US2331752A

US2331752A - Prefabricated building construction

Info

Publication number: US2331752A
Application number: US411959A
Authority: US
Inventors: Charles R Wilson
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1941-09-23
Filing date: 1941-09-23
Publication date: 1943-10-12
Anticipated expiration: 1960-10-12

Description

Oct.- 12, 1943.

c. R. WILSON PREFABRICATED BUILDING CONSTRUCTION Filed Sept. 23, 1941 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR CHARLES R'W/LSON.

Ill

I ATTOR/XL'K c. R. WILSQN PREFABRICATED BUILDING CONSTRUCTIQR Oct. 12, 1943.

Filed Sept. 23 1941 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVEN TOR, CHARLES R. WILSON.

ATTORNE K.

Patented Get. 12, 1943 STATES PATENT OFFICE PREFABRICATED BUILDING CONSTRUCTION 3 Claims.

' great success. Three standard types of units are used: blanks for generalwall construction, window panels, and door panels. The standard pancl size is 8 feet by 4 feet. Each plywood face is bonded under high pressure in the mill to an inner framework of 54 by 2 studding. The stresses to which the panels are subject are carried jointly by the inner studding and the plyw od faces, and a very strong rigid structure is obtained. .The studding commonly extends to within a few inches of the panel edges, leaving a space all around the periphery of the panel unit which is utilized'for connection to neighboring units and to the bottom plates or sills and top, plates which support the ceiling of the room.

These connections are commonly made by means of top and bottom plates over which the peripheral panel spaces'fit, and to which the units are secured by nails, glue, or other conventianal means, so that they may constitute stressbearing members in the construction of the house.

In assembly, the units are set one by one on the fioor plates, using means such as a block and tackle to pull them together, and are then secured together along their'adjac'ent vertical edges. Some force is required to pull neighboring panels together tightly while they are being secured to the floor plates. A strong joint is needed to prevent separation between the panels when the main frame of the house shrinks or settles.

My invention is specifically I concerned with this problem of joining panel units along their adjacent vertical edges. In the prior art, one method used has been to insert a loose stud in the peripheral panel spaces, nailing each panel edge thereto. As the building weathers, this construction tends to pull the nails loose from the plywood or the studding or both, and in many cases causes a vertical split to develop in the in serted stud through which daylight can be seen thereto.

volves two wedges. as thick at'the bottom, as the separation between the inner and outer panels. The other wedge is of equal thickness at the top. These wedges are dropped into the adjacent panel edge spaces and forced together so that the panels are held by friction, and the panels are then nailed thereto. The difliculty is that the panel edges are forced outwardly as the wedges are inserted therebetween, distorting the plane of the interior and exterior walls. Frame shrinkage then causes cracks'and ruins any finish that may have been applied.

Still another method involves inserting a rigid block of fiber or similar material between the adjacent panels and screwing or nailing the panels Since the fiber is usually stronger than the wall panels, dimensional changes result in a breakdown around the nail 'or screw holes with results which will be obvious. With any of these methods, as soon as dimensional changes or settling of the frame occur, the panel joints will open up, either at the top or bottom. The result is not only unsightly, but does not, as will be appreciated, insure adequate protection.

My invention comprises in brief, a joint which will draw adjacent panels together during construction without using additional equipment, and which insures that the close relationship of the adjoining panels will be maintained throughout the life of the structure. i

The objects of my invention thus include: simplifying the methods of constructing prefabricated houses; providing means for joining prefabricated panel-units together without the use of special equipment; insuring that adjacent panel units will remain rigidly secured together despite dimensional changes due to weathering of a structure; joining panel units without distorting 'the flat planes of the panel faces; and providing means for fixing panel units together drawings, in which I have illustrated preferred embodiments of my invention, and from the-- study of the detailed description following. It is to be understood that the embodiments shown are exemplary only of the principles of my invention, and that I may incorporatethese prin ciples in other specific embodiments within the scope of my invention as defined In the drawings, Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a room 'corner by the claims.

One wedge is substantially formed by three standard panel units incorporating my invention;

Fig. 2 is an elevational view of adjacent panel units secured together to form a wall;

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary detailed sectional view, taken as indicated by line 3--3 in Fig. 2, showing the mode of connection of a panel to the to plate;

Fig. 4 is a cross section along line 4--4 of Fig. 2,

showing the details of a preferred form of my showing details of a joint using the joining member of Figs. 4 and 8.

Referring now to the drawings for a detailed description of my invention, I have illustrated in Fig. l the corner of a room under construction, in which are utilized the three standard types of panels. n the conventional floor frame of the structure, which has been omitted for clarity in illustration, I mount floor plates I and 2, intersecting normally to define the corner of the room. On plates I and 2 are mounted a standard wall blank 4, a window panel unit and a door unit 6. After the panels have been set on the floor plates and 2 and the joint connection made as described in detail below, top plates 1 and 8 are inserted at the top, and the panel units rigidly secured thereto. In Fig. 3 I have shown the manner in which the top plate I is set into the panel unit 4. Conventional fastening means, not shown, unite the plate 'I to the panel unit.

The construction of the individual panel blanks 4 may be understood from Figs. 1-3. The blank panel 4 is plain, and may be used in any desired number to form a wall of desired dimensions. The window panel 5 incorporates a window 9,

which is preferably inserted at the factory as one stage of manufacture. The door panel unit 6 has a door frame ||i built in at the factory, but,

it is usually preferable to hang the door on the frame at the building site. That portion H of the floor plate l underlying the door frame Ill may be used as a door sill or removed entirely.

Each panel unit, as the blank 4, for example, comprises a framework formed by inner vertical studding I2, inner horizontal studding I4, vertical outer studding l5 and horizontal outer studding l6, all bonded under pressure with waterproof glue to inner and outer plywood panel faces I! and 9. It is usual to make the outer panel face I9 thicker than the inner panel face I! in the outer walls of the structure, although the same thickness may. be used for both in setting up interior walls. I secure

tapered locking strips

20 and 2| of rectangular cross-section within the panel faces I9 and I1 in the plane '22 of the edges of adjacent panel units. The

strips

20 and 2| are pressure-bonded to the panels by the same process which produces the entire panel unit. and define an H-shaped channel within adjacent panel edges.

Strips

20 and 2|, in their simplest form as shown in Figs. 5-7, are narrowed in their dimension parallel to the panel faces by about /2" from bottom to top of the standard 8 foot panel section. Suflicient clearance is left between the outer vertical studding l5 and the panel edges so that-a locking member 24 of H-shaped crosssection can be inserted therein and engage over the

locking strips

20 and 2|. Locking member 24 is centrally rectangularly recessed, tapering from a wide bottom portion 25 to a narrower upper portion 26 with substantially equal taper to that of the

locking strips

20 and 2|.

This taper is sufficient to draw the adjacent panels tightly together all along their adjacent edges when the locking member 24 is driven over the locking strips 20 and 2 I'. It will be apparent that no bulging outwardly of 'the panel faces I1 and I9 adjacent the plane 22 of joining will occur, since no forces are set up transversely of the plane of the panel faces. With so small a taper, the critical frictional angle is employed so that once the locking member 24 is in place, the joint will remain fixed without nails or other fastenings. If it is desired to dismantle the structure, the locking member 24 can be forcibly withdrawn by suitable equipment, requiring simply a strong upward pull.

The embodiment of Fig. 5 is applied to corners as shown in Fig. :7. A locking member such as that shown at 24 in Fig. 5 is cut lengthwise transversely, and the halves '40 are secured normally by screws 4|, glue, or equivalent means, to a quarter-round corner member 42. The member 42, with its locking halves 40, is then secured to the normally disposed

wall panels

4 and 5, as illustrated in Fig. 1, by the same method as described above.

It will be obvious that the construction shown might be modified for other corner types, securing additional locking halves 40 in position for T-joints or for the intersection of two walls normally disposed and passing through each other. It will also be seen that the member to which the locking portions are secured could be of such cross-section that the walls could meet at any angle desired, as well as at right angles. The structural corner tie not only secures the panels in a locked position but also provides a finished exterior appearance without the necessity of adding an outside facing.

An alternative embodiment is shown in Figs. 4, 8 and 9 in which the inserted locking member is strengthened against stresses parallel to the plane of the wall, and in which other features of advantage will be seen.

Keystoned recesses are formed in the inserted locking member, tapering from a wide bottom 21 to a n'arrowertop portion 29 and arranged to cooperate with the keystoned locking strips 30 and 3| secured to panel faces l9 and I1.

For exterior construction, I may arrange the locking members with a cut-away portion 32 and provide sufllcient clearance from looking strips 30 and 3| for a layer 33 of glue, mastic, or

. waterproofing material.

A reinforcing ply 34 is disposed through the locking member to provide additional tensile strength. Ply 34 may be of plywood, hard fiber, metal, or any other suitable material, and secured to the rest of the locking member by any stoned members 30 and 3| of Fig. 4. Legs 35 normal to the plane of faces l1 and I9 cooperate with plates 31 parallel thereto to fit over lock ing strips 20, and a similar arrangement welded thereto at 36 fits over looking strips 2i, forming the complete connecting member 39. This member 39 may be removable, or mastic compound Or glue used to seal the joints just as in the other embodiments.

It will be seen from the above description that I have provided a method of joining prefabricated panel units to each other along their vertical edges'which prevents the opening up of thejoints-due to settling and weathering, and which can be utilized without special equipment or the use of skilled workmen. The structure can be set up permanently, or may be arranged to be dismantled quickly if desired. My construction enables a wall'covering to be applied to multipaneled walls without danger of cracking or wrinkling along the joints, and is economically advantageous, both in labor cost in assembly at the site and in cost of manufacture .at themill.

What I claim is:

1. The combination in a prefabricated building construction of conjoinable units, each unit comprising a pairof spaced panel members with intermediate studding, a tapered locking strip pressure-bonded to the inner face of each panel adjacent to the matching edge of the next succeeding panel, each strip being substantially coextensive in length with the length of the panel and being wider at the bottom'than at the top, the strip being beveled and undercut along its rear edge, whereby the two adjacent strips of two contiguous units will present a dovetailed member, one-half of which is carried on each of said contiguous units, these dovetailed members being arranged in opposed spaced pairs on the two inner faces of the panels, and a single locking member spanning the space between the panels of the two contiguous units and brid ing the gap between the units and having corresponding dovetailed grooves to interlock with the dovetails formed by the strips to align the units and draw the same together.

2. The combination in prefabricated building 5 construction of conjoinable units, each unit comprising a pairof spaced plywood panel members with intermediate studding, adjacent ends of each unit provided with a section of a dovetailing strip, said strip extending from top to bottom of its unit and there being two of these strips along each uniting of a unit and pressure-bonded to the respective inner faces of the panels of the unit and disposed so that a pair of these strips face each other on the inside of the unit and lispaced apart in cooperative relation with one another and with the strips on the immediately adjacent edge of the succeeding unit, said strips tapered lengthwise with their narrowest width at the top of the panel, each strip likewise beveled on its edge farthest removed from the adjacent unit edge, the contiguous strips on adjacent edges of co-planar surfaces constituting with the corresponding strips of the adjacent unit a dovetailed member, and a locking member coextensive in length with the strips and having dovetailed grooves on its opposite edges engageable with the dovetailed strips to engage the latter to draw the units together and lock them in alignment.

3. In prefabricated, building construction, a pair of wall units, each comprising a 'pair of panels with intermediate studding, a corner connection for the units including a segmental section interposed between the adjacent ends of the units and coextensive in length therewith, tapered locking strips secured with the unit at the edges thereof, an interlocking strip with a cooperating dovetailed groove engaged with the opposed pair of tapered strips secured inside a panel, and means to secure the interlock strip of 40 each unit to the segmental corner section to draw said units and corner segment together to form a rigid structure.

. CHARLES R. WILSON.