Load-bearing construction pod and hybrid method of construction using pods

Abstract

Off-site load-bearing construction pod (module) that incorporate the vertical structure to carry similar pods placed on top of it and part of the on-site structure built around and above these pods. Hybrid method of construction where buildings are erected by combining standardized pods which incorporate smaller, most labor-intensive rooms and components of the edifice to conventional methods of construction for larger, less labor-intensive rooms and components. The very same mass-manufactured pod that incorporates kitchen, bathrooms, laundry room and most of the plumbing and the electric system of a dwelling can be used to build the top floor of a skyscraper or a single-family house.

Description

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS[0001]U.S. PATENT DOCUMENTS3,952,465April 1976Masiello52 / 733,990,193November 1976Ray et al52 / 794,050,215September 1977Fisher52 / 79.34,083,154October 1978Klink52 / 79.94,118,905October 1978Shelly52 / 79.24,136,492January 1979Willingham52 / 79.74,135,833February 1979Townend52 / 7454,194,339March 1980Fisher52 / 7454,485,608December 1984Kaufman52 / 7454,512,120April 1985Lindal52 / 79.14,599,829July 1986DiMartino, Sr52 / 794,891,919January 1990Palibroda52 / 79.55,447,000September 1995Larsen52 / 79.15,706,614January 1998Wiley52 / 79.16,493,996December 2002Alexander et al52 / 79.96,625,937 B1September 2003Parker et al52 / 79.76,826,879 B1December 2004Allen et al52 / 236.3FOREIGN PATENT DOCUMENTWO 2009 / 005449January 2009E04B 1 / 348BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION[0002]1. Field of the Invention[0003]The present invention relates generally to building construction. The present invention relates to a construction method combining conventional methods of construction and prefabricated, mass...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0010]The present invention substantially reduces the cost of construction, drastically improves quality and considerably reduces construction time by having the most repetitive and labor intensive parts of the building being incorporated into factory-made standardized pods (modules); thus having specialized construction site work replaced by more productive factory work while making construction simpler for both the conception and erection of the building.

[0011]The pods of the present invention are fully finished inside and easy to inspect and connect from the outside. Pods can include the bathrooms, the kitchens, the utility rooms, most of the plumbing system, the electric panels and most of the wiring and electrical receptacle outlets. Many of the smaller rooms can be integrated into a pod while larger rooms are being located outside pods. Transportation costs are reasonable because the pods can easily be the standard size of a trailer or semi-trailer as in the preferred embodiment or the size of a shipping container. Pods can be manufactured in a controlled environment where labor is largely available and inexpensive and the building can be erected where labor is expensive and scarce and where weather conditions can be harsh.

Problems solved by technology

The above buildings all have in common that the square footage of the building is simply the sum of the square footage of all its components and are therefore very expensive to transport.

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