Patent ID: 8215062

Claim:
An air-floating base isolation system comprising: a bottom plate, and a top plate, which is at a foundation of a building, on the bottom plate, wherein the plates define boundaries of at least one air pressure chamber, boundaries of the air pressure chamber being defined by a sliding, expandable, pipe shaped shielding material having a cavity inside of the shielding material, the shielding material being disposed between the top and bottom plates and inserted into path guides in the top plate or in the bottom plate, the top and bottom plates and the shielding material defining and forming all boundaries of the air pressure chamber as a closed and airtight chamber between the top and bottom plates and outside of the shielding material, the pipe shaped shielding material being expandable into contact with the plates to prevent an air leak past the shielding material; the top plate being caused to float above the bottom plate by air pressure in the air pressure chamber, thereby achieving a base isolation effect and allowing the building to float horizontally, wherein when the shielding material, which is inserted into the path guides, is not inflated, the top and bottom plates sit flush against each other.