Static structures (e.g. – buildings) – Barrier or major section mounted for in situ repositioning;... – Hinged to swing from vertical to nonvertical
Patent
1995-10-05
1998-06-09
Friedman, Carl D.
Static structures (e.g., buildings)
Barrier or major section mounted for in situ repositioning;...
Hinged to swing from vertical to nonvertical
52 64, 52 795, 52 68, 52646, 135116, E04B 1346
Patent
active
057618542
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
TECHNICAL FIELD
The invention relates to the field of portable shelters and more particularly collapsible portable shelters having both rigid frame and flexible fabric sections which collapse to a rigid shipping container.
BACKGROUND ART
The modular building industry provides re-locatable structures for a variety of commercial and industrial uses, such as portable offices, portable schools and industrial camps. Portable industrial camps are generally utilized for projects of short duration or projects which are sufficiently remote that site construction is uneconomical. Currently portable industrial camp shelters will be either wood frame construction or fabric tents.
An advantage of wood frame construction is that all of the building and its internal subsystems can be constructed in a manufacturing plant. However restrictions on the size of such structures which can be transported dictates that these units be combined together on site to provide a structure of sufficient size. The prefabricated units are heavy, so special equipment and tradesmen are required on site to unload the units from trucks and place them on foundations.
Fabric structures such as tents have the advantage that they are much lighter than wood frame structures and can be collapsed or folded to a fraction of the volume of the equivalent wood frame building for shipping purposes. However such structures must be assembled on site and any electrical or mechanical subsystems which are required must be installed on site by an experienced crew.
Certain prior art building systems have used shipping containers as modular building blocks for pre-fabricated structures. U.S. Pat. No. 4,599,829 issued Jul. 15, 1986 to Tandemloc, Inc. discloses a system for building prisons or similar large structures by connecting shipping container units. Again in these systems special equipment and tradesmen are required on site to unload the units and stack them on the structure to provide a building of sufficient size. U.S. Pat. No. 4,802,500 issued Feb. 7, 1989 to Davis et al. discloses a portable building structure in which clamshell like containers carry a fabric roof covering. Four of the container units combine to form the side walls and floor of a structure over which a fabric roof is stretched. This design however is not as well adapted for shipping as a standard ISO container, and electrical and mechanical systems are not pre-installed.
DISCLOSURE OF INVENTION
The present invention combines the advantages of rigid and fabric portable structures in a hybrid collapsible portable structure which in its collapsed state forms a standard shipping container for ease of transport. The present invention modifies standard shipping container structures to provide one or more fold-down side walls which extend the floor space of the container and are provided with a retractable fabric cover to enclose the extended space. The invention provides a portable, collapsible shelter comprising a rigid, hollow container having the dimensions and characteristics of a standard ISO shipping container, having opposed rectangular vertical sides, and rectangular horizontal top and bottom. At least one of the vertical sides of the container is hinged along the lower edge thereof to pivot between a closed vertical position and an open horizontal position. Means is also provided for releasably securing the hinged vertical side in the vertical position and for releasably maintaining the hinged vertical side in the horizontal position. A flexible fabric cover is adapted to be extended above the hinged vertical side while the hinged vertical side is in its lowered horizontal position, and means is provided for supporting the fabric cover above the hinged vertical side while the hinged vertical side is in the lowered horizontal position.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS
In drawings which illustrate a preferred embodiment of the invention:
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the invention in collapsed state ready for shipping;
FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along lines 2--2 of
REFERENCES:
patent: 3070399 (1962-12-01), Bartlett
patent: 3095616 (1963-07-01), Bigelow
patent: 3226890 (1966-01-01), Flajole
patent: 3445134 (1969-05-01), Pair et al.
patent: 3461890 (1969-08-01), Goodrich
patent: 3514147 (1970-05-01), Forsyth et al.
patent: 3633324 (1972-01-01), Cuylits
patent: 3830541 (1974-08-01), Bowman et al.
patent: 4599829 (1986-07-01), DiMartino, Sr.
patent: 4603518 (1986-08-01), Fennes
patent: 4912892 (1990-04-01), Jurgensen
patent: 5038517 (1991-08-01), Talbott
patent: 5054295 (1991-10-01), Goulooze
patent: 5185973 (1993-02-01), Oldani
patent: 5237784 (1993-08-01), Ros
patent: 5283993 (1994-02-01), Sprung
patent: 5319895 (1994-06-01), Ray
patent: 5398463 (1995-03-01), Wright
patent: 5417468 (1995-05-01), Baumgartner et al.
patent: 5444944 (1995-08-01), Roelofsz
Johnson Brian D.
Thorne Glen V.
Aubrey Beth A.
Friedman Carl D.
Weatherhaven Resources, Ltd.
LandOfFree
Collapsible portable containerized shelter does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.
If you have personal experience with Collapsible portable containerized shelter, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Collapsible portable containerized shelter will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-2188889