IES991100A2 - A construction of load bearing timber wall - Google Patents

Abstract

A load bearing timber wall (20) is provided and has a number of stiles (21) an upper cross member (22) and a sole plate (23) which form a number of frames or internal openings. A load bearing panel (1) is a reasonably close fit in the opening and is secured to the frame of the opening so as to form with the stiles (21) cross member (22) and sole plate (23) a composite structure. Each panel (1) has a main frame comprising a top rail (2) a bottom rail (3) and stiles (4,5) covered on one side by a cladding sheet (12). A reinforcing cross member (6) and inclined ties (10,11) add to the panels (1) rigidity and load bearing capacity. <Figure 3>

Description

A Load bearing Timber wall A load bearing timber wall (20) is provided and has a number of stiles (21) an upper cross member (22) and a sole plate (23) which form a number of frames or internal openings. A load bearing panel (1) is a reasonably close fit in the opening and is secured to the frame of the opening so as to form with the stiles (21) cross member (22) and sole plate (23) a composite structure. Each panel (1) has a main frame comprising a top rail (2) a bottom rail (3) and stiles (4,5) covered on one side by a cladding sheet (12). A reinforcing cross member (6) and inclined ties (10,11) add to the panels (1) rigidity and load bearing capacity. .

IE 991100 The present invention relates to a construction of load bearing timber wall.

In timber framed buildings, it is vital to ensure that the load bearing walls which include the external walls are sufficiently rigidly constructed that they will bear both 'x. vertical and horizontal loads and will be able to support for example door and window frames in opes and also in most cases the roof structure. Thus, it is vital to ensure that the load bearing walls have optimum rigidity and structural strength.

Conventional external timber walls are more than adequate to carry the necessary vertical loading which is provided by a plurality of spaced apart vertical posts. However, a problem arises with the infill or as it is often called the racking panels in that they are often unable to resist horizontal loading. It is current practice if it is desired to increase the lateral stability of a house and in particular the lateral stability of a house wall that the panels are secured in position between the posts or uprights by using additional layers of structural sheeting material to achieve this. There is a need to provide more adequate resistance to horizontal or lateral loading than has heretofore been provided without the need to provide more expensive structural 0 solutions such as for example the use of portal frames. The cost implications of this discourage architects in the use of such timber framed buildings as their design options are thus restricted and constrained. There is thus a need for a better method of manufacturing such load bearing external walls.

The present invention is directed towards providing such to a load bearing wall that can be versatile in use and in construction. While such a load bearing wall may be used in any part of a building, it is most advantageously used for an external wall. The invention is also directed to a method of construction of such a wall. This is particularly in design or construction since this will allow the load bearing walls to be * used for many different designs without the need for the manufacturer to construct each load bearing wall as a one-off unit. —__ .

INT OPEN TO PUBLIC INSPECTION UNDER JNL IE 991100 - 2 Statements of Invention According to the invention there is provided a load bearing timber wall structure with a wall frame formed by a plurality of spaced apart frame uprights and transverse members defining openings at least some of which are covered with infill panels in which each panel comprises: a rectangular main frame having a top rail and a bottom rail bridged by a pair of longitudinally arranged stiles forming top and bottom corners; a cladding sheet connected to the bars and the stiles toxform an open mouthed void therebetween; an inclined internal tie bar in the void interconnecting the stiles between top and bottom corners; and in which: the panels are dimensioned to fit closely within an opening and the bars and stiles are each connected to respective adjacent frame uprights and transverse members to form a rigid structure.

The advantage of this is that the panel is not simply an in-filler panel but now forms part of the whole structural unit. It is in effect a bracing panel. Panels according to the present invention will be able to withstand wind force in the plane'of the load. While such a load bearing wall may be used to form any wall of a building it is particularly suitable for external walls.

In another embodiment of the invention there are two internal tie bars connecting one stile adjacent the top and bottom corners with the other stile intermediate its ends.

In another embodiment a panel includes a cross member intermediate and substantially parallel to the top and bottom rails, to form rectangular sub-frames IE 991100 - 3 and in which there is a tie bar in each sub-frame connecting opposite corners. In this latter embodiment ideally the tie bars are inclined in opposite directions. It is envisaged that there can be a plurality of cross members in which case the tie bars will be inclined alternatively in opposite directions. Each panel may include an internal stile intermediate the other stiles between the tip and bottom rails and connecting top or bottom corners with the internal stile.

In another embodiment of the invention each panel includes at least two separate rectangular frames joined together along a rail or stile to form the main frame.

Further the invention provides a method of erecting a load bearing wall of the type hereinbefore described comprising: erecting a wall frame of spaced apart uprights and transverse members to define openings; filling some of the opening with wall panels; filling the voids in each wall panel with insulation; and cladding the wall across the openings in the wall panels.

When the wall is particularly long or is needed to carry substantial loads additional load bearing walls may be provided intermediate the ends of the wall at substantially right angles thereto to form in effect a buttress.

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 described with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Fig. 1 is a front view of a load bearing wall panel according to the invention; IE 991100 - 4 Fig. 2 is a side view of the load bearing panel; Fig. 3 is a front view of a load bearing external wall incorporating some of the panels according to the invention; and Fig. 4 to 7 are front views of other load bearing panels according to the invention.

Referring to the drawings and initially to Figs. 1 and 2 thereof, there is provided a load bearing panel indicated generally by the reference numeral 1 comprising a rectangular frame having a top rail 2, a bottom rail 3 and a pair of longitudinally arranged stiles 4 and 5 joined by a cross-member 6 dividing the rectangular frame formed by the bars 2 and 3 and the stiles 4 and 5 into a pair of sub-frames 7 and 8. The cross-member 6 forms an internal tie bar as do a pair of inclined struts or ties 10 and 11. The various parts of the frame are connected together by proprietary truss plates 13 of conventional construction and are only illustrated in Figs 1 and 3 and then only by interrupted lines. A cladding sheet 12 is affixed to the main frame and forms a open mouthed void therebetween to house the cross-member 5 and the ties 10 and 11. The top and bottom corners are identified by the reference numerals 14 and 15 respectively.

The top rail 2 at its upper corner 14 is connected with the stile 5 at the cross member 6 by the tie 10, while the tie 11 connects the cross member 6 with the stile 4 at its lower corner 15. Thus it will be appreciated that if a load is transmitted to the stile 4 it will absorb tensile forces while part of the load will be transmitted to the stile 10 through the cross member 6 and the struts 10 and 11 as a compression force. This is a particularly suitable way of transmitting the loads.

Referring now to Fig. 3, when it is desired to erect a load bearing wall, part of which is illustrated in Fig. 3 and identified by the reference numeral 20 an initial wall frame is manufactured and then erected comprising a plurality of spaced apart uprights 21 and transverse members namely an upper cross member 22 and a sole plate 23. Thus the uprights 21, the cross member 22 and soleplate 23 form a frame or opening within which the panel 1 can be slotted and secured as illustrated in Fig. 3.

IE 991100 - 5 The load bearing wall 20 can then be manufactured using appropriately sized wall panels 1. When it is desired to provide an ope such as the ope identified by the reference numeral 25 this is simply achieved.

Referring now to Figs. 4 to 7, there is illustrated various constructions of load bearing panels in which parts similar to that described with reference to the previous drawings are identified by the same reference numerals, the wall panels are identified generally by the reference numerals 40, 50, 60 and 70, respectively.

Referring specifically to Fig. 4, the wall panel 40 is of essentially the same construction as the wall panel illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2, except that the struts 10 and 11 are inclined in the opposite direction.

With reference to Fig. 5 the wall panel 50 is again of essentially the, same construction except that there are now two cross members 6 and two struts 11 and only one strut 10.

In Fig. 6 the wall panel 60 again comprises a plurality of alternately arranged struts 10 and 11 and cross members 6.

Referring now to Fig. 7, there is illustrated a combined wall panel 70, mounted in a wall in which the wall panels are identified by the same reference numerals as used in Fig. 3, the combined wall panel 70 is effectively the construction of wall panel 1 of Fig. 1 and the wall panel 40 of Fig. 2 connected together about a central stile 71. It will be appreciated that instead of joining two panels together that a panel could be provided similar in construction to the wall panel 70 by making a panel with an internal stile intermediate the other stiles between the top and bottom rails and then the tie bars could be used to connect both upper corners with the internal stile adjacent the bottom rail or both lower corners with the internal stile adjacent the top rail or indeed the tie bars could be used to connect all four corners with the internal stile adjacent intermediate its ends.

It will be appreciated that the design of the particular configuration of load bearing panel resides primarily with their structural efficiency and stability. The load bearing IE 991100 - 6 panels are in effect acting in a similar manner to a truss transferring forces through compression struts and tension ties. The overall result of this has been in practice to successfully dissipate the lateral forces that are placed on the wall formed therefrom.

Particularly when dealing with exterior walls it has to be understood that wind acts in all directions thus a portion of a panel may be in compression when the wind blows in one direction and in tension when the wind blows in the opposite direction. Thus the building must be able to withstand wind force in all directions. The panels forming the load bearing walls are provided to resist wind and other external forces which can be transmitted to all load bearing walls throughout the building.

Panels were tested in accordance with BS EN 594:1996 Timber. Structures - Test Methods - Racking Strength and Stiffness of Timber Frame Wall Panels. The panels easily satisfied the standard racking loads of 15 kN and higher were achieved with vertical loads of 15 kN while with side loading of 15 kN a racking loading of the order of 7kN was achieved.

While in the embodiment described with reference to Figs. 1 and 2 the various parts of the frame are illustrated connected together by proprietary nail plates, member connection strength can be achieved by using moment resisting connectors, or alternatively any form of pin joint connection. The appropriate manner and type of connection will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art.

In use, these forces are then transferred down through the panel and into the foundations by means of the connections for example through the sole plate which is anchored to the foundation.

There may be more than one of these panels comprising each wall, internal and external in accordance with the structural requirements of the building. The panels * may be located at any position in a wall. It will be appreciated that the panels are of modular construction and generally speaking will be manufactured to fit within standard wall panel studs such as are generally at 400 mm or 600 mm centers.

IE 991100 - 7 In the specification the terms “comprise, comprises, comprised and comprising or any variation thereof and the terms “include, includes, included and including or any variation thereof are considered to be totally interchangeable and they should all be afforded the widest possible interpretation and vice versa.

The invention is not limited to the embodiment hereinbefore described, but may be varied in both construction and detail within the scope of the claims.

«♦ IE 991100

Claims (5)

1. A load bearing infill panel for a timber wall structure of the type comprising a wall frame formed by a plurality of spaced apart frame uprights and transverse members defining openings at least some of which are covered with infill panels in which each panel comprises; a rectangular main frame having a top rail and a bottom rail bridged by a pair of longitudinally arranged stiles forming top and bottom corners; --'x a cladding sheet connected to the bars and the stiles to form an open mouthed void therebetween; an inclined internal tie bar in the void interconnecting the stiles between top and bottom corners; and in which: the panels are dimensioned to fit closely within an opening and the bars and stiles are each connected to respective adjacent frame uprights and transverse members to form a rigid structure.

2. A wall incorporating a panel as claimed in claim 1 in which there are two Χ, internal tie bars interconnecting one stile adjacent the top and bottom corners with the other stile intermediate its ends.

3. A wall as claimed in claim 2 in which a panel includes a cross member intermediate and substantially parallel to the top and bottom rails, to form rectangular sub-frames and in which there is a tie bar in each sub-frame connecting opposite corners.

4. A wall substantially as described herein with reference to and as illustrated in the accompanying drawings. IE 991100 - 9

5. A method of erecting a wall as claimed in any preceding claim comprising: erecting a wall frame of spaced apart uprights and transverse members to define openings; filling some of the opening with wall panels; filling the voids in each wall panel with insulation; and 10 cladding the wall across the openings in the wall panels. CRUICKSHANK & CO. IE 991100 Ά Fl