GB472499A - Improvements in or relating to buildings - Google Patents

Abstract

472,499. Floors ; beams. MACDONALD, A. G. March 27, 1936, No. 9188. [Class 20 (iv)] A floor comprises a plurality of hollow filler blocks 12 which are placed end to end and side by side to form a substantially plane surface and rest upon rubber pads 11 whch are seated upon transverse members 10 of the building structure so that the blocks are withheld from contact with any non-resilient part of the building structure lying external to the compartment in which the floor is laid. The floor may also include a ceiling which is formed of a material having heat and/or sound insulating properties and is attached to the lower portions of the transverse members 10, so as to provide a space between the floor and ceiling. As shown in Fig. 1, the lipped ends 13 of hollow filler blocks 12 rest upon rubber pads 11 placed upon the upper flanges of the joists 10 of a metal-frame building. The pads, which are so proportioned that the weight of the floor supported by each pad is in the order of 50 lb. per square inch, are positioned adjacent the edges of each block and intermediate the ends thereof, and each pad is adapted to project beyond the edges of the flange of the joist on which it is supported so that the blocks are withheld from contact with the joist. The blocks 12 may be of vibrated concrete and completely closed on all sides. The blocks which lie beneath a party wall are of such a length as to provide a gap 15 beneath the wall. A concrete screeding 17 is provided over the blocks 12. The ceiling may be in the form of sheets of an asbestos-concrete composition, or of the material known under the Registered Trade Mark " Thermacoust," such sheets being secured by nails to battens 19 carried by wire ties or metal hooks 20 from the joists 10. The end faces of the blocks 12 may have grooves for housing the loops of the members 20. When a ceiling structure is provided, the blocks 12 may be solid and composed of ferro-concrete or wood. In the modification shown in Fig. 4, solid concrete blocks 23 are supported upon rubber blocks 24 seated upon the lateral flanges 22 of reinforced-concrete beams 21. Cover plates 26 bridge the gaps between the blocks 23, and a screeding 17 of concrete &c. is laid over the blocks. Preformed sheets 27 of insulating material are attached directly to the beam flanges 22 either by screws or spikes or by hanger bolts 29 which pass through the sheets 27 and are secured to plates 30 projecting from the flanges 22 of the beams. The blocks 23 may be of earthenware, brick, ferro-concrete, or timber, and, if desired, may be hollow. When the ceiling shown in Fig. 4 is dispensed with, the blocks 23 must be hollow.