GB2097035A

GB2097035A - Concealed resilient fasteners for fastening panels to frames

Info

Publication number: GB2097035A
Application number: GB8201636A
Authority: GB
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1981-01-21
Filing date: 1982-01-21
Publication date: 1982-10-27

Abstract

Each fastener, e.g. of steel or plastic, has a base embedded in the back of the panel, preferably during manufacture, and is secured to a side of the frame member by a projecting limb or bracket, integral with the base or hinged or interlocked with it, or bolted to it. Small movements, e.g. due to temperature or humidity variations, can occur without distortion. Panel and frame are drawn together by wedging devices or a bolt. The panels may be close-stacked during storage and transport. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Building and other panels This invention relates to panels, for example for the use in timber frame buildings in which panels are used for external cladding, and one object of the invention is to provide simple types of concealed fasteners for attaching a panel to a timber or other frame.

According to the present invention, a panel has concealed fasteners for securing it in position to a frame. Typically, each fastener has a base embedded in the panel and a projecting tongue or a bracket fixed to the frame member and linked to the base either by being integral with it, or hinged to it, or bolted to it. In all the embodiments of the invention described and illustrated, no part of any of the fastening devices is visible on the outer face of the panel which remains undisturbed.

The fasteners can be of steel or other suitable metal, or possibly of a strong and resilient plastics material. Conveniently their bases are incorporated in moulded, extruded or otherwise manufactured panels in the course of production, the bedding zones being thickened and/or reinforced as required.

One form of fastener is of angle or Tee form, with one limb constituting the base embedded in the panel and another limb constituting the projecting tongue. The projecting tongue can be integral with the base, or in one embodiment of the invention can be hinged to it, so that it can be hinged over to lie flat above the rear face of the panel during transit, before the panel is fastened to the frame. Alternatively, the hinge may be formed without a pin and the projecting tongue inserted in-situ.

An important feature in the design of the fasteners is to provide means of drawing panel and frame close together. In the projecting limb, whether integral or hinged or independent, this is achieved by means of a wedge shaped nail driven through a slot in the tongue into the frame member and serving to compress the sealant strip between frame and panel edge to ensure a weather-tight joint. Other nails or screws are then inserted to secure adequate fixity to the frame.

In other embodiments of the invention the projecting tongues of the fasteners are so shaped as to enable panel and frame to be drawn close by means of hardwood or steel wedges. In yet another embodiment, the drawing together of panel and frame is accomplished by means of a bolt threaded into a captive nut in the panel and held to the frame member by an angle which is nailed or bolted to it.

The invention has particular application to panels moulded or extruded from glass fibre reinforced cement (GRC) or glass fibre reinforced plastics (GRP), materials which so far have been used mainly for decorative cladding. They are however strong materials with good impact resistance and capable of supporting considerable racking loads in the plane of the panel. All the fasteners described enable such panels to be secured to frame members invisibly from the outside, with adequate strength to transfer racking loads, e.g. wind loads, between frame and panel, and with some flexibility to withstand panel movement due to temperature and moisture variations without panel distortion.

Conveniently the fasteners are distributed along edges of the panel and if necessary in intermediate positions corresponding to frame members, their precise location and number depending on the magnitude of load to be transferred in relation to the established performance of the particular type of fastener. If necessary panel edges or positions of fasteners may be thickened or additionally reinforced.

The panels could consist of single sheets of GRC or GRP around 8 to 10 millimetres thick or could be of sandwich construction, with two layers of GRC or GRP enciosing an insulating filling material or a hollow core.

The invention includes a panel as defined, held in position on a frame structure by means of the fasteners. According to another aspect of the invention a building or other structure has GRC or GRP panels secured to a framework and acting both as a cladding material and to carry the racking stresses of the structure.

The invention may be carried into practice in various ways and certain embodiments will now be described by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, of which: Figure 1 is a sketch showing one type of fastener in use, holding a panel on a frame member; Figure 2 is a perspective of the fastener of Figure 1; Figures 3 and 4 are views corresponding to Figures 1 and 2 of another form of fastener; Figures 5 and 6 are views corresponding to Figures 1 and 2 of yet another form of fastener; Figures 7 and 8 are plan and section views of a further form of fastener; Figures 9 and 10 are views corresponding to Figures 7 and 8 but of another fastener; Figures 11 and 1 2 are views corresponding to Figures 7 and 8 of the final form of fastener described.

A timber frame building has a number of parallel vertical frame members (studs) such as 13, regularly spaced from one another at centres of perhaps 600 millimetres, as well as horizontal head and cill members which tie the studs together and perhaps intermediate rails. Panels 14 are to be secured from the outside of the frame members, to act both as external cladding and as a structural membrane capable of carrying racking stresses in the structure, such as those due to wind loads. A panel as shown in Figure 1 is of glass fibre reinforced cement or plastic, say 8 to 10 millimetres thick, which has been moulded around the bases 1 5 of a number of fasteners having tongues 16 projecting generally perpendicularly to the plane of the panel from the inside face only.There is a line of fasteners along each edge and if required in other positions corresponding to intermediate studs or rails.

The tongues have nailing holes 17 and a slot 1 8 so that a panel can be easily fastened to a frame member as shown in Figure 1 by butting the edge of the panel against the face of the member and driving a wedge nail 19 through the slot 1 8 into the member 13 thus drawing the panel tightly to the stud and then nails or screws are driven through the holes 1 7.

Adjacent panels can have a small gap 20 between them to allow for slight variations in panel sizes due to changes in temperature and humidity.

The panels are reinforced by an increased thickness where the fasteners are secured to them, as indicated by numeral 50 in Figures 1, 3, 5, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, and 12. The increased thickness may only occur on the inside of the panels so that the outer surface of the panels presents a plane surface.

A seaiing strip 21 may be positioned between the exposed face of the stud 13 and the cooperating faces of the panels 14, with a "V" portion 22 housed in a recess 23 in the stud, to form a moisture draining channel as shown on Figure 1.

The fastener is securely fixed to the panel by its base 1 5 which is perforated by holes 27 to improve shear and withdrawal resistance. It is securely fixed to the frame member by the wedge nail 1 9 and the additional nails or screws driven into the member through the holes 1 7. The thickness and width of the fastener are designed to impart sufficient strength to transfer stresses between frame and panel while its inherent flexibility is enhanced by a bend 24 in the tongue to allow adjustment for slight inaccuracies in the building of the timber frame and for dimensional variations in use.

The arrangement shown in Figures 1 and 2 may suffer from the disadvantage that after a panel has been moulded and before it is assembled on a frame on the site, the projecting tongues 1 6 prevent a number of panels from being stacked closely together. Accordingly, the fastener shown in Figures 3 and 4 is rather different from that in Figures 1 and 2, the tongue 16 being hinged to the base 1 5 which is embedded in the panel 14. The hinge is on the inner surface of the panel so that the tongue 1 6 can be folded flat after manufacture and during storage and transport and merely erected perpendicular to the panel when the panel is to be fixed to the frame on site.

In the arrangement shown in Figures 5 and 6 the tongue 1 6 is detached from the base 1 5 before it is assembled on a frame. The edges of the tongue 1 6 and the base plate 1 5 are curled over, as indicated by numeral 52, so that they hook together and act like q hinge. This permits a number of panels to be stacked flat against one another, the tongues being inserted on site on assembly of panels to frames. Details of anchorage of base plate 1 5 and fixing procedure of the tongue are the same as described for the fastener shown on Figures 3 and 4.

Both Figures 3 and 5 show an alternative type of sealant strip between inner face of panel edge and outer face of frame member, to that shown on Figure 1. It is a compressible plastic tape, adhesive on both sides and is compressed by the drawing together of panel to frame to present a weather-tight joint.

Figures 7 and 8 illustrate another type of fastener, formed of an angle shaped strip of metal. Its base 1 5 is similar to those in Figures 1 to 6 and is similarly embedded but the projecting limb is bent at right angles at its top end 28. A stout nail 1 9 is driven into the frame member through a slot 1 8 at the slot end furthest from the panel and a hardwood wedge 29 is then inserted in the space between the turned end of the limb and the nail. The wedging action draws the panel closer to the frame, compressing the sealing strip 26 to provide a weather-tight joint. Further nails are then driven into the frame member through holes 17.

Figures 9 and 10 show another type of wedge fastener, in which a metal wedge 33, bent at its top to form a ledge for ease of inserting, is driven between the folded edge 31 of the fastener anchored in the panel and the folded edge 34 of a bracket 32 previously nailed to the frame member through holes 35. After achieving the desired drawing together of frame and panel and suitably compressing the sealant strip 26 the projecting limb is finally secured to the frame member by nailing or screwing through holes 1 7.

It should be observed that both types of wedged fasteners shown on Figures 7 and 8 and Figures 9 and 10 may be modified to have detached projecting limbs, capable of interlocking with the embedded bases by means of curled ends acting as a hinge, as described and illustrated for fastener of Figures 5 and 6.

Figures 11 and 12 show a different type of fastener, in which a captive nut 36 welded to a base plate 37 is anchored in the thickened edge of the panel 50. An angle bracket 38, bent slightly to allow for thermal and/or moisture movement of the panel, is secured to the frame member by nails or screws 39 or by bolts 40 which pass through the frame member and can secure the brackets on both sides. The panel is then drawn to the frame member by inserting bolt 41 through a hole in the bottom flange of the bracket into the captive nut 36. This type of fastener also permits close stacking of panels for storage and transport.

The drawings show how all the fasteners embodied in this invention are completely concealed from the outside of the structure while yet secured both to panel and to frame in a manner which enables them to transmit racking stresses and to accommodate slight inaccuracies and dimensional variations through thermal and/or moisture movement. Adjacent panels can be close enough together for the cladding to appear from the outside to be continuous with the small gaps being hardly noticeable.

Any of the types of fastener described in this invention may be used with sandwich panels having a hollow or insulating materials core. The base parts of the fasteners are then preferably incorporated with the inner layer of the sandwich panel and either the entire thickness of the panel or a projecting edge of the outer layer will then cover the frame member.

In light frame structures of steel or aluminium members the panels and fasteners as described in this invention may be used without modification of fixings to the framework if timber battens are attached to the members where required.

Alternatively, fixing to frame members may be by means of bolts, self-tapping screws, etc. as appropriate.

Claims

Claims

The following claims of novelty are made in respect of this invention: 1. A panel held in position on a frame structure by means of concealed mechanical fasteners, which do not disturb the outer surface of the panel.
2. A building or other structure has moulded or extruded glass fibre reinforced cement or plastic panels secured to its framework and acting both as a cladding and to carry the racking stresses of the structure through the concealed fasteners attaching panels to framework.
3. A fastener of T or angle shape shown in Figures 1 and 2 securing a panel to a frame member and possessing both adequate strength to transfer stresses between panel and frame and a measure of flexibility to accommodate slight inaccuracies in frame construction and possible movement of the panel due to temperature and/or humidity variations.
4. A fastener as described in (3) above has a slot in its projecting limb and a wedge nail fixing to enable panel and frame to be drawn tightly together on assembly to provide a weather proof joint.
5. A fastener as described in (3) and (4) above but having a hinged projecting limb for fixing to the frame, as shown in Figures 3 and 4, enabling that limb to be folded over the back of the panel for close stacking in storage and transport.
6. A fastener as described in (3) and (4) above but having a detached projecting limb for fixing to the frame member, interlocking upon assembly with the base plate in the panel, as shown in Figures 5 and 6.
7. An angle shaped fastener, as shown in Figures 7 and 8, which enables panel and frame member to be drawn together upon assembly, by means of a hardwood wedge driven between the bent top end of the projecting limb and a nail fixed to the frame member through a slot in the limb.
8. Afastener, as described in (7) above but either hinged or interlocked with the base plate in the panel, as described for the fasteners in claims (5) and (6) above.
9. A fastener, as shown in Figures 9 and 10, which enables a panel to be drawn close to a frame before fixing to it, by means of a steel wedge thrust between the folded end of the fastener and a corresponding folded edge of an independent strap fixed to the frame member.
1 0. A fastener, as described in (9) above but with the projecting limb of the angle bracket hinged or interlocked with the base, as described for the fasteners in claims (5) and (6) above.
11. A fastener, as shown in Figures 11 and 12, connecting a panel and frame member by means of a bolt which is inserted through a hole in the projecting flange of an angle bracket fixed to the frame member into a captive nut embedded in the panel. This enables panel and frame to be drawn together.