US2934934A - Construction panel - Google Patents

Description

May 3, 1960 H. A. BERLINER 2,934,934

CONSTRUCTION PANEL Filed June 6, 1957 2 Sheets-Sheet l May 3, 1960 H. A. BERLINER CONSTRUCTION PANEL 2 sheets-sheet 2 Filed June '6, 1957 ATTORNEYS CGNSIRUCTION PANEL Henry A.. Berliner, Washington, D.C. Application June 6, 1957, Serial No. 664,141

2 Claims. (Cl. 'l2-40) This application is a continuation-impart of my copending application Serial No. 382,677, tiled September 28, 1953, now abondoned, for Pre-Fabricated Building Construction Panel.

This invention relates broadly to the art of building construction and, more particularly, provides a new and improved pre-fabricated panel for use in such construction.

It has heretofore been proposed, and is now well known, to provide apre-fabricated panel for building construction purposes consisting of a flat block of cementitious material, with or without a surrounding frame of metal or other material, having rods, wire mesh or members of other forms and shapes embedded therein for the purpose of reinforcing the cementitious material.l These known panels are connected in various ways to provide a wall, ceiling or other building surface and, when so erected and connected, the reinforced cementitious material itself bears any compression, bending, shear and other loads imposed on the panel or on the building surface of which it forms a part. In such a panel the embedded reinforcing means merely performs the usual function of reinforcing and tying together the cementitious material and only incidentally and to a minor degree does it support loads imposed on the panel or on the building construction of which the panel forms a part.

The structural panel provided by my present invention differs entirely and fundamentally from such known panels. By this invention there is provided a pre-fabricated building construction panel comprising a metallic structure which itself supports substantially all of the compressive, bending, shear and other loads imposed on the panel or on the building construction of which it forms a part. This load bearing structure is completed and made into a finished panel by the provision of a cast body of lightweight, low strength, heat insulating, cementitious material which embeds and covers part of the structural member, thus forming an impervious block or panel. Additionally, a layer of high strength, impervious, cementitious material may be added to one or both surfaces of the low strength, light weight cementitious material in order to make the panel impervious to moisture and, resistant to mechanical action. If desired, a layer of ornamental material, such as crushed stone, paint, tile or the like may be placed on one or both exterior surfaces of the panel.

f It will be understood from the foregoing statement and from the following specification that the principal object of the invention has been to provide a construction panel comprising a unitary, metallic load bearing structure which is completed to the usual form and appearance of a construction panel by the -addition of cementitious material which is not intended or designed to support a material part of any load to which the panel is subjected and which serves principally to complete the panel by embedding the structural member.

Other objects and features of novelty of the invention will be made apparent by the following description and f 1,. s 2,934,934 Patented May 3, 1960 the annexed drawings which are only illustrative of the invention and impose no limitation thereon not imposed by the appended claims.

In the drawings forming part of this application,

Fig. 1 is a perspective view showing a building construction panel constructed in accordance with my invention, with parts thereof broken away;

Figs. 2 and 3 are sectional views taken on lines 2-2 and 3-3 of Fig. l, respectively;

Fig. 4 is a perspective view showing the connection of adjacent panels having the construction shown in Figs. l, 2 and 3 to form a wall or other part of a building structure;

Fig. 5 is a perspective view showing a modified form of the panel illustrated in Fig. l;

Fig. 6 is a sectional view showing a preferred form of panel according to the invention;

Fig. 7 is a perspective View of the complete panel shown in section in Fig. 6, with parts broken away, and

Fig. 8 is a sectional and perspective view of a modified form of the panel illustrated in Figs. 6 and 7.

By the present invention l provide a pre-fabricated panel for use in the construction of any structure such, for example, as residential, commercial, industrial or other buildings. These panels may be entirely solid and a number of them are adapted and intended to be con nected and joined together in co-planar or intersecting relation to form a wall, partition, roof, ceiling or other part of a structure. The panel provided by the invention comprises, in general, a structural member which is intended to support substantially all of the loads to which the panel may be subjected when the panel is used as part of a structure, and a body of cast, light weight, low strength, heat insulating, cementitious material in which at least a part of the structural member is embedded to complete the panel. In all embodiments of the invention the structural member comprises a corrugated metal sheet and in certain embodiments the structural member comprises the corrugated metal sheet and a metal frame surrounding and connected to the corrugated sheet. In all embodiments the corrugated sheet is wholly or partially embedded in a cementitious material having the physical characteristics set forth above and which has negligible strength, either in compression, bending, shear or otherwise, and which provides insulation against heat. This cementitious material may be one of the light weight, low strength aggregates such as perlite, vermiculite, pumice, or an aerated heavier aggregate, bonded by a binder which may, if desired, be cement. Such cementitious materials are very susceptible to abrasion and other mechanical action and, accordingly, one or both of the two exterior surfaces of the panel may have at least one coating of a hard, cementitious or other material which is impervious to moisture and is highly resistant to mechanical action.

In Figs. l, 2 and'3 of the drawings there is illustrated one embodiment of a panel member formed in accordance with my invention. This panel A comprises a structural member'Z formed of a corrugated metal sheet which is embedded in a block 4 formed of a very light weight cementitious material such as those referred to above. The structural member 2 is completely embedded within the block 4 except at oppositeedges thereof where it protrudes from the block, as shown at 6. Each of the two faces of the panel, which are the outer and inner faces when the panel forms a part of one of the walls of nishing compound incorporating an inert organic ller, or a waterproofing paint containing a metallic oxide and having a Portland cement base, or various plastics such as Vinylite, or a fibrous material covered with waterproof: paint.

In: all'embodiments of the invention at tile blocks may be embedded in either or both of theexterior surfaces' of the panel with their outer surfaces in the plane of the outer surface of the panel, thus forming a hard and ornamental exterior surface. Such tiles may be so embedded in accordance with the method disclosed in my' co-pending application Serial No. 570,913 led March 12, 1956, now Patent No. 2,839,812 for Method of Manu-v facturing a Structural Panel.

The structural member Z has holes l2 in the wdls'y These holes increase the of the Vcorrugations thereof.V bond between the structural member and the cementitious material 4A andk also importantly, permit .the cementitious material to be cast from one side or" the corrugated structural member without the formation of air pockets under the corrugations, thus insuring that a complete and homogeneous panel will be formed.

The use of panels according to the invention to form a wall or other surface is illustrated in Fig. 4, in which there are shown two panels A which are disposed in coplanar relation to form a wall or other part of a structurc. These adjacent panels are connected by interlitting the protruding parts 6 ofthe two panels and connecting them by welding, riveting or otherwise. lt will be apparent' that, in order to interiit the corrugated protruding endV parts 6' of two panels, those of one panel must be made slightly smaller than those of the other panel and such a relation of sizes is shown in Fig. 4. After the exposed edges ofi the structural members of adjacent panels are connected together the space between the cast parts ofiadjac'ent panels and outside of the connected protruding'.y parts 6 may be filled with grouting flush to the outer surfaces' o-f the panels to form continuous exterior surfaces. The groutingshown at 2t) in Fig. 4 is illustrative ofrsuc'h filling. it will be apparent that the protruding parts 6 may be butt' welded or connected in any other suitable` manner, in which case the corrugated structural members of all panels may he made the same size.

In' Fig. 5 of the drawings there is disclosed a panel having'y the construction described hereinbefore as being provided by this invention, but in which the protruding end parts- 6 at one or both ends of the structural mem ber 2, are capped or'covered by elongated members 21 which are U-shaped in cross-section and which extend throughout' the entire width' of the panel. The protruding ends 6 are connected to these cap members by welding, riveting or otherwise and the structural member 2 and the cap members 21 therefore form a unitary structural member intended, designed and constructedV to bear substantially all of all loads to which the panel is subjected in use. The space between each protruding end 6 and the connected cap member is filled with the lightweight, low strength, cementitious material which forms the remainder of the panel. It will be apparent that two or more capped panels, such as that disclosed in` Fig. 5, may be connected end-toend by welding or riveting together the abutting walls of the cap members.

In Figs. 6 and 7 of the drawings there is disclosed a preferred embodiment of the invention comprising, as in other embodiments, a load bearing structural member and cementitious material which embeds the structural member and, with the structural member, forms a complete panel ready for erection to form part' of! a building. The structural, load bearing member of this panel comprises a surrounding metallic frame 30, which may be rectangular in plan, which is C-shaped in cross-section, having a peripheral, preferably flat wall 32 and flanges 34, 36 extending inwardly of the panel from the edges of the wall 32. Within this peripheral frame there is disposed a corrugated metal sheet 3S which is of Vsuch size,

in plan, that its peripheral edges preferably engage the inner surface of the peripheral wall 32 of the frame mernf ber 30 and are connected thereto by welding or in any other suitable manner. The thickness of the corrugated sheet 38, i.e., the depth of the corrugations thereof, is less than the distance between the inner surfaces of the inturned flanges 34, 36. Thus, as shown in Fig. 6, one peripheral surface of the sheetV 3S rests, or substantially rests, one one flange 36 While the opposite surface of the sheet 33 is spaced inwardly ofthe inner surface of the second iiange 34. Two sheets 46, 42 ofwire mesh, which may be heavy chicken wire, cover the two surfaces of the corrugated sheet 3S and each may be welded or otherwise fastenedV to the. corrugated sheet at spaced points. These two wire mesh sheets may be of such size that their peripheral parts extend into the C-shaped peripheral frame 30 and, in such case, such parts may be welded to the flanges 34, 36 of the frame. The corrugated sheet 38 is embeddedl in a body 46 of light weight,

low strength, cementitious. material,` such as one of, theV materials describedV above; which completely fills the. sul'- rounding frame 30 and completely embeds the struc-A tural member 38, and the exterior surfaces of which are preferably flush with the outer surfaces-of flanges 34, 36. A layer 50 of hard, strength, impervious cement or concrete is formed integrally with the cementitious body 46Y by being cast substantially simultaneously with, or justbefore, the body 46. This layer 50 extends outwardly of the flange 36 preferably to have a thickness' substantially'equal to the spacing of the one surface of corrugated sheet 38 from the adjacent ange 34, and the layer 50 preferably covers the entire one surface of cementitious body 33 between the inner edges. of iianges 36. The ex.- terior surface of layer Sil forms the exterior surface of the. panel andi may be ornamented in any way if this is desired. The finished panel, which is disclosed in section.

in Fig; 6, is shown in perspective` view in Fig. 7 with parts broken away.

The surrounding frame member 3i) and the enclosed corrugated sheet 38, which engages and is attached to the frame, form a substantially unitary structural memher designed', intended and constructed to support substantially all of any compressive, bending, shear or other loads to which thepanel may be subjected in use. The frame member and the corrugated sheet may be formed of sheet metal of gauges which will be sufficient to give the strength required for any intended use.

In a furtherY form which the invention may take the corrugated sheet is of substantially the same depth or thickness as the distance between the inner surfaces of the li'anges of the peripheral frame. This embodiment of Ithe invention 'is disclosed in Fig. 8 of the drawings andV comprises the C-shaped peripheral frame 36, having @he outer wall 32 andV flanges 34, 36 and' the corrugated metal sheet 60, the thickness of which, i.e., the depth of its corrugations, istsuch that the peripheral parts of the opposite edges of the sheet, with the connected sheet 64 of wire mesh, engage the inner surfaces of the flanges. The frame is entirely filled with a cast, light weight, low strength cementitious material 66 to a level substantially flush with the outer surfaces of the flanges. An additional layer 70 of high strength, hard, cementitious material is added to one or both of the surfaces of the body of low strength cementitious material 66, as shown in Fig. 8, in order to provide a surface having a high resistance to mechanical action and imperviousness to moisture.

It will be apparent that panels formed in accordance with thisV invention may have window, door or other openings therein, while others will have no openings whatever. Panels forrned in accordance with this invention may be manufactured in a central location or on the job and in. standard stock sizes or in accordance with individual specifications. Because of the lightness in weight of the panels due to the use of very light Weight f will be utilized.

aggregate materials in combination with a structural member embedded in the aggregate and intended to take all loads, the panels may be ezsily and cheaply transported from a central location at which they are manufactured to the construction site and may be easily and quickly erected.

Obviously, panels formed in accordance with my invention may be used as the interior or exterior walls of a building. As they may be manufactured to a great variety of standard specifications, or to individual design, they may be used in various combinations to provide an almost infinite number of arrangements or appearances.

l It will be understood that in the use of a panel formed in accordance with my invention, the panel may be so erected that the corrugations of the structural member extend either vertically or horizontally, depending on the requirements of the job. Preferably, however, the panel is so erected that the corrugations extend vertically so that the maximum load bearing strength of the panel It is preferred that the corrugations in the structural member be rectangular in cross-sectional shape but that they may have any other desired crosssectional shape.

While I have described and illustrated certain embodiments of my invention, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that other embodiments, as well as modifications of those disclosed, may be made and practiced without departing in any way from the spirit or scope of the invention for the limits of which reference must be had to the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

l. A pre-fabricated building construction panel comprising a surrounding metallic frame which is C-shaped in cross-section having a flat outer peripheral wall and flanges extending inwardly of the panel from the opposite edges of the wall, a metal sheet having corrugations extending in the direction of said flanges disposed within said frame with its peripheral edges in engagement with the inner surface of said wall whereby said frame and corrugated sheet form a load-bearing structural member, the corrugations of said sheet being of such a depth that the peripheral part of one surface of said sheet engages the inner surface of one of said flanges and the peripheral part of the other surface of said sheet is spaced from the inner surface of the other flange, a body of low strength, light weight cementitious material embedding said corrugated sheet and filling said surrounding frame, and a second body of high strength cementitious material integrally connected to the first body of cementitious material and extending over one entire exterior surface thereof between the edges of the flange surrounding said exterior surface.

2. A pre-fabricated building construction panel comprising a surrounding metallic frame which is C-shaped in cross-section having a flat outer peripheral wall and anges extending inwardly of the panel from the opposite edges of the wall, a metal sheet having corrugations extending in the direction of said flanges disposed within said frame with its peripheral edges in engagement with the inner surface of said wall whereby said frame and corrugated sheet form a load-bearing structural member, the corrugations of said sheet being of such a depth that the peripheral part of one surface of said sheet engages the inner surface of one of said flanges and the peripheral part of the other surface of said sheet is spaced from but adjacent the inner surface of the other flange, a body of low strength, light weight cementitious material embedding said corrugated sheet to the opposite surfaces thereof and filling said surrounding frame, and a second body of high strength cementitous material integrally connected to the rst body of cementitious material and extending over one entire exterior surface thereof between the edges of the flange surrounding said exterior surface and extending outside of the outer surfaces of the anges adjacent-said exterior surface.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,410,923 Johnston Mar. 28, 1922 1,645,214 Barratt Oct. l1, 1927 1,892,498 Adams Dec. 27, 1932 1,945,124 Strauss Jan. 30, 1934 2,035,595 Crowe Mar. 31, 1936 2,142,305 Davis Jan. 3, 1939 2,151,148 Plumb Mar. 21, 1939 2,154,619 Hurley Apr. 18, 1939 2,220,349 Plumb Nov. 5, 1940 2,338,246 Hoge Jan. 4, 1944 2,575,758 Herd Nov. 20, 1951 2,616,283 Branstrator Nov. 4, 1952

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