AU4587202A - Metal noggin - Google Patents

Description

I

AUSTRALIA

Patents Act 1990 COMPLETE SPECIFICATION STANDARD PATENT Applicant: MOUNT SHAMROCK PTY LTD A.C.N. 005 471 456 Invention Title: METAL NOGGIN The following statement is a full description of this invention, including the best method of performing it known to us: 2 METAL NOGGIN This invention relates to a metal noggin for a building frame.

Noggins are conventionally formed from wood and are used in building frames to strengthen wall studs. Typically wooden noggins are cut to size and located between two adjacent studs and nailed in place. The cutting and installation of noggins in timber building frames is time consuming and relatively expensive.

The object of the invention is to provide a metal noggin which overcomes this problem.

The invention, in a first aspect, may be said to reside in a metal noggin, including: a base wall; at least one side wall formed integral with the base wall and being arranged transverse with respect to the base wall; a plurality of spaced apart cut-outs in the side wall; and wherein, in use, the noggin is located on a building frame by locating studs of the building frame in respective cut-outs and with the base wall sitting flush with one face of the studs.

According to this aspect of the invention the metal noggin can be applied to the wall frame by bending the noggin in the vicinity of the cut-outs so that the cut-outs can be arranged over the studs and the studs locating in the cutouts and then moving the metal noggin so that the base wall sits flush on the face of the studs. Thus, a metal noggin can be applied to a number of studs quickly thereby decreasing the time required to install noggins.

Furthermore, the metal noggins can be more economically \\melbfiles\home$\mbourke\Keep\Speci\Mount Shamrock Prov Metal Noggin.doc 7/06/02 3 produced because a single noggin can be formed which will span a number of studs instead of having to cut individual wooden noggins which extend between only two adjacent studs.

Preferably the side wall includes a piercing element adjacent each cut-out for penetrating a side surface of the studs which extends perpendicular to the said face of the studs, to facilitate location of the noggin in place on the studs.

Preferably the side wall includes a flange which extends perpendicular to the side wall at an edge of the side wall remote from the base, the piercing element being formed on the flange.

Preferably the piercing element is a tooth formed on the flange.

The tooth may be triangular in shape or of rectangular shape.

Preferably the noggin includes two side walls extending parallel to one another and in the same direction perpendicular to the base wall, each side wall having a said cut-outs in registry with one another so that the studs can locate in a pair of aligned cut-outs formed in the side walls.

The invention may also be said to reside in a method of forming a metal noggin including the steps of: pressing a blank so as to form a cut-out in the blank adjacent an edge of the blank; folding the blank so as to form a base wall and at least one side wall in which the cut-out is provided and so the side wall extends transverse with respect to the base wall.

\\melbfiles\homeS\mborke\Keep\Speci\Mount Shamrock Prov Metal Noggin.doc 7/06/02 4 Preferably the pressing step cuts two aligned cut-outs in the blank which are in registry with one another and the folding step includes folding two side walls so that the side walls extend parallel with respect to one another and in the same direction and transverse with respect to the base wall.

Preferably the folding step also includes folding a flange at an edge of each side wall, the flange being folded so that it extends transverse with respect to the side wall.

Preferably the pressing step includes cutting a portion of the cut-out in the vicinity of the flange so as to form a piercing element on the flange for penetrating a stud when the noggin is located on a wooden building frame.

A preferred embodiment of the invention will be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Figure 1 is a perspective view of a metal noggin according to a preferred embodiment of the invention; Figure 2 is a drawing showing the noggin installed in a building frame; Figure 3 and Figure 4 show a sequence of steps for locating the metal noggin of the preferred embodiment on a stud of a building frame; Figure 5 is a view of a blank from which the metal noggin is formed; and Figure 6, Figure 7, Figure 8, Figure 9, Figure Figure 11, Figure 12 and Figure 13 are a sequence of diagrams showing the folding of the blank of Figure 5 to form the noggin of Figure 1.

With reference to Figure 1, a metal noggin 10 is shown which has a base wall 12 which is continuous from one end of the noggin to the other end of the noggin. The noggin \\melbfies\homeS\mbourke\Keep\Speci\Mount Shamrock Prov Metal Noggindoc 7/06/02 5 has a pair of side walls 14 which extend substantially parallel with respect to one another and perpendicular to the base wall 12. The side walls 14 each have a cut-out 16. The cut-outs 16 are aligned or in registry with one another. Although not shown in Figure 1, the metal noggin will include a plurality of the cut-outs 16 along the length of the noggin 10 and which are spaced apart by the same spacing as the studs of a building frame to which the metal noggin is to be attached.

The side walls 14 each have an outwardly projecting flange 18 which extends generally perpendicular to the side walls 14. The flanges have an in-turned bead 26 to provide a blunt edge 27 to the flanges. The flanges 18 have an integral piercing element 20 which is formed by an end portion of the flanges 18 which define part of the opening 16 into which the studs of a building frame are to locate.

The piercing elements 20 can be generally triangular shaped teeth as shown in Figure 1 or square shaped teeth 20' shown on the other side of the cut-outs 16.

The noggin 10 is located on studs 30 of a building frame by locating the studs 30 in the cut-outs 16 and so at the base wall 12 sits flush with face 30' of the studs The side walls 14 engage sides 30'' of the studs 30 and the teeth 20 or 20' pierce and penetrate the side walls so as to secure the noggin 10 in place. Nails 31 can also be hammered through the base wall 12 and into the studs 30 to further secure the noggins to the building frame formed by the studs Figures 3 and 4 show in more detail the manner in which the metal noggin 10 is applied to the studs The noggin 10 is located over one of the studs 30 so a stud 30 sits in the cut-out 30'. As is shown in Figure 3, the noggin is bent around a point such as that shown by \\melb-files\home$\mbourke\Keep\Speci\Mount Shamrock Prov Metal Noggin.doc 7/06/02 6 12' in Figure 3 and the noggin is pulled slightly in the direction of arrow A so that the teeth 20 begin to penetrate the side 30'' of the noggin 30 adjacent the bend 12'. The noggin 14 is then bent back to its original position in the direction of arrow B in Figure 4 so that the base wall 12 sits flush with the face 30' of the noggin 30 and the other teeth 20 dig into and penetrate into the other side face 30'' of the noggin 30. This movement of the noggin back towards its original position will also cause the tooth 20 adjacent the bend 12' to fully embed into the noggin The next cut-out 16 along the length of the noggin 20 is located on the next stud in exactly the same manner until all of the studs are received in a cut-out 16 of the noggin The noggin 10 may be further secured in place by hammering nails 31 through the base wall 12 and into the studs Figures 5 to 13 show how the metal noggin 10 of Figures 1 to 4 is formed.

The noggin 10 is preferably formed from a blank B shown in Figure 5 which is a rectangular sheet of metal which, simply for example, may have a length of 2m and a width of 7cm. The first operation to form the noggin is to press the noggin to form the cut-outs 16 in side of the blank B.

The formation of most building frames are now formed in a factory situation from an automated process in which data relating to the building frame is fed into a computer so that top plates, base plates and studs can be positioned and then nailed together to form a wall frame. The automated process therefore knows the position and spacing of the studs in the wall frame and the data relating to the position, size and spacing of the studs can be used in \\melb~files\home\mborke\Keep\Speci\Mount Shaerock Prov Metal Noggin.doc 7/06/02 7 the pressing machine so as to locate cutting elements in the pressing machine to form the cut-outs 16 at the desired locations along the length of the blank B to match the spacing and size of studs with which the metal noggin is to be used.

Thus, the blank B is pressed and cut to form the cut-outs 16. As shown in Figure 5 the cut-out 16 has an inner side edge 17 which will effectively form the edge of the base 12, side edges 19, inclined edge 21 and inclined edge 23 so that the edges 21 and 23 form the triangular shape tooth 20 when the blank is folded to form the noggin.

The metal blank B is then bent in a sequence of steps in a bending or rolling machine as shown by Figure 6 to Figure 13 so as to form the end shape of the noggin The first pass of the rollers will form folds which are labelled 1, 2 and 3 on each side of the blank B which will form the fold lines. The fold line 1 defines the transition of the bent over bead 26, the fold 2 will form the transition between the flange 18 and the wall 14 and the fold 3 will form the transition between the side 14 and the base wall 12. Continued rolling of the blank will further fold the blank as shown in Figures 7 to 13 to form the end cross-sectional shape shown in Figure 13.

Thus, according to the preferred embodiment of the invention a metal noggin which can span a number of studs in a building frame is formed and which can therefore be more easily installed than individual wooden noggins which extend only between adjacent studs and which is relatively inexpensive to manufacture.

It should be understood that for the purposes of the present specification, the word noggin implies a member which joins a pair of frame members regardless of whether \\melbfies\homeS\mbourke\Keep\Seci\Mount Shaxock Prov Metal Noggindoc 7/06/02 8 they are wall studs in a vertical frame, or building members which are arranged horizontally such as in a floor or a roof.

One particular application of the noggin in a roof environment is in roofs having a hip configuration to provide frame members to which plaster to form a ceiling can be attached. In such configurations the bottom cord of the trusses to which a plasterer would normally attach sheets of plaster to form a ceiling, run in the wrong direction for conventional mounting of plaster sheets.

Thus, it is generally necessary to insert additional frame members between the bottom cords to provide supports to which the plaster sheets can be attached. The inclusion of such members is time consuming and generally involves a similar operation to that in which wooden noggins are formed in vertical building frames. The use of the noggin according to the present invention enables much more speedy and economical location of a support fixture to which plaster sheets can be readily attached.

In this arrangement, the metal noggins are attached to the bottom cords of the trusses in exactly the same manner to which they are attached to the studs 30 of a vertical wall frame as described with reference to Figures 2 to 4.

Since modifications within the spirit and scope of the invention may readily be effected by persons skilled within the art, it is to be understood that this invention is not limited to the particular embodiment described by way of example hereinabove.

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Claims (8)

1. 2. The noggin of claim 1, wherein the side wall includes a piercing element adjacent each cut-out for penetrating a side surface of the studs which extends perpendicular to the said face of the studs, to facilitate location of the noggin in place on the studs.
2. 3. The noggin of claim 1 or 2, wherein the side wall includes a flange which extends perpendicular to the side wall at an edge of the side wall remote from the base, the piercing element being formed on the flange.
3. 4. The noggin of claim 2, wherein the piercing element is a tooth formed on the flange. The noggin of claim 4, wherein the tooth is triangular in shape or of rectangular shape.
4. 6. The noggin of any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the noggin includes two side walls extending parallel to one another and in the same direction perpendicular to the base wall, each side wall having a said cut-out in registry with one another so that the studs can locate in a pair of aligned cut-outs formed in the side walls. \\melb files\home\mbourke\Keep\Speci\Mount Shamrock Prov Metal Noggin.doc 7/06/02 10
5. 7. A method of forming a metal noggin including the steps of: pressing a blank so as to form a cut-out in the blank adjacent an edge of the blank; folding the blank so as to form a base wall and at least one side wall in which the cut-out is provided and so the side wall extends transverse with respect to the base wall. Preferably the pressing step cuts two aligned cut-outs in the blank which are in registry with one another and the folding step includes folding two side walls so that the side walls extend parallel with respect to one another and in the same direction and transverse with respect to the base wall.
6. 8. The method of claim 7, wherein the folding step also includes folding a flange at an edge of each side wall, the flange being folded so that it extends transverse with respect to the side wall.
7. 9. The method of claim 7 or 8, wherein the pressing step includes cutting a portion of the cut-out in the vicinity of the flange so as to form a piercing element on the flange for penetrating a stud when the noggin is located on a wooden building frame. A metal noggin substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings. \\melb.files\home\mbourke\Keep\Speci\Mount Sha-rock Prov Metal Noggindoc 7/06/02 11
8. 11. A method of forming a metal nogging substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings. Dated this 7th day of June 2002 MOUNT SHAMROCK P/L By their Patent Attorneys GRIFFITH HACK Fellows Institute of Patent and Trade Mark Attorneys of Australia \\me lbf ies hOne \mioke\ Keep\ Speci \Mo~mt Sha~zock Prov metal NJoggin.doc 7/06/02