Framework module for use in modular building construction

Abstract

A framework module for use in modular building construction comprises a plurality of elongate upright and cross beams, rigidly connected at or towards their ends to form a box frame with open side and end faces, and; at least one connection point on each of the upright beams which is configured to allow mutual connection with an equivalent connection point located on a substantially identical adjacent framework module, so that a plurality of framework modules can be connected together to form an open-web truss of vertically and horizontally aligned members.

Claims

1. A framework member for use in modular building construction, comprising: an elongate beam formed from a hollow tube with a substantially square or rectangular cross section; a mutual connection means at or towards at least one end and on at least one face of the elongate beam, configured to allow connection of the elongate beam to a separate and similar elongate beam so that the beams extend perpendicular to one another once connected, the connection means comprising: a pair of right-angle brackets connected to the elongate beam at or close to the end of the elongate beam and configured to fit within and slide into an open end of the separate and similar elongate beam to allow connection, wherein a pair of the brackets are connected to the same face of the elongate beam at opposed ends of the beam, the brackets being aligned perpendicular to the axis of the beam; at least one connection point on an outer surface of the elongate beam partway along the axis of the elongate beam, wherein each connection point is formed from a length of tube connected to an outwardly-facing portion of the beam; wherein each bracket of the pair of right-angle brackets is aligned in parallel with the axis of the elongate beam and comprises a plurality of bolt holes defined in the face of the bracket aligned towards the separate and similar elongate beam to allow connection.

2. A framework member as claimed in claim 1 further comprising another pair of brackets aligned in parallel with the axis of the beam at another end of the beam.

3. A framework member as claimed in claim 1 having an overall length of substantially 2.9 metres.

4. A framework member as claimed in claim 1 wherein each of the brackets comprises a plurality of bolt holes passing through the face of the bracket aligned towards the other one of the pair at the opposite end of the beam.

5. A framework member as claimed in claim 1 wherein each one of the brackets further comprises a pair of notches at each end of another face of bracket.

6. A framework member as claimed in claim 1 wherein the beam has a length of substantially 1.7 metres.

7. A framework member as claimed in claim 1 wherein each connection point is connected in parallel with the axis of the beam.

8. A framework member as claimed in claim 1 wherein each of the connection points has a length of substantially 200 mm.

9. A framework member as claimed in claim 1 wherein each connection point is located towards an edge of the beam.

10. A framework member as claimed in claim 1 wherein the framework member is arranged to connect to a similar member with a rotational symmetry in a manner such that the connection points and brackets do not interfere with connection in any rotational orientation.

11. A framework module for use in modular building construction, the framework module comprising a plurality of framework members in accordance with claim 1, the framework members being rigidly connected at or towards their ends to form a box frame with open side and end faces.

12. A building, comprising a plurality of framework modules as claimed in claim 11.

13. A method of constructing a building using a plurality of framework modules as claimed in claim 11, comprising the steps of: (i) emplacing the framework modules next to and on top of one another as required in order to form an open-web truss of vertically and horizontally aligned members, and so that connection points on adjacent framework modules are directly adjacent; (ii) connecting the framework modules to one another via the directly adjacent connection points; (iii) removing vertical members before or after construction to create spaces within the building.

14. A framework module as claimed in claim 11 wherein the framework members are configured to allow mutual connection with other framework members located on a substantially identical adjacent framework module so that a plurality of framework modules can be connected together to form an open-web truss of vertically and horizontally aligned framework members.

15. A framework module as claimed in claim 11 wherein box frame and connection points are configured to have both vertical and horizontal axes of symmetry around the external planes of a box defined by a 2 meter by 2 meter by 3 meter volume within which the framework module is located.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

(1) Further aspects of the invention will become apparent from the following description which is given by way of example only and with reference to the accompanying drawings which show an embodiment of the device by way of example, and in which:

(2) FIG. 1 shows a perspective view from above and to one side of a framework module according to an embodiment of the invention, showing detail of the elongate upright and cross beams that form the framework module, and which are rigidly connected at their ends to form a box frame with open side and end faces, the figure also showing connection points located on each of the upright beams that allow mutual connection with equivalent connection points located on a substantially identical adjacent framework module.

(3) FIG. 2a shows a side view of the framework module of FIG. 1.

(4) FIG. 2b shows the same view of the framework module as FIG. 2a, with dotted lines defining a 23 grid of 1 m squares superimposed on the framework module, the framework module locating within the 23 grid in use, and locating within a 2 m2 m3 m volume.

(5) FIG. 3 shows a top or plan view of the framework module of FIGS. 1 and 2.

(6) FIG. 4 shows close-up detail of a corner of the framework module of the preceding figures showing the connection pattern of the upright and cross beams, and detail of the connection of two of the connection points to the upright beam.

(7) FIG. 5a shows a perspective view from above and to one side of the end of an upright beam according to a second embodiment of the invention, having right-angle brackets connected on two adjacent sides, the brackets aligned with the axis of the upright having bolt holes on their outer faces, larger apertures in the faces of the upright inside the perimeter of the brackets allowing the head of a bolt to pass through.

(8) FIG. 5b shows a side view of the end of the upright shown in FIG. 5a.

(9) FIG. 5c shows a top view of the end of the upright of FIGS. 5a and 5b.

(10) FIG. 6a shows a perspective view from the end and to one side of a horizontal beam according to a second embodiment of the invention, the beam having a single right-angle bracket connected at each end on the same face, the brackets aligned perpendicular to the axis of the beam, the brackets having notches at each end on their outer faces, and a pair of bolt holes on their inner faces, the beam having equivalent bolt holes formed through its face inside the perimeter of the bracket, so that the shaft of a bolt and nut can pass through a bolt hole in the beam and the bracket.

(11) FIG. 6b shows a side view of the end of the beam of FIG. 6a.

(12) FIG. 6c shows and end view of the end of the beam of FIGS. 6a and 6b.

(13) FIG. 6d shows a top view of the end of the beam of FIGS. 6a to 6c.

(14) FIG. 6e shows a perspective view from the end and to one side of the beam of FIGS. 6a to 6d, without the bracket present, to show the bolt holes in the beam.

(15) FIG. 7 shows a perspective view from the front and slightly above of the bracket that is connected to the horizontal beams and uprights of FIGS. 5a to 6d, showing the notches and bolt holes in the faces of the bracket.

(16) FIG. 8 shows a hidden detail view of a pair of horizontal beams connected to an upright in use, showing detail of the position of the brackets and the connecting bolts between the uprights and the horizontal beams.

(17) FIG. 9 shows a perspective view from above and to one side of a framework module according to a second embodiment of the invention, showing detail of the elongate upright and cross beams that form the framework module, and which are connected at their ends via brackets to form a box frame with open side and end faces, the figure also showing connection points located on each of the upright beams that allow mutual connection with equivalent connection points located on a substantially identical adjacent framework module.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

(18) Embodiments of the invention, and variations thereof, will now be described in detail with reference to the figures.

(19) A first embodiment of a framework module 1 is shown in FIGS. 1 to 4. The framework module 1 has the overall shape and form of a rectangular box frame, with open sides and open end faces. The box frame that forms the main part of the framework module 1 is constructed from elongate beams, that form the uprights 2 and cross beams 3 of the framework module 1, and which are connected at their ends by welding as shown in FIG. 4. Each of the elongate beams 2, 3 is formed from 100 mm100 mm SHS (Square Hollow Section) mild steel tube. The beams that form the upright beams 2 (vertically aligned in use) have a length of 2900 mm. The beams that form the cross beams 3 (horizontally aligned and forming the perimeter of a square in use) have a length of 1700 mm. The connection pattern for the beams 2, 3 where they meet at the corners of the framework module 1 is shown in FIG. 4.

(20) Connection points 4 are attached to or formed on the upright and cross beams 2, 3, on the outwardly-facing surfaces of the upright and cross beams 2, 3. The connection points 4 are not point elements, but are formed from 200 mm lengths of 40 mm40 mm SHS mild steel tube. The connection points 4 are welded to the upright and cross beams 2, 3 with their long axis in parallel with the axis of the beam 2 or 3 to which they are connected. The connection points 4 are connected or attached so that they are aligned with the inside edge face of the beam to which they are attached. That is, so that the inner side face of the connection point 4 is directly adjacent to the edge of the open rectangle or square formed by the beams 2, 3, on any given side of the framework module 1.

(21) When all the beams are inter-connected, and the connection points are fixed to the beams, the framework module 1 has a volume of nearly 2 m2 m3 m. In use, each framework module is treated as having a volume of 2 m2 m3 m. 10 mm spacers are used on each side of each of the connection points to make up the gap between interconnected framework modules 1. As shown in FIG. 2b, viewed from the side the framework module 1 can be divided into a 23 grid of 1 m1 m squares. The connection points always run halfway through the 1 m1 m squares and are symmetrical around the 2 m2 m3 m volume.

(22) The connection points 4 are formed so that they can be connected to connection points on an adjacently-located substantially identical framework module (either or both of above/below, and/or to the side), so that when a number of the framework modules 1 are connected together they form an open-web truss of vertically and horizontally aligned members.

(23) The connection points 4 are connected to the beams 2, 3 as follows:

(24) Three connection points 4a, 4b, 4c are attached to each of the upright beams 2, with a first connection point 4b substantially at the centre of the beam 2 (i.e. so that the mid-point of it's 200 mm length is at the mid-point of the beam 2that is, 1.45 metres along the length of the beam 2), with the remaining two connection points 4a, 4c spaced so that their mid-points are one metre from the mid-point of the centrally located connection point 4b. That is, their inner ends are each 800 mm from the ends of the central connection point 4b, and their outer ends are each 350 mm from the ends of the beam 2.

(25) Three further connection points 4d, 4e, 4f are attached on the other outwardly facing side of the upright beams 2 with the same spacing as 4a, 4b, 4c.

(26) Two connection points 4i, 4j are attached to the side of each of the cross beams 3, in the same plane as the connection points 4a, 4b, 4c and spaced so that their mid-points are each 500 mm from the mid-point or mid-line of the cross beam 3. That is, the centres of the connection points 4i, 4j are one metre apart.

(27) Two further connection points 4g, 4h are attached to the top of each of the upper cross beams 3 and bottom of lower cross beams 3 with the same spacing as the connection points 4i, 4j.

(28) All connections points have a face adjacent to the inner edge of the outwardly facing sides of beam 2 and beam 3.

(29) It can be seen that all the connection points along any one vertical or horizontal vector are spaced no more than 1 m apart (that is, the connection points on the cross-beams will be spaced 1 m apart from their closest neighbour on the same vector on a directly adjoining and connected framework module 1.

(30) It can be seen that the framework module 1 and it's connection points 4 are configured to have both vertical and horizontal axes of symmetry through a 2 m2 m3 m box outside of the beams 2, 3.

(31) In a second embodiment, and as shown in FIGS. 5 to 9, a framework module 101 very similar to that of the first embodiment is created by connecting upright beams 102 and cross beams 103 to form a framework module 101. The beams 102, 103 have substantially the same dimensions as for the first embodiment described above, and have connection points 104 attached to or formed on the upright and cross beams 102, 103, on the outwardly-facing surfaces, the connection points 104 substantially the same as, and in substantially the same positions on the beams 102, 103, as the connection points 4 described above. The framework module 101 has the overall shape and form of a rectangular box frame the same as for the framework module 1 described above, with open sides and open end faces, the uprights 102 and cross beams 103 rigidly connected at their ends in the manner described in detail below.

(32) In this embodiment, the beams 102 and uprights 103 are bolted together at their ends using integral brackets 105a, 105b and bolts, as described below. The brackets 105 are shown alone in FIG. 7. The brackets 105 are equal-angle brackets, formed so that the final shape is two planar elements mutually connected along one longer edge so that the elements are perpendicular to one another, the edges opposite the connected edges forming two free edges. Each bracket has one face or planar element that has notches 106 formed in the upper and lower ends, on the centreline of the face. The other face has a pair of boltholes 107 formed on the centreline, slightly inwards of the notches 106 on the other of the faces. The notches 106 and boltholes 107 are sized for fitting a bolt (i.e. the shaft will just pass through, but not the head or nut).

(33) As shown in FIGS. 5a-5c, the members that are aligned vertically in useuprights 102have two brackets 105a welded to two adjacent external faces at or close to the end, at each end (four brackets in total on each upright 102). The pairs of brackets 105a at each end are connected to the same faces as the pair of brackets at the other end. The free edges are welded to the outer surface of the upright so that the right-angle corner where the two planar sides meet is outermost, and so that this corner is substantially aligned with the centreline running along the centre of the upright 103 from bottom to top. As shown in FIGS. 5a-5c, the notches 106 face outwards. That is, adjacent faces of the neighbouring brackets 105a at one end have the notches 106 formed in their upper and lower ends, and the boltholes 107 are on the inward-facing faces. The upright 102 has larger apertures 108 formed through its end faces, in the same faces as those which the brackets 105 are connected to, these formed within or inside the area covered by the brackets 105. As outlined above, the notches 106 and boltholes 107 are sized for fitting a bolt. The larger apertures 108 are sized and shaped to just allow passage of the head of a bolt whose shaft will fit the boltholes 107.

(34) As shown in FIGS. 6a-6d, the members that are aligned horizontally in usebeams 103have two brackets 105b welded one at each end (two brackets in total on each beam 103). The pairs of brackets 105b at each end are connected to the same face. The brackets 105b are the same shape and size as the brackets 105a, and are connected by welding their free edges to the outer surface of the beam in a similar manner to that described above. However, the brackets 105b are aligned so that the outer corner is perpendicular to the axis of the beami.e. it will be vertically aligned in use once the frame 101 is assembled. The bracket 105b is aligned so that the notches 106 face towards the closer end, and the boltholes 107 face towards the far end. A pair of bolt apertures 111 are formed in the face of the beam 102 under the bracket 105b, in line with the outer corner of the bracket 105b. These are sized to allow the shaft and nut to pass through. A single bolt hole 112 is formed on the opposite face to these, on the centreline.

(35) The brackets 105 have a length/height so that they will just slide into the open ends of the beams 103.

(36) In use, as shown in FIG. 8, the ends of two beams 103 are connected to the end of an upright 102 by sliding the open ends onto two adjacent brackets 105a on the end of the upright 102. Bolts are passed outwards from the inside of the upright 102, so that the shafts pass through the apertures 107 on bracket 105a, through the bolt apertures 111, and then through the boltholes 107 on bracket 105b. These bolts are then tensioned via two nuts. Tensioning these two bolts creates the connection force between the horizontal and vertical members 103, 102, the force acting at an angle of 45 degrees to the face of the upright 102. Two further bolts can be inserted into the notches 106, which face each other on the inside of the corner between the two horizontal beams 103 and brackets 105b, to connect the two adjacent horizontal member brackets 105b.

(37) A metal reinforcing tab 113 is connected on the outer face of each vertical member via the single bolt hole 112. The tab 113 prevents the beam 103 from sliding out of alignment with the upright 102 due to the tension at 45 degrees and provides additional vertical load support for the upright 102.

(38) As well as allowing the required rigid connection between members, this type of connection also allows adjustment of the connection between members, to ensure the connections are at the required anglee.g. perpendicular. Members can be removed after assembly of multiple adjacent frames, stacked more effectively for transport, and assembled without the use of heavy machinery. The uprights 102 can be adjusted into perpendicular by adjusting the two nuts at the outer end of each of the four bolts connecting the upright 102 to the two beams 103. Similarly the two beams 103 can be adjusted through the bolted connections between their brackets 105b.

(39) The bolting design enables uprights 102 to be removed by sliding away from the beams 103 at an angle of 135 degrees even after adjacent frames have been installed. This capability facilitates a unique build method where rooms are formed or changed after the structure has been put in place by adding and removal of uprights 102 within the frames 101. All connection bracket welding and bolting connections occur on the outside of the uprights 102. This preserves the vertical conduit. Leaving this space free of interference, allowing it to be used as a conduit for running utility cables and pipe work after the frames are in place and insertion of piles. Bolted connections allow pre-fabricated parts to be more efficiently transported to site and parts can be assembled without the use of heavy lifting equipment.

(40) As shown in the figures for the second embodiment, the connection points 104 are substantially the same as those for the first embodiment, but have notched or slotted outer ends. It should be noted that notched or non-notched connection points could be used for either embodiment, although the notches or slots facilitate joining or connection via bolts or similar slipped into adjacent pairs of notches.

(41) As noted above, in use a number of the framework modules 1 or 101 are connected together to form an open-web truss of vertically and horizontally aligned members, which is used to form a skeleton framework for a building. Rooms are configured by removing one or more uprights from the frame before or after construction and installation. The symmetry and geometry of the frame design of the framework module and connection points enable the use of a single exterior wall, floor and roof panels design that creates a continuous outer shell. The design of the framework module preserves vertical conduits (within the upright beams) within which utility pipe work and electrical cabling can be run and located. These vertical conduits are maintained continuously throughout the entire structure, through the upright beams in each framework module. Because the connection points are not at the corners, utility pipe work and cabling can be run through these vertical conduits and then distributed laterally within the floor and roof cavities between vertical stacked framework modules.

(42) Using this construction method, structural stiffness is achieved when one framework module is connected to an adjacent framework module, which effectively makes a rectangular truss between any two connection points through the frame members. Connection points on the building outer sides can be used to mount exterior panels of single design for wall, roof and under floor. When a number of framework modules are mounted together, the connection points are always 1000 mm apart along the axis of either beam or beam.

(43) It can be seen that mounting locations are consistent and symmetrical around the structure of the skeleton frame created by connecting a number of the framework modules 1 together. Therefore, exterior panels of a single design can be used for the building's outer floors, roof and walls. Regardless of which connection points are used, exterior panels mount in a manner which is symmetrical through the planes making up the 2 m2 m3 m volume. This allows panels to be mounted to any configuration of framework modules 1 and creates an outer building shell that can be sealed using typical builders silicon around any inward or outward framework module corner as well as any flat walls. Avoiding air leakage greatly improves any building's energy efficiency.

(44) When used to create a skeleton structure for a building, the framework module is a repeating structure. This creates fabrication economies of scale. Furthermore, frames internal to the outer shell need not be painted or surface treated because moisture levels inside the shell can be controlled. A tower created by stacking framework modules vertically could be used for the remaining lifting and materials handling, which avoids the need for the use of a full time crane, which is required with most modular constructions. After completion of the required lifting, the tower can be incorporated into the building.

(45) Building foundations can be created from the top part of a framework module. The uprights or upright beams are cut to lengths that will accommodate local topography. These foundation framework modules are supported on piles and their height can be adjusted using jacking screws after the pile has been set/grouted in place. Such a system allows piles to be statically loaded for testing and if further settling occurs, further adjustment can take place or at any time during the buildings use. If more adjustment is required than the existing pile length can accommodate, additional spliced pile length to further lift the foundation frame can be fed down through the upright beams which form vertical conduits.

(46) When drilling piles, a foundation framework module 1 can be used to mount core drilling equipment which provides the required torsional stiffness (opposing core drill torque) and avoids the need for large/heavy drilling machinery. Because cores are drilled through the vertical conduits of the framework modules, pile location inaccuracies are avoided.