Top and Bottom Structure Design in Container Houses
The structural designs related to the top and bottom of container houses mainly include integrated top-bottom corner connectors, welded top-bottom packing-box units, and unified top-bottom container houses, each with its own characteristics and innovations.
Integrated Top-Bottom Corner Connectors: These belong to the field of container house accessory technology and are composed of inner and outer right-angle pieces. The sides are interconnected to form a four-sided box structure with openings at the top and bottom. A base plate is welded along the inner lower edges of both the inner and outer right-angle pieces, with a drainage hopper installed in the middle of the base plate for easy water drainage. An L-shaped upper connecting plate is welded along the inner upper edge of the outer right-angle piece, and a top plate is welded between the L-shaped upper connecting plate and the inner upper edge of the inner right-angle piece, with through holes provided on the top plate. An L-shaped lower connecting plate corresponding to the L-shaped upper connecting plate is installed below the base plate, and the lower edges of the inner and outer right-angle pieces extend downward and are fixedly connected to the L-shaped lower connecting plate. This structure offers significant advantages in multi-story container house applications, saving one frame per story, greatly reducing transportation and material costs, and accelerating installation efficiency.
Welded Top-Bottom Packing-Box Units: These are more common in southern regions and adopt an overall welding process for the top and bottom. The lifting heads, top and bottom outer frames, and top and bottom crossbeams are all welded using gas metal arc welding (GMAW) technology. Compared to bolt-connected box houses, they offer better sealing, effectively preventing rainwater and dust from entering the interior; they also have superior load-bearing and corrosion-resistant properties, ensuring structural stability during long-term use. The top is equipped with internal drainage channels, allowing rainwater to flow down from the surrounding downspouts without accumulating on the top, thus avoiding damage to the house caused by water accumulation. However, when installing connected rows of packing-box units, proper gap filling and waterproofing between the boxes must be done to ensure the overall waterproof performance of the house.
Unified Top-Bottom Container Houses: These are designed to address the issues of complex structure and high cost in traditional container houses. They use a unified top-bottom panel instead of separate upper and lower double panels. The unified top-bottom panel integrates the lower panel, upper panel, and insulation material into one unit, cooperating with support beams and wall panel structures to achieve a simplified design for multi-story houses. The unified top-bottom panel includes a lower panel, an upper panel, and multiple parallel purlins installed between them. Insulation material is placed between adjacent purlins, located between the lower and upper panels, effectively improving the house's insulation performance while reducing costs.
