Roof structure for housing units

#Although multiple-unit housing has long been recognized for its space efficiency and maximum utilization of land, the last 20 years has seen a significant increase in the number of multiple-unit housing starts wherein the building modules are substantially preconstructed in a plant and then transported to a location where they are assembled.

#Representative of this type of construction and concept is the housing arrangement disclosed in my prior U.S. Pat. No. 3,629,983. This prior patent discloses a particular arrangement of dwelling units wherein the units are arranged in such a manner as to generally enclose an open-air court. The units have a staggered assembly, corner to corner, in the shape of a square or quadrangle where an end of one unit abuts the side of an adjacent unit, and so forth until the courtyard area is enclosed by a total of four units. Alternatively, a single-family dwelling may have its individual rooms arranged in a sequential single-file manner on three or four sides of the courtyard, thereby preserving the same housing concept.

#The preconstructed, multiple-unit housing disclosed in my prior patent included variations such as adding a second story and creating walkways to and from the open-air court. While still utilizing the basic concepts of an enclosed courtyard, it is envisioned that improvements can be made to the structure in the type of construction and architectural designs which are possible.

#FIG. 1 is a perpsective view of a housing unit arranged so as to define an atrium courtyard and including molded roof sections according to one embodiment of the present invention.

#FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a single roof section comprising a portion of the FIG. 1 dwelling unit.

#FIG. 3 is an end elevation view in full section of a single roof section as assembled onto housing unit sidewalls.

#For the purposes of promoting an understanding of the principles of the invention, reference will now be made to the embodiment illustrated in the drawings and specific language will be used to describe the same. It will nevertheless be understood that no limitation of the scope of the invention is thereby intended, such alterations and further modifications in the illustrated device, and such further applications of the principles of the invention as illustrated therein being contemplated as would normally occur to one skilled in the art to which the invention relates.

#Referring to FIG. 1, there is illustrated a single-family, atrium-courtyard dwelling 20 which is constructed of single-wide housing units 21, 21a and 21b. These three housing units are arranged on three sides of the atrium courtyard 22 while the fourth side is configured with a garage 23 and security gate 24. Within each housing unit there is an arrangement of individual rooms which are sequentially arranged in single-file manner and these individual rooms may be selectively arranged in sequence according to the preference of the owner (dweller). Although a single-wide arrangement of housing units has been selected as the housing concept for use in combination with the present invention, it is to be understood that the roof construction disclosed herein may be just as easily applied to conventional housing units which are not single-wide and which are not arranged so as to define an atrium courtyard. The preference for the arrangement of FIG. 1 is that it enables the disclosure of a variety of individual roof section shapes and uses, all as part of a single dwelling and a single illustration. A further factor in the selection of single-wide housing units to use in combination with the roof structure of the present invention is the overall width of such housing units. Since these types of housing units are typically fabricated at a remote location and then moved over the road to the construction site, individual state laws regulate how wide the individual housing units may be for over-the-road transportation. Typically, the maximum over-the-road width which is permissible is 14 feet, though the regulated width may vary between 12 and 16 feet, depending on the state. Assuming a somewhat standard width of 14 feet, it is to be understood that the individual roof sections disclosed herein may be molded in 14-foot wide sections thus enabling a single, unitary roof section to span each housing unit from sidewall to sidewall.

#While there is virtually an infinite number of room arrangements which are possible within each housing unit, the width of each unit remains substantially the same and the enclosing configuration of units 21-21b which defines the atrium courtyard remains unaffected by the arrangement of the individual rooms within each housing unit. The uniformity in housing unit width enables a standardized roof construction to be employed which saves construction time, skilled labor and material costs. Although there are only seven basic roof section configurations illustrated in FIG. 1, the teachings of the present invention can be utilized to improvise and create a much wider variety of individual roof sections. The roof sections are molded as single, unitary, homogenous members with a tongue in groove jointing concept for contiguous roof sections and downwardly opening channels for receipt of the sidewalls, and these features remain consistent regardless of the roof section style. Granted, if the roof sections must span a width dimension for the particular dwelling unit which excedes the dimension which can be safely and reliably molded as a single member, then a tongue-in-groove jointing arrangement or similar assembly technique must be employed not only on the ends of the individual roof sections, but as well on one of the side edges. In this arrangement, in lieu of having two oppositely disposed downwardly opening side edge channels for receipt of the sidewalls, one of the side edges is configured with one-half of the tongue-in-groove joint and the corresponding roof section which completes the overall width includes the other half of the tongue-in-groove joint. The opposite side edge of the second roof section is thus configured with a downwardly opening channel for receipt of the opposite sidewalls of the housing unit.