US2291171A - Construction member - Google Patents

Description

July 28, 1942. c. G. MUENCH 2,291,171

CONSTRUCTION MEMBER Filed July 28, 1941 Patented July 28, 1942 CONSTRUCTION MEMBER Carl G. Muench, Wilmette, Ill., assignor to Celotex Corporation, Chicago, 111., a corporation of Delaware Application July as, 1941]; Serial No. 404,322

Claims.

This invention relates to a construction member used in building construction and in particular relates to a corner member used in connection with the application of the so-called insulated brick siding. sulated brick siding comprises a fiber insulation Generally speaking, in

board base member on a surface of which there is secured a surfacing sheet or applied a coating in which is embedded suitable granules to more or less simulate the appearance-and texture of brick, and provided in one way or another with a simulation of mortar joints outlining individual brick faces. In some cases, instead of such facing simulating brick, it is made to simulate stonework or the like.

In thepast in connection with various of the insulated brick sidings, the corner members that are used to carry the construction around corners have given trouble, due to the fact that commonly the surface simulating coating applied has been applied to the fiber insulating-board base sheet while fiat, the such sheet subsequently being bent or folded to provide two diverging sides at right angles, one to the other. It has been common that when these comers are bent or foldedin their formation for the outer surface coating to moreor less crack over the fold, which is detrimental to the appearance ofthe material and is also a disadvantage in use in that such a crank may allow access of the elements to the fiber insulating board base sheet, causing deterioration thereof. I

The invention is disclosed'in particular in connection with a rigid corner unit asabove referred to, designed particularly for use in connection with insulated brick siding, but of course, it will be understood that a corner unit embodying the invention hereof, may be used in connection with surface coverings other than insulated brick siding One of the objects of the invention is to provide a corner unit as above generally described, which will be weather proof and fire resisting and which may have anlattractive decorative surface of such design and configuration as it maybe desired to provide thereon.

A further object of the invention is to provide a corner unit of the general character described, that may be produced economically, is of rugged construction and is resistant to the deterioration, which has been more or less common, arising from the cracking ofthe surfacing material directly over the corner as was above mentioned.

A still further object is to provide a. rigid corner either as an overlay or may be applied in the same planes as those ofthe surfaces of an in-- sulated bricksiding installation connected by such corner members. I

A still further object of the invention'is to provide a method-of manufacture of the corner units of this invention, which will produce such 7 units without the cracking of the surfacing material over the comer-fold and according to which method, the units may be rapidly produced with a minimum of equipment and labor.

Other and further objects and advantages of this invention will appear upon reading the following specification, wherein the construction and the method of manufacturing of the cornerunits hereof are setout in detail. I

In the drawing accompanying this specification;

Figure 1 is a perspective of a portion of a'corner unit; 7

Figure 2 is a cross section through a base sheet prepared for succeed n steps in the manufacture of a corner unit, and Figure 3 is a diagrammatic illustration of the steps involved in the manufac-' ture of the comer units.

used to designate like parts. 7

In the drawing an insulatingbrick siding corner member is illustrated in Figure 1, comprising a fiber insulating board base In, on the outer face of which is' applied a surfacing H. Thesurfacing l I, as illustrated, represents brick work and is obtained through adhering suitable granular material-:to the outer face of base l0. adhered granular material comprising surfacing II has provided therein suitable mortar joint lines; so that surfacing comprises a simulation of brickwork. So faras the specific nature of the granular. material adhered to base 10 to provide the-surfacing II is concerned, it is relatively immaterialin this description, but it will of course, be understood that the granules are to be selected so that-the appearance which is desired for the finished product may be ob- V7 tained.

It is 'of'course, immediately apparent on view- 7 ing Figure 1, that the corn-er member comprises two portions arranged in rightangle relation ex- 7 tending outwardly from a common apex to form illustrated as a 90 corner, that the inventions disclosed in connection therewith are applicable unit of the type described, which may be applied to corner members for other than corners,

The i course, be understood that the side edges may be suitably shiplapped, or that if desired, the complemental edges may instead of being shiplapped, be'provided with any other suitable closing Joint, as for example, with complementing tongue and groove joints;

In manufacturing one of these corner units, the preferred construction and method of manufacture is as follows:

The base sheet for the unit, a fiber insulating board II, is approximately centrally of its width grooved at i5, and on its other face opposite groove I5, provided with a small groove I. The function of the grooves and It will become apparent as the description of the manufacture of the unit progresses.

After the sheet or fiber board III has been grooved, as above described, it is then preferably passed through an asphalt bath by suitably dipping or conveying of the sheet in a pan or tank of molten asphalt.

The, asphalt used for this purpose is preferably one of 120 :to 140 F., M. P. (ring and ball, A. S. T. M. method) and which has a penetration of about 180 to 200 mm. (100 g., 5 sec., '17 1"'., A. S. T. M. method).

In dipping the base sheet III in asphalt, as described, the time element should be such that the base I II is given what is termed a surface saturation with asphalt, that is thetime of immersion should be sufficient that the asphalt can penetrate into the surface of the base III, but insufilcient for the penetration to progress appreciably throughout the fiber board. The preferable penetration is one wherein the surface portion of the base sheet III is well saturated, but with this saturation not extending into the sheet more than approximately from the exterior uncut broad face of the sheet. In connection with such a saturation along the edges where the sheet of fiber boardhas been cut, and at the grooves l5 and I, at which points the structure of the board is moreopen than on the broad uncut faces, the penetration will be somewhat greater, in general .twice the penetration of that at the broad uncut faces.

In theprocess of dipping the base sheet [0 in the asphalt bath, as above described, due to the fact that a portion of the thickness=of the base sheet It has been cut away by theprovision of grooves i5 and I6. and further because of the greater penetration of the asphalt at these cuts, the base sheet II will be more heavily saturated in that portion between the grooves l5 and i6, and in fact, it is preferred that the saturation shall be sufficient that at and between grooves suitable manner, but for the purposes-of the diagrammatic illustration hereof, there has been ure 3 of the drawing, and in connection with which the various steps of the processing are as follows:

A blank Ill, surface saturated as above described, is placed on a suitable conveyor or the like 20, which may carry the blank through the following processing steps.

The blank III is placed on the conveyor 20 with that face having roove I6 therein being exposed upwardly, the face with groove l5, being of course, consequently facing downwardly. To the upper face of the blank there is applied an asphalt coating which is preferably a somewhat harder asphalt than that with which the surfaces of blank l0 have been saturated, and which asphalt coating may comprise asphalt of 180 F., M. P. The asphalt coating may be applied to the upper surface of the base sheet Ill in any shown an asphalt discharge pipe 2!, which discharges molten asphalt .on the top surface of the blank I0, whereupon the asphalt may be squeegeed or spread over the surface, of the blank as it passes under the knife 22 of a knife coater, which is a well known piece of equipment used for applying various coatings to various sheet form materials. It will be noted that in' applying the surface coating of the asphalt to the upper face' of the'base sheet M as described, that groove II will be'filled withthis coating, that is, at groove it, the coating will have an extra thickness, due to the fact that groove it has been filled with the asphalt.

After the asphalt coating has been applied, as just described, suitable granular or gritty material maybe discharged'onto the surfaces of this .set out'are substantially identical with the various steps normally employed by various manufacturers of insulating brick siding units and are also being substantially those commonly used in I5 and ii the fiber board sheet shall be saturated ber in accordance with the diagrammatic illustratlon of the processing as such appears in Fig- The porthe manufacture of roll roofing. It is believed that the various steps are well known to those having knowledge of the art, and therefore the description of these steps of the processing have been given only in the briefest manner.

After the various steps of the processing as above described, and while the surfacing llv on. the thus far fiat base sheet, I0 is still warm and soft, the blank is subjected to a further operation to form the desired corner base with sides or legs outwardly diverging from a common apex, as is may be a fiat sheet II Of board or other suitable materialhaving on the upper surface thereof, suitable restraining members, parallel and spaced apart, such restraining members being indicated by numbers 32. For any specific corthe grooves l and l6,the completely saturated, portion 11 serving as a hinging connection. As

the sheet is folded to its proper form, the other edge of sheet ID will be entered behind the other restraining member 32, and as will be understood, the folded cornerstrip will be thereby held and retained in it proper form.

Attention is directed to the fact that when the base member 10 is folded as has been described, it is apparent, the surface of sheet l0, having been removed by the provision of groove l6, that there will be no surface fibers of sheet Ill at this point to be pulled apart from one another directlyunder the outer comer of the folded corner piece. Instead, since there has been provided an excess thickness or reservoir of the coating asphalt provided by the provision of groove [6, and this asphalt is still soft, it follows that there is merely a tendency for this asphalt to fiow slightly as the bend is made with a consequent slight thinning of the thickness of the coating at this point, but without any tendency for cracking.

The particular advantage of the method of formation of the corner piece as has been de-' scribed, is the avoidance of the tendency of the basesheet H! to crack, at its outer face as the fold is made, without groove l6 having been made in that face. Also due to the fact that the base sheet ID has been saturated throughout at its thin portion 11, this portion tends to serve as a hinge when the sheet is folded rather than to allow a sharp break which would occur if this saturated hinged portion were not provided. It

will of course,v be understood that the deeper groove l5 which was cut into the face or the base sheet ID on the side opposite of the groove I 6, enables one to fold the sheet H) in accordance with the above.

The corner member after it has been folded, as

7 above described, may then be set aside or carried along on the conveyor and cooled, and if desired, a reinforcing strip of fabric or suitable asphalt saturated felt, and indicated at 35, may be suitably adhered in the interior of the fold of the otherwise completed corner member, and such strip 35 if applied, serves as an added reinforcement,'as will be well understood.

So that the most important advantage of the improvement comprising the invention hereof may be clearly understood, attention is directed to the following:

The base sheet I0 ordinarily used in making insulated brick siding and of course, likewise used in making corner members therefor, is fiber insulation board generally /2" in thickness. In th past, corner members have been made either by cutting a suitable V notch into the back of a sheet, such cut extending entirely through the sheet excepting the outermost face portion thereof, 'or in the manufacture of corner members, such have been made from two separate pieces of fiber insulation board with complemental edges suitably beveled to provide for the desired angularity of the finished corner member. Where the corner member has been made from a sheet provided with the V notch extending substantially through the sheet, it has been common that as the corner was folded, thefibers at the outersurface would pull apart and c0nsequently would pull apart th asphalt surface coating to form a crack in the granules or like surface material embedded in th asphalt coating; such crack appearing directly at the apex of the corner.

In making a corner member from two separate .pieces of the base sheet III with these pieces complementally beveled and provided on the exterior with a joining and hinging tape or the like, it has been common that when folding such to form corner members, the asphalt surface coating and-embedded granule material are attenuated directly over the apex of the corner with the consequent formation of a crack directly over the apex. V

In the construction hereof, due to the provision of groove l6, there is provided directly over the apex of the corner what might be termed a reservoir ofthe asphalt coating, and as the corner member is folded this reservoir, provided with what might be termed a cushion, provides a reservoir of the coating asphalt, which reservoir of asphalt, as the corner is folded, tends to be, in effect pushed out of the recess due to the action of the hinging portion H to compensate for attenuation in the surface coating, which would otherwise tend to crack over the apex of the fold were this reservoir of the asphalt coating not provided. By the utilization of the invention,

hereof, it has been found possible to make strong and rigid corner members which show no tendency to crack over the apex of the corner, and these corner members have in use proved much superior to brick siding corner members made by other methods.

It is, of course, understood that while fiber insulation board has been particularly mentioned as the base material for this corner member,'that other suitable sheet form material may be used, and that whereas asphalt has been particularly referred to as the surface saturant for the base sheet, and as the coating in which the granules surfacing material is embedded, that other suitable substances, such as various pitches and the like may be substituted therefor, and that-other like substitutions in connection with the manufacture of the brick siding corner members may be availed of without departing from the spirit of my invention.

The invention hereof having been described in detail, what I claim is:

1. A building corner member comprising a fiber board sheet bent to provide two legs diverging from a common apex, the fiber board portions forming the two legs connected by an integral thinned portion of the fiber board sheet substantially completely saturated with a plastic and constituting a hinging connection bet-ween the two leg portions.

2. A building corner member comprising a fiber board sheet bent to provide two legs diverging from a common apex, the sheet at the bend having a shallow recess extending inwardly from one face, and a deeper recess extending inwardly from the other face, the recesses opposite one another forming an intermediate portion, the intermediate portion thereof forming a hinging connection connecting the two diverging legs.

3. A building corner member comprising a fiber board sheet bent to provide two legs diverging from a common apex, the sheet at the bend having a shallow recess extending inwardly from one face and a deeper recess extending inwardly from the other face, the recesses opposite one another forming an intermediate portion, the intermediate portion thereof forming a hinging connection connecting the two diverging legs, the hinging connecting portion substantially saturated with an asphaltic: material.

4. An insulating comer member comprising a fiber insulating sheet body portion providing two legs diverging from a common apex, the outer face of the corner member coated with a plastic and having surfacing granules'adhered thereto, the outer surface of the sheet body relieved along the common apex and an extra thickness of plastic at the apex.

whereby a corner member com-prising leg portions divel'irlnafrom a common apex and connected by a thin hinging portion is formed.

CARL G. MUENCH.

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