US2118218A

US2118218A - Building construction

Info

Publication number: US2118218A
Application number: US140848A
Authority: US
Inventors: Jr Robert W Mclaughlin
Original assignee: AMERICAN HOUSES Inc
Current assignee: AMERICAN HOUSES Inc
Priority date: 1937-05-05
Filing date: 1937-05-05
Publication date: 1938-05-24
Anticipated expiration: 1955-05-24

Description

May 24, 1938. R. w. MCLAUGHLIN, JR 2,118,218

BUILDING CONSTRUCTION Filed May 5, 1937 W MW A TTORNEYS.

5 I7O Q INVENTOR.

a v L1 BYM Patented May 24, 1938 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE BUILDING CONSTRUCTION Application May 5, 1937, Serial No. 140,848

9 Claims.

This invention relates to a building construction and more specifically to prefabricated buildings.

In general, it is an object of the invention to provide a device of the character described which will efliciently perform the purposes for which it is intended, which is simple and economical of construction, which can be expeditiously, conveniently, and safely manipulated, and which can be readily manufactured and assembled.

Another object of the invention is to provide building elements which may be affixed to foundation fixtures which are more or less haphazardly positioned; to provide interchangeable building units which may be readily anchored to the foundation even when they and the foundation are not accurately aligned; to provide such building units, walls and floors which may be so fixed to the foundation, whether or not the walls are to be suspended from the floors, or vice versa; and to provide a simple connecting element or tool to assist in the foregoing objects.

Other objects of the invention will in part be obvious and Will in part appear hereinafter.

The invention accordingly comprises the features of construction, combination of elements, and arrangement of parts, which will be exemplified in the construction hereinafter set forth and the scope of the application of which will be indicated in the claims.

For a fuller understanding of the nature and objects of the invention, reference should be had to the following detailed description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawing, in which:

Figure 1 is a view in elevation, as taken from one end of a floor unit, of a construction embodying one form of the invention;

Fig. 2 is a view in elevation, as taken from the side of a floor unit and showing the construction at the end of a floor unit and embodying one form of the invention; and

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of an element used in the construction shown in Figs. 1 and 2.

Heretofore there have been severe difliculties encountered in the positioning of prefabricated building units upon foundations. It has been found that permanent fixtures placed in foundation walls, such as bolts embedded in concrete, are not properly aligned to cooperate with attaching features of prefabricated units, which latter may be brought to the foundation some time after the construction of the foundation. These difficulties have been present even though the prefabricated units and their attachments were carefully and. accurately aligned among themselves. pling or interconnecting elements for tying the floor or wallunits to the foundation have been especially prepared for each interconnection necessary. Such special preparation, of course, is time-consuming, expensive, troublesome, and generally undesirable.

The present invention contemplates a construction which eliminates all of the foregoing drawbacks and difficulties. The floor or wall units may be tied to bolts or the like which are quite erratically positioned along the foundation. The interconnecting or tying elements may be used along the ends or the sides of the floor or wall units, or used with them when they are interlocked.

In the drawing, I0 denotes a foundation, seated on which is a floor unit l2 of the type described in my copending application, Serial No. 102,451.

The latter has two, longitudinally spaced, horizontal, joist elements M which carry at their tops the floor grid or plank I6. The flooring is composed of a plurality of these adjacent and preferably internested floor units I2. Along the joist, which is on the outside of that unit which is to be next to the vertical wall I8, supporting means are provided which may take the form of a bracket 20 securely fixed to the joist, as by welding directly or by the connecting tabs or wings 42 which are integral with the element 20 and may be welded or otherwise attached to the joist. The vertical wall It? may comprise a plurality of units structurally similar to the units I2 and be provided with means for interlocking with the supporting brace 20. These interlocking means may comprise a horizontal bracket 22 which may extend along past one or more vertical wall units and be securely attached to them. Depending upon the shape of the

elements

20 and 22, the wall units may be suspended from the floor units (as shown), or vice versa. Interlocking units of the type disclosed in my said copending application, Serial No. 102,451, are particularly suitable for use in the present construction.

As shown, a portion of bracket 22 is bent over the top of bracket 20 so as to provide a surface 24, adapted for engagement with the Wall-anchoring or attaching elements 30. In the foundation Hi, there is an attaching element, such as the bolt,

26 permanently positioned so as to extend above Couings and the openings may be somewhat broader than the connecting element 30 so that no matter where the fixtures 26 are positioned, there will be plenty of opportunities for connecting them, or a sufficient number of them, to the element 22.

The unit 30 has an upper hooked portion 32, a portion 34 shaped to sit against the foundation l0, and an intermediate portion 36 between the first-mentioned portions. These portions are at such angles that when the concavity of the hooked portion faces downward so as to have a vertical axis, the extension portion 34 is spaced from that axis. In position, the extension 34 is within the unit l2 while the hooked portion 32 is without the unit l2. An opening 38 through extension 34 has a long dimension perpendicular to the direction of the fold which makes the hooked portion 32. In position, the bolt 26 extends through the opening 38 and a nut 40 clamps the extension 34 to the foundation. In this way, the connecting element 30 may be used with a bolt 25 which is displaced by various amounts from the foot of the stud l4. Because the hook 32 may be slid along edge 24, bolts may also be used which are not only variously spaced from,

but variously spaced along, the foot of stud l4.

The same type of construction is shown in Fig. 2 except that there the connecting element30 is used with interlocking

brackets

20, 22 which are at the end of the floor units. In the case shown, the floor unit has no end element other than the bracket 20. Hence, there is no necessity for an opening such as 28. The bracket element 20, instead of being attached along itself to a parallel joist I4, is attached at its ends by wings 42 to the joists 14 in the manner shown in my said copending application Serial No. 102,451. The vertical wall units I8 and I80 in Figs. 1 and 2 are respectively parts of walls which are at right angles.

With the construction as shown, the floor units and the wall units are firmly held in place and the keying interconnection between these units is securely bound together by the same means which holds them. to the foundation.

Since certain changes may be made in the above construction and different embodiments of the invention could be made without departing from the scope thereof, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawing shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

It is also to be understood that the following claims are intended to cover all the generic and specific features of the invention herein described, and all statements of the scope of the invention which, as a matter of language, might be said to fall therebetween.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In a building construction, in combination, a foundation, a plurality of floor-supporting elements other than said foundation, a plurality of wall-supporting elements other than said foundation and interlockingly interconnected with said floor supporting elements, the elements of at least one of said pluralities having afiixed thereto means providing a surface spaced from and substantially parallel with the upper surface of said foundation, and strap-like means affixed to said foundation and positioned to engage said surface.

2. In a building construction, in combination, a foundation, a plurality of floor-supporting elements other than said foundation, a plurality of and wall-supporting elements together and to the foundation.

3. In a. building construction, in combination, a foundation, a plurality of floor-supporting elements other than said foundation, a plurality of wall-supporting elements, other than said foundation and interlockingly interconnected with said floor supporting elements, the elements of at least one of said pluralities having afiixed thereto means providing a surface spaced from and substantially parallel with the upper surface of said foundation, strap-engagingmeans embedded in said foundation, and an anchoring strap affixed to said strap-engaging means, said strap being adapted to engage said first-mentioned surface.

4. In a building construction, in combination, a foundation, means embedded in said foundation for anchoring thereto a building frame, wallforming elements, floor-forming elements, means associated with and interlocking a plurality of said elements and spaced from said foundation and adapted to receive an anchoring strap, and an anchoring strap aflixed to said anchoring means in said foundation and overlying said lastmentioned strap-engaging means.

5. In combination, in a building structure, a foundation, floor-supporting elements resting upon said foundation, wall-supporting elements, means to interlock said floor-supporting elements and said wall-supporting elements, said interlocking means providing a surface substantially parallel with the upper surface of said foundation and spaced therefrom,-and a plurality of anchoring means each adjustably affixed to said foundation and each adapted to engage and overlie a portion of the surface formed by said interlocking means and rigidly holding said interlocking means in place and the floor-supporting and wall-supporting elements together and to the foundation.

6. In a building construction, in combination, a foundation, a plurality of floor-forming units comprising metallic joists and metallic bracing elements connecting said joists,.a plurality of wall-forming units each comprising metallic studs and metallic bracing elements connecting said studs, means to interlock a wall-forming unit with an adjacent bracing element of one of said floor-forming units, said interlocking means providing a surface spaced from and substantially parallel with the upper surface of said foundation, means permanently affixed to said foundation for anchoring said units to said foundation,

viding a surface spaced from and substantially parallel with the upper surface of said foundation, means permanently affixed to said foundation for anchoring said units to said foundation, and connecting means overlying the surface formed by said interlocking means and affixed to said anchoring means and rigidly holding said interlocking means in place, said connecting means and the surface formed by said interlock ing means being respectively of such shapes that said connecting means is adapted to engage any portion of said surface.

8. In combination, in a building structure, a foundation, a plurality of floor-forming units each comprising a pair of metallic joists, a floor panel element, and bracing means cooperating with said joists to provide a metallic frame, wallforming units, means for interlocking said floor units and said wall-forming units, at least some of said interlocking means being aifixed to and extending parallel with a joist, means associated with said last-mentioned joist to provide an aperture therein, anchoring means extending through said aperture and adapted to engage said interlocking means and affixed to said foundation.

9. In a building, in combination, a plurality of construction units adapted to form a floor, a plurality of wall units, means for interlocking said Wall units with said floor units, said Wall units being supported by said floor units, a foundation, attachment means affixed to said foundation, and means adapted for fixedly connecting said wall units to said foundation comprising an element extending from said interlocking means to said attachment means.

ROBERT W. MCLAUGHLIN, JR.