Patent Publication Number: US-2009217598-A1

Title: Building With Inflatable Walls

Description:
The invention relates to a building with inflatable walls, in particular a residential building, hotel, office or hospital. 
     It is known for relatively small buildings such as summer houses and weekend houses, camping buildings and smaller warehouses to be produced from inflatable parts. It has been found here that sufficient strength and straightforward handling for larger buildings, in particular for residential buildings, hotels, offices or hospitals, is not provided. 
     The object of the invention is to provide an inflatable building which, while being highly stable and capable of being extended as desired, is easy to transport, dismantle and construct and store. 
     This object is achieved according to the invention in that the building is made up of individual room modules which each have a rigid floor unit on which the inflatable walls are fastened. 
     The inflatable walls, together with the rigid floor unit, form a room module, of which any desired number can be attached to one another in order to meet a wide variety of different requirements. The room modules are straightforward to transport, dismantle and construct, and have small external dimensions in the dismantled, collapsed state, in which case they can be transported and stored in a small amount of space. 
     The rigid floor unit provides a high level of stability, straightforward and reliable accommodation for the inflatable parts and easy transportation. The buildings according to the invention can be used all year around and since they can be combined as desired, in any desired number, allow residential buildings, hotels, offices or hospitals to be erected quickly, cost-effectively and flexibly. 
     It is particularly advantageous if a rigid, bottom wall region projects upward from the outer periphery of the floor of the floor unit. This provides, in the floor region, an accommodating chamber which is U-shaped in vertical section and in which the walls, and in particular also the ceiling can be placed when not inflated, and are protected against damage in the process. 
     It is particularly advantageous here if the height of the wall region is ⅓ to 1/10 of the height of the inflatable wall. 
     Quick and reliable construction is ensured if the floor unit has peripheral fastening parts for releasable fastening on adjacent floor units. The fastening parts of the floor units here may form a plug-in system. 
     It is particularly advantageous if the floor of the floor unit has at least two horizontal floors located one above the other, supply conduits being located therebetween. It is possible here for the lines of the supply conduits to be connected to lines of adjacent floor units via quick-action closures. 
     Reliable and straightforward set-up on uneven ground is ensured if the floor unit has variable-height supports on its underside. 
     It is advantageous if the inflatable walls have integrated heat-insulating and/or sound-insulating layers in particular on their outside. It is also proposed that the ceiling/roof of the room module can be inflated and is connected in a separable or inseparable manner to the inflatable walls. Rainwater is reliably channeled away if the ceiling/roof of the room module is in the form of an upside-down “V” in vertical section. 
     It is particularly advantageous if the floor unit has arranged on it at least one inflatable floor region which projects laterally beyond the rigid floor. This means that the floor surface area of a room module can be straightforwardly extended without the external dimensions of the floor unit being increased. This projecting inflatable floor region can be used particularly advantageously as a sleeping area. It is preferably proposed here that the projecting inflatable floor region decreases in width in the outward direction. 
     In order for it to be possible to accommodate sanitary articles in the room module in a constructionally particularly straightforward and easy to handle manner and without using the inflatable walls, it is proposed that a displaceable cabinet, which has sanitary arrangements and can be connected to supply conduits of the floor unit, stands on the floor. 
     It is preferably proposed that vertical panels are arranged as soundproofing and/or fireproofing means between room modules which are adjacent to one another. 
    
    
     
       An illustrated embodiment of the invention is described in more detail hereinbelow and is illustrated in the drawings, in which: 
         FIG. 1  shows a vertical cross section through a room module, 
         FIG. 2  shows an end view of a room module, 
         FIG. 3  shows a vertical longitudinal section through a room module with a section through an adjoining access corridor, and 
         FIG. 4  shows a plan view of the room module with access corridor. 
     
    
    
     The single-storey inflatable building is made up of individual room modules  1  which can be used for a wide variety of different purposes, for example as workrooms or studies, living rooms, day rooms, sleeping areas or bedrooms, kitchens, storerooms or corridors or hallways. The illustrated embodiment illustrates a room module  1  which constitutes a hotel room and of which a number of modules are arranged one beside the other, in particular on both sides of a corridor  2 , the corridor also being formed by a room module. The rest of the rooms in the hotel are not illustrated here, but preferably also comprise inflatable room modules. 
     The room module  1  has a rigid floor unit  2  with vertical inflatable side walls  3  fastened on the outer peripheries. Fastening here may be releasable or non-releasable. A roof  4  made of inflatable walls is fastened on the top peripheries of the side walls  3 , the room being in the form of a gable roof or hipped roof and in the form of an upside-down “V” in vertical section. The inflatable walls and the roof walls have integrated insulating layers (not illustrated) in particular on their outside. 
     The rigid floor unit  2  has a horizontal rigid floor  5  which preferably comprises at least two horizontal floors which are located one above the other and contain a cavity between them, the supply conduits being located therein. The floor units here form, in particular the rigid floor forms, 
     peripheral fastening parts for releasable fastening on adjacent floor units. The fastening parts of the floor units preferably form a plug-in system and, in the same way, the lines of the supply conduits are connected to lines of adjacent floor units, in particular of the corridor unit  2 , via quick-action closures. 
     A rigid, bottom wall region  6  projects vertically or obliquely upward in each case from at least two outer peripheries of the floor  5  of the floor unit  2 , and this wall region forms a lateral periphery with a height H 1  which is ⅓ to 1/10 of the height H 2  of the inflatable wall  3 . The floor unit  2  is thus U-shaped in vertical section. 
     On account of the U shape of the floor unit  2 , the floor unit forms a bottom sub-chamber  7  which is open in the upward direction, toward the interior  8  of the room module  1 , and in which the side walls  3  and the roof of the room module can be stowed when the air has been let out of the same. 
     On its underside, the floor unit  2  has a plurality of variable-height supports  9  by means of which the floor unit, and thus the room module, can be set up on the ground or some other underlying surface. 
     In order to increase the floor surface area of a rigid floor unit  2 , the latter has fastened on it an inflatable floor region  10  which projects laterally beyond the rigid floor  5 , on which inflatable walls and an inflatable roof are also fastened and which, in the illustrated embodiments, forms a sleeping area. In the illustrated embodiment, the projecting inflatable floor region decreases in width in the outward directions. 
       FIGS. 3 and 4  illustrate a cabinet  11  which can be displaced over the floor and contains sanitary arrangements, in particular a swivel-out WC and a swing-out washbasin. This cabinet  11  may also contain a linen box, a television, a wardrobe and a safe. 
     In order to reduce the transmission of sound between two room modules and/or to increase fireproofing, vertical panels  12 , with a thickness equal to a fraction of the thickness of the inflatable side walls  3 , are arranged between two adjacent room modules  1 .