Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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WOOD AND METAL sUILDING COMPONENT ADAPTED FOR PREFABRICTED MANUFACTURE
FIELD OF INVENTION:
The present invention relates to house building components and their
method of manufacture. In particular the invention relates to improved
rafters, studs, joists and the like and are made from a combination of
wooden and metal elements.
PRIOR ART: :
.
The common method of manufacturing wall studs, rafters and floor joists is
to use sawn lumber of standard rectangular 4"x2", or 2"x6", or 2"x 10" etc. -
dimension available from all lumber dealers and miIls, spaced apart
according to recognized building code specifications to give the acceptable
load bearing capacity. The usual wall members are 2" x 4" struts of wood
buil~ in parallel between top and bottom plates of wood to form a frame.
Rafters and joists are similarly spaced apart in parallel with sheeting of
wood above to provide the load bearing capability required. For wide spans
on cathedral type ceilings large beams are used both for strength and appear-
ance. The space between the studs, ~oists or rafters is used to hold insul-
ation.
With recent demand for improved insulation characteristics in walls and ceil-
ings home builders have found it necessary to inrease the depth of the wall
or ceiling to provide adequate space for the insulation and for the necessary
dead air space. To have a 6 inch wall batt of insulation fitted between the
studs of a wall would require at least a frame made of 2x6 lumber. For
adequate insulation between the ceiling and roof of a cathedral type ceiling
would require the use of 2"xlO" or 2"x12" rafters -
Unfortunately for the building industry the supply of large size lumber has ~ -
been diminishing rapidly in recent years. There is a decrease in the supply
of large lumber trees so that the supply of large dimensioned and high quality
building components will become too great for their indiscriminate use in
home building. Clearly a need is now apparent for a replacement unit for deep
rafters and beams.
The above discussed need and demand for alternative methods of building walls
and rafters has been partly met by splicing and by the use of plywood type
combinations o wood. The use of the truss o 2x4 elements joined by gang
plates of nail members has `been accepted for joists and in roof construction.
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The use of spaced apart wood members braced by metal struts is also known
as an alternative to employing deep timbers for joists and the like. The
disadvantage of fastening two chords of wood by a series of bolted on struts
and braces is that much skilled and careful labour is required to create a square
acceptable, joist or rafter. Carpenters are not usually skilled in the erection
of wood and metal trusses and joists and therefore much labour is lost on a job
site when the new methods are attempted.
There is a great need for mill or factory built studs, joists, and rafters made
from spaced apart small dimension lumber secured together by metal braces
which require only that the carpenters install them with nails to the other
wood frame parts of the house in the usual manner.
The components contemplated to be used herein must allow the carpenter or
even semi-skilled labour to set up the stud or rafter without requireing him
to assemble any portion of the metal to wood assembly.
The metal connectors or spacers and the wooden chords must also be of simple
configuration which will allow the mill to set up a work table or jig to
manufacture perfectly dimensioned products with the minimum of work operations
and using the commonly made and available lumber, to be thereby competitive -~
with the presently used material and carpenter labour.
OBJECTS OF THE INVE~TIO~:
.i
It is the ob~ect of the present invention to provide building components such
as rafters and studs having a dimension~ depth of 6 inches or more, by spacing
apart pairs of lengths of small depth wooden members with a continuous one
piece metal connector web.
It is a further ob~ect of the invention to provide a greater depth to the
wall and ceiling space in buildings to thereby allow more space for the
introduction of insulation into the space.
A further ob;ect of the invention is to eliminate any requirement for workmen
to fasten metal bolts or nail members to the metal connector web on the job site.
The principal objective;i~--e~-component elements in a novel stud and ra~ter
system that can be easily made in a factory or mill and delivered and erected ~-
on a job site by unslcilled labour.
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SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION:
A prefabricated building component for use as a wall stud, roof rafter or
floor ~oist comprising: a first wooden chord member of rectangular cross -
section and having a pair of planar side faces alinged in planar relationship
with a pair of planar side faces of a second wooden chord member of rectangular
cross section. A first sheet steel web plate is spaced between said chord - ;
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members and partially overlies one of the side faces of the first wooden
member and partially overlies the side face of the second chord member.
A second sheet steel web connector partially overlies the other of the pair
of planar side faces of the first and second wooden chord members. Gang nail
fastening means are struck out of the portions of the web connector that
overlies the wooden chord members. The gang nail fastening means are driven
simultaneously into the chord side faces while being held square in a jig.
IN THE DRAWINGS:
The preferred embodiment of the invention and its improved characteristics
in the art will be understood from a consideration of the attached drawings
in which: ~
Figure 1 is a perspective view of the invention showing one end -
partially cut away to indicate the fastening means that have been struck from
the web plate connectors.
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DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENT SHOWN IN THE DRAWINGS:
With reference to the drawing the novel building component described
herewith is designated numeral 10 , and is a rafter stud or joist. The
rafter, stud, or joist 10 is composed of two wooden chord members 12 and 13
each of standard dimension (say 2x4 inches) and of the usual rectangular cross
section. The wooden chords 12,13 are held together and spaced apart by sheet
metal web plates 14, 15.
The chords 12,13 have outwardly facing planar faces to which the webs 14,15
overlie and fit against in planar contact. The portions 18 of the webs that
overlie the planar sides of the chords have sharply pointed nail-like members
22,26 struck from the body of the web in the pattern shown by the openings 20.
The nail-like members are struck from the webs in one direction perpendicular
to the plane of the web to become in total a 'gang-nail' plate which lends
itself to simultaneous fastening by hydraulic press means to the length of the
chord, in a prefabrication mill.
Chord 12 has been partially cut away at one end 25 to show the shape and
configuration of the nail-like fasteners.
A flange 24 has been provided along the bottom of the overlying portion 18
to assist in the placement of the chords to the webs prior to the gang nailing -
operation to fasten the parts together and to accelerate the prefabrication
in the mill. The f:Lange 24 also provides a measure of strength to the novel -
component when fin-Lshed and in load bearing position.
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The edges 16 of the strut-like portion 32 of the web plates are similarly
flanged to provide strength to the mid-part of the component where the bending
moment will occur when in use as a joist or rafter.However, the webs are
not unduly shaped or worked to avoid costs to keep the web as plate-like
as possible and thereby facilitate fabrication in a mill and to keep the
product competitive with all-wood beams ancl trusses.
The cross section 28 of lower chord 13 is shown finished squared to illustrate
that the the ends of the components are pre-finished at the mill with the
webs and chords fastened together ready for ~nstallation in a predtermined
span or height. Where the component is to be used in a building being bui~lt
to only relatively exact specifications as in much home building, a small
amount of wood chord can be left extending from the component to allow the
on-site carpenter to cut and fit it in place.
The preferred embodiment of the invention is for an entirely finished product
that is entirely made in mill site and delivered to a construction job where
all components are exactly specified thereby eliminating much labour.
The shapes of the chords and webs are simple ones that adapt themselves most
easily to fabrication in a mill. The planar sides and faces of the chords are
known in common finished lumber. The use of flat web plates with the squared
wooden chords facilitate the set up of a work table or jig in a mill allowing
a one step connection operation after the four work pieces are set in place on
the jig. The gang nailing of the two webs to the two chords can be done
hydraulically in one operation.
The novel product herein is therefore not only especially adapted to use in
buildings where deep space is required to receive insulation but is also
adapted to studs, walls ceilings and floors that are to be exactly dimensioned
and made in a plant prior to delivery to a building site. The total weight
of a wall using the invention herein for studs for example would be less
than one made from whole wide timber studs.
Other advantages and uses of the invention will be obvious to one skilled in
the art.
The top chord will be load bearing when the component is used as a rafter
and the bottom chord will be load bearing when the component is used as a joist. ;~
When the component 10 is made to exactly fit in an exactly prefabricated building
the webs can be attached to the ends of the chords as in the figure 1 depicted.
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Where a carpenter may find it necessary to cut ~he ends of the
novel building component described in the present invention, in order to
fit a span not exactly to the dimension of the prefabricated unit herein
the web plates may be set back from the ends of the chords to allow the
carpenter to trim the choxds to fit without the necessity of his disturbing
the connection of the web to the chords.
The webs shown in the drawing are "W" shaped but it will be understood
that the webs can be varied from a complete set of flat plates to the ~
continuous "W" form shown. The legs of the "W" can be spaced closely or '
far apart according to the strength required of the resulting ~oist or
rafter.
When the webs are attached to wooden chords that will become the rafters
for a roof which is intended to contain insulation it is prefferred that
the webs be of the open type shown to reduce heat loss through the webs
and to allow the circulation of air in the space opened by the web between
rafters. The strength of the web can be increased by flanging or necking
as shown, rather than by increasing the width of the plate where freedom
for air flow and circulation is important.
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