Arched building assembly formed of resiliently, flexible members

Claim 1

In a building assembly having an elongate building member, the improvement comprising: said building member including first and second elongate submembers positioned in end-to-end relation, said first submember having one end thereof positioned closely adjacent one end of said second sub-member, said first and second submembers each being bendable into an arched shape; said building member also including a resiliently bendable connector connected between the adjacent one ends of said first and second sub-members, said connector having less resistance to bending than said sub-members; first anchor means stationarily positioned adjacent one end of said building member and pivotally connected to the other end of said first sub-member; second anchor means positioned adjacent and interconnected to the other end of said building member, said second anchor means including an elongated guide extending in a direction toward said first anchor means and a shoe slidably mounted on said guide, said shoe being pivotally connected to the other end of said second sub-member; said first and second sub-members respectively having first and second guide means fixed thereon in spaced relation from said other ends thereof; tensioning means for simultaneously yet individually resiliently flexing said first and second sub-members and said connector to camber said building member upwardly into the shape of a pointed arch, said connector defining the apex of said arch and said first and second sub-members being individually flexed upwardly into an arched shape and defining the sides of said arch; said tensioning means including an elongated flexible cable extending from said first anchor means through said first and second guide means to said second anchor means, whereby tensioning of said cable causes said shoe to move toward said first anchor means and causes said building member to be cambered upwardly; and said flexible connector consisting of an elongated, elastically bendable rodlike element extending between and fixedly connected to the corresponding one ends of said first and second sub-members, said rodlike element being bent by said tensioning means into an arch-shape defined by a first radius which is rather small, and said first and second sub-members being bent by said tensioning means into an arch-shape defined by a second radius which is large relative to said first radius.