US3343312A

US3343312A - Closer element for building wall structures

Info

Publication number: US3343312A
Application number: US471556A
Authority: US
Inventors: Tischuk Walter
Original assignee: HH Robertson Co
Current assignee: HH Robertson Co
Priority date: 1965-07-13
Filing date: 1965-07-13
Publication date: 1967-09-26
Anticipated expiration: 1984-09-26

Description

Sept. 26, 1967 w; TISCHUK CLOSER ELEMENT FOR BUILDING WALL STRUCTURES 2 SheetsSheet 1 Filed July 13, 1965v I NVENTOR.

WALTER T/SCHUK Sept; 26, 1967 w. TISCHUK CLOSER ELEMENT FOR BUILDING WALL STRUCTURES Filed July is, 1965 I V 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR.

WALTER 77s (IA/UK BY United States Patent 3,343,312 CLOSER ELEMENT FUR BUILDING WALL STRUCTURES Walter Tischuk, Richmond, Ind., assignor to H. H.

Robertson Company, Pittsburgh, Pa., a corporation of Pennsylvania Filed July 13, 1965, Ser. No. 471,556 4 Claims. (Cl. 52-94) This invention relates to closer elements, and more particularly to improvements in closer elements adapted for use with building wall structures having a non-planar exposed surface.

An object of the present invention is to provide an improved closer element which is adaptable for use with building walls having non-planar exposed surfaces of various configurations.

Another object of the invention is to provide an improved closer element which prevents the ingress of debris into the interior of the building.

A further object of the invention is to provide an improved closer element which may be quickly and easily installed on the wall of a building, said closer element requiring only a single fastener for its installation.

Still another object of the invention is to provide closer elements which have no visible fasteners when installed in side-by-side relation on a building wall.

A further object of the invention is to provide an improved closer element which is relatively inexpensive to manufacture and which gives the wall a finished and an 30 attactive appearance.

Yet another object of the invention is to provide an essentially flat planar surface for securing fia'shings to a building wall which is itself essentially non-planar.

In accordance with the present invention, a closer element is provided which is adapted for use with a building wall having a non-planar exposed surface including, for example, spaced, outwardly presented rib elements and concave surfaces connecting the rib elements. The present closer element comprises a first central portion which extends between a pair of adjacent rib elements and a second central portion which extends toward the concave surface disposed between the pair of rib elements. The inner edge of the second central portion is positioned closely adjacent to the concave surface and is shaped to correspond with the concavity of the concave surface.

The opposite ends of the first central portion are provided with a narrow tongue member and a wide tonguemember. The wide tongue member has a receiving aperture or slot adapted to receive the narrow tongue member of an adjacent closer element. A single fastener is required for securing each wide tongue member to the nonplanar exposed surface in the region of the rib elements.

As will become apparent, both the wide tongue member and the narrow tongue member are displaced in the direc tion of the second central portion whereby all of the first central portions reside in a common plane extending parallel to the wall. Furthermore, the closer element is arranged such that all of the tongue members as well as all of the fasteners are hidden from view. The resulting assembly presents the appearance of a single band of metal extending parallel with the plane of the wall and a plurality of inwardly extending portions whose inner edges are shaped to correspond with the concavity of the concave surfaces of the wall.

The above and other objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description by reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a fragmentary perspective view of a building wall structure incorporating a plurality of the closer elements of the present invention;

. trating the installation of the closer element of FIG. 5 on a building wall structure.

Typical wall structure Reference is now directed to FIG. 1 wherein there is illustrated -a generally vertical wal structure 10 secured to a skeletal framework 12, of which only girts 14 are visible. The wall structure 10 projects upwardly from a curb 16 and terminates at a sofiit 18 disposed at the roof line.

In general, the wall structure 10 has a non-planar exposed surface 20 including spaced, outwardly presented elements or ribs 22 and concave surfaces 24 connecting the ribs 22. As illustrated in FIG. 4, the wall structure 10 may comprise a plurality of liner sheets 26 secured to the skeletal framework 12; a plurality of channel members or subgirts 28 (only one visible) secured to overlapped wall portions 30 of the liner sheets 26; batts of insulation 31 disposed within the liner sheets 26; and a plurality of facing sheets 32 secured to the subgirts 28. Each of the facing sheets 32 comprises spaced

side wall

34, 36 connected by means of a concave, generaly V-shaped, web portion 38. The facing sheets 32 are erected in side-by-side abutted relation wherein the

side wall

34, 36 of adjacent facing sheets 32 are abutted. The adjacent facing sheets 32 are interconnected by means of a male and female lip connection 40.

It should be evident that in the wall structure 10 of FIG. 4, the exposed faces of the facing sheets 32, taken as a whole, correspond to the aforesaid non-planar exposed surface 20; the

abutted side walls

34, 36 correspond to the aforesaid outwardly presented ribs 22; and the V-shaped web portions 38 correspond to the aforesaid concave surfaces 24 connecting the ribs 22.

Referring again to FIG. 1, it will be seen that beneath the sofirt 18 there'is provided a plurality of closer ele-- ments 42 which'are constructed in accordance with the present invention. The closer elements 42 close the space as a whole, give the wall structure 10 a finished and an attractive appearance.

A A Closer element 42 The closer element 42 is preferably formed from a light gauge metal sheet, such as aluminum or stainless steel. Alternatively, the closer element 42 may be formed from any other suitable material such as plastics and may, if desired, have its exposed surfaces provided with a finish which matches or contrasts with the facing sheets of the wall on which it is to be installed.

Referring now to FIGS. 2 and 3, the closer element 42 comprises first and second

central portions

44, 46 which are substantially mutually perpendicular. The closer element 42 is formed from a metal sheet 47 having a thickness t. At one end of the first central portion 44 there I is provided a narrow tongue member 48 which is displaced in the direction of the second central portion 46 first central portion 44 there is provided a wide tongue member 50 having an opening 52 for receiving a fastener, as will be described. As illustrated in FIG. 3, the wide tongue member 50 is also displaced in the direction of the second central portion 46 by more than twice the thickness of the metal sheet 47. A web 54 connects the wide tongue member to the first central portion 44 and is provided with a receiving aperture or slot 56 which is adapted to receive a narrow tongue member of an adjacent closer element.

The second central portion 46 has an inner edge 58 which, in this instance, has a shape corresponding to the concavity of the concave surfaces 24 of the wall structure 10. That is to say, the inner edge 58 has the same V- shape as the web portion 38 of the facing sheets 32. In this embodiment of the closer element 42, the wide tongue member 50 includes a first portion 50a which extends parallel to the first central portion 44 and a second portion 50b which is inclined inwardly of the first portion 50a in the same direction as the second central portion 46.

Installation of closer element 42 Referring now to FIG. 4, three closer elements 42A, 42B and 42C are shown secured to the facing sheets 32 while a fragment of a fourth closer element 42D is shown positioned to be installed. When installed, the first central portions 44 extend between the

side walls

34, 36 while the second central portions 46 extend inwardly toward the web portions 38 and have their inner edges 58 positioned closely adjacent to the exposed face of the web portions 38.

The closer element 42C, for example, was installed by inserting the narrow tongue member 48 thereof into the receiving aperture (not visible) provided in the wide tongue member 50 of the closer element 42B. The wide tongue member 50 of the closer element 42C was then secured to the web portion 58 in the region of the

side walls

34, 36 by means of a single fastener 60.

It should be noted that the wide tongue members 50 as well as all of the fasteners 60 are disposed behind the first central portions 44 and therefore, are hidden from view. It is also to be noted that the inward displacement of the narrow tongue members 48 and the wide tongue members 50 is such that all of the first central portions 44 of the closer elements 42A, 42B and 42C reside in substantially the same plane thereby giving the appearance of a single band of metal extending across the wall structure 10. The side-by-side assembly of the first central portions 42 provides an essentially planar surface to which flashing materials may be readily secured. Still further, since the inner edges 58 of the second central portions 46 are positioned closely adjacent to the web portions 38 of the facing sheets 32, the second central portions 46 prevent the ingress of debris into the interior of the building.

Present closer element-alternative configuration As stated above, the present closer element is adaptable for use with building wall structures having a variety of non-planar exposed surfaces.

Reference is now directed to FIG. 5 wherein there is illustrated a closed element 42 which is adapted for use with a wall structure whose concave surfaces have an arcuate configuration. The closed element 42' is similar to the closer element illustrated in FIG. 2 and, therefore, corresponding numerals will be employed to identify corresponding parts heretofore described.

Referring now to FIGS. 5 and 6, the closer element 42' is formed from a metal sheet 47 having a thickness t and comprises first and second

central portions

44, 46 which are substantially mutually perpendicular. A narrow tongue member 48 is provided at one end of the first central portion 44 while a wide tongue member 50 is provided at the opposite end thereof. The narrow tongue member 48 is displaced in the direction of the second central portion 46 by approximately a thickness of the metal sheet 47. The wide tongue member 50 is displaced in the direction of the second central portion 46 by considerably more than twice the thickness of the metal sheet 47. The wide tongue member 50 is provided with an opening 52 for receiving a fastener, as will be described. A web 54 connects the wide tongue member 50 to the first central portion 44 and is provided with a receiving aperture or slot 56 adapted to receive a narrow tongue member of an adjacent closer element 42'. In this instance, the wide tongue member 50 extends parallel with the first central portion 44.

The second central portion 46 has an arcuate inner edge 62 whose shape, as will be described, corresponds with the curvature of an inwardly bowed sheet employed in a wall structure illustrated in FIG. 7. The second central portion 46 has an end portion thereof cut away to provide an inset shoulder 64 which is adapted to rest on the outer surface of the wide tongue member 50 of an adjacent one of the closer elements 42'.

Installation of closer element 42 Reference is now directed to FIG. 7 wherein there is illustrated a building wall structure indicated generally by the numeral 66. The building wall structure 66 is similar to the wall structure 10 and includes liner sheets 26 secured to the skeletal framework 12; a plurality of channel members or subgirts 28 (only one visible) secured to overlapped wall portions 30 of the linear sheets 26; and batts of insulation 31 disposed within the liner sheets 26. The building wall structure 66 differs from the wall structure 10 in that the non-planar exposed surface thereof is provided by a plurality of spaced, outwardly presented vertical mullions 68 and a plurality of inwardly bowed facing sheets 70 of metal or plastic. Each of the vertical mullions 68 includes spaced flanges 72 which are secured to the subgirts 28, longitudinally extending sheet edge receiving grooves 74 and a fiat outboard crest 76. Each of the facing sheets 70 has its opposed longitudinal edges residing within the grooves 74 of adjacent vertical mullions 68. The facing sheets 70 are inwardly bowed along their central portion during installation and when released, assume the arch shape illustrated in FIG. 7. The facing sheets 70 are formed from essentially flat sheets of metal or plastic and when installed in the wall structure 66, they tend to regain their normally flat configuration thereby forcing their opposed longitudinal edges into the grooves 74. This tendency to flatten out, retains the facing sheets 70 between adjacent ones of the mullions 68.

It should be evident that in the wall structure 66 of FIG. 7, the exposed surfaces of the facing sheets 70 and the flat outboard crests 76, taken as a whole, correspond to the aforesaid non-planar exposed surface 20; the vertical mullions 68 correspond to the aforesaid outwardly presented ribs 22; and the inwardly bowed facing sheets 70 correspond to the aforesaid concave surfaces 24 connecting the ribs 22.

As can be seen in FIG. 7, two closer elements 42A and 42B are secured to the wall structure 66 while a third closer element 42C is positioned to be installed on the wall structure 66. The installation of the closer element 42B, for example, is accomplished by inserting the narrow tongue member 48 thereof into the receiving aperture (not visible) provided in the closer element 42'A. The wide tongue member 50 of the closer element 42B is then engaged with a flat outboard crest 76 of an adjacent vertical mullion 68 and secured thereto by means of a single fastener 78. It will be noted that the inset shoulder 64 provided on the second central portion 46 of the closer element 42B is engaged with the wide tongue member 50 of the closer element 42A and therefore serves as a spacer member. It will be noted that the inner edge 62 of the closer element 42B is positioned closely adjacent to the exposed face of the inwardly bowed facing sheet 70. Consequently, the second central portion 46 again serves to prevent ingress of debris into the interior of the building.

Although the invention has been shown in connection with certain specific embodiments, it will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art that various changes in form and arrangement of parts may be made to suit requirements without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. In this respect, it should be apparent that the present closer element may also be installed on building wall structures wherein the concave surfaces and ribs are horizontal. Furthermore, the inner edge of the second central portion 46 may have a shape other than the V-shape and arcuate shape specifically illustrated herein.

I claim as my invention:

1. A closer element adapted for use with a generally vertical wall, having a non-planar exposed surface including spaced, outwardly presented vertical elements and concave surfaces connecting said vertical elements, comprising:

a facing sheet having a vertical portion extending between said vertical elements and having a horizontal portion extended toward said wall, said horizontal portion corresponding in its edge with the concavity of said concave surfaces;

a narrow tongue member extending from one vertical edge of said vertical portion and being displaced in the direction of said horizontal portion by approximately a thickness of said facing sheet;

a wide tongue member extending from the opposite vertical edge of said vertical portion and being displaced in the direction of said horizontal portion by more than twice the thickness of said facing sheet;

said Wide tongue member having a receiving aperture adapted to receive a narrow tongue member of an adjacent one of said closer elements; and

fastener means for securing said wide tongue member to said wall in the region of said vertical elements, said fastener means being hidden from view by a said vertical portion of an adjacent one of said closer elements.

2. A closer element adapted for use with a generally vertical Wall, having a plurality of spaced, outwardly presented vertical elements and inwardly bowed sheets extending between said vertical elements and presenting an arcuate concave surface, comprising:

a facing sheet having a vertical portion extended between said vertical elements and having a horizontal portion extended toward said wall, said horizontal portion having an arcuate inboard edge corresponding in shape with the arcuate concave surface of said inwardly bowed sheets;

a wide tongue member extending from the opposite vertical edge of said vertical portion and being displaced in the direction of said horizontal portion by approximately twice the thickness of said facing sheet;

fastener means for securing said wide tongue member to said vertical elements, said fastener means being hidden from view by a said vertical portion of an adjacent one of said closer elements.

3. A closer element adapted for use with a generally vertical wall formed from a plurality of facing sheets disposed in side-by-side abutted relation and including spaced, outwardly presented vertical side walls and inwardly bent generally V-shaped central portions presenting V-shaped concave surfaces, comprising:

a facing sheet having a vertical portion extended between said side walls and having a horizontal portion extended toward said wall, said horizontal portion having a V-shaped inner edge corresponding with the V-shaped concave surface of said central portion;

fastener means for securing said wide tongue member to one of said central portions adjacent to one of said side walls, said fastener means being hidden from view by a said vertical portion of an adjacent one of said closer elements.

4. In a building wall structure having a non-planar exposed surface including spaced, outwardly presented ribs and concave surfaces connecting said ribs, and having closer means extending along at least one exposed edge surface of said wall structure for closing and thereby finishing said exposed edge surface, the improvement in said closer; means comprising:

a first central portion extending between adjacent ribs;

a second central portion extending toward said concave surfaces and corresponding in its edge with the concavity of said concave surfaces;

a wide tongue member extending from one end of said first central portion;

said wide tongue member being provided with a receiving aperture;

a narrow tongue member extending from the opposite end of said first central portion through a said receiving aperture of an adjacent one of said closer means to interlock adjacent ones of said closer means;

said wide tongue members and said narrow tongue members being displaced in the direction of said second central portion whereby said first central portion of all of said closer means reside in substantially the same plane; and

fastener means for securing each of said wide tongue members to said non-planar exposed surface of said wall structure, all of said fastener means being hidden from view by a said first central portion of an adjacent one of said closer means.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,641,340 6/ 1953 Howe 52-94 3,205,631 9/1965 Harris 52-588 3,229,436 1/1966 Gerhart 52-521 3,236,011 2/1966 Orr 52-96 FOREIGN PATENTS 155,371 1954 Australia.

JOHN E. MURTAGH, Primary Examiner.

R. A. STENZEL, AssistmntExaminer.

Claims

4. IN A BUILDING WALL STRUCTURE HAVING A NON-PLANAR EXPOSED SURFACE INCLUDING SPACED, OUTWARDLY PRESENTED RIBS AND CONCAVE SURFACES CONNECTING SAID RIBS, AND HAVING CLOSER MEANS EXTENDING ALONG AT LEAST ONE EXPOSED EDGE SURFACE OF SAID WALL STRUCTURE FOR CLOSING AND THEREBY FINISHING SAID EXPOSED EDGE SURFACE, THE IMPROVEMENT IN SAID CLOSER MEANS COMPRISING: A FIRST CENTRAL PORTION EXTENDING BETWEEN ADJACENT RIBS; A SECOND CENTRAL PORTION EXTENDING TOWARD SAID CONCAVE SURFACES AND CORRESPONDING IN ITS EDGE WITH THE CONCAVITY OF SAID CONCAVE SURFACES; A WIDE TONGUE MEMBER EXTENDING FROM ONE END OF SAID FIRST CENTRAL PORTION; SAID WIDE TONGUE MEMBER BEING PROVIDED WITH A RECEIVING APERTURE; A NARROW TONGUE MEMBER EXTENDING FROM THE OPPOSITE END OF SAID FIRST CENTRAL PORTION THROUGH A SAID RECEIVING APERTURE OF AN ADJACENT ONE OF SAID CLOSER MEANS TO INTERLOCK ADJACENT ONES OF SAID CLOSER MEANS; SAID WIDE TONGUE MEMBERS AND SAID NARROW TONGUE MEMBERS BEING DISPLACED IN THE DIRECTION OF SAID SECOND CENTRAL PORTION WHEREBY SAID FIRST CENTRAL PORTION OF ALL OF SAID CLOSER MEANS RESIDE IN SUBSTANTIALLY THE SAME PLANE; AND FASTENER MEANS FOR SECURING EACH OF SAID WIDE TONGUE MEMBERS TO SAID NON-PLANAR EXPOSED SURFACE OF SAID WALL STRUCTURE, ALL OF SAID FASTENER MEANS BEING HIDDEN FROM VIEW BY A SAID FIRST CENTRAL PORTION OF AN ADJACENT ONE OF SAID CLOSER MEANS.