US2150891A

US2150891A - Termite shield

Info

Publication number: US2150891A
Application number: US215673A
Authority: US
Inventors: James D Tennison
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1938-06-24
Filing date: 1938-06-24
Publication date: 1939-03-14
Anticipated expiration: 1956-03-14

Description

March 14, 1939., V J. 5. TENNISON 2,150,891

TEHMITE SHIELD Fi led June 24, 1938 Patented Mar. 1d, 1939 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 4 Claims.

This invention relates to building construction and more particularly to termite shields incorporated in buildings constructed at least partly of wood or material similarly susceptible to termites.

Prior to my invention various expedients have been resorted to in order to prevent disintegration of wooden portions of a building which disintegration may be caused by termites. Buildings which are particularly susceptible to destruction by termites are those having no cellars with wooden portions directly contacting the ground. Treating the wood with certain poisons has been found to alleviate the situation somewhat; however, in time even the wood so treated will be destroyed should'termites be present. It has further been proposed that masonry foundations be utilized and the wooden floor rafters be supported at quite some distance above the ground, say 18 inches to three feet. While termites do not fly, yet they can reach wooden portions of a building by climbing up the sides of a concrete wall and proceed to destroy wooden elements such as floor joists.

After some experimentation it has been found that if the wooden elements are kept above the ground a distance of more than twelve inches, say eighteen inches, the termites cannot travel directly from the ground to these wooden elements. In order to prevent the termites from reaching the wooden elements via the masonry foundation, metal bafiles have been designed which are effective in preventing the termites from reaching the wooden elements supported above these baiiles. The generally accepted bafile comprises preferably a metallic sheet having corrosion resisting properties which projects horizontally at least two inches from a side of a vertical foundation wall and then is bent at a fortyfive degree angle downwardly, the bent portion projecting approximately two inches.

As foundation walls for dwellings are usually of greater running length than standard size metal sheets, tight joints are necessary between units of termite shield material. It has been proposed that these joints be affected by soldering, which is a relatively costly process.

It is an object of my invention to prove termite shields of simple design which may be readily fabricated en masse and which are effective in bafiling the travel of termites.

It is a further object of the invention to provide sectional termite shields which permit of ready assembly.

Other objects and the nature and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawing, wherein? Fig. 1 is a view in perspective of the simplest form of termite shield giving protection on but one side of a foundation wall;

Fig. 2 is a view in perspective of a termite shield giving protection on the inside and outside of a foundation wall;

Fig. 3 is a view in perspective of a unitary termite shield for protecting a pier;

Fg. 4 is a view in perspective of a sectional termite shield for use at the corner of a foundation and giving protection on but the inside wall thereof;

Fig. 5 is a sectional termite shield for use in connection with those portion of foundation walls which involve a T-junction;

Fig. 6 is a view in perspective of a sectional termite shield to be used at the corner of a foundation;

Fig. '7 is a sectional view of a foundation wall with the termite proofing in place:

Fig. 8 is a sectional view illustrating a tight joint efle'cted by the ends of two sectional shields;

Fig. 8a isa sectional view of a tight joint involving two sectional shields and a connector.

Fig. 9 is a view in perspective of a sheld connector;

Fig. 9a is a view in perspective of a modified form of connector;

Fig. 9b is a fragmentary sectional view similar to Figs. 8 and 8a of the connector illustrated in Fig. 9 and a pair of sheet metal termite shield sections associated therewith; and

Fig. 10 is a perspective view of a sectional termite shield for use in connection with a foundation wall having a projecting portion.

Referring to Fig. 1, the termite shield comprises a'horizontal portion 2i and a bent baffle portion 22 formed integral therewith. This arrangement permits of ready fabrication in a simple stamping machine and will prevent the travel of termites vertically when this bafile is properly applied to the foundation wall as illustrated in Fig. 7 for example. The termite shield 20 is arranged to give protection either on the inside of the foundation wall or on the outside of thefoundation wall depending on which side the bent portion 22 projects. If it projects on the inside of the foundation wall, it will give protection on that side and vice versa. Protection is most necessary on the inside of the foundation wall for this side is generally inaccessible and the first warning that termites are attacking the wooden elements of the building is usually received too late: that is, when these wooden elements have been so eaten away that they no longer eflect the proper support. The outside foundation wall is usually capable of periodic observation and any termite action may soon be disrupted. However. for best protection, a termite shield as illustrated in Fig. 2 should be used.

' The termite shield 80. illustrated in Fig. 2, comprises a horizontal portion 3| and two bent baiiie portions 32 which are at an angle of fortyilve degrees from a projection of the horizontal portion. With the baille plate 30 in place as illustrated in Fig. 7 the horizontal portion Ii should project from the foundation wall 33, a distance of at least two inches, and the bent portion 52 should project angularly at least a distance of two inches to eflect the proper baililng action, whereby termites may not travel from the ground 34 to the wooden joists 35.

The shield 40 illustrated in Fig. 3 is a complete unit for use in connection with supporting piers or the like and comprises a horizontal portion 4i, and angular portions 42 with corner portions 43 formed as shown to reinforce and take up the material when it is fabricated.

The'termite shield 5| illustrated in Fig. 4 comprises a horizontal portion 5i, bent portions 52 and end portions 53 so formedas to permit ready assembly with similar sectional shields for eliminating the necessity for soldering or otherwise effecting the proper joint between sections of shields. The precise configuration of the end portion 53 is illustrated in Fig. 8 and will be later explained in more detail.

Referring to Fig. 5 a termite shield sectional unit 50 is generally T-shaped to correspond with the configuration of certain portions of foundation walls and comprises a horizontal portion 6|, bent portions 52, and end portions 63 similar to the end portions 52 in Fig. 4 and are designed to interlock as will be later described.

The shield Ill illustrated in Fig. 6 is to be utilized in connection with corners formed by foundation walls and comprises a horizontal portion ll, bent portions 12, corner portions 13 similar to the corner portions 45 illustrated in Fig. 3 and end portions ll similar in those illustrated in Figs. 4 and 5.. V

The shield 00 illustrated in Fig. 10 comprises a T-shaped horizontal portion 8!, angularly disposed bent portions corner portions 85 similar to the comer portions 13 in Fig. 6, and end portions 8| similar to those illustrated in Figs. 4, 5 and 6. This shield section 80 is to be utilized along a run of foundation wall having a slight projecting portion corresponding with the leg Bio of the horizontal portion II.

In Fig. 8 a pair of sectional units 90 having end portions 9i which are similar to the

end portions

53, 53, I4 and ll are shown in interlocking position to eifect a tight joint such as is necessary to prevent termites from passing therethrough. The end portions M are generally 8- shaped, the legs 2 of the lower portion of the 8 almost contacting each other as shown, whereby the necessary tight joint is eflected. When one unit 'is slipped into the other a clamping action takes place which may be more pronounced when a load is applied thereabove such as for example additional foundation wall or other building elements.

When the termite shields take the form illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2, the connecting unit such asillustratedinl'igs.9and9amaybeusedin conjunction therewith. In Fig. 9 a connector I00 involving an S-shaped sectionis illustrated on en Two sectional termite shields 20 such as is ill rated in Fig. 1 may be utilized in connection therewith, one shield being inserted into the U-shaped portion m and the other into the U-shaped portion I02 of the connector whereby a relatively long continuous shield is eifected having a tight joint. In Fig. 9a another form of connector no is similarly illustrated and is adapted to receive sectional shields within the U-shaped portions l l I as illustrated in section in Fig. 8a. In this case the joint effected in the arrangement illustrated in Fig. 811 by the connector llil will similarly be tight as a similar clamping occurs which is increased by any load imposed on the shields as is more or less inevitable in conventional building construction as already explained.

It will be obvious to those skilled in the art that various changes may be made in this device without departing from the spirit of the invention and therefore the invention is not limited to what is shown in the drawings and described in the specification but only as indicated in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In a built-up termite shield, a plurality oi! sheet metal sections each having a generally horizontal planular area and a downwardly bent area extending from said first area, said sections having interlocking male and female portions, said male and female portions being formed to resiliently interlock when the sections are assembled, said female portion resiliently engaging said male portion on at least two sides and co-extensively throughout the generally planular area and the downwardly bent area, said male and female portions arranged to readily slidably engage each other continuously and transversely of said generally planular area and said downwardly bent area to form a termite-proof joint, whereby a built-up termite shield of relatively great length may be rapidly evolved on location without the use of special tools, equipment, or other materials.

2. In a built-up termite shield, a plurality of sheet metal sections each having a generally horizontal planular area and a downwardly bent area extending from said first area, said sections having interlocking male and female portions each comprising 8 formations in cross section with the bottommost generally horizontal portion of the 8 of substantially greater length than normal, said male and female portions being formed to resiliently inter ock when the sections are assembled with the bottommost portion of the S shaped cross section of one sheet metal section inserted above the corresponding bottommost portion of the S shaped cross section of the adjacent sheet metal section and underneath the central portion of the S shaped section of the said latter sheet metal sections to form a resilient interlock with said female portion resiliently engaging said male portion on two sides and. co-extensively throughout the generally planular area and the downwardly bent area, said male and female portions arranged to readily slidably engage each other continuously and transversely of said generally planular area and said downwardly bent area to form a termite-proof shield of relatively great length may be rapidly evolved on location without the use of special tools, equipment, or other materials.

3. In a built-up termite shield, two sheet metal sections each having a generally horizontal planular area and a downwardly bent area extending from said first area, a connector for said sheet metal sections having oppositely disposed resilient female engaging portions located in the same general plane on each side which extend co-extensively and transversely of said generally horizontal planular area and downwardly bent area of each of said sheet metal sections, the female portions resiliently engaging the ends of said sheet metal sections co-extensively throughout the generally planular area and the downwardly bent area of each, said sheet metal section ends and said female portions arranged to slidably engage each other continuously and transversely of said generally planular area and said downwardly bent area to form a termite-proof joint, whereby a built-up termite shield of relatively great length may be rapidly evolved on location without the use of special tools, equipment, or

sections each having a generally horizontal planular area and a downwardly bent area extending from said first area, a connector having a generally S shaped cross section for said sheet metal sections having oppositely disposed vertically superimposed resilient female engaging portions extending co-extensively and transversely of said generally horizontal planular area and downwardly bent area of each of said sheet metal sections, the female portions resiliently engaging the ends of said sheet metal sections co-extensively throughout the generally planular area and the downwardly bent area oi. each, said sheet metal section ends and said'female portions arranged to slidably engage each other continuously and transversely of said generally planular area and said downwardly bent area to form a termiteproof joint, whereby a built-up termite shield of relatively great length may be rapidly evolved on location without the use of special tools, equipment, or other materials.

JAMES D. TENNISON.