Claims:
1. A method of producing joint-less monocoque composite shelter having at least an opening, comprising the steps of:
preparing a modular mould with a plurality of modular mould pieces, wherein the surface of the modular mould has at least a projection;
primary vacuum infusing inner skin material on the external surface of the modular mould, excluding the projection to create opening and curing the inner skin material;
laying panel reinforcement material and corner reinforcement material on the inner skin material by means of structural adhesive;
filling core material between the panel reinforcement material and the corner reinforcement material and covering the lay-up of cured inner skin material, the panel reinforcement material, the corner reinforcement material and the core material with layers of outer skin material;
secondary vacuum infusing outer skin material and curing the outer skin material; and
dismantling the modular mould pieces initiating from the projection to produce monocoque composite shelter.
2. The method of producing monocoque composite shelter as claimed in claim 1, wherein the modular mould has external dimensions equal to the internal dimensions of the shelter.
3. The method of producing monocoque composite shelter as claimed in claim 1, wherein the shelter comprises a floor, a roof, and at least a side wall.
4. The method of producing monocoque composite shelter as claimed in claim 1, wherein said shelter further comprises a door configured to open or close the shelter opening.
5. The method of producing monocoque composite shelter as claimed in claim 1, wherein said projection is either projected inwards or outwards.
6. The method of producing monocoque composite shelter as claimed in claim 1, wherein said inner skin material or outer skin material is selected from the group consisting of carbon fiber, basalt fiber, glass fiber, aramid fiber and Metal mesh or combination of the above.
7. The method of producing monocoque composite shelter as claimed in claim 1, wherein said core material is selected from the group consisting of Polyvinyl chloride (PVC), Polyurethane (PU), Styrene acrylonitrile (SAN), Polyethylene terephthalate (PET), wood and honeycomb or combination of the above.
8. The method of producing monocoque composite shelter as claimed in claim 1, wherein said reinforcement material is selected from the group consisting of glass fabric, carbon fabric, aramid fabric and metals or combination of the above.
9. The method of producing monocoque composite shelter as claimed in claim 1, wherein said structural adhesive is selected from the group consisting of epoxy, polyester, vinyl ester and phenolic resins or combination of the above.
10. The method of producing monocoque composite shelter as claimed in claim 1, further comprises a corner mounting at each corner and a lifting provision on the surface of the shelter.
11. The method of producing monocoque composite shelter as claimed in claim 1, wherein the moulding is a modular or disposable mould or combination of modular and disposable moulds.
12. The method of producing monocoque composite shelter as claimed in claim 11, wherein the dimension of the modular mould piece of the mould is lesser than the opening of the shelter.
13. A joint-less monocoque composite shelter having a floor, a roof and at least a side wall, comprising: an inner skin material having a first exterior surface and a first interior surface; an outer skin material having a second exterior surface and a second interior surface; a reinforcement material, each reinforcement material being in communication with said first interior surface and said second interior surface; said reinforcement material and said first and second interior surfaces defining a plurality of core regions, each of said core regions including a core material to forming said monocoque composite shelter; and an opening on the shelter with a door configured to open or close the shelter opening.
14. The monocoque composite shelter as claimed in claim 13, wherein said shelter is manufactured by either Resin Transfer Moulding (RTM), Vacuum Assisted Resin Transfer Moulding (VARTM), Hand Lay-up, Autoclave Cure Prepeg Material, Oven Cure Prepeg Material, Vacuum Bagging and Resin Film Infusion or combination of the abovesaid process.
15. The monocoque composite shelter as claimed in claim 13, wherein said inner skin material or outer skin material is selected from the group consisting of carbon fiber, basalt fiber, glass fiber, aramid fiber and metal mesh or combination of the above.
16. The monocoque composite shelter as claimed in claim 13, wherein said core material is selected from the group consisting of Polyvinyl chloride (PVC), Polyurethane (PU), Styrene acrylonitrile (SAN), Polyethylene terephthalate (PET), wood and honeycomb or combination of the above.
17. The monocoque composite shelter as claimed in claim 13, wherein said reinforcement material is selected from the group consisting of glass fabric, carbon fabric, aramid fabric and metals or combination of the above.
18. The monocoque composite shelter as claimed in claim 13, wherein said structural adhesive is selected from the group consisting of epoxy, polyester, vinyl ester and phenolic resins or combination of the above.

19. The monocoque composite shelter as claimed in claim 13, further comprises a corner mounting at each corner and a lifting provision on the surface of the shelter.
, Description:F O R M 2

THE PATENTS ACT, 1970
(39 of 1970)

&

The Patent Rule, 2003

COMPLETE SPECIFICATION
(See section 10 and rule 13)

METHOD OF PRODUCING JOINTLESS MONOCOQUE COMPOSITE SHELTER

By

BHARAT ELECTRONICS LIMITED

Nationality: Indian

ADDRESS: CORPORATE OFFICE,

OUTER RING ROAD, NAGAVARA, BANGALORE 560045, INDIA
KARNATAKA, INDIA

The following specification particularly describes the invention and the manner in which it is to be performed
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention is directed to a shelter construction. More particularly, the invention relates to a method of producing jointless monocoque composite shelter used for strategic or civil applications to provide protection of contents in severe environmental conditions.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Typical shelters are housings used in strategic applications to house, transport and operate sensitive electronic equipment’s and systems to protect them against severe climatic conditions such as severe cold, desert heat, tropical humidity. Also, these shelters can be used in civil goods transport and mobile accommodation purpose.
In modern era, load carrying capacity and the ease in mobility of shelter in any applications become crucial requirement. Both of these parameters are governed by weight of the shelter which implies lower weight shelters with high strength to weight ratio and offering ease of transportation. Also, the joining at the edges of the shelter by means of either an additional fiber reinforced layer or corner profile become source of environmental concerns such as water leakage and heat transfer. Various techniques of joining the edges of two panels are available in industry which mainly employs the adhesive and or rivets to bond two panels with the help of structural profiles.
The various attempts were made by researchers to realise the Monocoque construction. US patent 6095715 describes the monocoque composite joint where the panels are joined at junction to form wall structure. US Patent 7562508B2 describes the Shelter and associated method for assembly using the individually built panels.
Thus, there is need for a shelter which can reduce the disadvantages and shortcomings of prior art “Panel / set of panels and edge profile” based composite shelters and provides improved structural and environmental performance.
OBJECTIVE OF THE INVENTION
These objectives are provided to introduce a selection of concepts in a simplified form that are further described below in the detailed description. This objective are not intended to identify key features or essential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended to be used as an aid in determining the scope of the claimed subject matter.
An important objective of the invention aims at providing a compact solution for the shortcomings of the above-mentioned constructions.
Another objective of the invention is to provide a novel method for producing monocoque composite shelter.
Yet another objective of the invention is to completely eliminate the technique of joining of panels at the edges to produce shelter.
Further objective of the current invention is to improve the structural performance and environmental performance of the shelter.
Yet another objective of the invention is to improve the Electromagnetic shielding of the technical shelters.
Object of the present invention is not limited to the above-mentioned problem. Other technical problems that are not mentioned will become apparent to those skilled in the art from the following description.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In order to aid in the understanding of this invention, it can be stated in essentially summary form that it is directed to a shelter construction. According to one aspect of this invention, a joint-less monocoque composite shelter having a floor, a roof and at least a side wall, comprising: an inner skin material having a first exterior surface and a first interior surface. An outer skin material having a second exterior surface and a second interior surface. A reinforcement material, each reinforcement material being in communication with said first interior surface and said second interior surface. Further, said reinforcement material and said first and second interior surfaces defining a plurality of core regions, each of said core regions including a core material forming said monocoque composite shelter. And an opening on the shelter with a door configured to open or close the shelter opening.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The above and other aspects, features, and advantages of certain exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be more apparent from the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:
Figure 1 shows monocoque composite shelter, according to an embodiment of the present invention;
Figure 2A shows cross sectional roof view of figure 1, according to an embodiment of the present invention;
Figure 2B shows enlarged portion of figure 2 showing composite structure of the monocoque composite shelter, according to an embodiment of the present invention;
Figure 3 shows cross sectional end wall view of figure 1, according to an embodiment of the present invention; and
Figure 4 shows cross sectional side wall view of figure 1, according to an embodiment of the present invention.
Persons skilled in the art will appreciate that elements in the figures are illustrated for simplicity and clarity and may have not been drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions of some of the elements in the figure may be exaggerated relative to other elements to help to improve understanding of various exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure.
Throughout the drawings, it should be noted that like reference numbers are used to depict the same or similar elements, features, and structures.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
The following description with reference to the accompanying drawings is provided to assist in a comprehensive understanding of exemplary embodiments of the invention as defined by the claims and their equivalents. It includes various specific details to assist in that understanding but these are to be regarded as merely exemplary. Accordingly, those of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that various changes and modifications of the embodiments described herein can be made without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention. In addition, descriptions of well-known functions and constructions are omitted for clarity and conciseness.
In the claims, all transitional phrases such as "comprising," "including," "carrying," "having," "containing," "involving," and the like are to be understood to be open- ended, i.e., to mean including but not limited to. Only the transitional phrases "consisting of and "consisting essentially of," respectively, shall be closed or semi-closed transitional phrases.
To facilitate the understanding of this invention, a number of terms may be defined below. Terms defined herein have meanings as commonly understood by a person of ordinary skill in the areas relevant to the present invention. Terms such as "a", "an", and "the" are not intended to refer to only a singular entity but include the general class of which a specific example may be used for illustration. The terminology herein is used to describe specific embodiments of the invention, but their usage does not delimit the disclosed system or method, except as may be outlined in the claims.
Figures 1-4 shows monocoque composite shelter and cross-sectional views of the shelter, according to an embodiment of the present invention. Accordingly, a joint-less monocoque composite shelter (100) having a floor (102), a roof (104) and at least a side wall (106), comprising an inner skin material (108) having a first exterior surface and a first interior surface. An outer skin material (110) having a second exterior surface and a second interior surface. A reinforcement material (112, 114), each reinforcement material being in communication with said first interior surface and said second interior surface, such that said reinforcement material and said first and second interior surfaces defining a plurality of core regions, each of said core regions including a core material (116) forming said monocoque composite shelter. Further the shelter comprising of an opening on the shelter with a door (120) configured to open or close the shelter opening. The monocoque composite shelter also comprises a corner mounting (118) at each corner and a lifting provision on the surface of the shelter. The corresponding figure 2B shows portion of figure 2 showing composite structure of the monocoque composite shelter.
Inner skin material or outer skin material of the monocoque composite shelter is selected from the group consisting of carbon fiber, basalt fiber, glass fiber, aramid fiber and metal mesh or combination of the above. The core material is selected from the group consisting of Polyvinyl chloride (PVC), Polyurethane (PU), Styrene acrylonitrile (SAN), Polyethylene terephthalate (PET), wood and honeycomb or combination of the above. Reinforcement material is selected from the group consisting of glass fabric, carbon fabric, aramid fabric and metals or combination of the above. Further, the structural adhesive is selected from the group consisting of epoxy, polyester, vinyl ester and phenolic resins or combination of the above.
In an embodiment said shelter is a six walled monocoque composite shelter, wherein said shelter is a combination of a floor wall, a roof wall, a pair of side walls and a pair of end walls. Further, a standard door frame can be attached to the monocoque construction depending on the requirement of the end use application. The complete monocoque construction is fitted with eight numbers of standard corners which serve the purpose of mounting and lifting specific to application.
A method of producing joint-less monocoque composite shelter having at least an opening, comprising the steps of: step 1 - Preparing a modular mould with a plurality of modular mould pieces, wherein the surface of the modular mould has at least a projection. The projection can be projected either inwards or outwards. Step 2 - Primary vacuum infusing inner skin material on the external surface of the modular mould, excluding the projection to create an opening and curing the inner skin material. Step 3 - Laying panel reinforcement material and corner reinforcement material on the skin by means of structural adhesive. Step 4 - Filling core material between the panel reinforcement material and the corner reinforcement material and covering the lay-up of cured inner skin material, the panel reinforcement material, the corner reinforcement material and the core material with layers of outer skin material. Step 5 - Secondary vacuum infusing outer skin material and curing the outer skin material. and step 6 - dismantling the modular mould pieces, initiating from the projection to produce monocoque composite shelter. In a further step a door can be configured to be fixed to the opening for closing or opening the shelter opening.
For producing a monocoque composite shelter the modular mould has external dimensions equal to the internal dimensions of the shelter. The moulding according to the invention is a modular or disposable mould or combination of modular and disposable moulds. And the dimension of the modular mould piece of the mould is lesser than the opening of the shelter.
This methodology can be used to build the shelter using various composite manufacturing process such as either Resin Transfer Moulding (RTM), Vacuum Assisted Resin Transfer Moulding (VARTM), Hand Lay-up, Autoclave Cure Prepeg Material, Oven Cure Prepeg Material, Vacuum Bagging and Resin Film Infusion or combination of the abovesaid process.
The current invention eliminates the disadvantages and problems associated with the joining of wall panels with additional fabric layers and/or reinforcement profiles. Further, it provides joint-less monocoque construction of the shelter which provides excellent performance in terms of the structural and environmental characteristics.
The shelters can be both stationary and mobile type having standard corner fittings at the corners to facilitate mounting / handling on platform for road, air, sea or rail transport. These shelters can also be used as technical shelters, if it provide/meet the electromagnetic shielding up to the desired shielding effectiveness level in decibel (dB) as per application. It can also relate to stationary application by anchoring its floor on ground.
In a preferred embodiment, a monocoque shelter constructed using this method by use of metal fabric showed excellent electromagnetic shielding properties because of the two continuous skins forming a surface electrical conductivity.
Monocoque shelter constructed using this method provides excellent thermal insulation in case of cold transport container and have added benefits of reduced heat load as well as reduced overall container weight.
Further application of joint-less monocoque shelter constructed using this technique is in fixed or temporary accommodations because of thermal insulation and protection from water leakage.
While the preferred embodiment of the invention has been illustrated and described herein, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the precise construction herein disclosed, and the right is reserved to all changes and modifications coming within the scope of the invention.
Although there has been shown and described the preferred embodiment of the present invention, it will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art that modifications may be made thereto which do not exceed the scope of the appended claims. Therefore, the scope of the invention is only to be limited by the following claims.