US2695664A - Framed panel and the manufacture thereof - Google Patents

Description

Nov. 30, 1954 c, J RD ET AL 2,695,664

FRAMED PANEL AND THE MANUFACTURE THEREOF Original Filed June 9, 1947 2 Sheets-Sheet l FlG.z

w n /5 2/a 5a /50 FIGJA CARL JVDELEGARD ATTORNEY FRAMED PANEL AND THE MANUFACTURE THEREOF Carl J. Delegard, Chicago, and Michael- J Nardulli, Elmwood Park, 1112,.assignors to.Mi'chael J. Nardulli, Angelo F1 Naples, audPeter RlNardulli; .as trustees, and known as Western Engineering Trust Original application June 9} 1947, Serial No. 753,586. Divided andthisapplication January 11, .1949, Serial No. 70,244 v This application is a' division of our copending application, Serial No. 753,586, filedJune 9, 1947.

This invention relates generally'to framed panels and particularly it relates to framed panels wherein a rectangular frame composed of side and end frame .memhers is arranged to support and impart rigidity to a panel of relatively low strength material that extends across the frame that is thus defined.

Framed panels of the character with which-the present invention is concerned are utilized in a Wide variety of arts, and such framed panels may take the.form of window sash, window screens,. doors having panels of screen, glass, wood or other materials, or as elements of furniture such for'example as the top of 'a card table or the like. Framed panels of 'the aforesaid general. character haveheretoforebeenmade through the use of miter joints; dovetail joints or the like, between .the four. elements' 'of the rectangular'frame, and aftersformation of the frameit has in most instances been customary to mount the panel material on the frame by {attaching the panel material .either to the face. of the frame members or by securing such panel material in rabbeted grooves about the inner edges of the frame. Such manufacture of'framed-"panels involves a considerable amount. of specialmachine work as ..well as hand'work and fitting, and Where the panelmaterial is flexible in character as is the case when a screen material is employed, the problem 'of stretching and properly disposingthe panel material on= the frame .is quite troublesome and it is quite common to find that the material has. not been properly and neatly applied. a

In view of the foregoingitis animportantobject of the present invention to enable framed panels of the-aforesaidcharacter to be more easily assembled, andan object related to the foregoing is to eliminate skilled forming and. fittingoperations in the production of such-framedpanels- The problem of stretching a screen panel material or a'likeflexible material such as transparent treated cloth or the like is recognized as being one of the reasons why framed panels ofsucha ,characterzare relatively expensive, and a further and important. object of the present. inventionis to simplify the stretching and attachment -ofsuch flexible-panel materials; in the manufacture of framed panels. An object related to theforegoing is to enable such framed panels to be formed "onassembled in. a continuous succession so" that the flexible panel material extends during the assembly and.manufacturmg operation between the'successive framed panels, and through such an arrangement to afford *a.continuously stretched and properly formed body ofpanel. material withrespect to which'the frame elements may bereadily and easily assembled. An object related to the foregoing is to enable finish. molding heretofore required. inscreenpanels .to

be eliminated, thereby to save in material, assembly labor and painting, with the resultant saving in cost of such screens; andtfurther, to enable the formationand'finishing of the Wood elements to be simpified by enabling frame elements finished or'smoothlysurfacedby planing upon but two facestto be employed.

In accordance with prior practice, wood framed screens of standard design have been.made from lumber that is ll/sinches by inchin.cross..-seetion, and this has been considered to ,be necessary .in. order to. attain sufiicient strength in thecorner oints of the .screens.- Ibis, of

2,695,664 Patented Nov. 30, 1954 course, recognized that any reduction in the size or cross section of the lumber used in such frames would result in economy, either by savings in lumber, or by enabling lumber to be used which would otherwise be considered as scrap, audit is a further object of the present invention to enable this to be accomplished while at the same time enabling highstrength screens, or other framed panels, to bereadilyand economically produced. A fur-' ther and related object is to form each frame member from two half-thickness frame elements'so as to facilitateuse ofthin strips such as barking strips, edgings,

off falls and other material that would otherwise'be con-' sidered as scrap, and by such aconstruction to minimize the ob ectionable effect of structural weaknesses that are often found in a particular frame element; and a related. ob ect is to enable at least a substantial proportion ofsuch frame elements to be'made from shorter pieces than heretofore were required; thereby to further promote the use of cheap scrap material.

In screen panels as heretofore constructed, and to some extent in other types of framed panels, the attainment of strength in the framed panels has been limited primarily to the frames, and it is a further object of the present invention to enable the relatively flexible or low strengthi panel material to cooperate efliciently with the frame elements to attain exceptionally high strength and extreme ruggedness and rigidity in the finished'panels; and an ob-' ject'related tothe foregoing is, through the greatly improved strength characteristics as aforesaid, to enable reduction in size and cost of'the frame elements to be attained where the maximumof economy is desired; A

further and related object is to afford a continuous bond. or connection between the border edges of thepanel and the frame elements, thereby to insure efficient force transmission and maximum bracingand strength insuchstructures.

As hereinbefore pointed out, the manufacture of framed panels as heretofore practiced has involved the special forming of the'ends of each of the frame elements so as.

to prepare the same for cooperation in some .type of flush joint, and such special forming operations are of course relatively expensive. It 'is therefore a further object of the present inventionto enable framed panels having efficient and rigid corner joints to be produced from frame elements having rectangularly formed' ends, therebyjto simplify'the preparation of such frame elements.

Other and further objects of the present invention will.

be apparent'from'the following description and claims and are illustrated in the accompanying drawings-Which; show preferred embodiments and by way of illustration, the principles thereof and what we now consider to be the bestmode' in which we have contemplated applying Other embodiments of the invention.

those principles. embodying the same or equivalent principles mayxbe used and structural changes may be made as desired bythose skilled in the art without departing from. the present in Fig. 2 is a fragmentary sectional View taken along theline 22 of Fig. l;

Fig. 3 is a perspective view lllustrating a full screen constructed in accordance with the present invention;

Figs. 4A and 4B are views illustrating the. way in which the frame elements of the full screen of Fig. 3 are .assembled and related;

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary plan view'illustrating the way,

in which the lower elements of the frame of a half-storm window sash are assembled;

Fig. 6 is a view similar to Fig: 5 and shows the rela tionshipof the uppenelements of theframe of such-a Window:

Fig. 7 is a perspective viewof the completed-halfwindow type of 1 storm sash;

Fig- 7Aisan elevational view of one type of conventional fastening element that 'may be used;

frame.

Fig. 8 is a cross sectional view taken along the line 8-8 of Fig. 7; and

Fig. 9 is a similar view of another kind of framed anel. p For purposes of disclosure the present invention has been herein illustrated as embodied in several different types of framed panels, but it will be understood that these examples are merely for purposes of disclosure and are not intended to constitute an exhaustive showing of all framed panels falling within the scope of the present invention. Thus, in Figs. 1 and 2, a framed panel in the form of a half-screen has been illustrated, such half-screen 150 being of the kind that is adapted for use as a screen closure outside of the lower sash of a doublehung window. The half-screen 150 comprises an upper frame member 151, side frame members 152 and 153, and a bottom frame member 154, and these four frame members are arranged to afford a rectangular frame across which a screen panel 155 is stretched. It will be observed that the frame that is thus afforded is in the form of a pair of half-thickness frames between which the border portions of the screen panel 155 are extended and secured, and this manner of forming the frame of the framed panel 150 not only simplifies the planing mill operations that are necessary in preparing the various frame elements for assembly, but also enables the framed panel to be assembled on the machine that has been disclosed in our aforesaid application. The half-thickness frame structures that are thus utilized may, for purposes of disclosure, be termed front and rear half-thickness frame structures, and the slats which make up such front and rear half-thickness frame structures are herein differentiated through the use of the letters F and R as suffixes on the reference numerals that have been applied to the various side frame members. Thus the upper side frame member comprises a front frame member 151F and a rear frame member 151R which, as will be evident in Fig. 1, are offset longitudinally in the completed framed panel. Similarly, the other three frame members are afforded by front and rear frame elements that are in each case offset longitudinally so as to enable effective and rigid joints to be formed in a simple manner at the corners of the In the structure shown in Fig. l, the front and rear frame elements of each frame member are of the same length, as will be evident in Fig. l, and with this arrangement, the elements of each half-thickness frame structure are arranged so as to be symmetrical with respect to a center point of the panel. This symmetry about the center point enables the number of different lengths required in the assembly of a framed panel to be minimized, but where this economy is not necessary, other types of symmetry in the finished frame panel may be attained, as will be hereinafter described, with particular reference to Figs. 1A and 1B of the drawings.

In assembling the various frame elements of the halfscreen 150 of Fig. 1, one end of each frame element is engaged with the side edge of one of the next adjacent frame elements of the same half-thickness frame structure thereby to afford a butt joint. Thus, with respect to each half-thickness frame structure, a plurality of similar butt joints 156 are provided in a symmetrical relation about or with respect to a center point in the framed panel. The relationship of the butt joints that are thus afforded is reversed in the other of the two half-thickness frame structures, and the screen panel 150 is disposed between the two half-thickness frame structures as will be evident at 150A in Fig. 2. It will be apparent that with this arrangement, one end of each frame element is disposed in an overlapping face-to-face relationship to the adjacent end of a frame element of the other half-thickness structure, thus in effect forming a lap joint with the frame element of the other halfthickness frame structure that is disposed at right angles thereto. The ultimate effect of this relationship is that a half-lap joint is afforded at each corner of the framed panel 150, and under the present invention the half-lap joints and the opposed faces of all of the frame elements are secured together adhesively so as to afford an extremely rigid structure that may be economically pro duced. In order that the elements may be maintained in their assembled relationship while pressure is applied initially and is thereafter maintained between the elements of the framed panel, mechanical fastening means are preferably put in place between the various frame elements immediately after assembly thereof has been completed. Such mechanical fastening elements maytake the form of nails 158 that are of a commercial kind adapted to be applied through the use of a nailing ma-' chine. The details of such a nail 158 have been illustrated in Fig. 7A of the drawings.

The arrangement of elements embodied in the framed panel of Figs. 1 and 2 adapts this framed panel for convenient assembly in the machine that has been disclosed in our aforesaid application. Thus the rear frame elements that afford the half-thickness rear frame structure may be put in place, and prior to the positioning of the elements of the half-thickness rear frame structure one flat face and one end face of each slat has an adhesive suitably applied thereto by any conventional means. and in putting the elements into' position, the ends to which glue has been applied are disposed so as to form the butt joints 156. When the framed panel is to have a panel material made of screen, such screen is stretched across the lower half frame, as, for. example, in the manner described in our aforesaid copending application, and the front frame elements areput in position on top of the screen panel and in the opposing relationship to the rear frame elements as indicated in Fig. 1. The fastening nails 158 are then applied so as to hold the assembled elements in position, it being noted that the lower face and one end edge ofeach front frame element has had an adhesive applied thereto so that when such positioning has been completed, the required adhesive is in position and the frame elements may be pressed together during curing of the adhesive. The assembly is then placed under pressure which is maintained for the curing period re-- quired by the particular adhesive that has been used.

It will be evident that the framed panels 150 may be assembled individually and that under such circumstances the only separating operation required is the severing of the screen web between the the adjacent individual units. Under other circumstances, however, the individual units may be assembled so as to afford a continuous succession of interconnected units 150, and under such circumstances the integral frame elements of adjacent units may be subsequently sep-- arated as described in our aforesaid application. Thus the top and bottom members 151 and 154 (of Fig. 1) of each frame structure may be formed by relatively Wide members so that the units are joined together as they are originally put in place. Such a continuous series of panels may be then cut apart to form individual units or half-screens such as the unit 150 of Fig. l, or may be cut at points 171 and 172 as indicated in Fig. 4 to afford full length screens such as the screen 175 shown in Fig. 2 of the drawings.

In Figs. 3, 4A and 4B, the long side frame elementsthat are thus utilized when full length screens 175 are to be produced have been identified as 176L, and in" Figs. 4A and 4B, the front and rear half-thickness frame structures have been shown. In such an arrangementof frame elements, the several corners, including those corners on joints at the central cross rail 177 are in the nature of half-lap joints and the elements are as-- sembled in the manner hereinbefore described so as to adhesively and mechanically secure the frame elements together. In the production of full length screens 175, it is often desirable to locate the severance lines at 171 3 and 172 so as to afford a relatively high lower frame element 178 and a comparatively narrow upper frame element 179, as will be evident in Fig. 4B of the drawings. Otherwise, the method of procedure or assembly is the same as hereinbefore described.

The framed panels of the present invention may also be of such a character that the panel material is rigid in character, and in Figs. 5 to 8, such an arrangement has been illustrated as applied to a half-length storm sash 180. This storm sash has a rigid glass panel 181,. and the assembly of the elements is substantially the same I as hereinbefore described with the exception, however. that the rear frame elements have rabbeted grooves 184 formed therein into which the bordering edges of the glass panel extend. The parts are secured together in' the same manner through the use of adhesive that is similarly applied, and mechanical fastening elements 158 are similarly applied. Such framed panels 120 embodying rigid panel material may of course be assembled,

- individually as hereinbefore described, or may be as-' sembled as a group or series of units that are subsequently separated.

It has also been pointed out that framed panels of the present invention may be utilized as table tops, and in Fig. 9 a fragmentary illustration of such a table top structure will be found. In this framed panel 136, a rear frame element 187R has a rabbeted groove 1% into Which a narrow flange 189 of a rabbeted table top panel 190 extends. The flange 189 is formed by rabbeting the table top panel 190 to afford an edge 191, and the front frame element 187F fits against the shoulder 191 and against the rear frame element 187R so as to be adhesively secured to the surface or edge 191, the flange 189 and the rear frame element 187R. This form of frame panel may, of course, be formed in the same manner as hereinbefore described with respect to the other types of framed panels.

From the foregoing description it is to be evidenced that the present invention enables framed panels of many difierent types to be readily and easily assembled and this is accomplished under the present invention in such a way that skilled forming and fitting operations are eliminated. It will also be evident that the present invention materially simplifies the problem of obt inmg the proper stretched relationship in the panel material of certain types of framed panels. It will also be clear that the present invention permits framed panes to be made as a continuous series which may thereafter be severed to form individual panel units. It will also be evident that the present invention enables the finish molding heretofore required in screen panels to be eliminated, thereby to save in material, assembly labor and painting with the resultant saving in cost of such screens; and this invention also enables the formation and finishing of the wood elements to be simplified by enabling frame elements finished or smoothly surfaced by planing upon but two faces to be employed. Furthermore, the present invention effects a marked reduction in the size or cross section of the lumber used in such frames and this results in economy, both as to savings in lumber, and by enabling lumber to be used which would otherwise be considered as scrap. These results are accomplished While at the same time enabling high strength screens, or other framed panels, to be readily and economically produced. Under the present invention, by forming each frame member from two halfthickness frame elements, the use of thin strips such as barking strips, edgings, off falls and other material that would otherwise be considered as scrap, is facilitated, and by such a construction, the objectionable effect of weaknesses that are often found in a particular frame element is minimized; and at least a substantial proportion of elements may be made from shorter pieces than heretofore were required, thereby to further promote the use of cheap scrap material.

A further advantageous feature of the present invention it is to be noted that under the present invention, the relatively flexible or low strength panel material cooperates efficiently with the frame elements to attain exceptionally high strength and extreme ruggedness and rigidity in the finished panels; and moreover, through the greatly improved strength characteristics as aforesaid, a reduction in size and cost of the frame elements may be effected where the maximum of economy is desired.

Thus, While We have illustrated and described the preferred embodiments of our invention, it is to be understood that these are capable of variation and modification, and we therefore do not wish to be limited to the precise details set forth, but desire to avail ourselves of such changes and alterations as fall within the purview of the following claims.

We claim:

1. A screen closure comprising: a rigid frame having a relatively large opening therein; a screen extending completely over said opening with the outer margin of the screen overlying the inner margin of said frame around the edges of said opening; elements of flat rigid material overlying said outer margin of the screen and said inner margin of the frame to form a panel around said opening; and a layer of adhesive material interposed between said elements and said frame bonding said inner margin of the frame to said panel through the openings in said screen, said layer embedding and anchoring the individual strands of the screen and uniting the frame, screen, and panel in an integral manner into one solid unitary structure.

2. A screen closure comprising: a rigid frame having a relatively large rectangular opening therein; a screen extending completely over said opening with the outer margin of the screen overlying the inner margin of said frame around the edges of said opening; a panel having the configuration of an open rectangle overlying said outer margin of the screen and said inner margin of the frame; and a layer of adhesive material having the pattern of an open rectangle, said layer being at least as thick as said screen and being interposed between said panel and said frame, said layer bonding said inner margin of the frame to said panel through the openings in said screen thereby uniting the frame, screen, and panel in an integral manner into one solid unitary structure, said layer embedding the individual strands of the screen and anchoring the strands against yielding to tensioning of the strands up to the tensile strength of the strands.

3. A screen closure comprising: a rigid rectangular frame having two pairs of parallel members forming the four sides of a rectangular opening; a screen extending completely over said opening with the outer margin of the screen overlying the inner margin of said frame around the edges of said opening; a panel in the form of an open rectangle overlying said outer margin of the screen and said inner margin of the frame, said panel having straight rigid members forming the sides of the rectangle, each of two of said straight rigid members overlying one member of said pairs of parallel members and overlying end portions of the other of said pairs of parallel members; and a layer of adhesive material interposed between said frame and said panel, said layer bonding said inner margin of the frame to said panel through the openings in said screen, said layer embedding and anchoring the individual strands of the screen and uniting the frame, screen, and panel in an integral manner into one solid unitary structure.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 808,686 Rockwell Jan. 2, 1906 1,044,626 Cleveland Nov. 19, 1912 1,117,717 Spinks Nov. 17, 1914 1,285,973 Fredman Nov. 26, 1918 1,708,770 McConnell Apr. 9, 1929 2,297,729 Thomas Oct. 6, 1942

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