PORTABLE BUILDING

This invention relates to portable buildings.

WO-A-96/26329 describes modular portable buildings which can be readily assembled and disassembled. The parts of the disassembled buildings can be packed on pallets for transportation. Buildings of this general type have been used widely, particularly in war zones, refugee camps and similar situations. The buildings are built from a basic repeating unit of a support frame and two wall panels, together with floor and roof panels as required. The modules can be arranged in a wide variety of configurations incorporating combinations of, for example, up to 15 or 20 modules. A typical three-module building when assembled is about 2.3 m high, has a width of about 2.6 m and is about 5.2 m long. This provides an internal floor area of about 12 m ² . Depending on their intended use, the buildings can be fitted out with suitable ancillary equipment, for example electrical equipment, including air conditioning equipment, sanitary equipment , etc .

The component parts of the modular buildings are conveniently packed on pallets, which measure about 2.35 m by about 2.85 m in plan and are about 1.25 m high. The loaded pallets weigh about 1200 kg to about 1400 kg, depending on the ancillary equipment, so can be transported readily by air, thus allowing for rapid deployment of the buildings . Assembly of the buildings at the place of deployment is a simple operation which can be carried in a matter of minutes by, say, 4 to 6 men, without the use of special tools or lifting equipment. Disassembly is likewise a simple task. The disassembled modules can be re-packed on the original pallet (s) for transportation to a further place of deployment. The modules and other components can be re-used many times,

for example up to 50.

The materials used for construction of the wall panels of the modules are typically sandwich materials having a foamed polystyrene core and outer layers of galvanised steel or a glassfibre reinforced plastics material. The roof panels are typically made galvanised steel sheet or glassfibre reinforced plastics material. Use of these materials assists in achieving the relatively low weight referred to above and thereby the suitability for transportation by air.

The constructional materials just mentioned make the buildings particularly suitable for use as living accommodation, barracks, dormitories, offices, hospitals, kitchens, sentry posts, etc., in a large range of humanitarian, commercial and military applications in different regions of the world, including arctic, temperate, tropical and desert. The buildings can withstand ambient temperatures of from -30 ⁰ C to +50 °C .

As a result however of many of the kinds of applications to which the buildings are suited, they are often exposed to military and terrorist threats which involve the use of explosive and similar devices which the buildings are not well-suited to resist. This vulnerability can lead to serious injury and even death. The present invention aims to address this problem.

In accordance with the present invention, a pallet on which at least some of the component parts of a portable building have been transported, is used to protect at least part of the building, the pallet being positioned above the assembled building and supporting fortifications.

Conveniently, in the present invention the pallet is

inverted in such use.

Thus, the present invention provides a pallet having a load space in which are located at least some of the component parts of a disassembled building, together with means for supporting the pallet in a position above at least part of the assembled building in order to provide a support platform for fortifications to protect the building against armament attack.

Preferably, the pallet support means are also located in the load space.

Conveniently, the pallet load includes a floor member on which, in use of the pallet as a support platform for fortifications, the fortifications are placed.

Advantageously, the pallet support means are dimensioned to lie entirely within the periphery of the pallet.

Preferably, the pallet support means comprise a plurality of legs for fitting to respective corners of the pallet.

Conveniently, the legs take the form of extension legs for fitting to respective corner uprights of the pallet when inverted to form support legs .

Preferably, the pallet support means include first and second bracing struts for fitting between respective pairs of support legs, the bracing struts having means for attachment to the support legs .

Conveniently, each bracing strut comprises a V-shaped strut having respective first and second limbs, the attachment means of each strut comprising respective sleeves at the V-end

and at each free end, the sleeves at the free ends being aligned to receive a respective support leg.

Preferably, the pallet load includes means for forming a peripheral barrier around the pallet when supported above the building.

Conveniently, the barrier comprises respective corner posts and rails extending between the upper ends of the corner posts.

Advantageously, the pallet load includes means for covering fortifications loaded on the pallet when used to protect a building or building module.

Preferably, the load includes means for enclosing the sides of fortifications loaded on the pallet when used to protect a building or building module.

Conveniently, the load includes means, for example bags for filling with sand or ballast, for forming the fortifications .

Further the present invention provides support means for fitting to a pallet used for transport of at least some of the parts of a disassembled building, so that the pallet forms a support platform for fortifications to protect the assembled building against armament attack, the support means comprising a plurality of legs for fitting to respective corners of the pallet.

The support means preferably include first and second bracing struts as referred to above.

In another aspect, the invention provides a method of

fortifying at least part of a portable building against armament attack, in which, after assembly of the building, a transportation pallet is supported in a raised position above the building and fortifications are placed on the pallet.

Preferably, the transportation pallet is a pallet in which at least some of the component parts of the building were transported to the location of its assembly.

In yet another aspect of the invention, there is provided a fortified assembled portable building comprising wall and roof members and, supported above the building by support means, a pallet loaded with fortifications to protect the building against armament attack, the wall and roof members and the support means being dimensioned to fit on the pallet for transportation.

Preferably, the support means are as already referred to.

Throughout this specification, including its claims, the term "armament" is used in a broad sense to include not only explosive devices such as grenades and mortars but all other means, explosive or otherwise, capable of inflicting damage on a portable building; the term "fortification" is likewise used broadly to include any means capable of providing significant protection against armament attack.

An embodiment of the invention will now be described with reference to the drawings of this specification, in which:

Figure 1 is an exploded perspective view of a combination of a two-unit portable building incorporating three basic modules and protected by two fortification structures,

Figure 2 is a plan view of the combination of figure 1,

Figure 3 is an end view of the combination of figure 1,

Figure 4 is a side view of the combination of figure 1, and

Figure 5 is a perspective view of a pallet on which some of the component parts of the building of figure 1 can be loaded for transportation.

Figure 1 shows a two-unit portable building formed from three wall and frame modules as described in WO-A-96/26329 and appropriate floor and roof panels and other items joined to form a building having side walls 2, end walls 3 and a roof

4. Only one side wall and one end wall are visible in figure 1. The visible end wall 3 has a door 4 and a window 5. The building also has a floor (not shown) . Prior to assembly, the parts of the building are stacked for transportation on a pallet 6, shown in figure 5.

In accordance with the invention, two protection structures 7,7' are associated with the building. The structures 7 , 7 ^! are identical and one structure 7 will now be described.

The structure 7 includes the pallet 6 as shown in figure

5. As can be seen more clearly in figure 5, the pallet 6 comprises an openwork base 8, made from square-section tubular steel of 6 mm thickness and measuring 75 mm by 75 mm in section and four corner uprights 10 formed from square-section 50 mm by 50 mm steel tubing of 5 mm thickness. A support foot

11 is located at each corner of the pallet. U-shaped brackets

12 attached to the members of the openwork base 8 provide further support for the pallet.

Each protection structure 7 includes a respective pallet

which is inverted from its load-carrying orientation shown in figure 5 so that its corner uprights 10 extend downwards. Each structure 7 also includes four extension legs 15, each engaged at its upper end in the lower end of a respective one of the corner uprights of the inverted pallet 6. The uprights 10 and extension legs 15 form four support legs 16, one at each corner of the protection structure 7.

Opposite pairs of support legs 16 are braced by V-shaped bracing struts 18 which include at their free ends respective sleeves 20a, 20b through which one of the support legs 16 passes. The apex of each bracing strut 18 also has a sleeve

22, through which passes the other of the braced pair of support legs 16. Other forms of bracing strut are also possible.

The protection structure 7 further includes a retaining structure formed on the base 8 of the inverted pallet 6 which consists of four upright corner posts 19, four side rails 20 extending between the upper ends of the corner posts 19 and eight diagonal corner braces 21 extending between the posts 19 and the rails 20. The posts, rails and braces are made of suitable steel tubing and are arranged so that they can be disassembled into units which can be packed flat and no dimension greater than the length of the respective side of the protection structure 7.

Along each side of the inverted pallet 6 a side wall 24 formed by 19 mm thick plywood is located inside the corner posts 19 and side rails 20. The walls 24 are slotted to half their heights adjacent each end so that the four side walls can be fitted together in a self-supporting manner. A top cover 26 consisting of a sheet of 19 mm thick plywood sits on top of the side walls 24 and is secured to the side walls by an suitable means, such as woodscrews.

A floor 23 consisting of a further sheet of 19 mm plywood is supported on the inverted openwork base 8 of the pallet.

The space defined by the floor 23, the side walls 24 and the top cover 26 contains a closely packed array of 40 or 50 sand

5 bags 28 which provide fortification and protection for the building against, for example, mortars, grenades and other armaments aimed at the building. If desired, further protection around the sides of the building can be provided by, for example, further sand bags, gabions or bastions, known

10 per se.

If desired, a weatherproof flexible cover which is fitted to the loaded pallet for transportation can be fitted over the top of the protection structure in order to provide protection

15 against the weather and to assist in retaining the sand bags

28.

The transportation and construction of the protected building shown in the drawings will now be described.

20

For transportation, all the component parts of the building are packed in known manner on one or more pallets 6, together, in accordance with the present invention, with the four extension legs 15, the posts 19, the rails 20, the braces

25 21, the two V-shaped bracing struts 18, the base 23, the four side walls 24 and the top cover 26. Empty bags for filling with sand or other ballast can also be included, if desired. The weatherproof cover can then be fitted.

30 The pallet or pallets are then ready for transportation. The weight of each is typically about 250 kg more than when loaded in known manner only with the component parts of the modular building 1. It will also be noted that the additional items (legs 15, struts 18, posts 19, rails 20, braces 21, base

35 23, walls 24, cover 26 and any empty sand bags 28) can all fit

within the area of the floor 8 of the pallet 6.

The component parts of the building shown in figure 1 and the items needed to construct both protection structures shown can all be packed on two pallets 6. The parts to construct and protect a single building unit one-half the size of the building shown in figure 1 can be packed on a single pallet 6.

After transportation, by air or otherwise, to the place of use of the building, the pallets 6 are unloaded. The building is then constructed from its component parts in known manner. However many other modules are required to form the desired building are also constructed from respective sets of components packed on respective pallets.

After construction of each building module, it is fortified according to the present invention. To do this, one of the emptied pallets is inverted and four extension legs 15 are fitted to its corner uprights. The bracing struts 18 are fitted to the support legs 16 thus formed. The resulting structure is then placed over one half of the assembled building.

The posts 19, rails 20 and braces 21 are then fitted to the inverted pallet to form a side frame extending around the periphery of the pallet. The floor 23 is put in place. Next, the sand bags 28 are placed in position on the floor 23. In many locations, sand or other ballast material for filling of the sand bags will be available locally. After the sand bags have been put in place, the top cover 26 is located and screwed to the side walls 24. The weatherproof cover may then be fitted.

It should be noted that the above can be achieved simply

by the usual assembly team of 4 to 6 men without any special tools or lifting equipment.

The same procedure is then carried out to protect the other half of the building.

It will be appreciated that protection for the whole building against mortar and other attack has been provided using the pallets 6 and components which themselves were loaded and transported on the pallets, supplemented only by sand or other locally-available similar material.