US3162982A

US3162982A - Load bearing multiple panel unit

Info

Publication number: US3162982A
Application number: US791994A
Authority: US
Inventors: Jr Clarence B Monk
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1959-02-09
Filing date: 1959-02-09
Publication date: 1964-12-29
Anticipated expiration: 1981-12-29

Description

Dec. 29, 1964 c. B. MONK, JR 3,162,982

LOAD'BEARING MULTIPLE PANEL UNIT Filed Feb. 9, 1959 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Z /&

mx-xx-i' Dec. 29, 1964 c. B. MONK, JR 3,162,982

LOAD BEARING MULTIPLE PANEL UNIT Filed Feb. 9, 1959 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 r w 29 21 J4 7 WW Z, f y

United States Patent 3,152,982 LOAD BEARING MULTEPLE PANEL UN?! Clarence B. Monk, J12, 1934 Beather Road, Batavia, iii. Filed Feb. 9, 195?, Ser. No. 791,994 6 Claims. (Cl. 583fi? This invention relates to a building construction in which parts are prefabricated at a remote point and assembled at the building site. More particularly, the invention relates to a wall made of separately formed panels arranged edge to edge and secured together by a bonding material. a The primary object of the invention is to connect the panels together in a novel manner so as to form a load bearing wall capable of spanning a substantial distance and withstanding not only tensile and compressive forces, but also racking forces tending to shift adjacent panels longitudinally relative to each other.

Another object is to provide resistance to racking forces by cross members extending transversely across and secured rigidly to a plurality of adjacent panels.

A more detailed object is to increase the resistance to racking forces by extending the cross members transversely of adjacent panels at a plurality of points spaced along adjacent panels.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings in which:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of the rear face of a vertical wall embodying the novel features of the present invention;

FIGS. 2 and 3 are fragmentary sectional views taken respectively along the lines 22 and 33 of FIG. 1;

FIGS. 4 and 5 are views similar to FIG. 3 of modified panel constructions; and

FIG. 6 is a fragmentary rear elevational view of a modi fied wall construction.

The load bearing wall unit It shown in the drawings for purposes of illustrating the present invention is a plate girder adapted to rest at opposite ends on spaced supporting members such as foundation walls 11 of a building and supporting not only its own weight between the walls, but also other parts of the building; for example, other vertical walls or roof trusses (not shown). Although a girder with one side providing an interior wall is shown in the drawings, it will be apparent that other units having exterior walls or interior walls supported throughout their lengths also may be provided.

Generally, the plate girder comprises a plurality of individual panels 12 preformed as separate assemblies at a remote point and connected together at the building site to form the girder, adjacent side edges of adjacent panels being secured together by mortar or other bonding material forming joints 29. In each panel, there are a plurality of brick 13 arranged in spaced parallel relation in a row with their corresponding ends aligned vertically and with the spacers between adjacent bricks filled by a bonding material 14 such as grout. This material secures the brick together as a rigid assembly and, if desired, may extend beyond the ends of the brick as shown. To enable each panel to resist tension and compression forces sufficiently that the finished wall unit may have the desired load bearing qualities, there is embedded in the grout at least one reinforcing member 15 which extends substantially the full length of the panel, this member also providing a means for attaching the girder to other parts of the building.

In the preferred panel construction of FIGS. 1, 2, 3 and 6, there is one reinforcing member 15 in the form of a bar of metal such as steel of channel across section disposed beneath the rear face of the panel 12 and opening rearwardly through such face. To receive this member, the rear faces of the brick are formed with rearwardly opening recesses 16 intermediate their ends. Other rein forcing members 17 in the form of cylindrical rods lie in additional recesses 18 formed on opposite sides of the central recess. As an alternative, the channels may be made of suficient cross sectional area to strengthen the panel so that no additional bars are needed. For attachment of the channel to other building parts and to strengthen the channel against lateral bending, the parallel channel legs are formed integral with inturned flanges 18:; which terminate in inwardly facing shoulders 19. The latter interlock with nuts 20 receiving attaching bolts 21 and slidable along the channel between the shoulders and the bottom wall 22 of the channel.

Being disposed beneath the rear face of each panel 12 and receiving locking nuts 20 as described above, the channel may be attached to building parts at any point along its length and enables the panel to be located close to such parts while avoiding interference between the parts and rearward projections on the panel. Alternatives to this construction are illustrated in FIGS. 4 and 5 where reinforcing bars 15a and 15b of different cross sections are secured as by welding to rearwardly projecting attachment bolts Zia and 21b. In FIG. 4, the bar 15a is of T-shaped cross section and the cross bar 23 of the T is flush with the rear face of the panel 12a. The bar 15b of the other modification is of channel cross section with its bottom wall 22b lying in the plane of the rear face of the panel 12b.

Attachment of the plate girder 10 to the other parts 11 of the building is eifected by members 24 which are Secured to the channels 15 of the panels 12 by the bolts 21 and nuts Zil. In this instance, such members are angle bars of L-shaped cross section extending horizontally along the top and bottom edges of the girder and having vertical legs 25 receiving the bolts 21 and clamped thereby against the rear face of the girder. Other legs 26 project horizontally and rearwardly from the top and bottom edges and are apertured at appropriate points along their lengths to receive bolts 27 by which they are secured to the building parts.

To enable the girder it) to sustain substantial loads even when unsupported throughout its length, the present invention contemplates the provision of novel means for resisting racking forces acting on the girder; that is, vertical shearing forces tending to shift adjacent panels 12 longitudinally relative to each other. With a wall unit such as the girder which is supported at its ends, the racking forces due to gravity tend to shift each panel spaced inwardly from the end panels downwardly with respect to the adjacent panel nearer the closest end. The means for resisting such forces comprises at least one member 23 of reinforcing material extending transversely across the rear faces of adjacent panels and rigidly attached to the channels 15 of such panels. The racking forces then are transmitted from the channels to such member and are sustained by the latter. Preferably and to distribute the racking resistance throughout the lengths of adjacent panels, there are a plurality of reinforcing members attached to the panels at points spaced along the panels. Some of the members advantageously are the attaching angle bars 24 extending along the bottom edges of the girder, these bars thus performing the dual functions of reinforcing the panels and providing means for attachment of other building parts to the girder.

It is desirable to utilize the attaching bars 15 and the reinforcing members 28 to sustain all of the racking forces and thereby avoid the application of the forces to the joints 29 between adjacent panels. This is accomplished in the preferred construction of FIGS. 1 to 3 by utilizing flat bars as the reinforcing members and arwardly from opposite end portions of the girder.

ranging them in parallel relation diagonally across the rear faces of adjacent panels, these bars converging down- Referring to FIG. 1, it will be seen that the bars are formed of fiat steel stock and the outermost two bars are somewhat wider and thus heavier for a given length than the next bar. Each of the wider bars is secured to each channel 15 it crosses by two bolts 21 and the narrower bars are secured to each channel by only one bolt.

In one plate girder 10 constructed as shown in FIG. 1 and satisfactorily meeting tension, compression and racking tests, there are twenty-one panels 12, four feet high with a span of twenty feet between the midpoints of the end panels. In each panel, the reinforcing rods 17 were formed of reinforcing steel three-eighths of an inch in diameter and the channel, also formed of steel, was 0.23 of a square inch in cross section. The L-shaped attaching angle bars 24 were formed of mild structural steel one-fourth of an inch thick with each leg of the L having a length of three and one-half inches. Also formed of mild structural steel were the rack resistant bars 28. There were four such bars at each end portion of the girder and the outer bars were one-quarter of an inch thick and three inches wide, the inner two bars at each end portion having a width of two inches and a thickness of one-quarter of an inch.

The racking forces have a resultant which acts along an incline with respect to the horizontal and thus is divisible into horizontal and vertical components. Advantage of this fact is taken to reduce the steel in the racking resistant members by utilizing the panels 12 and joints 29 to absorb the vertical component so that the racking resistant members absorb only the horizontal component. For this purpose, the racking resistant members may extend horizontally across the rear faces of the panels. Such a modified construction is shown in FIG. 6 in which parts corresponding to parts of the preferred construction bear similar but primed reference characters. Referring to FIG. 6, it will be seen that a single bar 28' parallels and is disposed substantially midway between the attaching bars 24'. Also, the single bar is heavier per unit length than the diagonal bars 23 of the preferred construction of FIGS, 1 to 3. The total amount of steel in the single horizontal bar, however, is less than the steel needed in the diagonal bars.

It will be apparent that the novel load bearing wall units described above provide the pleasing exterior appearance of brick while still having the desired strength characteristics. With the brick in each panel and the mortar or grout between bricks and panels capable of absorbing some .of the compression, tension and racking forces applied to the girder, the latter provides the same or greater strength characteristics as an all steel truss structure but with much less steel and a correspondingly lower cost. This is made possible by the coaction between the reinforcing members 15 and 17 extending substantially the full lengths of the panels and the

transverse bars

24 and 28 secured to the reinforcing members to provide the resistance to racking forces.

I claim as my invention:

1. A load bearing construction unit of fiat generally rectangular shape adapted for use in a vertical position and having top and bottom edges, said unit comprising, a

in combination, a row of separately formed elongated flat rectangular panels arranged side by side and parallel to each other in a common plane with adjacent side edges of adjacent panels disposed vertically and closely adjacent each other, a bonding material securing said adjacent side edges of adjacent panels to each other to form a rigid Wall assembly, each of said panels having front and rear faces and an elongated metal reinforcing member embedded in the panel so as to extend substantially the full length thereof between said faces and to be accessible from the rear face, a plurality of elongated flat first bars extending diagonally across said rear faces of adjacent panels so as to converge downwardly from the side edges of said unit, fastening elements spaced along each of said bars and interlocking with the bar and said reinforcing members of adjacent panels to secure the later and the bar rigidly together, and reinforcing bars extending along said top and bottom edges of said unit and secured to said reinforcing members so as to co-operate with said first bars and said bonding material to provide a resistance to racking forces and prevent shifting of each panel longitudinally relative to adjacent panels, said panels, bonding material, bars, and fastening elements forming a self-contained load bearing wall unit transportable as a unit from place to place.

2. A load bearing construction unit of flat generally rectangular shape adapted for use in a vertical position and having top and bottom edges, said unit comprising, in combination, a row of separately formed'elongated fiat rectangular panels arranged side by side and parallel to each other in a common plane with adjacent side edges of adjacent panels disposed vertically and closely adjacent each other, a bonding material securing said adjacent side edges of adjacent panels to each other to form a rigid wall assembly, each of said panels having front and rear faces and an elongated metal reinforcing member embedded in the panel so as to extend substantially the full length thereof between said faces and to be accessible at the rear face, an elongated flat first bar extending transversely across said rear faces of adjacent panels in parallel with and between said top and bottom edges of said unit, fastening elements'spaced along said bar and interlocking with the bar and said reinforcing members of adjacent panels to secure'the latter and the bar rigidly together, and reinforcing bars extending along said top and bottom edges of said unit and secured to said reinforcing members so as to co-operate withsaid first bars and said bonding material to provide a resistance to racking forces and prevent shifting of each panel longitudinally relative to adjacent. panels, saidpanels, bonding material, bars, and fastening elements forming a self-contained load bearing Wall unit transportable as a unit from place to place.

3. A load bearing construction unit of flat generally rectangular shape adapted for use in a vertical position and having top and bottom edges,.said unit comprising, in combination, a row of separately formed elongated flat rectangular panels arranged side by side and parallel to each other in a common plane with adjacent side edges of adjacent panels disposed vertically and closely adjacent each other, a bonding material securing said adjacent side edges of adjacent panels to each other to form a rigid wall assembly, each of said panels having front and rear faces and an elongated metal reinforcing member embedded in the panel so as to extend substantially the full length thereof between said faces and to be accessible at the rear face, at least one elongated flat first bar extending u'ansversely across said rear faces of adjacent panels between said top and bottom edges of said unit, fastening elements spaced along said bar and interlocking with the bar and said reinforcing members of adjacent panels to secure the latter and the bar rigidly together, and reinforcing bars extending along said top and bottom edges of said unit and secured to said reinforcing members so as to co-operate with said first bar and said bonding material to provide a resistance to racking forces and prevent shifting of each panel longitudinally relative to adjacent panels, said panels, bonding material, bars, and fastening elements forming a selfcontained load bearing wall unit transportable as a unit from place to place.

4. A load bearing construction unit of flat generally rectangular shape adapted for use in a vertical position and having top and bottom edges, said unit comprising, in combination, a row of separately for-med elongated flat rectangular panels arranged side by side andparallel to each other in a common plane with adjacent side edges of adjacent panels disposed vertically and closely adjacent each other, a bonding material securing said adjacent side edges of adjacent panels to each other to form a rigid Wall assembly, each of said panels having front and rear faces and an elongated metal reinforcing member embedded in the panel so as to extend substantially the full length thereof between said faces and to be accessible from the rear face, a plurality of elongated flat reinforcing bars extending diagonally across said rear faces of adjacent panels so as to converge downwardly from the side edges of said unit to provide a resistance to racking forces, fastening elements spaced along each of said bars and interlocking with the bar and said reinforcing members of adjacent panels to secure the latter and the bar rigidly together, and attaching means secured to said reinforcing members'and adapted to be fastened to building structures to be supported by the unit, said panels, bonding material, bars, and fastening elements forming a self-contained load bearing wall unit transportable as a unit from place to place.

5. A load bearing construction unit of fiat generally rectangular shape adapted for use in a vertical position and having top and bottom edges, said unit comprising, in combination, a row of separately formed elongated fiat rectangular panels arranged side by side and parallel to each other in a common plane with adjacent side edges of adjacent panels disposed vertically and closely adjacent each other, a bonding material securing said adjacent side edges of adjacent panels to each other to form a rigid wall assembly, each of said panels having front and rear faces and an elongated metal reinforcing member embedded in the panel so as to extend substantially the full length thereof between said faces and to be accessible at the rear face, racking resistance means including at least one fiat reinforcing bar extending horizontally across said rear faces of adjacent panels, fastening elements spaced along said racking resistant bar and interlocking with the bar and said reinforcing members of adjacent panels to secure the latter and the bar rigidly together, and attaching means secured to said channels and adapted to be fastened to building structures to be supported by the unit, said panels, bonding material, racking resistance means, and fastening elements forming a self-contained load bearing wall unit transportable as a unit from place to place.

6. A load bearing construction unit of flat generally rectangular shape adapted for use in a vertical position and having top and bottom edges, said unit comprising, in combination, a row of separately formed elongated flat rectangular panels arranged side by side and parallel to each other in a common plane with adjacent side edges of adjacent panels disposed vertically and closely adjacent each other, a bonding material securing said adjacent side edges of adjacent panels to each other to form a rigid wall assembly, each of said panels having front and rear faces and an elongated metal reinforcing element embedded in the panel so as to extend substantially the full length thereof between said faces and to be accessible from the rear face, racking resistant means including at least one reinforcing member extending transversely across said rear faces of adjacent panels, fastening elements spaced along said racking resist-ant member andinterlocking with the member and said reinforcing elements of adjacent panels to secure the latter and the member rigidly together, and attaching means secured to said reinforcing elements and adapted to be fastened to building structures to be supported by the unit, said panels, bonding material, racking resistance means, and fastening elements forming a self-contained load bearing wall unit transportable as a unit from place to place.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 447,746 Elterich June 28, 1892 1,430,931 Blackall Oct. 3, 1922 1,484,520 Michod Feb. 19, 1924 1,673,118 Lawrence June 12, 1928 1,781,794 Tappan Nov. 18, 1930 1,993,792 Man-ske et a1 Mar. 12, 1935 2,039,098 Marks Apr. 28, 1936 2,052,113 Ruppel Aug. 25, 1936 2,053,873 Niederhofer Sept. 8, 1936 2,089,046 Venzie Aug. 3, 1937 2,144,597 Reed et a1. Jan. 17, 1939 2,321,813 Henzel June 15, 1943 2,480,241 Hensel Aug. 30, 1949 2,602,322 Preble et a1 July 8, 1952 2,881,613 Taylor et al Apr. 14, 1959 FOREIGN PATENTS 481,597 Canada of 1952 824,911 France of 1937

Claims

4. A LOAD BEARING CONSTRUCTION UNIT OF FLAT GENERALLY RECTANGULAR SHAPE ADAPTED FOR USED IN A VERTICAL POSITION AND HAVING TOP AND BOTTOM EDGES, SAID UNIT COMPRISING, IN COMBINATION, A ROW OF SEPARATELY FORMED ELONGATED FLAT RECTANGULAR PANELS ARRANGED SIDE BY SIDE AND PARALLEL TO EACH OTHER IN A COMMON PLANE WITH ADJACENT SIDE EDGES OF ADJACENT PANELS DISPOSED VERTICALLY AND CLOSELY ADJACENT EACH OTHER, A BONDING MATERIAL SECURING SAID ADJACENT SIDE EDGES OF ADJACENT PANELS TO EACH OTHER TO FORM A RIGID WALL ASSEMBLY, EACH OF SAID PANELS HAVING FRONT AND REAR FACES AND AN ELONGATED METAL REINFORCING MEMBER EMBEDDED IN THE PANEL SO AS TO EXTEND SUBSTANTIALLY THE FULL LENGTH THEREOF BETWEEN SAID FACES AND TO BE ACCESSIBLE FROM THE REAR FACE, A PLURALITY OF ELONGATED FLAT REINFORCING BARS EXTENDING DIAGONALY ACROSS SAID REAR FACES OF ADJACENT PANELS SO AS TO CONVERGE DOWNWARDLY FROM THE SIDE EDGES OF SAID UNIT TO PROVIDE A RESISTANCE TO RACKING FORCES, FASTENING ELEMENTS SPACED ALONG EACH OF SAID BARS AND INTERLOCKING WITH THE BAR AND SAID REINFORCING MEMBERS OF ADJACENT PANELS TO SECURE THE LATTER AND THE BAR RIGIDLY TOGETHER, AND ATTACHING MEANS SECURED TO SAID REINFORCING MEMBERS AND ADAPTED TO BE FASTENED TO BUILDING STRUCTURES TO BE SUPPORTED BY THE UNIT, SAID PANELS, BONDING MATERIAL, BARS, AND FASTENING ELEMENTS FORMING A SELF-CONTAINED LOAD BEARING WALL UNIT TRANSPORTABLE AS A UNIT FROM PLACE TO PLACE.