Storm shelter
An economical, prefabricated, above ground “storm shelter “or “safe room” for personal protection from hurricanes, tornadoes, and other high wind events. The structure meets all FEMA guidelines for providing resistance to winds in excess of 250 mph and preventing missile penetration through the walls from airborne debris. The shelter can be installed inside of an existing room on concrete slab such as a garage or outside on a concrete slab constructed specifically for the shelter. The storm shelter walls are constructed of steel C-Channel components stacked and bolted in a horizontal configuration. The roof consists of angle iron for supports or rafters, and flat plate for the outer sheathing. The door is made from an assembly of flat steel plate, bar grating, flat bar cross members, hinges, and locking brackets bolted together. The locking mechanism consists of three locking pins attached to a locking bar for single action panic proof locking capability.
Int. C1.7 EO4H 9/12; EO4H 9/14; EO4H 1/00; EO4H 7/00; EO4B 1/32; FO2D 29/00; EO2O 27/00; EO2D 27/32
U.S. C1 52/79.1; 52/79.4; 52/79.5; 52/79.6; 52/79.9; 52/79.12; 52/169.1; 52/169.6; 52/82; 109/1 S; 52/86; 52/88; 52/244; 52/245
Field of Search 52/79.1, 79.5, 79.9, 79.12, 169.1, 169.6, 745..02, 745.13, 745.16; 109/78, 79,80
REFERENCES CITEDU.S. Patent Documents
U.S. Pat. No. 6,415,558 July, 2002 Cherry 52/79.1
U.S. Pat. No. 6,161,345 December, 2000 Hope 52/169.6
U.S. Pat. No. 6,151,841 November, 2000 Green 52/79.4
U.S. Pat. No. 6,131,343 October, 2000 Jackson, Jr. 52/86
U.S. Pat. No. 6,085,475 July, 2000 Parks & Boles 52/169.6
U.S. Pat. No. 6,061,976 May, 2000 Willbanks, Jr. 52/169.6
U.S. Pat. No. 5,953,866 September, 1999 Poole 52/169.6
U.S. Pat. No. 5,930,961 August, 1999 Beaudet 52/169.6
U.S. Pat. No. 5,829,208 November, 1998 Townley 52/169.6
U.S. Pat. No. 5,813,174 September, 1998 Waller 52/79.1
STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENTNot Applicable
REFERENCE TO A SEQUENCE LISTINGNot Applicable
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION1. Field of Endeavor
The present invention relates in general to the field of shelters, more specifically, to above ground shelters for hurricanes, tornadoes, and other high wind events that meet all FEMA guidelines.
2. Description of the Related Art
Each Year the United States is affected by Hurricanes and Tornadoes that cause millions of dollars of property damage, and kill or severely injure hundreds of people. Over 1,000 Tornadoes touch down in the U.S. each year and approximately 2 hurricanes per year reach U.S. landfall impacting several thousand square miles of property. As a result of severe hurricanes such as Hugo, Andrew, Isabel, and Ivan along with the devastating Tornadoes in the Midwest of 1999, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has recommended that residential occupants build shelters in their homes to protect themselves and their families from severe injury or death caused by the dangerous forces of extreme winds.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has several publications relating to the field of storm shelters that provide information and guidelines for proper construction of shelters for high wind events up to 250 mph. The following is a list of FEMA publications:
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- FEMA 320 Taking Shelter from the Storm: Building a Safe Room Inside Your House
- FEMA 342 Building Performance Assessment Report: Midwest Tornadoes of May 3, 1999
- FEMA 361 Design and Construction Guidance for Community Shelters
- FEMA TR-83B Tornado Protection: Selecting and Designing Safe Areas in Buildings
FEMA also provides a list of internet web sites for reference in the field of design and construction of shelters:
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- FEMA: Safe room Site
- http://www.fema.gov/mit/saferoom
- FEMA: National Performance Criteria for Tornado Shelters
- http://www.fema.gov/library/npc_ts.htm
- FEMA: Taking Shelter From The Storm: Building a Safe Room inside Your House
- http://www.fema.gov/mit/tsfs01.htm
- FEMA: Taking Shelter from the Storm Plans
- http://www.fema.gov/mit/shplans/index.htm
- Wind Engineering Research center, Texas Tech University: Tornado Safe Room
- http://www.wind.ttu.edu
Department Of Civil Engineering; Clemson University, Clemson, S.C.
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- The NOAA Site on Tornadoes
- http://www.outlook.noaa.gov/tornadoes
- The NOAA “NWS “Service Assessment: Oklahoma/Southern Kansas Tornado Outbreak of May 3, 1999”
- http://www.nws.noaa.gov/om/omdis.html
- Center for Disease Control, Website on Mortality Information
- http://www2.cdc.gov/mmwr/mmwr.html
FEMA 320 provides several designs for shelters constructed of various materials that include CMU concrete, wood frame-plywood with CMU infill, wood frame-plywood with steel panels, and insulating concrete form. The designs provided by FEMA require knowledge and experience in the construction industry, and require extensive labor to build.
Inspection of Prior Art in the Field of Shelters Reveals the Following:
U.S. Pat. No. 6,415,558 B1 for a Tornado Shelter issued to Charles W. Cherry in July, 2002 discloses a tornado shelter meeting FEMA criteria constructed of 10 gage steel C-channel assembled in vertical orientation from the inside. This structure has components that require welding as part of the fabrication and recommends welding in part of the final assembly or installation. This structure designed by Charles W. Cherry also has a large quantity of components and holes that adds to the cost of the structure and complicates the assembly and installation for the average home owner.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,813,174 for a “Closet Vault” issued to James E. Waller in 1998 discloses a strong lightweight steel structure which consists of individual tubular and bent-plate channel modules which packaged and shipped loose and which are assembled by the user or a contractor to form a vault or enclosure, preferably rectangular in shape, with a lockable access door. This structure invented by James Waller also has welded components which adds to the cost and complexity of the invention.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,131,343 for an “Apparatus and Method for Storm Shelter” issued to Andrew W. Jackson, Jr. in 2000 discloses an apparatus and method for a storm shelter, which can be used aboveground and below ground, and, may be skin supported.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,151,841 for a “Prefabricated Portable Tornado Shelter” issued to Thomas H. Green in 2000 discloses an inexpensive, prefabricated portable tornado shelter is disclosed. The shelter is assembled from four equilateral triangular sides, a base frame, and a floor, to form a square pyramid-shaped enclosure with latched doors and Plexiglas windows.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,161,345 for a “Tornado Shelter” issued to Ted C. Hope in 2000 discloses a tornado shelter having a rectangular horizontal top and bottom, vertical forward and rear ends connected transversely to the top and bottom, and equipped with a simplified sliding door arrangement.
From review of prior art, it is the object of the present inventor to design a shelter to protect people from injury or death in high wind events, that is most economical, simple & inexpensive to fabricate, easy to assemble and install, and provides adequate square footage for occupants in accordance with FEMA guidelines. These objects were accomplished in the present invention to be described herein.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONThe present shelter invented discloses a steel structure installed on concrete slab outside or in an existing room such as a garage. The safe room includes four walls, a roof, and a door. The present invention is arranged in rectangular fashion but can also be designed to be square in shape and of various heights. The walls are constructed of steel C-Channel arranged in a horizontal configuration that are bolted together at the flanges. The corners of the safe room are formed by bolting C-Channel components perpendicular to one another with angle brackets. The C-Channel walls are anchored to the concrete with wedge anchors. The roof is constructed of steel plates, which are bolted to angle iron rafters that are bolted to the inner flanges of the C-Channel. The door is constructed of 3/16″ thick steel plate and 1″ bar grating. The door assembly is connected to the frame of the door with three heavy-duty hinges and three heavy-duty latches.
The structure can be fabricated in various dimensions of length width height, and thickness of steel. Minimum steel thickness must be 3/16″ thick. The design of the C-Channel that constructs the walls will provide resistance to uplift; however, the components are light enough that assembly requires no more than 2 people. The invention disclosed can also be disassembled and reassembled at a different location thus providing an advantage to the homeowner who may have to relocate. The simplicity of the size, shape, and design of the steel C-Channel requires a minimum amount of labor to fabricate which lowers the cost of the materials and makes the present invention more economical for the consumer to purchase as compared to other shelters currently on the market. The design of the safe room disclosed requires less labor to assemble and is a stronger unit than the wood-frame and plywood with steel plate or CMU infill units presented in the FEMA 320 guidelines. Furthermore this design does not require extensive knowledge in the construction industry to assemble and install.
The safe room disclosed can be made in various sizes. However, in the detailed description of the present invention, the outside dimensions shall be 96″ long by 48″ wide by 60″ high.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGSThe preferred embodiment of the invention is illustrated in the attached drawings.
The following is a list of components with assigned identification numbers for reference to the drawings.
1. C-Channel components for side walls
2. C-Channel components for end wall
3. Corner brackets 3″ angle iron
4. Side braces 3″ angle iron
5. Latch side door frame
6. Hinge side door frame
7. Door header
8. Roof panels—flat steel plate
9. Roof support brackets 4″ angle iron
10. Center roof support bracket 4″ angle iron
11. Anchor brackets
12. Door bottom seal
13. Door side seals
14. 1″ bar grating for door assembly
15. 36″×54″ steel plate for door assembly
16. Door crossbar for door assembly
17. Door hinges
18. Locking brackets for door
19. Dead bolts for door assembly
20. Locking bar for door
21. Latching bar for door
22. Door handles
23. Air vents
Applicant's invention is understood by reviewing the following description in conjunction with the attached drawings, wherein like reference numerals refer to like parts.
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Part 12 the 1″ angle iron door bottom seal will be bolted to the latch side and hinge side door frames on the ground in a horizontal configuration (not shown). Part 13 the flat plate door side seals will be bolted to the latch and hinge side door frames in a vertical position as viewed in
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To attach the door to the frame the hinges 17 of the door assembly 15 are bolted to the C-Channel frame 6 as viewed in
Claims
1. A pre-fabricated steel “storm shelter” or “safe room” built of steel C-Channel, configured in a horizontal arrangement, angle iron, and steel plate. Components are designed for assembly and installation on location to include the following:
- a. Steel C-Channel bolted together at the flange to form the wall sections whereas the web of the C-Channel function as the sheathing of the wall and the flanges of the C-Channel function as studs for the wall. The C-Channel components are arranged in a horizontal configuration stacked vertically, and assembled with ⅝″ bolts
- b. Bolting the web of the side wall C-Channel to the web of the end wall C-Channel with anchor brackets; fastening 3″ angle iron to the outside web of the side wall and end wall components to form the corners of the room.
- c. Specifically designed C-Channel parts arranged in a vertical configuration where the flange on one side is bolted to the web of the side wall components to construct the front corners of the structure and where the opposing flange constructs the frame of the door.
2. The “storm shelter” or “safe room” of claim 1 built with a solid steel frame and steel door with bar grating and specially designed locking mechanism.
- a. A door constructed of steel plate and bar grating with crossbars, hinges, and locking brackets bolted together.
- b. A locking device with three specifically designed dead bolts attached to a locking bar for single action panic proof locking capability. A locking device with dead bolts that insert through the locking brackets and C-Channel frame.
- c. Dead bolts or locking pins that have smooth steel on each end and threads in the middle, with one end having a smaller outside diameter than the opposite end.
- d. A section of square tubing fastened to the inner side of the door that rotates and is designed in such a manner to hold the locking device in place.
3. The “safe room” or “storm shelter” of claim 1 with angle iron roof supports and steel plate bolted to the flange of the top C-Channel of opposing side walls, end wall, and door header to form the roof of the shelter.
- a. A roof design with angle iron bolted to the flange of the top C-Channel of opposing walls for rafter support and lateral wall support.
- b. A roof design with flat steel plate bolted to the top flange of C-channel wall components, the angle iron rafters and door header.
Type: Application
Filed: Jul 30, 2005
Publication Date: Dec 1, 2005
Inventor: Melvin Hudson (Prince George, VA)
Application Number: 11/193,898