US1536666A - Wall structure - Google Patents

Description

May 5, 1925. 1,536,666 J. P. FRANZ WALL STRUCTURE Filed Feb. 27, 1924 2 Sheets-Sheet-L Fll3.I.

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J. P. FRANZ WALL STRUCTURE F iled Feb '27, 1924 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Fllllit- Patented May 5, 1925.

, UNITED "STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOSEPH P. FRANZ, or KNOXVILLE, PENNSYLVANIA, assrenon. or ONE-THIRD r0 211111.12 s. canes. or PITTSBURGH, rENNsYLvAnra.

"WALL STRUCTURE.

Application filed Feb ua y 27, 1924. Serial No. 695,450.

To all whom it may concern.

Be it known that I, Josnrn P. FRANZ, residing at Knoxville, in the county of Allegheny and State of Pennsylvania, a citizen of the United States, have invented or discovered a certain new and useful Improvement in Wall Structures, of which improvement the. following is a specification.

My invention relates to building, and more particularly to wall structure, and consists in a sheet-metal element having certain structural characteristics, and in an assembly of duplicate sheet-metal elements with the other parts of a wall structure, and affording benefits and advantages both in the nature of cheapness and in the nature of efliciency.

My invention is illustrated in the accom panying drawings in which Fig. I shows in side elevation, and somewhat diagrammatically, a wall in course of construction, having my invention present in it; Fig. II is a view in horizontal section on the plane indicated by the line II-II, Fig. I; Fig. III is a view in vertical section on the plane indicated at IIIIII, Fig. I; Fig. IV is a view in perspective of the sheet-metal element in which the invention centers. Figs. V, VI, VII, and VIII are views which correspond to Figs. 1, II, III, and IV, showing modification in details of structure and assembly.

Referring first to Fig. IV, the sheet-metal element in which my invention centers is there shown in perspective. It consists essentially of a rectangular sheet with opposite parallel edges bent at right angles, having the medial web 1, and opposite parallel flanges 2 integral with itself. I do not mean to limit myself in the matter of dimensions, but, in order to give a clear apprehension of the sort of an article this is, it will be suflicient to say that it may be made of sheet steel one-sixteenth of an inch thick, more or less. The medial web may be one foot by two in dimensions, more or less, and the flanges may be three inches deep, more or less.

Tongues 3 and 4 and opening 5 are slitted from the sheet-metal blank for ends presently to be described. The medial web may be prepared to serve as a foundation upon which to spread plaster; to this end the drawings show the medial web to be slitted,

and one rim of each slit 6 to be spread aside, forming expanded holes in which the plaster when applied may intrude, and so in setting achieve proper anchorage. It is, of course, to be understood that wide latitude is permitted in the manner in which the medial web may be prepared for the reception of plaster, and further it will be understood that, if the specific manner of preparation, which the drawings show, be followed, then this expanded opening 6 will open upwardly. This with respect to the use of this sheet-metal element in construetion of vertical walls, in the manner presently to be fully described.

Turning to Figs. I, II, III, theyshow the assembly of a plurality of elements such as that shown in Fig. IV, and now described, set against a wall of masonry, in th s case a brick wall 7', and forming a. facing to the masonry wall. The elements are set against the. face of the wall with the edges of flanges 2 in immediate engagement with the bricks, and with the tongues 3 extending into the spaces between the. successive courses of brick, and there embedded in the mortar. Fig. I further shows these, units set. in close array, flange to flange, in horizontal line, and in staggered succession, line upon line.

The tongues 3 are as shown advantageously slitted and bent aside from the upper edges of the flanges 2. Accordingly, the medial web exceeds in vertical extent its terminal flanges, by the width of tongues 23. To the extent of this excess the medial webs of the vertically successive rows of elements overlap, and being then secured by the tongue-and- slot connection 4, 5, a structure of great rigidity is achieved. The rigidity is further enhanced by the fact that this tongue-and-slot union is made in the overlap of the assembled elements. The elements so provided, facing the wall 7, afford a continuous surface with proper anchorage upon which a facing of plaster 8 may be spread and keyed, similarly as upon a lath-covered wall.

Comparing now Figs. I, II, and III, it will be perceived that in the practice of my invention the plaster laid on is very secure. First of all, as I have noted, the structure upon which the plaster is spread is itself very firm. The plaster layer extends in continuity; it is separated throughout its whole extent from the masonry wall;

it is wholly insulated, so far as any practical passage of moisture is concerned, from the masonry wall; it is separated from the masonry wall by a space of uniform width; and not only does the construction make impossible any appreciable conduction of moisture from brick wall to plaster, but gives, at the same time, in the highest degree, heat insulation as well.

The tongues, being made of sufficient length and being flexible, adapt themselves to the conoitions of building, and may be carried to the nearest seam between courses of masonry to afford proper anchorage.

Turning now to the modification shown in Figs. V, VI, VII, and VIII, and first to the View in perspective elevation, VIII, it will be perceived that the structure 1 is substantially that already described. In this case the tongues 4 extend from the flanges 2* at points intermediate the vertical extent, and the openings 5 are formed medially of the width of the article. The unit as shown in Fig. VIII will be under stood to be of the general dimensions, corresponding to those already indicated, except in the matter of vertical extent. I do not mean this to be a limitation, but merely an illustration of the adaptability of the invention, when I say, that as shown in Figs. V, VI, VII, and VIII, the units are of considerable length, to extend vertically from the floor to the ceiling of a room.

Figs. V, VI, and VII show the assembly, and here the flanged elements 1 appear to be secured to and to serve as the facing of, not a mortar and brick wall, as shown in Figs. I, II, and III, but a wall composed of another series of such like units 1, each series of units set in close array, side by side, and the units of the two sets in the staggered arrangement shown in Fig. IV.

The assembly is secured by means of tongues a interlocking in the opening 5. Each wall facing then serves as the support and backing of the other, and the two together afford, on opposite sides, two continuous surfaces for the support of plaster, and two sheets of plaster, when applied, will extend, as separate sheets, firmly sustained, and fully insulated, each from the other, as against passage both of moisture and of heat.

The two rows of units 1 may, of course, be secured above and below in any suitable manner, as by attachment to beams 9 and 10, as shown.

I claim as my invention:

1. A unit for a wall structure formed of sheet metal and including a medial plastersustaining web, opposite terminal flanges adapted to bear directly upon the vertical surface of an adjacent wall member, and tongues extending from said terminal flanges and adapted to engage such adjacent wall member and by engagement to sustain. the unit together with the plaster facing thereof.

2. A unit for a wall structure formed of sheet metal and including a medial plaster-sustaining web, opposite terminal flanges bent from the plane of the medial web and of less extent along the line of the bend than the medial web, an opening cut in the medial web adjacent one unflanged edge F and a tongue out and bent from the substance of the medial web adjacent the opposite unflanged edge.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand.

JOSEPH P. FRANZ. W'itnesses C. S. CHESS,

BAYARD H. CHRIsTY.

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