NZ219056A - Wedge up hook connector - Google Patents

Description

2.140S& NEW ZEALAND PATENTS ACT 1953 /V No.: 219056 Date: 26 January 1987 «♦ • ^Jj COMPLETE SPECIFICATION "Improvements in or Relating to Methods of Building and/or Building Structures" I, REIN KLAZES, a Dutch Subject of Okawa Bay Road, Mourea R.D. 4, Rotorua, New Zealand hereby declare the invention for which I pray that a patent may be granted to me, and the method by which it is to be performed, to be particularly described in and by the following statement: This invention relates to methods of building and/or connections for use in building structures and/or building structures including such connectors.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a method of building and/or connectors for use in building structures and/or building structures including such connectors which will at least provide the public with a useful choice.

Accordingly, in one aspect, the invention consists in a method of building said method comprising the steps of interconnecting a plurality of structural members using connectors each comprising a tension member and a wedge means by inserting a tension member through a hole in side members of two adjacent structural members, manipulating the tension member so that a part of the connector contacts the side member to which that part of the tension member is adjacent so that the tension member resists forces tending to pull the tension member out of the hole in the axial line of the hole and wedging the opposite end of the tension member between the adjacent face of the other panel with a wedging force which maintains outer faces of the two structural members in contact with each other.

In a further aspect the invention consists in a connector for connecting structural members, said connector comprising a tension member, one end of said tension member having a structural member engaging surface arranged to engage a structural member adjacent a hole through which the tension member has been inserted so as to resist a clamping force and a wedge means arranged to engage a further structural member ~2-i°\oS'(s through which the tension member has been inserted, tightening of the wedge member extending said clamping force to clamp the two structural members together.

In a still further aspect the invention consists in a building structure comprising a plurality of structural members fixed to each other by connectors constructed according to any one of claims 8 to 12 said connectors each being fixed by placing each tension member in a hole with one end of the tension member bearing against the surface of the structural member adjacent the hole and the other end of the tension member being wedged between a part of the tension member and the surface of the structural member adjacent the hole.

To those skilled in the art to which the invention relates, many changes in construction and widely differing embodiments and applications of the invention will suggest themselves without departing from the scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims. The disclosures and the descriptions herein are purely illustrative and are not intended to be in any sense limiting.

One preferred form of the invention and modifications thereof will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings in which; Figure 1 is a cross section of parts of two panels including side members thereof interconnected by a connector in accordance with the present invention; Figure 2 is a cross section of an exterior corner of a building using the present invention; Figure 3 shows an external to internal wall joint according to the invention; Figure 4 is a cross section showing a wall including floor ceiling and roof interconnections; Figure 5 is a diagrammatic sketch showing a plurality of panels constructed and connected according to the invention; Figure 6 is a diagrammatic sketch of a ridge beam section; Figure 7 and 8 show an alternative form of connector formed from sheet or strip material; Figures 9 to 11 show a tubular form of a dowel member and its use in a structure; and Figures 12 and 13 show a further alternative form of connector and its application.

Referring to the drawings, to construct a building for a example a dwelling house or a garage or a green-house or a glass house a plurality of panels are made and for example in Figure 1 for a dwelling house each panel 1 or 2 is made comprising a side member such as the side members 3 and 4 one on each side of the panel and the side members are interconnected by top and bottom members. Preferably for a dwelling house for example external sheathing is applied during manufacture. Each side member is provided with a plurality of modularly spaced holes 5 each hole 5 being of a suitable size for example 20 mm in diameter and preferably being provided centrally in the side members 3 and 4. To enable two such panels to be interconnected, a connector is provided the connector comprising a tension member 10 having a timber engaging member 11 at one end and if the tension member 10 is of round rod, as is preferable, the timber engaging member 11 is formed to a J shape by forming the member 11 to one side of the central portion of the tension member and extending over say 135° of arc. At the opposite end of the tension member there is provided a wedge engaging means 13 made by forming the rod to a semicircular formation i.e. over 180° of arc. To tighten the joints between the two side members 3 and 4 a wedge 14 forming part of the connector is provided which is wedged between a slot 15 in the surface of the side member 1 and the formed portion 13 of the tension member. Such wedge is wider at one end than the other i.e. it is wedge shaped and the tightening is effected by hammering the wedge into position to tighten the joint.

As a result the two side members of the two panels 1 and 2 are held closely together. The wedge may be made from metal e.g. steel or a suitable plastics material e.g. unplasticized polyvinyl chloride.

Sheathing 20 (preferably external sheathing) is applied to the panels before they are joined by the connecting means and preferably in a factory and such sheathing may comprise plywood or suitably treated hardboard or any other suitable and known type of sheathing to provide a substantially waterproof cover.

Shaped vinyl members 21 are provided which if desired may be inserted down the joint between adjacent sheathing 20 after the panels have been connected together by connectors.

L^JOtjC 2->SoS4 In Figure 2 an external corner is shown and to provide such a corner vertical studs 30 are fixed for example to the side member 4 by nailing or in any other convenient way.

Short lengths of sheathing 31 and 32 are fixed in position and then a further panel side member 3 is held in position by a connector 10 fixed in position as above described.

In Figure 3 an external wall panel 34 is provided with an internal partition with a two part vertical nogging 35 butted in between horizontal bottom-, middle- and top members of the panel 34. This two part vertical nogging is added to a standard panel in order to provide support for interior lining that can be fixed to the panel after all the panels have been positioned and interconnected. The exterior wall panel with the side member 42 has been drawn as an exterior wall joinery panel but could have been a panel similar to panel 34.

The internal partition has one side sheathed as at 37 and its member 36 is fixed to the side member 38 of an external panel by a tension member 10 mounted as above described and fixed with the wedge 14 the end 11 of that connector is fixed to the side of a hole 40 and a further tension member 10 mounts through that hole to join the side members 41 and 42. If necessary the wedge 14 is a standard wedge provided with a rectangular rebate to allow room for the tension member 10 that connects interior panel side member 36 to exterior panel side member 41.

In Figure 4 lower and upper parts of a vertical wall construction are shown in which bearers 50 carry a plate 51 which in turn carries a floor 52 being rebated out at 53. A tension member 10 holds the bottom member 54 to the plate 51 and thus holds the panel 55 in position. The upper member 56 is held to a top plate 57 by a further connector 10 and the roof is shown at 58.

In Figure 5 a series of panels are shown looked at from the interior and various irregularities likely to met with in practice are accommodated. For example a first panel 60 has a connector and wedge arrangement top and bottom as shown at 61 and at 62 are shown dowels which are simply inserted in spaced apart holes provided. The second panel 63 is fixed to the first panel 60 as above described and the second panel on the right hand edge has a warped side member 64 associated with another warped side member 65 on the panel 66. Again a tension member and wedge arrangement 61 are provided top and bottom with dowels shown at 62. The other edge of the panel 66 is connected to a panel 67 but in this the warping is the opposite way and accordingly the tension member and wedge are provided in central or intermediate locations 68 between the dowels 69.

In Figure 6, a ridge beam is provided by a preferably hollow box member 75 to which two (or one for a beam to) side members 76 are fixed by the connectors 10 and wedges 14 arranged as shown and as above described. Purlins 77 and a ridge board 78 are provided with roofing 79 thereabove.

To fix roof rafters or perhaps roof trusses in position either the same tension member can be used or if desired a rod threaded at one end and having the other end formed to a jay or L shape can be used. In sulation may be provided by using aluminium foil or in situ foamed insulation or slab foamed insulation such as foamed urethane or polystyrene or rockwool or fibreglass insulation placed in position parimeter on site or in the factory.

Dwangs are provided in wall panels and if the wall panels members are of 100 mm by 50 mm or 75 mm by 50 mm material then the dwangs may be of 50 mm by 50 mm material enabling wiring and flexible plumbing pipes to be inserted by weaving in and out through the apertures between the dwangs and the sheathing material and extra holes drilled in the parimeter members. The advantages of this are considerable.

The internal sheathing may be of any usual form such as Gibraltar board stopped in the usual way. The panels themselves may be of any convenient size but preferably are to suit the usual 1200 mm by 2400 mm module currently used in New Zealand internal and external joinery such as door frames window frames and so on can be readily incorporated in suitable panels. As exterior lining materials plywood particularly a plywood simulating planking e.g. ship lap or gypsum based products i.e. Hardi-products weather boards or ship lap boards applied vertically or diagonally. Plastics based panels may be used. Preferably the side members of the panels are arrised to enable the sealing strips to be readily inserted in position. Such sealing could be of gum applied plastics or a compressible strip glued to one side member in a groove therefor. Interior panels may be sheathed on one side and this is preferable to maintain squareness and of course with the exterior panels if the sheathing material is strong enough e.g. plywood adequate bracing is then provided. Alternatively braces could be applied on internal faces e.g. metal angle braces of known form preferably installed in rabbets.

The tension members may be manufactured from rod material as above described or injection moulded from a plastics material. In a further alternative the tension members are provided as a hook member 80 (Figure 7) shaped out of sheet or strip material preferably steel along a shear line 81. The shear line also forms a wedge 82. The hook member 80 is parted from the present metal by a transverse slear cut 83. Thus the tension means and the wedge material are cut from the same metal to reduce wastage. The use of such a hook member and wedge is shown in Figure 8 where two studs 85 are held together by the connector. Joints between panel cladding sheets 70 are preferably covered with a shaped extrusion.

In order to keep the tension member in the right position in a hole during wedging it may be desirable to provide a guide e.g. a cylindrical piece of metal with a handle on it and having a groove which will retain the stem of the connector in position during wedging.

In Figures 9 to 11 a dowel member is tubular, either as a tube 85 without a gap as shown in Figure 9 or as a tube 86 with a longitudinal gap 87 as shown in Figure 10. The ends of 21!iG56 the tubular dowel member are preferably radiused or level on outer edges (not shown). In use the tubular dowel members 85 or 86 are driven into the aligned holes in say studs 88 or 89 (Figure 11) and tension members 80 passed through the tubular dowel members and wedged by a wedge 82 as before where a gapped tube 86 is provided, the tension member 80 is preferably arranged to lie partially in the gap 87. The tubular dowel members 86 may be provided by rolling strip metal to cylindrical form but without closing the gap. Also the gap 87 could be machined out of cylindrical tube.

A still further alternative form of the invention is shown in Figure 12, which has some similarity to that shown in Figure 7, but varies in detail. Thus a hook marker 90 is provided with a slot 91 and is separated by a shear line 92 form a wedge member 93. As shown in Figure 13 the building members 94 are held together by passing the hook member 90 through aligned apertures in the members 94 and a wedge member 93 inserted in the slot 91 and tightened up as above described.

The building system has been developed in order to enable the public to erect buildings such as garages glass-houses dwelling houses and light commercial buildings in a very quick and easy manner in order to avoid dependency on and effects from weather conditions. It is believed that after completion of the foundations a small house can be erected and made completely weatherproof within one day. A further advantage of the construction is that because the holes are provided at modularly spaced intervals e.g. 100 mm, such holes which are not used for 21SG56 connectors or dowels may be used for passing flexible plumbing tubes and electrical wiring cables thus simplifying these procedures.

It will be clear that the invention provides considerable savings in time of erection of a building on site in that the fixing of the connectors and wedging up to provide a tight construction is quickly and simply effected.

Claims (8)

219056 WHAT I CLAIM IS:

1. A method of building said method comprising the steps of interconnecting a plurality of structural members using connectors each comprising a tension member having a wedging surface at one end thereof and a structural member engaging surface at the other end and a wedge means by inserting the end of said tension member having said structural member engaging surface through a hole in side members of two adjacent structural members, manipulating the tension member so that said structural member engaging surface contacts the side member to which that part of the tension member is adjacent so that the tension member resists forces tending to pull the tension member out of the hole in the axial line of the hole and applying a wedging force parallel to the line of connection between said wedging surface and said structural member engaging surface by wedging said wedge means between an adjacent surface of the adjacent side member and said wedging surface of said tension member which force maintains outer faces of the two structural members in contact with each other.

2. A method as claimed in Claim 1 which includes the steps of connecting at least two said tension members and wedges between said side members of adjacent structural members.

3. A method as claimed in Claim 1 or Claim 2 which includes the steps of fixing dowels through aligned holes to align said structural members said dowels being inserted in holes spaced apart from said connectors. 7\ 9056

4. A method as claimed in Claim 3 which includes the step of using a tubular dowel member having a passageway therein and inserting said tension member through said passageway in said tubular dowel member.

5. A method as claimed in any one of the preceding claims which includes the step of selecting said structural members from panels, plates, rafters, studs columns and other building members.

6. A method of building when effected substantially as herein described with reference to and as illustrated by the accompanying drawings.

7. A connector for connecting structural members, said connector comprising a tension member, having a wedging surface at one end thereof and being hooked at the other end thereof, said hook being adapted to be inserted through a hole in the structural members to be connected and having a structural member engaging surface arranged to engage a structural member adjacent the hole through which the end of said tension member having said structural member engaging surface has been inserted so as to resist a clamping force, and a wedge means arranged to engage said wedging surface and a further structural member through which the tension member has been inserted, tightening of the wedge means extending said clamping force to clamp the two structural members together.

8. A connector as claimed in Claim 7 wherein said wedge means comprise a wedge interposed between the surface of said further structural member and an adjacent part of said connector. -yC- A3 tl.Z. P:\TEKT OFFKE 14 MAY 1991 219056 said tension member comprises a rod formed to a J shape at each end. (Qstl. A connector as claimed in any one of Claims 7 to S wherein said tension member is sheared from a strip of metal, the shear line also forming one edge of a wedge means. lO \\Jk2\ A connector as claimed in Claim H wherein said tension member is provided with a slot towards the end of said tension member remote from said structural member engaging surface and said wedge means is inserted through said slot. J£jr5. A connector as claimed in Claim kl wherein said tension member is provided with a wedging surface facing said structural member engaging surface but spaced away therefrom and said wedge means is inserted to engage said wedging surface. '3 A connector when constructed arranged and operable substantially as herein described with reference to and as illustrated by the accompanying drawings. A connector as claimed in any one of Claims 7 to $ wherein 219056 tLj-'A building structure comprising a plurality of structural members fixed to each other by connectors constructed according to any one of Claims 7 to said connectors each being fixed by placing the end of each tension member having said structural member engaging surface through a hole in adjacent structural members with the end of said tension member having said structural member engaging surface bearing against the surface of the structural member adjacent said hole and the other end of the tension member being wedged between a part of the tension member and the surface of a further structural member adjacent the hole. JHJ". A building structure as claimed in Claim wherein said structural members comprise side members of panels. lb yf. A building structure as claimed in Claim $ or Claim if wherein said panels are sheathed on one side before erection. \T / \~J JkU. A building structure as claimed in Claim 16 or Claim -3rT lb wherein said panels comprise side and end members with said sheathing fixed to said side and end members and said holes are provided at modular intervals along said side and end members. {fT-arS". A building structure as claimed in any one of Claims to It wherein sealing means are provided between adjacent panels on exterior surfaces of the joints between adjacent panels. A building structure as claimed in any one of Claims i^*to wherein dowels are fitted in coincident holes in said side members.;-><f-;' ' 219056;'i;2o«2T. A building structure as claimed in Claim -2CT wherein at least AiR&S. some of said dowels comprise tubular dowel members and said;6-6-qr;0K;J?/;tension members are fixed within the interior of at least some of said tubular dowel members.;411*22. A building structure when constructed and arranged AJ£&S substantially as herein described with reference to and as illustrated by the accompanying drawings. \^> DAY OF SON APPLICANT © o