Patent ID: 8316589

Claim:
A brace apparatus adapted to be connected to a building, said brace apparatus comprising: an elongate first core member having a main body and at least one extension section connected fixedly to said main body and adapted to connect with the building; at least one elongate second core member parallel to said first core member; an outer sleeve including an outer steel tube disposed around said first and second core members and having an inner surface facing said first and second core members, and at least one steel plate connected fixedly to an end of said outer steel tube and adapted to connect with the building; a pair of first and second inner abutment plates respectively adjacent to two opposite ends of said first core member, two ends of said second core member abutting respectively against said first and second inner abutment plates; a pair of first and second outer abutment plates abutting respectively against two opposite ends of said outer sleeve; at least one first tensioning element adjacent to said first core member and extending in said outer sleeve along a longitudinal direction of said first core member, said first tensioning element being fastened to said first inner abutment plate at an end thereof and to one of said second inner and outer abutment plates at an opposite end thereof; at least one second tensioning element extending in said outer sleeve in a longitudinal direction of said outer sleeve and adjacent to said inner surface of said outer sleeve, said second tensioning element being fastened to said first outer abutment plate at an end thereof and to one of said second inner and outer abutment plates at an opposite end thereof; and an energy-dissipating unit for retarding relative movement between said first core member and said outer sleeve and between said first and second outer abutment plates; wherein, when a force is applied to said first core member, relative movement occurs between said first inner and outer abutment plates, between said second inner and outer abutment plates, and among said first and second core members and said outer sleeve, so that the length of each of said first and second tensioning elements is increased by an elongation amount, and the total length of said first core member and said outer sleeve is increased by an amount that is two times the elongation amount.