Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
CA 02777330 2012-05-23
CONSTRUCTION FRAMING MEMBER WITH INTEGRATED
/
THERMAL BREAK AND METHOD FOR MANUFAC 7, ',RING SAME
Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to building and framing construction materials,
and more
particularly to construction materials with enhanced insulative properties.
Background of the Invention
Improvements in building construction materials and methods are constantly
sought to enhance
the comfort and economy of residential and commercial buildings. One of the
areas in which a
large amount of effort is currently concentrated is in the development of
alternate materials and
construction methods that increase energy efficiency. Heating a building is
negatively impacted
if the building is not properly sealed and insulated; gaps in the structure of
the building as well as
thin, non-insulated walls allow heat to transfer out of the building and
increase heating costs, as
well as result in uneven heating levels within the building. In addition to
the increased cost of
energy for heating the building, there is also undue damage to the environment
due to the
increased amounts of heating fuel or energy which arc consumed to keep these
buildings at
comfortable temperatures. As such it is desirable to provide or enhance the
effect of insulation
in the walls of buildings to prevent or minimize heat loss.
Typical walls of a building are manufactured with dimensional lumber or other
stud materials,
having a gypsum or other type of wall board on the interior of the building.
Vapor barrier may
also be used between the interior wall surface and the studs or dimensional
framing members
which provide structure to the wall in the building. The studs act as an inner
member framework
which, along with providing structure and support for the wall itself. also
support wall coverings,
windows and doors. They also provide mounting cavities or mounting surfaces
for electrical
wiring, plumbing, HVAC systems and other utilities.
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Standard dimensional lumber or other aluminum or steel stud materials are
often used to
construct these walls. Most often interior walls are generally constructed
with 2 inch x 4 inch
wall studs, although sometimes 2 inch x 6 inch wall studs would be used to
provide more
strength. Typically the studs or framing members are placed a predefined
standard spacing apart,
for example either every 16 or 24 inches. Extra studs can be used or provided
wherever walls
intersect, or to provide a nailing area or additional support.
Batts of insulation would typically be installed in the spaces between framing
members inside a
wall to provide insulation and reduce heat loss through the cavities between
the framing
members. To the exterior of a building wall there is often an air barrier and
some kind of an
exterior surface or siding which is attached through to the studs.
Insulation bans are important in providing insulation in the areas of the
cavities between the
framing members. Some common forms of insulation batts arc made from
fiberglass, mineral
wool, or cotton. These baus are fibrous sheets that are long and wide enough
to fit snugly
between wall studs. Another form of insulation is loose-fill insulation, which
is a light fibrous
fill. This type of insulation is laborious to install and typically requires a
professional installer.
Furthermore, this type of insulation is easily affected by air movementõ There
is also spray-
applied insulation that can fill cavities very well, but again, must be
applied by a specialized
contractor.
An effective insulation system will prevent the movement of air through the
system. If there are
any cavities, they will be filled with insulation, leaving no gaps in or
around the insulation. The
structural members in the wall oftentimes act as thermal bridges, extending
from the warm side
of the insulation to the cold side of the insulation, allowing for an easy
escape of heat. While
insulation bans installed in the cavities between the framing members provide
some insulation to
a building, the framing members or studs of the wall allow heat transfer to
occur from the warm
side to the cool side of the wall through the framing members themselves. This
problem is
further emphasized with the use of metal member portions instead of wood,
because much more
heat flows through metal studs and joists than through pieces of wood.
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There have been many attempts to prevent heat loss through thermal bridges
such as the framing
members. One of the most popular methods of preventing this type of heat loss
is to provide
some type of rigid, board-stock insulation on the exterior face of the studs,
usually expanded
polystyrene or insulation batts. However, installation of this type of
insulation on all the exterior
faces of the studs involves wrapping the entire house with a rigid foam bait,
or similar type of
insulation product, which is very expensive and labour intensive. Again, this
type of material
can also be an irritant or hazardous during installation and will often
require professional
installation.
Another attempt to minimize this type of heat loss is to space the wall studs
at 24 inches apart,
rather than 16 inches apart. This extra spacing between the studs reduces the
total number of
studs in the wall, thus reducing the surface area of the framing members
available for heat
transfer. However, the reduction in the number of total framing members
reduces the strength of
the wall. As such, it is not desirable to reduce the number of framing
members, if possible.
Furthermore, the reduction in framing members does not eliminate, or even
minimize, the heat
loss that will occur through the remaining framing members.
A further attempt to minimize heat loss through wall studs uses a method of
staggering the wall
studs that appear next to one another. A first wall stud would be situated
against the inner wall
leaving a gap between the first wall stud and the outer wall, and a second
wall stud adjacent the
first wall stud would be situated against the outer wall leaving a gap between
the second wall
stud and the inner wall, whereby the wall studs would alternate positions as
such along the wall.
In this way, a given stud will not concurrently contact the materials of the
inner wall and the
materials of the outer wall, and will consequently be unable to transfer heat
directly from the
inner wall, through to the stud, to the outer wall and out of the building.
However, there are
many drawbacks associated with this method, as well. This method of reducing
heat loss
through studs is very labor intensive and expensive, as each stud needs to be
perfectly placed in
relation to the studs next to it. This furthermore increases the thickness of
the wall and reduces
the strength of the wall since each of the inner wall and the outer wall are
only provided with one
half of the number of wall studs for support.
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What is needed, therefore, is a framing product that has enhanced thermal
insulative properties
but is capable of manufacture using relatively simple methods that do not
introduce undue
complexity.
Summary of the Invention
The present invention accordingly seeks to provide a framing product that
comprises standard
material but incorporates a thermal break in the form of an insulative
material.
According to a first aspect of the present invention there is provided a
support member for use in
the manufacture of a framing product, the support member comprising a void for
receiving
insulative material. The support member is preferably composed of wood and the
void is
preferably a channel running substantially the length of the support member
and exposed at the
surface of the support member at one edge thereof.
According to a second aspect of the present invention there is provided a
framing product that
comprises a support member comprising a void, and an insulative material
situate in the void.
The insulative material has a lower thermal conductivity than the support
member which houses
it and therefore increases the thermal insulation properties of the framing
product.
According to a third aspect of the present invention there is provided a
method of manufacturing
a support member comprising the steps of: (a) providing a length of wood
suitable to be used as a
framing member, the length of wood having a depth; (b) providing a wood-
cutting tool having a
cutting implement with an operative length less than the depth; and (c)
cutting a void in the
length of wood in the direction of the depth using the cutting implement to
form the support
member, such that the void penetrates into the length of wood to less than the
depth. The wood-
cutting tool may be a table saw or router or any other similar tool known in
the art, and the
cutting implement would then be a blade or bit or similar cutting implement,
respectively, which
can be set to a length that is less than the depth, such that when the cutting
of the void is
completed a portion of wood still remains intact beyond the set reach of the
cutting implement.
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According to a fourth aspect of the present invention there is provided a
method of
manufacturing a framing product comprising the steps of: (a) providing a
length of wood suitable
to be used as a framing member, the length of wood having a depth; (b)
providing a wood-
cutting tool having a cutting implement with an operative length less than the
depth; (c) cutting a
void in the length of wood in the direction of the depth using the cutting
implement to form a
support member, such that the void penetrates into the length of wood to less
than the depth; (d)
providing an insulative material; and (e) introducing the insulative material
into the void to form
the framing product. The insulative material may be either a solid component
sized to fit in and
preferably fill the void, or a foam or other liquid insulative material that
can be injected into the
void to fill the void, wherein upon solidification of the insulative material
in the void the framing
product is formed.
A detailed description of an exemplary embodiment of the present invention is
given in the
following. It is to be understood, however, that the invention is not to be
construed as being
limited to this embodiment.
Brief Description of the Drawings
In the accompanying drawings, which illustrate an exemplary embodiment of the
present
invention:
Figure 1 a is a perspective view of a support member in accordance with the
present
invention;
Figure lb is a top plan view of the support member of Figure la;
Figure lc is a side elevation view of the support member of Figure la; and
Figure 2 is a perspective view of a framing product according to the present
invention.
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A preferred embodiment of the present invention will now be described with
reference to the
accompanying drawings.
Detailed Description of Exemplary Embodiments
Referring now to the accompanying drawings, embodiments of a support member
and a framing
product having an internal thermal break according to the present invention
are illustrated.
Referring now in detail to Figures 1a to lc, a support member JO according to
the present
invention is illustrated. The support member 10 is for use in the manufacture
of a framing
product 34, as will be described below. The support member 10 comprises a void
or channel 12
which in the exemplary embodiment extends the length of the support member 10;
it will be
clear to one skilled in the art that the void 12 need not extend the entire
length of the support
member 10 in order to enhance the insulative properties of the support member
10, but having a
relatively continuous void 12 along the entire length will optimize such
properties. This void 12
is for the receipt of insulative material 32, as will be described below. The
support member 10 is
preferably composed of wood, due to the ease with which the void 12 can be
cut. out of a wooden
substrate and the utility of wooden framing members in construction contexts.
The support member 10 comprises a first section 14 and a second section 16,
separated by the
void 12 which extends inwardly from the outer surface 30 of the support member
10. As the
void 12 does not pass completely through the support member 10, a thin
remainder of material
connects the first and second sections 14, 16, namely the connecting section
18. The void 12 is
therefore only exposed in the exemplary embodiment at. the outer surface 30
and opposed first
and second ends 26, 28 of the support member 10.
The void 12 is preferably a channel running substantially the length of the
support member 10
and exposed at the outer surface 30 of the support member 10, and it is
defined by the inner
surface 20 of the first section 14, the inner surface 22 of the second section
16 and the inner
surface 24 of the connecting section 18.
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The manufacture of a support member 10 in accordance with the present
invention can be
accomplished using known tools and methods of woodworking. First, a length of
wood suitable
for use as a framing member is provided, and this may be a standard 2 inch x 4
inch or 2 inch x 6
inch piece of lumber that is commonly used in constniction and therefore will
likely he of
suitable dimensions for the building plans. This length of wood will have a
standard depth, 2
inches in most cases. Next, a standard wood-cutting tool such as a table saw
or router table is
provided, the wood-cutting tool having a cutting implement. This cutting
implement (a saw
blade in the case of a table saw, or a router bit in the case of a router
table) can be set at a desired
height above the work surface of the tool, and in the ease of a length of wood
having a depth of 2
inches the desired cutting implement height setting is preferably
approximately 1-3/4 inches,
although the height setting can be any length less than 2 inches. With the
operative height of the
cutting implement set at less than the depth of the piece of lumber, the user
then cuts a void 12 in
the length of wood in the direction of the depth using the cutting implement
in a manner well
known to those skilled in the art, such that the void 12 penetrates into the
length of wood to less
than the depth. When the cutting of the void 12 is completed, a portion of
wood still remains
intact beyond the set reach of the cutting implement, specifically the
connecting section 1 8. The
width of the void 12 can vary as needed given the predetermined insulative
properties that the
final framing product is to have, and one skilled in the art will know how to
use various wood-
cutting tools to achieve voids 12 of varying widths.
Turning now to Figure 2. a framing product 34 according to the present
invention is illustrated.
The framing product comprises the support member 10, with an insulative
material 32 disposed
within the void 12. In this way, the original dimensions of the lumber are
maintained but with
the presence of a thermal break incorporated within the framing product 34 to
enhance the
insulative properties of the building material.
Whereas the insulative material 32 could be introduced in any number of ways,
including cutting
a piece of solid insulation to the size of the void 12 and fixing it in place
(by glue or other known
means) between the first and second sections 14, 16, it is preferable to use
polyurethane foam
insulation as the insulative material 32 and inject same into the void 12.
Once the injected foam
insulation has hardened, the waste can be cut away such that the outer
surfaces of the insulative
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material 32 are flush with the outer surface 30, first end 26 and second end
28 of the support
member 10. The width of the insulative material 32 can be generally between
1/2 inch and 1 inch,
although the width could vary depending on the heat conductivity of the
particular insulative
material 32 and the thickness required to obtain the desired degree of
insulation. Where the
framing product 34 is secured in place in a wall, with the first section 14
disposed toward the
building interior and the second section 16 disposed toward the outside of the
building, heat
transfer can be minimized from the first section 14 of the support member 10
to the second
section 16 of the support member 10, thus reducing the thermal bridge between
the inner wall
and the outer wall of the building.
It should also be noted that the above description is of one exemplary
embodiment only as
illustrated by the accompanying Figures, and the size of the first section 14,
second section 16
and insulative material 32 could each be adjusted for a number of reasons. For
example, the
insulative material 32 could be thickened or thinned based upon the particular
thermal
requirements of the application in which the framing product 34 when assembled
would be used.
Also, the first and/or second sections 14,16 might be sized appropriately such
that their utility in
conventional construction techniques would be maximized, e.g. such that they
would still most
strongly support fasteners attached thereto, etc. In one embodiment, the
complete framing
product 34, including the first and second sections 14, 16 plus the integrated
insulative material
32 could in total be approximately the same size as a standard dimensional
framing member, for
example in total being the approximate dimensions of a standard 2 inch x 4
inch or 2 inch x 6
inch framing member, such that it could be easily interchanged into pre-
existing construction
methods and market acceptance of the product could be maximized. It will be
understood by one
skilled in the art that there is no specific ideal set of dimensions for the
framing product 34 of the
present invention but that any number of different pre-existing dimensional
lumber sizes could
be duplicated using the framing product 34.
As can be readily seen, then, the support member and framing product of the
present invention
present significant advantages over the prior art. Enhanced thermal insulation
properties are
provided in a product that can be manufactured in industry standard sizes for
ease of
implementation. There is no need to implement a novel stud arrangement or
spacing that may
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weaken the structure, but rather the structural strength of wood is maintained
while integrating a
thermal break.
The foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the
invention. Thus, while
certain aspects and embodiments of the invention have been described, these
have been
presented by way of example only and are not intended to limit the scope of
the invention.
Indeed, the invention described herein may be embodied in a variety of other
forms without
departing from the spirit of the invention, which invention is defined solely
by the claims below.
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