Panelized warp-corner for buildings

Abstract

A corner construction with improved warping flexibility may feature two panels, or walls, hinged together to form a corner and then hinged to the underlying building structure or adjacent wall construction. Any flexible connection between the two panels in the central corner and the panels and underlying building structure or wall construction may be utilized, including hinges and flexible plate supports.

Claims

1. A corner construction for a building, comprising: the building comprises at least two support members; two corner panels each having two vertical edges adjacent to one of the two support members; at least three connections between each panel and each support member, forming support joints; at least three connections between the panels forming a corner joint; at least one of the connections in each support joint being load bearing and supporting the weight of the two panels, transmitting the load to at least one of the support members; at least one of the connections in the corner joint being a shearing type rotational hinge; and each connection being deformable, enabling rotation of the panels relative to each other and the support members.

2. The corner construction of claim 1, the connections being hinges at each joint.

3. The corner construction of claim 2, the hinges being selected from the set of hinges consisting of: shearing type rotational hinges, bearing type rotational hinges, and ball-in-socket connections.

4. The corner construction of claim 1, further comprising at least one additional corner support and two corner supports hinged together.

5. The corner construction of claim 4, the connections being hinges at each joint.

6. The corner construction of claim 5, the hinges being selected from the set of hinges consisting of: axial hinges and shear hinges.

7. The corner construction of claim 1, the connections of the corner joint being of two separate types and selected from the set of hinges consisting of: shearing type rotational hinges, bearing type rotational hinges, and ball-in-socket connections.

8. The corner construction of claim 1, wherein each connection is embedded within its respective joint.

9. A configuration of a corner construction, comprising: a first wall and a second wall, wherein both the first wall and the second wall are connected to a building; a first panel connected to the first wall by a first flexible hinge and a second flexible hinge and the first flexible hinge and the second flexible hinge are embedded in the first panel; a second panel connected to the second wall by a third flexible hinge and a fourth flexible hinge and the third flexible hinge and the fourth flexible hinge are embedded in the second panel; the first, second, third, and fourth flexible hinges are selected from the set of hinges consisting of: shearing type rotational hinges, bearing type rotational hinges, and ball-in-socket connections; and the first panel and the second panel are deformably fused together such that the first panel and the second panel form a corner construction, wherein the weight of the corner construction is supported by the first, second, third, and fourth flexible hinges.

10. The configuration of claim 9, wherein the first, second, third, and fourth flexible hinges are constructed from a material selected from the group consisting of: metals, polymers, fiberglass, and composites.

11. The configuration of claim 9, wherein at least one of the first flexible hinge and the second flexible hinge is a gravity connection, and at least one of the third flexible hinge and the fourth flexible hinge is a gravity connection.

12. A corner construction for a building, comprising: a first wall and a second wall, wherein both the first wall and the second wall are connected to a building; a first panel connected to the first wall by at least two flexible wall connections; a second panel connected to the second wall by at least two flexible wall connections; the first panel connected to a first corner support by at least one rigid panel connection; the second panel connected to a second corner support by at least one rigid panel connection; the first corner support connected to the second corner support by at least two flexible corner connections; and the first panel, the second panel, the rigid panel connections, the first corner support, the second corner support, and the flexible corner connections forming a corner construction, wherein the weight of the corner construction is supported by the wall connections.

13. The corner construction of claim 12, wherein the flexible wall connections and the flexible corner connections are selected from the set of hinges consisting of: shearing type rotational hinges, bearing type rotational hinges, and ball-in-socket connections.

14. The corner construction of claim 13, wherein the flexible wall connections and the rigid panel connections and the flexible corner connections are embedded.

15. The corner construction of claim 12, wherein the flexible wall connections between the first panel and the first include a gravity connection, and the flexible wall connections between the second panel and the second wall include a gravity connection.

16. The corner construction of claim 12, wherein the flexible corner connection is selected from the set of hinges consisting of: shearing type rotational hinges, bearing type rotational hinges, and ball-in-socket connections.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) FIG. 1 is a top plan view of a corner constructed forming one embodiment of the invention.

(2) FIG. 2 is a right elevation of the corner of FIG. 1.

(3) FIG. 3 is a left elevation of the corner of FIG. 1.

(4) FIG. 4 is a top plan view of an alternate corner construction.

(5) FIG. 5 is an enlarged view of the inner corner of the construction of FIG. 4, showing hinge placement.

(6) FIG. 6 is an enlarged view of an axial hinge of FIG. 4, showing hinge placement.

(7) FIG. 7 is an enlarged view of another alternate hinge placement.

(8) FIG. 8 is a side elevation of one wall in the corner construction of FIG. 4.

(9) FIG. 9 is a top plan view of an alternate corner construction, utilizing semi-rigid plates.

(10) FIG. 10 is a top plan view of an alternate inner corner arrangement.

(11) FIG. 11 is a top plan view of another alternate inner corner arrangement.

(12) FIG. 12 is a side elevation of the corner construction of FIG. 9.

(13) FIG. 13 is a top plan view of an alternate corner construction, utilizing additional supports.

(14) FIG. 14 is a close-up view of the inner corner arrangement in FIG. 13.

(15) FIG. 15 is a side elevation of the corner construction of FIG. 13.

(16) FIG. 16 is a top plan view of an alternate corner construction, also utilizing additional supports.

(17) FIG. 17 is a side elevation of the corner construction of FIG. 13.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

(18) With reference now to the drawings, a preferred embodiment of the panelized warp corner is herein described. It should be noted that the articles a, an, and the, as used in this specification, include plural referents unless the content clearly dictates otherwise.

(19) With reference to FIGS. 1-3, the corner 20 has two walls, or panels, a right 22 and a left 24. Each wall is constructed of any known or later discovered material or methodology and may contain supports 26 of any design. Each wall 22, 24 is attached to the structure or adjacent wall of the building 10 by means of hinges, like shear hinge 32 and bearing hinge 34, or some other flexible structure. Likewise, the panels 22, 24 should be attached to each other by some flexible connective structure or hinge 36. These structures need to transmit force across their length between panels and to also allow for rotational moments. It should be noted that many kinds of hinges and other structures may be utilized, and the examples contained herein should be not taken as exhaustive and each one is interchangeable with each other in their use in the constructed corners 20.

(20) At least one connective structure, such as a hinge, will be load bearing, which is to say that the weight of the corner structure will be supported on the load bearing structure(s) or hinge(s). The load bearing structures and the remaining structures will also serve to maintain lateral and vertical stability of the corner 20 with respect to the building 10. The number and placement of these structures will be dependent upon the size, weight and other requirements of a given project. In FIGS. 2 and 3, four axial hinges are utilized-two along the upper edge of the corner and two along the bottom. As seen in FIGS. 4-8, there may be four axial hinges (32a) connecting two corner panels to walls 10 and 2 corner hinges (32b), one at the corner of the panels 22, 24 between the corner panels. Additional hinges and supports may be added as needed for a given project. Their orientations may also vary. The shear hinges 32b illustrated may be oriented one over the other in the corner hinge (FIG. 5). Lateral hinges 32a may be placed inside the joint (FIG. 6) or outside 32c (FIG. 7) as needed for a given project.

(21) Semi-rigid materials may also be utilized, as shown in FIGS. 9-12. In FIG. 9, a semi-rigid plate 38 is embedded in each joint at supports 26. Being thinner and semi-rigid, the plates 38 provide a degree of movement necessary for the construction to work. Alternately, for the inner corner, the panels may be deformably used together 36. Likewise, a single plate 38a may be embedded in walls and/or panels (FIGS. 16 & 17). These semi-rigid plates may be manufactured of suitable materials such as metals, polymers, fiberglass, and composites.

(22) Additional corner constructions are readily conceivable. These may include a double hinged corner, such as illustrated in FIGS. 13-15. In this embodiment, at least one additional corner support piece 28 is present in the central corner. This piece may be as simple as a bar or rod extending the height of the panel. As illustrated, two such pieces 28 may be hinged together 32 and the support pieces 28 connected to panels 22, 24, such as by the illustrated plates 38. Also, as illustrated in FIGS. 16 and 17, bearing hinges 34 may be used in a double-hinged embodiment with supports 28. The combinations are limited only by known materials and may be assembled in any embodiment so long as the connection to the building walls 10 is flexible but sufficient to bear the weight of the corner 20 and secure it laterally in place.

(23) Although the present invention has been described with reference to preferred embodiments, numerous modifications and variations can be made and still the result will come within the scope of the invention. No limitation with respect to the specific embodiments disclosed herein is intended or should be inferred.