BACKGROUND

The present invention relates generally to shipping containers used for constructing buildings, and more specifically, to shipping containers used for constructing multi-level buildings.

Shipping containers are used to transport goods all over the world. Typically, conventional shipping containers 10 include a front wall 12, rear wall 14, opposing sidewalls 16a, 16b, a top wall or ceiling 18 and a bottom wall or floor 20 as shown in Figs. 1 -4. These shipping containers 10 are commonly made of steel and have dimensions of 8 feet 6 inches (A1 ) by 8 feet (A2) or 9 feet 6 inches (B1 ) by 8 feet (B2), and have a length of twenty feet or forty feet. Due to the sturdy construction and weight of the materials used to make the shipping containers, these containers commonly weigh between 5000 to 8500 pounds.

In situations where the shipping containers are used to transport goods between countries, and particularly, overseas, the containers are not re-used because shipping costs are too expensive to ship empty containers back to where they came from due to the size and weight of the containers.

As a result, hundreds to thousands of empty shipping containers sit at ports un-used.

One use for the empty shipping containers is for constructing residential and commercial buildings. In one example, one or more shipping containers are placed on the ground or a foundation and welded together to form a single floor building. In another example, the shipping containers are stacked on top of each other to form multi-level residential or commercial buildings. However, due to fire rating standards in residential and commercial building codes, buildings made with the empty shipping containers can only be up to three stories in height.

Thus, there is a need for constructing multi-level buildings using shipping containers that are greater than three stories in height and meet fire rating building codes for residential and commercial buildings.

SUMMARY

The above-listed need is met or exceeded by the present building member, which is a shipping container including at least one cementitious building panel, such that a plurality of the building members are vertically stacked and attached together to form a residential or commercial building that is greater than three stories in height.

In an embodiment, a building member for constructing a multi level building is provided, where the building member includes a shipping container having a top wall, a bottom wall, a front wall, a rear wall and opposing side walls connected together, and a building panel made of a cementitious material attached to at least one of an inner side or an outer side of the shipping container.

In another embodiment, a multi-level building includes at least four building members stacked vertically and attached together, each of the at least four building members including a shipping container having a top wall, a bottom wall, a front wall, a rear wall and opposing side walls connected together, and a building panel made of a cementitious material attached to at least one of an inner side or an outer side of at least one of the top wall, the bottom wall, the front wall, the rear wall and the opposing side walls of each of the shipping containers.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic view of a conventional shipping container; FIG. 2 is a schematic end view of the shipping container of Fig.

1 having a first length, width and height;

FIG. 3 is a schematic end view of the shipping container of Fig.

1 having a second length, width and height;

FIG. 4 is an exploded schematic view of the shipping container of Fig. 1 ;

Fig. 5 is an exploded schematic view of an embodiment of a building member of the present invention;

Fig. 6A is a schematic view of a wall of the building member of

Fig. 5;

Fig. 6B is a schematic view of a floor assembly of the building member of Fig. 5;

Fig. 7 is a schematic view of an embodiment of a building built with a plurality of the building members of Fig. 5;

Fig. 8 is an exploded schematic view of another embodiment of a building member of the present invention; Fig. 9 is a schematic view of building members placed below- grade that form a foundation of a building;

Fig. 10 is a schematic view of a building member placed on a foundation having foundation walls; and

Fig. 11 is a schematic view of a building member placed on the ground.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Referring now to FIG. 5, an embodiment of the present building member 22 is shown and includes an empty shipping container 24 having a front wall 26 with a door frame 28 and door(s) 30, a rear wall 32, opposing side walls 34a, 34b, a top wall or ceiling 36 and a bottom wall or floor 38. Conventional shipping containers are typically made of steel which has a fire rating of a half hour (0.5 hours). Therefore, buildings made with conventional shipping containers can only be one to three stories in height. Buildings that are greater than three stories must have a fire rating of at least one hour (1.0 hour) to meet building and safety codes.

To meet the fire rating of one hour, one or more building panels 40 are attached to the building member 22. The one or more building panels 40 are made of a cementitious material, such as, for example, structural cement panels, fiber reinforced cement panels, gypsum panels, drywall, wallboard and/or fiber reinforced gypsum panels. It should be appreciated that the building panels 40 may be made out of any suitable material or combination of materials. As shown in Fig. 5, the building panels 40 may be attached to an inner or interior surface 42, and an outer or exterior surface 44 or both the interior surfaces and exterior surfaces of the front wall 26, rear wall 32, opposing sidewalls 34a, 34b, top wall 36 and bottom wall 38 of the building members 22. Specifically, the floor panels attached to the frame structure of the floor in the shipping container, which is typically plywood, is removed and replaced with the building panels 40. In attaching the building panels 40 to the interior and/or exterior surfaces 42, 44 of the building member 22, the building panels may be oriented vertically, horizontally and/or cut to any suitable size and shape to fit and be attached to the surfaces. Also, one or more metal supports 46, or other non-combustible supports, may be attached to the interior and/or exterior surfaces of the walls and the building panels are then secured to the supports using suitable fasteners, to create space between the surfaces of the walls and the building panels for insulation, sound dampening materials or other materials. The attachment of the building panels 40 to the interior and/or exterior surfaces 42, 44 of the walls, and/or floor assembly as described below and/or ceiling, increases the fire rating of the building member 22 to at least one hour and enables the building members to be vertically stacked on top of each other and welded or attached together to form residential and commercial buildings that are one to three stories in height and greater than three stories in height.

In one embodiment, the building panels 40 attached to the building member 22 have a width of four feet, a length of eight feet and a thickness of a half-inch (0.5 in). It should be appreciated that the building panels have a thickness of three-quarter inches (0.75 in.), one inch (1.0 in.), one and a half inches (1.5 in.) or any suitable thickness. Furthermore, the building panels 40 may be any suitable width and length. In another embodiment, blast resistant prefabricated wall panels or blast panels may be attached to the building member 22 where each blast panel is a structural cementitious panel as described in U.S. Patent Nos. 6,986,812; 7,445,738; 7,670,520; 7,789,645; and 8,030,377, which are all incorporated herein by reference.

Referring to Fig. 6A, an embodiment of a wall 48 of the building member 22 is illustrated where the wall includes a framed structure 50 formed by top and bottom horizontally oriented supports 52a, 52b, and opposing vertically oriented side supports 54a, 54b, that are secured together by fasteners or welding. Intermediate vertically oriented supports 56 are attached to the top and bottom supports 52a, 52b at spaced intervals between the opposing side supports 54a, 54b. A sheet 58 of flat or corrugated material is attached to a side of the framed structure 50, and more specifically, to the outer or exterior side of the framed structure. A plurality of the building panels 40 are attached to the inner or interior side of the framed structure 50. In this embodiment, insulation 60 made with a suitable insulating material such as a glass fiber insulation material, a mineral fiber insulating material or a foam insulating material, is placed between the building panels and/or in the spaces between the intermediate supports 56. It should be appreciated that sound dampening material or materials may be used instead of or in conjunction with the insulating material. As shown in Fig. 6, the building panels 40 may be attached to the framed structure 50 in any orientation and cut to any suitable size needed to cover the side of the wall 48. It should be appreciated that one or more layers of the building panels 40 may be attached to one or more sides of the wall or walls of the building member. Referring to Fig. 6B, in another embodiment, a floor assembly 41 of the building member 22 is illustrated where the floor assembly 41 includes a framed structure 43 formed by spaced side supports 45 and a plurality of horizontally oriented cross supports 47, that are secured together by fasteners or welding. In the illustrated embodiment, a combination of insulation 49 made with an insulating material, a plurality of building panels 51 and/or wallboard panels 53 are attached to the framed structure 43. In this embodiment, the insulating material may be a glass fiber insulation material, a mineral fiber insulating material or a foam insulating material, and is placed between the building panels 51 and/or in the spaces formed between the side supports 45 and cross supports 47. It should be appreciated that sound dampening material or materials may be used instead of or in conjunction with the insulating material. As shown in Fig. 6B, the building panels 51 may be attached to the framed structure 43 in any orientation and cut to any suitable size needed to cover the floor. It should be appreciated that one or more layers of the building panels 51 may be attached to one or more sides of the framed structure 43 of the building member. It should also be appreciated that an air gap may be formed between one or more of the materials or material layers to provide insulation and sound dampening.

In Fig. 6A and 6B, the fire design or fire rating of the wall and the floor are based on the combination of materials attached to the framed structures, such as the insulation, the building panels and/or the wallboard panels, and the number of layers of the materials.

Referring to Fig. 7, an embodiment of a residential or

commercial building 62 is illustrated where the building is constructed with a plurality of the building members 64. In this embodiment, the building 62 is greater than three stories in height because the fire rating of the building members 64 meets the fire rating of at least one hour required by the building code due to the building panels 40 (shown in Fig. 6) secured to the interior and/or exterior of the walls of the building members 64. As shown in Fig. 7, the building members 64 may be placed on a below grade framed structure 66 supported on a foundation 68 including foundation walls 70. Alternatively, the building 62 may be supported directly on the foundation 68 at ground level without a below grade structure. One or more of the building members 64 may have a door 72 and/or windows 74. Additionally, a roof 76 may be attached to the top of one or more of the building members 64 forming the building 62. It should be appreciated that the building members 64 may be arranged and secured together to form any building configuration. Also, different types of structures may be secured to or positioned adjacent to the building members 64, such as balconies, decks, patios or other structures.

The building members 64 may also be cut to any desired length or shape.

Referring now to FIG. 8, another embodiment of the present building member 78 is shown and includes an empty shipping container 80 having a front wall 82 with a door frame 84 and door(s) 86, a rear wall 88, opposing side walls 90a, 90b, a top wall or ceiling 92 and a bottom wall or floor 94. In this embodiment, one or more building panels 96 made with a cementitious material, are attached solely to the ceiling 92 and the floor 94 of the building member 78. As shown, the front wall 82, the rear wall 88 and opposing side walls 90a, 90b do not include the building panels. This construction decreases the cost and time during assembly. It should be appreciated that the building panels 96 may be attached to an inner or interior surface 98, and an outer or exterior surface 100 or both the interior surfaces and exterior surfaces of the ceiling. It should also be appreciated that the building panels 96 may be attached solely to the ceiling 92 or solely to the floor 94.

Referring to Fig. 9, in an embodiment, one or more of the present building members 102 described above may be installed below grade and form a below grade structure 104, such as a basement or cellar, for a residential or commercial building. The building members 102 may be placed on a below grade foundation, such as the foundation 68 shown in Fig. 7, or directly on the ground surface depending on the soil properties and size and weight of the building structure. As shown in Fig. 9, one or more cementitious building panels 106 are attached to the ceiling 108 of the building members 102. Alternatively, the building members forming the foundation of a building do no including building panels attached to the top surface of the building members. Instead, the building members forming the first above-grade level are stacked directly on top of the building members forming the below-grade foundation. It should be appreciated that the building members may be positioned completely below-grade or partially below-grade.

In the above embodiments, one or more of the present building members may be placed on a foundation 110 including one or more foundation walls 112 (Fig. 10) or directly on the ground 114 (Fig. 11 ) depending on soil properties and size and weight of the overall building structure. While particular embodiments of the present building members have been described herein, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that changes and modifications may be made thereto without departing from the invention in its broader aspects and as set forth in the following claims.