US2355192A - Prefabricated building - Google Patents

Description

1944- K. L. WACHSMANN ET AL 2,355,192

PREFABRICATED BUILDING Filed May 50, 1942 7 Sheets-Sheet l K. L. WACHSMANN ET AL ,3 5,192

PREFABRICATED BUILDING Filed y 50, 194.2

7 eets-Sheet 3 1944- K. L. IVVACHSMANN ET AL ,3 5,192

7 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed May 50, 1942 PREFABRICATED BUILDING 1944- K. WACHSMANN ETAL. 2,355,192

PREFABRICATED BUILDING Filed May 30, 1942 '7 Sheets-Sheet 6 Aug. 8, 19 K. 1.. WACHSMANN ET AL 2,355,192

PREFABRIGATED BUILDING Filed May 30, 1942 7 Sheets-Sheet 7 I Patented Aug. 3, 1944 raamnmcsran normmo Konrad L. Wachsmann and Walter Groplns, Lincoln, Masa, assignors to General Panel Corporation, New York, N. Y.

Application May so, 1942, Serial No. 445,216

9 Claims.

This invention relates to buildings intended for various purposes, such as dwellings, camps, barracks, and others.

It is the chief object of the invention to devise a building structure which can be assembled exclusively, or substantially so, from standard units or sections, each consisting fundamentally of a duplicate of the other, so that they can all be manufactured completely in a factory equipped with machinery for producing them efllciently and accurately and thus eliminating much of the labor customarily involved in manufacturing parts at the site of the building. In other words, the invention aims to transfer most of the labor involved in the construction of a building from the site of .the building itself to a factory and to make the erection of the building primarily one of assembly.

To this end it is a further object of the invention to devise a construction which will eliminate practically all of the necessity for using nails, screws,.hooks, and similar fastenings during such assembly, but to provide a more satisfactory means for securing the sections together and to make the sections so standardized that with only minor exceptions, any frame section can be interchanged with any other.

The nature of the invention will be readily understood from the following description when read in connection with the accompanying drawings, and the novel features will be particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

In the drawings,

Figure l is a perspective view of a standard frame unit made in accordance with this invention;

Figs. 2 and 3 show minor variations of the frame unit illustrated in Fig. 1 to adapt it for use at special points in the building;

Fig. 4 is a sectional view on the line 4-4, F 1;

Fig. 5 is an angular view of a frame of a very simple building and illustrates the fact that such a frame can be made exclusively of standard frame units like that illustrated in Fig. 1;

Figs. 6 and 7 are vertical and horizontal sectional views. respectively, illustrating the means provided by this invention for securing adjoining units rigidly to each other;

Figs. 8, 9 and 10 are perspective views showing, respectively. a wedge, a connector plate, and a cross piece forming parts of a joint structure which is an important feature of this invention;

Fig. 11 is a perspective view of a corner portion of a building assembled chiefly from parts embodying features of this invention;

Fig. 12 is a sectional view at the junction of three frame units;

Fig. 13 is a similar view at the junction of four frame units;

Fig. 14 is a horizontal, sectional view, with parts broken away, showing a ground floor arrangement of a portion of a dwelling embodying features of this invention; and

Figs. 15 and 16 are vertical, sectional views of parts ofa building embodying features of this invention.

Referring first to Figs. 1 and 4, a standard frame unit is there shown. It comprises two side pieces 2-4 connected by two end pieces 3-3. Such connection may be made in any convenient way. A satisfactory construction is produced by securing the pieces together at the corners of the frame by a slot and tongue joint fastened by glue, screws or nails. The stock of which these frame pieces are made naturally will be varied to suit the requirements of different building structures, but for smaller buildings these parts may consist of 2 x 4'5, grooved at one inner edge as indicated at a in Fig. 4.

While this fundamental frame unit is used throughout the building and the frames for many building structures will be composed almost exclusively of these units, some modification of them, usually in the nature of additions, will be necessary to enable them to function effectively for special uses. For example, Fig. 2 shows the same fundamental frame unit illustrated in Fig. 1 to which cross pieces 4 and 5 and a brace 6 have been added to the upper portion thereof and similar cross pieces 4', 5' and a brace 6' have also been added at the bottom, thus making this frame suitable to receive a window. If the lower added parts, namely, 4', 5' and 6' are eliminated, then the frame is adapted to take a door.

Similarly in Fig. 3 the same frame unit shown in Fig. 1 is used, but cross pieces I and 8 have been secured to it to adapt it for use in the floor. The notches provided to receive these cross pieces are indicated at b in Fig. 1. For some buildings added cross pieces like those shown at I and 8 will be required in these floor frame sections.

These are typical of the modifications which must be made to the standard frame unit shown in Fig. 1 in order to adapt it for use in certain parts of building structures of common forms.

Inasmuch as this invention proposes to make the building frame chiefly, and in some cases exclusively, of these frame units, it is contem- .plated that they will be rigidly ioined to each other, edge to edge, with the lengths of different units extending in three planes positioned at right angles to each other. For this purpose the standard frame shown in Fig. 1 is made of a length which is equal to. or, far more commonly. is a multiple of, its width. In the form at present preferred the length is equal to three times the width. And an important feature of this invention resides in novel means for securing these units together in any of the various relationships just mentioned.

Byreferring to Figs. 1 and 4, it will be observed that the edge of-each longitudinal frame piece 2 is composed of a fiat edge face c flanked by two bevelled surfaces 41-41. This is also true of the end pieces 3, so that the entire edge of each unit has this same cross-sectional shape with the two bevelled faces forming angles of 45 with both side faces of the frame and also with the surface c but lying at an angle of 90 to each other. This edge construction makes it possible to join the units together in any given direction, and in combinations of two, three or four frame units, with flat surfaces abutting against other flat surfaces as illustrated, for example, at the upper part of Fig. 11. In some cases other building units, such as filler strips, bases, and the like, will be used with these frame units, as shown in the part of Fig. 11 just referred to.

A novel form of wedge connector or joint is provided for locking the building units in this relationship and the parts of which this joint is composed are illustrated individually in Figs. 8, 9 and 10. They consist of a plate connector or main-stay Ill having two parallel slots near its opposite ends, a cross piece l2, one portion of which is offset relatively to the other, both being slotted, and a wedge l3.

Referring to Fig. 7, it will be seen that two uprights 2-2 of adjoining frame units are there shown positioned approximately edge to edge and in opposed relationship. Cooperating with these piecesare corresponding filler pieces 2'-2' which are made exactly like the parts 2-2 except that their width, as measured from the edge faces 0, is not as great as that of the parts 2. Each of these four pieces is slotted transversely lat intervals, as shown at e in Figs. 1 and 4, and the slot e is intersected by another slot or mortise 1 cut into it from the edge face c.

Referring again to Fig- 7, it will be seen that the shank portions g (Fig. 10) of two cross pieces l2-I2 are inserted in the edgewise slots f-f (Figs. 1 and 4) of the parts 2-2 in such a relationship that their oil'set portions register one with the other. The slots in their shank portions register with the transverse slots e-e (Figs. 1 and 4) of the respective parts 2-2, and the wedges l3--l3 are driven into the latter slots and through the slots in the cross pieces, thus anchoring the latter in their respective frame member 2-2. The shoulders formed at the offset in each of the cross-pieces prevent the overdriving of one of these members when installing it in one of the building members. Next a connector plate I0 is inserted through the registering slots of the cross pieces, one of the parts 2 is placed in position so that one end of the connector is inserted in the appropriate one of its slots 1, and then a wedge I3 is driven through the slot in the connector, this wedge being positioned in the slot 0 of that particular part 2'. Then the other part 2' is placed in position in the same manner as was the corresponding part just mentioned with the opposite 76 end of the connector l0 inserted in the slot 1,

after which a wedge I 3 is driven into the slot e' should be observed that each wedge has a flat back which may, however,.be corrugated as shown in Fig. 8 or otherwise roughened, and that the opposite face has a thin end h, followed by a taper i, and then by anotherflat surface. That is, following the taper the wedge is of uniforinthickness. If the parts are made accurately it will be found that when the wedges are driven up, the building members 2-2 and 2'2' are all drawn tightly together with the two bevelled faces of each piece abutting respectively against corresponding faces of two adjoining members. Thus a very secure and rigid union of the parts to each-other is produced.

Such a wedge connector can be and preferably is used throughout the structure. Important ad-.

vantages of it are that it permits the union of the parts to each other rapidly without the use of tools other than a hammer, does not require skilled labor, and that it lies entirely within the frame pieces which it connects. Inasmuch as the four arms of this joint body radiate from a common axis, and the diagonal edge faces of all the pieces connected together by it intersect at said axis, and this axis is at the center of the joint, the action of the wedges as they are driven into place forces all of these wood pieces radially toward said axis until such movement is arrested by the meeting of the obliquely disposed or bevelled surfaces of those pieces. Preferably this occurs just as the upper edges of thetapered surfaces of the wedges are about to pass into engagement with the solid walls of the slots in which they are located and the flat surfaces of the wedges are about to enter the slots so that the roughened backs of the wedges will produce some deformation of the wooden parts of the building members with which they are in contact. This, of and by itself, ensures that the wedges will be firmly retained in their locking positions against any tendency to back out. That tendency, however, is reduced practaken apart and is again assembled with suitable building elements. If it were practical to make the parts with sufficient accuracy, then some of these locking members, such as those that lock the cross-pieces l2 to their respective building members, need not be wedges, although the last one of these locking members driven to complete a Joint should be a wedge. It is more practical, however, to make all of these parts alike and to use wedge surfaces, approximately as shown, in combination with flat surfaces, so as to combine the advantages of both.

It should also be observed that the upper and lower edges of the wedge l3, Fig. 8, are each provided with notches :i and k. The former are adapted to receive hook of a tool by means of which the wedge can be withdrawn, while the latter acts as stops to engage the face of the conthe bottom units A all lie in a horizontal plane,

nector plate or cross piece and thus to prevent over-driving of the wedge.

In addition, it will be seen from an inspection of Fig. 7 that the shoulder on each cross-piece l2 engages an edge face on the frame piece 2, and that when the wedge is driven firmly into place, it pulls the shoulder of the cross-piece firmly against a flat portion of the inner edge face of the member 2, and thus locks or anchors the cross-piece securely to the member 2. This is true wherever One of these cross-pieces is used, and it is of advantage in facilitating assembly or erection of a building because it permits the placing and final fastening of these parts of the joint in their proper positions prior to bringing together the four building members and securing them in their correct relationship by driving the final wedges and thus locking the joints.

From the foregoing it will be evident that this while those in the left-hand wall B are also disposed horizontally but at right angles to the sections A. All the other wall units C are vertically 5 disposed but they lie in planes at right angles to invention utilizes two wedging actions at each 2 joint, one between the individual building elements and the respective members of the wedge connector which acts directly on them, and the second between the bevelled surfaces of the four members united at the joint. IAS above stated, the movement of the four building members into mutual wedging relationship, with the bevelled surfaces of these pieces in abutting relationship to each other, arrests the relative inward movement of these pieces and determines when the joint is pulled up tightly. After the final wedge 13 has been driven into place, the parts are thereafter held in theirmutual wedging relationship. Both of these wedging actions are important in securing the building members, units,,and panels in their desired cooperative relationships. From the fact that the movements of the four members united at any joint are arrested in the manner just described, it will be evident that the extreme inner edges of these parts do not always abut in their final positions against the overlapped cross pieces l2, as shown in Figs. 6 and 7. Whether they do or not is immaterial, but often the inner edges of two, at least, of the four members will be spaced somewhat from the overlapped sections of the cross pieces.

In the particular arrangement illustrated in Fig. 7, the building pieces 2'-2' are in the nature of fillers to cooperate with the adjoining portions of the sections. 2-2 to make a wall of uniform thickness in which the joints are concealed. But the same joint construction obviously could be used in the same manner if parts like those shown at 2-2 and forming portions of additional panels were to be substituted for the parts 2'-2'. The same joint structure also can be, and preferably is, used wherever standard frame units can be employed in a building. In Figs. 12 and 13 the former illustrates three wall panels or sections so joined together, while the latter shows four such wall panels or sections connected to each other, the planes of section, however, being taken above or below the joint structures. The material of which the connector plate, cross pieces and wedges are made, may be metal, some of the synthetic plastics, or any other suitable substance.

In order to make it possible to unite these members in the different arrangements, the frame units are so slotted as to permit the attachment of one to another in various right-angle relationships. To this end the slots e and j, Figs. 1 and 4, for receiving each joint are so located on the frame units that in any assembly of these parts the joints will be spaced apart by equal distances. This is well illustratedin Fig. 5 where umn, either inside or outside 7 employed to secure They may those in which the units A and B are located. The top units are here shown parallel to the bot- .fitom units A, but they could as well be at right angles to them. Considering the two sets of slots E-E in adjoining frames in the top of the structure shown in Fig. 5, it will be observed that they are the same distance apart as are any other two adjacent sets of slots in the building as, for example, those shown at F-F or at G-G. This 5 relationship of the slots is obtained by positioning those in the and pieces 3-3, Fig. 1, midway between the ends of these pieces, locating the upper and lower slots in each of the uprights 2 at the same distance from the corner as are the slots 0 in the end pieces, and spacing the middle set of slots in each upright at twice this distance from the next adjacent set. Such a relationship is readily obtained if, for example, the frames are made three feet six inches wide and ten feet six 5 inches long, in which event the centers of the slots nearest the comer in the side pieces 2 will be twenty-one inches from it, the slot in each end piece 3'will be the same distance from both corners, and the middle slot in each side piece will side. Thus with sucha construction any frame unit can be substituted for any other in the entire structure.

Filler sections. such as those shown at 2'-2' in Fig. 7 are used at other points in the building as, for example, at the upper part of Fig. 11, where they cooperate to fill out a corner. Here an additional filler piece l5 cooperates with the parts 2'-2'. to complete this corner. Also, in Fig. 11, and similarly in Flg.'6, a somewhat larger filler piece 2" is used in like manner to act as a base support for a partof the building, and similar pieces are shown in Fig. 5 at H, I, J and K Such a. construction may also be used in making a colthe building, and one such outside free standing column is illustrated in Fig. 14 at L. Other columns are shown in this figure at M to reinforce a large expanse of wall.

Fig. 6 shows a joint like that illustrated in Fig. together the end frame pieces 3-3 of a horizontal floor unit and a vertical wall unit. Filler pieces 2' and 2" are here used to complete the corner, the latter being a base piece.

Attention is directed to the fact that at each building joint four building members or elements are secured together by the wedge connector of that joint. The only difference between the joints is in the character of these building members. be used in any combination at any joint because they are all shaped alike at the joint and the elements of the wedge connectors cooperate with all of them in the same manner. Some of them, however, extend radially away from the axis of the joint to a greater distance than others. important difference between them.

It will be understood, of course, that in setting up any building made from these units and the 0 panels of which they form a part, a foundation should be prepared in any suitable or customary manner to support the frame. Such a foundation might, for example, include piers spaced at such intervals as to provide the necessary support,

a or might consist of combinations of girders and be forty-two inches from the others in the same Fundamentally, that is the most foundation walls, either with or without such piers, as circumstances may make necessary.

In the foregoing description reference has been made chiefly to the frame of the building, but this invention contemplates that the frame alone will not be set up and then the siding, sheathing, or the like, nailed to it, but, on the contrary, that each frame unit will have permanently secured to it those parts necessary to complete a section of the building. In other words, frame units which are to be used on the site of the building will be covered externally with siding or any suitable material and, if desired, will also be covered internally with any appropriate inside wall material. Those intended to accommodate doors and windows will be suitably equipped for this purpose. Those designed for use in the roof will be: covered with roofing, and those in the floor with, a sub-floor and suitable top flooring.

It is the intent of this invention that, so far as practical, all of the manufacturing operations: on each panel shall be completed in a factory so that the finished sections, each including its own frame, may be shipped to the site of the building ready for assembly into a complete structure. These standard parts can be assembled into various designs of building.

For example, in Fig. '7, portions of two adjoining wall sections are there illustrated, each covered on both sides with matched boarding, certain of the boards being indicated at it. In Fig. 6 a similar upright section is shown joined to a floor section which is boarded on its lower side, as shown at H, and at its upper side it has a sub-floor l8 and a top floor [9 secured thereto with an intervening layer 20 of building paper, or the like. At its ends it may include a filler piece 2| to compensate for the difference in thickness of the parts 2 and 3 as compared to that of the parts I and 8 illustrated in Fig. 3. It abuts against the inside wall of the upright section, and

a base board 22 is secured in its usual relationship toboth the floor and the wall. This figure also shows the part 2" resting on a foundation 23, and a bottom finish board or spray board 24, preferably made of asbestos or similar material, in its usual position covering the Joint between the building and the foundation.

More of the parts shown in Fig. 6 are fllustrated in Fig. 11 which shows a typical corner construction of a building. Those parts here illustrated and which are also shown in Fig. 6 are designated by the numerals used in the latter figure.

In the wall sections it is usually preferable to cover the space in the frame with an insulation board or mattress of some such nature as those available on the market. The particular composition of the board used in any section naturally will be determined primarily by the requirements of the building for which it is intended. Such wall board members are shown in the drawings at 25. Also, these sections can be lined at one or both faces with building paper 26, or the like.

For convenience in wiring the building any of these wall boards can be grooved to take electric conductors. The base boards 22 shown in Figs. 6 and 11 are so constructed. Also, in Fig. 11 one of the vertical inside wall boards I!" is shown provided with such grooves.

one board will be left outof' each inside wall section until after the last wedge II has been driven. It can then be tipped into position, as indicated in dotted lines at I6a, Fig. '7, and it can be equipped with a spring clip 21 which will hold it in place. Such a board or wall element can, however, be pried out of position if it is desired to dismantle the building, and when so removed it affords access to the wedge H which it covers, thus permitting this wedge, and the others covered by the same board, to be withdrawn. The

entire building may be disassembled in thismanner, after which-the parts may be moved to a new location and reassembled.

Additional filler pieces 28, Fig. 11, may be used at the junction of the upright sections with the filler pieces 2' to form a better closure. for the outside joint, and they can also be used at the inner side of the wall, if desired.

While, as above stated, each section should be of a length which is equal to, or is a multiple of, its width, there are important practical advantages in making the sections of a length equal to three times their width. Also, there is an advantage in the 3 /2 foot x 10 foot dimensions, although the invention is by no means limited to these or any other dimensions. Both these advantages will readily be seen, however, from other in the manner above described. Usually '16 an inspection of Fig. 14. Assuming that'the sections are made of the dimensions just mentioned, it will be evident at once that the 3 foot width accommodates a standard door, as indicated at 30, or a standard window, as shown at 3|. It is also wide enough for a hall-way, such as that indicated at 32, or for a stair-way 33. Eight of these vertical sections can be arranged to form a '7 x 7 foot bedroom 34 adapted to accommodate a single bed of standard dimensions at the lefthand side and leaving an equivalent amount of space in the other half of the room. Other sections associated in a manner that will be obvious from the foregoing can be made to form much larger rooms 35 and 36. In the floor, filler strips, such as those indicated at 36 in Fig. 1.4,. are, required between adjoining sections to close the spaces which otherwise would be left at these areas. The way in which the sections may be used in a wall or roof will be evident from the foregoing in connection with the illustration in Figs. 15 and 16. Some modification of the: standard frame unit is found desirable in certain of these sections, as where the wall panel shown at the left of Fig. 15 is provided with cross pieces similar to those shown in Fig. 2 at l and 5. Also, at the junction of the wall at the upper left-hand corner with the sloping roof section a special piece 31' is used at the end of the latter section to accommodate the acute angle at which these sections meet.

It will thus be evident that the invention lends itself to use in the manufacture of a great variety of buildings which can either be put up for temporary or permanent use, as may be desired. The fact that these buildings can be erected with practically no skilled labor and can be dismantled even more easily, is an important advantage when they are to be used and re-used. in different locations, as in. connection with military operations, migratory movements in industry, and the like.

The novel joint structure herein disclosed has been referred to above, and will be referred to in the claims, as a wedge connector, this term being used to designate a device which, like that above described, draws and hold four building desire to claim as new is:

1. In a building structure, the combination of two adjoining building units and a joint connecting said units and comprising two overlapping cross pieces anchored, respectively, in said units and projecting toward and disposed in an overlapping relationship to each other, said cross pieces being provided with slots in said overlapping portions, which slots register with each other, a connector extending through said registering slots, each of said cross pieces having a slot near its outer end, wedges driven through said slots and securing them in said units, said connector having slots in its opposite ends, and wedges securing said ends to additional building members to join them to said units in abutting relationship thereto.

2. A building joint comprising four building members each having two oblique edge faces lying at 90 to each other and positioned with the said faces of each in engagement with the corresponding oblique faces of two other members so that th planes of all of said faces intersect in a common line, a connector intersecting said common line and having its opposite ends anchored in two of said members positioned in opposed relationship to each other, and two cross pieces both anchored on said connector and extending, respectively, into the other two opposed members, and wedges anchoring said cross pieces to their respective building members.

3. In a building, the combination of four building members positioned edge to edge about a common axis, each of said members having beveled edges. those of each member being disposed at a 90 angle to each other, a connector plate anchored at its opposite ends in two opposed members by transverse locking members, one of which is a wedge, two cross-pieces anchored, respectively, in the other two members and having slotted end portions overlapped one upon the other, said connector plate passing through both slots of said cross-pieces, and additional transverse locking members securing the outer ends of said cross-pieces to their respective building members, said locking members cooperating with said connector plate and said cross-pieces to secure all of said building members together with their beveled edges abutting one against another.

4. In a building, the combination of a series of building members positioned edge to edge about a common axis and a wedge connector securing them in said relationship, said connector including arms radiating from said axis, said members being slotted at their inner edges to receive said arms and also slotted transversely to receive wedges, certain at least of said arms being provided with transverse shoulders positioned to bear on the inner edge faces of the respective building members in which they are positioned while said wedges bear on opposed faces of the latter members so that the intermediate portions of these members are clamped between the cooperating shoulders and wedges.

5. A building joint connector comprising a plate-like member slotted to provide transverse insideedges near opposite ends thereof forming bearing surfaces for wedges, and two cross-pieces each slotted transversely near its opposite ends, said member being adapted to pass through two registering slots of said cross-pieces when the latter are overlapped one upon the other with the main portions of the cross-pieces extending in opposite directions away from said overlapped areas and from said plate, the outer slots in said cross-pieces being adapted to receive wedges and each of the cross-pieces having a shoulder projecting from its lateral surface and facing toward its respective wedge-receiving slot but positioned close to the slot that receives said plate-like member.

6. A building joint connector comprising a body having four arms radiating from a common axis and including a connector plate, portions of which form two of said arms, and two crossplates forming the other two arms, said crossplates being releasably interlocked with the central portion of said plate against movement away from it in a direction transversely of the plate and all of said arms being slotted near their outer ends to receive transverse wedges.

7. In a building, the combination of four building members positioned edge to edge about a common axis, each member having bevelled edges positioned in abutting relationship to the corresponding edges of those members at opposite sides of it, and a joint connecting said members and including parts radiating from said axis and means anchoring said respective building members to said radiating parts, two of said parts slidably intersecting a third part at said axis, said means including transversely disposed looking members cooperating with said radiating parts to secure said building members together with their bevelled edges wedged together and held against movement away from said axis, one at least of said locking members consisting of a wedge.

8. In a building, the combination of four building members positioned edge to edge about a common axis, each member having bevelled edges 'sides of it, and a joint connecting said members and including parts radiating from said axis and means anchoring said respective building members to said radiating parts, said parts being slidably connected with each other at the center of the joint, said means including transversely disposed locking members cooperating with said radiating parts to secure said building members together with said bevelled edges of each wedged between those of the adjoining members, one at least of said locking members consisting of a wedge serving to draw two of said building members which are opposed to each other toward said axis and into wedging relationship to the other two opposed building members,

9. A building having a frame structure composed chiefiy of rectangular frame units, each substantially a duplicate of the other, and wedge connectors securing said units together substantially throughout the structure to form the frame for the floors, walls, ceilings, door and window openings, said connectors being essentially alike and each including four arms radiating from a common center, one pair of said arms being consisting of said frame units and the remainder consisting of filler pieces, said elements being slotted to receive said arms and transverse lockin; members fastening said arms to the respective elements, at least one of said members being 6 a wedge.

KONRAD L. WACHSMANN.

GROPIUS.

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