NZ299278A - Unitary building members connected together having a first rectangular member connected to a second rectangular member - Google Patents

Description

<rv* {*• r. ' ') f ^ ! t:T7 ".) NEW ZEALAND PATENTS ACT, 1953 No: 299278 Date: 3 September 1996 COMPLETE SPECIFICATION Intellectual Property Office of NZ J 8 DEC 1997 RECEIVED UNITARY BUILDING MEMBER, METHODS AND CONSTRUCTIONS RELATING THERETO We, LA GROUW HOLDINGS LIMITED, a company duly incorporated under the laws of New Zealand of Russell Road, Rotorua, New Zealand, do hereby declare the invention for which we pray that a patent may be granted to us, and the method by which it is to be performed, to be particularly described in and by the following statement: This invention relates to unitary building members, methods of construction thereof, methods of construction therewith and constructions incorporating such members and methods, and in particular, but not solely, to unitary building members, methods and constructions for use in and in the construction of ceilings for solid timber buildings.

The invention will be described with particular reference to its application in the construction of ceilings for solid timber homes. Alternative applications or embodiments, for example in walls or floors, will readily suggest themselves to persons skilled in the art, and such alternative applications or embodiments are to be considered to be within the scope of the invention. The embodiment described is by way of example only.

In the prior art solid timber buildings are known which have a naked timber internal ceiling. Such a ceiling has abutting timber boards, sarking, laid edge to edge, and spanning between the ridge beam and the top edge of a wall. The sarking may also rest on and be secured to one or more intermediate transverse beams, which are generally also naked in the interior of the room.

An example of such a construction may have sarking, with a substantially rectangular cross section, with tongue and groove formed on the narrow edges thereof, to connect between adjacent boards. Typically the sarking would be 43mm thick and span between adjacent transverse beams would be less than 3.5m. Sarking, by its visibility in the building interior is generally required to be a high quality timber material and the cost of such materials in present constructions can be a significant factor in the overall building cost.

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a sarking system which will at least go some way toward overcoming the above disadvantages or will at least provide the industry with a useful choice.

In a first aspect the invention consists in a unitary building member comprising: a first rectangular cross section longitudinally extensive timber member, having a pair of opposed narrower sides and a pair of opposed wider sides, a second rectangular ckss section longitudinally extensive member, the longitudinal axis thereof parallel to the longitudinal axis of said first member, said second member having two opposed narrower sides and two opposed wider sides,said narrower sides of said second member narrower than at wider sides of said first member, a narrower side of said second member abutting a wider side of said first member, and fixing means, fixing said first timber member to said second member In a second aspect the invention consists in a method of constructing a unitary building member comprising the step of: affixing a first rectangular cross section longitudinally extensive timber member to a second rectangular cross section longitudinally extensive member, with the longitudinal axis of said members substantially parallel and a narrower side of said second member abutting a wider side of said first member said wider side of said first member being wider than said narrower side of said second member.

In a still further aspect the invention consists in a method of construction using a building member as described in any of the above paragraphs wherein said method includes the steps of: laying said building member across two or more beams or supports, to span therebetween, securing said building member to one said beam or support, sequentially securing said building member to the other said supports, laying a timber member generally similar to the first timber member of said unitary building member beside said secured unitary building member, mating the abutting narrow sides of said first timber member of said unitary building member and said timber member, to thereby cause said unitary building member to support the narrow side of said timber member, and sequentially securing said timber member to said beams or supports.

In a still further aspect the invention consists in a house or building including unitary building members as described in any one of the above paragraphs.

In a still further aspect the invention consists in a house or building including unitary building members constructed according to a method as described in any one of the above paragraphs.

In a still further aspect the invention consists in a panel comprising: a plurality of unitary building members, each having a first substantially rectangular cross section longitudinally extensive board and a second substantially rectangular cross section longitudinally extensive board, said second board secured to said first board with a narrower side of said second board abutting a wider side of said first board, said wider side of said first board being wider than said narrower side of said second board, with the longitudinal axes thereof substantially parallel, and said unitary building members having the same orientation about their longitudinal axis, and one or more timber members of similar dimension to said first member, each said timber member disposed between adjacent building members, with its longitudinal axis parallel to the longitudinal axes of said building members, and each narrower side of each said timber member abutting either a narrower side of said first member of said building member or a narrower side of an adjacent similar timber member.

To those skilled in the art to which the invention relates, many changes in construction and widely differing embodiments and applications of the invention will suggest themselves without departing from the scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims. The disclosures and the descriptions herein are purely illustrative and are not intended to be in any sense limiting.

The preferred embodiment of the present invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings in which; Figure 1 is a cross-section through a unitary building member according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention, with a further sarking board connected thereto, Figure 2 is a perspective view of a partially completed building according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention, Figure 3 is a perspective view of a partially completed roof section of a building according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention, Figure 4 is a cross-section through a joining between roof and ridge beam according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention, Figure 5 is a cross-section through a joining between roof and internal wall according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention, Figure 6 is a cross-section through a joining between roof and side wall according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention, Figure 7 is a perspective view showing some construction detail uf a joining between sarking and side wall according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention, and Figure 8 is a perspective view of apparatus for constructing the unitary building member according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention.

With reference to Figure 1 a unitary building member 1 is shown which has a first rectangular cross-section longitudinally extensive timber member being sarking board 10 and a second rectangular cross-section longitudinally extensive member, being timber member 11 fixed to the board 10 via a fixing means such as glue 19. The sarking board 10, in cross-section has two wider sides 12 and two narrower sides 16 and 17, the narrow side 16 having a groove formed therein and the narrow side 17 having a tongye formed therein which is complementary to the groove 16. The timber member 11 has two wider sides 14 and two narrower sides 15, with one of the narrow sides 15 abutting one of the wider sides 12 of the sarking board 10 at approximately the centre line thereof.

Sarking board 10 has a shallow recess 18 formed in one of the sides 12, the shallow recess 18 extending longitudinally along the board. The timber member end 15 which abuts the sarking board 10 is located in this shallow recess 18. As will be described later with reference to Figure 8, the shallow recess 18 assists in the construction of the unitary building member 1, with the glue 19 usefully retained within this recess 18.

In use, sarking board 10 is intended to form the interior lining for a house or other building construction, and as such the exposed face, opposite the face abutting timber member 11, will be highly visible in the completed construction. In this regard the visible face will preferably have a smooth surface finish, and the sarking board 10 will be of high quality, relatively free of visual blemishes.

Timber member 11 in a completed construction will form either rafters or studs, and will be invisible to a building occupier, and therefore can be of lower visual quality wood material than sarking board 10, and may also require significantly less attention to surface finish. The timber member 11 may however be of greater structural quality than the timber of sarking board 10. In some constructions it could be advantageous that timber member 11 instead be of another material, for example steel or plastic, depending on the applicability of such materials in building construction in the jurisdiction concerned. Generally the sarking board 10 will be formed from timber having different quality than the timber member 11.

As an indication of overall dimensions, in a preferred embodiment of this invention, the sarking board 10 may be machined for example from 200mm x 25mm timber members, giving an overall dimension (excluding tongue) of 185mm x 19mm. It is envisaged that the timber members 11, as an example, may be produced from 100mm x 50mm timber, and may have a finished size of 90mm x 48mm. Machining of timber member 11 is by way of finishing only, such as to ensure that the board is true in the longitudinal direction.

In use the unitary timber member 1 is intended to facilitate the construction of interior wall linings and sarking. With reference to Figure 1 it is intended that sarking boards 2, which in the preferred embodiment are identical to sarking board 10, be connected longitudinally to the sarkini, board 10 via tongue-in-groove connection. To these ends, sarking board 2 has two wider sides 20, narrower grooved side 21 and narrower tongue side 22. In Figure 1 the sarking board 2 is shown having grooved side 21 engaged with tongue side 17 of sarking board 10.

With reference to Figure 2 a building 3 is shown having an internal ceiling 30 constructed incorporating the unitary building members. As can be seen in the drawing, a series of unitary building members 1 span between the ridge beam and outer wall of the building and are spaced apart. Unitary building members 1 are aligned having the second members 11 upward. A plurality, in this case 4, of sarking boards 2 are connected narrower side to narrower side, with tongues engaging grooves, between the grooved narrower side of each unitary building member 1 and the tongued side of an adjacent unitary building member.

With reference to Figures 2 to 7 details of the building construction are shown. With particular reference to Figure 3 a protective or sealing layer is provided which covers fi the interlocked sarking boards and unitary building members. This protective layer may for example be building or tar paper 32. In the finished construction the protective layer covers all the sarking and unitary building members and preferably where multiple runs of such building paper are required, due to roll width, generous overlaps are allowed between runs. The building or tar paper conforms closely to the contours of the sarking and unitary building members, closely following the form of second members 11, and including tucked edges 33. A plurality of transverse dwangs, or nogs, 31 are provided / C) n o q which extend between adjacent second timber members 11 of the unitary binding members. The transverse dwangs 31 have the ends 35,36 secured to the respective timber members 11 to which they abut. The dwangs 31 are secured for example by skew nailing through dwangs 31 into timber members 11. The dwangs 31 are provided with chamfers 34, removing the lower edge of the ends 35 and 36 thereof. The chamfers 34 ensure that the building paper tucked edge 33 is not damaged by the positioning of dwangs 31. The sarking boards 10 are nailed into the dwangs 31 from below.

Referring to Figure 4 a joining is shown between unitary timber members 1 and ridge beam 4. The upper end of the unitary timber member 1 is secured by hex head screws 41 to the ridge beam 4. The hex head screws 41 extend fully through the second timber members 11 and through the first timber members 10. With the layer of building paper 32 covering the timber members 10 and 11, the tar paper is in part secured by tacks. Nails 40 extend through the first timber member 10 into the ridge beam 4. To avoid the possibility of end clash between opposed screws 41, the entry holes therefor may be drilled at a slight angle. Also shown in Figure 4 insulation materials such as fibreglass batts, represented by curvy line 42, preferably fill the cavity between second timber members 11 up to the top edge thereof. A ridge board 44 runs transversely between second timber members 11 and provides some of the support for roofing iron 46 and self-supporting building paper 43. Further spacing purlins (not shown) provided at intervals, running transversely across and between the second timber members are provided for further support for the roofing iron and self-supporting building paper 43. A ridge cap 45 is secured over the ridge board 44 and the upwardly extended ends of the roofing iron 46.

With reference to Figure 5 a joining between the unitary building members and an interior wall is shown. The construction shown is similar to the construction described with reference to Figure 4. The topmost board of the interior wall 5 is provided with E beams 53 secured thereto by nails 52. The upper ends of unitary building members 1 are supported on the E beams 53, and for this purpose the £ beams 53 may include a bevelled edge (not shown). The unitary building members 1 are secured to the E beams by hex head screws 50 penetrating through the first and second timber members, 10 and 11, and secured into the E beams 53 and wall 5. In this embodiment shown, an alternative roofing iron formation is shown which is supported on purlins 57 which transversely connect between the second timber members 11 of the unitary building members. The roofing iron is secured to the purlins 57 with a layer of self-supporting building paper 43 therebetween. The roofing iron 54 may for example be a corrugated or ridged formation, thus having at the peak thereof a Canterbury prickle 55, secured by pop rivets 56, with sealing means such as a silicon gel between the roofing iron 54 and the Canterbury prickle 55.

Referring to Figure 6 a join is shown between a unitary building member and the outer wall of the building. The unitary building member is secured to the outer wall 6 by hex head screw 65 which penetrates perpendicularly through the first and second timber members iO and 11 of the unitary building member 1, into the wall 6. Furthermore, nails 64 secure the first timber member 10 into the wall 6. The lower end face 61 of each building member is plumb cut so that a fascia board 62 can be nailed thereto. A bevelled fascia packer 63 is preferably provided directly behind the fascia board 62 connecting between the first timber member 10 of the unitary building member 1 and the fascia board 62, to conceal the join therebetween. Guttering 60 is secured to the fascia board 62.

With reference to Figure 7 in building embodiments wherein tie rods 68 are provided running vertically in the exterior walls 6, due to the low thickness of sarking boards 2 a buffer wood member 67 is secured, for example by nails, to the sarkingjards 2, with the tie rod 68 penetrating the buffer member 67, before being bent and secured to the buffer board by staples 66. A steel washer 69 may also be provided to reduce damaging of the buffer board 67 by the tensioned tie rod 68, which might otherwise reduce the tension in the tie rod 68.

With further reference to Figures 2 to 7 a method of construction incorporating the use of unitary building members according to the present invention will now be described as a series of steps: 1. The sarking boards 2 and unitary building members 1 are sorted into various lengths and stacked along the side of the building 3 in the correct order, with the clean face thereof facing outward and all of the tongues thereof facing the same direction. For the building shown by way of example in Figure 2 the correct order will be one unitary building member, four plain sarking boards, one unitary building member, and so on. Stacking in this manner, carpenters on the roof can slide the boards up without damaging the clean face, turn them over and fix them into position. lf*tt ^ si's. ran* l M v ',.y p«. f 2. Before proceeding, the exterior and interior walls and ridge beams are checked to ensure that they are straight and parallel. The walls are straightened to a string line and securely braced from both sides. The beams are kept parallel by temporarily nailing purlins at regular intervals, extending from the ridge beams to the exterior walls. 3. A builder's string line is stretched along the length of building, prior to the sarking boards being elevated into position. In later step's the bottom end of each sarking board is aligned against this string line to ensure that the ends are correctly positioned. 4. A first unitary building member is now pulled up to the ridge and nailed in position. Two nails .are used at each beam or point of support, the nails penetrating the first timber member, one each side of the second timber member. The unitary building member is secured at top and bottom (ridge beam and exterior wall respectively) by a hex head screw. Preferably the screw is inserted through a pre-drilled hole through the dummy rafter.

. The next four sarking boards 2 are now fixed in place. The first sarking board 2 is pulled up to the ridge, turned over and pushed up against the first timber member of the unitary building member 1 with the tongue and groove engaged. The sarking board 2 is sequentially nailed to the beams or supports in turn from the ridge beam to the outside wall. At each ridge or support the board is nailed thereto with two nails. The board is firstly skew nailed closer to the distal edge thereof and subsequently skew nailed closer to the proximal edge thereof, to force the engaged edge of the board into tighter engagement. Subsequent of the four sarking boards 2 are fitted in like manner. 6. Steps 4 and 5 are repeated, with the unitary building members 1 at each step 4 being engaged with the last sarking board 2 of the previous step 5. 7. As each panel of unitary building members and sarking boards is completed, it is covered by a protective layer of building paper 32. A generous lap of building paper is provided over the ridge and over the lower end of the sarking. The building paper is fixed to the sarking with clouts or staples. 8. Transverse dwangs 31 are fixed between the second timber members 11 of the unitary building members 1, spanning therebetween. The dwangs have a chamfer at the bottom edge of each end thereof so that the dwangs do not break through the building paper, which is tucked into the edge between the first and second members of each unitary building member. The dwangs are skew nailed to the second timber members of each unitary building member. With the dwangs fixed in place, the sarking boards between the unitary building members are nailed to the dwangs from below. 9. The second timber members of each unitary building member are plumb cut at the lower end thereof for fitting of the fascia. The plumb cut may be completed with a hand sa w or alternatively with a chainsaw. The fascia is nailed to the plumb cut ends of the unitary building members.

. For the positioning of tie rods, a wood member 67 is nailed through the sarking into the exterior wall below following the direction of the wall. The tie rod penetrates the wood member and will be bent in the direction of the wall to be stapled to the wood member 67. 11. Fibreglass batts insulation blankets are installed between the second timber members 11 of the unitary building members 1 up to the top edges thereof.

With reference to Figure 8 apparatus for use in the construction of the unitary building members 1, is shown generally referenced 7. The apparatus comprises a press bed 72 having at either end thereof a conveyor frame 71 which supports a series of rollers 70. The press bed 72 preferably has a shallow recess 73 formed therein extending between the conveyor frames. The shallow recess 73 is preferably of slightly greater width than the first timber member of the unitary building member to be constructed. A press 75 having a press foot 74 is adapted to provide downward pressure against the press bed 72. Nail guns 76 and 77 are provided to skew nail above the press bed 72. In use, a first timber member 10 is laid on the rollers 70. Glue is applied along the base of the longitudinal recess 18 in the timber member 10, and a second timber member 11 is positioned with a narrow side thereof in the recess 18. The timber members 10 and 11 are moved sequentially along the rollers 70, and at positions therealong the press 75 applies pressure against the exposed narrow face 15 of the second timber member 11 pressing it against the recess 18 of the first timber member 10. Nail guns 76 and 77 skew nail the second timber member to the first timber member. The nail guns 76 and 77 are positioned such that the skew nailed nails do not penetrate the downward face of the first timber member 10. These skew nails may be removed at a later stage if required.

It will be readily appreciated that the unitary building member of the present invention as described with reference to the accompanying drawings is readily applicable not just to the application of ceiling linings and sarking but is equally applicable to use in internal wall lining systems and the like. The methods as outlined herein are easily adapted to such other constructions.

The present invention provides a sarking system which allows the use of substantially reduced amounts of high grade timber for the same beam spacing. For example the I9rnm thick sarking and unitary building members as described herein is approximately equivalent in its midspan deflection under dead loading to 43mm thick sarking of previous constructions. In this regard a saving of upwards of 50% can be achieved of the high grade internally visible timber, given that structural grade timbers may be used for the second timber members of the unitary building member. The second timber member, while providing substantial amounts of the strength of the construction, is not required to have aesthetic appeal. Considerable savings are also made in the overall volume of timber consumed and the supported ceiling weight.

Claims (34)

WHAT WE CLAIM IS:

1. A unitary building member comprising: a first rectangular cross section longitudinally extensive timber member, having a pair of opposed narrower sides and a pair of opposed wider sides, a second rectangular cross section longitudinally extensive member, the longitudinal axis thereof parallel to the longitudinal axis of said first member, said second member having two opposed narrower sides and two opposed wider sides,said narrower sides of said second member narrower than at wider sides of said first member, a narrower side of said second member abutting a wider side of said first member, and fixing means, fixing said first timber member to said second member.

2. A unitary building member as claimed in claim 1 wherein said narrower side of said second member is substantially centrally located against the wider side of said first member.

3. A unitary building member as claimed in either claim 1 or claim 2 wherein said firs' timber member has a tongue formed on one of said narrower sides thereof, and a complementary groove formed in the other narrower side thereof.

4. A unitary building member as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 3 wherein said first member has a narrower side to wider side length ratio of less than 0.2.

5. A unitary building member as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 4 wherein said first member has a shallow longitudinal recess formed in one of the wider sides thereof, and said narrower side of said second member abuts said first member in said recess.

6. A unitary building member as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 5 wherein said second member is made from wood.

7. A unitary building member as claimed in claim 6 wherein said second member is made from a wood having lower visual quality than the wood of said first member.

8. A method of constructing a unitary building member comprising the step of: affixing a first rectangular cross section longitudinally extensive timber member to a second rectangular cross section longitudinally extensive member, with the longitudinal axis of said members substantially parallel and a narrower side of said second member abutting a wider side of said first member said wider side of said first member being wider than said narrower side of said second member. - j l, / y

9. A method of constructing a unitary building member as claimed in claim 8 including the step of preparing the ends and/or faces of said first timber member depending on the intended purpose thereof.

10. A method of constructing a unitary building member as claimed in claim 9 wherein said step of preparing includes forming a tongue in one of the narrower sides thereof, and a groove in the other narrower side thereof.

11. A method of constructing a unitary building member as claimed in either claim 9 or claim 10 wherein said preparation includes forming a shallow recess in one of the wider sides of said first member.

12. A method of constructing a unitary building member as claimed in any one of claims 8 to 11 wherein said method includes the step of applying a bonding agent to either said first or second timber member, and bringing the other said timber member against said bonding agent.

13. A method of constructing a unitary building member as claimed in any one of claims 8 to 12 including the step of applying a temporary connector between said first and second timber members.

14. A method of constructing a unitary building member as claimed in claim 13 wherein said step of applying a temporary connector includes pressing said members together at a region thereof, applying a said temporary connector between said members, at a point in said region, releasing the pressure, and sequentially repeating said pressing, applying and releasing over the length of said members.

15. A method of construction using a building member as claimed in any of claims 1 to 7 wherein said method includes the steps of: laying said building member across two or more beams or supports, to span therebetween, securing said building member to one said beam or support, sequentially securing said building member to the other said supports, laying a timber member generally similar to the first timber member of said unitary building member beside said secured unitary building member. mating the abutting narrow sides of said first timber member of said unitary building member and said timber member, to thereby cause said unitary building member -14- pq, q Q - p to support the naiTow side of said timber member, and ' ■ ' l '! ^ sequentially securing said timber member to said beams or supports.

16. A method of constructing a building as claimed in claim 15 including sequentially laying, mating and securing one or more further timber members, alongside said timber member, and subsequently laying, mating and securing a further unitary building member alongside said timber members.

17. A method of constructing a building as claimed in either claim 15 or claim 16 wherein said timber members, and the first member of said unitary building members have a tongue formed on one narrow side thereof, and a groove formed in the other narrow side thereof, and mating said abutting narrow sides includes marrying adjacent tongues and grooves.

18. A method of constructing a building as claimed in any one of claims 15 to 17 wherein securing said timber members to each said beam or support includes inserting a first fastener, through said timber member wider faces, closer to the non-abutting narrow side of said member, and subsequently inserting a second fastener between said first fastener and said abutting narrow side.

19. A method of constructing a building as claimed in claim 18 wherein at least said first fastener is inserted non-perpendicular relative to said member, with the stem of said fastener angled upwardly away with respect to said abutting narrow side.

20. A method of constructing a building as claimed in any one of claims 15 to 19 including the step of laying a web of protective material over said mated building members and timber members, on the second timber member side thereof.

21. A method of constructing a building as claimed in claim 20 wherein said laying includes completely covering said second timber side of said mated bailding members and timber members, and conforming said protective material to the contours thereof.

22. A method of constructing a building as claimed in any one of claims 15 to 21 including the step of fixing at least one transverse dwang between said second timber members of said building members, said transverse dwangs spanning between adjacent said second members.

23. A method of constructing a building as claimed in claim 22 including the step of fastening timber members between adjacent said building members to a transverse dwang extending between adjacent said timber members.

24. A house or building constructed according to a method as claimed in any one of claims 15 to 24.

25. A house or building including unitary building members as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 7.

26. A house or building including unitary building members constructed according to a method as claimed in any one of claims 8 to 14.

27. A panel comprising: a plurality of unitary building members, each having a first substantially rectangular cross section longitudinally extensive board and a second substantially rectangular cross section longitudinally extensive board, said second board secured to said first board with a narrower side of said second board abutting a wider side of said first board, said wider side of said first board being wider than said narrower side of said second board, with the longitudinal axes thereof substantially parallel, and said unitary building members having the same orientation about their longitudinal axis, and one or more timber members of similar dimension to said first member, each said timber member disposed between adjacent building members, with its longitudinal axis parallel to the longitudinal axes of said building members, and each narrower side of each said timber member abutting either a narrower side of said first member of said building member or a narrower side of an adjacent similar timber member.

28. A panel as claimed in claim 27 including a layer of protective material covering the side thereof having said second members of said building members thereon.

29. A panel as claimed in either claim 27 or claim 28 including one or more transverse dwangs spanning between second members of adjacent said building members.

30. A panel as claimed in claim 29 wherein said transverse dwangs include a chamfer at each end thereof, said chamfers extending between the side face thereof adjacent said protective material and the end face adjacent said second member.

31. A unitary building member substantially as herein described with reference to and as illustrated by Figures 1 and 8 of the accompanying drawings.

32. A method of constructing a unitary building member substantially as herein described with reference to and as illustrated by Figures 1 and 8 of the accompanying C/V /,'j drawings.

33. A method of constructing a house substantially as herein described with reference to and as illustrated by Figures 1 to 7 of the accompanying drawings.

34. A panel substantially as herein described with reference to and as illustrated by Figures 1 to 7 of the accompanying drawings. DATED THIS / 7 DAY OF /?? PER ' PA^ ft SON ASEMTS FORnHtAPPLlCANT END OF CLAIMS lnteo *8 DEC 1997 R EC E/VED