U.S. patent number 3,762,108 [Application Number 05/208,741] was granted by the patent office on 1973-10-02 for inflatable building with reinforced seam.
This patent grant is currently assigned to Environmental Structures, Inc.. Invention is credited to Robert M. Pierson.
United States Patent |
3,762,108 |
Pierson |
October 2, 1973 |
INFLATABLE BUILDING WITH REINFORCED SEAM
Abstract
An inflatable building having reinforced seams for joining
together the marginal edges of sheets of flexible material, such as
plastic or fabric, which form the cover envelope of the building,
in which the edges are wrapped around a cable or other reinforcing
member and clamped in the wrapped position to provide a leak-proof
seam without the use of adhesives, sewing, heat sealing or other
conventional fastening means. The sheets may, as an alternative, be
wrapped around a filler member, then clamped to a reinforcing
member.
Inventors: |
Pierson; Robert M. (Hudson,
OH) |
Assignee: |
Environmental Structures, Inc.
(Cleveland, OH)
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Family
ID: |
26903458 |
Appl.
No.: |
05/208,741 |
Filed: |
December 16, 1971 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
Issue Date |
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850826 |
Aug 18, 1969 |
3661693 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
52/2.23; 24/555;
52/83; D25/18; 52/63 |
Current CPC
Class: |
B29C
65/565 (20130101); E04H 15/22 (20130101); B29C
66/43 (20130101); B29C 66/1122 (20130101); Y10T
24/44855 (20150115) |
Current International
Class: |
B29C
65/56 (20060101); E04H 15/22 (20060101); E04H
15/20 (20060101); E04b 001/345 () |
Field of
Search: |
;52/2,63,222 ;24/243K
;160/395,399 ;150/1,10 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Foreign Patent Documents
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677,389 |
|
Nov 1964 |
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IT |
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1,437,179 |
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Mar 1966 |
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FR |
|
Primary Examiner: Abbott; Frank L.
Assistant Examiner: Raduazo; H. E.
Parent Case Text
This is a divisional of my co-pending application Ser. No. 850,826
filed Aug. 18, 1969 now issued U.S. Pat. No. 3,661,693.
Claims
I claim:
1. An inflatable building having its lower peripheral edges
attached to a base comprising:
A. a plurality of flexible elongated reinforcing members; and
B. a flexible cover envelope comprising elongated sheets of
flexible material attached between the reinforcing members to
completely cover the entire area to be enclosed by the
building;
C. the ends of the sheets of material and the reinforcing members
being sealingly attached to the periphery of the base to form an
airtight enclosure;
D. the adjacent marginal side edges of each adjacent pair of sheets
being connected to one of the flexible reinforcing members to form
an airtight reinforced flexible seam wherein:
1. the marginal edge of each sheet is positioned contiguous to the
adjacent marginal edge of the other,
2. the reinforcing member is positioned in the area of contiguity
and running longitudinally therewith,
3. both said sheets are folded around the reinforcing member to
encase the member therein,
4. elongated flexible pressure strips are placed on each side of
the folded portion of the sheets, and
5. resilient gripping means extend around the reinforcing member
and the folded portion of the sheets and bear laterally inwardly
against the pressure strips to hold the sheets in the folded
position around the reinforcing members.
6. the flexibility of the combined seam components permits bending
of the seam in any direction when the cover envelope is subjected
to deflection.
2. An inflatable building as claimed in claim 1 wherein the
gripping means for the seam is a plurality of spring clamps.
3. An inflatable building as claimed in claim 1 wherein the
reinforcing member is a metallic cable.
4. An inflatable building as claimed in claim 1 wherein the
reinforcing material is a fibrous rope.
Description
This invention relates to an inflatable building having reinforced
seams for joining together flexible sheets of material, such as
plastic or fabric, forming a cover envelope without the use of
adhesives or other conventional fastening means.
OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION
A primary object of this invention is to provide an inflatable
building having a simple and easily assembled reinforced seam for
joining together sheets of flexible material along their marginal
edges. Another object of this invention is to provide an inflatable
building having a releasable seam for joining sheet material which
will permit the sheet material to be easily assembled and
disassembled for replacement of sheet material or for other
purposes. A still further object of this invention is to provide an
inflatable building having a reinforced seam which does not require
the use of adhesives, heat sealing, sewing or other conventional
means of joining sheet material together. These and other objects
of the invention will become more fully apparent as the description
proceeds in the following specification and the accompanying
drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a fragmentary perspective view showing a cross-section
through the seam of the invention;
FIG. 2 is a fragmentary side view through the seam shown in FIG.
1;
FIGS. 3 through 6 show the various steps in the assembly of the
seam shown in FIGS. 1 and 2;
FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view of another embodiment of the
invention;
FIG. 8 is a fragmentary cross-sectional view showing a grooved
pressure strip with a spring clip engaging the groove;
FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view of another embodiment of the
invention;
FIG. 10 shows a view similar to FIG. 9 but with the folds of the
sheets reversed;
FIG. 11 shows another embodiment of the invention in which a filler
is encased in the sheets and the cable is clamped to the sheets
adjacent the filler; and
FIG. 12 is a perspective view of an inflatable building which can
use the seam structures shown in FIGS. 1 through 11.
PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION
Referring now to FIGS. 1 and 2, the seam assembly is designated as
a whole by the numeral 1. A pair of sheets 2 and 3 of plastic film
are shown joined together by the seam assembly 1. It will be
understood that although plastic film is shown in the preferred
embodiment of the invention, this seam assembly is equally
applicable to other flexible sheet material, such as fabric and the
like, and it is immaterial whether the material be transparent or
opaque. The main characteristic of the sheet material is that it
must be sufficiently flexible to permit it to be folded around a
reinforcing member as will be described in further detail herein.
The particular sheet material illustrated by FIGS. 2 and 3 is a
clear plastic film material of the type used on inflatable
buildings such as those disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,035,590 issued
to E N Helmers or U.S. Pat. No. 3,353,309 issued to J P Kwake or
the building illustrated in FIG. 12 of this application. The
overall configuration of the building in FIG. 12 is quite similar
to prior art structures and has a flexible envelope 14 comprised of
elongated sheets 2 and 3 joined by seam assemblies 1 having a cable
4 therein as will be described later. The opposite ends of the
cables 4 and the sheets 2 and 3 are sealingly attached to the
periphery of the base 15 by any well-known means to form an
airtight enclosure. The building has a typical access door 16 and
an inflation blower 17. As best shown in FIG. 1, the marginal edge
of the sheet 2 passes around the reinforcing cable 4 and after
passing around the cable, extends a short distance in face-to-face
relationship with the main portion of the sheet 2. The sheet 3
passes around the outside of the portion of the sheet 2 surrounding
the cable 4 and extends a short distance in overlapping
relationship to the sheet 2. Thus, it may be seen that at a portion
immediately adjacent the reinforcing cable 4, the sheets 2 and 3
are folded over in overlapping relationship so that there is a
thickness of four layers of sheet material forming a gripping or
pressure area indicated by the numeral 5. A pair of pressure strips
6 and 7 is placed on each side of the pressure area 5 and are held
in position by a plurality of spring clips 8 which pass around the
film encased cable 4 and bear against the pressure strips 6 and 7
to hold them firmly against each side of the pressure area 5 and
thereby clamp together the four thicknesses of material so that
they will be securely held in the wrapped or folded position around
the cable 4 and will not only retain the cable within the wrapped
film, but will provide a leakproof seam between the sheets 2 and 3
without the need of adhesive or other conventional sealant and
securing means. One of the primary advantages of this type of seam
is that it can be disassembled as readily as it is assembled. This
is particularly useful in an inflatable building which is moved
from place to place and which must be dismantled periodically for
such moves. This type of seam is also advantageous if it becomes
necessary to replace part or all of the sheet material on the
structure. Referring now to FIGS. 3 through 6, it may be seen how
easily this seam may be assembled. In FIG. 3, the sheets 2 and 3
are placed with their marginal edges in overlapping relationship
and the cable 4 is placed immediately above the overlapping
portion, preferably near the center of the overlap and running
longitudinally of the overlapped portion. In FIG. 4, the overlapped
portion is folded around the cable. In FIG. 5, a pair of pressure
strips are placed on each side of the overlapped portion after it
has been passed around the cable. In FIG. 6, a spring clamp is
attached to the seam extending around the wrapped cable and bearing
against both of the pressure strips on each side of the fold to
tightly grip the folded material and hold it in position around the
cable.
FIG. 7 is a variation of the embodiment shown in FIG. 1 but with
both sheets folded in the same direction around the cable instead
of being folded in opposite directions. For simplicity, identical
parts to those shown in FIG. 1 will bear identical numerals. In
assembling FIG. 7, the edges of sheets 2 and 3 are placed side by
side and then folded around the cable 4. The pressure strips 6 and
7 are placed on each side of the pressure area 5 formed by the
folded sheets 2 and 3, and a plurality of spring clips 8 are
clamped around the sheet-encased cable and bear against the
pressure strips 6 and 7 to hold them in position and to hold
together the folded sheets 2 and 3 and the cable 4.
FIG. 8 shows a fragmentary view of a portion of the assembly
similar to FIG. 7, but with a groove 9 along the outer face of the
pressure strip 7. One end of the spring clip 8 is in contact with
the groove 9 which aids in preventing the clip 8 from slipping off
the pressure strip 7. Of course, any of the pressure strips shown
in any of the embodiments in this application may be grooved
similar to that illustrated in FIG. 8.
FIGS. 9 and 10 show an embodiment of the invention in which each of
the sheets is individually folded around a separate cable and then
pressure strips are applied to each side of the folds and then
clamped together by spring clips. In FIG. 9, sheet 2 is folded
around a cable 10 and sheet 3 is folded around a cable 11. The ends
of the sheets 2 and 3 are folded outwardly from each other around
the cables and then pressure strips 6 and 7 are placed on each side
of the folds and the usual spring clips 8 are clamped in position
around the sheet-encased cables and the ends of the clips 8 bear
against the pressure strips 6 and 7 to hold the entire assembly in
position.
FIG. 10 is similar to FIG. 9 except that the sheets 2 and 3 have
their ends folded inwardly around the cables instead of outwardly.
Identical numerals will be used to identify the parts in FIG. 10
which are identical to those in FIG. 9. Since the assembly of FIG.
10 is similar to FIG. 9 in all other respects, no further detailed
description will be given.
FIG. 11 shows a different embodiment in which the sheets 2 and 3
are both folded around a filler member 12, preferably made of
plastic or other suitable material, instead of being folded around
a cable or reinforcing member as shown in all the previous figures.
A reinforcing cable 13 is placed adjacent to and parallel with the
filler member 12 and the pressure strips 6 and 7 are placed in
position similar to that described in the previous embodiments and
the spring clips 8 are clamped around the sheet-encased filler
strip 12, the cable 13 and bearing against the pressure strips 6
and 7 to hold the entire assembly together. The advantage of the
embodiment shown in FIG. 11 is of particular advantage when this
seam structure is used on an inflatable building. In such a
structure, the cable is completely inside the cover of the building
and is more protected from any moisture which might accumulate on
the roof of the building and work its way in between the sheets to
reach the cable when the cable is encased within the sheets.
Another advantage is that it is possible to clamp together all of
the assembly shown in FIG. 11, with the exception of the cable,
with one set of clamps and then to clamp the cable to the rest of
the assembly by a separate set of clamps. In some instances, this
may have advantages in ease of assembly. In other instances,
however, it may be preferred to assemble the entire seam along with
the filler strip and the cable before applying the spring clips. It
will, of course, be understood that the reinforcing member 4 can be
made of any material, such as a metallic cable as illustrated or a
fibrous rope or any other suitable material. The pressure strips 6
and 7 can be made of wood, plastic, metal or any suitable material.
The clips 8 are made preferably of spring steel or other similar
resilient metal; however, any other suitable material may, of
course, be used. It will be understood that the number of clips
used, the length of the clips and the length of the pressure strips
6 and 7 is a matter of design choice and can be varied as needed,
depending upon the particular size of the structure being produced.
Since the embodiments shown in FIGS. 9 and 10 are more susceptible
to leakage due to some separation of the sheets 2 and 3 under some
stress conditions it may be necessary to supplement the sealing
action of the two clamped sheets by addition of a strip of tape to
the outside of the seam or other suitable sealing means. These and
various other modifications may be made without departing from the
invention.
* * * * *