Technical Field

[0001 ] This invention is regarding post-disaster shelter relating to the field of architectural engineering, majoring in architectural technology, and minoring in post-disaster crisis management.

Background Art

[0002] Under emergency conditions, providing shelters to support and protect people against the natural environment and providing them with privacy shall be mandatory (Ashmore, 2004, UNHCR, 2000). This is so important that it is recommended that required measures and preparations are taken, and needed equipment is provided in advance at disaster-prone areas to expedite rescuing and accommodating those affected by relevant disasters. Certain measures have been taken concerning post-incident shelter. In a study conducted by Barakat (1993), Yemen Earthquake, which occurred in 1982, was focused on. In restoration plans, residential units have been made through establishing an early core of residence by contractors and enabling future development, or in other words, through the core house development method. The early housing cores were established by taking benefit from reinforced concrete frames in all units and through partial variation in wall materials from brick to a cement block. Generally speaking, concerning the evaluation of residential units established using core house development by the contractors, certain changes and extensions made by the residents in the early housing cores have been mentioned, which failed due to a variety of reasons (Barakat, 1993). Dr. Ruhit Jigyasu (2002, 2004) has studied the consequences of the Marathwada, India earthquake and the type of its post-incident accommodation. In most moved villages, people have made certain early changes, e.g., adding to initial developments; however, the main change was regarding the materials. Generally speaking, earthquake-resistant construction technology was not performed correctly, and in most cases, water or moisture penetration through porous concrete blocks without proper jointing occurred (Jigyasu, 2002, 2004). A report prepared by the Swiss Red Cross (2003) refers to a quake that occurred in 2001 , which destroyed extensive parts of Gujarat Province in Western India. Presenting technical guidance and providing needed materials to construct earthquake-resistant residential units have been the policies of the Indian Government to reconstruct the quake-affected areas. Additionally, the Indian Government prepared 20 various plans to enable people to choose a unit proper for their family needs out them. The purpose of this measure has been to prevent the unification of residential units in reconstructed areas and assists in growing the residence premises organically with visual and formal variety. Core house development in this project encompasses an extensive concept of flexibility in variable aspects of cost, time, an area established as a core, and structures to be used. The possibility of variable development throughout the residential unit area is considered in establishing early constructed areas as original shelter core. In order to decrease the costs and training on the manner of implementing a resistant building, original shelter cores were established themselves by the survivors (Swiss Red Cross, 2003). In another instance, two British engineers reached a fully different approach in constructing a transitional shelter, namely “Concrete Tent.” It is a concrete building in a package of roughly 225 Kg, and when this bag is filled and inflated, the building starts forming within a process that roughly lasts for 40 minutes. After 12 hours, this shelter, which roughly measures 16m2 in area, is ready to be used for ten years (Caplan, 2005). Another model has been developed by an American company, which was extensively used in several voluntary camps in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. The shelter is made from wavy plastic panels, which may be flattened upon shipment, and no certain details are required for assembling. This shelter has positive features such as rapid and easy development. However, its geometry needs transporting using vehicles, and it suffers from terrible stability issues due to its lightness.

In other samples of shelter provision, a humanistic help agency offers transitional shelter packages, including wavy galvanized iron sheets. These packages have no certain design for transitional shelter, i.e., they may be used by any families who are able to construct a certain type of container using sheets equipped with rubbles (Corps, 2006). Another type of shelter is a vaulted winter transitional shelter, designed by Catholic Rescue Services. This model is made from plastic cloth sheets, placed on plastic tubes. Principally speaking, this is a vaulted form tent designed to be used for a year. Although the shelter is sealed on the floor and also has two lining layers of cloth and plastic, this combination insulation quality is roughly insufficient to confront the Alps winter cold. However, plastic sheet enables penetration of light during the day as well as easy repairing damaged sheets, if any (Lee, 2006). On the other hand, Shigeruban implemented his idea in Japan, Turkey, and India, which is thick paper tubes to establish shelter walls (Shigeruban, 2006). In this idea, shelter foundation is made by rubbles or coke cans full of sand and gravel, while supplying these items required time and cost. On the other hand, a large number of people is needed to establish such shelters. Meanwhile, several shelters have been established in Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Burkina Faso, Haiti, Pakistan, and the Philippines by the Red Cross and Red Crescent after a variety of natural disasters between 2007 and 2011 (IFRC, 2013) while in all such cases a certain part of materials was supplied locally and some other were imported from other areas, which all resulted in supplying needed materials to construct shelters to be time-consuming. On the other hand, each shelter needs a couple of days to be completed. Roudbar-Manjil Earthquake (1990) is one of the disastrous incidents throughout Iranian history, resulted in huge damages in these areas. Regarding the reconstruction experience of this region in Bareh Sar Village, several buildings were built on one floor using Zegali wooden structure, which is a local wooden structure and remain intact and free from any destruction considering their good and flexible performance against quake vibrations (Moeinfar, 1990). Welcoming Zegali structure by the survivors, easy establishing method of this building, the possibility of supply materials locally and knowledge of the locals on the method of constructing buildings using this method and in general, possibility of attracting survivors participation in establishing provisional accommodation units caused that they were established at Bareh Sar Village using rooms made by wooden skeleton and walls covered with Zegal (i.e., coal) and mud (Bahreini & Akhoundi, 2000). Although certain issues such as ignoring rural society residential model, weakness in supervision and controlling aspects regarding constructing residential units as well as acting too radical in assigning all the responsibilities of constructing residential units to villagers made this reconstruction experience not to be free from weaknesses. Reconstruction speed, limited budget as well as the quake panic all result in constructing single floor houses with weak foundations (Aslani, 2017). In an earthquake that occurred in Shanbeh Township, 25Km from Boushehr, in April 2013 and two other villages in Zaveh Township, 20Km from Torbat Heidarieh, Khorasan Razavi, in December 2010, the field observation results showed that whereas Shanbeh Township is tropical, using rescue tents and living under such conditions is more tolerable in comparison to cold areas. However, problems are seen in the area generally include improper tents, lack of privacy, disturbing hot/cold weather, failure by rescue teams to come in time, and food problems. Regarding the other two villages, considering the cold climate of the Torbat area and the fact that the earthquake happened in the winter, the survivors had more difficult times prior to having permanent accommodation. It was found out through analyzing the conditions that due to the special mental conditions after the incident in the first week, tolerating to live in 12 m2 accommodation has been quite disturbing, and they tried to pass their time there only for rest and night sleep purposes. Concerning the questions posed on the type of connection with the accommodation tents, the respondents addressed their dissatisfaction from the very first question, i.e., that the tents were far from their needs, both physically and mentally. Certain problems have been addressed by experts and users regarding emergency tents provided to the survivors under critical conditions and early hours after the incident, including but not limited to non-standard size, lack of needed safety for living purposes, lack of privacy, and lack of hot/cold insulation (Khorram, 2014). During Ahar Earthquake (August 2012), provisional housing was provided in Sarand Village, Heris Township, as a tent and shelter building for those affected by the earthquake. According to study findings, the survivors had limited satisfaction in terms of cultural-social components of post earthquake provisional housing, while “safety”, “respecting human dignity and privacy,” and “environmental perception” components were the least satisfied, and the “participation” component was the most satisfied (Asefi, 2016).

On the other hand, the invention with Patent No. US010227791 B2 (2019) refers to the plan of a mobile shelter structure, fully retractable during transportation, and therefore, enables stacking high numbers of them for transportation purposes. The fact a single person may retract the shelter is a strong point of this plan. In another patent No. US201440083023A1 (2014), portable tunnel shelter has been suggested. It is claimed that the said shelter is able to protect the users against harsh climatic conditions, e.g., storms, hurricanes, and hail. Another invention No. US20130276846A1 (2013) offered provisional shelter, including several walls and supporting bars that protect the walls. The internal part of this plan is retractable, and the walls cover may be flat or vaulted. Structural materials may include cloth, plastic, canvas, rubber, and other flexible materials. In an invention No. GB2465330A (2010), a portable shelter has been suggested, which is boxed and may be stacked when closed. Also, when opened and extended, it provides a safe and enclosed container with respect to the outside, considering its flexible cover. Eventually, in invention No. GB2443821A (2008), a vaulted shelter is offered using a frame structure filled with air to provide sufficient strength for the structure.

Summary of Invention

[0003] This invention, which is concerning post-incident emergency shelter, is suggested to respond to the crisis of shelter provision for those affected by the incident in different areas. When people are suddenly homeless, providing them with an area for their rapid accommodation may be useful in reducing the pressures caused by the disasters. This may be achieved through an easily retractable and light structure, which may be transported to the relevant location easily and established there using minimum manpower and within the minimum period of time. Such structure which may meet the needs of a variable number of people is both environment-friendly, and its parts may further be demobilized, collected, and taken out of the site without even a single harm to the surrounding environment, may be considered as a proper solution for the trend of establishing emergency shelters. The major advantages of this system include the integration of the entire structure and being free from complexities of assembling parts, in a way that by developing the structure, solely the members connecting cables shall be placed at the determined locations for structural stability.

Technical Problem

[0004] Focusing on temporary accommodation to support those affected by incidents is not only unavoidable but also essential under current conditions. Usually, several various incidents are reported all across the globe on a daily basis, resulting in losing residential areas for certain groups of people; therefore, the proper area shall be provided for such people as soon as possible through taking effective measures accordingly. Notwithstanding all the efforts made in this concern, still, several problems are seen regarding the post-incident suggested final solutions. In case a proper model and plan are suggested regarding emergency and temporary shelter prior to the incident, in which various aspects thereof are considered, then the problems caused by delays in providing shelters on a timely basis may be overcome, which is quite effective in decreasing stress and pressure imposed to the relevant users. The experience resulted from the incidents that occurred in the past demonstrates that shelters provided under emergency conditions used to be tents in high quantity, which provides shelters for a big group of people at first, while causes an improper status in terms of climate; also there are big shelter buildings which faced the problem of being provided and transported on a timely basis at the very beginning and further, their users declare their dissatisfaction after establishment and using such shelters due to their lack of comfort. The main target thereof is to diminish mental pressure caused by the occurred disasters by taking benefit from an effective shelter for those affected by such disasters. If people are free from concerns about homelessness and losing their basic living conditions, they will be able to manage themselves to control their stresses to some extent, and in turn, enable rescue teams to help them through objective planning. Considering the foregoing target, a light, modular, and retractable structure is planned to be provided to the people to enable them to have emergency accommodation as soon as possible.

Solution to Problem

[0005] Following any natural disasters and homelessness of several people, the need to provide shelter in the first place is essential and unavoidable, as the survivors shall be accommodated in a proper place to enable proper management of further measures for justified distribution of other needed items. For the time being, the items used as shelter by incident survivors include either tent announced non-satisfactory since ages ago, or shelter building; although it has certain advantages in comparison to the tent, it cannot be provided to all because it is of big size and heavy, and this issue results in injustice faced by survivors during the early measures after the incident, which in turn intensifies the basis for unrest and further tensions under critical conditions of the relevant region.

The invention hereof commences with the following hypothesis: Whereas the climate of areas affected by incidents differs, therefore, any effort to develop a certain type of shelter to be provided under all different conditions resulting in satisfaction of users will not be fruitful. Therefore, this invention intends to suggest light and retractable structure as a unit module to enable any single person to establish his/her shelter, and its covering is selected and applied suitable for the relevant region considering the local climate and in terms of proper thermal performance.

Advantageous Effects of Invention

[0006] As mentioned earlier, the currently used shelters are either tent or shelter buildings, which are improper in terms of performance according to their users, or prefabricated buildings, of which their materials may be incompatible with the regional and local culture and conditions, whereas they are solely assembled at the location. The people make intentional changes to them and sometimes leave them. Additionally, such shelters are usually of big size and heavy, and providing people with them is usually time-consuming. This invention plans to exclusively present a structure which is (i) light; and (ii) established fast and by the minimum number of people and finally, its covering is placed onto the structure as per the discretion of its users considering local materials, which are useful for their climate according to the local culture. These measures may be taken in advance through training and making arrangements, and/or people creatively provide a suitable covering for the structure. Whereas people's participation in the shelter provision process is one of the strongest points of these conditions, therefore, the other advantage of the shelter is the easiness of its establishment, which requires no special training, and people themselves may establish their own shelter accordingly.

Brief Description of Drawings

[0007] The suggested invention in Figure No. 1 shows the full extended status of the shelter. This structure is composed of two light cylinders given in Figure No. 3, of which the external layer 1 is fixed onto the ground, and the second cylinder together with members Nos. 7, 9, 4, and 13 have been placed inside the external layer. Selecting circular cross-section for these structures is due to a high moment of inertia of such forms in all directions for structure lateral stability. Regarding internal layer upward motion and reaching desirable height for shelter, Figure No. 2 shows that the internal cylinder moves upward integrated and connected to the fixed element 15 at the base, by cable 16 and through turning the handle 3. Flandle 3 is fixed to the structure at the upper part of an external layer of structure 1 using an axis 18 for cable rotation together with washer 17. By turning handle 3 and cable 16 upward motion, the entire and integrated structure internal layer moves upwardly. When it is placed at the end of the desired height, then the projections 2 provided at the lower part of the internal structure layer are placed in the relevant desirable height, and by the movement of each of them 2 and is placed at the provided trench, the entire structure is fixed at its position.

According to Figure No. 4, when the internal layer 4 reaches a desirable height and is fixed, then the internal members 4 are tended outward. Certain cables 5 have been provided at the tip of these members 4, which are connected to a globe 12 at the central part, which causes these cables to allow members 4 to deviate to a certain level. Structure upper cables 5 and central globe 12 are connected and fixed to the internal structure tip part. By fixing the members 4, its internal members 9 are rotated at the upper part in comparison to the members 4 and enable rotation of members 9 inside members 4 and may exit outwardly. In Figure No. 5, exiting members 7 from inside members 9 is shown, where they rotate at the lower part of members 9 by the bolt 20 and nut 21 with respect to structure 6 and enable rotation and exiting outwardly. Evidently, if all these members are to rotate unlimitedly, then fixing members at the relevant location will not be possible, and the permanent movement of these members will nullify the final performance. Therefore, according to Detail No. 1 -1 , Axis 23 has been provided at the back of the lower part of Member 7 so that such member is tangential to this axis in the final rotation and cannot rotate anymore. Eventually, in order to enable members to reach the ground (Figure No. 6), the last member 13 exits from inside member 7 as rail (Point 8 of Figure 1 ) and stands onto the ground at the end of the path with a little rotation.

Detail No. 3 shows the manner of movement and exit of members 13 from inside members 7. In order to do so, a sliding rail 24, formed from a metal strip, with a pulley 25 thereon, and all connected to a member 13 are considered. Also, rail 26 and pulley 27 are connected to the inside part of member 7, which enable member 13 exit member 7 easily and again slide into the member 7 upon retracting shelter. After the final extension of shelter (Figure No. 01 ), the members shall fully be integrated and fastened together tightly to keep lateral stability and static structure. In Detail No. 1 , small holes are provided on members 9 while hook 19 and cable 5 connected to that are placed inside these holes, and also the other cable ending is connected to adjacent members using a hook, which eventually results in the connection of all members together and the entire structure shall remain integrated and static. Also, at the upper part of members 9, the same holes have been provided on the members in Detail No. 2, where again are connected to other parts of structure by hook 19 and cables 5 connected to that. On the other hand, Detail No. 4 shows members 13 placed onto the ground, where cables 5 are connected to the base of these members 13 for cross bracing. However, at the shelter entrance span, the cable connected to the member 13 is placed solely horizontally beneath and above the member, and no cross bracing is applied in this span.

Whereas it is planned in this invention that in case one of the family members survive in an incident and no rescue team arrive to help him, he should be able to establish the shelter on his own. Therefore, the retracted entire structure is placed inside a container 27 as per Figure No. 7, where wheels 30 beneath such container enables easy handling of the structure, and in order to establish the structure onto the ground, the container 27 is fully tilted and the container floor mobile plane 31 slides outwardly, and the structure is placed onto the ground by raising the entire container 27. Eventually, by unfastening belts 29 at the front of the container and its backward movement, the shelter structure is placed onto the ground, and the entire extension process of the structure can be completed within a couple of minutes. Evidently, besides the container 27, a box 28 has been considered to store cables 5 used to connect the members.

Whereas these structures are considered to be modular, therefore, according to Figure No. 8, in case the number of family member survivors is high and/or in case of a need to keep neighborhood society together, then they may put these structures besides each other and eventually take benefit from bigger space. Figures

[0008] [fig.01 ] Shows the extended status of the shelter without connecting structure stabilizing cables.

[0009] [fig .1 ] Shows a perspective of the final status of emergency shelter structure under static conditions.

[0010] [fig.2] Shows the base structure and mobile members inside the external fixed structure, where the internal members move upward in an integrated manner using a cable through turning the handle, and the structure is developed.

[0011] [fig.3] Shows internal cylinder, including members inside base structure after exiting and reaching the relevant final height.

[0012] [fig.4] It shows a perspective of shelter structure extension trend, where the layers inside the structure are stretched gradually.

[0013] [fig.5] Shows a perspective of the shelter structure extension process.

[0014] [fig.6] Shows the extension trend till one of the members touching the ground.

[0015] [fig.7] Shows the manner of the entire structure exit under retracted state out of its container, to be established even by a single person.

[0016] [fig.8] Shows a plan of modular shelter structure, which may be useful for several people to provide them with sufficient area.

[0017] [fig.9] Shows a perspective of the final status of the essential structure with the covering thereon.

[0018] [Detail No.1 ] Shows the method of connection between members and rotation of member possibility around the rotation axis, as well as cables holding the entire structure to members.

[0019] [Detail 1 .1] Shows the method of member rotation in Detail No. 1 till reaching the desirable value.

[0020] [Detail No.2] Shows a perspective of the method of rotation of two members above the shelter structure together with holding cables.

[0021] [Detail No.3] Shows a perspective of longitudinal movement of two structure members from inside each other together with the sliding rail between them, while upon full exiting of these two members from each other, the members are eventually and fully placed on the ground.

[0022] [Detail No.4] Shows the final base established onto the ground plus hook connected to the base to hold the cables to keep structure lateral stability. Industrial Applicability

[0023] This invention may be used in the fields of building industries, construction technology, and advanced structural systems as well as crisis management organization and may be useful in all instances of a need for rapid accommodation, whether for critical conditions or tourism purposes. Whereas various regions are considered disaster-prone, these suggested structures may be provided throughout the cities. Making arrangements with and taking benefit from the support of the municipality and crisis management organizations as safe centers enables each of the centers to provide services to those in need under critical conditions to a certain distance. Also, under normal conditions, these shelters may be offered to tourists and nature tourists to generate income out of these products under non-critical conditions throughout the year. On the other hand, the developers may be urged through housing construction regulation to provide a safe area in the courtyards equal to the number of units to store these shelters, so that under critical conditions, and in case of a need to evacuate the houses, people may easily access these shelters.

Reference

[0024] Asefi, Maziar; Farokhi, Shahin (2016). Evaluation of Post-Earthquake Provisional Accommodation and its Quality Improvement Solutions in Proportion to Needs of those affected by the Quake, Case Study: Sarand Village, Heris. Rural Studies, 7th Series, Vol. 1 .

[0025] Ashmore, J. (2004). “Tents: A Guide to the Use and Logistics of Family Tentsin Humanitarian Relief, United Nations Publication, OCHA Ref NrOCHA/ESB/2004/19. http://iosephashmore.org/publications/tents.pdf.

[0026] Aslani, Fereshteh; Hosseinzadeh, Samira; Mousavian, Fatemehsadat, (2017). Evaluation of Bareh Sar Village Housing Reconstruction after Roudbar 1990 Earthquake, Crisis Prevention and Management Knowledge Quarterly Magazine, 7th Series. Vol. 2.

[0027] Bahreini, Abbas; Akhoundi, Seyedhassan (2000). Reconstruction Management of Regions affected by Natural Disasters (Experience of Housing Reconstruction in Gilan and Zanjan Earthquake-affected Regions). Tehran: Tehran University Press.

[0028] Barakat, S. (1993). Rebuilding and Resettelment 9 years later. London : University of York.

[0029] Caplan, Jeremy, (2005).” Building in a bag”, Time magazine.

[0030] Corps, Mercy. (2006). "Amid Snow and Rain in Pakistan, Mercy Corps Rushes Shelter and Medical Supplies to Earthquake Survivors," January, http://www.mercycorps.org.

[0031] IFRC, (2013). Post-Disaster Shelter: Ten Designs, International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, www.ifrc.org. [0032] Jigyasu, Rohit (2002). Reducing Disaster Vulnerability through Local knowledge and capacity - The case of Earthquake-prone Rural Communities in India and Nepal. Dr.ing thesis, Norwegian University of Science ane Technology, Trondheim.

[0033] Jigyasu, Rohit (2004). Disaster- A ‘Reality’ or ‘Construct’? perspectives from the ‘East’ to be published in Perry, R. & Quarantelli, E.(ed.), “what is the disaster? Perspectives on the Question”, Second Edition, Xlibris.

[0034] Khorram, Mehdi et al., (2014). Earthquake Approach Provisional Shelter Design Criteria (Case Study: Khorasan Razavi). Scientific-Research Magazine of Iranian Architecture & Urban Development Scientific Association, Vol. 7.

[0035] Lee. W. V. (2006). “Picking Up the Pieces: Transitional Shelters for Disaster Relief in the Northern Mountainous Regions of Pakistan”, Bachelor of Science in Art and Design, Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

[0036] Moeinfar, Aliakbar; Naderzadeh, Ahmad (1990). Technical and Preliminary Report on Manjil Earthquake, occurred on June 21 , 1990. Tehran, Road, Housing and Urban Development Research Center http://vista.ir/book/646530/

[0037] Shigeruban, (2006). Paper Tube Structures, "Paper Log Houses - Kobe, Japn, 1994/Kaynasli, Turkey, 2000/Bhuj, India, 2001 ," Shigeru Ban Associates, <http://www.shigerubanarchitects.com/SBAWORKS/SBAPAPER/SB APAPER_6/SBA-paper_ 6.html> (7 May 2006).

[0038] Swiss Red Cross. (2003). Earthquake Rehabilitation Project Gujurat, India.

[0039] UNHCR, (2000). Handbook for Emergencies, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Geneva, pp.40|