Patent Application
20240254761
The embodiments disclosed herein relate to precut and pre-machined boards for building prefabricated structures, and, in particular to boards that are precut and pre-machined with grooved notches for forming joints between boards.
Prefabricated structures are often provided as a kit of precut pieces of wood that are assembled by the user. The pieces of wood are precut to the appropriate size and shape. Fasteners (e.g., nails, screws) and/or glue are typically used to attach the pieces together. The pieces of wood may be precut and pre-machined to interlock together at notches or joints (e.g., mortise and tenon joints, dovetail joints, tongue and groove joints, etc.) which may obviate the need to attach the pieces together using glue or fasteners making for faster and easier construction.
A limitation of precut pieces is that a notch must be marginally larger than the corresponding piece that fits into the notch. That is, the interlocking pieces must have a certain “tolerance” for assembly. With traditional notches, there will be a slight space or gap at the joints where adjoining pieces meet and connect together. This allows light to penetrate through the gaps in the structure which can be aesthetically unpleasing and can also allow the interior of the structure to be seen through the gaps. Wind and water may also penetrate to the interior of the structure through the gaps.
Wood expands and contracts in response to changes in temperature and humidity. Wooden structures, especially one having an exterior made of wood that is exposed to the elements, will have a “settling period” after construction and will continue to expand and contract over its lifetime. Repeated expansion and contraction of the wood can cause loosening/warping of interlocking joints to form gaps between adjoining pieces of wood. This in turn can allow wind and water to penetrate into the structure through the gaps.
Accordingly, there is a need for new precut and pre-machined boards for prefabricated structures that can be interlocked at joints that are resistant to wind and water.
The present disclosure relates to prefabricated boards and a method of assembly for constructing structures. The boards are pre-cut to size and shape and provided as a kit for constructing a structure. The boards are pre-cut with grooved notches to securely connect adjacent boards together to form walls or surfaces.
A grooved notch on one board interlocks with a grooved notch on an adjoining board to produce a cross-lap joint where the boards meet. The grooved notches provide for simple and secure locking together of the boards and also makes it more difficult for weather (wind, water) and light to penetrate the structure through the cross lap joints.
According to some embodiments, there are boards for constructing prefabricated structures. The boards are preferably constructed of solid wood (e.g., hardwood, softwood), but may be composite wood. Each board includes at least one grooved notch in a top or a bottom of the board for forming a cross lap joint. The grooved notch on one board is interconnected with the grooved notch on an adjoining board to form a cross-lap joint connecting the boards.
The grooved notch includes a first shoulder and a second shoulder extending perpendicularly from a cheek. A first groove is disposed on a first side of the board adjacent to the first shoulder and a second groove is disposed on a second side of the board adjacent to the second shoulder. The grooved notch may be adjacent to an end of the board.
The board may further include at least one tongue on a top of the board and/or at least one grove on a bottom of the board to aid in correct alignment and fitting of adjacent boards when assembled into a structure.
Other aspects and features will become apparent, to those ordinarily skilled in the art, upon review of the following description of some exemplary embodiments.
The drawings included herewith are for illustrating various examples of articles, methods, and apparatuses of the present specification. In the drawings:
Various apparatuses or processes will be described below to provide an example of each claimed embodiment. No embodiment described below limits any claimed embodiment and any claimed embodiment may cover processes or apparatuses that differ from those described below. The claimed embodiments are not limited to apparatuses or processes having all of the features of any one apparatus or process described below or to features common to multiple or all of the apparatuses described below.
Referring to
The board 100 includes at least one notch 102 cut into the top 104 and/or the bottom 106 of the board 100. The board 100 may include multiple notches 102 in the top 104 and/or the bottom 106. The board 100 may include opposable notches 102 in the top 104 and the bottom 106 as shown in
Each notch 102 includes a cheek 108 and parallel shoulders 110, 111 perpendicular to the cheek 108. A groove 112, 113 runs adjacent to each shoulder 110, 111 along the side 114, 115 of the board 100. The grooves 112, 113 are disposed at diagonally opposite corners of the notch 102 when viewed from above (
Each groove 112, 113 includes orthogonal inner and outer surfaces. The outer surfaces 116, 117 parallel to the shoulders 110, 111, and inner surfaces 118, 119 orthogonal to the shoulders 110, 111. The cheek 108, the shoulders 110, 111, the inner surfaces 118, 119 and the outer surfaces 116, 117 form contact surfaces when the notch 102 of one board 100 is inserted into the notch 102 of another board 100 to join the boards together at a 90-degree angle.
The board 102 may include a tongue 120 cut into the top 104 and grooves (see
The depth, d, and the width, w, of the notches 102 are complimentary on adjoining boards 100. The actual depth and width of the notch 102 is based on the overall dimensions of the board 100 and the position/orientation of the board 100 in the structure. Generally, the width of the notches 102 is the same for all boards 100 in the structure. The depth of the notches 102 may vary depending on the orientation and position of the board 100 in the structure as well as the presence of a tongue 120 on the top 104 or a groove on the bottom 106 of the board. As shown in
Referring to
As in a conventional cross lap joint, the shoulders 110a, 111a, 110b and cheeks 108a, 108b of the notches 102a, 102b are contact surfaces that provide for friction fitting together of the two boards 100a, 100b when the notches 102a, 102b are interlocked. The grooves 112a, 113a, 112b, 113b provide additional contact surfaces (e.g., inner surfaces 118a, 118b and outer surfaces 116a, 116b) to contact the sides 114a, 115a, 114b, 115b of the boards 100a, 100b when the notches 102a, 102b are interlocked. The grooves 112a, 113a, 112b, 113b also compensate for the tolerances of the notches 102a, 102b and cover any gaps in the joint 150 when the boards 100a, 100b are interlocked. Thus, the grooves 112a, 113a, 112b, 113b, may provide for tighter friction fitting of the boards 100a, 100b compared to conventional cross lap joints. The tighter fitting may also obviate the need to use fasteners or glue to secure the joint 150.
The notches 102a, 102b and grooves 112a, 113a, 112b, 113b provide the ability to securely assemble a structure without special tools and fasteners. For additional strength and stability, the joint 150 may be secured by applying glue in the notches 102a, 102b prior to interlocking the boards 100a, 100b, and/or by passing nails or fasteners through the cheek 108b of the upper board 100a into the lower board 100b after interlocking the boards 100a, 100b together. Additional fasteners may also be used for structural reinforcement against wind loads and to compensate for slightly twisted/deformed boards.
The grooves 112a, 113a, 112b, 113b may also beneficially aid in avoiding incorrect alignment and assembly of the boards, since both the notches 102a, 102b and grooves 112a, 113a, 112b, 113b are correctly aligned and interlocked for two boards to fit together properly, like puzzle pieces, without gaps at the joint 150. According to various embodiments, the dimensions of the grooves 112a, 113a, 112b, 113b are cut differently on different sets of boards provided in a kit so that only adjoining boards with matching grooves/contact surfaces, can be aligned and interlocked properly.
When the boards 100a, 100b are interlocked, water or wind attempting to creep into the structure through the joint 150 will take a longer bent path (indicated by the dashed line in
Referring to
The grooved notches 218 pre-machined into the boards 202, 204, 205, 206, 208, 209 provides for relatively simple and easy assembly. Base boards 202 are fixed to a foundation 212 and the walls of the construction 200 are built up by adding subsequent boards 204, 205, 206, 208, 209 forming the side walls 214 and end walls 216, 217 of the construction 200.
After the base boards 202 are fixed in place, end boards 205, 208 are joined to the base boards 202 using the corresponding notches in each respective board. Then side boards 204 are joined to the end boards 205, 208 using the corresponding notches in each respective board. Next, end boards 206, 209 are joined to the side boards 204 using the corresponding notches in each respective board. In this manner, the construction 200 is built upward starting from the ground by alternatively adding boards to the end walls 216, 217 then the side walls 214 in succession.
In the embodiment shown, the grooved notches 218 are cut adjacent to one end, or adjacent to both ends of the boards 202, 204, 205, 206, 208, 209, so that the cross lap joints 210 connecting adjoining boards are positioned at the corners of the construction 200. It should be noted that ends 220 of the boards 202, 204, 205, 206, 208, 209 may extend past the cross lap joint 210 on an exterior side of the construction 200. At least one end 220 of the boards 202, 204, 205, 206, 208, 209 may include a chamfer in the top and/or the bottom of the boards 202, 204, 205, 206, 208, 209.
Referring to
The front wall 306 is constructed primarily of prefabricated boards having grooved notches cut only at one end of the board (e.g., the board 310). The side wall 308 is constructed of a mixture of prefabricated boards having grooved notches cut at both ends (e.g., the board 312) and prefabricated boards having grooved notches cut only at one end (e.g., the board 314). Generally, boards that are adjacent to features (e.g., the boards 310, 314) have grooved notches only at the end of the board distal to the feature. The end of the board adjacent to the feature does not include notches. Instead, the end of the board adjacent to the feature may insert into a groove on the feature, for example a window frame groove 316 or a door frame groove 318.
During construction of the structure 300, it is preferable to first join all boards having grooved notches together while leaving spaces where the features will be (see front wall 216 in
While precut and pre-machined boards having grooved notches for forming 90-degree cross lap joints are described, those skilled in the art will appreciate that grooved notches for forming cross lap joints at other angles are also possible by, for example, cutting the shoulders of the notch and the grooves at a different angle with respect to the long axis of the board.
While the above description provides examples of one or more apparatus, methods, or systems, it will be appreciated that other apparatus, methods, or systems may be within the scope of the claims as interpreted by one of skill in the art.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3187691 | Jan 2023 | CA | national |
