Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
1039929
FIELD OF THE INVENTION `
The present invention relates to a partitioning system, more --
specifically to a panel structure incorporating loop and hook elements to
hold the panels to the studding, and to a method of erecting such a structure.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART `~
Various types of partitions, in particular easily dismantleable
partitions for office buildings, have been proposed and many have found
commercial application. Some such commercial systems currently being in-
stalled are dismountable but only with difficulty. Also many different
techniques for mounting panels on studs have been proposed in the literature
including the patent literature. However, none of these arrangements pro- -
vide a commercially satisfactory structure wherein the panels may be pealed
off in a dlrection substantially perpendicular to their face and removed
directly from the studding. The majority of the partition arrangements pro-
lS posed use batten strips to cover the joints ~etween adjacent panels and to
hide the mounting mechanisms securing the panels to the studs. Systems have
heen proposed wherein the batten strips are completely eliminated but such
arrangements normally require either gluing khe panels directly to the stud,
which o, course inherently makes dismantling difficult, or clipping the
panel to the stud which requires complicated mechanical gadgetry.
It is the object of the present invention to provide a simple "~- ;
system for securing the panels to the stud which system facilitates both
erection and dismantling of the partition wall.
It is quite common to secure the fastening elements to the panels
in the field. This allows more leeway to determine the number of fasteners
` used, etc., and permits more leeway in the positioning or number of studs `;
used. This is particularly important where panels must be cut, for example
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in corners and the fastening elements must be provided to cooperate with the ~`
`` stud at the end of the wall.
It is thus a further object of the present invention to provide a
fastener strip easily connectible to the rear face of a panel.
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'1039929
SUMMARY OF THE I~VE~TIO~
The present invention relates to a fastener strip
comprising, a backing strip with a preformed fold line extending
substantially parallel to the longitudinal axis of the backing
strip, fastener element means having one edge thereof
substantially aligned with and located immediately adjacent ~-
said fold line, said fastener element means being a member of
the group consisting of hooks and loops.
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BRIEF DESCRIP~ION OF ~HE DRAWI~G -
Further features, objects and advantages will be
evident from the ~ollowing detailed description o a preerred
embodiment of the present invention taken in conjunction with
the accompanying drawings in which:
Figure 1 is an isometric view with parts omitted
showing one type of wall structure incorporating the pre~ent
invention;
Figure 2 is a partial isometric view illustrating
a stud with mounting means connected thereto at spaced points; ;
Figure 3 is a plan view of the back o a panel to be
` 20 mounted on the stud of Fig. 2,
Figure 4 is a partial but enlarged isometric view
`` of the stud of Fig. 2 illustrating the preferred method of
1 securing the fasteninq members to the stud;
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i Figure 5 is a view along the line 5-5 of Fig. 4;
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Figure 6 is a side elevation of the looped member
~` and preferred hook member for fastening the panels on the studs;
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~V39929
Figure 7 is an isometric view of a fastener strip roll for appli-
cation to the panels; ~`
Figure 8 i5 a partial sectional view through an edge of a panel
having the fastener strip of Fig. 7 secured thereto; and
Figure ~ is a view of a roll similar to Fig. 7 but illustrating a
continuous fastener strip applied to the backing sheet.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFE~RED EMBODIMENTS
Generally, a wall incorporating the present invention is constructed
in the conventional manner with the exception that the panels are held on the
wall by a type of fastening member novel in the field of wall structures. As
illustrated in Pig. 1, the wall basically comprises a plurality of substantially `
vertical studs 12 which in the illustrated arrangement has panels 14, 16 and
18 on one side and panels 20, 22 and 2~ on the opposite side, to orm two ex-
posed wall surfaces. In the arrangement illustrated the panels are in abutt-
ing relationship and no batten strips are provided, however, if desired
batten strips could be used to cover the joints or the joints could be formed
in other more esthetic ways, for example, by spacing the panels slightly to
provide a vertical space extending between pairs adjacent panels such as 14 ;
and 16.
The panels 14, 16, 18, 20, 22 and 24 are secured to the studs 12 by
suitable hook and loop fastening elements such as those sold under the trade
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mark "VELC~O". One of the fastening elements is secured to the stud 12 while ~ '
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the cooperating fastening element is secured to the panel as shown in Fig~ 2
and 3~ These fastening elements may be secured at spaced locations to the
stud as indicated at 30 and to the back of the panel as indicated at 26. The
spacing between these elements 30 has been indicated as "X" and will gener- `~ally be about 4 inches to about 3 feet preferably about 8 inches to 2 feet.
~` Alternatively, one or both the elements 30 or 26 may extend as a continuous
strip for substantially the length of the overlap between the stud and panel.
, 30 In any event care must be taken to ensure that the proper amount of cooperating
Velcro strips are used so that the panel is supported, yet may be dismantled
without undue difficulty.
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The fastening elements 26 may be secured to the panel, say panel
16 as illustrated in Fig. 3 by adhesive, however, special care must be taken ~ ~-
when gypsum board panels are used. When gypsum panels are to be mounted,
strips such as strips of kraft paper as indicated at 28 extending vertically
on the panel 16 are secured thereto by a suitable adhesive. The fastening ;-`
means 26 are secured to the kraft paper 28 and a satisfactory bond is ob-
tained between the elements 26 and the panel. It has been found that the
paper strip 28 should extend substantially the full height of the panel and
should be at least approximately 4 inches wide. Wider strips obviously could
be used but this would be simply adding extra material.
Difficulty may be encountered in securing the fastening elements
30 of Fig. 2 to the studs 12 when steel studs are used, as adhesive will not
properly bond these materials unless relatively expensive adhesives are used
or specific steps are taken to clean the stud before application. It has
been found, however, that by stapling the fastening elements 30 directly to
the stud by means of suitable staples 32 as shown in Figs. 4 and 5 adequate
bonding of the fastening elements 30 can be obtained. In the illustrated ~
arrangement 3 staples, one at each opposite end of the element and the third `
in the centre of the element are used, however two staples, one at each end
may also be used depending on the weight of the panel to be supported.
It is important that the panel be mounted on the stud in a manner
to permit little if any relative movement between the panel and stud when the ;
panel is in position. All Velcro fasteners are not sufficiently rigid to
stop this relative movement and thus are not commercially satisfactory for
~, 25 mounting panels as they permit the panels to shift too easily thus requiring
means be provided to prevent this shifting.
:` Resilient means may be interposed between the stud and the panel
in the area between the cooperating connecting elements to bias the panel `
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away from the stud and thus apply tension on the hook and loop members to
`~ 30 thereby limit the amount of relative shifting that can occur. One such system
`` is to provide resilient members or pads 36 secured to the stud 12 and bearing
against the inside of the panel 16 (see Fig. 2). Preferably, these members
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10399~9 '
36 are not connected to the panel 16. The pads 36 preferably are a foam
material having resilience to the direction perpendicular to its face, i.e.
perpendicular to the flange 34 but having only very limited movement in a
direction parallel to the flange 34.
In the preferred embodiment a conventional loop member 38 of the
Velcro type is made of, for example, nylon and cooperates with a T-shaped
~ook member of formed plastic material as indicated at 40. It will be noted
that the T-shaped hooks 42 are relatively rigid and are each undercut on
opposite sides as indicated at 44 to lock with the loops 46 of the loop mem-
ber 38. The height of the stem 48 of the T-members 42 should be short and
the loop length 46 should be short so that the panel 16 and stud 12 are close
together. The shorter stems and loops can be made,the less opportunity for
relative movement. It has been found that when using such an arrangement,
re~ilient pads such as those illustrated at 36 may be omitted.
One suitable system incorporating Velcro loop 2000, stapled to
the studs 12 at 12-inch spacings and cooperating with Velcro MVA-5 1/2-inch
wide hook strips either continuous or discontinuous ~6 inches long at 12
inch spacing i9 very satisfactory) has been built and found to be quite
satisfactory even without resilient pads 36.
The fastener strip may be secured to the back of the panel in a
variety of different ways. It is contemplated that the backing strip and
fasteners may be pre-applied at the factory or alternatively may be applied
in the field. The fasteners and backing strip may be applied as a unit or
the paper strip may be first applied followed by the fastener strip being
~5 applied to the paper in situ. In the latter case, paper itself may be applied
by the factory and the fastener strips applied to the paper in the field.
Preferably the fastener strip will be supplied separately and will include
both the fastener and the backing sheets in roll form for application in the
field.
; 30 The fastener strip roll 100 shown in Fig. 7 comprises a backing tape
or sheet 102 having a plurality of spaced fastener elements 104 secured there-
` to at a fixed distance from one edge 106 of the sheet 102. The elements 104
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th~s are accurately positioned relative to this edge to facilitate position-
ing of the strips 104 and makes peeling of the sheet 102 from the panel more
difficult since the stress is applied to the sheet 102 by the strip 104 away ~
from the edge of the sheet 102. Preferably a fold line 108 is provided in the ~-
sheet 102 at the side edge of the fastener elements 104 adjacent the edge 106.
This fold line 108 facilitates folding the sheet 102 about a corner of a
panel as shown in Fig. 8 to improve the strength of the connection between
the panel and sheet 102. A sheet 102 may be secured to the back of the panel
such as panel 110 indicated in Fig. 8 by any suitable adhesive. The ad-
hesive may be preapplied to the sheet 102 and be protected by a strippable
tape 112 (Fig. 7). Preferably a pressure sensitive adhesive is preapplied
so it is merely necessary to separate the tape 112 and press the sheet 102
against the back surface of the board 110 to Eix the sheet in position. The
sheet 102 preferably is relatively inexpensive material for example a suitable
paper sheet.
A plurality of discrete elements 104 have been illustrated, however,
a continuous strip 114 of fastaner elements may be used if desired as shown
in Fig. 9. When a continuous strip is used, however, it will be necessary to
use the relatively rigid hook members described hereinabove or special
`I 20 accommodations will have to be made to provide the resilient means tensioning
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the loop and hook members to limit relative sliding movement. The use of a
continuous strip reduces any alignment problems between the fastener on the
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stud and on the panel to a minimum.
The sheets 102 which are equivalent to the kraft paper strips 28
need not extend the full length of the panel as illustrated, for example,
;- relatively short lengths could be cut and applied to the back of the panel if
the spacing of the loop members on the stud is not e~uivalent to the spacing
between the fastening elements 104 on the sheet 102 (the fastening element 104 ~ `
are equi~alent to the fastening element 26).
While the disclosure has illustrated mounting of 48 inch wide panels
; which requires the centre row of fastener elements 26 as shown in Fig. 3, it
~ill be apparent that with narrower panels the centre row may be omitted.
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1(~39929
Similarly spaced or discrete fastening elements 26 and 30 have been provided
on the panel 16 and stud 12. These elements 26 and 30 may be replaced by a
continuous strip running the height of the panel or stud (as illustrated in
Fig. 9 for example) but, of course, this would increase ~he cost and could
result in too strong a connection with the result that dismantling becomes
difficult. Preferably if a continuous strip is used it will be used for
either the fastener element 26 or 30 but not both.
The operation of the instant invention will be apparent from the
above description. The panels such as 14, 16, 18, 20, 22 or 24 are simply
moved into position against the studs 12 and the fastening elements 26 and
30 cooperate to secure the panels in position. The panels are moved in a `~
direction substantially perpendicular to their face both to apply them and to
remove them when erecting or dismantling the partition to facilitate both
erection and dismantling of the partition.
The description has dealt entirely with partitions incorporating
studs or the like. However, the system may be used to mount decorative panels
at any suitable location, for example, the s1:uds may be replaced by filling
strips on solid concrete walls or by slmply Velcro strips applied to
' any supporting structure on which the panels are to be mounted. Similarly
;~ 20 the strips have been illustrated as running longitudinally of the panels
` (vertically~. They may also extend transversely of the panels.
i" Modifications may be made without departing from the spirit of
the invention as defined in the appended claims.
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