Field of the Invention

The invention relates to a construction module for light demountable prefabricated buildings, in particular for building site facilities, temporary buildings and temporary habitable containers.

State of the Art

Today, light prefabricated buildings are mostly made of containers with a welded frame, to which cladding, floor and roof are fitted. If larger enclosed area is required, a number of containers are joined together with some of the walls being dismounted. Regarding the fact, that these containers, or at least their frame structures, are transported in an assembled condition, usually in trucks or railway-carriages, costs of transportation to a place of destination often exceed production costs. The containers are usually handled and installed at the place of destination by the means of heavy machinery: mobile cranes, lift arms, etc.

Therefore, the ground conditions at the place of destination must always be taken into account. They can only be installed within the reach of heavy machinery or a crane arm. This fact complicates their use, for example, in areas affected by natural disasters or in developing countries with a lack of heavy machinery.

Modules with a higher degree of demountability are also known, however, their use is problematic due to a high number of components and assembly units to be used, the construction after the assembly has a number of thermal bridges, the roof structure or covering is exposed to wind uplift, leaking occurs in heavy rains, and, last but not least, their unsightly appearance is yet another

disadvantage. Dismounting usually leaves the construction units with irreversible changes, e.g. bolt or screw holes, or dismounting is altogether impossible due to the frequent use of assembly binders and adhesives. These disadvantages of dismountable constructions limit its use as regards territorial and functional aspects considerably; therefore, none of the known prior art constructions are used in mass scale.

The aim of the present invention is to develop a module construction for prefabricated buildings meeting a number of requirements. In the first place, the possibility of storage and transportation in a dismounted state is required, with small dimensions not complicating transportation, so that the modules might be transported, for instance, in sea containers or in railway carriages or on tracks making maximum use of space. Another fundamental requirement is the demountability into elementary system components not exceeding the weight of 50 kg, thus enabling manual handling. Assembly at the place of destination must be simple enough, so that it is ensured that even workers with no special technical skills are capable of performing it using a concise manual and common elementary tools and devices. Apart from these fundamental requirements, the solution should also have good insulation properties, i.e. the construction should have a minimum number of thermal bridges, so that it can be used both in the territories with extremely hot climate and territories with frosty winters. The modules must be mobile, i.e. all parts must be demountable in a simple way, without impairing the construction, and reusable, while preserving all properties of the originally assembled building. Possible economical extension of the building with a minimum number of constructional elements is also required, at least on two opposite sides of the basic module.

Nature of the Invention

The above mentioned aim is achieved by the construction module for demountable, in particular multi-module, prefabricated buildings, comprising at least a steel frame with cladding and a roof structure, where the frame comprises a pair of shorter face profiles and a pair of longer lateral profiles in the floor section of the frame and corresponding pairs of face and lateral girders in the roof section, the floor section and roof section being joined by corner posts, which is designed according to this invention, a nature of which is characterised in that:

- the lateral girders are fitted with partially screwed in bearing bolts, to which the roof girders are mounted, where the bearing bolts are situated along the inner vertical side of the lateral girders in different height in such manner that their distance from the top edge of the lateral girder in the direction towards one of the face girders increases gradually to ensure a pitch of the roof. The roof girders support the trapezoidal sheet with the slope lines running parallel with the lateral girders. The joint of the trapezoidal sheet and the lateral girder is covered by the means of a drip moulding mounted to the lateral girders above the edge of the trapezoidal sheet and following the moderate pitch of the roof achieved by the means of the cascade positioning of the roof girders. The loose side of the drip moulding follows the slope of the lateral side of the first sheet trapeze and it is treated by a sealing compound along the joint. Bolts are welded to the drip moulding on the top side perpendicular to the lateral girder. A number of pressure bars are installed on the trapezoidal sheet which are perpendicular to the slope line, i.e. also to the drip moulding, and have assembly fixtures with holes for the welded bolts at the end. At the joint of the trapezoidal sheet and the face girder on the upper slope side a support angle is attached to the face girder below the trapezoidal sheet edge, and above the trapezoidal sheet edge a pressure angle with flexible seal is fitted to the face girder, where the sealing profile

corresponds with the profile of the trapezoidal sheet. At the joint of the trapezoidal sheet and the face girder with a water drain, i.e. on the lower slope side, the face girder has an opening for a rainwater pipe and a gutter on its inner side, the waterway of which is situated just below the trapezoidal sheet lower edge. The lower edge of the trapezoidal sheet overreaches the edge of the gutter waterway approximately up to the half of its width. The edge of the trapezoidal sheet sloping surface can be formed as a drip lip above the gutter waterway. The lateral girders may be equipped on the bottom surface with flat clamps in axial direction, to which a bearing angle for the installation of roof panels is fitted on the inside, while on the side of the building cladding, which is the insulation panel, a bearing board is mounted with free space for a insulation block.

The roof panels may be fitted with spacing filled in by the insulation block on the marginal bearing angle, i.e. at the lateral side in case of a multi-module building.

The pressure bars may be treated with an elastic contact layer in their end parts in contact with the trapezoidal sheet.

To the basic construction module an arbitrary number of extension modules may be attached on one or both lateral sides, where the outer contact posts, lateral profile and lateral rafter of the basic construction module make also parts of the adjacent extension module.

The invention has a number of advantages. The fundamental requirement concerning the low transportation volume of the construction is met, as it can be dismantled, stored and transported in compact packaging without unsuitable dimensions and with the weight below 50 kg.

This advantage will be especially appreciated in transportation and installation at the place of destination. Another significant advantage is the possibility of installation at the place of destination using only common elementary tools, concise manual, performed by persons with no special technical skills. The building can be dismounted anytime after its erection. Regarding the fact, that no irreversible changes in its structure are made during the installation, its utility value remains unimpaired for further reinstallation. The roof, floor and walls are made from insulation material and the generation of possible thermal bridges is prevented by insulation blocks. Thus, the entire building is insulated in a simple manner and no additional insulation is required. To the basic construction module an arbitrary number of extension modules may be attached, without doubling the number of comer posts and/or face girders. Interior partition walls replacing the face walls in the interior can be omitted without impairing the structure strength and load capacity.

Figures in Drawings

The invention is described in detail using an example with associated drawings. Fig. 1 is a schematic drawing of the steel frame with floor and roof girders, Fig. 2 is a drawing of the joint of two lateral girder parts with the roof girder fitted, Fig. 3 shows bedding of floor girders on the lateral profile, Fig. 4 is a detail drawing of the lateral girder with clamps, the bearing board for the lateral insulation panel and the bearing angle for the roof panel. Fig. 5 is a detail section drawing of the floor and lateral wall - frontal view, Fig. 6 shows the joint of the two parts of the lateral profile with the anchoring of the floor girders and the joint of the floor panels, Fig. 7 is a detail section drawing of the joint of the roof and the face wall - lateral view, Fig. 8 is a detail section drawing of the joint of the roof and the lateral wall in the upper part of the roof- frontal view. Fig. 9 is a detail section view of the joint of the roof and the lateral wall in the lower part of the roof with the water drain - frontal view. Fig. 10 is a detail drawing of the water drain solution - frontal section view. Fig. 11 is a detail drawing of the connection of two modules showing the corner post shared by the two modules and Fig. 12 shows the lateral girder shared by two modules and the interior partition.

Example of the Invention

The basic construction module has the dimensions of approx. 4 m in width, 7 m in depth and nearly 3 m in height. The dimensions given here are only used as an example and they are not the subject of the patent right, as their reasonable modification does not affect the patent rights. In the following description the wall with the dimensions of 4x3 m is the face wall and the wall with the dimensions of 7x3 m is the lateral wall. The basic construction module is designed in such manner so that the extension modules can be mounted on both its lateral sides, where the outer contact bearing elements of the basic construction module make also parts of the extension module. The following section describes the structure of the basic construction module and the

attachment of the basic construction module to the extension module.

The basic construction module has a steel frame 1 in the for of a prism, as shown in Fig. 1, which is made of front and rear face profiles H, a pair of lateral profiles J3 and four corner posts J/2. On the top of the corner posts \2 a roof frame structure is anchored comprising front and rear face girders 14 and a pair of lateral girders 15. The lateral profiles JJ _. and lateral girders 15 are made of two parts each. These are hollow construction elements, blinded with mounting holes. They are connected at the point of the blinding by connection bolts. The connection is shown in Fig. 2 as the joint of two parts of the lateral girder 15.

The lateral girders 15 are fitted with partially screwed in bearing bolts J/7, to which roof girders 5J_ are mounted. The bearing bolts 17 are situated along the inner vertical side of the lateral girders 1_5 in different height so that their distance from the tope edge of the lateral girder j_5 in the direction towards one of the face girders 1_4 increases, the roof girders 5_1 thus creating the pitch of the roof. With respect to the entire roof structure, the minimum pitch of the roof is sufficient.

In the same way the floor girders 3_1 are mounted on the bearing bolts J/7 screwed in the lateral profiles H, but the bearing bolts J/7 are situated in the same height here. This is depicted in Fig. 3. On the floor girders 3J, insulation panels 32 are mounted with an interlocking joint, as shown in Fig. 5 and Fig. 6.

The lateral girders 15 are also fitted with clamps 1(5, to which bearing angles 22 for the installation of the roof panels 23 made of insulation material are mounted. This is shown in Fig. 4 and Fig. 7. The roof panels 23 on the marginal bearing angle 22, i.e. by the lateral side in case of a multi-module building, may be fitted with a spacing filled in by the insulation block 24. The bearing board 25 is fitted to the clamps 16 towards the exterior building cladding where there is also space for the insulation block 24. The building cladding is made of the insulation panel 4, which is, in its upper part, secured by the lateral board 4J _. mounted to the lateral girder Jj5 and, in its lower part, anchored in the lower bearing board 42 mounted to the lateral profile ϋ .This is shown in Fig. 5 and Fig. 7. The insulation panels 4 on the face sides are mounted in the same way; however, they are usually fitted with windows, doors, and/or other openings.

The roof structure is depicted in Fig. 7 showing the connection of the roof and the lateral girder 15, Fig. 8 representing the sectional view perpendicular to the previous figure showing the connection of the roof and one of the face girders 14, and Fig. 9 showing the connection of the roof and the face girder 1_4 on the opposite side, where there is the rain water drain.

The roof girders 5J, support the trapezoidal sheet 53 _. with the slope lines running parallel with the lateral girders j_5. The drip moulding 52 is mounted to the lateral girders 15 above the edge of the trapezoidal sheet following the moderate pitch of the roof achieved by the means of the cascade positioning of the roof girders 5L The loose side of the drip moulding 52 follows the shape of the lateral side of the sheet trapeze 53_and it is treated with a sealing compound 54 along the joint. Bolts 55 are welded to the drip moulding 52 on the top side perpendicular to the lateral girder 15. A number of pressure bars 56 are installed on the trapezoidal sheet 53 which are perpendicular to the slope line, i.e. also to the drip moulding 52, and have an assembly fixture 57 with a hole for the welded bolt at the end. The lower side of the pressure bar end is treated with an elastic contact layer 58. The trapezoidal sheet 53 and the lateral girder 15 are depicted in Fig. 7.

The joint of the trapezoidal sheet 53_ and the face girder \A without the water drain is depicted in Fig. 8. The support angle 59 is attached to the face girder 14 below the trapezoidal sheet edge 53_, and above the trapezoidal sheet edge 53 a pressure angle 58 with elastic seal 581 is fitted to the face girder 14, where the sealing profile corresponds with the profile of the trapezoidal sheet 53.

The joint of the trapezoidal sheet 53 and the face girder 14 with the water drain, i.e. in the lower side of the slope, is depicted in Fig. 9 and, in detail, in Fig 11. The face girder 1_4 has an opening 61 for a rainwater pipe 62 and a gutter 63 on its inner side, the waterway 64 of which is situated just below the trapezoidal sheet 53 lower edge. The lower edge of the trapezoidal sheet 51 overreaches the gutter waterway 64 approximately up to the half of its width. The sloping surface edges of the trapezoidal sheet 53 are formed as drip lips 531. The detail is shown in Fig. 12.

The detail views in Fig. 11 and Fig. 12 show the attachment of the extension module to the basic construction module. As it is apparent, the connection is carried out without doubling the corner posts 12, lateral floor profiles, and lateral roof girders 15. Fig. 11 shows the corner post 12 shared by the two modules and Fig. 12 shows the lateral girder 1_5 shared by two modules, as well as the interior partition 43, which is optional as the indoor area may be enlarged by the extension modules.

All external walls are made of insulation panels 4, the face panels usually being fitted with doors and windows, while the lateral walls make the side walls of the building comprising an arbitrary number of mounted modules. The walls cover the entire frame structure, of which only the base frame is visible, therefore the building has a certain aesthetic quality and does not look like a merely provisional utility building.

The roof has a sufficient load capacity; therefore it can be walked on and used for the installation of additional equipment, such as solar panels. The construction provides for the installation of concealed utilities; Fig. 8 shows the cable line installation.

The module can house sanitary facilities, partitions for changing rooms, separate workplaces, etc. The module assembly is so simple, considering the construction design, that it does not have to be described specifically.

Industrial Application

The construction module for demountable, mainly multi-module, prefabricated buildings designed according to this invention can be produced industrially and used as an isolated building or as a basic construction unit of system buildings. Due to its simple assembly and disassembly it can be used particularly as a temporary building in areas affected by natural disasters or wars, as well as temporary accommodation or office building on building sites, for instance.

List of reference characters

1- frame

12 - corner post

13 - lateral profile

14 - face girder

15 - lateral girder

16 - clamp

17 - bearing bolt

22 - bearing angle

23 - roof panel

24— insulation block

5 - bearing board

31— floor girder

2 - floor panel

— insulation panel

1 - lateral board

2 - lower bearing board 3— interior partition

1 - roof girder

2 - drip moulding

3— trapezoidal sheet 4 - sealing layer

5 - welded bolts

6 - pressure bar

7 - assembly fixture

8 - pressure angle

9 - support angle

1 - opening

2 - rainwater pipe

3 - gutter - gutter waterway