Earthquake-resistant architectural system
OwnerJohn Cunninghaminventor
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An earthquake-resistant architectural system incorporates a number of homeostatic devices which offer increasing, instead of decreasing, resistance to a load and its resulting stresses. A common feature of the improvement is that support posts are topped by bearings facing each other and having grooved channels which are inclined at an angle to the longitudinal axis of each resilient transverse member at rest, so that a horizontal distance, when measured in a straight line between opposite points of contact in the grooved channels, decreases as the load increases and bends each resilient transverse member.
Claims20
An earthquake-resistant architectural system comprising:
- a. at least two support posts;
- b. bearings being mounted on the support and facing each other, each of the bearings having a grooved channel which has opposite open ends and is inclined downwardly at an angle from a horizontal ordinate;
- and
- c. at least one resilient transverse member having a longitudinal axis aligned coaxially with the horizontal ordinate when the transverse member is unloaded and at rest, said transverse member extending between the bearings and having a point of contact in each grooved channel with end portions of the transverse member overhanging opposite open ends of the grooved channels;
- wherein a horizontal distance, when measured in a straight line between the points of contact in each grooved channel, decreases as the resilient transverse member is loaded so that the resilient transverse member bends and slides in the grooved channels.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.