1. Field of the Invention
The field of this invention encompasses prefabricated buildings made of one monocoque shell. The shell thus functions both as the enclosure walls and roof and as the structure of strength without other internal or external supports to hold up the walls or support the roof. The open interior volume is often used for storage. Also, since the preferred embodiment of this invention uses a shell made as a sandwich of insulative foam bonded to inner and outer skins of fiberglass, the invention thus encompasses buildings, wherein control of the internal environment is maintained, such as in very cold regions of the earth or simply where the stored material must be protected from temperature extremes and/or be gas tight.
2. Description of the Related Art
Pomykala has invented an all-weather hut, circular in shape. However, the strength elements consist of a framework of tubes, ribs and stressing cables.
The prefabricated building concept of Blaski contains a plurality of sheetmetal panels having curvatures in two directions transverse to each other. The sides and roof are formed with the same radius and of frusto-conical configuration. The roof and the sidewalls are fabricated separately and then joined as two separate, sharply-intersecting arcs with the upper edges of the walls engaging the underside of the roof with suitable securing. Cross ties form a third basic element of the construction to balance the outwardly directed forces of the building construction. The sidewalls and roof are prefabricated separately and then joined for erection of the building. Flanges for joining walls and roof are fundamental to the concept.
P. Graham has a design patent for a building, part of which includes simple hyperbolic arch elements which are also arched in the transverse direction. The transverse arches intersect in a curved line, also a hyperbola. The intersection appears as a deep "V" with the intersection line being the apex of the "V". The method of joining at the "V" is not described. The hyperbolic arch elements form sloping walls. The design of E. Pitou is similar.
Chamlee's patent covers a dome-shaped shelter comprised of a plurality of spherical segments forming a self-supporting structure. The individual panels are constructed of a composite sandwich of foam and bonded fiberglass.