EARTHQUAKE RESISTANT HOUSE
An earthquake resistant structure includes a structure base assembly and a building structure positioned on the structure base assembly. The earthquake resistant structure includes a base isolation assembly which carries the building structure and structure base assembly, wherein the base isolation assembly includes a movement member and horizontal dampening member which allow the building structure and structure base assembly to move in response to an applied force, such as from an earthquake.
This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/949,613 filed on Jul. 13, 2007, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to buildings and, more particularly, to buildings designed to be resistant to earthquakes.
2. Description of the Related Art
Particular geographical areas are known to suffer from earthquakes. Generally, earthquake-prone areas are near a geological fault in the earth's tectonic plates. For example, in the United States, California is prone to earthquakes because it runs along the San Andreas fault. The damage to buildings from earthquakes is costly and it is inconvenient and time consuming to rebuild. Additionally, people are often injured from total or partial collapse of a building and from falling pieces of the building during an earthquake.
To reduce earthquake injuries and building damage, people have used many different types of earthquake-resistant structures and construction techniques. For example, passive damping construction techniques may be used to absorb shaking energy within a building during an earthquake. Passive damping includes using building materials that deform, but will not break during an earthquake. Diagonal bracing is used to resist the shearing forces from the swaying of a building. However, these techniques may limit the materials and designs used for a building structure. For example, it is difficult to determine the amount of deformation that can be allowed in a building material, because using a material with too much deformation can affect the strength of a building's structure. Additionally, a building design with too much diagonal bracing may not be aesthetically appealing to a building owner, or may limit the use of other standard materials during the building construction. Thus, there is a need for an earthquake-resistant building support that absorbs the shaking from an earthquake while allowing the use of standard building materials and designs.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONThe present invention provides an earthquake resistant structure, which includes a structure base assembly and a building structure positioned on the structure base assembly. The earthquake resistant structure includes a base isolation assembly, which carries the building structure and structure base assembly, wherein the base isolation assembly includes a movement member and horizontal dampening member which allow the building structure and structure base assembly to move in response to an applied force. In some embodiments, the movement member is a spherical ball and in some embodiments, the horizontal dampening member is a spring. The spring is compressed and decompressed in response to movement of the movement member. The base isolation assembly can include a cell which contains the movement member.
The present invention provides an earthquake resistant structure, which includes a structure base assembly having a plurality of interior and exterior walls connected together to form a plurality of volumes and a building structure positioned on the structure base assembly. The earthquake resistant structure includes a base isolation assembly, which carries the building structure and structure base assembly. The base isolation assembly includes a plurality of movement assemblies positioned in a corresponding volume, each movement assembly including a support grid and a plurality of movement members and a plurality of dampening assemblies, each dampening assembly including a plate which carries a plurality of vertical dampening members.
Further features and advantages of the invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art from the following detailed description, taken together with the accompanying drawings.
During an earthquake, the forces and movement from the shaking of the earth are transmitted to base isolation assembly 103. Hence, base isolation assembly 103 will shake and transmit forces and movement to building structure 101 and base 102. These forces and movement can damage building structure 101 and cause harm to the people and valuables contained therein. In accordance with the invention, base isolation assembly 103 includes movement members to allow movement of base isolation assembly 103 relative to base 102 and building structure 101. Isolation assembly 103 also includes dampening members to reduce the forces transmitted from base isolation assembly 103 to base 102 and building structure 101. By allowing base isolation assembly 103 to move relative to and by reducing the forces transmitted to base 102 and building structure 101, this reduces the likelihood that building structure 101 will be damaged by the earthquake and provides better protection for the people and valuables in structure 101. This feature will be discussed in more detail below.
Movement assembly 111 can be of many sizes and shapes, such as those embodied as 111a-f (discussed above) and 111g (discussed further below). In this embodiment, movement assemblies 111a, 111c, 111d, and 111f are substantially square and are contained within volumes 106a, 106c, 106d, and 106f, respectively, and movement assemblies 111b and 111e are rectangular and are contained within volumes 106b and 106e, respectively. Movement assembly 111g is contained within bottom container 123 of middle plate assembly 120, as will be discussed presently.
Middle plate assembly 120 also includes a lower carrier 129. Lower carrier 129 includes a lower container walls 125a-d, a middle plate bottom surface 127, and a lower container volume 123. Lower container walls 125a-d are positioned on the bottom of middle plate 122 to contain bottom surface 127 on the bottom of plate 122. Lower container volume 123 is bounded by lower container walls 125a-d and bottom surface 127. Lower carrier 129 also includes movement assembly 111g (not shown), which is contained within volume 123 (
In accordance with the invention, movement members 114 of movement assembly 111a are in rolling contact with and positioned between the bottom surface of plate 112 on damping assembly 110a and the surface 126 of middle plate assembly 120. Dampening assembly 110a and movement assembly 111a are dimensioned to allow their movement within volume 106a in direction 160. Damping assembly 110a and movement assembly 111a are dimensioned to restrict and allow their movement, respectively, within volume 106a in direction 150 (as shown), and in direction 170 (
Upper carrier 108 of structure base assembly 102 is contained within volume 121 of middle plate assembly 120, with horizontal dampening members 128 positioned therebetween. For example, dampening member 128 is positioned between the exterior portion of wall 107d and the interior portion of wall 124d as shown. Similarly, dampening members 128 are positioned between the exterior of walls 107a-c and the interior of walls 124a-c, respectively (not shown). In addition to one end of dampening member 118 being attached to the interior of walls 124a-d (discussed above), in some embodiments, the opposing ends of dampening members 128 are connected to the exterior of walls 107a-d of upper carrier 108.
In this way, movement assembly 111a and dampening assembly 110a allow middle plate assembly 120 to move in directions 150, 160 and 170 relative to structure base assembly 102. When middle plate assembly 120 moves relative to structure base assembly 102 in direction 160, dampening members 113a-d extend or compress, and thus reduce the forces and movement transferred from middle plate assembly 120 to structure base assembly 102 in direction 160. When middle plate assembly 120 moves relative to structure base assembly 102 in direction 150, dampening members 128 extend or compress, and thus reduce the forces and movement transferred from middle plate assembly 120 to structure base assembly 102 in direction 150. Additionally, when middle plate assembly 120 moves relative to structure base assembly 102 in direction 170 (
In accordance with the invention, movement assembly 111g is contained within volume 123 of lower carrier 129, and lower carrier 129 is contained within volume 131 of bottom plate assembly 130. In this way, movement members 114 of movement assembly 111g are in rolling contact with and positioned between surface 127 of lower carrier 129 on middle plate assembly 120 and the surface 136 of bottom plate assembly 130. Movement assembly 111g is dimensioned to allow its movement within volume 131 in directions 170 (
Lower carrier 129 of middle plate assembly 120 is contained within volume 131 of bottom plate assembly 130, with horizontal dampening members 128 positioned therebetween. For example, dampening member 128 is positioned between the exterior portion of wall 125d and the interior portion of wall 134d as shown. Similarly, dampening members 128 are positioned between the exterior of walls 125a-c and the interior of walls 134a-c, respectively (not shown). In addition to one end of dampening member 118 being attached to the interior of walls 134a-d (discussed above), in some embodiments, the opposing ends of dampening members 128 are connected to the exterior of walls 125a-d of lower carrier 129.
In this way, movement assembly 111g allows bottom plate assembly 130 to move in directions 150, 160 and 170 relative to middle plate assembly 120. When bottom plate assembly 130 moves relative to middle plate assembly 120 in direction 150, dampening members 128 extend or compress, and thus reduce the forces and movement transferred from bottom plate assembly 130 to middle plate assembly 120 in direction 150. Additionally, when bottom plate assembly 130 moves relative to middle plate assembly 120 in direction 170, dampening members 128 extend or compress, and thus reduce the forces and movement transferred from bottom plate assembly 130 to middle plate assembly 120 in direction 170.
The embodiments and examples set forth herein were presented in order to best explain the present invention and its practical application and to thereby enable those of ordinary skill in the art to make and use the invention. However, those of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that the foregoing description and examples have been presented for the purposes of illustration and example only. The description as set forth is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise form disclosed. Many modifications and variations are possible in light of the teachings above without departing from the spirit and scope of the forthcoming claims.
Claims
1. An earthquake resistant structure, comprising:
- a structure base assembly;
- a building structure positioned on the structure base assembly; and
- a base isolation assembly, which carries the building structure and structure base assembly, wherein the base isolation assembly includes a movement member and horizontal dampening member which allow the building structure and structure base assembly to move in response to an applied force.
2. The structure of claim 1, wherein the movement member is a spherical ball.
3. The structure of claim 1, wherein the base isolation assembly includes a cell which contains the movement member.
4. The structure of claim 2, wherein the horizontal dampening member is a spring.
5. The structure of claim 4, wherein the spring is compressed and decompressed in response to movement of the movement member.
6. The structure of claim 1, further including a dampening assembly which includes a plate and vertical dampening member.
7. An earthquake resistant structure, comprising:
- a structure base assembly which includes a plurality of interior and exterior walls connected together to form a plurality of volumes;
- a building structure positioned on the structure base assembly; and
- a base isolation assembly, which carries the building structure and structure base assembly, wherein the base isolation assembly includes a plurality of movement assemblies positioned in a corresponding volume, each movement assembly including a support grid and a plurality of movement members; and a plurality of dampening assemblies, each dampening assembly including a plate which carries a plurality of vertical dampening members.
8. The structure of claim 7, wherein the movement members are spherical balls.
9. The structure of claim 7, wherein the dampening members are springs.
10. The structure of claim 7, wherein the horizontal dampening member is a spring.
11. The structure of claim 7, further including a middle plate assembly which includes a middle plate and upwardly and downwardly extending walls, and a horizontal spring extending from the upwardly extending wall.
12. The structure of claim 11, wherein the middle plate assembly carries a movement assembly, wherein the movement assembly is engaged with the spring of the middle plate assembly.
13. The structure of claim 7, further including a bottom plate assembly which includes a bottom plate and an upwardly extending walls and a horizontal spring extending from the upwardly extending wall.
14. The structure of claim 13, wherein the bottom plate assembly carries a movement assembly, wherein the movement assembly is engaged with the spring of the bottom plate assembly.
Type: Application
Filed: Jul 14, 2008
Publication Date: Jan 15, 2009
Inventor: Carlos Marroquin (Mesa, AZ)
Application Number: 12/172,897
International Classification: E04H 9/02 (20060101);