Modular Building Blocks with Collapsible Space Frames
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current building construction methods are time-consuming and costly due to the assembly of multiple materials by different trades on-site, leading to inefficiencies, material loss, theft, and exposure to the elements, and existing prefabricated systems struggle to transport and assemble multi-story buildings efficiently.
Innovation Solution
A modular system of interconnected blocks with collapsible structural space frames and columns, allowing for efficient transportation and rapid assembly of building components, including flip-up walls with integrated infrastructure, which can be stacked and erected on-site to form multi-story buildings without the need for multiple shipments.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If conventional on-site assembly methods are used with multiple trades, then building materials can be assembled on the building site, but construction time is extended and resources are lost due to sequential mobilization and demobilization of trades
Solution Approach 1:
The building is divided into modular components (walls, floors, ceilings, mechanical systems) that are pre-assembled into complete stories or modules off-site. Each module is a self-contained unit that can be independently manufactured and then quickly assembled on-site, eliminating the need for sequential trade mobilization and demobilization.
Solution Approach 2:
Complete building modules including structural elements, weather shell, mechanical systems, and interior finishes are pre-assembled and inspected off-site before delivery. This preliminary assembly allows multiple trades to work simultaneously in a controlled factory environment, and the pre-assembled modules are then rapidly installed on-site in a single operation.
2Ease of operation
If materials are left at the building site during construction, then assembly can proceed, but materials are exposed to the elements and may be lost, stolen, or damaged
Solution Approach 1:
The weather shell including roofing, siding, and windows is pre-installed on modules in the factory before delivery to the building site. This ensures that all building materials and components are protected from weather elements during transportation and storage, eliminating the risk of weather damage, theft, or loss that occurs when materials are exposed on-site.
3Length of moving object
If prefabricated buildings are shipped with one floor or module per truck, then transportation is manageable, but delivery efficiency is reduced and multiple shipments are required
Solution Approach 1:
Building modules are designed with collapsible or nestable features that allow them to be compacted into smaller configurations for transportation. Modules can be nested within each other or collapsed to reduce their footprint, enabling multiple modules to be transported in a single shipment while maintaining the ability to expand to full size upon arrival at the building site.
Data Source
AI summary
A modular system of interconnected modular blocks having columns with male and female ends, structural space frames comprising horizontal structural sections arranged in a rectangle with a connector at each corner. The structural space frames and columns are collapsed into a modular sandwich for transportation where male ends of connectors connect with respective female ends of connectors between structural steel space frames and when the modular block is erected from the sandwich, a male connector of a lower structural space frame couples with a female end of a column of and a female connector of a top structural space frame connects with a male end of a column. The modular system is transported in collapsed form to a building site and is erected into a building structure by lifting a higher space frame, erecting the columns to create a modular unit and repeating to create stack of modular units of desired building height.