Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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Field of the invention:
The present invention relates to an
interior or exterior wall support structure for non
load bearing walls. Wall support structures generally
comprise a network of vertical posts and horizontal
members and are generally covered with prefabricated
materials such as gypsum panels. More specifically,
the present invention relates to a system for
supporting vertically disposed posts while readily
accommodating some shifting of the building which
results in relative movement of the floors and
ceilings of a building. The present invention is
particularly related to, but not limited to, modern
construction techniques of multi-story buildings
involving the construction of floors and ceilings on
column supports prior to the installation of wall
support structures. For example, new construction
methods consist of cement or concrete floor and
ceiling slabs between which metallic wall support
structures are erected.
Brief descri~tion of the ~rior art:
Knownconstructiontechniques forerecting
wall structures generally involve the installation of
a U-shaped bottom rail fixedly secured to the floor.
The wall structure w-ill rest on the bottom rail. A
top rail, commonly known as a head rail, also U-shaped
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is fixedly secured to the ceiling overlying the bottom
rail. A sufficient number of vertical posts are then
erected and fastened to the top and bottom rails.
Horizontal members are also installed between the
vertical posts to strengthen the structure.
Electrical, telecommunication and plumbing systems are
of course installed before prefabricated panelling,
such as gypsum, are fastened to the wall structure to
complete a finished interior wall.
One difficulty with the technique
described above is that most building will experience
settling or shifts during their lifespan. Most of the
shifts will generally occur shortly after the
completion of construction of the building. This is
most apparent in multi-story buildings. The weight of
the upper stories will press down on the stories below
and cause slight shifts or settling of the building.
This will often result in relative movement of ceiling
and floors. Although this is a normal occurrence and
generally does not render the building structure
unsafe, interior wall structures may be submitted to
great compression or expansion forces. This may result
in breakage or buckling of the interior wall
structures and their panelling finishes.
A number of solutions have been proposed
to overcome this difficulty. Andrews, U.S. Patent #
3,492,766 (1970), teaches the use of height-adjustable
studs in the construction of interior walls. Palumbo,
U.S. Patent # 5,129,204 (1992), similarly shows a
metallic vertical stud having an accordion shaped
region which will deflect under heavy load.
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In practice such innovations have met with
limited acceptance of the trade because of the higher
construction costs generated by the higher costs of
manufacturing the height-adjustable studs.
A less expensive solution has been
developed by the construction trade. The technique is
to use two stackable U-shaped head rails fitted one
over the other. The U-shape implies that the head
rails have side flanges preventing side to side
movement when the head rails are fitted one over the
other. However, the arrangement allows some liberty
of top to bottom movement between a first head rail
fixedly secured to the ceiling and a second head rail
located immediately below and overlapped by the first
head rail. The remainder of the interior wall
structure is of course fastened to the second head
rail. Also, for this technique to work, the side
flanges of the U-shaped head rails are slightly flared
so that the first and second head rails may readily be
placed in overlapping relationship. Such a
construction technique requires additional workmen to
install what is a fragile wall structure until all
finishing panelling is installed. Indeed, at least
two workmen are needed to hold the second head rail in
place while other workers install vertical and
horizontal beams. The fragility of the arrangement
persists even when the vertical and horizontal beams
are in place. As electrical or telecommunication or
plumbing equipment are installed, the wall structure
may be deformed since it is not securely fastened to
the ceiling. What happens is that the second head
rail starts to slide longitudinally in the first head
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rail. For example, workmen installing cables will
generally pull them through the vertical posts of the
interior wall structures. Such activity will often
result in a deformed wall structure as explained
above. The rigidity of the finished interior wall is
later improved as the finishing panelling, such as
gypsum panels, is installed. Nevertheless, it is to
be noted that, if as a result of shifting of the
building, the floor to ceiling distance is
sufficiently increased, the second head rail may
completely distance itself from the first head rail.
This will result in an unsafe interior wall having no
top support and which could conceivably topple on its
side and cause serious injury to the occupants or
serious damage to the furnishings of a building.
OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION
The primary object of the present
invention is therefore to overcome the drawbacks
associated with the prior art by providing a novel
head rail arrangement comprising two head rails with
the second head being flexibly connected to and
suspended from the first head rail.
Another object of the invention is to
provide a head rail arrangement having a convenient
suspension mechanism to suspend a second head rail
from a first head rail.
Another object of the invention is to
provide this new head rail arrangement at
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substantially the same costs as a conventional head
rail arrangements.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
More specifically, in accordance with the
present invention, there is provided a novel head rail
arrangement for use in a wall support system installed
in a building between a floor slab and a ceiling slab
defining a story. The wall support system comprising
vertical posts mounted in an horizontal bottom rail,
fixedly mounted on the floor slab. The head rail
arrangement comprising first and second head rails,
the first head rail being fixedly fastened or fixedly
suspended from the ceiling slab, the second head rail
being connected to the first head rail and being
flexibly suspended below and from the first head rail.
The flexible connection between the first and second
head rail accommodates slight shifts or settling of
the building and consequently slight relative movement
between the floor and ceiling slabs of a story.
In a preferred embodiment, the flexible
connection comprises flexible metallic bands die-
punched on three sides from the second head rail ,
with the longitudinal free end of the metallic band is
fastened to the first head rail which is thereby
suspended from the first head rail.
In a most preferred embodiment, the first
and second head rails are stackable.
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In a most preferred embodiment, the first
and second head rails are U-shaped and essentially of
equal dimensions.
In another preferred embodiment, the first
and second metallic head rails have a substantially U-
shaped cross-section comprising a flat longitudinal
portion and two lateral longitudinal flanges. The
suspension means comprises an interlocking means for
connecting the first and second head rail. The
interlocking means comprises corresponding bent shapes
on the longitudinal side flanges of the first and
second head rails whereby the side flanges of the
second head rial will abutt and be suspended from the
side flanges of the first head rail.
Other objects, advantages and features of
the present invention will become more apparent upon
reading of the following non restrictive description
of preferred embodiments thereof, given by way of
example only and with reference to the accompanying
drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
In the appended drawings:
Figure 1 is a fragmentary perspective view
of the head rail arrangement of the present invention;
Figure 2 is an fragmentary vertical cross
section of a head rail arrangement of the present
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invention and a bottom rail, respectively fastened to
a ceiling and a floor slab and having a vertical post
mounted therebetween;
5Figure 3 is a fragmentary side view of a
head arrangement of the present invention;
Figure 4 shows a head rail of the present
invention and comprising die-punched flexible
connection bands; and
Figure 5 is a perspective view of an
optional embodiment of the head rail arrangement of
the present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
Referring now to the appended drawings,
FIG. 1 is a fragmentary perspective view of a head
rail arrangement 10 of the present invention. The
head rail arrangement consists of a first head rail
12, generally U-shaped and fixedly secured to a
ceiling slab located above it (shown in FIG. 2) and a
second head rail 14, similar to the first head rail
12, partially overlapped by the first head rail 12 and
flexibly connected to the first head rail 12 by a
flexible metallic band 16 die-punched on three sides
from the material of second head rail 14. Flexible
band 16 projects generally upwardly and diagonally
from second head rail 14 and towards first head rail
12. This is conveniently illustrated in FIG. 2 where
it is shown that flexible band 16 is readily fastened
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to the first head rail 12 and to the ceiling slab 18
above it by means of a single fastener, shown for
illustrative purposes as screw 20. As a result, the
second head rail 14 is flexibly connected to and
suspended from the first head rail 12. Because head
rails 12 and 14 are of the same generally shape, they
are stackable and slightly overlap. Consequently,
while the head rails 12 and 14 have some liberty of up
and down movement relative to one another, the side
flanges 22 of the first head rail 12 prevent side to
side movement of the second head rail 14. Hence, the
above described head rail arrangement 10 can be
readily installed, even by a single workman. The
headrail arrangement 10 will not be subject to being
deformed when work crews install electrical,
telecommunication or plumbing equipment.
Still referring to FIGs. 1 and 2, a
representative vertical post 24 is also shown
connected to the side flanges 26 of the second head
rail 14. Vertical post 24 is fastened to the second
rail 14 by conventional fasteners, shown for
illustrative purposes as screws 20. Shown in FIG. 2,
the foot of post 24 is fastened by screws 20 to the
side flanges 28 of a bottom rail 30. The bottom rail
30 is itself fastened at spaced longitudinal intervals
to a floor slab 32. It is of course to be understood
that a plurality of posts such as post 24 will be
fastened along the length of second head rail 14 and
bottom rail 32 to constitute a proper support
structure for a wall. It is to be further understood
that horizontal members (not shown) may be installed
between vertical posts 24 to further strengthen the
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wall structure. Additional strength would also be
obtained when finishing panelling (not shown) such as
gypsum board is installed to cover the wall structure.
It is also to be understood that a plurality of
flexible connection bands 16 would be installed at
spaced intervals along the length of head rails 12 and
14 thereby providing a generally uniform and
sufficiently sturdy yet flexible connection between
head rails 12 and 14.
Turning now to FIG. 3, the head rail
arrangement of the present invention is illustrated
from a side view. It can be seen that flexible band
16 projects from the second head rail 14 towards the
first head rail 12. A single connector, for
illustrative purposes, is shown in dotted lines. This
connector comprises a screw 20 connecting the two head
rails 12 and 14 before boring into the ceiling slab
18. Such connections are of course repeated at
regular intervals along the length of head rails 12
and 14. In most applications at least two flexible
band 16 connections would be required to suspend
second head rail 14 from a first head rail 12.
Referring now to FIG. 4, a top view
illustrates a preferred general die-punch shape of
flexible band 16. Band 16 is die-punched on three
sides from the longitudinal flat top portion of second
head rail 14. This leaves flexible band 16 attached
on one side to second head rail 14. One skilled in
metal working and construction materials will easily
determine the proper dimensions, materials and
thickness of materials used to arrive at a
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sufficiently sturdy yet flexible connection band 16.
Advantageously, band 16 will simply be bent upwards at
an angle by the workman immediately prior to
installation of head rails 12 and 14. Also
advantageously, the free end of band 16 will comprise
a hole 32 for convenient insertion of a fastener such
as a screw. It will be apparent to one of ordinary
skill in the art that the metallic band 16 can be
formed in the second head rail 14 by other methods
than die punching. For example, band 16 could be made
from a suitable material not integral with the second
head rail 14 but rather secured to it by welding or
other suitable way of fastening it to head rail 14.
The length of the metallic band 16 is not
crucial to the present invention. It is to be
understood that if the band 16 is long the suspension
effect and flexibility of the connection will be
greater than if the band 16 is short. The choice of
materials used and the thickness of the materials will
also alter the flexibility of the connection.
Referring again to FIG. 2, once installed
the head rail arrangement of the present invention
will permit relative movement of floor and ceiling
slabs without transmitting important compression or
expansion forces to posts 24. When a ceiling slab 18
and a floor slab 32 move towards each other, head rail
14 will simply nest itself deeper in the channel
formed by head rail 12. Of course this movement is
limited. At one point when the head rail 14 becomes
completely nested in head rail 12, compression forces
would be directed to the posts. The flanges 22 of head
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rail 12 are slightly flared to allow head rail 14 to
nest itself in the channel formed by head rail 12. It
will be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art
that if ceiling slab 18, during a shift of the
building moves towards floor slab 32, the head rails
12 and 14 will simply nest themselves more without
transmitting a greater load on posts 24 or on floor
slab 32. When further nesting of head rails 12 and 14
takes place, the side flanges 22 will flare a little
more to allow head rail 12 to penetrate deeper in the
channel formed by head rail 12. This action is of
course reversible should the ceiling or floor slabs
move to distance themselves from each other.
FIG. 5 illustrates an optional embodiment
of the head rail arrangement of the present invention.
Again the head rail arrangement consists of a first
head rail 34 and a second head rail 36. However, in
this embodiment, the first head rail 34 is fixedly
connected to the ceiling slab (not shown) and the
second head rail 36 is snap fitted or longitudinally
slid in nesting relationship with the first head rail
34. As is illustrated by FIG. 5, the free ends 38
and 40 of side webs 42 and 44 of the first head rail
34 are bent in at 90 angle to define longitudinal
notches wherein corresponding longitudinal shapes of
the top portions 46 and 48 of the second head rail 36
may be snap fitted or slid in abutting relationship to
first head rail 34. This arrangement prevents the
second head rail 36 from falling to the ground during
installation of posts 24 and yet permits limited
upward and downward movement of head rail 36 in
relation to head rail 34. Optionally the second head
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12
rail 36 may be provided with a flexible connection
band as described in the preferred embodiment
described above.
Although the present invention has been
described hereinabove by way of a two preferred
embodiments thereof, the embodiments can be modified
at will, within the scope of the appended claims,
without departing from the spirit and nature of the
subject invention.
