Abstract:
A folded building, after having been trailered on its own wheel assemblies to a site, is unfolded at the site by first reorienting 90° the wheel assemblies attached to each of a pair of side walls and removing an attached trailer hitch. The side walls are drawn apart from one another while having supported by the rolling wheel assemblies. As the side walls are drawn apart, pivotally attached front and rear bifold walls unfold. Each of a pair of foldable roofs attached to a respective one of the side walls is unfolded from a location adjacent the interior of the respective side wall. Roof end caps are attached to the top edges of each of the front and rear walls. After raising the wheel assemblies the building is lowered onto the site. To remove the building from the site, the building is folded by reversing the unfolding steps and the trailer hitch is attached. The building may then be trailered to another site.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     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. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates to transportable buildings and, more particularly, to foldable trailerable buildings. 
     2. Description of Related Art 
     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. 
     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. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     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. 
     It is therefore a primary object of the present invention to provide a foldable trailerable building. 
     Another object of the present invention is to provide a relatively light weight foldable trailerable building. 
     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. 
     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. 
     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. 
     A yet further object of the present invention is to provide a foldable trailerable building that is weather proof when erected. 
     A still further object of the present invention is to provide a method for folding and unfolding a trailerable building. 
     These and other objects of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art as the description thereof proceeds. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     The present invention will be described with greater specificity and clarity with reference to the following drawings, in which: 
     FIG. 1 is a view of a partially erected building; 
     FIG. 2 is a cross sectional view taken along lines  2 — 2  as shown in FIG. 1; 
     FIG. 2A illustrates a roof end cap mountable at each of the opposed ends of the building; 
     FIG. 3 illustrates one of the front panels and associated door; 
     FIG. 4 illustrates one of the rear panels; 
     FIG. 5 is a top view of the building illustrating partial folding/unfolding; 
     FIG. 6 is a cross sectional view taken along lines  6 — 6 , as shown in FIG. 8; 
     FIG. 7 is a front end view of the building ready for trailering; 
     FIG. 8 is a top view of the building ready for trailering; 
     FIG. 9 is a side view of the building ready for trailering; 
     FIG. 10 is an exploded view of a wheel assembly; 
     FIG. 11 illustrates the wheel assembly in position for trailering; 
     FIG. 12 illustrates a wheel assembly in position for folding/unfolding the building; 
     FIG. 13 illustrates the wheel assembly in a retracted position; 
     FIG. 14 illustrates the hitch assembly; 
     FIG. 15 illustrates the attachment points for the hitch assembly; 
     FIG. 16 illustrates the retention elements at the rear of the building ready for trailering; and 
     FIG. 17 illustrates a typical jack usable to raise and lower a corner or section of the building. 
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     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 . 
     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 . 
     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. 
     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. 
     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. 
     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 . 
     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 . 
     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. 
     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 . 
     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 . 
     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. 
     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. 
     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. 
     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 . 
     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 . 
     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. 
     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. 
     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.