EP0284537B1

EP0284537B1 - System of construction based on prefabricated elements

Info

Publication number: EP0284537B1
Application number: EP88500025A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Jose Maria Lopez Martinez
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1987-03-26
Filing date: 1988-03-14
Publication date: 1993-10-20
Anticipated expiration: 2008-03-14
Also published as: ATE96190T1; ES2003028A6; EP0284537A2; DE3884989D1; EP0284537A3

Abstract

System of construction based on prefabricated elements which Consists of pillars, partitions, floors, rooves and various accessories of special material, shape, size and sections, to be able to jointed together. The pillars are generally prismatic, with grooves on their sides in the longitudinal direction, of the female dovetail type or similar, to receive by jointing partitions, windows, railings or any other element with a male dovetailed edge or corresponding similar. The floors have their corners removes for the housing of the pillars and a special shape on their edges to connect with others by pressure or an intermediate piece. With the connections, jointing and overlaying of pieces with others, real or toy prefabricated constructions, as large and high as desired will be achieved.

Description

The invention described herein entails a construction system for assembling a series of pre-fitted components for building a previously-conceived structure or for progressively developing a structure to meet the requirements and imagination of the builder. Said system can be used for assembling real-life structures or make-believe constructions (i.e., as a toy construction set) which share similar characteristics with the former and whose possibilities are limited only by the imagination of the builder.
The material used in manufacturing the construction components would preferably be plastic or other material which meets the necessary requirements in terms of endurance, rigidity and elasticity.
The system is comprised of five essential components for building either a real-life, imaginary, customary or slightly-complex structure.
The five components of the construction system are as follows: upright supports, partition walls, floor sections, floor-connecting pieces and roof sections.

Prior Art

Patents for construction systems based on pre-fabricated components do exist (e.g., DE-B-1.113.404).
In the aforementioned patent, the upright supports are rectangular, not square, in section; the inside of the support base is hollow; and the grooves run only partially along the sides of the support (Fig. 7), and therefore their position cannot be changed nor can they be inverted. Said upright supports are always the same length, i.e., the height of one storey. To add height to a structure, several intermediate pieces fitted to each of the two supports to be joined (Fig. 2, item 17,17',17',18,19 & 20), and frames (Fig. 8, item 24) are needed in addition. This makes it a complicated system, and the greater the height of the structure the less sturdy the construction is.
Under patent DE-B-1.113.404, the rebates at the corners of the partition walls are of varying sizes (Fig. 11, items 39 & 40) and therefore cannot be inverted. Said partition walls can only be fitted to the upright supports through the storey under construction.
The floors sections under patent DE-B-1.113.404 are rectangular, not square, with protrusions of varying sizes (Figs. 2,5 & 6) and therefore cannot be placed indiscriminately in any positions.
Once structures are built using the aforementioned patent, they cannot be extended horizontally.
In the present patent application, a highly simple system is proposed which resolves the aforementioned problems, while offering considerable advantages.
To better understand how said system works, refer to the drawings included in this descriptive report.

Fig. 1: Represents a construction;
Fig. 2: View of an upright support;
Fig. 2,: Item 1 one of the grooves along the upright support;
Figs. 3,4,5 & 6: Cross-sectional views of several types of upright support;
Fig. 7: Window or partition wall with opening, arises and ribs along borders;
Fig. 8: Section of a curved partition wall;
Fig. 9: Item 2, upright support groove in which partition wall arris and rib are introduced;
Fig. 10: Partition wall with opening;
Fig. 11: Railing;
Fig. 12.: Floor section;
Fig. 12.: Item 3, groove or orifice along floor section;
Fig. 13.: Item 4, protrusion along floor-connecting piece;
Fig. 14.: Roof section;
Fig. 15.: Support walls and connecting pieces for roof sections.

The components of the system are described as follows:

upright supports (Fig. 2) are square in section (Figs. 3,4,5 & 6) and their sides are identical in length and width, each side being grooved (Fig. 2, item 1) from end to end.
partition walls may be flat (Fig. 7) or curved (Fig. 8) and ribs are provided on their edges corresponding to the said grooves, wherein the upright supports and the partition walls are assembled by sliding the rib of the partition wall (Fig. 9, item 2) into the upright support groove by dovetailing or a similar tongue and groove combination; the position of the upright supports can be changed, inverted or positioned flush with the edge of another upright support after a partition wall as been fitted to add to the height of the structure without having to use intermediate pieces, whereby upright supports can be added to increase the height or the width of the construction as desired; and wherein the partition walls are either blind for forming walls or having openings for adding windows, door frames or balcony railings (Figs. 10 & 11).
floor sections are rectangular (Fig. 12) and the four corners of each floor section are cut out a right angles to form recesses to accommodate the upright supports; the floor pieces having at their edges either a steplike indentation or a ridged border or an orifice for floor-connecting one section to another by introducing the protrusions of corresponding rectangular floor-connecting pieces (Fig. 13, item 4) into the orifice, wherein the floor-connecting pieces (Fig. 12, item 3) are placed over the steplike indentation or borders of two adjacent floor sections, and protrusions from these floor-connecting pieces (Fig. 12, item 3) are fitted into the grooves or orifices of said adjacent floor sections to join them together whereby any extension and shape can be obtained by simply floor-connecting floor sections together.
Roof sections (Figs. 14 & 15) which are rectangular and joined together using roof-connecting pieces which are similar to the floor-connection pieces, and wherein the roof sections are connected to and supported by a plurality of partition walls.

Assembly

The floor sections are joined together using several connecting pieces until the desired shape and extension is obtained.
The upright supports are placed at the open corners of the assembled floor section. The rebates and ribs of the partition walls are slid through the grooves of every two consecutive upright supports.
To complete the lay-out of the first storey, roof or floor sections are joined together as described above. Once assembled, the roof or floor sections are place on top of the upright supports, and the first storey is then completed.
New pieces can then be joined together as described above to continue building as many additional stories as desired (Fig. 1).
To obtain greater structure height, additional upright supports are joined at the arises of the already-assembled partition walls and construction continues as described above.
The simplicity of its components and its unlimited possibilities, sets this construction system apart from any other system presently known.
Some of the advantages of this construction system when compared to others are as follows:

Only five essential components are used: upright supports, partition walls, floor sections, floor-connecting pieces and roof sections;
structures can be assembled in a variety of forms, styles and sizes;
Greater building simplicity;
Solid and stable structures;
Symmetrical upright supports and partition walls which can be inverted and superimposed;
Easily extended both horizontally and vertically, without having the modify what has already been constructed;
Partition walls which are easy to fit and dismantle, by simply sliding in and out of the grooves along the upright supports, from any storey;
Upright supports can be any length and the structure can be built higher by simply placing support upon support, after having first introduced the arises and ribs of the partition walls;
As the floor sections are square, they can be placed in any position. Floor-connecting one section to another is much simpler in this systems than in others and allows for any shape or size of floor;
No nails or screws are needed in building;
As a toy, it is educational, stimulates the child's imagination and enhances manual coordination. There are no minute pieces which could prove dangerous for young children;
For assembling real-life structures, just a small number of components are needed to mount and transport prefabricated structures for camping, housing, emergency shelters, fencing and so on.

Claims

A construction system based on the use of prefabricated components, comprised of five essential components: upright supports, partition walls, floor sections, floor-connecting pieces and roof members which make it possible to assemble a construction (Fig. 1), whereby the configuration of each of the main component pieces is as follows:
- The upright supports (Fig. 2) are square in section (Figs. 3,4,5 & 6) and their sides are identical in length and width, each side being grooved (Fig. 2, item 1) from end to end,

- The partition walls may be flat (Fig. 7) or curved (Fig. 8) and ribs are provided on their edges corresponding to the said grooves, wherein the upright supports and the partition walls are assembled by sliding the rib of the partition wall (Fig. 9, item 2) into the upright support groove by dovetailing or a similar tongue and groove combination; the position of the upright supports can be changed, inverted or positioned flush with the edge of another upright support after a partition wall as been fitted to add to the height of the structure without having to use intermediate pieces, whereby upright supports can be added to increase the height Or the width of the construction as desired; and wherein the Partition walls are either blind for forming walls or having openings for adding windows, door frames or balcony railings (Figs. 10 & 11),

- The floor sections are rectangular (Fig. 12) and the four corners of each floor section are cut out a right angles to form recesses to accommodate the upright supports; the floor pieces having at their edges either a steplike indentation or a ridged border or an orifice for connecting one section to another by introducing the protrusions of corresponding rectangular floor-connecting pieces (Fig. 13, item 4) into the orifices, wherein the floor-connecting pieces (Fig. 12, item 3) are placed over the steplike indentation or borders of two adjacent floor sections, and protrusions from these floor-connecting pieces (Fig. 12, item 3) are fitted into the grooves or orifices of said adjacent floor sections to join them together whereby any extension and shape can be obtained by simply connecting floor sections together,

- Roof sections (Figs. 14 & 15) which are rectangular and joined together using roof-connecting pieces which are similar to the floor-connection pieces, and wherein the roof sections are connected to and supported by a plurality of partition walls.