized to
secure the friable type panels to a stud wall may withdraw from securement
as a result of vibration produced during transit of the module, thus
loosening the wall panel and abetting susceptibility of fracture.
Generally speaking, when transporting a module under normal road
conditions and for short distances, such as about 100 miles or less,
severity of the forces applied to the wall panels assuming m | | |
