Precast concrete building construction

Claim 2

A multiple story garage structure, comprising: a. a first set of precast concrete building units, each unit thereof including an elongated rectangular slab and legs at the ends thereof, the slabs being arranged in side-by-side and endto-end relation and the legs disposed in rows under the ends of the slabs, the rows of legs defining therebetween rows of parking spaces adjacent the legs and access lanes between the parking spaces; b. a second set of precast concrete building units, each unit of the second set including a beam and a leg at each end thereof, the members of the second set of building units being disposed in longitudinal alignment with the rows of legs of the first set at the ends thereof to define transversely extending corridors connecting the access lanes; c. a third set of precast concrete building units, each unit of the third set including a slab and at least one beam thereunder, the ends of the members of the third set of building units resting on the beams of the second set of building units and continuing in side-by-side and end-to-end relation from the slabs of the first set of building units; d. and means securing the sets of building units in their assembled relation.

Claim 3

A building construction, as defined in claim 1, wherein: a. said building units are adapted to be stacked to form a multideck structure; b. said legs are provided with vertical tendon guideways adapted to be aligned when said building units are stacked; c. and said securing means includes vertical tendons slidably received in said aligned vertical guideways, and anchor means are provided at the extremities of said tendons to hold said vertical tendons under tension, thereby to exert a compressive force between the vertically stacked building units, said vertical tendons being freely movable in their respective passageways between their respective anchors whereby tension loads thereon are uniformly distributed along the length of each vertical tendon.

Claim 4

A building construction, as defined in claim 1, wherein: a. each slab defines a plurality of horizontal tendon guideways, disposed in alignement with guideways of adjacent slabs, when the slabs are assembled in side-by-side relation; b. and said securing means includes tendons slidably received in the guideways of a plurality of slabs, and anchors at the remote ends of the tendons to hold said tendons under tension thereby to exert a compressive force between slabs located between said anchors, said tendons being freely movable in said guideways between said anchors whereby tension loads are uniformly distributed along the length of each tendon.

Claim 5

A building construction, as defined in claim 3, wherein: a. the slabs of said building units are initially disposed in spaced relation; b. grout including expansive cement occupies said spaces to exert an expansive force between said slabs; c. and said tendons exert a compressive force on the grout compensating for the expansive force of said grout.

Claim 6

A horizontal multiple deck construction, comprising: a. a set of elongated concrete slabs for each deck arranged in coplanar relation with their side edges in contiguous relation to form a plurality of continuous junctures between their side edges; b. deflection resisting beams integral with corresponding slabs; c. integral legs at the ends of the beams for supporting each deck above the deck below; d. each set of slabs having a plurality of horizontal transversely extending parallel guideways dIsposed in alignment across the junctures and through a plurality of slabs; e. a plurality of continuous slab connecting flexible tendons, slidable in and coextensive with the guideways in each deck; f. anchoring means secured to the ends of the tendons of each deck to maintain predetermined uniformity of distributed tension loads throughout the lengths of the tendons thereby to maintain corresponding compression loads distributed throughout the slabs disposed between the anchors as well as the junctures between contiguous slabs, the tension loads being of sufficient magnitude to secure the slabs against relative movement at their junctures, thereby to cause the slabs to resist deflecting forces as a unit; g. the legs extending between the decks being disposed in vertically aligned groups and each leg forming a juncture with a slab of the deck below; h. a pier below the lowermost leg of each group and forming a horizontal juncture therewith; i. each group of legs, the corresponding ends of the beams and the slabs therebetween having vertical guideways extending from the piers therethrough; j. flexible tendons extending through the vertical guideways; k. and anchoring means in said piers and bearing against the slabs of the top deck secured to the vertical tendons to maintain a predetermined uniformity distributed tension loads throughout the lengths of the vertical tendons thereby to maintain compression loads distributed throughout the legs, beam ends and slabs disposed between the anchors as well as the horizontal junctures therebetween to cause the decks to resist deflection forces as a unit.

Claim 7

A horizontal multiple deck construction, comprising: a. a set of elongated concrete slabs for each deck arranged in coplanar relation with their side edges in contiguous relation to form a plurality of continuous junctures between their side edges; b. deflection resisting beams integral with corresponding slabs; c. integral legs at the ends of the beams for supporting each deck above the deck below; d. each set of slabs having a plurality of horizontal transversely extending parallel guideways dIsposed in alignment across the junctures and through a plurality of slabs; e. a plurality of continuous slab connecting flexible tendons, slidable in and coextensive with the guideways in each deck; f. anchoring means secured to the ends of the tendons of each deck to maintain predetermined uniformity of distributed tension loads throughout the lengths of the tendons thereby to maintain corresponding compression loads distributed throughout the slabs disposed between the anchors as well as the junctures between contiguous slabs, the tension loads being of sufficient magnitude to secure the slabs against relative movement at their junctures, thereby to cause the slabs to resist deflecting forces as a unit; g. the legs extending between the decks being disposed in vertically aligned groups and each leg forming a juncture with a slab of the deck below; h. a pier below the lowermost leg of each group and forming a horizontal juncture therewith; i. each group of legs, the corresponding ends of the beams and the slabs therebetween having vertical guideways extending from the piers therethrough; j. flexible tendons extending through the vertical guideways; k. and anchoring means in said piers and bearing against the slabs of the top deck secured to the vertical tendons to maintain a predetermined uniformity distributed tension loads throughout the lengths of the vertical tendons thereby to maintain compression loads distributed throughout the legs, beam ends and slabs disposed between the anchors as well as the horizontal junctures therebetween to cause the decks to resist deflection forces as a unit.

Claim 8

A multiple story building construction, comprising: a. at least four building units forming a lower story; each unit including a horizontal rectangular concrete slab having a major longitudinal and a minor lateral dimension underlying supporting beams extending longitudinally of the slabs between the ends thereof and spaced vertical concrete legs fixed to the ends of the slabs; b. the four units being assembled with the slabs in a common horizontal plane and with the ends of the slabs in abutting relation on first vertical planes, the adjacent longitudinal edges of adjacent slabs likewise being in abutting relation on second vertical planes at right angles to the first named planes; c. foundation means serving to engage and support the lower ends of the vertical legs; d. at least four building units assembled upon the first four units and forming a second story; e. the units of the second story likewise each including a horizontal rectangular concrete slab having a major longitudinal and a minor lateral dimension underlying supporting beams extending longitudinally of the slabs between the ends thereof and spaced vertical concrete legs fixed to the end portions of the slabs; f. the four units of the second story being assembled with their slabs in a common horizontal plane and with the adjacent ends of the slabs in abutting relation on said first vertical planes and the longitudinal edges of adjacent slabs being in abutting relation on said second vertical plane; g. the vertical legs for the upper story having their lower ends seated upon end portions of an underlying slab and in vertical alignment with legs for the lower story; h. the space between vertical legs of a story as measured longitudinally of the units being substantially unobstructed to form free corridors; i. the legs for adjacent ends of units for the second story being disposed adjacent and on opposite sides of a corresponding first plane; j. the slabs of the units forming both the lower and upper stories having aligned horizontal tendon accommodating guideways extending laterally through the same from one remote longitudinal side edge of a slab to the remote other side edge; k. the end portion of each slab of the units forming both the lower and upper stories having a vertical tendon accommodating guideway extending through the saMe and through a corresponding vertical leg; l. the vertical guideways of the units forming the upper floor being aligned with the vertical guideways of the units forming the lower story; m. tensioned horizontal tendons extending through the horizontal guideways of the slabs and tendon anchors at the remote side edges of the slabs thereby serving to apply forces in compression to the slabs causing mutual engagement of their intermediate longitudinal edges; n. tensioned vertical tendons extending through the aligned vertical guideways and tendon anchors in the foundation means and upper story serving to apply forces in compression to the vertical legs and to the corresponding portions of the slabs engaged thereby; o. the portions of the horizontal tendons intermediate their extremities being free of force transmitting attachment with the slabs through which they extend; p. the portions of the vertical tendons intermediate the foundation means and their upper extremities being free of force transmitting attachment with the legs and slabs through which they extend; q. and means securing adjacent ends of the slabs together.

Claim 9

A multiple story building construction, comprising: a. at least four building units forming a lower story; each unit including a horizontal rectangular concrete slab having a major longitudinal and a minor lateral dimension underlying supporting beams extending longitudinally of the slabs between the ends thereof and spaced vertical concrete legs fixed to the ends of the slabs; b. the four units being assembled with the slabs in a common horizontal plane and with the ends of the slabs in abutting relation on first vertical planes, the adjacent longitudinal edges of adjacent slabs likewise being in abutting relation on second vertical planes at right angles to the first named planes; c. foundation means serving to engage and support the lower ends of the vertical legs; d. at least four building units assembled upon the first four units and forming a second story; e. the units of the second story likewise each including a horizontal rectangular concrete slab having a major longitudinal and a minor lateral dimension underlying supporting beams extending longitudinally of the slabs between the ends thereof and spaced vertical concrete legs fixed to the end portions of the slabs; f. the four units of the second story being assembled with their slabs in a common horizontal plane and with the adjacent ends of the slabs in abutting relation on said first vertical planes and the longitudinal edges of adjacent slabs being in abutting relation on said second vertical plane; g. the vertical legs for the upper story having their lower ends seated upon end portions of an underlying slab and in vertical alignment with legs for the lower story; h. the space between vertical legs of a story as measured longitudinally of the units being substantially unobstructed to form free corridors; i. the legs for adjacent ends of units for the second story being disposed adjacent and on opposite sides of a corresponding first plane; j. the slabs of the units forming both the lower and upper stories having aligned horizontal tendon accommodating guideways extending laterally through the same from one remote longitudinal side edge of a slab to the remote other side edge; k. the end portion of each slab of the units forming both the lower and upper stories having a vertical tendon accommodating guideway extending through the saMe and through a corresponding vertical leg; l. the vertical guideways of the units forming the upper floor being aligned with the vertical guideways of the units forming the lower story; m. tensioned horizontal tendons extending through the horizontal guideways of the slabs and tendon anchors at the remote side edges of the slabs thereby serving to apply forces in compression to the slabs causing mutual engagement of their intermediate longitudinal edges; n. tensioned vertical tendons extending through the aligned vertical guideways and tendon anchors in the foundation means and upper story serving to apply forces in compression to the vertical legs and to the corresponding portions of the slabs engaged thereby; o. the portions of the horizontal tendons intermediate their extremities being free of force transmitting attachment with the slabs through which they extend; p. the portions of the vertical tendons intermediate the foundation means and their upper extremities being free of force transmitting attachment with the legs and slabs through which they extend; q. and means securing adjacent ends of the slabs together.

Claim 10

A multiple deck structure comprising: a. a set of elongated concrete modules, each module including a horizontally extending slab, at least one beam extending between the ends of the slab, at least one vertically extending leg adjacent each end of the beam; b. each module having a vertical tendon guideway extending continuously through each leg, beam and slab, the modules being stacked with their respective vertical guideways in vertical alignment, and the modules having areas of mutual engagement between the extremities of their legs and the slabs of vertically adjacent modules; c. continuous vertical tendons slidable in the aligned guideways; d. and tendon anchoring means at the upper and lower extremities of the guideways bearing against the modules for applying vertical tension to the tendons and vertical compression loads to the extremitites of the slabs and beams and longitudinally of the legs as well as the areas of mutual engagement, thereby securing said areas against relative displacement and increasing resistance of the slabs, beams and legs to bending loads.

Claim 11

A multiple deck structure comprising: a. a set of elongated concrete modules, each module including a horizontally extending slab, at least one beam extending between the ends of the slab, at least one vertically extending leg adjacent each end of the beam; b. each module having a vertical tendon guideway extending continuously through each leg, beam and slab, the modules being stacked with their respective vertical guideways in vertical alignment, and the modules having areas of mutual engagement between the extremities of their legs and the slabs of vertically adjacent modules; c. continuous vertical tendons slidable in the aligned guideways; d. and tendon anchoring means at the upper and lower extremities of the guideways bearing against the modules for applying vertical tension to the tendons and vertical compression loads to the extremitites of the slabs and beams and longitudinally of the legs as well as the areas of mutual engagement, thereby securing said areas against relative displacement and increasing resistance of the slabs, beams and legs to bending loads.

Claim 12

A multiple deck structure, as defined in claim 7, wherein: a. the lower tendon anchoring means includes foundation piers disposed under the legs of the lowermost modules; b. and the tendons for each stack of modules are adapted to be threaded through the guideways in sequence as the modules are placed in stacked relation.

Claim 13

A horizontal deck construction, comprising: a. a set of elongated concrete slabs arranged in coplanar relation with their side edges in contiguous relation to form a plurality of junctures coextensive with the side edges; b. the slabs having a plurality of parallel, aligned tendon guideways extending continuously through the set of slabs transverse to said junctures; c. a plurality of continuous slab connecting flexible tendons slidable in and coextensive with the guideways; d. anchoring means engaging the tendons and fixed to the slabs at the ends of the guideways the anchoring means maintaining predetermined tension loads on the tendons and corresponding compression loads in the slabs, including the junctures therebetween, of sufficient magnitude to secure the slabs against relative movement at their junctures thereby to cause the slabs to resist deflection forces as a unit; e. and a set of deflection resisting slab supporting beams underlying the slabs and extending parallel to the junctures, the beams being in rigid relation to the slabs and cooperating therewith to support loads as a unit.

Claim 14

A horizontal deck construction, comprising: a. a set of elongated concrete slabs arranged in coplanar relation with their side edges in contiguous relation to form a plurality of junctures coextensive with the side edges; b. the slabs having a plurality of parallel, aligned tendon guideways extending continuously through the set of slabs transverse to said junctures; c. a plurality of continuous slab connecting flexible tendons slidable in and coextensive with the guideways; d. anchoring means engaging the tendons and fixed to the slabs at the ends of the guideways the anchoring means maintaining predetermined tension loads on the tendons and corresponding compression loads in the slabs, including the junctures therebetween, of sufficient magnitude to secure the slabs against relative movement at their junctures thereby to cause the slabs to resist deflection forces as a unit; e. and a set of deflection resisting slab supporting beams underlying the slabs and extending parallel to the junctures, the beams being in rigid relation to the slabs and cooperating therewith to support loads as a unit.

Claim 15

A construction, as defined in claim 9, wherein: a. said anchoring means are removable from the tendons and the tendons are removable from the slabs to permit disassembly of the slabs thereby to permit removal to another site for reassembly.

Claim 16

A construction, as defineD in claim 9, wherein: a. supporting legs extend vertically from the ends of each beam to form with the set of beams and corresponding set of slabs a set of coplanar building units; b. and the sets of building units are stacked vertically to form a multiple story structure.

Claim 17

A multiple story structure, as defined in claim 11, wherein: a. a first set of tendon anchoring means underlie the supporting legs of the lowermost set of building units; b. junctures are formed between the members of each stack of building units; c. the supporting legs, beams and slabs of each stack of building units have vertical tendon guideways extending continuously between the tendon anchoring means and the top of the multiple story structure; d. a plurality of vertical tendons are secured to the first set of tendon anchoring means and are slidable in the vertical guideways; e. and a second set of tendon anchoring means engage the upper ends of the tendons and are fixed to the top of the multiple story structure to maintain vertical tension loads on the tendons and corresponding vertical compression loads on the members of each stack of building units as well as the junctures therebetween to secure the members against relative movement at their junctures thereby to cause the members of each stack of building units to resist deflection forces as a unit.

Claim 18

A construction, as defined in claim 12, wherein: a. the anchoring means for the slab connecting tendons are removable therefrom, and the tendons are removable from the slabs to permit disassembly; b. at least the second set of anchoring means for the vertical tendons are removable therefrom to permit disassembly of each stack of building units, whereby the building units may be removed to another site for reassembly.