FOLDABLE HOME WITH SCISSOR-FOLDING SIDEWALLS

Abstract

An enclosed habitable house has a main body, a roof system, a wall system and a bottom drive mechanism. The main body mechanism is connected with other elements and provides the framework and structural support. The main body includes the main body frame and the articulation mechanisms. The roof system is symmetrical on both sides of the main body and installed on the upper part of thereof. The roof system includes two foldable sloped roofs and four foldable roof supports. The wall mechanism is symmetrically distributed on both sides of the main body and includes the outer wall system, the side wall system and the rotation mechanism. A bottom driving mechanism is used for the unfolding of the wall system and includes four sets of retractable pushing mechanisms. The front and rear walls can unfold from the sides of the main body during expansion of the structure.

Claims

1. An expandable home comprising: a main structure having a front side, a rear side opposite the front side, and first and second sides spanning between the front side and the rear side; and a first expansion structure expanding from the first side, the first expansion structure providing, in an expanded state, a first expansion front wall, extending the front side of the main structure, a first expansion rear wall, extending the rear side of the main structure, and a first expansion outer wall, disposed between the first expansion front wall and the first expansion rear wall, the first expansion outer wall being substantially coplanar with the first side of the main structure, wherein the first expansion front wall and the first expansion rear wall are each folded at least in first and second portions; and each of the first and second portions are stacked against each other and disposed adjacent the first side of the main structure when the expandable home is in a collapsed state.

2. The expandable home of claim 1, further comprising: a second expansion structure expanding from the second side, the second expansion structure providing, in the expanded state, a second expansion front wall, extending the front side of the main structure, a second expansion rear wall, extending the rear side of the main structure, and a second expansion outer wall, disposed between the second expansion front wall and the second expansion rear wall, the second expansion outer wall being substantially coplanar with the second side of the main structure, wherein the second expansion front wall and the second expansion rear wall are each folded at least in first and second portions; and each of the first and second portions of the second expansion front and rear walls are stacked against each other and disposed adjacent the second side of the main structure when the expandable home is in the collapsed state.

3. The expandable home of claim 1, further comprising: a retractable roof, the retractable roof having a plurality of roof modules stacked and nested into a main body roof portion in the collapsed state, wherein an outermost one of the plurality of roof modules are attached to the first outer wall; and expansion of the expandable home to the expanded state causes the outermost one of the plurality of roof modules to extend out of the main body roof portion, where continued expansion causes each of the plurality of roof modules to extend out of the main body roof portion to form a roof over the first expansion structure.

4. The expandable home of claim 3, wherein the plurality of roof modules form a roof structure that is sloped continuously downward from the main body.

5. The expandable home of claim 4, wherein the plurality of roof modules form a sloped, planar roof surface when the expandable home is fully expanded.

6. The expandable home of claim 1, wherein: the first and second portions of the first expansion front wall are pivotably attached to each other at a first end of each of thereof, wherein a second end of the first portion of the first expansion front wall is pivotably attached to the main structure and a second end of the second portion of the first expansion front wall is pivotably attached to the first outer wall; and the first and second portions of the first expansion rear wall are pivotably attached to each other at a first end of each of thereof, wherein a second end of the first portion of the first expansion rear wall is pivotably attached to the main structure and a second end of the second portion of the first expansion rear wall is pivotably attached to the first outer wall.

7. The expandable home of claim 1, further comprising a bottom drive mechanism attached to the main body, the bottom drive mechanism including a plurality of retractable drive rods, wherein an end of an outermost one of the plurality of retractable drive rods is secured to the first outer wall.

8. The expandable home of claim 7, wherein the bottom drive mechanism includes: a first bottom drive mechanism, having a first outermost one of a first plurality of retractable drive rods secured to a front corner of the first outer wall; and a second bottom drive mechanism, having a second outermost one of a second plurality of retractable drive rods secured to a rear corner of the first outer wall, wherein the first bottom drive mechanism and the second bottom drive mechanism act in unison to expand the retract the first outer wall with respect to the side of the main body.

9. The expandable home of claim 1, further comprising a first floor module, wherein a first end of the first floor module is pivotably attached to the first side of the main body; and the first floor module is movable between the collapsed state, where the first floor module is disposed adjacent the first side of the main body, and the expanded state, where the first floor module provides a floor surface for the first expansion structure.

10. The expandable home of claim 9, further comprising one or more hydraulic rods operable to move the first floor module between the expanded state and the collapsed state.

11. The expandable home of claim 2, further comprising a second floor module, wherein a first end of the second floor module is pivotably attached to the second side of the main body; and the second floor module is movable between the collapsed state, where the second floor module is disposed adjacent the second side of the main body, and the expanded state, where the second floor module provides a floor surface for the second expansion structure.

12. An expandable home comprising: a main structure having a front side, a rear side opposite the front side, and first and second sides spanning between the front side and the rear side; a first expansion structure expanding from the first side, the first expansion structure providing, in an expanded state, a first expansion front wall, extending the front side of the main structure, a first expansion rear wall, extending the rear side of the main structure, and a first expansion outer wall, disposed between the first expansion front wall and the first expansion rear wall, the first expansion outer wall being substantially coplanar with the first side of the main structure; a second expansion structure expanding from the second side, the second expansion structure providing, in the expanded state, a second expansion front wall, extending the front side of the main structure, a second expansion rear wall, extending the rear side of the main structure, and a second expansion outer wall, disposed between the second expansion front wall and the second expansion rear wall, the second expansion outer wall being substantially coplanar with the second side of the main structure; and a retractable roof, the retractable roof having first and second sets of a plurality of roof modules stacked and nested into a main body roof portion in the collapsed state, wherein the first set of the plurality of roof modules are expandable from the main body to cover the first expansion structure and the second set of the plurality of roof modules are expandable from the main body to cover the second expansion structure; an outermost one of the first and second sets of the plurality of roof modules are attached to, respective ones of the first and second outer walls; expansion of the expandable home to the expanded state causes the outermost one of each set of the plurality of roof modules to extend out of the main body roof portion, where continued expansion causes each of the plurality of roof modules of each of the first and second sets to extend out of the main body roof portion to form a roof over the respective first and second expansion structures; the first expansion front wall and the first expansion rear wall are each folded at least in first and second portions; each of the first and second portions of respective first expansion front and rear walls are stacked against each other and disposed adjacent the first side of the main structure when the expandable home is in a collapsed state; the second expansion front wall and the second expansion rear wall are each folded at least in first and second portions; and each of the first and second portions of respective second expansion front and rear walls are stacked against each other and disposed adjacent the second side of the main structure when the expandable home is in the collapsed state.

13. The expandable home of claim 12, wherein: the first and second portions of the first expansion front wall are pivotably attached to each other at a first end of each of thereof, wherein a second end of the first portion of the first expansion front wall is pivotably attached to the main structure and a second end of the second portion of the first expansion front wall is pivotably attached to the first outer wall; the first and second portions of the first expansion rear wall are pivotably attached to each other at a first end of each of thereof, wherein a second end of the first portion of the first expansion rear wall is pivotably attached to the main structure and a second end of the second portion of the first expansion rear wall is pivotably attached to the first outer wall; the first and second portions of the second expansion front wall are pivotably attached to each other at a first end of each of thereof, wherein a second end of the first portion of the second expansion front wall is pivotably attached to the main structure and a second end of the second portion of the second expansion front wall is pivotably attached to the second outer wall; and the first and second portions of the second expansion rear wall are pivotably attached to each other at a first end of each of thereof, wherein a second end of the first portion of the second expansion rear wall is pivotably attached to the main structure and a second end of the second portion of the second expansion rear wall is pivotably attached to the second outer wall.

14. The expandable home of claim 12, further comprising first and second bottom drive mechanisms attached to extend out from the first and second sides of the main body, the first and second bottom drive mechanisms each including a respective first and second plurality of retractable drive rods, wherein a first end of a first outermost one of the first plurality of retractable drive rods of the first bottom drive mechanism is secured to the first outer wall and a second end of a second outermost one of the second plurality of drive rods of the second bottom drive mechanism is secured to the second outer wall.

15. The expandable home of claim 12, further comprising: a first floor module and a second floor module, wherein a first end of the first floor module is pivotably attached to the first side of the main body; the first floor module is movable between the collapsed state, where the first floor module is disposed adjacent the first side of the main body, and the expanded state, where the first floor module provides a floor surface for the first expansion structure; a first end of the second floor module is pivotably attached to the second side of the main body; and the second floor module is movable between the collapsed state, where the second floor module is disposed adjacent the second side of the main body, and the expanded state, where the second floor module provides a floor surface for the second expansion structure.

16. The expandable home of claim 15, further comprising: one or more first hydraulic rods operable to move the first floor module between the expanded state and the collapsed state; and one or more second hydraulic rods operable to move the second floor module between the expanded state and the collapsed state.

17. An expandable home comprising: a main structure having a front side, a rear side opposite the front side, and first and second sides spanning between the front side and the rear side; a first expansion structure expanding from the first side, the first expansion structure providing, in an expanded state, a first expansion front wall, extending the front side of the main structure, a first expansion rear wall, extending the rear side of the main structure, and a first expansion outer wall, disposed between the first expansion front wall and the first expansion rear wall, the first expansion outer wall being substantially coplanar with the first side of the main structure; a retractable roof, the retractable roof having a plurality of roof modules stacked and nested into a main body roof portion in the collapsed state; and a first floor module, wherein a first end of the first floor module is pivotably attached to the first side of the main body; the first floor module is movable between the collapsed state, where the first floor module is disposed adjacent the first side of the main body, and the expanded state, where the first floor module provides a floor surface for the first expansion structure; an outermost one of the plurality of roof modules are attached to the first outer wall; expansion of the expandable home to the expanded state causes the outermost one of the plurality of roof modules to extend out of the main body roof portion, where continued expansion causes each of the plurality of roof modules to extend out of the main body roof portion to form a roof over the first expansion structure; the first expansion front wall and the first expansion rear wall are each folded at least in first and second portions; and each of the first and second portions are stacked against each other and disposed adjacent the first side of the main structure when the expandable home is in a collapsed state.

18. The expandable home of claim 17, further comprising: a second expansion structure expanding from the second side, the second expansion structure providing, in the expanded state, a second expansion front wall, extending the front side of the main structure, a second expansion rear wall, extending the rear side of the main structure, and a second expansion outer wall, disposed between the second expansion front wall and the second expansion rear wall, the second expansion outer wall being substantially coplanar with the second side of the main structure, wherein the second expansion front wall and the second expansion rear wall are each folded at least in first and second portions; and each of the first and second portions of the second expansion front and rear walls are stacked against each other and disposed adjacent the second side of the main structure when the expandable home is in the collapsed state.

19. The expandable home of claim 18, further comprising a second floor module, wherein a first end of the second floor module is pivotably attached to the second side of the main body; and the second floor module is movable between the collapsed state, where the second floor module is disposed adjacent the second side of the main body, and the expanded state, where the second floor module provides a floor surface for the second expansion structure.

20. The expandable home of claim 17, further comprising a bottom drive mechanism attached to the main body, the bottom drive mechanism including a plurality of retractable drive rods, wherein an end of an outermost one of the plurality of retractable drive rods is secured to the first outer wall.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0012] Some embodiments of the present invention are illustrated as an example and are not limited by the figures of the accompanying drawings, in which like references may indicate similar elements.

[0013] FIG. 1 illustrates a perspective view of a foldable home in a fully retracted state, according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention;

[0014] FIG. 2A illustrates a perspective view of the foldable home showing an inset region for which additional detail is provided in FIG. 2B;

[0015] FIG. 2B illustrates a detailed view taken along circle II of FIG. 2A;

[0016] FIG. 3 a perspective view of the foldable home of FIG. 1 is a partially expanded state, according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention;

[0017] FIG. 4 illustrates a perspective view of the partially expanded structure of FIG. 3, with the roof removed for clarity;

[0018] FIG. 5 illustrates a top view of the partially expanded structure of FIG. 3, with the roof removed for clarity;

[0019] FIG. 6 illustrates a perspective view of the foldable home of FIG. 1, in a fully expanded state;

[0020] FIG. 7 illustrates a front view of the fully expanded foldable home of FIG. 6;

[0021] FIG. 8 illustrates a front view of the foldable home of FIG. 1, with at least a portion of the front wall removed for clarity, showing the floors in a retracted state;

[0022] FIG. 9 illustrates a front view of the foldable home of FIG. 1, with at least a portion of the front wall removed for clarity, showing the floors in a partially expanded state; and

[0023] FIG. 10 illustrates a front view of the foldable home of FIG. 1, with at least a portion of the front wall removed for clarity, showing the floors in a fully expanded state.

[0024] The illustrations in the figures may not necessarily be drawn to scale.

[0025] The invention and its various embodiments can now be better understood by turning to the following detailed description wherein illustrated embodiments are described. It is to be expressly understood that the illustrated embodiments are set forth as examples and not by way of limitations on the invention as ultimately defined in the claims.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS AND BEST MODE OF INVENTION

[0026] The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the invention. As used herein, the term and/or includes any and all combinations of one or more of the associated listed items. As used herein, the singular forms a, an, and the are intended to include the plural forms as well as the singular forms, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms comprises and/or comprising, when used in this specification, specify the presence of stated features, steps, operations, elements, and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, steps, operations, elements, components, and/or groups thereof.

[0027] Unless otherwise defined, all terms (including technical and scientific terms) used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one having ordinary skill in the art to which this invention belongs. It will be further understood that terms, such as those defined in commonly used dictionaries, should be interpreted as having a meaning that is consistent with their meaning in the context of the relevant art and the present disclosure and will not be interpreted in an idealized or overly formal sense unless expressly so defined herein.

[0028] In describing the invention, it will be understood that a number of techniques and steps are disclosed. Each of these has individual benefit and each can also be used in conjunction with one or more, or in some cases all, of the other disclosed techniques. Accordingly, for the sake of clarity, this description will refrain from repeating every possible combination of the individual steps in an unnecessary fashion. Nevertheless, the specification and claims should be read with the understanding that such combinations are entirely within the scope of the invention and the claims.

[0029] In the following description, for purposes of explanation, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the present invention. It will be evident, however, to one skilled in the art that the present invention may be practiced without these specific details.

[0030] The present disclosure is to be considered as an exemplification of the invention and is not intended to limit the invention to the specific embodiments illustrated by the figures or description below.

[0031] As is well known to those skilled in the art, many careful considerations and compromises typically must be made when designing for the optimal configuration of a commercial implementation of any system, and in particular, the embodiments of the present invention. A commercial implementation in accordance with the spirit and teachings of the present invention may be configured according to the needs of the particular application, whereby any aspect(s), feature(s), function(s), result(s), component(s), approach(es), or step(s) of the teachings related to any described embodiment of the present invention may be suitably omitted, included, adapted, mixed and matched, or improved and/or optimized by those skilled in the art, using their average skills and known techniques, to achieve the desired implementation that addresses the needs of the particular application.

[0032] Broadly, embodiments of the present invention provide an enclosed habitable house with multiple expandable mechanisms, including a main body mechanism, a roof system, a wall system and a bottom drive mechanism. The main body mechanism is connected with other elements for the framework of the structure and plays the role of structural support. The main body includes the main body frame and the articulation mechanisms. The roof system is symmetrical on both sides of the main body and installed on the upper part of thereof. The roof system includes two foldable sloped roofs and four foldable roof supports. The wall mechanism is symmetrically distributed on both sides of the main body and includes the outer wall system, the side wall system and the rotation mechanism. A bottom driving mechanism is used for the unfolding of the wall system and includes four sets of retractable pushing mechanisms. The front and rear walls can unfold from the sides of the main body during expansion of the structure.

[0033] FIG. 1 shows a schematic view of the foldable home 100 in the retracted state. The main body 102 is the main structural support part of the foldable home 100 with the roof system 101 installed above it. Wall system 103 is connected to the roof system 101, and the wall system 103 is hinged to the main body 102. A bottom driving mechanism 104 is installed at the bottom of the main body 102 is connected to the wall system 103 for retracting the wall system 103, as discussed below.

[0034] FIGS. 2A and 2B show a detailed view of the roof system 101. FIG. 3 shows a schematic view of the foldable home 100 in a half-expanded state. FIG. 4 is a sectional view of the foldable home 100 in the half-expanded state. Roof system 101 includes two foldable sloped roofs 1011 and four foldable roof supports 1012. Foldable sloped roofs 1011 include a plurality of roof modules 1013 that stack atop each other and also nest within a main body sloped roof section 1014. FIG. 3 illustrates three parts of the plurality of roof modules 1013 as an example.

[0035] As shown in FIG. 2B, roof module 207 is main body sloped roof section 1014 and is mutually fixed with the main body 102, roof modules 204, 205, 206 are nested in layers and will slide relatively during the unfolding process. The roof module 204 and the outer wall 306 are fixed to each other, and the roof module 204 will make the same movement when the outer wall 306 is unfolded outward. The roof module 204 will drive the roof module 205, and the roof module 205 will drive the roof module 206. The roof support mechanism 1012 helps the roof module slide and provides support for each of the plurality of roof modules 1013, including a support module 201, a support module 202 and a support module 203. The support module 201 provides support for the roof module 207, which is fixed to each other with the main body 102. The support module 202 is in the outermost layer of the roof support mechanism, and plays the role of protection and support for other roof support modules. The roof support modules are nested structures. The roof support module 202 slides within the roof support module 201 and is fixed with the roof module 206 to support the roof module 206. The roof support module 203 slides within the roof support module 202 and is fixed with the roof module 205 to support it. Since the roof module 204 is of equal width with the outer wall 306, the wall system 103 already provides support for the roof module 204, so there is no need for additional roof support module to provide assistance to the roof module 204.

[0036] When the home 100 is being unfolded, the bottom drive mechanism 104 pushes in the direction of the arrows 1046 in FIG. 3. The bottom drive mechanism 104 includes, for example, four sets of retractable drive rods 1042, 1043, 1044, the end 1045 of an outermost one of the drive rods (drive rod 1044) can be secured to the corners 3061 of the outer wall 306.

[0037] As seen in FIG. 4, the wall system 103 includes two outer walls 306 and four side wall systems 1031, each side wall system 1031 includes two side wall blocks 301, a pivoting attachment 304 with the main body 102, a relative rotation mechanism 302 between the two side wall modules 301 and a sealing and connecting mechanism 303 for providing a pivoting and sealed connection between the side wall modules 301 and outer wall 306. A front door 305 may be provided in the front of the main body 102 to provide access inside the home 100.

[0038] FIG. 5 is a top section view of the foldable home in the half-expanded state. As can be seen in FIG. 5, the main body 102 can include a front wall 1021, a rear wall 1022 and sides 1023 that span between the front wall 1021 and the rear wall 1022. In should be understood that the sides 1023 of the main body 102 may not be structurally present such that, when the home 100 is fully expanded, the main body 102 may be completely open to each expansion structure 1024. For example, the sides 1023 shown in FIG. 5 may be the folded floor modules 706 (see FIGS. 8 through 10). In this embodiment, the sides 1023 of the main body 102 may simply be a space between front and rear corners of the main body 102. In some embodiments, the sites 1023 may be partial walls, or walls with doors or other openings to permit egress between the main body 102 and the expansion structures 1024.

[0039] FIG. 6 is the schematic view of the foldable home in the fully expanded state except the expansion of the floors, as described below. Due to the geometric design of each roof module being of the same slope, with the lowest point of the previous roof module being the same height as the highest point of the following roof module, both the upper surface 501 and the side surfaces 502 of the sloped roof system 101 are each an integral and planar when fully expanded. FIG. 7 is the front view of the foldable home 100 in the fully expanded state except floors.

[0040] FIG. 8 is the front section view of the foldable home 100 in the fully expanded state except floors. The contact portions 702, 703 between the plurality of roof modules 1013 (and the contact portion 701 between the main body roof portion 1014 and the first one of the plurality of roof modules 1013) all have a portion of the smaller roof module (the one distal the main body 102) remaining on the inside of the larger roof module, and the load transfer and sealing functions are achieved by this structure.

[0041] The floor modules 706 are hinged at a pivot point 801 to the main body 102 and are connected by hydraulic rods 704 inside the foldable home 100. Each floor module 706 can be controlled by two hydraulic rods 704 with connection points 705 that allow relative rotation of both. The floor modules 706 will rotate relative to the main body 102 in the direction of the arrow 707 in FIG. 9, controlled by the hydraulic rods 704. FIG. 10 shows the floor modules 706 in their fully expanded state.

[0042] All the features disclosed in this specification, including any accompanying abstract and drawings, may be replaced by alternative features serving the same, equivalent or similar purpose, unless expressly stated otherwise. Thus, unless expressly stated otherwise, each feature disclosed is one example only of a generic series of equivalent or similar features.

[0043] Claim elements and steps herein may have been numbered and/or lettered solely as an aid in readability and understanding. Any such numbering and lettering in itself is not intended to and should not be taken to indicate the ordering of elements and/or steps in the claims.

[0044] Many alterations and modifications may be made by those having ordinary skill in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Therefore, it must be understood that the illustrated embodiments have been set forth only for the purposes of examples and that they should not be taken as limiting the invention as defined by the following claims. For example, notwithstanding the fact that the elements of a claim are set forth below in a certain combination, it must be expressly understood that the invention includes other combinations of fewer, more or different ones of the disclosed elements.

[0045] The words used in this specification to describe the invention and its various embodiments are to be understood not only in the sense of their commonly defined meanings, but to include by special definition in this specification the generic structure, material or acts of which they represent a single species.

[0046] The definitions of the words or elements of the following claims are, therefore, defined in this specification to not only include the combination of elements which are literally set forth. In this sense it is therefore contemplated that an equivalent substitution of two or more elements may be made for any one of the elements in the claims below or that a single element may be substituted for two or more elements in a claim. Although elements may be described above as acting in certain combinations and even initially claimed as such, it is to be expressly understood that one or more elements from a claimed combination can in some cases be excised from the combination and that the claimed combination may be directed to a subcombination or variation of a subcombination.

[0047] Insubstantial changes from the claimed subject matter as viewed by a person with ordinary skill in the art, now known or later devised, are expressly contemplated as being equivalently within the scope of the claims. Therefore, obvious substitutions now or later known to one with ordinary skill in the art are defined to be within the scope of the defined elements.

[0048] The claims are thus to be understood to include what is specifically illustrated and described above, what is conceptually equivalent, what can be obviously substituted and also what incorporates the essential idea of the invention.