GB2426260A

GB2426260A - Support for cladding

Info

Publication number: GB2426260A
Application number: GB0522426A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Paul Butler
Original assignee: Wincro Metal Industries Ltd
Current assignee: Wincro Metal Industries Ltd
Priority date: 2005-05-16
Filing date: 2005-11-03
Publication date: 2006-11-22
Anticipated expiration: 2025-11-03
Also published as: GB2426261B; GB0510001D0; GB0522426D0; GB2426260B; GB2426261A; GB0522427D0

Abstract

Support for cladding comprises brackets 10 and an elongate support member 12 connected thereto. The elongate support member 12 having a load bearing projecting portion 20 and an upstanding portion 18. The upstanding portion 18 has spaced support plates 17 projecting from it at right angles. The support plate 17 is adjustably connected to a side flange 16 of one of the brackets. The support plate 17 and bracket side flange 16 are connected by a bolted connection 21 through a slot 19 in one element and a hole in the other, the element with the hole also being provided with a projection 15 which is a sliding fit in the slot 19 of the other member. The adjustable connection may include two bolted connections 21 in vertically spaced relation in use. The projection 15 may be formed by a stamping action which has formed the bolt hole.

Description

Building structure support means The invention relates to building

structure support means for use in supporting the cladding or facing structure of a building whereby a part of the vertical load of the cladding or facing structure can be transferred to an inner, load bearing, structure of the building It is common practice in the construction and refurbishment of buildings to provide the building with a cladding or facing, this usually being of brick or stone but may be of other materials, and various support means have previously been proposed for this purpose. For example, there may be an elongate angle section support member secured to the inner, load-bearing, structure of the building by bolts extending through holes or slots in the vertical leg of the elongate section, the horizontal leg of the section then projecting outwards to provide support for the cladding or facing structure. Alternatively, instead of being secured by bolts extending through its vertical leg, the elongate section may have a number of brackets welded to it at spaced locations along its length, said brackets then being bolted to the inner, load-bearing structure According to the invention, there is provided building structure support means constituted by a plurality of brackets and an elongate support member connected to said brackets, the elongate support member including a load- bearing projecting portion for supporting building structure and an upstanding portion having spaced support plates, projecting from it at right angles, by means of which it is connected to the respective brackets, and each bracket having a support portion capable of being secured to fixed existing building structure and having also at least one flange projecting away from the support portion for connection to a respective support plate of the elongate support member, there being means provided whereby the or each flange is adjustably connected to the respective support plate, said means including at least one bolted connection extending through a bolt hole in the one and through a slot formed in the other, the member having the bolt hole being provided with a projection which is a close sliding fit in the slot in the other member The bolt hole will preferably extend through said projection.

The means whereby the or each flange is adjustably connected to a respective support plate will preferably include two bolted connections in vertically spaced relation.

The or each projection may have been formed by a stamping operation which has produced a shearing action along parallel lines defining the width of the projection and the stamping operation may have also formed the bolt hole at the centre of the or each projection. Said bolt hole will preferably be of square shape for receiving a square section portion of the bolt of the respective bolted connection, thus preventing rotation of said bolt.

In the accompanying drawings, which illustrate, by way of example only, particular embodiments of the invention:- Figure 1 is a perspective view of a building structure support means embodying the invention, Figure 2 is a section on the line 2 - 2 in Figure 1, drawn to a scale larger than that of Figure 1, Figure 3 is a perspective view, to a scale greater than that of Figure 2, illustrating a detail of one element of the support means, and Figures 4 and 5 are views similar to Figure 2 which illustrate possible modifications which will be referred to Referring now to Figures 1 and 2 of the drawings, the building structure support means there illustrated includes a plurality of support brackets 10 (two such brackets being shown in the drawing), and an elongate support member, generally indicated 12, these being intended to be supplied in an already assembled (as shown) but readily adjustable condition, the number of support brackets equally spaced along the elongate support member being dependent upon the required length of the latter.

Each support bracket (which has been formed from a flat sheet of stainless steel) has a support plate portion 14, which in use will be bolted against an upstanding surface of the load-bearing structure of a building, and a pair of side flanges 16,16 which have each been turned through a right angle from the plane of the support plate portion to project perpendicularly therefrom The manner in which the brackets are to be bolted to the load-bearing structure of the building is not illustrated but each bracket is shown in Figure 1, by way of example only, to be provided, in an upper part of its support plate portion, with a single hole 34 through which a fixing bolt (not shown) may extend.

The elongate support member 12 (which has also been formed from a flat sheet of stainless steel) has an upstanding portion 18, which in the assembled support means is connected (as will be described) to the brackets 10, and a load-bearing outwardly projecting portion 20 which has been turned through substantially a right angle from the plane of the upstanding portion 18 so that, in use, it will be horizontally disposed to support the facia building structure (substantiaily as shown in ghosted outline in Figure 1).

Means whereby the plurality of brackets 10 are connected to the elongate support member 12 include pairs of support plates 17,17 (which, when already connected to respective side flanges 16,16 of a bracket 10, as illustrated in Figure 2, are to be welded to the upstanding portion 18 of said support member, thus locating the brackets at the required spacings along its length).

The means whereby said support plates are connected to the side flanges 16,16 of a bracket 10 are, as shown, constituted by pairs of bolted connections, each pair being arranged in vertically spaced relation The bolted connections include respective pairs of bolts 21 which extend through holes 11 in the support plates 17,17 and through slots 19,19 formed in the respective side flanges 16,16, the bolts being provided with nuts 23 and steel washers 25. As shown in the drawings, each support plate is provided with a pair of projections 15,15, these being at the spacing of the slots 19,19 in the side flanges. The projections 15,1 5 have been formed by a stamping operation which has produced a shearing action along parallel lines defining the width of said projections so that the latter will be a close sliding fit in the slots which they are to engage. This method of manufacture forms projections of part circular shape on one side of the support plate, as shown, and simultaneously forms depressions on the Opposite side of similar shape As shown, the projections extend away the surface from which they have been stamped by a distance very slightly less than the thickness of the material of which the brackets 10 have been formed, This is important in order that when the bolted connections are tightened they effectively clamp the side plates 16 and flanges 17 together.

At the centre of each projection there has been formed the bolt hole 11 previously referred to, this being of square shape as shown in Figure 3. The bolts 2] are formed with square section Portions 27 adjacent their heads for engaging the bolt holes in the support plate members, as shown in Figure 2.

Thus there is provided a pre-assembled building structure support means which is very convenient to use and also very secure when Supporting heavy cladding or facing structure The fact that the support plates are welded to the portion 18 of the elongate support member 12 when already clamped to the side flanges of the brackets 10 ensures that, when the nuts 23 of the bolted assemblies have been slackened, the necessary adjustments to bring the elongate support member to the exact position required can be effected very quickly and easily. The bolted connections described and illustrated in the drawings ensure that the heavy weight of the cladding or facing structure taken by the plurality of brackets will not rely on frictional resistance to prevent movement under load between the support plates and the side flanges of the brackets A further advantage is that, during the mounting of the assembly on the inner, load-bearing, structure of a building, an operative making adjustments to the spacing of a bracket from said support member, perhaps in order to compensate for some local deviation of said inner structure from its otherwise flat plane, requires only a single spanner to engage the nuts of the bolted connections, the bolts being held against rotation by their engagement in the square bolt holes in the support plates.

It will be understood that the method of assembly just described not only makes ii very easy to compensate for any minor irregularities in the structure to which the brackets have been secured but avoids the use of shims to bring said brackets into alignment with each other. In other words, the adjustable plate members very easily compensate for cavity variations, that is to say for variations in the distance between the inner load bearing structure and the cladding or facia structure being applied. It will no longer be necessary for stockists to carry a great many different sizes of bracket or a great many different thicknesses of shims in order for users to be able to bring such brackets into alignment. The necessary adjustments to compensate for the cavity variations just referred to will be able to be carried out quickly and easily, and the fact that the projections 15,1 5 formed on the plate members 17,17 fit closely in the slots 19,1 9 fbrmed in the side flanges of the bracket ensure that the considerable load imposed on the support means by the weight of the cladding or facing structure of the building cannot produce any measureable movement of said plate members relative to the support portion of the bracket. Because there is load-carrying sliding engagement of the projections 15 in the slots 19, there is no shearing action on the respective bolts and these merely clamp the plate elements tightly together, Various modifications may be made. For example, it would be possible for the plate members 17,17 to be clamped against the inside surfaces instead of the outer surfaces of the side flanges 16,16 although this would slightly reduce the range of adjustment available (everything else being equal) because the end surfaces of the plate members would abut against the support plate portion 14 of the bracket 10 (or the radius between the support plate portion and the respective side flange 16) Reftr;n now to Figure 4, this illustrates the fact that each bracket could have only a single side flangei6, there being shown in this example to be a pair of such brackets connected to a pair of closely spaced plate members 17,17 which have been welded to the upstanding portion 18 of a support member 12. It will however be understood that, if preferred, the plate members could be provided singly at the spacings required, As shown in Figure 5, the slots 19 could be formed in the plate members 17 and the projections is formed on the side flanges 16. In this illustrated example there is shown to be a single plate member 17 and a single bracket, but it will be understood that this may be either one half of a fixing very similar to that illustrated in Figure 4 or one of a plurality of such fixings equally and fairly widely spaced along the length of the elongate support member.

Other designs of bracket are possible For example, a support portion 14 could have a single flange 16 welded to it midway of its width to form a bracket with a horizontal cross-section of T-shape

Claims

Claims I Building structure support means Constituted by a plurality of

brackets and an elongate support member connected to said brackets, the elongate support member including a load-bearing projecting portion for supporting building structure and an upstanding portion having spaced support plates, projecting from it at right angles, by means of which it is connected to the respective brackets, and each bracket having a support portion capable of being secured to fixed existing building structure and having also at least one flange projecting away from the support portion for connection to a respective support plate of the elongate support member, there being means provided whereby the or each flange is adjustably connected to the respective support plate, said means including at least one bolted connection extending through a bolt hole in the one and through a slot formed in the other, the member having the bolt hole being provided with a projection which is a close sliding fit in the slot in the other member.
2. Building structure support means according to claim I, in which the bolt hole extends through said projection
3 Building structure support means according to claim 2, in which the means whereby the or each flange of the bracket is adjustably connected to a respective support plate includes two bolted connections in vertically spaced relation.
4. Building structure support means according to any one of the preceding claims, in which the or each projection has been formed by a stamping operation which has produced a shearing action along parallel lines defining the width of the projection and has also formed the bolt hole at the centre of the or each projection.
5. Building structure support means according to any one of the preceding claims, in which the bolt hole of the or each bolted connection is of square shape for receiving a square section portion of the bolt, thus preventing rotation of said bolt.
6. Building structure support means constructed, arranged and adapted to be used substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and as illustrated by Figures 1 to 3, or Figure 4 or Figure 5 of the accompanying drawings.