Land vehicles: bodies and tops – Bodies – Variable capacity of body
Reexamination Certificate
2001-12-20
2004-03-30
Glessner, Brian E. (Department: 3635)
Land vehicles: bodies and tops
Bodies
Variable capacity of body
C296S026020, C296S026040, C296S165000, C296S171000, C052S064000, C052S067000, C052S079500
Reexamination Certificate
active
06712414
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to the field of portable structures. More particularly this invention relates to the field of mobile, expandable structures containing one or more rooms, that can easily be transported and assembled and conversely being equally as quick and convenient to disassemble for relocation. The expansion of these units is in both the horizontal and the vertical directions and provides for full support of the roof and upper walls without the need for hydraulics or other supports to keep the roof and upper portions elevated during use. These structures may or may not be permanently affixed to a framework with wheels to be towed by a motor vehicle. The unique method of erecting and supporting will be fully described within body of this patent.
BACKGROUND OF THIS INVENTION
There are many designs of mobile structures but most are burdened with a flimsy structure or are limited in the area into which they can expand, while others are cumbersome, awkward to transport, and labor intensive to assemble. Such portable light structures are usually in the trailer style and used for private accommodations while the larger units are designed to fulfill government contracts. The device as herein described and disclosed, will fully meet the structural requirements of a mobile commercial or military accommodation of one or more rooms while being low profile, light weight and easy to transport. It uniquely provides for full support of the upper portions upon lower portions and thus increases the load-bearing ability of the upper portions.
The need for adequate accommodations for disaster relief structures, that can be stored in a relatively small area and quickly dispersed to be set up as office space, medical room, temporary storage, maintenance and repair rooms, etc., has been made vary apparent recently. In the past there was a requirement that everything used for housing and relief had to travel over rough terrain to get to a desired activity site. With the development of the roads throughout the developed areas of the world, and the use of large air transport planes capable of vehicle transport, there is almost no place that is not accessible by some form of road system. With government and military requirements for portable structures, there has also not been a great deal of concern with weight because large vehicles usually transport units of this kind with the primary concern being, making them indestructible.
Problems arise when mobile structures of this kind become too heavy to be moved around easily in urban environments, often requiring a lot of heavy equipment for assembly. One of the many unique features of this invention is the capability of maintaining a lightweight solid structure while almost doubling the square footage of internal protected floor area. Additional problems arise in the time involved to assemble conventional cumbersome mobile structures.
The unique device herein disclosed describes a structure that is equipped with all the mechanisms required to easily erect and be fully assembled by one or two people in less than ten minutes, with the same time required for disassembly. An additional feature of this structure is that the floor inside the erected structure is completely flat and provides a large working area. The erected structure features a roof and upper sides and ends that are fully supported by a translateable lower endwall thus elevating the stress on conventional hydraulic and screw extensions during long term use. Also paramount to the development of the disclosed device was to provide a portable housing unit of this kind, keeping the weight down while being structurally solid enough to meet the stringent structural requirements of government and military contracts.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,890,498. of Floyd E. Bigelow relates to a portable building, and more particularly to a house or cabin structure made up of separate parts which may be easily assembled and disassembled and which disassembled may be formed into a compact assemblage for covenant storage or transportation. This structure does not have a central framework, and would not be convenient to transport over the highway to a disaster site, or work well for portable offices.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,866,365 of Michael L. Honigman describes expandable structural modules for space enclosures that incorporate a number of sophisticated mechanisms to assemble a device used as cabin trailers or camper units. This device cannot achieve extended lengths and would not be practical for a commercial of government enclosure.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,603,518 of Walter Fenns describes a collapsible building, which is mounted on the platform of a conveyance that has a first elongated unit mounted on a platform, and a pair of collapsible elongated units, which flank the first unit when the building is fully erected. This is a large heavy structure requiring a semi truck to transport and it does not present a low profile when towing.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,850,268 of Kenichiro Saito et al, describes a multi-purpose laboratory room for mobile applications. The room comprises a housing structure having an airtight laboratory unit, an entrance unit and an air-conditioning system. This is a specialized structure, not easily transported or used for other applications.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,958,874 of Leslie J. Hegedus discloses a mobile unit comprises a lorry trailer having sidewall portions, which pivot down to form a large floor and upwardly slideable panels or frames from which unfold side roof portions. This invention discloses a trailer-mounted structure that is very complicated and time-consuming to erect. It does not supply a low profile when towing.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,345,730 of Bruce A. Jurgensen teaches of an expandable structure, which may be expanded on a selected site into a composite structure incorporating the core structure and a contiguous expanded section. This is another patent that discloses a device that will only expand laterally and cannot be lowered to create less wind resistance when being towed.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,761,854 of Brian D. Johnson et al, describes a container with fold down sides to create an expanded structure. This again is another patent that discloses a device that will only expand laterally and cannot be lowered to create less wind resistance when being towed.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,797,224 of Ray R. Gunthardt describes a multitude of structures composed of many intricate parts and mechanism, all of which would create a great deal of weight and be very complicated to erect.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,815,988 of Jose Raymon Molina teaches of an expandable retractable portable structure having a movable portion hingedly connected to a stationary portion. This patent is similar to the Fennes U.S. Pat. No. 4,603,518 having a complete side unit hinge out from a central unit producing a high profile when towing.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,964,065 of Tomasz K. Migurski et al, discloses an advanced vehicle-transportable field emergency medical system, comprising surgical suites deployed from a core module, each expanding to form an enclosed surgical treatment room with perimeter tenting space. This patent relates to a complicated, specialized structure with a specific purpose taking a great deal of time to erect by people who were familiar with the intricacies of the device.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,596,844 of Juan R. Kalinowski describes a foldable portable building that be collapsed to fit within the outside dimensions of an internationally standardized (ISO) goods container. This patent describes a very heavy unit when it is in the collapsed state and very complicated to erect.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,966,956 of Leland M. Morris et al, teaches of a portable unit which is foldable to be shipped and transported as a standard cargo shipping container. This is another patent that describes a heavy structure that is cumbersome and heavy to transport.
As such, there is a need for a structure that is fixated on a central framework and easy to transport by towing or trucking. Such a device should have a low profile to facilitate movement wher
Glessner Brian E.
Harms Donn K.
McDermott Kevin
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