Compressed-Air Rigid Building Blocks

Abstract

The outstanding tensile strength of some materials are used in compression applications by using air pressure to supply the outward force on an enclosure and by using interior tension members to maintain the geometry of the air-pressurized structure. The air pressure on each face of the structure is balanced by the tension in the tension members. Due to the high modulus of the tension members, the air-pressurized structures are very rigid. It is the air pressure that actually supports any load placed on the structure, but it is the tension members that maintain the geometry when the load is removed, and the strength of the tension members determine how much air pressure can be sustained. The mass of tension material required in such a structure is roughly equivalent to the amount of filament material required in a cable to support the same load. The Compressed-air Rigid Building Blocks can be stacked like bricks to form strong, lightweight walls, buildings, towers, and other structures.

1 . A compressed-air supported rigid structure, comprising:
 an enclosing container for enclosing the compressed air; and   an interior set of tension members that are attached to and pull inward on the enclosing container walls to counter the outward force of the compressed air; and   a hose for providing compressed air; and   a hose connection for the attachment of the hose; and   a valve for controlling the flow of compressed air;   wherein the tension members extend from each wall of the enclosing container to the opposite wall of the enclosing container and wherein the tension members and the compressed air maintain the structural geometry of the enclosing container to provide the structure with rigidity and wherein the structure may be folded compactly when the compressed air is absent and wherein the hose, hose connection, and valve provide a means of filling the enclosing container with compressed air to make the structure rigid and releasing compressed air from the enclosing container and wherein the structure is designed so that multiple compressed-air supported rigid structures may be stacked to provide walls, buildings, towers, and other useful structures.   
     
     
         2 . A compressed-air supported rigid structure according to  claim 1 , wherein the enclosing container comprises rectangular walls; and
 each interior tension member is attached to one enclosing container wall and extends to and is attached to the opposite enclosing container wall; and   wherein some of tension members extend in perpendicular direction to the walls to maintain the walls in rigid configuration; and   wherein other tension members extend in diagonal directions to provide rigidity to the structure against shear forces;   wherein the purpose of the structure is to form a building block that can be combined with other similar building blocks to form a wall or other configurations to form a building or tower or to provide support for a load.   
     
     
         3 . A compressed-air supported rigid structure according to  claim 1 , wherein the tension members are high-strength, high modulus filaments, wires, or cords. 
     
     
         4 . A compressed-air supported rigid structure according to  claim 1 , wherein the side walls are flexible when the compressed air is released, so that the structure can be collapsed for easy transportation and shipping and wherein the side walls are rigid when the compressed air is applied. 
     
     
         5 . A compressed-air supported rigid structure according to  claim 4 , wherein rigid frames are incorporated upon which the tension members can be wound during manufacture, and the rigid frames have hinges on the sides so that the structure can be folded down when the compressed air is released and wherein a number of said rigid frames are placed adjacent to each other to form the structure to which the enclosing container walls are attached. 
     
     
         6 . A compressed-air supported rigid structure according to  claim 1 , wherein diagonal tension members are cemented to the outsides of the enclosing walls to provide greater resistance to shear forces. 
     
     
         7 . A compressed-air supported rigid structure according to  claim 1 , wherein the top and bottom of the structure are rigid and circular and are connected by vertical tension members and wherein the circumference of the structure is a cylindrical surface made of strong flexible material and having strong horizontal, vertical, and diagonal filaments cemented to the outside surface. 
     
     
         8 . A compressed-air supported rigid structure according to  claim 1 , wherein the structure is in circular form with an outer cylindrical surface of flexible material and an inner cylindrical surface of flexible material and wherein a top rigid surface extends between the top of the outer cylindrical surface and the top of the inner cylindrical surface and wherein a bottom rigid surface extends between the bottom of the outer cylindrical surface and the bottom of the inner cylindrical surface and wherein the space between the two cylindrical surfaces contains many vertical tension members connected to the top and bottom rigid surfaces, and many horizontal tension members are perpendicularly connected to the cylindrical surfaces, and many diagonal tension members are connected to all interior surfaces, and wherein many horizontal and diagonal tension members are wrapped around and bonded to the outer cylindrical surface. 
     
     
         9 . A compressed-air supported rigid structure according to  claim 7 , wherein more than one air-supported structure with circular geometry are cemented onto the top of a flat rigid sheet to make a larger support structure that may be stacked to make walls, towers, and other useful structures. 
     
     
         10 . A compressed-air supported rigid structure according to  claim 1 , wherein the horizontal tension members are sheets of strong plastic, metal, or composite films, and the vertical tension members are filaments, and wherein the horizontal films are enclosed on the outside by cementing end sheets to adjacent horizontal sheets, and the end sheets bulge outward due to air pressure and allow the structure to be collapsed downward when the compressed air is released. 
     
     
         11 . A compressed-air supported rigid structure according to  claim 1 , wherein the horizontal, vertical, and diagonal tension members are sheets of strong plastic, metal, or composite films, and wherein the vertical tension members are attached to the top and bottom rigid surfaces, and wherein the horizontal films are enclosed on the outside by cementing end sheets to adjacent horizontal sheets, and the end sheets bulge outward due to air pressure and allow the structure to be collapsed downward when air pressure is released. 
     
     
         12 . A compressed-air supported rigid structure according to  claim 1 , wherein the internal tension members pass through the enclosing container walls and are attached to rectangular washers that distribute the forces over an area of the enclosing container and wherein the washers are bonded to the enclosing container. 
     
     
         13 . A compressed-air supported rigid structure according to  claim 1 , wherein many of the compressed-air supported rigid structures are stacked in an overlapping manner to form a tall cylindrical wall that forms a downdraft convection tower, wherein water sprayers at the open top of the tower spray water to cool the air by evaporation, which cool air flows down the inside of the tower to drive air turbines at the bottom of the tower to produce electric power and wherein guy wires attached externally to the tower wall and extend to anchors on the ground and internal radial cables help to maintain the rigidity of the tower. 
     
     
         14 . A compressed-air supported rigid structure according to  claim 1 , wherein many of the compressed-air supported rigid structures are stacked in an overlapping manner to form a tall circular wall that forms an updraft convection tower, wherein solar energy heats air in a transparent skirt about the bottom of the tower, which heated air flows up the inside of the tower to drive air turbines at the bottom of the tower to produce electric power and wherein guy wires attached externally to the tower wall and extend to anchors on the ground and internal radial cables help to maintain the rigidity of the tower. 
     
     
         15 . A machine for inserting filaments into a compressed-air supported rigid structure, comprising:
 a first set of spools for holding filaments; and   a first structure on which the first set of spools are mounted; and   a first set of needles into which filaments are threaded for the purpose of passing the filaments through the top and bottom surfaces of the compressed-air supported rigid structure; and   a first filament capture mechanism for seizing the filaments after the filaments have been passed through the top and bottom surfaces by the first set of needles and for attaching the filaments to the bottom surface; and   a first mechanism for moving the top and bottom surfaces of the compressed-air supported rigid structure; and   a second set of spools for holding filaments; and   a second structure on which the second set of spools are mounted; and   a second set of needles into which filaments are threaded for the purpose of passing the filaments through the side surfaces of the compressed-air supported rigid structure; and   a second filament capture mechanism for seizing the filaments after the filaments have been passed through the side surfaces by the second set of needles and for attaching the filaments to one of the side surfaces; and   a second mechanism for moving the side surfaces of the compressed-air supported rigid structure; and   a third set of spools for holding filaments; and   a third structure on which the third set of spools are mounted; and   a third set of needles into which filaments are threaded for the purpose of passing the filaments through the front and back surfaces of the compressed-air supported rigid structure; and   a third filament capture mechanism for seizing the filaments after the filaments have been passed through the front and back surfaces by the third set of needles and for attaching the filaments to back surface; and   a third mechanism for moving the front and back surfaces of the compressed-air supported rigid structure;   wherein the first mechanism moves the top and bottom surfaces of the compressed-air supported rigid structure together, the first set of needles pass filaments through holes in the top and bottom surfaces, the first filament capture mechanism seizes the filaments and attaches them to the bottom surface, the top and bottom surfaces are then moved far apart by the first mechanism as the first set of spools play out the filaments, the second mechanism moves the side surfaces of the compressed-air supported rigid structure together, pressing together the filaments that extend between the top and bottom surfaces, the second set of needles pass filaments through holes in the side surfaces, the second filament capture mechanism seizes the filaments and attaches them to one of the side surfaces, the side surfaces are then moved far apart by the second mechanism as the second set of spools play out the filaments, the third mechanism moves the front and back surfaces of the compressed-air supported rigid structure together, pressing together the filaments that extend between the top and bottom surfaces and the filaments that extend between the side surfaces, the third set of needles pass filaments through holes in the front and back surfaces, the third filament capture mechanism seizes the filaments and attaches them to the back surface, the front surfaces are then moved apart by the third mechanism as the third set of spools play out the filaments, all the surfaces of the compressed-air supported rigid structure are moved so that their edges are touching as all the spools tighten the filaments, the filaments are attached and cemented to the surfaces, and the surfaces are sealed together along their edges so that the compressed-air supported rigid structure is leak-proof.   
     
     
         16 . A machine for inserting horizontal filaments into a compressed-air supported rigid structure after the vertical filaments have been inserted, comprising:
 a vertical row of weaving shuttles attached to push rods that move the weaving shuttles; and   supports to hold the weaving shuttles at the appropriate height; and   needles with eyelets to hold filaments; and   a guide to direct the needles into holes in a first side face of the compressed-air supported rigid structure; and   catch mechanism to seize the filaments from the needles and attach them to the face of the compressed-air supported rigid structure; and   spools for holding filaments; and   catch rods which can hold the filaments at the end of each stroke of the weaving shuttles; and   fetch hooks to seize the filaments from the catch rods and pull them through a second side face of the compressed-air supported rigid structure; and   a push rod support system to move the push rods and shuttles through the rows of vertical filaments;   wherein the push rod support system forces the push rods to move the weaving shuttles between rows of vertical filaments that are attached to the top face and bottom face of a compressed-air supported rigid structure, and the needles carrying filaments in their eyelets are guided by the guide into holes in a first side face of the compressed-air supported rigid structure where the catch mechanism seizes the filaments and attaches the filaments to the outside of the first side face of the compressed-air supported rigid structure, and the weaving shuttles are withdrawn, and the filaments are passed around one of the catch rods as the weaving shuttles move to pass down the next row of vertical filaments, and after all the passes between all the rows of vertical filaments have been completed, the guide is removed, and the first side face is cemented to the top face and the bottom face, and the weaving shuttles, the push rods, and the push rod support system are removed, and the fetch hooks seize the filaments from the catch rods and pull them through holes in the second side face, the catch rods are removed, and the second side face is sealed to the top and bottom faces, and the filaments are tightened and sealed to the second side face, and the compressed-air supported rigid structure is rotated 90 degrees, and the process described in this claim is repeated to insert the horizontal filaments that are perpendicular to the horizontal filaments already inserted.