US2199152A - Building construction - Google Patents

Description

April 30, 1940.

A. J. EDGE ET AL BUILDING CONSTRUCTION Filed Jan. 27, 1937 ALLA;

Y@ N51 s? ws '//Sf we f 5o F195 Fig. 7

Fig/.1A E Figi/1 H9321 FigfLA 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 A. J. EDGE ET AL 2,199,152 BUILDING coNs'rRUcTIoN Filed Jan. 27. 1937 April 3o, 1940.

, v 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 fig 11 PYT/0 FigJz l [L Il Il I L Il L53 ILS! A. J. EDGE El AL BUILDING CONSTRUCTION April 30,1940.

4 'Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Jan. 27. 1937 Fig. E 2

' H929 f'gos H93/ Figz INVENTO 6 'f' @47s Fig. s@ Hwy H940 Ffyffl .Apl30;1940. A.J.EDGE ErAL BUILDING' CONSTRUCTION Filed Jan..27, i937 4 sheets-sheet 4 R T N Patented rApr. 30, 1940 umts-D! STATES BUILDING CONSTRUCTION y `Alfred J. Edge, Savannah, Ga., and Walter S.

Edge, Pittsburghl?a."

n Application January 27, 1987, Serial'No.' 122,638

1 Claim.

Our invention relates to the framing for structures suclr as posts, poles, bridges, buildings of various kinds, but its greatest kusa-we think, lies in smallf low cost dwellings. Apparently, it may be leconomically used' as a substitute for Wooden timber for manyl purposes. v

One object of our invention is to produce structural members of very high eiciency.

Another object is to produce structural framingy membersof very light weight.

Another object is toproduce a framed structure' with self contained connections provided for interior' or exterior coverings or both, greatly facilitating its-rapid erection.

Another' object is to produce structural members which` lend themselves to very easy erection andi veryA simple and strong field connections.

Another object is tov produce a structural frame which providesthe 'maximum facility for the run- 0, ingsof electric ducts', pipes, etc., inwalls or oors.

Another objectl is to produce structural members which, when combined with cement stucco, plaster or a concrete floor, will5 act rwith the same to-.carry stressV as combination members, thereby, greatly increasing: the eiciency of' construction. This is;not' truel of many forms ofy combined steel andi cement construction now in common use. Wefare aware that many attempts havebeen madev and are beingmade to producethe, so called; low vcostfst'eelhouse and we are familiar witlr many: of' these designs, but,1so far asy we know no one. has succeeded in producing a satisfactory steel house at av cost equal to or lower thanv a. similar house could be built out of wood inr the' same locality'.l

' By A the use .of the designs andmethods of manufacture herein. disclosed,`coupled` with the special combination of materials which we employ, WeY are able to producefreprooff construction at ai cost considerably below the cost of standard wondv construction. Our materials weigh less and require. less labor for their erection. As a typical example, we are producing metal beams as a-.substitute for wooden beams, having equal strength, Weighing one n fth and costingy one half as, much. as wood. In the. design of` structural steel beams and welded joists (electrically welded assemblies` of steelzparts) unit tension and compression stressesof 16,000to2- 18,000 pounds per square inch are commonly employed. This is due to the fact that the elastic, limit of the steel ofwhich theS7 are made may be as. lowas 32,000 pounds per squareinch and ahigher. workingV stresswould recl'ucetheA factor of safety too much. With such l'owworking stresses, steel cannot compete with wood inl cost except possibly in longer spans.

In our studiesto develop a lower cost material for housing: andL other-structures, we were led to consider thesuperior properties of cold drawn wireand cold: rolled." steel. alow carbon steel wire having an ultimate tensile strength off115,0'00 pounds per'square inch' with anV elasticli-mitveryvclose to the ultimate. By increasing the carbon and"v manganese, we have produced wire whose ultimate strength is close 1:0408-,000'pounds per square'inch and a strength of 2205000 pounds perV square1 inch is being obe tained commercially as an every day matter.

High; carbon hot rolled steel can be. produced, having a hightensile' strength. It is frequently lacking in uniformity, is apt tobegbrittle and is not suv reliable ashot rolled structurall gradeA steel and' isydilficult" to work. Wire, however, by its very natureandprocess of manufacture, is much more uniform-1 and reliable'.

In order `to take advantage of the superior properties of' wire, it must be assembled into structural units and-thiswe have done inl a number' of ways, as thisA application will disclose. Resistance welding, similar toV that now in common use, was employed, but We found that it It is easy to produce f would not givethe resul-ts necessaryto'insure success. taken tdi-ind alcure for this-trouble. Weiinally succeeded perfecting amethod and: an apparatusL which` g-ave usy the desired results and this forms the basis for' anotherapplication forl a patent, Seriali No.4 1223880, filed January 28, 1937.

Another weakness of assemblies made by ordinary weldingwas theY eccentrlcity of all' connections, which producedhighv secondary stresses invmembersvof the unitl which, of course, greatly reduceclA its efficiency. 'Iliis weakness hasalso been! overcome byV our .welding process.

`We have alsotaknadvantageof the different qual-itiesA possessed bydifferent kinds off steel wire', which was firstA disclosed in application 94,985: by Walter S; Edge, filed-August 8, 1936 (new PatentV 2,103,897). v Our'basicz idea in the production of low cost structural. members ofi high: eiciency isl to first, weld or otherwise assemble, them into fiat sheets which may` be; woundt into coils.Y for' convenience in. liia-ndli-ng,v Standard' Weldingmachines of the ty-pe now in use will notv perform this function satisfactorily. The method of Welding must be changed and, for the most efficient typefof structural members, certainof the longitudinal wires, which would.. normally remain parallel to` the rest,

A long series ofexperiments were underare moved back and forward to produce certain patterns which are required.

The pattern of the mesh, which will be normally assembled on the machine, will be a multiple of the fabric required for any specic member. As it passes through the machine, the stay or connecting wires between adjacent members, will be cut so that the result will be a number of strips or rolls, each one being equivalent to a structural member, but, of course, in an uninished form. These individual strips or rolls will then be cold formed into the nal shape required, either by cold pressing or cold rolling, and be cut into convenient lengths. Paintingor galvanizing or other suitable methods may be employed as a protection against corrosion.

In said Patent 2,103,897 a product known as a plaster ground or plaster base was described. The structural members herein described are designed to work with this product and others similar to it. The projecting ends of wires shown on many of the structural members in this present application are provided as a support and anchorage for the plaster base, etc.

VWhen the structural members are erected in their final position, the plaster base sheet is simply pressed against the protruding ends of the wires, forcing them through the backing sheets and the projections are then bent over to engage the wires of the plaster base and thus firmly lock the Whole together Without the need of any other fastening means. The subsequent coating of plaster, stucco or concrete, as the case may be, produces a completely bonded structure. When the structural members, herein described, are used in floor construction, in combination With a concrete door slab, the projecting vertical wires at the top of the beam extend up into the concrete floor slab and thoroughly bond the steel beam to the concrete, thereby producing a Very eilcient yT beam of comparatively small dead weight. Where a plastered ceiling is used on the underside of the beam, the plaster base is locked on by bending the ends of the vertical wires which project from the underside of the beam. When the ceiling has been plastered, the lower sides of the steel beams are thoroughly braced against buckling and their eciency is much increased.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1A is a plan View of a typical commercial resistance weld as made with soft wire and Figure 2A is a side View of the same weld. In Figure 3A is shown a plan View of a weld made by bringing together a hard drawn wire and a soft wire and welding them by our process and Figure 4A is a side view of the same weld. Figure l is a plan View of one of the simplest forms of structural members and Figure 2 is an end elevation of it. Figure 3 is a side View of the structure shown in Figure 1 after it has been pressed or formed into its iinal shape and in Figure 4 is shown an end View of Figure 3. Figure 5 is a plan view of another form of structural member and Figure 6 is an end elevation of it. Figure 7 is a side View oi the structure shown in Figure 5 after it has been pressed into its nal shape and Figure 8 is an end View of Figure 7. Figure 9 is a bottom plan view of the structure shown in Figure 7. Figure 10 is still another form of structural member and Figure 11 is an end view of it. Figure Y12 is a side view of the structure shown in Figure l0 after it has been pressed into its nal form and Figure 13 is an end View of Figure 12. Figure 14 is still another form of structural member which is shown in an end elevation in Figure 15. In Figure 16 is shown a side view of the structure shown in Figure 14 after it has been formed into its nal shape and Figure 17 shows an end View of Figure 16. In Fig-ure 18 is shown a side view of a structural beam of a U shaped cross section. In Figure 19 is shown an end elevation of it. Figure 20 is a section on line I--I and Figure 21 is a bottom plan of the structure shown in Figure 18. In Figure 22 is shown still another type of a structural member. In Figure 23 is shown a partial side View after it has been formed into its nal shape. Figure 24 shows a partial plan view of the bottom of the structure shown in Figure 23 and Figure 25 is an end View of the structure shown in Figure 23. Figure 26 shows another type of structural member and Figure 27, still another, both of which are adapted to be formed into members having a U or V or a box cross section. In Figure 28 is shown a side view of a beam or column section and Figures 29 and 30 show typical cross sections of such a beam or column. Figure 31 shows a cross section of a beam having a V cross section and Figure 32 is a section showing another modication of this idea.

In Figure 33 is shown a cross section of a structural beam in which the projecting members at top and bottom are bent into loops or eyes to serve as an anchorage for other structural material. Figures 34 and 35 show other modifications of the same idea. In Figure 36 is shown a structural member adapted to be formed into a partition stud and Figure 37 shows a cross section of the structure shown in 36 after forming into its iinal shape. In Figure 38 is shown a side View of a structural beam of still a diierent pattern. Figure 39 shows an end view of Figure 38. In Figures 40 and 41 are shown sections of other forms of structural members which can be readily formed from Welded structures in a similar manner. In Figure 42 is shown a plan of a structural fabric in which trussed beams of a V cross section are incorporated to stifen the structure (see application 94,985 by Walter S. Edge, led, August 8, 1936) which gives a structure suitable for a base for iioor construction or a plaster base. Figure 43 is an end view of Figure 42 and Figure 44 is a side View of Figure 42.

In Figure 45 is shown a sectional View of a portion of a building showing how the structural membersshown in previous gures, are used and combined to form a complete structure and how the plaster base and oor base described in other applications by Walter S. Edge, are combined with the structural beams to iinish the structure. In Figure 46 is shown a sectional View on line II-II in which other details are made clear.

Referring now to the figures in detail, it Will be seen that Figure l consists of a fabric or grille made up of parallel spaced members, 41, intersected by and rigidly connected to transverse spaced members 48 and 49. Members 41 are preferably of high strength material such as high elastic limit steel, for example, hard drawn Wire or cold rolled steel, and may be any cross section, round, at or deformed. Members 48 are shown to be continuous from side to side but members 49 are cut at certain points. When the structure, shown in Figure 1 is formed into the U cross section shown in Figures 3 and 4, the cuts in members 49 allow portions of these members to protrude below the bottom of the structural beam. These projections from the top and bottom of the beam serve to provide a very exarsenite cellent means for; attaching other structural ma,- terial such as plaster base; etc.,to` the-structural framework; Members 4'8 and 49 are-preferably made of a ductile material such as.. soft steel;`

NotA only willlthis; material withstandE the stresses dueto coldf' forming to, shape better, but a better weld results from the combination. of a hard drawn `steel with: a soft` steel. i The connections between members 4T, 48J and 49` areA described asf` rigid; Ordinary commercial: welding will not produceA this. result with the steels: which- `we prefer to use.. Not; only should the weldsy be strong enough .to developfthev full strength! of themembersg. but there should ber as littler eccentri'city: as. possibleV at. the. connections. By the method of; welding: which we have. developed, the connections will develop. the full strength ofv a high. tensile. wire,. not onlyy at'v the. Weldbut for alength including. anumber of: weldsi and eccenapplication by'us,v Serial No. 122,880, flledJanuary 23,1937., f y

- As set forth,y in said-a application, wiresy or' rods are: assembled? superposed relationy asshown ,in Figs.. 1A and ZAfor. example;Whereuponwelding heat' andpressure are applied, the heat and the pressure being continued: until the tWo members occupy a common planeas shown in Figs. 3a and 4a, for example.` f

A structural beam such asV the one shown in Figures 3' and 4, will show a surprising amount of strengthY and; stiffnessbut of course, is4 notA as eicient, as one inL which diagonal bracing is introduced: By using Welds ofthe type shown in Figures 3A and 4A, theresisting., moment at the welded joints is doubled and; by still further flattening, the Weld. at the instant of welding, While the. metalI is still hot, the strength; of the joint is still 4further increased' in the plane ofthe fabric Without. weakening the structural. members between the joints-inA any respect. ByI this means; the rigid' frame type of structural' member can be made quite eicient.

In Figure 5 We show a plan View of a structurall member in which one form of. diagonal or web: bracing is introduced. In ligures 5,. 6,y '7, 8

and 9, longitudinal members 50 are straight, spaced' and:- parallel and are preferably of high tensile materialsuch ashardI drawn Wire or cold rolled steel. Intersecting them at regular intervals are transverse members 5| and 52 respectively. When th'e structureshown in Figures 5 andA 6 is' folded' aroundV the two interior members 50., a. section yo f- UA form. is produced (see Figure 8), which is quitek Well braced in twoplanes lat right angles to` each other. This. design is! really a compromise between. a.v real truss and a rigid framebut our tests give it quite a good rati-ng for efficiency.. Obviously, here-, strength of connectionsrv and freedom fromeccentricity arel im# portant. In, this: design members 5I andl 52 should preferably *bev of. a. comparatively soft material such as soft' wire.

In. Figure 10.I is shown still. another type of structure in which 53 and 54are parallelspaced members, preferably madeof hard drawn Wire While membersI 55 are parallel' and: spaced: and. intersect 53 and 54 at an oblique angle andiare rigidly` connected at theiry intersections. When this structure is folded about member 54, a unit having a V- sl'iapedfcrossl section results and if 4 the foldingv is completed,-the section shown in are bonded into a. concretel floor slab, the-unit vWilli develop high efficiency: On the: other hand, members 53 maybe rigidly connected at two: or`

more points and an: efficient. Warren truss; is ob.-

tained.. o

In Figures 14', 15,16, and 17 is shownfa type of structural member, Well adapted; to serve asi a partition or exterior: wall stud. Here, longitud-: nal members* Sli/'are preferably of. a strong and stiff materiall such`v ashard drawn wire. and diag;-

onal bracing members 51 may be of, the same.

material; 'Iransversemembers, 5l!r should. beof a relatively softer material. They may eitherextend beyond the outside of the members 56; at alternate endsv as shown at 59- or they `may extend at both'. ends. or they maybe cut. flush with the edge, if desired- Again the projecting ends may be bent. intor loops or' eyes (see Figures 33, 34 and 35)'. to; better servev as an anchorage for other structural. material such as a plaster base or iioor base. Figuresl and 1'7y show the-completed form of thisl stud and it` isat once appare ent, as our tests have showrr,y that it is very eilicient,v acting as a. beam` inthe plane of its greatestv dimension. Here, again'` the eflciency of, the connections is` veryv important.

In: Figures 18,191, and 21 a-re `shown views of a ni'shed structural beam whichv may be formed from a. flat fabric by cold pressingjorcold rolling; 'Ifhe top may be open as` shown in Fig;-

'wallsg the other structural. materialy closes .the

openside of thefll but When used. as; a column,

the'. box section may be necessary, In Figures 22,213, and 24 and 25 is shown a design in which this feature is covered. In Figure 22 is showna fl'at sheet of" welded fabric which the ,lnished structural4 beam is to be formed from. rIfhis-r fab.- ric, canl be made-on welding machines, now in Gommoni use, with certain mechanical.- changes and with a complete change in the welding mechanism. The machinecan either turnY out asingle continuous cold rolling or forming process, cutting them'y to length either before or after forming. The stresses setk up4 by this process, inthe fabric-.structure are considerable but the` softermetal usedinthe connecting members 64 of Fig,-

ures 22, etc., can easily withstand this kindA of treatment.

In'Figure 26 isn shown still anotherV type of f ystructural member in which longitudinal mem`v bers 61 are preferably of stiff material and dil-4 agonalmembers'are of softer material. Memf bers 68 are rigidly. connected; to members G1 and this' may be done by bringing one above the other, as shown, and Welding them or onei may 'be brought against the side `of the otherand welded as shown in Figure 27. While. these patterns are the onlyA ones shown, alnumber of.v other combinations andY arrangementsv arey evidently possible and we do not Wish tobe. limited: onlyV to these designs. Y.

AIn Figure 28 We show a side elevation of a beam or column which is shown in section in Figure'29` and an alternate design in; Figure 30.

vI-Iere longitudinal'. members lil and. 13 are pref.-

erably of a stiff material such as hard drawn Wire While cross members 12 are of softer material. The structure here shown isfa closed or box section, is thoroughly braced and showed under test a very high efliciency. In Figure 29 is shown the cross section resulting from folding a flat structure such as was shown in Figures 26 and 27. A simpler and better column section is formed by omitting one longitudinal, 14, Figure 30, and tying or welding members 15 to member -14 as shown at 16.

In Figure 31 is shown a sectional View of a beam having a V cross section which might be formed from the structure shown in Figure 10. Such a beam will prove quite eicient when the projecting ends of the cross members are locked into a concrete oor or plastered wall. Obviously, bottom member 13 may be made larger in size than the two upper longitudinal members 11.

In Figure 32 we show a further modification of this idea in which two or more V sections are combined. The same requirements apply here as in the other designs.

In Figure 33 is shown a beam in cross section in which four longitudinal members 32 are used, one in each corner and certain of the cross members are cut at the bottom to form projections which are then bent into the form f loops or eyes, 84. The same procedure is followed in regard to the projections of the same members at the top of the beam. The result is a beam which is easy to handle or ship and which lends itseli` very well to the attachment of other structural members such as paper backed plaster base or oor base. In Figure 34 is shown a modication o-f the same idea in which more gradual bends 81 are provided in the cross members 86 to serve the same purpose as the loops 84 in Figure 33. In Figure 35 is shown a further modification of the same idea. When a sheet of plaster base is forced against the projection loops, 90 of Figure 35, they are pushed through the paper backing o-f the plaster base sheet and the insertion of a nail or straight piece of wire through the loop locks the sheet in position.

In Figure 36 is shown another design suitable for a partition stud in which four longitudinal members 9| are used in much the same way as in other designs already disclosed. The transverse members 92 are arranged to furnish X bracing and are rigidly connected to the members 9| and to each other where they cross. They may have projections 03 extending beyond the outside of the stud. In Figure 37 is shown an end View of this stud after forming to nal shape. The X bracing members may be spaced a distance apart equal to the depth of the stud and still give quite satisfactory results.

In Figure 38 we show the side elevation of a structural beam in which a diiferent system of bracing is used. The same beam is shown in end elevation in Figure 39. It will be seen that not only are longitudinal members 94 used at the four corners of the section, but an additional member is used on either side along the neutral axis.

Each diagonal bracing member 96 extends only half the depth of the beam. While this design may appear complicated, it has certain very denite advantages from a manufacturing standpoint.

In Figures 40 and 41 are shown two other possible sections into which beams may be formed. Other sections are quite possible and we naturally do not wish to be only limited toI those Whichwe have shown. The most practical sectionsfor Aour useseem to be the V, U and the box section. In this case the U really includes the `channel section. ;v In our -system of construction, there is a very definite need fora floor base or combined floor form and steel `reinforcement as well as a plaster and stucco base as in said Patent 2,103,897. In Figure 42 is shown a plan of one design of ribbed or stiffened mesh suitable for a plaster base but really designed for the heavier duty required in afloor base. Figure 43 is an end View and Figure 44 is aside viewofv the fabric shown in Figure 42. This design is well adapted to be combined with a backingsheet of Water proofed paper or the like tofacilitate the casting of a concrete oor around the mesh reinforcement. Referring to Figure 42, the mesh is seen to consist of a series of straight spaced longitudinal. members, |02, |03 and |04 intersected 'by transverse members |05 which are crimped to form V bends at certain points. Longitudinal members are preferably of a Comparatively sti material such as hard drawn wire while transverse members should be a softer material. Longitudinal members |02 lie in the general plane of the fabric. Members |04 are located in the bottom of the V crimp as will be seen in Figure 43. Between members |03 and |04 are located diagonal bracing members |06, which, in common with the other longitudinal members, are rigidly connected at their intersections to transverse members |05. It will be seen that this construction gives a fabric rein forced by trussed V ribs at lfrequent intervals and so great is its stiffness that when made out of comparatively small diameter wire and fastened to floor joists, it will carry the Weight of a man walking over it without injury to the fabric.

In Figure 45 is shown a sectional elevation of a portion of an exterior wall and floor of a building showing how the various structural elements described inthis application are combined to form a complete structure and Figure 46 is a partial sectionvon line lI-II which makes the details of construction more clear. The sidewall is seen to be made up of studs |01 which may be approximately 2 x 4 inches in size for ordinary residence construction, may be spaced 16 inches on centers and extend two stories in height, if desired. At the floor line is fastened a horizontal beam |`2 which is securely tied with special wire ties |||v to the 2 x 4 inch studs |01. These ties develop more than 2000 pounds tensile strength and are easily and quickly applied. The iioor beams |08 which may be 2 X 8 inches in section are framed into beams |2 and studs 01. Upper and lower chord members of beam |08 are carried over corresponding members in beam l2 and are bent around vertical members in studs |01 at ||1. Vertical members in |08 are then tied to beam ||2 at ||8 and the resulting connection is actually stronger than present standard wood construction at the -same point. When oor beams are erected, small beams |09, which 'may be 2 x 4 or 2 x 6 inches in section are inserted through the iioor beams |08 and are tied at ||9 to the lower ychord to serve as bridging to distribute concentrated floor loads. It should be noted that studs '|01 and oor beams |08 are provided with projectingmembers |20 and |2| respectively on both sides to facilitate the anchoring of other structural material to the frame. Next the floor base ||3 is placed on top of the floor beams and locked by bending down the pro jecting members |2| above referred to. The same side of the structure in the same Way, to serve as a base for Portland cement stucco. A thin layer of rich Portland cement concrete, H22 (made with a fine aggregate) is next placed on top of the floor base IIS, leveled off and finished. On

-account of the close spacing of ribs and Well distributed reinforcement, Which We employ, this floor slab need not be more than one inch thick4 at its thinnest points to provide all the structural strength required. The Walls and ceilings are next plastered in the usual way and the exterior Walls are finished With Portland cement stucco or With any other exterior nish desired.

The exterior Walls lend themselves readily to rock Wool or other types ci insulation. lt is evident that the problems of plumbing and of electric Wiring are greatly simpliiied. As compared to wood, the labor oi erection will be great ly reduced because the framing Will weigh about one fth as much as its equivalent in Wood. Welding may be employed in erection but is not necessary and We believe that our present method of tying is better as it permits a small amount of movement to permit temperature adjustment.

Obviously a fabric similar tc that shown in Fig. l0 could have been produced by Welding members at right angles to members 53 and 54 and then deiorming the comple-ted fabric in the plane of the members to `produce an arrange ment similar to Fig. l0. This pattern or any multiple of it could be easily produced in this manner and While the diagonal members would not be quite as straight as they are shown in Fig. 10 they Would nevertheless function quite satisfactorily in the nished structural member.

This method of producing a trussed unit has' cerw tain practical advantages from a manufacturing standpoint, and by it multiples oi the sections shown in Figs. l2, 13, 31, and 32 could be easily produced.- The structure shown in Figs. 36 and 3'? could also be partially produced by this means. Other possible applications of the same idea are obvious.

If two series of spaced members such as b5 and 53 and 54 in Fig. lil' are Welded together at right angles, andthen the Welded frame is distorted to produce an arrangement similar to Fig. 10 and then another series of vmembers 55 are Welded into the structure at right angles to 53 and 54 at certain pointsI it yWill be possible to produce an arrangement of members which will closely resemble a Pratt truss and which Will function in the same manner under exterior loads which may be applied to it. Such a fabric could also be formed into a structural member as previously described. f l

Having thus described our invention, What we claim is: Y

The method of forming structural units Which consists in Welding one series of spaced, parallel members and a second series of members of a sinuous outline disposed between certain members of the said rst series to a third series of spaced members which intersect the first and second series, cutting the members of the third series at certain points, on lines parallel to the `first-named series, to produce elongated units Whose axes are parallel to the first-named series, and bending the third-named series of each unit along lines spacedlaterally of the first-named lines, to form a structural shape. Y

ALFRED J. EDGE. WALTER S. EDGE.

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