GB1570391A

GB1570391A - Room unit

Info

Publication number: GB1570391A
Application number: GB3371575A
Authority: GB
Original assignee: Timber Research & Dev Ass
Current assignee: Timber Research & Dev Ass
Priority date: 1976-11-15
Filing date: 1976-11-15
Publication date: 1980-07-02

Description

(54) ROOM UNIT (71) We, TIMBER RESEARCH AND DE VELOPMENT ASSOCIATION, a British Com- pany, of Stocking Lane, Hughenden Valley, High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, HP14 4ND, do hereby declare the invention, for which we pray that a patent may be granted to us, and the method by which it is to be performed, to be particularly described in and by the following statement: This invention relates to a building unit for a multi-storey building block or for a method of building such a block and is complementary to the invention the subject of British Patent No. 1 311 876 in which Claims 1, 2, 3 and 8 read as follows: 1.A method of building a multi-storey building block in which building units, each in the form of a rigid prefabricated boxlike room unit, are lifted into positions in which they are suspended from a number of structural vertical members which then act to transfer the weight of the units to foundations, while the units carry horizontal loads between the members above the foundations, thereby avoiding the necessity for horizontal load-carrying members other than the units.

2. A method as claimed in Claim 1 in which the vertical members are built up in successive sub-lengths and the full height of the vertical members is not achieved until some of the units are already suspended from lower sub-lengths.

3. A method as claimed in Claim 2 in which sub-lengths of vertical members are lifted simultaneously with units to which they are fixed.

8. A multi-storey building block consisting of prefabricated building units in the form of rigid box-like room units, the weight of each of which is transferred to foundations by being suspended from vertical structural members, and the units carry horizontal loads between the members.

That specification described a multi-storey building in which the box-like room units were suspended from vertical steel stanchions 1 either of continuous length over the height of the building or built up in sections, one section corresponding to the height of each box unit.

An object of the present invention is to provide a more economical way of achieving the advantages of that invention.

According to the present invention a building unit comprises a room unit having top, bottom and side, walls and structural load bearing elements extending vertically within the side walls, some only of the structural load bearing elements being arranged to transmit substantially the whole weight of the room unit substantially solely through their lower ends to a foundation or to another room unit, and at their upper ends of supporting another room unit, by virtue of projections beyond the upper and/or lower horizontal edges of the side walls and in line with the said some load bearing elements.The lower and upper ends of the structural load bearing elements may themselves constitute the projections and may have corresponding shear key arrangements for locating the structural load bearing elements of an upper unit in relation to the structural load bearing elements of a lower unit on which it stands.

It has been found that the space between the inner and outer side wall skins of the room units can be used to house load bearing elements (preferably of timber) which will be stacked one on another when the units are lifted into position so that a continuous vertical load bearing element is provided by the individual load bearing elements associated with each unit. The breadth of a load bearing element between the inner and outer side wall skins can be as great as is necessary to support the loads above and the load bearing elements in the lower parts of the multi-storey building are likely to be of greater cross-sectional area than those in the higher parts.

A skin may be of plywood, but plywood is expensive, and the amount needed can be reduced by having timber, or other, bracing members extending across a side of the beam in the direction of the side wall with a substantial horizontal component. They could extend over a part of the side wall beyond the load bearing element, possibly as an integral beam.

It may also be necessary to have a plywood web at one side of the load bearing element.

In general it is desired to use timber instead of steel in the interest of economy but the present invention contemplates the possibility of having steel at least in the lower room units and in any case has the additional advantage that a neat construction is obtained with the load bearing elements positioned between the inner and outer side wall skins.

The invention includes a method of building a multi-storey building by lifting such units and supporting them by virtue of their built-in load bearing elements standing on foundations or on the load bearing elements of lower units. The invention also includes a multi-storey building block built up from such units.

The invention may be carried into practice in various ways and one embodiment will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a part elevation of a room unit: Figure 2 is a part plan on the line A-A in Figure 1; Figure 3 is a section on the line B-B in Figure 1; and Figure 4 is a diagram showing a part of a multi-storey building built up from such units.

The unit has top and bottom walls 11 and 12 which may include structural members and trenches for services but will in dude generally horizontal ceiling and floor surfaces, and side walls 13 which may contain windows and doors and which are generally in the form of framework 16 together with inner cladding 17 and outer cladding 18. The whole unit is built up in the factory with temporary hoisting tackle and can be towed or otherwise carried to the .building site ready for immediate erection. The box-like form of each unit with its substantially six-planar construction gives it its inbuilt strength and rigidity.

As seen best in Figure 2 the side wall space outside the inner skin 17 includes a number of one or more vertically-extending timber studs and at or near each corner two adjacent studs are constituents of a load bearing element 19 which can be of any desired load-carrying capacity by inclusion of the necessary additional studs nailed to them as shown at 26; Figure 2 shows three additional studs nailed to each of the said two adjacent studs.

Each load bearing element 19 is braced on the inside by a plywood web 27, and on the outside by a diagonal timber brace 28 extending from the top of the load bearing element downwardly and towards the centre of the side wall, being nailed to the studs it crosses and to a header 29 extending along the underside of the side wall.

Figure 4 shows a unit being lifted into place. It is a unit as described in the Provisional Specification without the bracing timber 28 and with external plywood web cladding.

Figure 4 shows the load bearing element 19 as consisting of a number of vertical timber members with the outer continuous plywood skin 18 and a local inner plywood skin 24, forming a hollow column section.

Also, the tops of the load bearing elements form suitable strong points for hoisting connections as indicated at 25.

The load bearing element projects below the side wall as shown at 21 and above the side wall as shown at 22 so that the lower end of a load bearing element on an upper unit can sit on the upper end of a load bearing element on a lower unit and relative lateral movement is prevented by a shear key mortice and a corresponding tongue as indicated at 23.

The construction can be quite as strong as described in British Patent Specification No. 1 311 876 but is substantially cheaper because of the use of timber instead of steel for the load bearing columns and also has a neater appearance because the load bearing elements are contained within the side wall skins and are not visible from the inside of the rooms or from the outside of the building.

The units of Figures 1, 2 and 3, have similar keying projections and hoisting points to those described with reference to Figure 4.

WHAT WE CLAIM IS: 1. A building unit comprising a room unit having top, bottom, and side, walls and structural load bearing elements extending vertically within the side walls, some only of the structural load bearing elements being arranged to transmit substantially the whole weight of the room unit substantially solely through their lower ends to a foundation or to another room unit, and at their upper ends of supporting another room unit, by virtue of projections beyond the upper and/

**WARNING** end of DESC field may overlap start of CLMS **.

Claims

**WARNING** start of CLMS field may overlap end of DESC **. in the lower parts of the multi-storey building are likely to be of greater cross-sectional area than those in the higher parts. A skin may be of plywood, but plywood is expensive, and the amount needed can be reduced by having timber, or other, bracing members extending across a side of the beam in the direction of the side wall with a substantial horizontal component. They could extend over a part of the side wall beyond the load bearing element, possibly as an integral beam. It may also be necessary to have a plywood web at one side of the load bearing element. In general it is desired to use timber instead of steel in the interest of economy but the present invention contemplates the possibility of having steel at least in the lower room units and in any case has the additional advantage that a neat construction is obtained with the load bearing elements positioned between the inner and outer side wall skins. The invention includes a method of building a multi-storey building by lifting such units and supporting them by virtue of their built-in load bearing elements standing on foundations or on the load bearing elements of lower units. The invention also includes a multi-storey building block built up from such units. The invention may be carried into practice in various ways and one embodiment will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a part elevation of a room unit: Figure 2 is a part plan on the line A-A in Figure 1; Figure 3 is a section on the line B-B in Figure 1; and Figure 4 is a diagram showing a part of a multi-storey building built up from such units. The unit has top and bottom walls 11 and 12 which may include structural members and trenches for services but will in dude generally horizontal ceiling and floor surfaces, and side walls 13 which may contain windows and doors and which are generally in the form of framework 16 together with inner cladding 17 and outer cladding 18. The whole unit is built up in the factory with temporary hoisting tackle and can be towed or otherwise carried to the .building site ready for immediate erection. The box-like form of each unit with its substantially six-planar construction gives it its inbuilt strength and rigidity. As seen best in Figure 2 the side wall space outside the inner skin 17 includes a number of one or more vertically-extending timber studs and at or near each corner two adjacent studs are constituents of a load bearing element 19 which can be of any desired load-carrying capacity by inclusion of the necessary additional studs nailed to them as shown at 26; Figure 2 shows three additional studs nailed to each of the said two adjacent studs. Each load bearing element 19 is braced on the inside by a plywood web 27, and on the outside by a diagonal timber brace 28 extending from the top of the load bearing element downwardly and towards the centre of the side wall, being nailed to the studs it crosses and to a header 29 extending along the underside of the side wall. Figure 4 shows a unit being lifted into place. It is a unit as described in the Provisional Specification without the bracing timber 28 and with external plywood web cladding. Figure 4 shows the load bearing element 19 as consisting of a number of vertical timber members with the outer continuous plywood skin 18 and a local inner plywood skin 24, forming a hollow column section. Also, the tops of the load bearing elements form suitable strong points for hoisting connections as indicated at 25. The load bearing element projects below the side wall as shown at 21 and above the side wall as shown at 22 so that the lower end of a load bearing element on an upper unit can sit on the upper end of a load bearing element on a lower unit and relative lateral movement is prevented by a shear key mortice and a corresponding tongue as indicated at 23. The construction can be quite as strong as described in British Patent Specification No. 1 311 876 but is substantially cheaper because of the use of timber instead of steel for the load bearing columns and also has a neater appearance because the load bearing elements are contained within the side wall skins and are not visible from the inside of the rooms or from the outside of the building. The units of Figures 1, 2 and 3, have similar keying projections and hoisting points to those described with reference to Figure 4. WHAT WE CLAIM IS:

1. A building unit comprising a room unit having top, bottom, and side, walls and structural load bearing elements extending vertically within the side walls, some only of the structural load bearing elements being arranged to transmit substantially the whole weight of the room unit substantially solely through their lower ends to a foundation or to another room unit, and at their upper ends of supporting another room unit, by virtue of projections beyond the upper and/

or lower horizontal edges of the side walls and in line with the said some load bearing elements.

2. A building unit as claimed in Claim 1 in which the load bearing elements themselves project below and/or above the side walls within which they extend vertically to constitute the said projections.

3. A building unit as claimed in Claim 1 or Claim 2 in which the structural load bearing elements are primarily of timber.

4. A building unit as claimed in any of the preceding Claims in which the structural load bearing elements are positioned outside inner side wall skins of the side walls.

5. A building unit as claimed in Claim 1 or Claim 2 or Claim 3 in which each structural load bearing element incorporates an outer and/or an inner skin of a side wall together with material between and assembled with the skin or skins.

6. A building unit as claimed in any of the preceding Claims in which the structural load bearing elements each comprise at least two vertically extending members spaced apart in the direction of the length of the side wall and a strengthening web of plywood or other material extending between the vertically extending members on the inner or outer side, or on each side.

7. A building unit as claimed in any preceding Claims in which the structural load bearing elements each embody at least two vertically extending members spaced apart in the direction of the length of the side wall and a bracing member extending with a horizontal component between them and extending along the side wall beyond one side of the structural load bearing element.

8. A building unit as claimed in any of the preceding Claims in which the projections, or the ends of the load bearing elements have corresponding shear key arrangements for locating the structural load bearing elements of an upper unit in relation to the structural load bearing elements of a lower unit on which it stands.

9. A building unit constructed and arranged substantially as herein specifically described with reference to Figures 1-3 or Figure 4 of the accompanying drawings.

10. A method of building a multi-storey building by lifting at least one building unit as claimed in any of the preceding Claims and supporting it by virtue of its structural load bearing elements being supported through the projections on the structural load bearing elements of a lower unit also as claimed in any of the preceding Claims.

11. A multi-storey building built from a number of units as claimed in any of the Claims 1-9, or by a method as claimed in Claim 10.

12. A building block as claimed in Claim 11 in which the cross sectional area of structural material in a structural load bearing element in a lower building unit is greater than the cross sectional area of the structural bearing element in an upper unit.