Method of erecting prefabricated shelter

Claim 1

In the erection of a prefabricated dome-shaped shelter from a plurality of panels having the general shape of isosceles trapezoids with curvilinear sides, wherein said flexible joints include a flexible strip having an H-shape cross section so as to define longitudinal grooves between laterally projecting legs for receiving the curvilinear sides in tongue-and-groove relationship, the method of erecting the shelter comprising the steps of fitting one of said flexible strips in tongue-and-groove relationship onto one of the curvilinear sides of a first panel, pivotally connecting the first and a second panel adjacent to the tops and bottoms of their adjacent curvilinear sides, pivoting said panels relative to one another to an angle less than a preselected obtuse angle and bowing said panels while fitting the upper and lower ends of said one flexible strip in tongue-andgroove relation to the upper and lower ends of the other of the adjacent curvilinear sides, pivoting said panels relative to one another to at least said preselected obtuse angle while continuing to fit the remainder of said flexible strip in tongueand-groove relationship to the remainder of the other of the adjacent curvilinear sides, and successively joining additional panels in a similar manner to the next preceding panels.