A. Specification

1. General character

The invention relates to the field of military, disaster relief, emergency relief, recreational vehicles, collapsible portable or stationary shelters, and/or modified freight shipping containers that are expandable and retractable.

2. Nature and background of the invention

Many designs of mobile structures for military use, disaster relief, emergency relief, recreational vehicles, or stationary use are difficult to transport while others are heavy or labor intensive to assemble. Expandable structures can be transported easily, in particular when fitted as ISO shipping containers when retracted. The load bearing ability of the roofing structures tend to be limited. Partial or full-body slide-outs have been popular in recreational vehicles for many years. They allow for increased interior spaces when parked while maintaining legal size weight requirements while in motion, or custom size and weight regulations. Owners continue to demand more space. While some manufacturers offer full- body slide-outs, others sell their recreational vehicles with multiple slide-outs, sometimes as many as four or five in larger models. Few manufacturers offer a combination of slide-outs and slide-ups where the upper story slide-up is limited to the width of the retracted base or where a second story slide is added that is also retractable in its height. The invention herein disclosed can accommodate multiple, full size expandable stories while being transportable within legal size and weight requirements and over rough terrain. Other than in the above mentioned uses, expandable structures are particularly useful for military or civilian projects where on-site construction is uneconomical. The structure can be rapidly expanded across all stories and all width without difficult assembly to almost four times its contracted internal square footage in a two-story assembly and maintain load-bearing abilities of rigid structures. Three story assemblies can almost six-fold the internal square footage, etc.

3. Brief summary of the Invention

The present invention relates to a new and unique system for vertically and/or horizontally expanding a rigid structure for a plurality of full or partial stories that can accommodate one or more compartments, such as rooms, bins, etc. The vertically and horizontally expandable structure is comprised of a rigid base, a slide-up roof, one or more floating slide-up/slide-out floors, one or more slide-outs with height-retractable walls. There is one or more slide-up floors, which allow for adjustment of room heights while parked and retraction of space while in motion. Vertically and horizontally expanding the structure increases the interior space in a two story layout up to nearly four-fold. In a three story layout, the interior space reaches up to nearly six-fold of the square footage of the rigid base. When retracted, the expandable structure meets the legal size and weight restrictions for road transportation, or for military or custom specifications. Each movable section is supported by one or more trusses from the rigid base and/or from the slide-up roof, and/or from structures that are attached to the rigid base at the sides of the slides, or from any combination thereof. The central trusses can be used to mount or hang internal structures asymmetrically (as opposed to longitudinal installations as proposed by Harder US patent 7,469,949) The mechanisms for vertical and/or horizontal slides are controlled by one or more pneumatic, hydraulic, mechanical, electro-mechanical, or linear methods, or a combination thereof. In either expanded or retracted position, the vertical or horizontal slides can be locked. The invention is for all types of mobile or stationary structures for military use, disaster relief, emergency relief, commercial use, recreational vehicles, private residences, cottages, cabins, or any other use.

4. Detailed Description of the invention

The preferred embodiment of the present invention consists of

A vertically and horizontally expandable rigid structure for a plurality of full or partial stories that is comprised of a rigid base, a slide-up roof, one or more floating slide-up/slide-out floors, and one or more slide-outs with height-retractable walls. Referring to the isometric view in FIG. 1 , the fully retracted structure can be transported by or integrated into a vehicle within the usual legal size and weight limits for road transportation, or for military or custom specifications. The central structure is built on a solid base such as a foundation, a chassis, a frame, a container platform (1 ) or any other rigid base that allows for the mounting of expandable pillars (2) that can be placed along any side of the slides inside the rigid base area.

Referring to the isometric view in FIG. 2, from which the upper end wall has been cut away, the structure expands vertically through pillars that form the mount for the slide-up roof (3). Depending on the weight bearing requirements, the slide-up roof structure is built with trusses, a frame, or similar structural devices. For safety, the slide-up mechanism locks in place with weight bearing pins. As the slide-up roof moves up, the slide-out components of the upper story move up with it. Referring to the isometric view in FIG. 3, the structure expands horizontally with one or more slide-outs (4), where the wall panels of the upper half of the slides overlap the wall panels of the lower half of the slides (5), similar to the cover of a shoe box that fits onto its base (as opposed to half story slide-ups as proposed by Ludwick in US patent 7,644,971 B1 or Anderson in US patent 6,302,475 B1 10/2001 ). As either upper or lower slide-out component moves out or in, the other lower or upper slide-out component moves out or in with it. The slide-out mechanism locks in place. The half (one story) slide-out modules consist of a longitudinal wall, a front wall, and a rear wall and either a roof or a floor, that is, a roof for the upper half slide-out and a floor for the lower half slide-out (opposed to a monocoque construction with roof, floor, longitudinal wall as well as front and rear walls as proposed by Gurdjian et al. in US patent 6,729,677).

Referring to the isometric view in FIG. 4, to stabilize and/or level the structure, elevating jacks can be incorporated into the slide-outs and/or into the rigid base (6). Overlapping wall panels, with or without openings for doors, windows, cages, or the like, form end pieces between expandable pillars on either or both ends of the structure (7).

The sliding mechanisms for vertical and/or horizontal movements are controlled by one or more pneumatic, hydraulic, mechanical, electro-mechanical, or linear methods, or a combination thereof. Each movable section is supported by one or more trusses from the rigid base, and/or from the slide-up roof, and/or from the structures that are attached to the rigid base at either side(s) of the slides, or from any combination thereof.

Referring to the isometric view in FIG. 5, from which the walls of the upper half of the slide- out mechanism have been cut away, the floatable slide-up/slide-out floor(s) can be adjusted in its height depending on the internal requirements (as opposed to fixed floor or floorless structures as proposed by Ludwick in US patent 7,644,971 B1 ). The floatable floor(s) can be adjusted in its height from either the rigid base, from the slide-up roof structure, or from the expandable pillars (A). The floatable floor consists of a base platform (B) that can be divided into segments of various sizes and one or more expandable sections (C) that can also be divided into segments.

Referring to the isometric view in FIG 6, the floatable slide-up/slide-out floor(s) retract with the horizontal slide-outs (F). The floatable floor in the view is held in place from the slide-up roof structure (D and E), but it can also be held in place from either the rigid base, or from the expandable pillars.

Referring to the isometric view in FIG 7, from which all horizontal slide-out components have been cut away, when the expandable structure is fully retracted, the floating slide-up/slide- out floor rests in its transportation position (H). The expandable central pillar (G) in this view that serves to adjust the height of the floating floor, also rests in its transportation position. The slide-out floor is also fully retraced (I). A slide-out floor other than the base floor of the structure can serve to move internal structures that are hung from the slide-out floor (J and K), such as storage or furniture units, for example. Other than mounting internal structures in slide-outs, such structures can be mounted or hung from the central truss(es).

The expandable structure can be built as a mobile home, integrated into or attached to a truck, a recreational vehicle, a trailer, or any type of vehicle, constructed as boxed or containerized units or used in any other stationary or mobile way. Windows, doors, or other openings can be added in any of the wall panels.

The length of the vertically and horizontally expandable sections are described to the full length and width of the interior space. However, the expandable sections can be any portion thereof, and length and position of the expandable structure can be varied within the scope of this patent.