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Means and methods for construction and use of geodesic rhombic triacontahedronMeans and methods for construction and use of geodesic rhombic triacontahedron description/claimsThe Patent Description & Claims data below is from USPTO Patent Application 20070163185, Means and methods for construction and use of geodesic rhombic triacontahedron. Brief Patent Description - Full Patent Description - Patent Application Claims
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS [0001] This application claims the benefit of U.S. provisional application "Geodesic triacontrahedron" application No. 60/760,009, filed on Jan. 18, 2006 and is incorporated herein by reference. STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT [0002] Not Applicable REFERENCE TO A SEQUENCE LISTING [0003] Not Applicable BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0004] (1) Field of the Invention [0005] The invention relates to means and methods of combining two platonic solids, the icosahedron and the dodecahedron, as a dual geometry and further articulating this geometry to form a rhombic triacontahedron with each rhombus subdivided by two diagonals at its midpoint. The vertices of the original icosahedron and dodecahedron, and the midpoints of the rhombi, are projected such that a single circumscribed sphere touches or nearly touches all three sets of resulting vertices. This geometry creates dome-like dwelling designs with unique and useful connection and expansion capabilities. The geometry's single basic triangular component facilitates highly efficient panelized use of prefabricated building materials such as Structural Insulated Panels (SIPs). The invention also relates to means of creating a panel connection system to secure the disclosed panels. [0006] (2) Description of the Related Art [0007] U.S. Pat. No. 5,628,154 to Gavette discloses a modular system of constructing a spherical icosahedron or dodecahedron. The Gavette dome may be viewed as a collection of pentagons, and deemed a dodecahedron or may be viewed as a collection of triangles, and deemed a hexakis icosahedron. In either case, the panels are constructed as non-planar or curved segments of a sphere. [0008] Gavette is not suited for the construction of dome segments from conventional planar or flat surfaced construction components. Gavette uses a plurality of right angle or near right angle triangles formed in aggregate as large curved components. Structural Insulated Panels (SIPs), sheets of plywood, and other widely available and relatively inexpensive construction materials are planar and hence not usable for construction of a Gavette dome. [0009] Gavette's integrated ribbing structure or support system also makes Gavette unsuitable for efficient construction of larger structures, Gavette requires curved support components built into curved panels. These larger curved panels are inefficient for efficient storage and shipment. Furthermore, the integrated rib system of Gavette does not allow for the Gavette dome to easily and efficiently integrate doors, windows and other standard building components typical of full scale structures, [0010] The preferred and illustrated embodiment of Gavette's dome is an orientation of the basic icosahedron/dodecahedron dual geometry that has ten triangles coming together at its apex. This permits some separation and expansion but not the four way separation and expansion possible with the disclosed design. In addition, Gavette's preferred embodiment precludes a hemispheric dome in favor of an approximate 5/8 dome. The inwardly curving portion of this 5/8 dome near the base makes door and window integration additionally problematic. This 5/8 embodiment, along with his very large basic building components, make the Gavette design efficiently suitable for only relatively small scale structures. [0011] Thus, there is a need in the art for means to construct relatively large, full scale dome structures from flat construction stock and to integrate conventional building components such as doors and windows into these dome structures. BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION [0012] The present invention overcomes shortfalls in the related art by disclosing a dome structure that may be efficiently fabricated with Structural Insulated Panels (SIPs) or other conventional planar building materials. The invention also presents a unique connection system wherein each SIP panel is connected by a spline design using a flexible or living hinge. Unlike Gavette, no internal support system is needed. [0013] The invention, sometimes referred to herein as a "geodesic rhombic triacontahedron" or the proposed "geodesic triacontahedron" is a space enclosing structure based upon the dual icosahedron/dodecahedron. The dual of these of these two platonic solids has two sets of vertices, one set for the icosahedron and one set for the dodecahedron. The two sets of vertices are located at different radial lengths from the center of this three dimensional dual. Further refinements of this dual geometry produce a rhombic triacontahedron with each diamond-shaped rhombus subdivided by two diagonals at the midpoint of the rhombus. The vertices of the original icosahedron and dodecahedron, and the midpoints of the rhombi, are projected such that all resulting vertices are of equal radial length from the center of the triacontahedron. A single sphere circumscribing this geometry would touch all resulting vertices. [0014] The resulting spherical geometry can be seen as composed of a "weave" of great circles, each of which could subdivide the sphere into two identical hemispheres. The preferred embodiment of this spherical geometry is a dome or hemisphere with a great circle as its base and two great circle segments crossing at its apex. This hemisphere or dome is composed of 60 near right triangles. These basic triangles are identical in interior angles and side lengths, with 30being mirror geometries of the other 30. [0015] The basic geometry of the disclosed design produces advantageous resolutions to several of the design limitations inherent in dome architectures based on other geometries. The present invention has the following advantages over the related art: 1) Only one basic triangle is utilized to accomplish geodesic projection, thus reducing manufacturing costs and installation time; 2) All manifestations of the basic geometry are hemispheric domes, thus maximizing the efficiency of enclosed space and building materials; 3) An intersection of two great circle segments at the geometry's apex allows for attractive and efficient rectilinear floor plans; 4) The basic triangle closely approximates a right triangle, thus minimizing costly waste in cutting the triangles from conventional rectangular stock. [0016] Unlike prior dome designs, the disclosed geodesic triacontahedron hemisphere can be divided into even halves, and further divided into even quarters. The half dome sections can be separated in one direction and bridged with rectangular elements, and the quarter dome sections can be separated in two directions and bridged with rectangular elements. This separation and bridging creates new geometries that we have termed one direction extension and two direction extension Geodesic Triacontahedron domes. [0017] These dome extensions produce several new and advantageous design features not seen in other dome structures. These design features are: 1) increased ratio of enclosed space to the surface area of the dome, 2) increased ratio of enclosed floor area to the height of the dome, 3) the capacity to increase the dome's enclosed space and floor area without increasing the size of the basic triangle, 4) the option for functional segregation of the enclosure based on the extended portion's more rectilinear and utilitarian geometry, 5) increased potential for rectilinear floor plan divisions due to the increased use of great circles segments and the straight joints of the extension panels, and 6) the capacity for an extended half dome to be attached as an addition to conventional rectilinear structures. [0018] The preferred embodiment of the disclosed design utilizes Structural Insulated Panels (SIPs) as the material from which the dome triangles are formed. A SIP is a very strong, pressure-laminated building material typically consisting of an outer and an inner face made form an engineered structural board such as Oriented Strand Board (OSB) and an insulating inner core of rigid plastic foam. Although SIP stock with other parameters is manufactured, the preferred embodiment is based on rectangular SIP stock which is 8 feet wide with a thickness varying from 6.5'' to 12.15'' inches. These dimensions, coupled with the basic triangle's close approximation to a right triangle, minimize SIP stock waste, and maximize thermal and building efficiency in most anticipated applications. However, the disclosed design and its extensions are not limited to these SIP parameters, or even to SIP utilization in general. [0019] Two different cutting patterns are used to generate the proposed basic triangle in two different sizes. Thus, these two cutting patterns generate two hemispheric domes of differing diameters. Due to their thickness, the basic triangles generated from SIP stock are "beveled" in order to fit together to form the proposed Geodesic Triacontahedron dome. Continue reading about Means and methods for construction and use of geodesic rhombic triacontahedron... Full patent description for Means and methods for construction and use of geodesic rhombic triacontahedron Brief Patent Description - Full Patent Description - Patent Application Claims Click on the above for other options relating to this Means and methods for construction and use of geodesic rhombic triacontahedron patent application. ###  How KEYWORD MONITOR works... a FREE service from FreshPatents1. Sign up (takes 30 seconds). 2. Fill in the keywords to be monitored. 3. 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