Prefabricated building module and modular construction method for the module

A prefabricated building module comprising a pair of spaced-apart oppositely disposed side-wall panels each of which extends in a vertical plane when disposed in its operative position in a building, a floor panel, and a ceiling panel, the side-wall panels being rigidly connected to the floor and ceiling panels to form a prefabricated building module corresponding to a room unit, each side-wall panel and the ceiling panel being a lightweight rectangular metal-reinforced concrete wall panel including:

• a. a thin rectangular membrane of lightweight concrete material having a first substantially flat surface and a second surface substantially parallel to the first surface, the two surfaces being bounded by a front edge, a edge and two side edges, the concrete membrane of the side-wall panels being no thicker than necessary to withstand the hydrostatic pressure equivalent to that exerted by a wall of concrete poured against the second surface for the height of the panel when the front and rear edges are vertical;
• b. first elongated metallic reinforcing elements wholly embedded in the membrane and extending between the front edge and the rear edge of the membrane in a plane intermediate the first and second surfaces, the elements being the only components of the panel serving as tensile reinforcement to withstand tensile loads acting in the plane of the panel perpendicular to the front and rear edges;
• and
• c. a plurality of metallic reinforcing members extending substantially parallel to, and at predetermined intervals between the front and rear edges of the membrane, each reinforcing member having
• i. a first straight edge portion embedded in the membrane between the first reinforcing elements and the second surface and extending from one side edge to the other side edge of the membrane,
• ii. a second straight flange-like edge portion spaced outwardly from the second surface of the membrane at a predetermined distance substantially greater than the thickness of the membrane and extending parallel to the line of the first edge portion for at least the length of the first edge portion, and
• iii. an open web intermediate portion for rigidly connecting the first edge portion to the second edge portion, the web portion and the second edge portions of adjacent reinforcing members forming open uninterrupted recesses, in conjunction with the second surface of the membrane, from the first side edge to the second side edge,
• the distance between the front edge of each wall panel and the reinforcing member nearest thereto being different from the distance between the rear edge of the wall panel and the reinforcing member nearest thereto to permit the outwardly extending portions of the reinforcing members of one side-wall panel of a first building module to nest between the outwardly extending portions of the reinforcing members of an identical side-wall panel of a second building module in which the identical panel of the second building module is turned end for end with respect to said side-wall panel of the first building module.

A prefabricated building module in the form of a box comprising at least two opposing side-wall portions, a ceiling portion and a floor portion, each of the two side-wall portions and the ceiling portion including a thin layer of concrete-like material and a plurality of open-web elongated tensile reinforcing members spaced-apart from one another and extending approximately vertically across one surface of the thin layer of each side-wall portion in the manner of studs and extending approximately horizontally across one surface of the ceiling portion in the manner of beams with one portion of each reinforcing member being embedded in the one surface and the other portion of each reinforcing member being exposed and extending outwardly therefrom, and means for rigidly attaching at least two of the reinforcing members of each of the side-wall portions to corresponding reinforcing members of the ceiling portions and to the floor portion for forming a rigid, box-like structure, the building module being adapted to be placed with one of the side-wall portions thereof adjacent to the spaced-apart from one side-wall portion of another building module to construct a building therefrom, the thin layers of the adjacent side-wall portions providing a form structure into which a wall of concrete-like material can be poured between the spaced-apart side-wall portions of the adjacent building modules, the other portion of at least some of the reinforcing members of the adjacent one side-wall portions extending in spaced-apart nesting relation into the form structure and being adapted to reinforce the wall to be poured and to integrate the building module with the wall, the thin layers of the side-wall portions being no thicker than necessary to withstand the stresses of moving the module into place in a building and the pressure of the poured wall of concrete-wall material before it sets, each reinforcing member including two parallel flanges and an open web extending between the two flanges substantially throughout the length thereof, one of the flanges of each reinforcing member being embedded in the one surface of the thin layer of the respective portions and extending substantially parallel to the plan thereof, the other flange and at least a portion of the open web being exposed and extending outwardly therefrom, the reinforcing members of the ceiling portion which are rigidly attached having ends oppositely disposed along the length thereof which are substantially in alignment with the upper end of corresponding reinforcing members of each of the two side-wall portions, and in which the means for rigidly attaching reinforcing members of each of the side-wall portions to the corresponding reinforcing members of the ceiling portion include means for rigidly securing the upper end of the reinforcing members of each of the two side-wall portions to the end of the reinforcing members of the ceiling portion adjacent thereto.

A prefabricated building module in the form of a box comprising at least two opposing side-wall portions, a ceiling portion and a floor portion, each of the two side-wall portions and the ceiling portion including a thin layer of concrete-like material and a plurality of elongated metallic reinforcing members extending approximately vertically across one surface of the thin layer of each side-wall portion in the manner of studs and extending approximately horizontally across the one surface of the ceiling portion in the manner of joists, with one portion of each reinforcing member being embedded in the one surface and the other portion of each reinforcing member extending outwardly therefrom, and a means rigidly attaching at least two of the reinforcing members of each of the side-wall portions to corresponding reinforcing members of the ceiling portion and to the floor portion for forming a rigid, box-like structure, the building module being adapted to be placed with one of the side-wall portions thereof adjacent to and spaced-apart from one side-wall portion of another building module to construct a building therefrom, the thin layers of the adjacent side-wall portions providing a form structure into which a wall of concrete-like material can be poured between the spaced-apart side-wall portions of the adjacent building modules, the other portion of at least some of the reinforcing members of the adjacent one side-wall portions extending in spaced-apart nesting relation into the form structure and being adapted to reinforce the wall to be poured and to integrate the building module with the wall, the thin layers of the side-wall portions being no thicker than necessary to withstand the stresses of moving the module into place in a building and the pressure of the poured wall of concrete-like material before it sets, and each reinforcing member including two parallel flanges and an open web extending between the two flanges substantially throughout the length thereof, one of the flanges of each reinforcing member being embedded in the one surface of the thin layer of the respective portions and extending substantially parallel to the plane thereof, the other flange and at least a portion of the open web being exposed and extending outwardly therefrom, the two side-wall portions and the ceiling portion each having the same number of spaced-apart open web members, a plate being rigidly attached to each end of each of the open web members of the ceiling portion and to the upper end of each of the open web members of the two side-wall portions, each of the plates being attached between the spaced-apart flanges of the open web members, and in which the means for rigidly attaching at least two of the reinforcing members of each of the side-wall portions to the ceiling portion include means for rigidly attaching the plate at the upper end of each of the open web members of each of the two-side portions to a corresponding one of the plates at the ends of the open web girders of the ceiling portion adjacent the respective side-wall portion.

A prefabricated building module in the form of a box comprising at least two opposing side-wall portions, a ceiling portion and a floor portion, each of the two side-wall portions and the ceiling portion including a thin layer of concrete-like material and a plurality of open web elongated metallic reinforcing members spaced-apart from one another, each reinforcing member extending approximately vertically across one surface of the thin layer of each side-wall portion in the manner of studs and extending approximately horizontally across the one surface of the ceiling portion in the manner of joists, with one portion of each reinforcing member being embedded in the one surface and the other portion of each reinforcing member extending outwardly therefrom, the floor portion including a thin layer of concrete-like material and rib members integral with the thin layer and extending from the outer surface thereof both around at least a portion of the perimeter of the thin layer and substantially across the thin layer in spaced-apart relation to each other and at least two anchor plates embeded in the peripheral rib members on each side of the floor portion adjacent the side-wall portions, a means for rigidly attaching at least two of the reinforcing members of each of the side-wall portions to corresponding reinforcing members of ceiling portion, and a means for rigidly attaching the lower end of each of said at least two reinforcing members of each side-wall portion to a corresponding one of the anchor plates embedded in the peripheral rib members of the floor portion for forming a rigid, box-like structure, the building module being adapted to be placed with one of the side-wall portions thereof adjacent to and spaced-apart from one side-wall portion of another building module to construct a building therefrom, the thin layers of the adjacent side-wall portions providing a form structure into which a wall of concrete-like material can be poured between the spaced-apart side-wall portions of the adjacent building modules, the other portion of at least some of the reinforcing members of the adjacent one side-wall portions extending in spaced-apart nesting relation into the form structure and being adapted to reinforce the wall to be poured and to integrate the building module with the wall, the thin layers of the side-wall portions being no thicker than necessary to withstand the stresses of moving the module into place in a building and the pressure of the poured wall of concrete-like material before it sets.