Patent Publication Number: US-2004049992-A1

Title: Structures incorporating interlocking wall modules

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0001] 1. Field of the Invention  
       [0002] The present invention relates to the construction of prefabricated structures incorporating interlocking walls constructed from plate steel which are guided and positioned through the use of tongue and groove guide elements.  
       [0003] 2. Description of Prior Art  
       [0004] In recent years, there has been a substantial increase in the population housed by our prison system. Prisons have become overcrowded with inmates, with some cells housing more that twice the recommended number of inmates. One reason for this overcrowding relates to the high cost associated with the building of prisons which are adequately secure to house prisoners. The lengthy construction time required to construct secure units also adds cost to unit, thereby also contributing to the overcrowding problem.  
       [0005] In an effort to reduce construction costs and times, prefabricated prison cells have been developed. These prefabricated prison cells are modular in design, meaning, each cell comprises an individual, separate unit with the components of each cell being manufactured at a facility distant from the final location of the prison facility. Upon arrival at the final location, the individual components may then be assembled, forming an individual cell unit. These individual cell units are then assembled adjacent to one another creating a cell block. In forming a cell block, the individual cells must be carefully aligned so as to form a cohesive-looking structure. It is the difficulty encountered in properly aligning the individual cells in creating the cell block toward which this invention is directed.  
       [0006] Along these lines, the need occasionally arises in law enforcement to quickly construct temporary structures capable of housing dangerous individuals. These structures are often limited in size and weight due to the fact that they may be constructed within a more permanent structure or setting. For example, many court houses within the United States do not include holding cells or the like, making it difficult to bring dangerous prisoners to trial, as these prisoners must be transported from the local jail to the court house to stand trial. This represents an opportunity in which the dangerous prisoner may either escape or harm a guard during the transport process. Solutions to this problem have included converting a mediation room within the courthouse or something similar, into a temporary lock-up room. However, this presents a further problem, whereby the mediation room is being used for a purpose not intended. Further, employees of the court house may be caught unaware, perhaps due to poor communication, and may not realize that a mediation room previously reserved for that purpose has been transformed into a temporary holding cell. It is toward the construction of panelized prison cells that this invention may also be applied.  
       [0007] In addition to limitations encountered in housing prisoners, recent population expansion has increased the need for one-room classrooms, especially in rural areas. It is desirous that these classrooms be relatively inexpensive and have the capability of being constructed quickly and easily when compared to the traditional brick school houses traditionally employed. Along these lines, the present invention may be modified in order to facilitate the construction of relatively inexpensive school rooms, both sturdy enough to provide adequate protection to our children, and yet easily constructed so as to avoid substantial construction costs.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0008] The objects of the invention have been accomplished by providing a prefabricated wall structure defining a plurality of rooms, each room having a front wall, a rear wall, and a pair of side walls, where some of said walls may be shared between rooms. The wall structure comprises a plurality of elongate wall panels having top and bottom edges, and side edges. A plurality of support posts have alignment grooves for receiving said side edges of said panels to join said panels.  
       [0009] In the preferred embodiment of the invention the post is defined as a post configured for a corner, with alignment grooves defined orthogonally of each other. In this configuration, the post is square in cross-section and includes alignment plates attached to adjacent sides of the post, in a spaced-apart manner so as to form the grooves.  
       [0010] Also in the preferred embodiment, the prefabricated wall structure has another post defined as a post configured for in-line connection, with alignment grooves defined in a co-planar relation with each other. In this configuration, the modular wall structure has a post which is square in cross-section and includes an alignment plate attached to a side wall of the post, in a spaced-apart manner so as to form said grooves.  
       [0011] The preferred embodiment also has a further post configuration, where the post is defined as a post configured for a T-connection, with alignment grooves for in-line connection, with alignment grooves defined in a co-planar relation with each other, and with a groove defined orthogonally of said two in-line grooves. The post in this configuration is square in cross-section and includes alignment plates attached to adjacent sides of the post, in a spaced-apart manner so as to form said orthogonal grooves, and with one of the plates having grooves extending from both sides thereof. 
     
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
     [0012] These and other features of the invention will become more apparent and the present invention will be better understood upon consideration of the following description and the accompany drawings, wherein:  
     [0013]FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a double prefabricated dormitory construction in accordance with the disclosed invention;  
     [0014]FIG. 2 is a top floor plan view of the prefabricated dormitory disclosed in FIG. 1;  
     [0015]FIG. 3A is a perspective view of the support post for an in-line connection;  
     [0016]FIG. 3B is a perspective view of the corner connection post;  
     [0017]FIG. 3C is a perspective view of the support post for the T-connection;  
     [0018] FIGS.  4 A- 4 C show top plan views of the support posts of FIGS.  3 A- 3 C, respectively;  
     [0019]FIG. 5 shows a magnified view of an in-line connection in accordance with the present invention of the two prefabricated dormitory shown in FIG. 1;  
     [0020]FIG. 6 shows a magnified view of a tongue and groove corner connection in accordance with the present invention of the two prefabricated dormitories shown in FIG. 1;  
     [0021]FIG. 7 shows a magnified view of a T-connection in accordance with the present invention of the two modular prison cells shown in FIG. 1;  
     [0022]FIGS. 8A and 8B show alternative embodiments for any of the posts shown in FIGS.  3 A- 3 C;  
     [0023]FIGS. 9A and 9B show alternative embodiments to the posts shown in FIGS. 8A and 8B; and  
     [0024]FIG. 10 shows an alternate embodiment to that shown in FIG. 1, where a multi-story unit can be provided. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION  
     [0025] The embodiments of the invention described herein are not intended to be exhaustive nor to limit the invention to the precise forms disclosed. Rather, the embodiments selected for description have been selected to enable one skilled in the art to practice this invention.  
     [0026] Referring in detail to the drawings and with particular reference to FIGS. 1 and 2, a prefabricated dormitory has been generally indicated by numeral  10 , and comprises individual dormitories  12  and  14 , but any number or plurality of individual dormitories could be assembled, given the hardware and discussion herein described. As shown in FIG. 1, the two dormitories are generally configured and defined by four corner post members  16 , two T-shaped members  18 , and a plurality of in-line posts shown generally at  20 . It should be appreciated that each of the components is prefabricated in nature and therefore can be erected at the work site. With reference still to FIGS. 1 and 2, the dormitories also comprise panel sections  22 , and angle sections  24 , which circumscribe the dormitories structure  10 .  
     [0027] With reference now to FIGS. 3A and 4A, the in-line connection, including in-line connector post  20 , will be described in greater detail. The in-line post  20  is comprised of a generally square tube or post section  28 , which is generally comprised of a structural steel material, which is formed in an elongate manner. An alignment groove assembly  30  is fixed to an outside of one of the walls of the tube  28  in a manner such as by welding. The alignment groove includes an outer alignment plate  32 , which is mounted in a parallel manner to wall  34  of tube  28  and spaced apart by a spacer plate  36 . It should be appreciated from viewing FIG. 4A that spacer plate  36  is defined with a much narrower width than alignment plate  32 , leaving elongate alignment grooves  38  on opposite sides of the post for alignment of the steel panels  22 , as will be described further herein. As shown best in FIG. 3A, plate  32  is shorter at the lower end than post  28 , thereby forming an edge  40 .  
     [0028] With reference now to FIGS. 3B and 4B, corner post  16  is shown having a substantially square post  44  having perpendicular side walls  46  and  48  to which parallel and spaced-apart walls  50  and  52  are attached by and through spacer plates  54  and  56 , respectively. As with in-line post  20 , the spacer plates  54  and  56  are narrower than their counterpart plates  50  and  52 , thereby defining alignment grooves  58  and  60 . As shown in FIG. 3B, plate  50  is shown with a lower edge  62  positioned above the end of post  44 , and plate  52  is shown with a lower edge  64 , as will be described herein.  
     [0029] With reference now to FIGS. 3C and 4C, the T-connection post  18  is shown comprising a square post member  70  having walls  72  and  74  to which spaced plates  76  and  78  are attached, by and through spacer plates  80  and  82 . As before, the spaced-apart plates  76  and  78  define alignment grooves  84 ,  86  and  88 . As shown best in FIG. 3C, plates  76  and  78  include lower edges  90  and  92 , respectively, as will be described further herein.  
     [0030] As mentioned above, the panels  22  are each in prefabricated form, such that a plurality of panels  22  could be shipped to the work site, and assembled at the work site. In the preferred embodiment of the invention, the steel panels  22  are each approximately 2′ in width, and rise to a height equal to the desired height for the ceiling. In the preferred embodiment, the panels  22  are steel sheets of approximately {fraction (3/16)}″ to ½″, but could comprise heavy-duty steel mesh for at least a portion of the panels in order that an observer can see into the dormitory and the occupant can see out of the dormitory. Moreover, while the construction shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 shows two solid dormitories, it would also be understood that one or two of the panels should be replaced by a door panel member for ingress and egress of dormitories  12  or  14 . With the components as described above, the assembly of the cells will now be described in greater detail.  
     [0031] The assembly of the dormitories would begin by placement of one or more of the angle members along the floor in a longitudinal manner in a position where the dormitory construction is desired. As shown in FIGS. 3A, 3B and  3 C, each of the posts has a notch created at the bottom of the post created by the lower edges  40 ,  62 ,  64 ,  90 , and  92 , respectively, such that this notch is placed with the spacer plates  36 ,  54 , or  90 ,  92  abutting the back side of the angle member  24 , as best shown in FIG. 1. Thus, the corner post  16  could be set with spacer plate  54  abutting the panel, which will thereby align the post  16  with the edge of the angle piece  24 . It should be appreciated that the back side of the angle will also be co-planar with the inner surface of plate  32 , and a steel plate  22  can be slidably received within alignment groove  60  of the corner member  16 . The next post is an in-line post  20  positioned with one of the slots  38  joining the opposite side edge of the steel panel, again with its spacer plate  36  in abutment against the inside surface of the angle member  24 .  
     [0032] Plate members  22  and in-line members  20  can continue until the inside corner of the wall is desired, that is, where placement of a T-connection post  18  is desired. When a T-connection is desired, the alignment groove  86  is positioned over the end edge of the last panel  22 , again with the lower edge of spacer plate  82  abutting the angle member  24 . At this point, another in-line panel could be positioned in slot  88  or the transverse or separation wall could be begun by placing a wall panel within alignment groove  84 . It should be appreciated that the walls continue to be constructed as described above until the dormitories  12  and  14  are completed. It should also be appreciated that the panels and their connection posts are fixed in place with each other by some means, such as welding along a portion or the entirety of their interconnection seams.  
     [0033] It should also be understood that there may be differing requirements for ceiling structures. In some instances, it may be desired to have prefabricated dormitories installed within a building or room where a concrete ceiling is already in place. In this situation, several or all of the posts could take on the configuration of any of the posts shown in FIGS. 8A, 8B,  9 A or  9 B, where the post includes a post section  100  with an attachment flange assembly positioned along the top of the post, shown as  102  in FIGS. 8A and 8B and shown as flange  112  in FIGS. 9A and 9B. In this situation, the posts would replace any of the posts  16 ,  18  or  20 , but include their interlocking structure, but would extend upwardly to the ceiling and include fasteners extending through apertures such as  104 ,  114  to attach the posts  100 ,  110  to the ceiling.  
     [0034] In other instances, it may be desired to require a second story of dormitories, and in this case, as shown in FIG. 10, each of the corner posts, in-line posts and T-posts will be comprised of a more rigid and larger square post section, such as a 4″ tube member, as shown as items  160 ,  180 ,  200 , respectively. In this case, the walls can be load-bearing walls, and include transverse I-beams  240  spanning across the walls. Given the wider nature of the posts  160 ,  180  and  200 , an I-beam such as  240  can simply be placed on top of the post and welded securely in place. A concrete pan (not shown) can thereafter be placed over the top of the I-beams with a concrete floor being poured and set up within the pan, whereby the construction of the second story of walls will be identical to that for the lower set of walls and as identical to that described with reference to FIGS.  5 - 7 .  
     [0035] In this manner a prefabricated wall construction is designed, whereby the walls or a plurality of dormitories can be constructed at a work site or within an existing building. The prefabricated walls, by and through the posts  16 ,  116 ;  18 ,  180 ; and  20 , 120  self-align the walls in parallel/perpendicular fashion for ease and accuracy of construction.