Patent Publication Number: US-10760262-B2

Title: Construction structure of geodesic dome-shaped house and connection structure body thereof

Description:
BACKGROUND 
     The present invention relates to a construction structure of geodesic dome-shaped house and connection structure body thereof, more particularly, to a construction structure of geodesic dome-shaped house and connection structure body thereof, in which a simple and compact connector is used so that it is possible to reduce the construction process, thereby reducing the construction time and lowering the construction cost, and further widening the choice of the exterior finishing material. 
     The soccer ball looks like a sphere, but it is actually made by stitching and connecting leathers in the form of regular pentagons and regular hexagons. Unless inflated with air, the soccer ball is merely a polyhedron. 
     Since the face of soccer ball consists of two types of polygons, it cannot consist of a regular polyhedron but can consist of a regular icosahedron. 
     Hereinafter, a method for making a soccer ball will be described. First, each corner of a regular icosahedron is divided into three equal parts and cut them off around each vertex thereof. 
     In this case, since each vertex has five faces, twelve regular pentagonal faces as many as the number of vertices are newly created and the original twenty regular triangular faces form a regular hexagon. 
     In this way, a regular icosahedron is formed with sixty vertices and ninety corners, in other words, a truncated regular icosahedron. If such a polyhedron is made with leather and put air in it, a soccer ball can be made. 
     As described above, a polyhedron consisting of at least two types of regular polygonal faces and is in contact with a sphere is called a quasi-regular polyhedron or Archimedes&#39; three-dimensional figure. A truncated regular icosahedron is one of thirteen types of quasi-regular polyhedrons. 
     A geodesic dome also originates from a regular icosahedron. A large regular triangle is divided into equidistant triangles on each side, and then joining them into the sphere to project each vertex onto the spherical surface. 
     In that case, a polyhedron, all sides of which are almost the same like a regular triangle and which looks more similar to a sphere, is the structure and connection structure body of the geodesic dome. 
     A building using such a geodesic dome as a roof is a geodesic dome-shaped house. 
     Since the dome-shaped architecture does not require walls or pillars, the geodesic dome house can be freely devised for its interior design, can also be lit up by natural light, and can see the sky indoors, and thus it is widely constructed in recent times. 
     Such a technology is widely known in Korean Patent Application Nos. 10-2000-0017361, 10-2008-0048180 and 10-009-0026999, and Korean Utility Model Application No. 20-2000-0033153, etc. 
     However, in the case of prior arts including the above documents, it is difficult to construct due to limitations of structure and connection structure body such as using a somewhat complex hub connector. As such, since there are various problems such as long construction time and increase of construction cost, it is necessary to develop technologies to supplement such problems. 
     PRIOR ART DOCUMENTS 
     (Patent Document 1) Korean Patent Application No. 10-2000-0017361 
     (Patent Document 2) Korean Patent Application No. 10-2008-0048180 
     (Patent Document 3) Korean Patent Application No. 10-2009-0026999 
     (Patent Document 4) Korean Utility Model Application No. 20-2000-0033153 
     (Patent Document 5) KR 10-1414790 B1 
     (Patent Document 6) KR 10-2012-0112300 A1 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     It is an object of the present invention to provide a construction structure of geodesic dome-shaped house and connection structure body thereof, in which a simple and compact connector is used so that it is possible to reduce the construction process, thereby reducing the construction time and lowering the construction cost, simply attaching a finishing panel to an exterior finish, and further widening the choice of the exterior finishing material. 
     In order to achieve the above purpose, the present invention provides a construction structure of a geodesic dome-shaped house, including: a plurality of triangular unit modules constituting a unit structure and a connection structure body of a geodesic dome-shaped house; a pair of inner beams disposed on both opposing sides of the triangular unit module; a connector which is disposed in a corner area between the pair of inner beams and connected to the pair of inner beams by a first coupling member; and a pair of outer beams disposed on the outer surfaces of the pair of inner beams, respectively and connected with the connector and the inner beams by a second coupling member. 
     An exterior finishing material which is disposed on the outside of the triangular unit module to be freely replaced may be further included. 
     The corner head which is in the shape of a rectangle or a triangle may be formed with a first through-hole for coupling with the exterior finishing material, and the pair of inclined legs may be formed with a second through-hole for coupling with the first and the second coupling members. 
     The connector may include an injection-molded body which is injection-molded with a synthetic resin; and a coating layer which is coated on the outer surface of the injection-molded body. 
     To achieve the above object, the present invention includes: a plurality of connecting devices; an angle disposed between each of the connecting devices; a fastening device which connects the connecting devices and the angle; and a finishing panel provided with a cover plate placed in the space between the angles adjacent to the inner material which is provided inside the angle with an coupling groove formed thereon and an insertion plate which is provided at the lower portion of the cover plate to be inserted into the coupling groove. 
     The fastening device includes: a nut which is protrudingly coupled to a side surface of the connecting device, a mounting plate coupled to both ends of the angle, and a bolt installed on each of the mounting plate to connect the connecting device with the angle by fastening with the nut. 
     The mounting plate further includes a guide plate which is in close contact with the inner side surface of the angle to guide an insertion. 
     The connecting device includes: an upper portion in which a plurality of triangular unit modules are formed continuously along the side surfaces thereof to form a polygonal structure, a center of which is upward and the edge thereof is downward; a stepped portion which is extended to be stepped downwardly from the edge of the upper side portion to be in close contact with the edge portion of the cover plate; a lower side portion which is formed corresponding to the lower portion of the upper side portion; and a side portion which is connected to an edge between the lower side portion and the stepped portion and forms a groove in a size corresponding to the end of the angle to be in close contact with the angle. The lower side portion, on a central portion of which a through-hole is formed to mount a nut is bolt-coupled to the nut to install an internal structure. The angle includes: a horizontal plate; a vertical plate which is extended in a vertical direction on both sides of the horizontal plate; and a bent plate which is bent downward at an end of the vertical plate to prevent the inner material from being separated. 
     The inner material is waterproofed by injecting silicon between the upper portion of the inner material and the finishing panel coupled to the inner material. 
     According to the present invention, since a simple and compact connector is used, it is possible to reduce the construction process, thereby reducing the construction time and lowering the construction cost, and further widening the choice of the exterior finishing material. To construct the dome-shaped house, the connection of the connecting device and the angle can be simply coupled by the fastening device. In addition, the finishing panel, which is the exterior of the dome-shaped house, is coupled by being inserted into the angle. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a top view of one part of a geodesic dome-shaped house according to the first embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 2  is a perspective view of a triangular unit module and an external finishing material. 
         FIG. 3  is a perspective view of a connector. 
         FIG. 4  is a front view of  FIG. 3 . 
         FIGS. 5 to 11  are a construction flow chart of the construction structure of a geodesic dome-shaped house according to the first embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 12  is a front view of the connector used to the construction structure of a geodesic dome-shaped house according to the second embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 13  is a perspective view of the connection structure body of a geodesic dome-shaped house according to the embodiment of the present invention 
         FIG. 14  is a connecting device installation example of the connection structure body of a geodesic dome-shaped house. 
         FIG. 15  is a connecting device installation example of the connection structure body of a geodesic dome-shaped house. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings so that these can easily be carried out by those skilled in the art to which the present invention pertains. 
     However, since the description of the present invention is only the embodiment for structural, connection structural description, or functional description, the claims of the present invention should not be construed as being limited to the embodiments described herein. 
     For example, since the embodiments can be variously modified and can take various forms, the claims of the present invention should be construed as including equivalents that can realize the technical idea. 
     In addition, since the object or the effect suggested in the present invention does not mean that a particular embodiment should include all or only such an effect, it should not be construed as limiting the claims of the present invention. 
     In the present specification, the present embodiment is provided to complete the disclosure of the present invention and to fully notify the category of the invention to those skilled in the art to which the present invention pertains. The present invention is only defined by the scope of claims. 
     Therefore, in some embodiments, well known components, operations, and techniques are not specifically described in order to avoid ambiguous interpretations of the present invention. 
     Meanwhile, the terms used to describe in the present invention are not limited to the dictionary meaning, and should be construed as follows. 
     Throughout the specification, it will be understood that when a component is referred to as being “connected to” another component, it can be directly “connected to” the other component or other components intervening therebetween may be present. In contrast, when a component is referred to as being “directly connected to” another component, it should be construed that there is no component intervening therebetween. Meanwhile, other expressions for describing the relationship between components, such as “between” and “immediately between” or “adjacent to” and “directly adjacent to” should be also interpreted in the same manner. 
     The singular forms should be construed as including the plural forms, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It should be further understood that the term “comprises” or “have” specifies the presence of stated features, numerals, steps, operations, components, parts, or combination thereof, but do not preclude the presence or additional possibility of one or more other features, numerals, steps, operations, components, parts, or combination thereof. 
     Unless defined otherwise, all terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by those skilled in the art to which the present invention pertains. 
     The terms defined in commonly used dictionaries should be interpreted to be consistent with the meanings in the context of the related art and cannot be interpreted as having ideal or excessively formal meaning unless obviously defined in the present invention. 
     Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. In the description of the embodiments, the same reference marks are given to the same component, and description on the same reference marks will be omitted in some cases. 
       FIG. 1  is a top view of one part of a geodesic dome-shaped house according to the first embodiment of the present invention,  FIG. 2  is a perspective view of a triangular unit module and an external finishing material,  FIG. 3  is a perspective view of a connector,  FIG. 4  is a front view of  FIG. 3 , and  FIGS. 5 to 11  are a construction flow chart of a geodesic dome-shaped house construction structure according to the first embodiment of the present invention. 
     Referring to these drawings, since a geodesic dome-shaped house construction structure according to the present embodiment uses a simple and compact connector, it is possible to reduce the construction process, thereby reducing the construction time and lowering the construction cost, and further widening the choice of the exterior finishing material. 
     To achieve such a geodesic dome-shaped house construction structure, a triangular module  110 , a pair of inner beams  120 , a connector  130 , a pair of outer beams  140 , and an external finishing material  150  are used herein. 
     The triangular module  110  is a member constituting a unit structure of the geodesic dome-shaped house. Referring to  FIG. 1 , a total of five triangular unit modules  110  are applied. An external finishing material  150  is coupled to the triangular unit modules  110 . 
     When the triangular unit module  110  is used as in the present embodiment, it may have a stable structure since the load of the dome house can be evenly dispersed throughout beams  120 ,  140 . 
     For reference, as a plurality of triangular unit modules  110  may be assembled, a connector that the shapes of a quadrilateral, a pentagon and a hexagon are combined may be formed. It is also possible to bundle the plurality of triangular modules and apply the connector of a quadrilateral, a pentagon, or a hexagon as one body. 
     A pair of inner beams  120  refers to beams disposed on opposing sides of the triangular unit module  110 . In the case of the present embodiment, beams with rectangular cross section are used, but a circular beam or an elliptical beam may be applied. 
     The connector  130  is a member which is disposed in a corner area between a pair of inner beams  120  to connect with the pair of inner beams  120  by a first fastening member  161 . 
     In particular, in the case of the present embodiment, since a module called connector  130 , which is simple but is efficient, is applied, it is possible to reduce the construction process, thereby reducing the construction time and lowering the construction cost. 
     The connector  130  may include a corner head  131  which is disposed in a corner area between the pair of inner beams  120  and a pair of inclined legs  132 , each of which is obliquely extended from the corner head  131  and disposed on inner surfaces of the pair of inner beams. 
     In the present embodiment, the corner head  131  has a quadrilateral shape, i.e., a diamond shape, but its shape does not limit the claims of the present invention. 
     In the corner head  131 , a first through-hole  131   a  is formed for coupling with an external finishing material  150 . Through the first through-hole  131   a , a screw may be fastened inside the dome. 
     Accordingly, since the present embodiment provides a structure and a connection structure body, in which the external finishing material  150  is connected to the connector  130 , the construction process of the dome-shaped house may be remarkably reduced. In addition, since the external finishing material  150  may be easily replaced, the range of choice of the external finishing material  150  may expand. 
     On the inclined legs  132 , a plurality of the second through-holes  132   a  are formed for coupling the first and the second fastening members  161 ,  162 . 
     As enlarged in  FIG. 3 , the connector  130  may include an injection-molded body  130   a  which is injection-molded with a synthetic resin; and a coating layer  130   b  which is coated on the outer surface of the injection-molded body  130   a . Accordingly, since the connector  130  has a structure and a structure body which are generally injected with synthetic resins, it has an advantage of being simple to treat and easy to handle. 
     Meanwhile, an outer appearance of the connector  130  may be the same as in  FIGS. 3 and 4 . In this case, however, the shape or the volume of the corner head  131 , the length of the inclined legs  132 , and the angle between them may be changed at any time. Therefore, the shape of drawing does not limit the claims of the present invention. 
     A pair of outer beams  140  is disposed on the outer surface of a pair of inner beams  120  to be connected with the connector  130  and the inner beams  120  by the second fastening member  162 . Although the outer beams  140  also use a rectangular cross-sectional beam as in the inner beams  120 , a circular or an elliptical beam may also be used. 
     The external finishing material  150  is a finishing panel which is disposed outside the triangular unit module  110  and fixed outside the triangular unit module  110  through the connector  130 . When the external finishing material  150  is fixed on the outside of the triangular unit module  110  through the connector  130  as in the present embodiment, the external finishing material  150  may be easily replaced. 
     Therefore, when the external finishing material  150  is damaged, since it is not only simple to replace but also easy to replace with other finishing materials, it may enhance the beauty of the outer appearance of the dome-shaped house. 
     Particularly, unlike a conventional connector connection method, it is simple and easy to assemble and construct the geodesic dome-shaped house with a connector manufactured by molding glass fiber, FRP resin, cement mortar, flat iron, etc. into a mold in the present embodiment. 
     Hereinafter, referring to  FIGS. 5 to 10 , a method of constructing the geodesic dome-shaped house will be described. 
     First, a triangular unit module  110  as shown in  FIG. 5  is prepared and a pair of inner beams  120  is disposed on both sides thereof as shown in  FIG. 6 . Thereafter, the connector  130  is disposed in a corner area between the pair of inner beams  120  as shown in  FIG. 7  to fasten the first fastening member  161  as shown in  FIG. 8 . In this case, the nut has not been yet fastened in the end of the first fastening member  161 . 
     Next, a pair of outer beams  140  is disposed on the outer surface of the pair of inner beams  120  as shown in  FIG. 9  and then, fastens the second fastening member  162  to fix the connector  130 , the pair of inner beams  120 , and the pair of outer beams  140  as shown in  FIG. 10 . 
     Thereafter, the external finishing material  150  is disposed on the outer surface of the triangular unit module  110  to construct the geodesic dome-shaped house in a manner of connecting through the connector  130  as shown in  FIG. 11 . 
     According to the present embodiment providing the structure and connection structure, and the operation thereof as described above, since a simple and compact connector  130  is used, the construction process may be reduced, thereby reducing the construction time and lowering the construction cost, and further expanding the range of the choice of the external finishing material  150 . 
       FIG. 12  is a front view of the connector which is used to the construction structure of geodesic dome-shaped house according to the second embodiment of the present invention. 
     Referring to this drawing, the connector, which is used to the construction structure of geodesic dome-shaped house according to the present embodiment, also may include the corner head  231  disposed in a corner area between the pair of inner beams  120  (see  FIG. 8 ) and the pair of inclined legs  232 , each of which is obliquely connected in the corner head  231  to be disposed on the inner surface of the pair of inner beams  120 . 
     In the present embodiment of the structure and connection structure, the corner head  231  has the above-described rectangular shape, i.e. a triangle shape other than a diamond shape. Even if the connector  230  having such a structure and a connection structure body is used, the effect of the present invention may be provided. 
     Even if the present embodiment is applied, since the simple and compact connector  130  is used, the construction process may be reduced, and thus the construction time may be reduced and the construction cost may be lowered, and further the range of choice of the external finishing material  150  (see  FIG. 1 ) can be expanded. 
       FIG. 13  shows a perspective view of a connection structure body of geodesic dome-shaped house according to the embodiment of the present invention.  FIG. 14  is a connecting device installation example of the geodesic dome-shaped house connection structure, and  FIG. 15  is a connecting device installation example of the geodesic dome-shaped house connection structure body. Referring to  FIG. 13 , the present invention includes a connecting device  600 , an angle  700 , a fastening device  300 , an inner material  400 , and a finishing panel  500 . 
     First, the connecting devices  600  are arranged in such a manner that a plurality of the connecting devices are spaced apart by a predetermined distance in accordance with the shape of dome which is the outer appearance of a dome-shaped house. The connecting device  600  may have various shapes such as a hexagonal shape in  FIG. 2  and a pentagonal shape in  FIG. 15  depending on the number of connected angles  700 . 
     The connecting device  600  may include: an upper portion  620  in which a plurality of triangular unit modules are formed continuously along the side surfaces thereof to form a polygonal structure, a center of which is upward and the edge thereof is downward; a stepped portion  640  which is extended to be stepped downwardly along the edge of the upper side portion  620  to be in close contact with the edge portion of the cover plate  520  of the finishing panel  520 ; a lower side portion  660  which is formed corresponding to the lower portion of the upper side portion  620 ; and a side portion  680  which is connected to an edge between the stepped portion  640  and the lower side portion  660  to form a groove in a size corresponding to the end of the angle to be in close contact with the angle. 
     The reason why the upper side portion  620  is formed angularly by the triangular unit module is to reinforce the rigidity by making the connecting device  600  angular rather than making it plane. The reason why the rigidity of connecting device  600  is reinforced is that the connecting device is connected to the angle  700  and the load on the tension and compression is applied. Accordingly, it is preferable that the angular corner is connected with the angle  700  in the same line. 
     Here, the single stepped part  640  serves to support the finishing panel  500 , and the side surface portion  680  serves to be in close contact with the angle  700 . In this case, a groove in close contact with the angle is formed on the side surface portion  680 . The groove is formed in a rectangular shape and recessed in an inward direction, into which a portion of the angle  700  is inserted, and thereby to facilitate the position of connecting the angle  700  to the connecting device  600 . 
     In addition, the lower side portion  660  is formed in a shape corresponding to the upper side portion  620 , the center of which is formed as a plane having a through-hole so that it can mount the nut  662 , an anchor nut, or a hexagon nut. In this way, the inner structure may be fitted to the lower side portion  660  with a bolt. Here, the internal structure may be fitted with a thermal insulation material. In addition, the connecting device  600  may be integrally formed by injecting molten liquid into the upper side portion  620 , the stepped portion  640 , the lower side portion, and the side surface portion  680  by a molding die. 
     The angle  700  connects the connecting devices  600 . The angle  700  is disposed between each of the connecting devices  600  to connect the adjacent connecting devices  600 , the upper portion of which is opened. 
     That is, the angle  700  is provided with a horizontal plate at the lower portion thereof and a vertical plate which is extended to both sides of the horizontal plate in the vertical direction so that a U-shaped channel with internal empty space can be used. In addition, by further forming a bent plate which is bent in an inward direction on both sides of the horizontal plate, there is an effect of preventing the inner material  400  from separating to the outside by the engagement of the bent plate after the inner material  400  is filled to the inside the angle  700 . 
     The fastening device  300  is a fastening member for connecting the connecting device  600  with the angle  700 . 
     Here, the fastening device  300  is provided so that the connecting device  600  and the angle  700  can be easily fixed to each other by using bolts and nuts. 
     More specifically, the fastening device  300  includes a long nut  320  which is protrudingly coupled to a side surface of the connecting device  600 , a mounting plate  340  coupled to both ends of the angle  700 , and a bolt  360  installed on each of the mounting plate to connect the connecting device  600  with the angle  700  by fastening with the nut  320 . Here, the nut  320  is protruded from a side surface portion of the connecting device  600  with a hexagonal nut having a long length so that slippage can be suppressed by rotating the bolt  360 . The nut  320  may be an anchor nut instead of a hexagon nut. 
     Meanwhile, the nut  320  can be radially connected with the molding mold of the connecting device  600  when injecting the connection device  600  such that the connection device is injected with the nut  320  being connected thereto, and further the nut to be connected to the lower part can be also connected to the connection device in the same way. The mounting plate  340  has a hole through which the bolt  360  passes at the center and is welded to be fixed on both ends of the angle  700 . 
     The mounting plate  340  is further provided with a guide plate  342  on both sides, which is in close contact with the inner side of the angle  700  and is guided when inserted, thereby facilitating the bonding of the mounting plate  340  to the angle  700  to be welded easily. 
     The above inner material  400  is configured to couple the finishing panels  500 . 
     The inner material  400  is provided inside the angle  700 , and the coupling groove  420  is formed on the upper part. The coupling groove  420  of the inner material  400  is formed to be long in the upper portion along the longitudinal direction of the angle  700  and are formed as a pair. They are formed as a pair because the finishing panels  500  are coupled at both sides. Here, it is preferable to select the inner material  400  which is lighter than the above angle  700  for lightening the dome-shaped house. Considering that the finishing panels  500  are inserted into the coupling groove  420 , it is preferable to use an elastic resin-based material in order to facilitate coupling. 
     Therefore, the framework of the dome-shaped house can be formed by the structure of the connecting device  600 , the angle  700 , the fastener  300  and the inner material  400 . 
     The finishing panel  500  is a configuration regarding the exterior of the dome-shaped house. 
     The finishing panel  500  may finish a space between the adjacent above angles  700 . Specifically, the finishing panels  500  consists of a cover plate  520  located in a space between the adjacent above angles  700  and an insertion plate  540  provided under the above cover plate  520  and inserted into the coupling groove  420  of the inner material  400 . In the present invention, the dome-shaped house can be easily assembled and finished by assembling the angle  700  to the connecting device  600  by a fastening device  300  to form a shape and finally simply inserting and coupling the finishing panel  500  into the inner material  400  included in the angle  700 . 
     It is preferable that the finishing panels  500  are coupled to both sides of the finishing material  400  of the angle  700  and the area between the finishing panels  500  is finished with silicon to be waterproofed. As described above, the present invention is based on providing the connecting structure of a geodesic dome-shaped house as a basic technical idea, and it is obvious that many other variations are possible for those of ordinary skill in the pertinent art in the industry within the scope of the basic idea of the present invention. 
     It is obvious to those of ordinary skill in the pertinent art that the present invention is not limited to the stated embodiment, but can be modified and transformed diversely without departing from the idea and scope of the present invention. Therefore, it can be said that such modifications or variations are within the Scope of a request of the present invention.