Whole house conveyance machine

Abstract

The invention comprises a plurality of steel framing members that are permanently or semi-permanently affixed to one another to create an integral frame that does not have to be completely recreated to perform successive home movements on different sized homes and has sufficient structural integrity and dynamic load support systems to transport a house without causing cracking and breakage of brittle finishes. Multi-tire transportation assemblies support the frame on its bottom side. An integral system of hydraulic jacks that have bending moment capability are affixed to the integral frame to allow the integral frame to be elevated and lowered while remaining stable so that the multi-tire transportation assemblies can either be spun or removed, the integral frame can be leveled, or the integral frame can be elevated and lowered to the required elevation of a foundation or the dock of the manufacturing facility that produces standard size houses.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS [0001] This Application is a Non-Provisional Application of Provisional (35 USC 119(e)) Application No. 60 / 801465 filed on May 17, 2006.FIELD OF THE INVENTION [0002] This invention relates to an apparatus for efficiently transporting and placing standard size dwellings, which are constructed in a manufacturing facility that can be erected near a large housing development, on to pre-constructed permanent foundations in the housing development. These standard size dwellings, as defined herein, have an abundance of architectural and floor plan flexibility, high volume rooms and, typically, living areas of 1,000 square feet or more on one or two levels, not including basements. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0003] It is a problem that housing traditionally has been a production practice that occurs at each home construction location. As such, the transportation function that is associated with homebuilding (e.g., related to materials delivery) is ac...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0008] The above-described problems are solved and a technical advance achieved by the present Whole House Conveyance Machine that provides an efficient mechanism for the transportation and placement of standard size houses (also termed “whole houses” herein) from a factory to individual sites with pre-constructed foundations specifically designed to accept these standard size dwellings.

[0009] The Whole House Conveyance Machine comprises a plurality of steel framing members that are permanently or semi-permanently affixed to one another in a predetermined arrangement to create an integral frame that does not have to be completely recreated to perform successive home movements on homes with dimensions that can vary. The integral frame has a planar top surface and is of sufficient structural integrity to support a standard size dwelling (house) that has certain brittle finishes, such that the integral frame does not unduly deflect and cause cracking and breakage of the brittle finishes. Multi-tire transportation assemblies support the integral frame on its bottom side. The Whole House Conveyance Machine has an integral system of hydraulic jacks that have bending moment capability and that is affixed to the integral frame to allow the integral frame to be elevated and lowered while remaining stable so that the multi-tire transportation assemblies can either be spun or removed, the integral frame can be leveled, the integral frame can be elevated and lowered to the required elevation of a foundation, or which allow the integral frame to be adjusted to the proper elevation at the dock area of the manufacturing facility that produces standard size houses. The Whole House Conveyance Machine may have a steering linkage apparatus to interlink and coordinate the turning of several of its multi-tire transportation assemblies. The Whole House Conveyance Machine also has design details at the perimeter that facilitate the connection of the machine to the factory dock, as well as for the connection of roller beams that span the space between the machine and the foundation, and upon which the home is rolled from the machine to the foundation.

Problems solved by technology

It is a problem that housing traditionally has been a production practice that occurs at each home construction location.

Public road shipping imposes significant dimensional constraints on what can be built in a factory, and is often the governing criteria which control the use of factories in the home building industry.

This is because dimensions that exceed this infringe on public transportation standards, including established standards for oversize loads.

Therefore, notwithstanding the advantages of a factory environment, the use of transportation devices for delivery in the homebuilding industry has been largely restricted to conventional trucks and trailers that are designed for widespread operation on public streets.

However, a significant problem remains because there is a need for an effective mechanism for loading standard size houses at the manufacturing facility, moving them to their destination, and subsequently placing them on their respective foundations.

This process is effective for singular moves, but it is a very time-consuming and complex process to determine the unique position of the multitude of individual structural steel beams and the associated multi-tire transportation assemblies for each move.

In addition, the placement of the structure on a foundation at the final destination is likewise a time-consuming ad-hoc process that requires the precise positioning of the structure over the new foundation, which may have cutouts formed therein to accommodate the structural steel beams that support the structure being moved.

This practice is economically prohibitive in a repetitive, fast-paced whole-house production environment and also fraught with danger to the workers moving and placing the structures.

The precise positioning of the structure on the foundation is painstaking, and it is overly difficult to quickly adjust the height and alignment of the structure as it is being transported or placed on its new foundation.

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