US1562082A - Plinth plate - Google Patents

Description

Nov. 17, 1925.

. E. L. DRINKwATER PLINTH PLATE Filed Feb. 11, 1924 Patented Nov. I7, 1925.

narran s'rarss EDG-AR I.. nnmiiwnfrnn, or CHICAGO, 'ILLINoIs PLINTI-I PLATE. l i

Application filed February 11,-, 19%. Serial No. 691,962.

, T0 all whom t may concern.'

Be it known Vthat I, EDGAR L. DRINK- wA'rnn, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Plinth Plates, of` which the followingis a specification.

. This invention pertains to plinth plates adapted for use in building constructions to surround the horizontal branch pipes leading from the riser heating pipes to the radiators, the plates being employed for the purpose of covering the openings in the par-` titions from which the .branch pipes emerge.

The openings through the partition 'walls must necessarily be large enough toafford considerable clearance around the pipes in y order to permit the rise and fall of these pipes resulting from the longitudinal expansion and contraction of the riser pipes. In order to produce a finished appearance the openings around the pipes must be covered, and one of the primary purposes of my present invention is to provide a plinth plate which will cover these openings around the pipes and present a finished appearance where the pipes come through the baseboard or other portions of the wall and which will accommodate the movements of the pipes caused by the expansion and contraction of the riser pipes. Another object is to provide a plinth plate which will permit the radiator branch pipes to be disposed invertical alignment thereby eliminating the Oifsets and the expense of the elbows and labor of installing such offsets heretofore considered necessary.

A further object is to provide a plinth plate of separable construction so that it can be applied to the pipes after they have been installed. This feature is of material importance in building construction for the reason that it permits the radiator branches to be roughed in and the base trim to be installed and mitered at the ,corners whereupon the plinth plate can be applied as the last operation. This feature enables the plinth plates to be plated or otherwise finished before installation. A separable plinth Vplate of this character also permits of the installation and removal of the plinthplates to accommodate 'changes in partitions in acings.

cordance with the requirements ofthe building tenants both during and after 'construction and Without disturbing the radiator branch pipes. n I

The removal of the separable plinth plato further allows complete removalof the base lwire slot cover and affords unrestricted ac- .7. cess to the low tension wire slot, usually in-` stalled in the basein modern office building construction.

Other objects andY advantages of this. in-` vention should be readily appreciated as the same becomes better understood by reference to the following description when considered in connection with the accompanying draw- Referring to the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a fragmentary view of a building construction showing in elevation the installation of one of my improved plinth plates; Y

Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional view through a wall showing the installation of a pair of plinth plates; y i

Fig. 3 is a face view ofone of therduplicate sections of which my plate is composed.

Fig. 4 is an assembly view showing the `two sections in assembled relation;

Fig. 5 is a sectional view on the line 5 5 of Fig. 4;;

Fig. 6 is a sectional View on the line 6-6 of Fig. 1; y n

Fig. 7 is an end view of the plate' section illustrated in Fig. 3; and

Figs. 8 and 9 are fragmentary sectional views on the lines 88 and 9-9 of Fig. 4.-

Referring now to the drawings more in detail, reference character 11 -indicates generally a partition wall, formed customarily of tile or building blocksV as illustrated, to

which are attachedthe nailing strips or plaster grounds 12 to which the baseboard is secured. I The baseboard may be of any preferred construction but inI the'v presentinstance it is illustrated as being of the .sectional type comprising a base member 13, a

top member 11i and an intermediate removable member 15, the removal of which permits access to the space 17 behind the board in which the low tension electric wires for the building are disposed.

Reference charaoteis 18 and 19 indicate the branch pipes leading from riser heating pipes Yto a radiator, and while the riser pipes are customarily installed in a vertical par` tition wall or in a column, I have illustrated in the present instance my invention as applied to a partition wall through which the branch pipes 18 and 19 extend. It should be manifest, however, that my invention is equally applicable to the partitions or walls out of which the branch pipes emerge from the risers.

A plinth plate constructed in accordance with my invention comprises two duplicate preferably cast sections indicated generally by reference characters 21 and 22, and since the sections are duplicates of each other, a detailed description of one of them should suffice for an understanding of the invention. Referring therefore more particularly to the section 21, it will be observed that the section comprises a face plate 23 having a finished outer surface and provided on its rear face with a shallow rearwardly extending rib 24 disposed longitudinally of the plate, the rib being terminated at its lower end as indicated at 25 and being provided near its uppei' end with a notch or recess 26 adapted to accommodate the lug 27 on the complement-al section whereby the sections are locked together against relative longitudinal displacement. As will be apparent from Fig. 3 each of the sections is substantially U-shaped, the leg 28 being shaped in cross section as illustrated in Fig. 6, and being rearwardly offset from the face plate 28 to lie behind the rib 24 of the complemental section sov as to `leave a guideway between the ribs 24, andA at the back of the face plates 23 bet-Ween the rear surfaces of these plates and the opposed edges of the legs 28, in which guideway the piper embracing members, which will be later described, are disposed.y This guideway is indicated in Figs. 5 and 8 by reference character 31. A deep cross rib 82 extends from the'upper end of the rib 24 transversely of the face plate 23 to the base of the leg 28'and this rib is equal in depth to the depth of the leg 28 plus the rib 24so that when the parts are assembled a rectangular frame is formed adapted to set into the opening in the baseboard as will be apparent from Fig. 2. The face plates present a finish over the frame and the shape of the plates is such that when assembled they provide an elongated slot 83, Fig. 4, through which the pipes 18 and 19 extend as shown in Fig. l.

The two complemental sections are held against relative longitudinal displacement when in assembled position, by engagement of the lugs 271m the notches 26,'as previously described,y and the sections are also held against relative lateral` displacement or separation by the engagement cfa lug 34 on the back of each plate in a notch formed in the opposed forward edge of the cross rib 32. This construction is illustrated in detail in Fig. 9 and also in dotted lines in Fig. 4. The sections when in assembled relation form an escutcheon comprising a slotted face plate the slot of which is surrounded by a rearwardly projecting flanged frame adapted to enter the opening in the baseboard or other portion of the wall from which the pipes project thereby permitting the back of the face plate to lie snugly against the margins of the opening.

In the guideway previously described, which guideway is defined at its ends by the cross ribs 82 and at its sides by the ribs 24 and is produced by the spacing of the inwardly projecting portion 86 of the legs 28 away from the rear faces of the plates 28,

as will be' apparent from F 6, are disposed liller plates one of which is indicated by reference character 29 and the other by reference character 37. These filler plates are adapted to embrace the pipes 18 and 19 and while they may beof any preferred construction such, for instance, as rectangular plates of relatively thin met-al, each provided with a circular opening to receive a pipe and each being cut through from its margin to the opening at one side so that it can be twisted and slipped over the pipe, prefer for convenience in manufacture and assembly to employ filler plates formed lof sheet metal and' each slotted inwardly from one side to accommodate a pipe or pipes in the slot or slots with which each plate is provided. Each plate may be provided with one slot so that each pipe is embraced by two plates, in which entrance the plates engaged with one pipe overlap the plates engaged with the other pipe, thus permit ting relative vertical movement between the pipes, or only two plates, each having two slots, may be employed if preferred. When these plates are slipped over the pipes from opposite sides and are disposed in the guideway of the escutcheon they embrace the pipes, overlap each other as indicated at 1G, and close the slot 33 in the escutcheon thereby presenting a finished appearance to the plinth plate. The filler plates, however, are of such length and width that they are capable of vertical and horizontal sliding .movements in thc guideway to permit of the rise and fall and lateral movement of the branch pipes due toexpansion and contraction of the riser pipes without any movement of the escutcheon which is rigidly secured to the baseboard by a pair of wood screws 38 which in conjunction with the lugs and recesses previously described hold the escutcheon sections against i relative movement. The clearance y between the edges of the plate and the guideways is indicated byreference characters 2O andk 30.v

l1n assembling the plinth plate aroand the l pipes already installed in the partition, the filler plates are first slipped onto the pipe from opposite sides, whereupon the escutcheon sections are positioned around the pipes from the top and bottom respectively and brought together so as to dispose the filler plate in the guideway, whereupon the entire assembly is slid along the pipes to introduce the rearwardly projecting frame into the opening in the baseboard and bring the face plates snugly against the margin of the opening, whereupon the assembled plate is secured to the baseboard by the lscrews 38. lVhen thus assembled the clearance between the pipes and the walls of the surrounding. opening is entirely covered by the plinth plate so as to present a neat, attractive and finished appearance and the inovability of the filler plates in the escutclieon guideway permits of the requisite movements of the pipes without imposing any strain upon the plate or the wall and without leaving any opening into the space behind the baseboard. This construction furthermore permits the pipes to be disposed in vertical alignment instead of being offset one relatively to the other as has heretofore-been the practice, and this alignment eliminates the expense of the offsets, which because of the elbows necessarily employed and the labor of threading and installing the offsets, has prior to my invention been an expensive feature of construct-ion. The escutclieon sections being complemental and duplicates of each other and being of cast construction can be very economically manufactured and the whole structure is capable of being easily and quickly assembled and installed after the branch pipes have been run and after the baseboards have been mounted. Furtherinore the ability to mount the baseboards and subsequently apply the plinth plates enables the baseboards to be extended through to the corners and mitered thus making a completely finished and desirable job.V The application of the plinth plates at any time and also the capability of removal when desired enables partitions to be built and removed as required without disturbing in any way the pipe connections.

l believe that the construction and many of the attendant advantages of my invention should bc understood from the foregoing without further description and it should be manifest that the structural details illustratcd and described are capable of considei'able modilication without departing from the essence of the invention as defined in the following claims.

I claim:

l. A plinth plate comprising a slotted escutclieon composed of a pair of complemental U-shaped members, one `leg of each member forming a section of a face plate and the other leg being rearwardly offset from said facey plate, said members being an elongated pipe receiving slot, and a guideway at the rear of said slot, andy pipe engag` ing slot closingmeans slidablydisposed in said guideway. f

3. A plinth plate comprising Van escutcheoii composed of a pair of coinplemental interengaging sections, each section being of general U shape having one leg offset rear wardly relatively to the other, the forward leg being provided with a section of a face plate and the rear leg being laterally extended to form in conjunction with an opposed face plate a filler plate guideway, and a pipe embracing' filler plate disposed 1n said guideway.

4. A plinth plate comprising an escutcheon composed of a pair of complemental sections, each section being formed to provide a portion of a face plate having a longitudinally extending rib on its rear face, a cross rib at one end thereof, and a leg projecting from one end of said cross rib in parallelism with said longitudinally extending rib, said leg being rearwardly offset relative to said rib and each of said sections being provided with interengaging elements whereby said sections are held against longitudinal and lateral displacement relative to each other. y

5. A plinth plate as set forth in claim 8 in which the pair of complemental sectionsy form when assembled anv elongated slot adapted to receive a plurality of pipes in vertical alignment.

6. A plinth plate as set forth in claim S in which the sectional escutcheon provides an elongated slot adapted to receive a plurality'k of pipes in vertical alignment, and filler plates embracing said pipes and closing said slot, said filler plates being movable longitudinally of the slot with said'pipes.

7 A plinth plate as set forth in'claim 8 in whichl the sectional escutcheon formv conipleinental sections providing a pipe receiving opening, and a pipe embracing filler4v plate slidably associated with said escutchq een and adapted to close'said opening.

8. A plinth plate comprising aii escutcheon composed of a plurality of interengag-l ing sections adapted when assembled to provide a pipe receiving opening, each section being of general U shape with one leg oset relatively to the other so that said sections when assembled will present a flat front face.4

9. A plinth plate comprising a plurality of U shaped sections, one leg,` of each section being provided with a section of a face plate, said' sections when assembled providing an escutcheon having;- a center pipereceving opening. Y

l0. A plinth plate comprising a plurality of U-shaped sections, one leg' of each section beingprovided With a section of a face plate, said sections When assembled providing an escutcheon having a center plate receiving opening, and filler plates adapted to embrace a pipe inclosed Within said opening, said filler plates beingv movable relatively recentie to each other and relatively to said escutchcon in Conformity` With vertical or lateral movements oi' a pipe Within said opening.'

1l. A plinthplate comprising a plurality of U-shaped sections, one leg of each section being provided with a section of a face plate, said sections when assembled providing an escutcheon having a center plate receiving opening, and a filler means adapted to embrace a pipe projecting through said opening and for closing the opening around said pipe, said means being'movable relatively to the escutcheon in conformity With vertical or lateral movements of a pipe Within said opening.

EDGAR L.v DRINKWATER.

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