Stadium building

A retractable roof, for a stadium building, comprising a central arch separating a pair of ungular end segments, one end segment being fixed, the other end segment being movable into nesting relationship with the fixed end segment, and the central arch being movable to nest above the fixed end segment.

STATEMENT OF PRIOR ART 
The applicant is not aware of any relevant prior art. 
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
This invention relates to a stadium building having a retractable roof or 
dome. 
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
Covered stadiums are becoming more common because they provide a controlled 
environment for outdoor sports and extend the season for such activities. 
However, an indoor atmosphere is a drawback when the weather is fine 
because it detracts from the natural environment. To obtain the best of 
both worlds retractable roofs have been devised to expose the interior of 
the stadium. Such roofs have been found expensive to construct and/or 
incomplete in achieving their purpose of approximating complete exposure 
of the interior. In one type of structure a rectangular roof slides away 
as a complete unit (Montreal, Canada) while in another type a round roof 
is opened in the manner of a camera lens shutter. The sliding roof 
requires additional land for roof storage when open while the shutter roof 
leaves an overhanging arch. 
It is an object of the present invention to provide a stadium having a 
retractable roof of relatively simple construction giving maximum exposure 
of the interior. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
Essentially the invention consists of a retractable roof, for a stadium 
building, comprising a central arch separating a pair of ungular end 
segments, one end segment being fixed, the other end segment being movable 
into nesting relationship with the fixed end segment, and the central arch 
being movable to nest above the fixed end segment.

DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
The example embodiment shown in the drawings consists of a stadium building 
10 having a dome 12 resting on a wall structure 14 comprising a circular 
wall 16 and a pair of parallel, opposed side walls 18 which are tangential 
to circular wall 16. Dome 12 consists of a central arch comprising a pair 
of parallel movable barrel vaults 20 and 22 movably mounted on side walls 
18, and a pair of opposed angular end segments 24 and 26 carried by 
circular wall 16. End segment 24 is movably mounted on a circular wall 16 
The manner of mounting movable barrel vaults 20, 22 and movable end segment 
24 is shown in FIGS. 7 to 12 of the drawings. Each end of barrel vault 20 
is carried on a row of trucks 28 which travel on a set of tracks 30 fixed 
on opposed parallel shoulders 32 on side walls 18. Each end of barrel 
vault 22 is carried on a row of trucks 34 which travel on a set of tracks 
36 fixed on parallel shoulders 38 of side walls 18. End segment 24 is 
carried on a row of trucks 40 which travel on a set of tracks 42 in a 
recess 44 in circular wall 16. Each truck 28, 34 and 40 is joined by a pin 
connection 46 to a truss 47 its respective vault or segment. 
Truck 40 is shown in detail in FIG. 10 of the drawings and consists of a 
carriage frame 48 having a set of fixed anchor plates 50 to which end 
segment 24 is pin connected. Two spaced pairs of double flanged wheels 52 
and 54 are journally mounted in parallel on frame 48 and two further 
spaced pairs of double flanged wheels 56 and 58 are journally mounted in 
parallel on frame 48 normal to wheels 52 and 54. One end of frame 48 
carries a coupling pin 60 and the other end carries an apertured coupling 
flange 62 for connecting a row of trucks 40 together. Certain of trucks 40 
carry a pair of drive motors 64 each mounted on a gear box 66 which 
includes a pinion 68 engagable with a rack 70. Trucks 28 and 34 are of the 
same construction as truck 40 except that wheels 56 and 58 are removed as 
redundant. 
Referring again to FIGS. 8, 9 and 12, each shoulder 32 of side walls 18 
carries a pair of parallel, spaced supports 72 with inturned blocks 74. A 
first pair of rails 76 are fixed on shoulder 32 and a second pair of rails 
78 are fixed on blocks 74, to form track 30. Rack 70 is fixed on shoulder 
32 between rails 76. Rails 76 and 78 are engaged by pairs of wheels 52 and 
54 on truck 28 and rack 70 is engaged by pinions 68. The same arrangement 
is associated with each shoulder 38 of side walls 18, i.e. supports 72, 
blocks 74, rails 76 and 78 (to form tracks 32), and rack 70. Recess 44 in 
circular walls 16 has a pair of secondary recesses 80 and 82 which have 
fixed pairs of opposed rails 84 and 86 respectively. Recess 44 also has 
further rails 88 and 90 normal one to the other. Rails 84, 86, 88 and 90 
together form track 42. 
FIGS. 11 and 12 show the arrangement of trucks 28 associated with barrel 
vault 20. Not every truck 28 is needed to move vault 20 and the drive 
trucks are sequentially spaced between slave trucks 28a which are of the 
same construction as the drive trucks but do not carry motors 64. 
As seen in FIGS. 1, 3, 5 and 13, dome 12 when open has end segment 24, 
vault 20, and vault 22 stacked above fixed end segment 26 in nesting 
position. To close dome 12 into the position shown in FIGS. 2, 4, 6 and 
14, end segment 24 and vaults 20, 22 are moved as seen in FIG. 7. More 
particularly, end segment 24 is rotated on track 42 in the direction of 
arrow 116 about any imaginary centre of rotation 118, vault 20 is moved 
linearly on track 36 in the direction of arow 120, and vault 22 is moved 
linearly on track 32 in the direction of arrow 122. 
In the structure as seen in FIG. 14 it will be noted that vaults 20, 22 and 
end segments 24, 26 carry interengaging means to seal dome 12 in its 
closed position. In particular, end segment 24 carries at its upper edge 
92 an upwardly extending flange 94 which cooperates with a downwardly 
extending flange 96 on leading edge 98 of vault 20 to form a vertical seal 
with a suitable sealing element 100. Similarly trailing edges 102 of vault 
22 carries a downwardly extending flange 104 which cooperates with upper 
edge 106 of end segment 26 to close the gap between the vault and the 
segment together with a sealing element 108. A sealing element 110 between 
trailing edge 112 of vault 20 and leading edge 114 of vault 22 completes 
the sealing of dome 12.