Structure unit

A structure unit includes a pair of outer panels disposed in parallel to each other with a predetermined distance therebetween, a plurality of partition panels provided between the pair of outer panels in a direction crossing the outer panels with a predetermined distance between the respective partition panels and with at least one end portion of the partition panels being connected to an inner surface of one of the outer panels, a unit space of a rectangular cross section being defined by adjacent ones of the partition panels and the inner surfaces of the outer panels. The structure unit further includes two pairs of inner diagonal panels provided substantially along diagonals of the rectangular cross section of the unit space, each of the pairs of inner diagonal panels consisting of panels located on the same diagonal and each of the panels having one end portion connected to the inner surface of one of the outer panels and an opposite end portion separated from an opposite end portion of the other panel of the same pair by a predetermined distance in a central portion of the unit space.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
This invention relates to a structure unit suitable for use as a building 
material such as a wall material and a floor material as well as for use 
as a unit for constructing a container and a conveying device such as a 
pallet. 
It is an object of the invention to provide a structure unit for various 
applications including building materials such as a wall material, floor 
material, a frame and a partition as well as a container and a conveying 
device such as a pallet which is light in weight and high in strength and 
easy to assemble. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
For achieving the above described object of the invention, there is 
provided a structure unit comprising a pair of outer panels disposed in 
parallel to each other with a predetermined distance therebetween, a 
plurality of partition panels provided between the pair of outer panels in 
a direction crossing the outer panels with a predetermined distance 
between the respective partition panels and with at least one end portion 
of the partition panels being connected to an inner surface of one of the 
outer panels, a unit space of a rectangular cross section being defined by 
adjacent ones the partition panels and the inner surfaces of the outer 
panels, and two pairs of inner diagonal panels provided substantially 
along diagonals of the rectangular cross section of the unit space, each 
of said pairs of inner diagonal panels consisting of panels located on the 
same diagonal and each of said panels having one end portion connected to 
the inner surface of one of the outer panels and an opposite end portion 
separated from an opposite end portion of the other panel of the same pair 
by a predetermined distance in a central portion of the unit space. 
According to the invention, there is provided a structure unit which is 
light in weight and high in strength. The structure unit can be assembled 
easily by utilizing the inner diagonal panels provided in the unit space. 
The inner diagonal panels serve not only for facilitating assembly of the 
structure unit but also for absorbing sound by absorbing vibration energy 
because the inner diagonal panels reflect and diffuse vibration and sound. 
The inner diagonal panels also serve as reinforcing members and thereby 
increase an earthquake-proof property of the structure unit. Owing to 
these properties, the structure unit is suitable for various applications 
including building materials such as wall and floor materials, frames and 
partitions as well as containers and a conveying device such as a pallet. 
In one aspect of the invention, a filling material is filled in the unit 
space. By filling a filling material in the unit space, the sound 
absorbing property and strength of the structure unit are enhanced. 
In another aspect of the invention, the structure unit further comprises a 
connecting member for connecting said outer panels together comprising a 
first pair of panels which, in said unit space, can fittingly engage the 
two inner diagonal panels which are fixedly secured to one of the outer 
panels on the surfaces of the inner diagonal panels facing said one of the 
outer panels, a second pair of panels which, in said unit space, can 
fittingly engage the two inner diagonal panels which are fixedly secured 
to the other of the outer panels on the surfaces of the inner diagonal 
panels facing said the other of the outer panels, and a connecting element 
connecting said first pair of panels with said second pair of panels. 
According to this aspect of the invention, the pair of outer panels are 
connected to each other by the connecting member and, therefore, the 
structure unit can be assembled even more easily. 
In still another aspect of the invention, the structure unit further 
comprises a connecting member for connecting said structure unit with an 
adjacent structure unit, said connecting member comprising at least two 
engaging portions each of which can fittingly engage the unit space of 
said structure unit. 
According to this aspect of the invention, adjacent structure units can be 
assembled easily by means of the connecting member which can fittingly 
engage the unit spaces of the adjacent structure units. 
These and other objects and features of the invention will become apparent 
from the description made hereinbelow in conjunction with the accompanying 
drawings.

DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
An embodiment of the structure unit made according to the invention will 
now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. 
Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, a structure unit 10 includes a pair of outer 
panels 11 and 12 which are disposed in parallel to each other with a 
predetermined distance therebetween. A plurality of partition panels 13 
are provided between the pair of outer panels 11 and 12 in a direction 
crossing the outer panels 11 and 12. The partition panels 13 are fixedly 
connected at both ends thereof to the inner surfaces of the outer panels 
11 and 12. Space 20 formed between the outer panels 11 and 12 are 
partitioned by the partition panels 13 into unit spaces 21 of a 
rectangular cross section. That is, each unit space 21 is defined by 
adjacent ones of the partition panels 13 and the inner surfaces of the 
outer panels 11 and 12. The unit space 21 may be either square or oblong 
in cross section. 
Two pairs of inner diagonal panels 14 are provided substantially along 
diagonals of the rectangular cross section of each unit space 21. Each 
pair of the inner diagonal panels 14 are located on the same diagonal and 
each of the inner diagonal panels 14 has one end portion fixedly connected 
to the inner surface of one of the outer panels 11 and 12 and an opposite 
end portion separated from an opposite end portion of the other inner 
diagonal panel 14 of the same pair by a predetermined distance in a 
central portion of the unit space 21. In other words, each pair of the 
inner diagonal panels 14 on the same diagonal are discontinuous in their 
opposite ends in the central portion of the unit space 21. 
A material for forming the structure unit 10 may be selected from among 
various materials including metals such as iron, steel and aluminum as 
well as plastics. 
In the structure unit 10, the unit spaces 21 and the inner diagonal panels 
14 provided in the unit spaces 21 serve for reflecting and diffusing 
vibration and sound and thereby producing a sound absorption effect. The 
inner diagonal panels 14 serve also as reinforcing members and thereby 
increase an earthquake-proof property of the structure unit 10. 
The space 20 between the outer panels 11 and 12 (i.e., the unit spaces 21) 
are useful for filling a filing material therein. If a heat insulating 
material is filled as a filling material in the unit spaces 21, the 
structure unit 10 will be imparted with a heat insulation property. If 
concrete is filled as a filling material, the inner diagonal panels 14 
serve as a reinforcing member for concrete and thereby increases strength 
of the structure unit 10. If a foamed resin such as foamed polystyrene is 
mixed with concrete to be filled, a structure unit of a light weight and a 
high strength can be formed. In this case, the weight of the structure 
unit can be adjusted by varying the amount of a foamed resin to be mixed 
with concrete. 
Since the inner diagonal panels 14 of each pair are separated, i.e., 
discontinuous, in the central portion of the unit space 21, a filling 
material may be filled at any location in the unit space 21. A filling 
material filled at any location in the unit space 21 will flow through the 
open central portion of the unit space 21 to every corner of the unit 
space 21 and thereby fill the entire unit space 21. This will enable the 
filling work to be achieved easily and efficiently as compared with a case 
where the inner diagonal plates 14 of each pair are continuous and thereby 
leave no open central space in the unit space 21. 
For manufacturing the structure unit 10 of the above construction, an 
integral structure unit may be formed by an extruder die having a 
corresponding configuration. Alternatively, the structure unit 10 may be 
formed by assembling two parts of the structure unit 10 as shown in FIGS. 
3 and 4. 
In the example shown in FIG. 3, the partition panels 13 and the inner 
diagonal panels 14 are integrally connected to the inner surface of the 
outer panel 12 in such a manner that each of the partition panels 13 
extend normally with respect to the inner surface of the outer panel 12 
and two inner diagonal panels 14 extend from the connecting point of the 
partition panel 13 to the outer panel 12 at an angle of 45 degrees with 
respect to the inner surface of the outer panel 12. Two inner diagonal 
panels 14 are connected integrally to the inner surface of the outer panel 
11 in such a manner that the two inner diagonal panels 14 extend from a 
common connecting point to the outer panel 11 at an angle of 45 degrees 
with respect to the inner surface of the outer panel 11. By fixedly 
securing the end portion of the partition panel 13 to the connecting point 
of the inner diagonal panels 14 connected to the outer panel 11, the 
structure unit 10 can be assembled. 
In FIG. 4, another example of parts of the structure unit 10 are shown. In 
this example, the inner diagonal panels 14 are connected to the inner 
surfaces of the outer panels 11 and 12 in the same manner as in the 
example of FIG. 3 and the partition panels 13 are connected to every other 
common connecting point of the inner diagonal panels 14 on the outer 
panels 11 and 12. By arranging the outer panels 11 and 12 so that the 
partition panels 13 abut against the common connecting points of the inner 
diagonal panels 14 where the partition panels 13 are not connected on the 
opposite outer panel 11 or 12 and fixedly securing the end portion of the 
partition panels 13 to the common connecting points of the opposite outer 
panel 11 or 12, the structure unit 10 can be assembled. 
For fixedly securing the partition panels 13 to the inner surface of the 
outer panel 11 or 12, welding technique such as spot welding and laser 
welding may be utilized in a case where the structure unit 10 is formed of 
a metal and, in a case where the structure unit 10 is formed of plastics, 
heat welding or ultrasonic welding or bonding by an adhesive may be 
suitably employed. 
Connection of the outer panels 11 and 12 may be achieved by using a 
connecting member. FIGS. 5 and 6 show an example of such connection of the 
outer panels 11 and 12 by using a connecting member 30. The connecting 
member 30 has a first pair of panels 30-1 which, in the unit space 21, can 
fittingly engage the two inner diagonal panels 14 which are connected to 
one of the outer panels 11 (or 12) on the surfaces of the inner diagonal 
panels 14 facing the outer panel 11 (or 12), a second pair of panels 30-2 
which, in the unit space 21, can fittingly engage the two inner diagonal 
panels 14 which are connected to the other outer panel 12 (or 11) on the 
surfaces of the inner diagonal panels 14 facing the other outer panel 12 
(or 11), and a connecting element 30-3 connecting the first pair of panels 
30-1 with the second pair of panels 30-2. By arranging the two parts of 
the structure unit 10 shown in FIG. 3 or 4 in the completed configuration 
of the structure unit 10 and inserting the connecting member 30 in one of 
the unit sections 21 in such a manner that the panels 30-1 and 30-2 
fittingly engage the corresponding surfaces of the inner diagonal panels 
14, the outer panels 11 and 12 are inseparably connected to each other and 
the structure unit 10 thereby can be assembled. Use of the connecting 
member greatly facilitates connection of the outer panels 11 and 12 
together. 
The structure unit 10 can be formed in a desired size and a wall or other 
three-dimensional structure can be constructed by assembling a necessary 
number of the structure unit 10. 
Connection of adjacent structure units 10 will now be described. Component 
parts of an adjacent structure unit which will be connected to the 
structure unit 10 are designated by reference characters with a dash. For 
connecting the structure unit 10 with the adjacent structure unit 10', a 
connecting member 40 is used. The connecting member 40 has two engaging 
portions 41 and 42 which can engage the adjacent unit sections 21 and 21' 
of the structure units 10 and 10'. More specifically, the engaging portion 
41 of the connecting member 40 has a first pair of panels 41-1 which 
engage the inner diagonal panels 14 connected to the outer panel 11 (or 
12) and a second pair of panels 41-2 which engage the inner diagonal 
panels 14 connected to the outer panel 12 (or 11). Likewise, the engaging 
portion 42 has a first pair of panels 42-1 which engage the inner diagonal 
panels 14 connected to the outer panel 11 (or 12) and a second pair of 
panels 42-2 which engage the inner diagonal panels 14 connected to the 
outer panel 12 (or 11). By inserting the connecting member 40 in the 
adjacent unit spaces 21 and 21' of the structure units 10 and 10', the 
structure units 10 and 10' can be connected together laterally, i.e., in 
the direction of width of the structure unit 10 (i.e., the direction 
normal to the partition panels 13). 
For connecting adjacent structure units 10 and 10' arranged at an angle as 
shown in FIG. 10, a connecting member as shown in FIG. 9 may be used. This 
connecting member 50 has a corner portion 51 and two engaging portions 52 
and 53 which are of a shape similar to the two engaging portions 41 and 42 
of the connecting member 40 of FIG. 7 but are arranged at a right angle to 
each other. By inserting the two engaging portions 52 and 53 of the 
connecting member 50 in adjacent unit spaces 21 and 21' of the structure 
units 10 and 10', the structure units 10 and 10' can be connected to each 
other at a right angle. The structure units 10 and 10' can be connected to 
each other at a desired angle by using a connecting member which has 
engaging portions arranged at such desired angle. 
For connecting the structure units 10 vertically, such connection can be 
achieved by using a connecting member which has a length exceeding the 
length of the structure unit 10. 
The structure unit 10 can be used for various purposes such as building 
materials including wall and floor materials, frames and partitions as 
well as containers and conveying devices such as pallets. In a case where 
the structure unit 10 is used as a building material, electric wires and 
water and gas pipes can be provided in the unit space 21. If a box calvert 
is constructed by using the structure unit 10 filled with weight-adjusted 
concrete, sinking of the box calvert in the ground due to self-weight can 
be effectively prevented. If a cason for building a breakwater is 
constructed with the structure unit 10 filled with weight-adjusted 
concrete, the cason can be towed in a floating state to the construction 
site so that building of the breakwater can be facilitated.