Foldable trailerable building

[0002] The present application incorporates the subject matter contained in and claims priority to a provisional application entitled “FOLDABLE, TRAILORABLE BUILDING”, filed Sep. 9, 1999, assigned Ser. No. 60/153,275 and describing an invention made by the present inventors.

[0003] 1. Field of the Invention

[0004] The present invention relates to transportable buildings and, more particularly, to foldable trailerable buildings.

[0005] 2. Description of Related Art

[0006] At construction sites, offices are required for administrative, management and engineering work. Usually, such offices are in the form of conventional trailers with interiors configured to meet the requirements of the work to be preformed therein. These trailers are limited in width due to travel restrictions attendant transport on public roads. To obtain additional width, pairs of trailers are constructed to be joined to one another lengthwise at the building site and thereby provide a double wide trailer. These single or double wide trailers typically rest upon the same wheels used for trailering and jack stands or the like may be placed at the corners to provide further support and rigidity. While these trailers are relatively convenient, they suffer from several limitations. First, the trailering width requires a heavy duty tow-truck and a following vehicle warning motorists of the wide load. Second, the single and double wide trailers are generally built to support relatively light weight in the form of desks, chairs, and beds. Machinery and heavy duty tools can usually not be brought in to the trailer and even if it could, the floor support structure is inadequate to support the weight without creating a hazard. Thus, the single and double wide trailers are generally limited to use as offices at a construction site.

[0007] In order to house heavy duty machinery or storage of equipment at a temporary site, a building would have to be erected. Buildings of this type are available in a prefabricated form. Nevertheless, erection and dismantling of such buildings is time consuming and expensive as walls, joists, roofs, doors, etc. must be unpacked and erected. Such erection generally requires cranes or other heavy duty equipment and skilled operators to operate same. Similar equipment and operators must be present during dismantling. Usually, a building kit or prefabricated building is brought to and removed from a site on a flat bed trailer pulled by a heavy duty truck.

[0008] The present invention includes a pair of rigid side walls having bi-fold end walls which permit the side walls to be brought together with the end walls folded therebetween. Each roof half folds downwardly along the interior of its respective side wall. A set of realignable wheel assemblies is disposed at the opposed approximate midpoints of the side walls to provide a rolling surface for lateral movement of the side walls during unfolding and folding of the building. For transport, the sets of wheel assemblies are reoriented 90° into alignment with the side walls. In the folded state, a hitch assembly is attached to the front end, which hitch assembly precludes separation of the side walls. A locking bar is disposed at the rear end to prevent separation of the side walls. Jacks or the like may be disposed at each of the four corners of the building to raise and lower the building during repositioning of the sets of wheels and during placement of the building on and off the ground.

[0009] It is therefore a primary object of the present invention to provide a foldable trailerable building.

[0010] Another object of the present invention is to provide a relatively light weight foldable trailerable building.

[0011] Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a foldable building with a set of wheels that may be reoriented to provide the support during folding and unfolding of the building and to permit trailering of the folded building.

[0012] Still another object of the present invention is to provide a building having side walls, foldable end walls, and foldable roof-halves joined to one another by hinges.

[0013] A further object of the present invention is to provide a foldable and unfoldable building that may be rapidly situated upon and removed from a site.

[0014] A yet further object of the present invention is to provide a foldable trailerable building that is weather proof when erected.

[0015] A still further object of the present invention is to provide a method for folding and unfolding a trailerable building.

[0016] These and other objects of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art as the description thereof proceeds.

[0017] The present invention will be described with greater specificity and clarity with reference to the following drawings, in which:

[0018] FIG. 1 is a view of a partially erected building;

[0019] FIG. 2 is a cross sectional view taken along lines 2—2 as shown in FIG. 1;

[0020] FIG. 2A illustrates a roof end cap mountable at each of the opposed ends of the building;

[0021] FIG. 3 illustrates one of the front panels and associated door;

[0022] FIG. 4 illustrates one of the rear panels;

[0023] FIG. 5 is a top view of the building illustrating partial folding/unfolding;

[0024] FIG. 6 is a cross sectional view taken along lines 6—6, as shown in FIG. 8;

[0025] FIG. 7 is a front end view of the building ready for trailering;

[0026] FIG. 8 is a top view of the building ready for trailering;

[0027] FIG. 9 is a side view of the building ready for trailering;

[0028] FIG. 10 is an exploded view of a wheel assembly;

[0029] FIG. 11 illustrates the wheel assembly in position for trailering;

[0030] FIG. 12 illustrates a wheel assembly in position for folding/unfolding the building;

[0031] FIG. 13 illustrates the wheel assembly in a retracted position;

[0032] FIG. 14 illustrates the hitch assembly;

[0033] FIG. 15 illustrates the attachment points for the hitch assembly;

[0034] FIG. 16 illustrates the retention elements at the rear of the building ready for trailering; and

[0035] FIG. 17 illustrates a typical jack usable to raise and lower a corner or section of the building.

[0036] Referring to FIG. 1, there is shown a nearly erected foldable trailerable building 10. The building includes a pair of side walls 12, 14 joined to one another by foldable rear wall 16 (bifold rear wall) and foldable front wall 18 (bifold front wall). A foldable roof 20 is pivotally attached to the upper part of side wall 12 and a similar foldable roof 22 is pivotally attached to the upper part of side wall 14. Side wall 12 includes a fixedly attached front section 24 and a similar rear section 26 (see FIG. 2) also permanently attached to the side wall. Side wall 14 includes a permanently attached front section 28 and a permanently attached rear section 30 (see FIG. 2). One or more wheel assemblies 32, 34 may be attached to side wall 12. Similar wheel assemblies 36, 38 are attached to side wall 14 (see FIG. 5). One or more doors 40, 42 may be hingedly attached in a door frame in front wall 18; one or more similar doors (not shown) may be attached also to rear wall 16.

[0037] Certain interior details and foldable roofs 20, 22 will be described with particular reference to FIG. 2. Rear wall 16 is a bi-fold wall formed of first wall 50 and second wall 52 hingedly attached to one another at uprights 54, 56, which uprights extend downwardly from apex 58. Preferably, hinges are located proximate apex 58, intermediate pairs of cross members 60, 62 and 64, 66 and base members 68, 70. First wall 50 is hingedly attached to upright 80 of rear section 26 by hinges interconnecting it with upright 82 of the first wall. For structural robustness, the hinges should be located proximate cross members 60 and 64 and base member 68 of the first wall and the corresponding cross members 84, 86 and base member 88 of rear section 26. Second wall 52 is similarly hingedly attached to upright 90 of rear section 30 with hinges located upon upright 92 proximate cross members 62, 66 and base member 70 of the second wall; these hinges would positionally correspond with cross members 94, 96 and base member 98 of rear section 30.

[0038] Foldable roof 20 (shown partly folded in FIG. 1) includes a first arm 110 pivotally secured to brace 112 extending upwardly and inwardly from side wall 12 by a pivot 114 (or hinge), as shown in FIG. 2. A second arm 116 is pivotally secured to the first arm by a pivot 118 (or hinge). Sheet material, such as a sheet of aluminum, is supported by second arm 116 and includes an overlap 122 located in overlapped relationship with the proximal end of first arm 110. Further sheet material 124 is secured to first arm 110 and includes an overlap section 126 which extends outwardly beyond side wall 12 to form an eave upon erection of foldable roof 20. Foldable roof 22 is illustrated in FIG. 1 in its erected configuration. The elements of foldable roof 22 are identical with those described with respect to foldable roof 20. Moreover, foldable roof 22 also includes sheet material 120 overlapping sheet material 124 to prevent intrusion of water, snow, etc and overlap 126 extends beyond side wall 14 to serve in the manner of an eave. The number of pairs of arms and braces (116, 110, 112) for each of foldable roofs 20, 22 is primarily a function of the length of side walls 12, 14, the weight of the sheet material attached thereto and the degree of robustness necessary to satisfy structural and environmental criteria.

[0039] From the above description of the folding of foldable roofs 20, 22 interior of rear and front section 26, 28, the two roof sections must terminate interior of the front and rear walls. To render the resulting exposed areas at the opposed ends of the building weather proof, a roof end cap 125 as shown in FIG. 2A, is used at each end of the building. The roof end cap includes a strip 127 of sheet material having a fold at apex 128 and extending for the width of the adjoining roof sections. The roof end cap is attached and retained in place by a plurality of studs 129 extending into respective apertures formed in slanted members 174 of rear wall 16 and slanted members 148 of front wall 18. Alternatively, receivers may be attached to the slanted members for receiving the studs. Necessarily, each end cap must overlap the adjacent section of the respective foldable roof. Preferably, each roof end cap is of sufficient width to provide an eave over the corresponding end of the building. It is to be noted that locking mechanisms, such as removable pins, etc., may be used to engage and retain the studs in locked engagement with the respective slanted members. Storage of the two roof end caps, detachably attached to the opposed roof ends, within the trailerable configuration of the building is easily accomplished through retaining brackets attached to the inside surface/cross members of the side walls. Other locations for storage or securing devices will be apparent to those skilled in the art.

[0040] Front wall 18 (see FIG. 1) is formed of a pair of panels 130, 132 hingedly secured to one another and to front sections 24, 28. As these panels are mirror images of one another, only the structure of panel 130 will be described with reference to FIG. 3. As front sections 24, 28 are duplicates of rear sections 26, 30 they need not be described in detail. Panel 130 includes an upright 134 hingedly secured to the end upright (80) of front section 24 by hinges, such as hinges 136, 138 and 140 positionally corresponding with cross members 142, 144 and base member 146. The panel includes a slanted member 148 commensurate with the slope of foldable roof 20. An upright 150 extends downwardly from the apex of the slanted member to door frame 152 defined by cross member 154, upright 156 and base member 146. Additional horizontal and vertical members may be included in panel 130, as illustrated, for structural support and rigidity. Panels 130 and 132, being mirror images of one another have equivalent structures and equivalent dimensions. Moreover, panel 132 is secured to front section 28 like panel 130 is secured to front section 24 as described above. Panels 130 and 132 are secured to one another by a plurality of hinges, such as hinges 158 extending between respective uprights 150. A doors 40, 42 are hingedly secured within door frames 152 of panel 130, 132, respectively, in the conventional manner.

[0041] Rear wall 16 is formed by the pair of mirror image first and second walls 50, 52, as shown in FIG. 2. Rear panel 52 is illustrated in FIG. 4 and it is to be understood that rear panel 50 is a mirror image thereof and includes equivalent structure and function. As alluded to above, a plurality of hinges 176, 178, 180 and 182 interconnect upright 56 of panel 52 with upright 54 of panel 50. These hinges positionally correspond with the ends of cross members 62, 66, base member 70 and slanted member 174. Further hinges 184, 186 and 188 positionally corresponding with cross members 62, 66 and base member 70 interconnect upright 92 with upright 90 of rear section 30.

[0042] From the above description it becomes evident that panels 50, 52 of rear wall 16 are pivotally attached to one another and to respective ones of rear sections 26, 30. Similarly, panels 130, 132 of front wall 18 are pivotally attached to one another and hingedly attached to front sections 24, 28.

[0043] The above described cross members and uprights for the front and rear walls and roof supports may be formed of square tubular material, preferably aluminum due to its light weight and structural strength. As partly shown in FIG. 1, side walls 12, 14 are formed of cross members and uprights with sheet material extending there across. These cross members and sheet material may be commensurate with that of the front and rear walls and the roof sections. Moreover, the illustrated sheet material supported by the cross members and uprights of the side walls may be of aluminum for its advantages of light weight, structural integrity and weather resistence. It is understood that other materials for the cross members, uprights and sheet material may be used as a function of structural strength, weather resistence and cost.

[0044] Referring to FIG. 5, there is illustrated a top view of building 10 representative of either folding or unfolding of the front and rear walls relative to the side walls. In particular, wheel assemblies 32, 34, 36 and 38 are oriented orthogonal to side walls 12, 14 to permit movement of the side walls toward and away from one another while being supported by the wheel assemblies. Upon such movement of the side walls, front wall 28, formed of panels 130, 132, pivot with respect to one another and the respective side walls to locate the panels adjacent one another and intermediate the side walls. Similarly, rear wall 26, formed of first wall 50 and second wall 52, pivot with respect to one another and the side walls to locate the panels adjacent one another and intermediate the side walls. During erection of building 10, side walls 12, 14 are drawn apart resulting in unfolding of front wall 28 and rear wall 26. The movement of the side walls toward and away from one another may be as a result of manual exertion or mechanical means in the form of a block and tackle, jackscrews, etc., may be used. The choice of manual force or mechanical force is primarily a function of the size and weight of building 10.

[0045] Referring jointly to FIGS. 1, 2, 5, 6, 7 and 8 the folding and unfolding of foldable roofs 20, 22 will be described. Second arm 116 is folded back upon first arm 110 by operation of the hinge at the pivot point 118. Thereafter, arm 110 is folded downwardly about pivot point 115 (and commensurate hinge). The resulting configuration is illustrated in FIG. 6 and shown in top view in FIG. 8. Corresponding arms 116 and 110 of foldable roof 22 are similarly folded and also depicted in FIGS. 5 and 6. Thereafter, front and rear walls 18, 16 are folded, as described above to locate them in their folded state intermediate foldable walls 20, 22 as shown in FIGS. 5, 6 and 8.

[0046] To erect building 10, side walls 12, 14 are drawn apart, as depicted in FIG. 5, to unfold front and rear walls 28, 26. Thereafter, foldable roofs 20, 22 are unfolded to bring them to their erected state, as illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2 wherein foldable roof 20 is shown as partly unfolded and foldable roof 22 is shown a fully unfolded.

[0047] As shown in FIGS. 7, 8 and 9 in the folded state of building 10, front sections 24, 28 and rear sections 26, 30 are visible. Foldable roof 20 is located between front section 24 and rear section 26 and foldable roof 22 is located between front section 28 and rear section 30. Panels 130, 132 of front wall 18 and panels 50, 52 of rear wall 16 are in their folded state intermediate foldable roofs 20 and 22. It may be noted that extensions 126 of the foldable roofs extend upwardly from the respective foldable roof.

[0048] FIGS. 6 and 7 illustrate wheel assemblies 32, 34, 36 and 38 oriented in the configuration for trailering building 10. The structure and operation of these wheel assemblies will be described in further detail with joint reference to FIGS. 10, 11, 12 and 13. A C-channel 190 is pivotally secured to a base member 192 formed along the lower edge of each of side walls 12, 14 by a cylinder 194 attached to the C-channel and located intermediate a pair of apertured ears 196, 198 extending from the base member. The cylinder is retained in place by a bolt 200 extending through the ears and the cylinder and secured in place by a nut 202. Thereby, the C-channel can pivot from a position adjacent base member 192 as shown in FIGS. 11 and 13 to a position orthogonal to the base member, as illustrated in FIG. 12. Such orientation controls the position of the wheel assemblies, as shown in FIGS. 5 and 9. The C-channel is retained in position adjacent the base member by a bolt 204 penetrably engaging ears 206, 208 extending from the base member and a cylinder 210 secured to the C-channel. A nut 212 may be employed to retain bolt 204 in place. The C-channel is retained in its extended position illustrated in FIG. 12 by a bolt 214 extending through apertures 216 formed in the flanges of the C-channel. A pivot plate 220 is pivotally attached to C-channel 190 by a bolt 222 extending through an aperture 224 into engagement with the C-channel. A spindle 226 is attached to and extends from the pivot plate and supports brake drum/wheel mounting 228. Wheel 230 is attached to the mounting by penetrable engagement with threaded studs 232 and lugs (not shown) threadedly engaging the studs. C-channel 190 includes a ledge 240 for supporting pivot plate 220. The pivot plate is retained adjacent the ledge by bolts 242, 244 penetrably extending through the C-channel and into engagement with threaded apertures 246, 248 of the pivot plate; alternatively, the bolts may extend through the pivot plate into the C-channel or conventional nut and bolt means may be used. To remove the load of the building from the wheel assemblies, bolts 242, 244 are disengaged, which disengagement permits pivot plate 220 to rotate upwardly, as shown in FIG. 13, to raise wheel 230 and permit the base member 192 (of each side wall) to rest upon the building supporting surface.

[0049] Referring jointly to FIGS. 5, 7, 8, 9, 14 and 15, hitch 260 and its detachable attachment to building 10 will be described. Front sections 24 and 28 include mountings 262, 264, respectively, for engagement with the hitch. Hitch 260 includes a conventional A-frame shaped tongue 266, which may include an extendable/removable wheel 268 to assist in movement of building 10 when the building is in its folded configuration and ready for trailering purposes. A pair of C-channels 270, 272 are secured to tongue 266 by welding or other conventional means. These C-channels are configured to nestingly receive the respective one of mountings 262, 264. C-channel 270 includes a pair of cylinders 274, 276 which are in vertical alignment with pairs of apertured ears 278, 280 and 282, 284, respectively extending from mounting 262. Secure attachment of C-channel 270 with mounting 262 is accomplished by penetrable engagement of bolt 286 through ear 278, cylinder 274 and ear 280. Similarly, bolt 288 is in penetrable engagement with ear 282, cylinder 276 and ear 284. Similarly, mounting 264 includes two pairs of ears 290, 292 and 294, 296. These pairs of ears are in alignment with cylinders 298, 300 attached to C-channel 272 upon nesting engagement of C-channel 272 with mounting 264. Mounting C-channel 272 is retained in place by bolt 302 penetrably engaging ear 290, cylinder 298 and ear 292 and by bolt 304 penetrably engaging ear 264, cylinder 300 and ear 296. Bolts 286, 288, 302 and 304 may be retained in place by one of nuts 306.

[0050] From this description, it is evident that hitch assembly 260 serves two purposes. First, it serves as a mechanism for connecting building 10 to a draft vehicle, such as a truck. Second, the engagement of the hitch with front sections 24, 28 precludes sides 12 and 14 from becoming separated during trailering. Furthermore, the ease of attaching and detaching the hitch contributes very little to the time required to unfold and fold building 10.

[0051] Rear sections 26, 30 include a pair of receivers 310, 312 shown in FIGS. 5 and 16 which may be in the illustrated configuration of C-channels having vertically aligned longitudinal axes. A bar 314 has a pair of depending legs 316, 318 for penetrable engagement with receivers 312, 310. Thereby, engagement of the bar with the receivers will lock rear sections 26, 20 to one another when building 10 is in the folded state and separation between side walls 12 and 14 is precluded during trailering.

[0052] FIG. 17 illustrates a jack 320 which may be disposed at the corners of side wall 12 with front section 24 and rear section 26 and at the corners of side wall 14 with front section 28 and rear section 30. The purpose of the jack is to permit easy raising and lowering of the respective side walls to permit realignment of the wheel assemblies and to permit raising of the wheel assemblies after building 10 has been erected. Similarly, these jacks are used to permit lowering of the wheel assemblies in preparation for folding of the building for storage or trailering purposes.

[0053] While the invention has been described with reference to several particular embodiments thereof, those skilled in the art will be able to make the various modifications to the described embodiments of the invention without departing from the true spirit and scope of the invention. It is intended that all combinations of elements and steps which perform substantially the same function in substantially the same way to achieve the same result are within the scope of the invention.