CA2777330A1

CA2777330A1 - Construction framing member with integrated thermal break and method for manufacturing same

Info

Publication number: CA2777330A1
Application number: CA2777330A
Authority: CA
Inventors: Eric Penner De Waal
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2012-05-23
Filing date: 2012-05-23
Publication date: 2013-11-23

Abstract

A construction framing product comprising a support member and an insulative material disposed in a void within the support member. A method of manufacturing the support member and framing product is disclosed.

Description

CONSTRUCTION FRAMING MEMBER WITH INTEGRATED
/
THERMAL BREAK AND METHOD FOR MANUFAC 7, ',RING SAME
Field of the Invention The present invention relates to building and framing construction materials, and more particularly to construction materials with enhanced insulative properties.
Background of the Invention Improvements in building construction materials and methods are constantly sought to enhance the comfort and economy of residential and commercial buildings. One of the areas in which a large amount of effort is currently concentrated is in the development of alternate materials and construction methods that increase energy efficiency. Heating a building is negatively impacted if the building is not properly sealed and insulated; gaps in the structure of the building as well as thin, non-insulated walls allow heat to transfer out of the building and increase heating costs, as well as result in uneven heating levels within the building. In addition to the increased cost of energy for heating the building, there is also undue damage to the environment due to the increased amounts of heating fuel or energy which arc consumed to keep these buildings at comfortable temperatures. As such it is desirable to provide or enhance the effect of insulation in the walls of buildings to prevent or minimize heat loss.
Typical walls of a building are manufactured with dimensional lumber or other stud materials, having a gypsum or other type of wall board on the interior of the building.
Vapor barrier may also be used between the interior wall surface and the studs or dimensional framing members which provide structure to the wall in the building. The studs act as an inner member framework which, along with providing structure and support for the wall itself. also support wall coverings, windows and doors. They also provide mounting cavities or mounting surfaces for electrical wiring, plumbing, HVAC systems and other utilities.

Standard dimensional lumber or other aluminum or steel stud materials are often used to construct these walls. Most often interior walls are generally constructed with 2 inch x 4 inch wall studs, although sometimes 2 inch x 6 inch wall studs would be used to provide more strength. Typically the studs or framing members are placed a predefined standard spacing apart, for example either every 16 or 24 inches. Extra studs can be used or provided wherever walls intersect, or to provide a nailing area or additional support.
Batts of insulation would typically be installed in the spaces between framing members inside a wall to provide insulation and reduce heat loss through the cavities between the framing members. To the exterior of a building wall there is often an air barrier and some kind of an exterior surface or siding which is attached through to the studs.
Insulation bans are important in providing insulation in the areas of the cavities between the framing members. Some common forms of insulation batts arc made from fiberglass, mineral wool, or cotton. These baus are fibrous sheets that are long and wide enough to fit snugly between wall studs. Another form of insulation is loose-fill insulation, which is a light fibrous fill. This type of insulation is laborious to install and typically requires a professional installer.
Furthermore, this type of insulation is easily affected by air movementõ There is also spray-applied insulation that can fill cavities very well, but again, must be applied by a specialized contractor.
An effective insulation system will prevent the movement of air through the system. If there are any cavities, they will be filled with insulation, leaving no gaps in or around the insulation. The structural members in the wall oftentimes act as thermal bridges, extending from the warm side of the insulation to the cold side of the insulation, allowing for an easy escape of heat. While insulation bans installed in the cavities between the framing members provide some insulation to a building, the framing members or studs of the wall allow heat transfer to occur from the warm side to the cool side of the wall through the framing members themselves. This problem is further emphasized with the use of metal member portions instead of wood, because much more heat flows through metal studs and joists than through pieces of wood.

There have been many attempts to prevent heat loss through thermal bridges such as the framing members. One of the most popular methods of preventing this type of heat loss is to provide some type of rigid, board-stock insulation on the exterior face of the studs, usually expanded polystyrene or insulation batts. However, installation of this type of insulation on all the exterior faces of the studs involves wrapping the entire house with a rigid foam bait, or similar type of insulation product, which is very expensive and labour intensive. Again, this type of material can also be an irritant or hazardous during installation and will often require professional installation.
Another attempt to minimize this type of heat loss is to space the wall studs at 24 inches apart, rather than 16 inches apart. This extra spacing between the studs reduces the total number of studs in the wall, thus reducing the surface area of the framing members available for heat transfer. However, the reduction in the number of total framing members reduces the strength of the wall. As such, it is not desirable to reduce the number of framing members, if possible.
Furthermore, the reduction in framing members does not eliminate, or even minimize, the heat loss that will occur through the remaining framing members.
A further attempt to minimize heat loss through wall studs uses a method of staggering the wall studs that appear next to one another. A first wall stud would be situated against the inner wall leaving a gap between the first wall stud and the outer wall, and a second wall stud adjacent the first wall stud would be situated against the outer wall leaving a gap between the second wall stud and the inner wall, whereby the wall studs would alternate positions as such along the wall.
In this way, a given stud will not concurrently contact the materials of the inner wall and the materials of the outer wall, and will consequently be unable to transfer heat directly from the inner wall, through to the stud, to the outer wall and out of the building.
However, there are many drawbacks associated with this method, as well. This method of reducing heat loss through studs is very labor intensive and expensive, as each stud needs to be perfectly placed in relation to the studs next to it. This furthermore increases the thickness of the wall and reduces the strength of the wall since each of the inner wall and the outer wall are only provided with one half of the number of wall studs for support.

What is needed, therefore, is a framing product that has enhanced thermal insulative properties but is capable of manufacture using relatively simple methods that do not introduce undue complexity.
Summary of the Invention The present invention accordingly seeks to provide a framing product that comprises standard material but incorporates a thermal break in the form of an insulative material.
According to a first aspect of the present invention there is provided a support member for use in the manufacture of a framing product, the support member comprising a void for receiving insulative material. The support member is preferably composed of wood and the void is preferably a channel running substantially the length of the support member and exposed at the surface of the support member at one edge thereof.
According to a second aspect of the present invention there is provided a framing product that comprises a support member comprising a void, and an insulative material situate in the void.
The insulative material has a lower thermal conductivity than the support member which houses it and therefore increases the thermal insulation properties of the framing product.
According to a third aspect of the present invention there is provided a method of manufacturing a support member comprising the steps of: (a) providing a length of wood suitable to be used as a framing member, the length of wood having a depth; (b) providing a wood-cutting tool having a cutting implement with an operative length less than the depth; and (c) cutting a void in the length of wood in the direction of the depth using the cutting implement to form the support member, such that the void penetrates into the length of wood to less than the depth. The wood-cutting tool may be a table saw or router or any other similar tool known in the art, and the cutting implement would then be a blade or bit or similar cutting implement, respectively, which can be set to a length that is less than the depth, such that when the cutting of the void is completed a portion of wood still remains intact beyond the set reach of the cutting implement.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention there is provided a method of manufacturing a framing product comprising the steps of: (a) providing a length of wood suitable to be used as a framing member, the length of wood having a depth; (b) providing a wood-cutting tool having a cutting implement with an operative length less than the depth; (c) cutting a void in the length of wood in the direction of the depth using the cutting implement to form a support member, such that the void penetrates into the length of wood to less than the depth; (d) providing an insulative material; and (e) introducing the insulative material into the void to form the framing product. The insulative material may be either a solid component sized to fit in and preferably fill the void, or a foam or other liquid insulative material that can be injected into the void to fill the void, wherein upon solidification of the insulative material in the void the framing product is formed.
A detailed description of an exemplary embodiment of the present invention is given in the following. It is to be understood, however, that the invention is not to be construed as being limited to this embodiment.
Brief Description of the Drawings In the accompanying drawings, which illustrate an exemplary embodiment of the present invention:
Figure 1 a is a perspective view of a support member in accordance with the present invention;
Figure lb is a top plan view of the support member of Figure la;
Figure lc is a side elevation view of the support member of Figure la; and Figure 2 is a perspective view of a framing product according to the present invention.

A preferred embodiment of the present invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.
Detailed Description of Exemplary Embodiments Referring now to the accompanying drawings, embodiments of a support member and a framing product having an internal thermal break according to the present invention are illustrated.
Referring now in detail to Figures 1a to lc, a support member JO according to the present invention is illustrated. The support member 10 is for use in the manufacture of a framing product 34, as will be described below. The support member 10 comprises a void or channel 12 which in the exemplary embodiment extends the length of the support member 10;
it will be clear to one skilled in the art that the void 12 need not extend the entire length of the support member 10 in order to enhance the insulative properties of the support member 10, but having a relatively continuous void 12 along the entire length will optimize such properties. This void 12 is for the receipt of insulative material 32, as will be described below. The support member 10 is preferably composed of wood, due to the ease with which the void 12 can be cut. out of a wooden substrate and the utility of wooden framing members in construction contexts.
The support member 10 comprises a first section 14 and a second section 16, separated by the void 12 which extends inwardly from the outer surface 30 of the support member 10. As the void 12 does not pass completely through the support member 10, a thin remainder of material connects the first and second sections 14, 16, namely the connecting section 18. The void 12 is therefore only exposed in the exemplary embodiment at. the outer surface 30 and opposed first and second ends 26, 28 of the support member 10.
The void 12 is preferably a channel running substantially the length of the support member 10 and exposed at the outer surface 30 of the support member 10, and it is defined by the inner surface 20 of the first section 14, the inner surface 22 of the second section 16 and the inner surface 24 of the connecting section 18.

The manufacture of a support member 10 in accordance with the present invention can be accomplished using known tools and methods of woodworking. First, a length of wood suitable for use as a framing member is provided, and this may be a standard 2 inch x 4 inch or 2 inch x 6 inch piece of lumber that is commonly used in constniction and therefore will likely he of suitable dimensions for the building plans. This length of wood will have a standard depth, 2 inches in most cases. Next, a standard wood-cutting tool such as a table saw or router table is provided, the wood-cutting tool having a cutting implement. This cutting implement (a saw blade in the case of a table saw, or a router bit in the case of a router table) can be set at a desired height above the work surface of the tool, and in the ease of a length of wood having a depth of 2 inches the desired cutting implement height setting is preferably approximately 1-3/4 inches, although the height setting can be any length less than 2 inches. With the operative height of the cutting implement set at less than the depth of the piece of lumber, the user then cuts a void 12 in the length of wood in the direction of the depth using the cutting implement in a manner well known to those skilled in the art, such that the void 12 penetrates into the length of wood to less than the depth. When the cutting of the void 12 is completed, a portion of wood still remains intact beyond the set reach of the cutting implement, specifically the connecting section 1 8. The width of the void 12 can vary as needed given the predetermined insulative properties that the final framing product is to have, and one skilled in the art will know how to use various wood-cutting tools to achieve voids 12 of varying widths.
Turning now to Figure 2. a framing product 34 according to the present invention is illustrated.
The framing product comprises the support member 10, with an insulative material 32 disposed within the void 12. In this way, the original dimensions of the lumber are maintained but with the presence of a thermal break incorporated within the framing product 34 to enhance the insulative properties of the building material.
Whereas the insulative material 32 could be introduced in any number of ways, including cutting a piece of solid insulation to the size of the void 12 and fixing it in place (by glue or other known means) between the first and second sections 14, 16, it is preferable to use polyurethane foam insulation as the insulative material 32 and inject same into the void 12.
Once the injected foam insulation has hardened, the waste can be cut away such that the outer surfaces of the insulative material 32 are flush with the outer surface 30, first end 26 and second end 28 of the support member 10. The width of the insulative material 32 can be generally between 1/2 inch and 1 inch, although the width could vary depending on the heat conductivity of the particular insulative material 32 and the thickness required to obtain the desired degree of insulation. Where the framing product 34 is secured in place in a wall, with the first section 14 disposed toward the building interior and the second section 16 disposed toward the outside of the building, heat transfer can be minimized from the first section 14 of the support member 10 to the second section 16 of the support member 10, thus reducing the thermal bridge between the inner wall and the outer wall of the building.
It should also be noted that the above description is of one exemplary embodiment only as illustrated by the accompanying Figures, and the size of the first section 14, second section 16 and insulative material 32 could each be adjusted for a number of reasons. For example, the insulative material 32 could be thickened or thinned based upon the particular thermal requirements of the application in which the framing product 34 when assembled would be used.
Also, the first and/or second sections 14,16 might be sized appropriately such that their utility in conventional construction techniques would be maximized, e.g. such that they would still most strongly support fasteners attached thereto, etc. In one embodiment, the complete framing product 34, including the first and second sections 14, 16 plus the integrated insulative material 32 could in total be approximately the same size as a standard dimensional framing member, for example in total being the approximate dimensions of a standard 2 inch x 4 inch or 2 inch x 6 inch framing member, such that it could be easily interchanged into pre-existing construction methods and market acceptance of the product could be maximized. It will be understood by one skilled in the art that there is no specific ideal set of dimensions for the framing product 34 of the present invention but that any number of different pre-existing dimensional lumber sizes could be duplicated using the framing product 34.
As can be readily seen, then, the support member and framing product of the present invention present significant advantages over the prior art. Enhanced thermal insulation properties are provided in a product that can be manufactured in industry standard sizes for ease of implementation. There is no need to implement a novel stud arrangement or spacing that may weaken the structure, but rather the structural strength of wood is maintained while integrating a thermal break.
The foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the invention. Thus, while certain aspects and embodiments of the invention have been described, these have been presented by way of example only and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention.
Indeed, the invention described herein may be embodied in a variety of other forms without departing from the spirit of the invention, which invention is defined solely by the claims below.