Portable unit of self-sufficient habitable equipment with built-in multifunctional furnishings for various kinds of location

Abstract

 Support modules, work boards (ortops), connectors and packaging constitute the essential parts of the invention, which consists of realizing a system or set of pieces that, when mounted and assembled, offer a person the possibility of having a bed, a table, some chairs, shelter from the natural environment, and a corner for his personal needs. The originality of the invention does not lie in the parts as such, but rather in the whole, which is readily portable (as that term is understood in the light of the geometric and physical possibilities of a person of average body stature). Optional accessories can further enhance the invention and make it compatible with the logistic needs of groups of people. Figure No. 1 illustrates the essence of the invention, whose realization calls for an industrial type of manufacture.

Description

[0001] Industrial invention by David William Davenport Title : "Portable unit of self-sufficient HABITABLE equipment with BUILT-IN multifunctional furnishings for various kinds of locations." DESCRIPTION

[0002] The words "portable unit" are here to be understood as referring to a set of pieces of a modular struc- ture that permit the composition of fundamental items of furniture and all capable of being contain- ed in a small suitcase of such size and weight as to enable a person of normal stature to carry it either by hand or ina rucksack on his back. See Drawing No. 1 Figure 1.

[0003] Description of the pieces of the invention : inventions :

a) supporting boards of a modular structure made of metal or plastic material or wood ;

b) Working boards (or tons) of serial or wood ;

c) Sheets of natural and/or synthetic fibre or metal mesh or rubberized tissue ;

d) a system of connectors for assembling the various pieces with screws, springs, large springs, friction couplings, and other types of joints.

[0004] All these pieces, packed side make the unit portable. With these pieces it is possible to compose any of the following basic items of furni- ture :

1) A bed as shown in Figure No.2 of The bed consists of a certain number of support mod- ules for a sheet to be hooke to them. The internal perimeter of one of these modules Figure No.2 of Drawing No.2 with the letters ABCD. The sheet on which the person or sleep is indicated with the letters FHMR. Figure No. 1 of Drawing No. 1 shows an open view of the suit- case to illustrate how the support modules are ar- ranged side by side inside it.

2) A hammock as shown in Figure No. 3 of Drawing No.

3. The sheet, indicated by the letters FHMR, can be seen hooked by means of the usual adequate systems to two support modules, whose external perimeter is indicated by the letters XYZT.

3) A wardrobe as shown in Figure No. 4 No. 4, where one can see both support modules and work boards, one of which is indicated by the letters NPSK. These work boards constitute the back wall of the wardrobe. The elements like the one indicated by the letters LQE form part of the socalled con- nectors referred to in paragraph d) above.

4) A large table as shown is Figure No. 5 of Drawing No. 5. The part shown entirely in black indicates the table top and is realized by assembling several modules of the type indicated by the letters NPSK in Figure No. 4 of Drawing No. 4.

5) Two small tables as shown in Figures Nos. 6 and 7. of Drawing. No. 6, where one can see the support mod- ules like the one indicated by the letters XYZT and the work boards like the one indicated by the let- ters NPSK.

6) A miniature table even smaller than those indi- cated in paragraphs 4) and 5) above, in Figure No. 8 of Drawing No. 7, where the work board (or top) is indicated by the letters ILWE.

7) A chair like the one shown in Figure No. 9 of Drawing No. 7. The chair consists of support modules like the one indicated by the letters XYZT and a sheet on which one can sit, indicated by the letters GOUV.

[0005] The support modules, work board, sheets and connec- tor systems permit one to choose between a bed and a hammock, between a large table and small tables, between one, two or more chairs, between a large wardrobe and two small ones, and so on, providing an WIDE range of alternative choices according to the functions desired or according to the environ ment in which one finds oneself. Since a single person can carry two and even three equipment units, it follows that it is possible to use one of the sheets as the carrying structure of the bed bed and the other as cover to provide shelter. Analogously, the ward- robe may constitute a shower cubicle or a retreat for hygienic functions. On the work boards it is possible to constitute reflecting surfaces for mir- rors, absorbing surfaces for solar energy, or to provide electric installations for lighting or cook- ers. Likewise, the suitcase can be provided not on- ly in the rucksack version, but also in a form suitable for parachute drops. The bed itself may act either as a stretcher or a hammock. Some nieces of chord not shown on the drawings attached and some small tools, appropriately packed, constitute the accessories of the portable unit. The invention under consideration consists essentially of having organically and integrally applied the present stage of modular construction technique and the present Stage of packaging technique to the field of emer- gency HABITABLE structures, the needs of civil de- fence and the operational requirements of mobile par- ties or detachment be they military or civil, pub- lic or private, humanitarian or scientific, for tourist or commercial purnoses. The originality of the invention is therefore to be found in the concention of a portable unit of HABI- TABLE equipment that confers a considerable degree of self-sufficiency upon both individuals and groups as regards the elementary functions of sleeping, eat- ing, personal hygiene and transport of articles of use in zones characterised by a wide range of differ- ent environments. The invention, as it were, seeks to imitate nature, which has provided snails and tortoises with portable houses. The idea generates an industrial invention rather than a useful model for the simple reason that it is destined not only to bie reproduced on a mass production scale, but also because it implies a type of sophisticated fabrication or manufacture inasmuch as it is light and yet strong and incorporates accessories of a type analogous to printed electronic circuits and inasmuch as it foreshadows industrial manufac- turing techniques in step with the mosts advanced and most recent technological developments.

Claims

1) Portable unit of Habitable equipement consisting of a set of structural modules that are designed to! be easily and rabidly assembled and are all contained in a bag to be carried by hand or in a rucksack to be carried on the shoulders by a single person

2) Unit of self-sufficient Habitable equipment as er the previous claim and consisting sentially of three or more chairs, a bed, a wardrobe, one or more small tables, a hammock, in such a way as to be real- ized by means of the assembly of structural modules designed to incorporate accessories for many different dwelling functions.

3) Unit of equipment as per the preceding claims. and consisting of modules such as to enable a person of normal body stature of either sex to carry with him a set of furnishings that ensure self sufficiency as far as the essential HABITABLE functions are concerned.

4.) Portable unit as per the preceding claims that makes it possible to incorporate mirrors, electric sockets, hydroulic connections, kitchen stoves, lighting installations and compartments for the safe keeping of nersonale effects in the structural mod- ules of which the unit is made up.

5):Portable unit as described in the title and in the preceding claims and capable of constituting a kit of personal survival equipment for individuals of communities struck by ecological disasters or for personnel working in bodies, associations or groups, be they. public, private or government controlled, that may have to operate also in environments where there is no a priori guarantee that they will find self-sufficient dwelling equimpent with BUILT-IN furrnishings.

6) Portable unit as per the preceding claims and de- signed to constitute part of the HABITABLE equimpent of premises catering for the presence of several people, including field offices, construction site facilities, meeting places, emergency hospitals, nobile scientific or technical laboratories, field command posts, first aid posts, sales points, collection centres, and so on, by virtue of the fact that the modules of several portable units can be assembled on a larger scale.

7) Units as in the preceding claims capable of being installed either in the open air or under cover, on land or on water surfaces and in environments of various natural and artificial-kinds by virtue of optional and supplementary planning of the unit it- self.

8) Unit as per the preceding claims and designed to panels capable of providing the portable dwelling equipment with an energy reserve.

9) Portable unit of self-sufficient HABITABLE equip- ment with BUILT-IN multifunctional furnishings for loactions of various kinds and designed to be transported by general aviation and dropped by parachute.

Portableunit of self-sufficient 10) Portable unit of self-sufficient HABITABLE equip- ment with BUILT-IN multifunctional furnishings for locations of various kinds and substantially in conformity with the descriptions and representations contained hereinabove.

Drawing