IE80533B1 - A brick support system - Google Patents

Abstract

A brick structure cladding support comprising brackets (2) and brick supports (3) is provided. The brick support (3) has mutually offset fastener receiving holes (5) to ensure that if a first hole is drilled into reinforced concrete using one of the holes (5) as a template and a reinforcing beam is encountered, the workman simply used the other hole (5). It is unlikely that the reinforcing beam will be encountered twice. The invention also provides for more than two holes.

Description

The present invention relates to a brick structure cladding support of the type for supporting a brick or block cladding on a structure such as a reinforced concrete panel or beam.

In general, such brick structure cladding supports comprise structure engaging brackets, each carrying in spaced relationship therewith a brick support. The brackets are pre-drilled with a fastener receiving hole.

This is where the problem arises with such conventional brackets, because in practice the hole which is predrilled in the bracket is often not in the correct position to allow a fastener to be fixed to a structure. There are two problems one is the obvious i.e. to orient the bracket correctly on the structure so that the hole in the bracket is in the incorrect position or, what is more often the problem and is a particular problem with the general form of structure on which these brackets are used, namely, reinforced concrete the particular place where the hole needs to be drilled in the reinforced concrete is exactly the position in the reinforced concrete where there is a reinforcing bar. This problem has often been overcome by using, instead of holes, an elongated slot in the bracket, however, what happens then is that the depth of the elongated slot is not sufficient to allow for drilling a second hole, with the result that the system is often inadequately supported.

Various attempts have been made to overcome these problems and unfortunately most of the attempts to overcome the problem have been complex and of their nature costly devices. The problem has been long appreciated as -2demonstrated, for example, by U.K. Patent No. 2 242 211 where such a system is described, which system requires the use of wedges to, for example, act against the fastener to adjust the height of the bracket. To prevent the wedges being forced out, they are usually serrated which adds to the cost of the wedge and can indeed be pushed outward by certain forces acting on them.

This problem was identified and for example U.K. Patent Specification No. 2 242 722 describes another type of brick structure cladding support in which there is a bracket which has an aperture therethrough and a second element is provided engagable in the aperture, which comprises interlocking means located on the interior wall of the aperture and on portion of the second element engagable therein and adapted such that the position of the second element relative to the first element can be adjusted by appropriate engagement in the interlocking means. In effect therefore the fastener hole is provided by this second element which can be moved up and down in the larger hole in the bracket. Again this requires castings and elaborate machining, adding to the cost of the system.

Heretofore nobody has in fact devised what is a relatively simple and inexpensive system.

Finally, a major problem with existing brick structure cladding supports is that it is sometimes awkward to gain access for insertion of the structure engaging fasteners.

The present invention is directed towards overcoming the problems in the existing brick structure cladding supports and at the same time providing an efficient way of manufacturing such system which will allow flexibility in operation and economy in manufacture.

Statements of Invention According to the invention, there is provided a brick structure cladding support comprising a plurality of structure engaging brackets, each comprising a structure engaging face plate having a set of at least two fastener receiving holes mutually offset at different horizontal and vertical positions and an outwardly projecting flange, and a brick support comprising an upstanding bracket flange engaging wall and a brick supporting shelf. The advantage of the two fastener receiving holes which are offset at different horizontal and vertical positions ensures that in almost every case it will be possible to secure the fastener to a reinforced concrete structure without any problems with a reinforcing bar incorporated in such a structure. For example, if one of the holes is used and a reinforcing bar is encountered, then it is almost certainly true that it will be mutually impossible to drill into another reinforcing bar. Thus, the bracket can be relatively easily placed on a reinforced structure or beam.

Further, the invention provides a brick structure cladding support in which there are two outwardly spaced apart projecting flanges forming a U-shaped structure engaging bracket with a vertical edge parallel to the face plate and in which the upstanding bracket flange engaging wall forms with the shelf an L-shaped plate. This is a very simple construction which will be very economical to manufacture and can be produced in a wide range of sizes without any great difficulty. It will allow considerable flexibility of manufacture.

In another construction of this latter embodiment the outward facing edge of each of the projecting flanges is vertical over the lower portion thereof and then tapered inwardly towards the face plate and in this latter embodiment, the upstanding bracket flange engaging wall is cranked to overlie the outward facing edge of each flange. The advantage of this latter embodiment will be apparent in that, for example, when the brick support is welded to the structure engaging bracket there will be additional support of the bricks by the bracket. This will further increase the rigidity of the structure.

In another embodiment of the invention the flange comprises a flange plate projecting outwards from the face plate and bent intermediate its ends to form a brick support engaging plate parallel to the face plate and projecting away from the face plate on the opposite side.

Ideally, in this latter embodiment the brick support engaging plate has a hole cut to receive a nut and a bolt for mounting the brick support and ideally this is a square hole. One of the advantages of this latter embodiment is that it can be relatively easily made, both left handed and right handed, thus doubling, in effect, the number of holes. In particular, it is necessary to provide two fasteners holes which will accommodate no less than four fixing positions.

While, in most instances, two fastener receiving holes will be sufficient, it is envisaged that at least three in-line holes along an axis inclined downwardly and across the face plate could be advantageous since this would allow an even wider choice of fixing hole to be drilled for a fastener, thus giving improved access to a bracket for insertion of a structure engaging fastener.

Further, the use of three in-line holes each effectively horizontally and vertically offset, almost certain ensures that it will be impossible in a reinforced concrete structure to be unable to drill at least one hole that will not coincide with a reinforcing bar.

In a still further embodiment of the invention there are five holes forming a set of fastener receiving holes, namely a central hole and four other holes arranged around the central hole in an X pattern. Again the advantage of this is flexibility and the possibility in certain circumstances to allow one to drill more than one hole for a fastener, though such generally will not be necessary.

Further auxiliary fastener holes are provided which slightly overlap the other fastener holes int he vertical direction.

Ideally the depth of the shelf is at least 70% of the depth of the brick to be supported thereon. It has been found in practice that this leads to a very rigid and well constructed structure in which the cladding is securely mounted against its main structure.

Further the invention provides a method of producing a brick structure cladding support of the type hereinbefore described comprising the steps of: punching sets of fastener receiving holes spaced apart in a pattern along a steel strip; shearing the strip between each set of fastener receiving holes to form a blank for the structure engaging bracket; bending the blank to form the bracket in the desired shape; cutting another steel strip into discrete lengths to form a brick support blank; bending the brick support blank about one or more longitudinal axes to form the brick support; and securing at least two structure engaging brackets to a brick support.

Generally speaking the bracket and brick support will be welded together. The advantage of being able to produce the bracket and brick support from steel strip is that it is a relatively simple punch and shear operation which can be efficiently and economically carried out.

In one method of producing a brick structure cladding support according to the invention, a plurality of sets of brick supports are produced with varying depths of brick support shelves and the brackets are secured thereto subsequently as required. Since the only fixing of a bracket to a shelf is by welding, it is possible to have in stock many sizes of shelf with one standard size of bracket and thus when such brick supports are required, they can be readily easily manufacture.

Further the number of brackets and the spacing between the brackets can be changed as desired and in many instances the actual fabrication that is to say the connection of the bracket to the shelf support can be carried out on site. This can be particularly advantageous.

Detailed Description of the Invention The invention will be more clearly understood from the following description of some embodiments thereof given by way of example only with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a brick structure cladding support according to the invention; Fig. 2 is a perspective view of a structure engaging bracket according to the invention; Fig. 3 is a front view of a bracket used in the brick structure cladding support of Fig. 1; Fig. 4 is a front view similar to Fig. 2 of an 10 alternative construction of bracket; Fig. 5 is a front view of a still further alternative construction of bracket; Fig. 6 is a plan view of a steel strip manufacturing a bracket used in the brick structure cladding support; Fig. 7 is a plan view of an alternative cutting arrangement for a bracket from a different size of steel strip; Fig. 8 is a diagrammatic front view illustrating the 20 manner in which a brick structure cladding support is connected to a reinforced concrete beam; Fig. 9 is a perspective view of an alternative construction of structure engaging bracket; Fig. 10 is a front view of the bracket of Fig. 9; Fig. 11 is a front view of an alternative construction, namely a right handed bracket similar to the bracket of Figs. 9 and 10; Fig. 12 is a perspective view similar to Fig. 1 of a brick structure cladding support according to the invention incorporating the brackets of Figs. 9 to 11 inclusive; Fig. 13 is a sectional view in the direction of the arrows XIII-XIII of Fig. 12; and Fig. 14 is a plan view of a steel strip which can be used to manufacture a bracket and a brick supporting shelf according to the invention.

Referring to the drawings and initially to Figs. 1 and 2 thereof, there is illustrated a brick cladding support indicated generally by the reference numeral 1. The brick cladding support 1 comprises a pair of U-shaped structure engaging brackets 2 connected to a brick support 3. The U-shaped structure engaging bracket 2 comprises a structure engaging face plate 4 having two fastener receiving holes 5 which, as can be seen clearly from Fig. 2, are mutually offset at different horizontal and vertical positions. Projecting from the face plate 4 are a pair of outwardly directly flanges 6. Each flange 6 has an outwardly facing vertical edge 7 and an inclined edge 8 which is tapered inwardly and upwardly towards the face plate 4. The brick support 3 comprises a brick support shelf 10 and an upstanding bracket flange engaging wall 11 cranked at 12 to overlie the inclined edge 8 of each Ushaped structure engaging bracket 2.

Referring briefly to Figs. 3 and 4, there are illustrated alternative constructions of U-shaped structure engaging brackets 20 and 30, respectively in which parts similar to those described with reference to the previous drawings are identified by the same reference numerals. The Ushaped structure engaging bracket 20 has three fastener receiving holes 25 which are in-line along a diagonal axis. The U-shaped structure engaging bracket 30 has five holes forming a set of fastener receiving holes, namely a central hole 35 and four other holes 36 arranged around the central hole 35 in an X pattern.

Additionally auxiliary fastener receiving holes 37 are provided which slightly overlap in the vertical direction the holes 35 and 36 for more accurate positioning. Since all the U-shaped structure engaging brackets illustrated are manufactured in substantially the same way the following description of the manufacture of one of the Ushaped structure engaging brackets 2 covers the manufacture of all the other brackets.

Referring to Fig. 6, there is provided a strip of steel, indicated generally by the reference numeral 40, in which holes and shear lines are identified by full lines and the numerals 5 and 41 respectively and folds by interrupted lines 42. The strip 42 illustrated in Fig. 6 is wide enough to form two U-shaped structure engaging brackets 2. The blank is first punched and sheared to form a blank for the U-shaped structure engaging bracket 2 which is then bent along the fold lines 42 to form the bracket.

Referring to Fig. 7 there is illustrated an alternative strip of steel indicated generally by the reference numeral 50 in which holes 5 and shear lines 51 are identified by full lines and fold lines 52 are identified by interrupted lines. There is again a simple punching and shearing operation, followed by folding which allows the U-shaped structure engaging bracket 2 to be formed.

The brick supports forming the rest of the brick cladding support can be simply formed by bending a strip of steel.

It will be appreciated that this method is an extremely simple way of producing a brick structure cladding support and therefore providing a brick structure cladding support system in a relatively economical way. There are no machining operations required, only the relatively simple steps of punching, shearing, bending and subsequent welding.

It will also be appreciated that many different forms of brick support 3 will be required and thus the dimension indicated by the letter A in Fig. 1 will vary depending on the size of brick being used. The dimension A is generally at least 70% of the depth of the brick to be supported thereon and ideally is only slightly less than the depth of the brick. However, the brick support 3 will always have the same construction of bracket flange engaging wall 11 and can therefore be made in the one size except for the dimension A.

It is envisaged that it will be preferable not to connect the brick support to the structure engaging brackets until required.

It is envisaged that a plurality of sets of brick supports will be produced with varying dimensions A, namely depth of brick support shelf and the brackets will not be secured thereto until required. The actual welding of the bracket to the brick support can occur either on site or in a workshop. The advantage of doing the welding on site is that while many of the brick structure cladding supports will be of a standard size, there are always a number of situations where off sizes and different spacing of brackets are required. The present method of manufacturing the brick structure cladding support allows this flexibility to be provided.

Referring now specifically to Fig. 8, there is illustrated a portion of a brick cladding support 1 mounted on a reinforced concrete beam in which reinforcing bars 61 are illustrated by interrupted lines. When it is desired to face the reinforced concrete beam 60 and its structure with cladding, the brick structure cladding support 1 is offered up to the beam 60 and the reinforced concrete beam 60 is drilled through one of the holes 5 and a suitable fastener inserted therein. If a reinforcing bar is encountered when drilling through the hole 5, the workman can simply drill through the other hole to make the required hole. Because the two holes are mutually offset at different horizontal and vertical axes, it is highly likely that a problem will arise. This is clearly shown in Fig. 8.

Referring to Figs. 9 to 13 inclusive, there is illustrated a brick cladding support, indicated generally by the reference numeral 70, the brick cladding support 70 comprises a pair of structure engaging brackets 71, namely a right hand structure engaging bracket 71 and a left hand structure engaging bracket 72 and a brick support shelf 73.

Referring now specifically to Figs. 9 and 10 the right hand structure engaging bracket 71 comprises a structure engaging face plate 74 having two fastener receiving holes 75 mutually offset as in accordance with the previous embodiment. Projecting from the face is a flange plate 76 bent intermediate its ends at 77 back on itself to form a brick support engaging plate 78 having a square hole 79. The left hand structure engaging bracket 72 is of the same construction and its parts are identified by the same reference numerals. The brick support 73 is a simple angle having a plurality of holes 80 for reception of bolts 81 having square section nuts 82 for engagement within the square holes 79 for mounting of the brick support 73 on the bracket 71 and 72 as can be seen clearly from Figs. 12 and 13.

It will be appreciated that the use of both left and right hand side brackets will ensure that in effect there are no less than four holes that can be drilled in any particular structure such as a reinforced concrete beam. This can be done without moving the bracket position.

Similarly it will be appreciated the bracket can be raised or lowered or reversed.

Referring now specifically to Fig. 14 there is illustrated a strip of steel indicated generally by the reference numeral 90 in which holes and shear lines are identified by full lines and the numerals 75 and 91 respectively and fold lines are interrupted lines identified by the reference numeral 92. It will be appreciated that the strip 90 will produce very easily left hand and right hand brackets and, for example, if the strip is 190 mm wide β strip that when bent it will effectively form 100 x 100 angle. Thus, the brick support can be manufactured from the same strip. A further advantage of manufacturing a strip in this manner is that all the assembly can take place on site and brackets having slightly deeper flanges may be provided to accommodate any variation in the structure. Thus, slight bulges or depressions in walls can be readily easily accommodated.

It will be appreciated therefore that the invention allows a workman on site to secure the brackets to a structure in an extremely simple manner in which there is little or no room for human error. In practice this is an extremely import feature of the invention as the problems that are associated with attempting to drill a second through a slot in a bracket are overcome.

It will also be appreciated that brackets allows for much quicker connection to a structure because less still is required.

A still further advantage of the invention arises from the fact that the inclined edges of the flanges not alone requires the use of less steel, but allows for easier access for workmen to the holes for insertion of fasteners. This can be very important in awkward working conditions such as on a multi-storey building. Further it provides a better connection for the brick support in that the structural strength of the brick structure cladding support is not entirely dependent on a vertical weld.

Additionally, a multiplicity of holes will allow considerable flexibility in fitting.

The invention is not limited to the embodiments hereinbefore described which may be varied in both construction and detail.

Claims (14)

1. A brick structure cladding support comprising a plurality of structure engaging brackets each comprising a structure engaging face plate having a set of at least two fastener receiving holes mutually offset at different horizontal and vertical positions and an outwardly projecting flange, and a brick support comprising an upstanding bracket flange engaging wall and a brick supporting shelf.

2. A brick structure cladding support as claimed in claim 1 in which there are two outwardly spaced apart projecting flanges forming a U-shaped structure engaging bracket with a vertical edge parallel to the face plate and in which the upstanding bracket flange engaging wall forms with the shelf an L-shaped plate.

3. A brick structure cladding support as claimed in claim 2 in which the outward facing edge of each of the projecting flanges is vertical over the lower portion thereof and then tapered inwardly towards the face plate and in which the upstanding bracket flange engaging wall is cranked to overlie the outward facing edge of each flange.

4. A brick structure cladding support as claimed in claim 1 in which the flange comprises a flange plate projecting outwards from the face plate and bent intermediate its ends to form a brick support engaging plate parallel to the face plate and projecting away from the face plate on the opposite side.

5. A brick structure cladding support as claimed in claim 4 in which the brick support engaging plate has a hole cut to receive a nut of a bolt for mounting the brick support.

6. A brick structure cladding support as claimed in claim 5 in which the hole is a square hole.

7. A brick structure cladding support as claimed in any preceding claim, in which the set of fastener receiving holes comprising at least three in-line holes along an axis inclined downwardly and across the face plate.

8. A brick structure cladding support as claimed in any of claims 1 to 6 in which there are five holes forming a set of fastener receiving holes, namely a central hole and four other holes arranged around the central hole in an X pattern.

9. A brick structure cladding support as claimed in any preceding claim in which further auxiliary fastner receiving holes are provided which slighlty overlap the other fastener holes in the vertical direction.

10. A brick structure cladding support as claimed in any preceding claim in which the depth of the shelf is at least 70% of the depth of the brick to be supported thereon.

11. A brick structure cladding support substantially as described herein with reference to and as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

12. A method of producing a brick structure cladding support as claimed in any preceding comprising the steps of : punching sets of fastener receiving holes spaced apart in a pattern along a steel strip; shearing the strip between each set of fastener receiving holes to form a blank for the 5 structure engaging bracket; bending the blank to form the bracket in the desired shape; cutting another steel strip into discrete lengths to form a brick support blank; 10 bending the brick support blank about one or more longitudinal axes to form the brick support; and securing at least two structure engaging brackets to a brick support.

13. 15 13. A method of producing a brick structure cladding support as claimed in claim 9 in which a plurality of sets of brick supports are produced with varying depths of brick support shelves and the brackets are secured thereto subsequently as required.

14. 20 14. A method of producing a brick structure cladding support, substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and as illustrated in the accompanying drawings .