Other

World Shelters, Inc.

Nomadic Structures, Inc.

Theodore R Zeigler

A foot assembly for a V-leg assembly of a folding frame system includes a first U-shaped bracket having two legs connected by a web, a second U-shaped bracket having two legs connected b a web, a cylindrical foot member, and a pivot pin extending through a hole in the web of the first bracket, a hole in the foot member, and a hole in the web of the second bracket so that the first bracket, the foot member, and the second bracket are all pivotable relative to one another about the pivot pin.

Folding frame system with V-shaped leg assembly and folding foot assembly

A structural module includes a first strut pair including a first strut and a second strut pivotably connected to each other at a first strut pair pivotable connection point, a second strut pair including a third strut and a fourth strut pivotably connected to each other at a second strut pair pivotable connection point, a first hub, a first end of the first strut and a first end of the third strut being pivotably connected to the first hub, a second hub, a first end of the second strut and a first end of the fourth strut being pivotably connected to the second hub, and a stop arrangement attached to at least one of the first hub, the first strut, and the third strut, the stop arrangement including an abutment end. The structural module is movable between a closed position in which longitudinal axes of struts of the first strut pair and the second strut pair are substantially parallel to one another. A collapsible structure and a method of erecting a collapsible structure are also disclosed.

Structural module with stop, collapsible structure, and method of erecting a collapsible structure

An expandable and collapsible structure and an expandable and collapsible scissor assembly and module therefor are provided. The scissor assembly includes a first strut having a first end and a second end. The scissor assembly also includes a second strut upper portion having a first end and a second end, the first end of the second strut upper portion being pivotably connected to the first strut at an upper strut connection point, and a second strut lower portion having a first end and a second end, the second end of the second strut lower portion being pivotably connected to the first strut at a lower strut connection point. The lower strut connection point is between the upper strut connection point and the first end of the first strut and the scissor assembly is movable between a folded position in which the first end of the first strut and the second end of the second strut upper portion are substantially adjacent and the second end of the first strut and the first end of the second strut lower portion are substantially adjacent, and an expanded position.

Expandable and collapsible structures including split scissor assembly

A collapsible structure with a self-locking mechanism includes a first hub, at least two struts pivotable connected at a first ends thereof to the first hub and movable relative to each another between a folded position and an expanded position, and a tension member adapted to limit pivotable movement of at least two struts such that, when in the expanded position, the at least two struts define an angle of less than 180&#xb0;. The structure further includes a locking hub and at least two locking struts pivotably connected at first ends thereof to the locking hub and, at seconds ends thereof, to connection points on respective ones of the at least two struts. A method of erecting a structure is also disclosed.

Collapsible structure with self-locking mechanism and method of erecting a collapsible structure

A frame element includes a first scissor including a first and a second strut pivotably connected to each other at a first pivot point, a second scissor including a third and a fourth strut pivotably connected to each other at a second pivot point, and a hub to which the first and the third strut are pivotably connected, the first and second scissors being pivotable about the hub between a closed position in which the first, second, third, and fourth struts are substantially parallel to one another and an open, locked position in which the first and third struts define a non-zero angle with each other and abutment portions of the second and fourth struts contact receiving portions of the third and first struts, respectively, and prevent the first and third struts from pivoting beyond the non-zero angle.

Foldable frame element and system with tension lock

A mechanically deployable, expandable and collapsible structure is provided. The structure includes at least one scissor assembly made up of a first and a second strut, a first spacer disposed between the first end of the first strut and the first end of the second strut when the scissor assembly is in the expanded position, and a second spacer disposed between the second end of the first strut and the second end of the second strut when the scissor assembly is in the expanded position. A tension member is connected to the first and second struts. The tension member is arranged such that the scissor assembly is moved from the folded position when there is slack in the tension member to the expanded position when the slack in the tension member is taken up.

Mechanically deployable expandable and collapsible structure and method for deploying a structure

A folding frame assembly includes a folding frame including a plurality of pairs of struts connected end-to-end by a plurality of hub assemblies. Struts of each strut pair are pivotably connected at ends thereof to first and second ends of a hub assembly and are foldable relative to each other between a closed position in which the struts are substantially parallel to each other, the first ends of the hub assemblies are all substantially adjacent, and the second ends of the hub assemblies are all substantially adjacent, and an open position in which the struts define non-zero angles with each other, ends of the struts of each strut pair are separated from each other by the hub assemblies, and first and second ends of the hub assemblies are non-adjacent. The folding frame assembly also comprises a leg comprising two elongated members, a portion of each elongated member being fixed to the first end of the hub assembly and each elongated member being slidably mounted relative to the second end of the hub assembly.

Folding frame assembly with foldable leg arrangement

An expandable and collapsible structure includes a plurality of roller supports, each roller support including at least two ends separated by a non-zero distance and at least one roller disposed at one of the at least two ends of the roller support, and at least one folding assembly disposed between two of the plurality of roller supports.

Expandable and collapsible structure with rollers

An expandable and collapsible structural module is provided. The module includes at least three strut pairs, the at least three strut pairs being arranged end to end, at least three corners being defined by connected ends of the at least three strut pairs. The module also includes at least three legs pivotably connected at respective ones of the at least three corners to the connected ends of the at least three strut pairs, at least one of the at least three legs being a telescoping leg.

Expandable and collapsible modular structure

A folding frame system includes a roof assembly including at least three pivotably attached strut pairs, adjacent pairs of the at least three pivotably attached strut pairs defining at least three corners of the roof assembly. The roof assembly is movable between a roof assembly closed position in which struts of the at least three strut pairs are disposed parallel to each other and a roof assembly open position in which struts of the at least three strut pairs are locked in non-parallel positions and ends of the struts of each strut pair of the at least three strut pairs define a rectangle. The folding frame system also includes a folding leg assembly disposed at each of the at least three corners of the roof assembly. Each folding leg assembly includes a leg strut assembly. The leg strut assembly includes a top leg strut and a tubular bottom leg strut in which the top leg strut is telescopingly slidable between a top leg strut closed position and a top leg strut open position. A top end of the top leg strut includes a joint pivotably attaching the top end of the top leg strut to an end of a strut of a strut pair of the at least three strut pairs. The folding leg assembly also includes a lock for locking the top leg strut in the top leg strut open position. The folding leg assembly also includes at least one arm strut assembly. The arm strut assembly is pivotably attached at a bottom end to a point on the bottom leg strut. A top end of the arm strut assembly includes a joint pivotably attaching the top end of the arm strut assembly to at least one strut of the strut pair to which the top end of the top leg strut is pivotably attached.

Folding frame system with foldable leg assembly and method of erecting a

In a family of collapsible structures, each collapsible structure has a collapsible beam. For each collapsible structure of the family of collapsible structures, the collapsible beam includes a plurality of curved strut pairs of the same length as the curved strut pairs as in every other collapsible structure of the family of collapsible strut pairs. The struts of each curved strut pair are pivotally connected to each other at points closer to the one end of the struts than the other end of the struts. Different collapsible structures of the family of collapsible structures have a different number of curved strut pairs than any other collapsible structure of the family of collapsible strut pairs.

Family of collapsible structures and a method of making a family of

An expandable and collapsible shelter is formed from a series of interconnected expandable and collapsible modules. Each module is formed from interconnected strut pairs pivotably attached at their ends to hub assemblies. The hub assemblies have outer and inner portions that are engageable and disengageable. A pair of struts is placed in a desired angular relationship by a first member for constraining a range of movement of the outer portions of the hub assemblies relative to one another and a releasable member for releasably constraining a range of movement of the inner portions of the hub assemblies relative to one another.

Portable shelter assemblies

A collapsible framework capable of being manipulated between a collapsed condition and an expanded, locked condition includes a plurality of legs and a plurality of collapsible quad sections. The legs are disposed generally in parallel with one another and in a bundle when the framework is in the collapsed condition. Each quad section includes two split step scissor units and two step scissor units. Each split step scissor unit is joined at one end to a respective leg, and including two arms that are pivotally joined, at least one of the arms being telescopic and including means for locking the arm at a predetermined length. Each step scissor unit is joined at one end to the other end of a respective split step scissor and at its other end to the other step scissor unit, and each step scissor unit includes two arms that are pivotally joined, at least one of the arms being telescopic and including means for locking the arm at a second predetermined length. The framework may further include a flexible canopy supported by the legs and quad sections, or may further include a plurality of tension cables joining ends of the legs and scissor units. Other types of quad sections are also disclosed.

Polyhedron building system having telescoping scissors

Disclosed is a building system which utilizes structural modules (10) to form a shelter (89, 132) having a spherical surface. The shelter includes flat portions (A) composed of flat modules (7), arch portions (B) composed of cylindrical modules (8), and spherical triangle portions (C) composed of spherical modules (9). The modules (10) are composed of crossed pairs of struts (13a-16b) which are hingedly interconnected by hubs (18-25). The structural modules preferably include periphery cables (27-30) and diagonal cables (31, 32, 44, 45), each cable being held in place by a cable keeper member (33-36, 46, 47). The structure also features a locking bar mechanism (26) for maintaining the modules (10) in an expanded configuration, and hubs (114) having radial cutout portions (115) for accommodating angular distortion of the structural framework.

Polyhedron building system

A system of construction comprising a plurality of modules. The modules have a plurality of struts and pivots joining the struts so that they are moveable between a collapsed condition in which the struts are bundled in generally parallel relation and an expanded condition. In the expanded condition certain of the pivots define face pivots lying in a planar array at one side of the module. The modules are arranged such that pairs of the face pivots of adjacent modules are adjacent to each other. The adjacent face pivots are joined by removable connectors. The connectors join the modules to form a three dimensional structure and simultaneously define corner recesses. At least one panel is held in place by a plurality of the corner recesses.

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Alexandria, VA, United States of America

Theodore R Zeigler