Patent ID: 7076926

Claim:
A structural frame for a building comprising: an upper horizontal floor beam and a lower horizontal floor beam located below said upper horizontal floor beam; a first vertical pillar coupled to said upper horizontal floor beam and said lower horizontal floor beam; a second vertical pillar horizontally spaced from said first vertical pillar, with said second vertical pillar coupled to said upper horizontal floor beam and said lower horizontal floor beam; a damping intermediate pillar located between said first vertical pillar and said second vertical pillar, said damping intermediate pillar comprising: an upper damping intermediate pillar portion of H shape steel directed upward toward said upper horizontal floor beam and a lower damping intermediate pillar portion of H shape steel directed downward toward said lower horizontal floor beam; a plurality of inner steel plates fixed on one of the damping intermediate pillar portions; a plurality of outer steel plates fixed on the other damping intermediate pillar portion; said inner steel plates and said outer steel plates being arranged alternately with each other in a single layer or a plurality of layers, with said inner steel plates and said outer steel plates being parallel to one another; a viscoelastic member held between the inner and outer steel plates thereby to make up a vibration energy absorbing unit; a coupling member of H shape steel coupled to each of said upper and lower damping intermediate pillar portions directed upward and downward, respectively, said coupling members being fixed on the upper and lower horizontal floor beams, respectively; and a plurality of knee braces, wherein one or both sides of the coupling members of H shape steel are coupled to the upper and lower horizontal floor beams, respectively, by said knee braces.