Modular Building Structure

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to modular building structures.

2. Prior Art

German Utility Model No. 1,982,065 shows fixed hooks and tubular connectors for connecting exhibition stall wall panels.

German Utility Model No. 1,885,302 shows wall panels connected by hooks to square posts between the panels and overhead beams bolted to the upper ends of such posts.

It is an object of the present invention to provide modular building structures having component parts that can be quickly and easily assembled or disassembled.

A further object is to provide such structures having component parts which may be assembled to provide structures of a variety of shapes.

It is also an object to provide such structures particularly adapted for exhibit arrays to display and protect two-dimensional and three-dimensional material for the specific exhibit requirements of museums, art galleries, trade fairs and retail stores.

Another object is to provide a stable assembly of panels. Panel stability is provided by overhead beams and/or by connecting panels in angular relationship instead of being coplanar.

The foregoing objects can be accomplished by providing wall panels which can be interconnected by upwardly directed hooks projecting outwardy from the panel edges. Multisided hollow connection members having a downwardly-opening lower longitudinal slot in each side connect adjacent panels by the panel hooks being received in the connection member lower slots. Panels can be connected at angles to be mutually supporting. To steady connected panels, overhead beams are connected to each other and to the upper ends of the panels by downwardly directed beam hooks received in upwardly-opening upper longitudinal slots in the connection members. Such beams may carry electric circuit wires.

FIG. 1 is an exploded top perspective of some representative component parts of a modular building structure in accordance with the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary exploded top perspective of an upper corner of a wall panel in accordance with the present invention with some parts broken away.

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary elevation of a wall panel with its hook in retracted position with some parts broken away.

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary elevation of two wall panels connected by a connection member, some parts being broken away and some parts being shown in section.

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary plan of three wall panels connected by a square connection member, and

FIG. 6 is a fragmentary plane of three panels connected by a hexagonal connection member.

FIG. 7 is a top perspective of several wall panels connected at angles to each other for mutual support.

FIGS. 8, 9 and 10 are top perspectives of wall panels connected edge-to-edge to provide support and stability of the panels such as in forming display cases.

FIG. 11 is a top perspective of an exhibit array of wall panels supported by modular floor components.

FIG. 12 is a top perspective of wall panels connected edge-to-edge to form a display case with overhead beams connected to each other and to the wall panels by beam connection members.

FIGS. 13 and 14, on the drawing sheet with FIGS. 5 and 6, are top perspectives of exhibit arrays with coplanar connected wall panels steadied by overhead beams.

FIG. 15, on the drawing sheet with FIG. 7, is a top perspective of an exhibit array with some wall panels connected at angles to each other for mutual support, some wall panels supported by floor components and some wall panels steadied by overhead beams.

As shown in FIG. 1, representative component parts of a modular building structure include floor components 1 of equilateral triangle cross section. The sides of each floor component are formed by base strips 2 covered by a top 3 whose edges are coplanar with the outside of the strips. The floor components are maintained with a side of one component parallel to, spaced from and in alignment with a side of another floor component by a spacer 4 secured to both components such as by bolts extending through apertures in the base strips and spacer.

One of the floor components may have a side secured to the lower portion of a wall panel 5 and the lower edge of a panel, instead of a spacer, may fit between adjacent floor components. Each panel has upwardly directed hooks 6 projecting outwardly from its opposite vertical edges. Panel 5 is positioned with an edge adjacent to the edge of another panel 5' which also has upwardly directed hooks 6. The two panels are connected by their adjacent hooks being received in the lower longitudinal slots 7 in opposite sides of multisided hollow connection members 8 formed of short lengths of tubular extrusion.

As best seen in FIGS. 2, 3 and 4, each wall panel is of conventional construction and includes a core 14 enclosed by perimetric channel members 15, the flanges of which define an outwardly opening groove 16, and a thin outer wall covering or facing 17. Hooks may be fixedly secured to the panel edges at corresponding locations on different panels. However, in the panel shown in FIGS. 3, 4 and 5 each hook 6 is carried by a bracket 18 which includes a return bent channel portion 19 forming an outwardly-opening slot 20 and attachment flanges 21. Such flanges are secured to a vertical edge of the panel by screws 22 so that the bracket channel portion is received in the panel perimetric groove. The panel edge is recessed to receive the bracket flanges.

A panel hook 6 swingably carried by bracket 18 by a pivot 23 is planar and has an elongated hook portion that fits closely in the slot 20. Such pivot is always located below the elongated hook portion. Such hook is swingable about its axis to move its elongated hook portion to opposite sides of a vertical plane parallel and adjacent to the axis of the pivot from a position where such elongated hook portion projects outwardly from the panel edge and the center of gravity of the hook is outward of the pivot to a position retracted substantially within the bracket slot 20 and the panel groove 16 in which the center of gravity of the hook is located inward of the pivot to maintain the hook in retracted condition. Outward swinging of the hook is limited by a stop 24 in a position in which its elongated inner edge is located parallel and close to the panel edge. As best seen in FIG. 3, access to a retracted hook is provided by a transverse notch 25 in the panel edge and an aligned notch 26 in the bracket.

As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, two coplanar panels can be connected edge-to-edge by their adjacent projected hooks 6 being received in the lower longitudinal slots in the opposite sides of a panel connection tubular member 8, shown in FIGS. 1 and 5, or a beam-and-panel connection member 11, shown in FIGS. 1 and 4. The tube wall fits snugly between the elongated hook edge and the adjacent panel edge. The tips of hooks 6 are beveled to guide a connection tube as it is fitted over the hooks. The margins of a filler strip 33 of sheet material may be fitted into the grooves of the panels to bridge between the adjacent panel edges.

As best seen in FIG. 5, if connection members having a square cross section are used, two or more panels can be interconnected so that each panel is perpendicular to at least one other panel. As shown in FIG. 6, connection members 27 of hexagon cross section may be used to connect panels to each other at angles of 60 degrees or multiples of 60 degrees. The distance between the opposite sides of the square connection member 8 is the same as the distance between the opposite sides of the hexagonal connection member 27. However, the width of each side of the square connection member is slightly greater than the thickness of a panel, whereas the width of each side of the hexagon connection member is slightly less than the thickness of a panel.

As shown in FIG. 7, several panels may be connected at angles to each other so that such panels are freestanding and mutually supporting, requiring no posts. FIGS. 8 and 9 show one or more panels 5' having viewing apertures 28 connected edge-to-edge to unapertured panels 5 to form a substantially enclosed display case. In the display case of FIG. 10, a double width apertured panel is connected to standard unapertured panels.

In the exhibit array of FIG. 11, connected panels are supported by floor components 1 secured to the lower portions of such panels. The floor components may all be of the same height, or floor components of different heights may be used to provide steps 29 for staging or seating depending upon the degree of difference of elevation between the various levels. Spacers 4, also shown in FIG. 1, between adjacent floor components are of a height of at least as great as an assembled floor component to keep the component tops 3 from sliding. Hexagonal plugs 30 fill the gaps between the vertices of the connected floor components. Some of the panels act as spacers and are clamped between floor components.

Another method of supporting connected panels is shown in FIG. 12. In that figure eight panels are connected to form a square display case with the length of each side of the square equal to the combined widths of two panels and a panel connection member, and overhead beams 9 have an equal length. As best shown in FIG. 1, the fixed downwardly directed hooks 10 projecting from each of the overhead beam ends are received in the upper longitudinal slots 12 of beam-and-panel connection members 11 and the lower longitudinal slots 13 of the beam-and-panel connection members 11 receive the upper panel hooks 6. In the freestanding, post-free display case of FIG. 12 adjacent panel hooks at the upper corners of the display case are received in the lower slots of the beam-and-panel connection member. Each of the beams has an upper groove, best seen in FIG. 1, for receiving electrical wiring or downwardly projecting lugs of display accessories such as lights or specialized power outlets. In several of the panels a display box 31 enclosed in transparent plastic is mounted in a panel viewing aperture 28 as alternates to windows or openings.

In FIGS. 13 and 14 an exhibit array of panels 5 is steadied by interconnected overhead beams 9. Such array includes a number of walls each formed by a row of a plurality of panels arranged in edge-to-edge relationship. In FIG. 13 connectors 8 connect the adjacent edges of adjacent panels in the row and square beam connection members 11 are used to connect the opposite end portions of beams 9 to the opposite edges, respectively, of the assembly of panels in each row so that the plurality of assembled panels in each row are maintained in coplanar relationship, whereas in FIG. 14 hexagonal beam connection members 32 are used to connect the opposite end portions of the beams to the opposite edges, respectively, of each row of panels. In the exhibit array shown in FIG. 15 some of the panels 5a are arranged in freestanding groups, such panels being connected at angles to adjacent panels for mutual support; many of the panels 5b are steadied by interconnected overhead beams; and some of the panels 5c can have their lower portions secured to modular floor components. Each beam end is connected to the top of a panel by a hexagonal beam-and-panel connection member 32. However, a beam connection member 32' can interconnect several beams not overlying panels as shown in FIG. 15.

In each of the embodiments shown in FIGS. 14 and 15, the panels have the same width; the hexagonal connection members have the same width and the floor components are of equilateral triangle cross section with a side of the triangle of a length equal to the width of a panel. Each overhead beam is shown as being of a length equal to the combined widths of two panels and one connection member, but such a beam could be equal to the combined widths of more panels and the connection members between them. The building structure components can be quickly and easily interconnected to form exhibit arrays of a variety of shapes.

The overhead beam arrangements shown in FIGS. 14 and 15 are particularly effective in supporting various types of freestanding, post-free wall arrays because of the rigidity resulting from the beam assemblies of triangular components. In each case, the basic component is an equilateral triangle formed by three of the beams 9 of equal length. The overhead beam assemblies also include nonorthogonal parallelogram formations composed of four beams with a fifth beam joining the closer apexes of the parallelogram for forming two equilateral triangles in the parallelogram formation. Another beam assembly formation is that of an isosceles trapezoid in which two beams form one side of the trapezoid and a single beam forms each of the other sides of the trapezoid. Two beam members then respectively join the opposite ends of the shorter parallel side of the isosceles trapezoid to the center of the longer parallel side of the isosceles trapezoid for forming three equilateral triangles in the trapezoid.

In still another beam assembly, six beam members can form an equilateral triangle having two beams end to end forming each side. Three more beams joining the centers of the sides of such triangle form four smaller equilateral triangles in the large triangle. Also six beam members of equal length can form a regular hexagonal formation, and an additional six beam members of the same length extend, respectively, between the angles of the hexagon and the center of the hexagon for forming six congruent equilateral triangles in the regular hexagon.

Various combinations of such beam assembly formations can be utilized depending upon the shape and extent of the panel display desired. In any particular instance, an overhead beam can extend over the upper edge of an array of a plurality panels arranged in coplanar edgewise relationship with the beam connected only to the opposite end portions of such array for maintaining the panels of the array in coplanar relationship. Alternatively, as shown in FIG. 15, opposite end portions of a beam can be connected to the opposite end portions of a panel array composed of three panels connected in flaring channel formation.

It will be evident that the components utilized in the present invention do not include posts and therefore can be combined to produce a wide variety of freestanding building structures.