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專利

Seismic brace with a removable restraining member disposed around a middle portion of an elongated central brace unit

國家 US 專利類型 發明
公告號 7373758 申請案號 11/717901
國際分類號 E04B 1/98 證書號
公告日期 2008-05-20 申請日期 2007-03-13
公報卷期 -
專用期限 2007-03-13 ~ 2027-03-13
發明人 -
摘要 A seismic brace includes an elongated central brace unit and a rigid restraining member. The central brace unit has two ends adapted to be connected fixedly to a framework of a building, and a middle portion interconnecting the ends and having a cross-sectional area that is smaller than those of the ends. The restraining member is disposed around the middle portion of the central brace unit in a tight fit manner so as to prevent buckling of the central brace unit when the building is subjected to an earthquake, and includes two halves that are interconnected removably.
專利範圍 1. A seismic brace comprising: an elongated central brace unit having two ends adapted to be connected fixedly to a framework of a building, and a middle portion interconnecting said ends and having a cross-sectional area that is smaller than that of each of said ends; and a restraining member disposed around said middle portion of said central brace unit in a tight fit manner so as to prevent buckling of said central brace unit when the building is subjected to an earthquake, said restraining member including two halves that are interconnected removably, wherein said central brace unit includes two elongated parallel main plates each having a middle portion and two ends that are wider than said middle portion, and four coplanar end plates welded respectively to said ends of said main plates, said brace further including two parallel spacer plates that are disposed between and that are parallel to said main plates and that abut against each other and said main plates such that an assembly of said central brace unit and said spacer plates has a cross-shaped cross-section at two ends of said restraining member to define four tube-receiving spaces in said restraining member; and each of said halves of said restraining member includes two parallel rectangular steel tubes disposed respectively within corresponding two of said tube-receiving spaces in said restraining member and flanking and abutting against corresponding two of said end plates, and a connecting plate welded to said steel tubes so as to interconnect said steel tubes fixedly. 2. A method of providing a restraining member in a building having a framework and subject to earthquakes, the method comprising: (a) installing in said building an elongated member having distal ends by connecting said distal ends to the framework of the building, the elongated member having a central portion to which are removably attached restraining members, the restraining members stiffening the elongated member so as to inhibit buckling thereof when the building in which to elongated member is installed is subject to an earthquake wherein said elongated member includes two elongated parallel main plates each having a middle portion and two ends that are wider than said middle portion, and four coplanar end plates welded respectively to said ends of said main plates, said restraining members further including two parallel spacer plates that are disposed between and that are parallel to said main plates and that abut against each other and said main plates such that an assembly of said elongated member and said spacer plates has a cross-shaped cross-section at two ends of said restraining members to define four tube-receiving spaces in said restraining members; and each of said restraining members includes two parallel rectangular steel tubes disposed respectively within corresponding two of said tube-receiving spaces in said restraining member and flanking and abutting against corresponding two of said end plates, and a connecting plate welded to said steel tubes so as to interconnect said steel tubes fixedly; (b) after the building has been subjected to an earthquake, removing the restraining members from said elongated member to permit inspection of the elongated member, and inspecting the elongated member; and (c) if the elongated member passes inspection after the earthquake, replacing the restraining members by reattaching them to the elongated member.
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