CA1113672A

CA1113672A - Building planks and a method of making the same

Info

Publication number: CA1113672A
Application number: CA317,501A
Authority: CA
Inventors: Johannes J. Van Loghem; Johannes La Grouw
Original assignee: GROUW JOHANNES
Current assignee: GROUW JOHANNES
Priority date: 1977-12-15
Filing date: 1978-12-06
Publication date: 1981-12-08
Also published as: US4485538A; GB2010175A; GB2037656B; DE2854360A1; AU528357B2; NO784209L; GB2010175B; AU4221478A; SE7812657L; GB2037656A; US4285181A; SE438887B; JPS5490820A

Abstract

ABSTRACT OF DISCLOSURE
An insulation filled building plank having two spaced apart boards held together and separated by webs having dovetail connections with the boards and being at an angle to the longitudinal axis of the plank so that any transverse cut of the plank will cut a web is produced on apparatus which first cuts matching dovetail grooves on surfaces of the boards arranged face to face after which the boards are turned to have the dovetail surfaces facing each other and the apparatus pulls dovetails of webs into the grooves in the boards from a magazine and then the apparatus fills the spaces between the webs and boards with an in situ foamable insulation.

Description

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'L'hiS invellt:ion relates to bu:ildin~ planks and/or methods ~nd/or appa~atus for mak:incJ the same.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a building p:Lank ancl/or a method and/or appara-tus for making the same which will at least provide the public with a useful choice.
~ ccorclingly in one aspect the inven-tion consis-ts in a building plank comprising two spaced apart substan-tially para]lel,timber'facinc3 members, a plurali-ty of transverse webs between said facing members, connecting means between each web end and its adjacent facing member and insulation material placed between said faciny members and between said webs, said webs being arranged at an angle -to the longitudinal axis of the plank so -that web contact with the facing members is substantially continuous over the length of the plank, the connec-tions to -the facing members and said connec-ting members and webs resisting movement of said ' faclng members relative to each o-ther. ~
In a further aspect -the invention consists in a,method of making a composite plank comprising two hoards in-ter-connected by webs having dovetails engaged in dovetail slots in said boards said method ~comprising the steps of cutting , dovetail slots across said boards at a suitable angle -to the longitudinal axis of said boards placing -two boards spaced apart side by side with said dovetail slots facing each other and drawing a plurality of said webs into the space between said boards so that the dovetails of the webs engage in - oppositely disposed dovetail slots and placing insula-tion in the $pac`es between the webs and the boards.

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~ til.L lurthe~r aspect tile :invent:io~ cons.ists .in apparatus for use .in producirlg planks, said apparatus comprisincl dovetailing means for providincJ dove-tails in exposed sur.Eaces of boards, the doveta:ils beiny at a suitable angle to the longitudinal axis oE the boards, means to insert a plurality of webs or sep~rators having dove-tailed edges :in said clove-tails when said boards are arranged with the dovetailed edges facing.each o-ther and spaced apart and means to inser-t insulation in -the spaces between the webs and the boards.
To those skilled in the art to which this invention relates many changes in construction and widely differing embodiments and applications of -the invention will suggest themselves Witllout departing from the scope of the inven-tion ~ as defined in the appended claims. The disclosures and -the ; . description herein are purely illustrative and are not .; intended -to be in any sense limi-ting.

One prefer-red form of the inven-tion will now be described :` , .
- with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:- -:~ 20 Flg. 1 is a perspe.ctive view of a building plank according -to the invention, Fig. 2 is a cross-sectional elevation of the plank shown in Fig. 1 with one transverse web omit-ted therefrom, - Fig. 3 is a cross-sectional eleva-tion of an alternative form of building plank, ` Fig. ~ is an enlarged scrap view of a joint between a web and a facing member of the plank shown in.Fig. 1, Fig. 5 is a transverse cross-section of -the plank shown in Flg. 1, -~ " .

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1 Fic~. 6 is a sketch view of Eour saws arran~ed to produce dovetailed grooves on boards accorcling to the invention, (which appears on the page with figure 1), Fi~. 7 is a sketch view showing operation of the saws to produce the dovetailed grooves, Fig. 8 is a sketch view o~ a clamping means used to clamp boards while -the dovetail grooves are being cut, (which appears on the page with figure 1)l~
Fig. 9 is a diagrammatic side elevation of a web in-serting means according to the invention, (which appears on thepage with figure 7), Fig. 10 is an end view oE apparatus shown in Fig. 4, (which appears on -the page with figure 7), Fiy. 11 is a side view of a preferred form of web according to the invention, (which appears on the page with figure 4), Fig. llA is a perspective scrap view of part of the web of Fig. 11, (which appears on the page with figure ~), Fig. 12 is a side elevation of a web engaging means twhich appears on the page with figure 7) and Fig. 13 is a front view of the same, (which appears on the page with figure 4), Fig. 14 is a sketch showing the web extracting means arranged in dovetailed grooves, (which appears on the page with figure 4), Fig. 15 is an enlarged view of part of Fig. 4 showing the web inserting means in action, ~which appears on the page with figure 4), Fig. 16 is a diagrammatic side elevation of a means for providing insulation in planks made according to the 3~ invention (which appears on the page with figure 3), and ~3~72 1 Fiy. 17 is an enlarged v.iew of a conveyor belt used to retail insulation in position (which appears on the page with flgure 1).
In -the preferred fo.rm of the invention an insulated building plank is constructed as follows. Two boards 1 and 2 are provided which may, for example, be rouyh sawn boards.
One face of each board is machined or cut to form the female portions or grooves 4 of the timber housing joints such as a dovetail joint and may, for example, be machined to -4a-,s~,, ~ , ,~

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tlle pro~ ShOWIl at 3 :in Fi.g. 4. Tlle Jrooves are preferably machined il~ the arrancJement shown in Fiy. 2 l.e. in a seri0s of paralleL sloping grooves similar to groove ~ cut transversely across the face of the facing members. The two boards 1 and 2 are then arranclcd as shown in Fiy. 1 so -tha~ the machined grooves of one hoard 1 align with and are faced by the machined grooves of -the other board 2. A plurality of tlmber webs 5 are 6~ prov,idecl Eormed from suitable material e.g. from plywood bu-t~
preEerably as a plastics moulcling and the edge of each ~eb A!
is formed to the male dovetail profile 6 to fit in the Eemale dovetail profile 3 machined in the facing members. The webs 5 are inserted by sliding into the aligned pairs of grooves 4 in the facing members so as to form a girder like structure as shown in E'ig. 1 having -the -two boards 1 and 2 connected by the webs 5.
The angle 7 be-tween longi-tudinal edge 8 and any web 5 is arranged so -that any transverse cut 72 will intersect at least one web 5. This arrangement adds considerably to the strength ~ of the plank and combined wi-th -the dovetail joints comprising -, 20 grooves ~ and profile 6 materially limi-ts relative movement due to warping or shrinking as between boards 1 and 2.
In an alternative construction shown in Fig. 3 the webs 5 and 9 may be disposed in zig-zag formation, the webs over-lapping in a manner such as,to permit insertion. This construction is likely to be stronger but more diEficult to make.
An in si-tu foamed material is then poured in the cavities ' 10~ formed between -the facing members and between the webs so -that the foamed material foams up to fill the cavities and form a heat insulation material in the core of the plank.

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Surplus Eoam wl~icl-l overflows the eclcJes of the plank may, of eourse, be tr:immed to slze. Any suitab]e hea-t insulating foam may be used but lt is preferred to use polyurethane foam which also acts as an excellent glue or adhesive -to hold the -timber Eacing members and webs flrmly -together.
rrhe edges o~ the plank are then Eormed by machining or milling to the tongue and groo~ve type profiles 11 and 12 'shown in Fig. 5 so that a plurality oE planks so formed may be joined edge to edge to form a con-tinuous s-tructure. It is to be noted tha-t the insula-tion 13 is machined to -the profiles 11 and :L2' ~ preferably the proiling of the insulation ,is arranged so that there is some compression of insulation as between -two planks -to stop or inhibit air flow through -the join-ts.
~ lthough the timber plank has been described in one form it will be apparent that the plank may take many other ~orms.
For example, the webs may be arrayed in the alternative configuration shown in ~ig. 3 leaving triangular cavities 7 between the webs. This form of web configuration is particularly sui-table for use with an"alternative form oE
' insulation which is cut to the triangular configuration and , then placed into the triang,ular cavities as shown.
Machining for volume production of the above'plank is provided as follows.
~- , ' Referring to Fig. 6,two boards 1 and 2 are clamped face :...................................................... .
to face by suitable clamping means such as those shown in Fig. 8 and means are provided to,cut -the grooves ~ a-t a suitable angle across'the boards. 'Such means preferably comprise, for each dovetail groove, a pair of saws 2~0 and 21 .
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1 operatin(J on t]le hoarcl 1 ancl another pair o~ saws 22 and 23 operatincJ on the board 2. These saws are arranged to remove the material o~ the dovetail cJrooves 4 as the saws are traversed across the board. A plurality of, pre~erably four, sets of saws are provided, each se-t comprising the four saws 20, 21, 22 and 23 as shown in Fig. 1 and each saw being driven by an electric motor 2~ and mounted on a traversing slide shown diagrammatically at 30 in ~igure 7.
In a specific example t:he saw cuts are made at 140 mm intervals and the four sets of saws spaced apart at 560 mm.
The saws reciprocate on slides 30 (Fig. 7) fixed to a longitu-dinal frame 31 and saw cuts are made in each direction of reciprocation. The boards 1 are clamped back to back on frame 31 by clamps 33. Clamp 32 clamps the boards to the piston rod of ram 34. Ram 34 is fixed to the piston rod of ram 35 and the rams 34 and 35 move the boards over the frame 31 as follows. Ram 34 has a 140 mm stroke and ram 35 an 1820 mm stroke. Assume both rams 34 and 35 to be retracted.
The saws are reciprocated in a first direction. Clamps 33 are released. The ram 34 is then extended 140 mm, clamps 33 are re-clamped and the saws reciprocated in a second opposite direction. While the second cuts are being made, clamp 32 is released, ram 34 retracted and clamp 32 re-engaged. After the second cuts are completed, clamps 33 are released, the ram 34 extended a further 140 mm, clamp 33 re-clamped and the saws reciprocated in the first direction again. While the saws are cutting, clamp 32 is released, ram 34 retracted, clamp 32 reclamped. Then after the third cuts are made, clamps 33 are released, ram 34 extended 140 mm, clamps 33 reclamped and the fourth cuts made. Clamp 32 is released, ram 34 retracted ~' ' i ' :
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and clam~ 32 re-encJacJecl. '~hu~, four sets of cuts have been made leaving sixteen cuts on the boards spaced at 1~0 mm. The clamps 33 are released, the ram 35 is extended 1~20 mm carrying the boards 1 and 2 with it, clamps 33 clamped, clamp 32 released, the ram 35 retrac-ted, clamp 32 clamped and the cycle recommenced.
The movemen-t of the boards 1 & 2 as a result of these actions is as follows. Since the saws are spaced 560 mm apart the distance from the first to the last saw is 168~ mm the boards are moved 1~0 mm three times so -that the distance between the first and last cu-ts is ~100 mm. Accordingly -to position the boards so that the first of the next group of cuts to be made commences 140 mm from the last of -the cuts already made the boards have to be moved to accomodate 3 sets of 560 mm spacings plus la0 mm i.e. 1820 mm i.e. the stroke of ram 35.
One of the clamps 32 and 33 (a greater number may be ; provided if desired) is shown in ~ig. 8. The clamp is released by moving member 36 in the direction of the arrow 37. The boards l and 2 are then moved lengthwise to a stop, for example, a stop engaging the last one of the dovetail grooves which has been made as above described or a stop incorporated in ram 34 or ram 35, the board is then reclamped by moving in an opposite direction to arrow 37, the boards by the clamping movement being pressed against a side stop 38 fitted on the frame 31. The boards to form the plank have their ends squared before entering the apparatus above described and boards are fed in with such squared ends abutting so that the process is continuous across joins in the boards. After a pair of boards l and 2 have been operated on, the operator reverses the boards so that the dovetail sides are face to face and the previous inner faces are now the outer faces of the boards.

1 The boarcls are then placed :in apparatus shown in F:igs.
9 ancl lO. In SUC}I apparatus the hoards, of which only the boarcl

2 may be seen in Fig. 9 and the boards 1 and 2 seen in Fig. 5, are driven by pressure rollers 40 and are supported on further rollers 41. Posl-tioned below -the rollers 41 (Fig. 9) is a magazine 42, the magazine being arranged to contain a weh 5 or separator, for example, as shown in Fig. ll. The webs 5 are positioned in the magazine 42 so as to have a slope which is at the same angle as the angle of the a -~ ~ ' ' , ' ' ' ': . , 7;2 dovet:a:i:ls, thc)~ jc;, ~ Le 7(Fig.2). ~ pre.C;sure p:lale ~4 .is provided ~rrclng~cl to maintain ti~e webs 5 so as to maintain the webs(Fig.3) in position 1.ightly held one against the other.
However, because the we~s have dovetai] members 46 the outer faces 45 o~ whicZl are thicker than the remainder of the webs, -the webs will onl~ contact each other -throuyh the edges of t~e surfaces 45 leaving a space between -the joining portions 47. The webs 5 are preferably made, for example, injection moulded from sui-table plastics material and are provided with joining portions 47 alternating with spaces 48. As may be seen in Fig. 11~ the dovetail members 46 have channels or grooves 73 and 74 in them to allow the : insulation foam to penetrate under pressure between dovetail surEaces of the webs 5 and boards 1 and 2 to act as an adhesive.
To fix -the webs in position in the slots web inserting means comprise a series of piston and cylinder assemblies 50 arranged at : the angle 7- to the boards 2 and these piston and cylinder assemblies have clraw hooks 51 shown in more de-tail in Figs. 12, 13 and 14. Thus, each draw hook has a pointed member 52 and a shoulder 53, the shouIder 53 being arranged to engage an edge 54 of the web member ~O
- A stem 55 is fixed to a guide 56, the guide 56 fitting in the 2.0 dovetail grooves 3 of the boards 1 and 2 as may be seen in Fig.14.
The guide 56 has a double bevel or tapered edge 58. Indexing means similar to those used to index -the board groovings as described above are provided to index -the boards 1 & 2 into posi-tion so that the draw hooks 51 may extend through spaces between adiacent webs 5 provided by edge 45 until the shoulder 53 engages hehind.a member 54 and an upward force is then exerted to pull the web into position between the boards 1 and~2 thus Eorming a plank. This is .~ s.hown more clearly in Fig. 15. Again the piston and cylinder ~ assemblies are separated by a suitable distance ancl the _ g _, ': .
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.i.nclexi.rlg :i.s s~lcll tllat: al.l. tlle dc)vcl:a:i].s llave ~,/ehs insc~ted ~hereLIl b~ ~cl)eaL-ecl operati.orl of tlle p:iStOIl and cyl:i.nder assembLies W.i.~:il tllc boards 1 and 2 beincJ moved be-tweerl successi.ve operations of the piston ancl cylinder assemblies 50. :tt is to be noted that once the webs have been pulled between ~he boards 1 and 2 movelnent oE the planlcs in tl-e : direction of the arrow 60 (Fiy. 9) results in release of the shoulder 53 from the edye 54 of a w~b spacer or separator 5.
~ fter the webs 5 have bee:n inserted, the plank is movecl to the apparatus shown more particularly in Figs. 16 and 17.
In E'ig. 16 the boards 1 and 2 and the associated webs 5 now Eorm a plan~ 61 which is moved by a suitable conveyor on an endless belt 62 and above tlle plank 61 is a furthcr endless be]t 63. ~ nozzle or pair of nozzles 64 is or are provided throucJII which a suitable foamillg insulant is provided such as a foamable ure-tllane, the insulan-t being placed in the spaces 10 between the webs and-tle boards 1 and 2. To ensure that the insulan-t does not fall through at least the lower - belt 62 is in the form of a "fat" T with the stem 67 of the . 20 T having a hollow interior 65 and the stem ~is arranged so that it is a -tight fit in the space 66 between the boards 1 and 2 so that when the boards 1 and 2 are pressed onto the belt 62 by the belt 63, the stem of the T 67 will substnn-tially se,al the bottom edyes of the boards 1 and 2. ~xpansion of the . Eoam talces place substan-tially immedia-tely after admission through the nozzles 64, i.e. after mixing of the foamable .
urethalle and curing then occurs through the space 60 between the belts 63 and 62.~ Curing is substantially completed at the , end of this run after which the boards have their edges , ` 10 --.

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.. . .: , z ~Irc!sse~l to tl~e tollc~ c~ anc'l gLOOVe fC)rlTlcltiOIl O~ E'ig. S' or otller~/ise as ~lesirecl. The outer faces 71 ar~ also dressed ~t this staye. It ïs to be noted that because of the formation of tlle webs onto boarcls 1 and 2 separa-tions such as separation 72 will ~e spanned by usually one but possibly more webs depending on the angLe 7 and the posi-tioning of the cut or separation. These can be simply cut at such joillts by a suitable saw. ~hus, if desired, timber men~ers forming -the plank~s could have pieces fincJer jointed to each o-ther and glue(l in position so that a continuous member is provided which can then be cu-t -to length only after the end of -the construction of a plan]c as above described.
It will be clear from the foregoing that at least in the ! preferred form the inven-tion provides apparatus and/or a method of providing plan];s which is simple -to operate yet effec-tive in use.
The invention at least in the preferred form,provides the following advantages.
1. Planks according to the invention provide the advantages of an easily erected system such as that , descri~ed in our U.S. Specification 3,416 r 275 while yet providing an insulated ,construction.'llaving reqard -to current energy conservation programmes, this is a major advantage.
2. Because of the dovetailed ends generally and the slope of the webs so that the webs are present substantially con-tinuous,ly over the length of the plan]; particularlytlle' boards making up the planks are materially cons-tralned --against warping and twisting.

3. The tonguing and grooving of the planks increases the , ~ 11 ~ , .

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patil l~ngLII t~lrou(lh joints and recluc-es or eliminates - the p~SS:inCJ ol air throucJll 5uch joints.

4. T}le metllod of manufacture and apparatus therefor are capable o~ high rates of production -thus achievlng economy in manufacture.

5. The groove cu-tting par-t: of the apparatus ensures accurate cutting of grooves which will be on opposite edges oE each web facilita-ting fitting the webs.

6. Because the web inser-ting part of -the apparatus operates on multiple webs again a high production rate may be main-tained.

7. The web ina~azine has the particular ac~van-tage tha-t it does not need any individual places for the webs since -the selection of a web from the magazine is efEec-ted au-tomatically by -the hook means pulling on -the neares-t available web in the magazine. Since thc webs are kept packed in -the magazine by the pressure means 44 they are stacked one against the other in a readily available manner and the shaped nose 52 will move the webs aside , 20 in a manner such that the shoulder 53 will automatically engage an edge 54.

8. The in situ foamed insulation also enters inter-stices of the points between the webs and boards stiffening up -the finished plank.

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Claims

The embodiments of the invention in which an exclusive property or privilege is claimed are defined as follows:

1. In a building plank comprises of two spaced apart substantially parallel timber facing members, a plurality of transverse web members between said timber members connected to said timber members by said web members having dovetail edges engaging within cooperating dovetail slots on the in-terior faces of said timber members, and insulating material between said timber members, the improvement comprising said web members being arranged at an angle to the longitudinal axis of said timber members with the ends of adjacent web members overlapping so that web contact with the timber members is substantially continuous over the length of the plank, said web members are made of a plastic material and comprise op-posite longitudinal members having said dovetail edges and a plurality of spaced transverse members between said longi-tudinal members, said insulating material being in situ foamed material.

2. A method of making the composite plank of claim 1, said method comprising the steps of cutting dovetail slots across said timber members at a suitable angle to the longitudi-nal axis of said timber members placing two timber members spaced apart side by side with said dovetail slots facing each other and inserting a plurality of said webs into the space between said timber members so that the dovetails of the webs engage in oppositely disposed dovetail slots and foaming in situ foam insulation in the spaces between the webs and the timber members.

3. A method as claimed in claim 2 which includes the step of cutting said dovetail slots in two timber members while the timber members are clamped together face to face.

4. A method as claimed in claim 2 in which said slots are cut with a plurality of sets of cutting tools, each set of cutting tools being spaced apart a greater distance than the spacing apart of the slots in a completely dovetailed timber member, the timber members being moved between suc-cessive cuts and the cutting tools moved during cutting in a pattern such that a series of substantially equally spaced slots results after each cycle of movements is completed.

5. A method as claimed in claim 2 in which said webs are pulled into said slots by a hook means from a magazine of webs.