RABBET JOINT WITH A CURVED SURFACE

Abstract

A rabbeted edge of a building or construction piece includes a curved surface with a radius in a rabbet joint to provide improved mechanical strength and resist damage and breaking.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to building and construction materials, such as boards and panels with rabbeted edges, including rabbeted trim and rabbeted corner boards that join with siding panels. A rabbet is a recess cut or fabricated into an edge, such as a side edge or an end edge, of a board or panel. The recess is two-sided, open-ended and runs along the edge or end of a board having a 90-degree inlaid notch provided in the face or along the edge of the board. The extended portion (or extruding piece) of the notch is typically called a tongue or cheek and the face of the recessed portion, or channel, is referred to as the shoulder. A rabbeted edge joined to another board or panel forms a rabbet joint to provide a more mechanically reinforced joint and better aesthetics than a butt joint. In building applications where rabbeted edges are provided for trims and corner boards, such as in connection with siding installations to provide concealed joints with better aesthetics, there is often a problem with rabbeted edges being damaged, such as the tongue partially or fully breaking from the board, such as during packaging, transport, unpacking and installation activities.

The disclosures of Applicant's U.S. Design application Ser. Nos. 29/953,253, 29/953,255, 29/953,256, and 29/953,257, are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In embodiments of the invention, a rabbeted board edge includes a pocket having a curved surface with a radius that reinforces the rabbet over conventional rabbets with perpendicular flat faces at the 90-degree inlaid notch. The reinforcement provided by the curved surface with a radius in rabbets of the invention provides added mechanical strength to avoid the damage and breaking problems encountered with the conventional rabbet edges.

In embodiments of the invention, building or construction pieces including a rabbeted edge with a curved surface having a radius in rabbet joint comprise polyvinyl chloride (PVC), including corner boards and trim boards made of cellular PVC in certain embodiments. In further embodiments, cellular PVC boards with rabbeted edges having a curved surface with a radius may be extruded cellular PVC with rabbeted edges milled to desired dimensions depending on the desired specifications and end use of the boards. However, the invention is not intended to be limited only to cellular PVC boards and includes other pieces with a rabbeted joint having a curved surface and comprised of one or more of plastics, woods, metals, stone, brick, concrete, composites, hardened chemical compositions and like materials desirable for building and construction pieces benefitting from rabbet joints.

One aspect of the invention includes a building or construction piece having at least one rabbet joint including a shoulder and cheek with a curved surface having a radius in the rabbet joint.

In further aspects, the piece comprises polyvinyl chloride (PVC) including cellular polyvinyl chloride.

In some embodiment the radius of the pocket surface having a curved surface is from about 1/16″ to about ¼″, including about 0.250 inches. In other embodiments the radius of the curved surface is about 0.125 inches.

In various embodiments, a rabbet joint with a curved surface in the pocket has a shoulder including a shoulder length of at least about 0.750 inches.

In various embodiments, a rabbet joint with a curved surface has a cheek that includes a cheek length of at least about 1.000 inches.

In another aspect, a building or construction piece includes a second rabbet joint with a second shoulder and second cheek with a second curved surface having a second radius in the second rabbet joint.

In some embodiments, the invention includes a building piece having a generally planar first outer surface portion with an embossing of polyvinyl chloride material, a first rabbet joint including a first shoulder and a first cheek, wherein the first outer surface portion is part of the first cheek, and a first curved surface having a first radius in the first rabbet joint.

In embodiments, the piece includes a first radius that is from about 1/16″ to about ¼″.

In further embodiments, the piece includes a second rabbet joint including a second shoulder and a second cheek, wherein the first outer surface portion is also part of the second cheek; and a second curved surface having a second radius in the second rabbet joint. In some embodiments, each of the first radius and second radius are from 1/16″ to about ¼″.

In further embodiments, the piece includes a generally planar second outer surface portion with an embossing of polyvinyl chloride material, wherein the second outer surface portion forms a corner with the first outer surface portion, a second rabbet joint including a second shoulder and a second cheek, wherein the second outer surface portion is part of the second cheek, and a second a curved surface having a second radius in the second rabbet joint. In some embodiments, each of the first radius and second radius are from 1/16″ to about ¼″.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a prior art rabbet joint with a 90-degree angle showing a rabbeted board with the rabbet joint and a fitted board that fits into the rabbet joint.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional plan view of a rabbeted J-channel trim board profile including a curved surface with a radius in the rabbet joint in one embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional plan view of a rabbeted conceal surround window trim board profile including a curved surface with a radius in the rabbet joint in one embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional plan view of a rabbeted T-moulding conceal trim board profile including a curved surface with a radius in the rabbet joint in one embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional plan view of a rabbeted outside corner board profile including a curved surface with a radius in the rabbet joint in one embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 6 is a partial perspective view of an end of a rabbeted J-channel trim including a curved surface with a radius in the rabbet joint in one embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of a rabbeted conceal surround window trim board including a curved surface with a radius the rabbet joint in one embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of a rabbeted T-moulding conceal trim board including a curved surface with a radius in the rabbet joint in one embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 9 is a perspective view of a rabbeted outside corner including a curved surface with a radius in each rabbet joint in one embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 10 is a perspective view of a building including an outside corner rabbeted board and a rabbeted trim board wherein each board includes a curved surface with a radius in each rabbet joint in one embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 11 is an alternative perspective view of a building shown in FIG. 10 including an outside corner rabbeted board and a rabbeted trim board wherein each board includes a curved surface in each rabbet joint in one embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 12 is a photograph illustrating a break test at rabbet joints of rabbeted boards used to generate the results described in Table 1.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Referring to FIG. 1, a conventional rabbet joint is shown that includes a 90-degree notch having adjacent flat, planar surfaces, i.e., perpendicular planes in the joint. A rabbet is a recess cut or fabricated into an edge, such as a side edge or an end edge, of a rabbeted board 100 or panel. The conventional rabbit joint 150 is two-sided, open-ended and runs along the edge or end of a board having a 90-degree inlaid notch provided in the face or along the edge of the board. The extended portion (or extruding piece) of the notch is typically called a tongue or cheek 110 (having a cheek length 160) and the face of the recessed portion, or channel, is referred to as the shoulder 120 (having a should length 170). A rabbeted board 100 joined to another fitted board 180 or panel forms a rabbet joint 150 to provide a more mechanical joint and better aesthetics than a butt joint.

Referring to FIGS. 2-9, a variety of improved trim and corner rabbeted boards 100 of the invention are shown having different shapes and dimensions depending on board function. While embodiments of the invention are described as boards including rabbeted ends, the invention is intended to include workpieces, building materials, construction materials, panels, planks, siding, slats, beams, and other pieces that may be fitted together at a rabbet joint. It will be appreciated that an inventive rabbet joint 151 with curved surface 201 of each trim or corner board 100 joins together with another fitted board 180 (see FIG. 1), such as building siding boards. Each rabbet joint 151 includes a curved surface 201 in the pocket with a rounded radius 200 where shoulder 120 meets cheek 110. In various embodiments, radius 200 has ⅛″ radius-0.125 inches radius. Unlike 90-degree flat surface pockets of conventional rabbeted boards shown in FIG. 1, the invention's inclusion of a curved surface 201 with a radius 200 in the rabbet joint 151 provides much improved mechanical strength and thereby more resistance to damage and breakage that occurs with conventional rabbet edges as detailed in Table 1 herein. In embodiments of the invention, rabbeted boards 100 are comprised of PVC, including cellular PVC, and have an embossing 280 that provides texture and decorative aesthetics to the rabbeted boards 100. In various embodiment, PVC rabbeted boards 100 of the invention may have a thickness of at least about 1″ and lengths ranging several feet, such as from 6 feet long to 20 feet long. An outer surface of a board 100, including a portion of an outer surface, intended to provide an exterior finish in a building or construction environment may be described herein as generally planar to indicate that embossing or other decorative surface may be present on an otherwise flat surface without a perfectly planar or flat surface being required to be generally planar or flat.

Referring to FIGS. 2 and 6, an exemplary rabbeted J-channel trim board 100 is shown. In some embodiments, the rabbeted J-channel trim board 100 includes a rabbet joint 151 with a pocket having a curved surface 201 with a rounded radius 200 that is 0.125 inches, a shoulder length 170 of 0.750 inches and a cheek length 160 of about 1.000 inches. A rabbeted board width 210 in some J-channel trim board embodiments is from about 3.5 to about 8.0 inches wide, including 4″, 6″ and 8″ widths being provided with a board thickness 220 of about 1.000 inches.

Referring to FIGS. 3 and 7, an exemplary rabbeted conceal surround window trim board 100 is shown. In some embodiments, the rabbeted conceal surround window trim board 100 includes a rabbet joint 151 with a pocket having a curved surface 201 with a rounded radius 200 of about 0.125 inches, a shoulder length 170 of about 0.750 inches and a cheek length 160 of 1.000 inches. A rabbeted board width in some rabbeted conceal board embodiments is from about 3.5 to about 10 inches wide, including 4″ and 6″ widths being provided with a board thickness of about 1.000 inches. In addition to embossed surface 280 that extends on an outer surface and adjacent side surfaces, FIG. 3 also shows an exposed surface 285 that is also embossed but only exposed on one outer generally planar surface but the adjacent side surfaces are not exposed.

Referring to FIGS. 4 and 8, an exemplary T-moulding conceal trim board 100 is shown. In some embodiments, the rabbeted T-moulding conceal trim board trim board 100 includes dual rabbet joints 151 each with a pocket having a curved surface 201 with a rounded radius 200 that is about 0.125 inches, a shoulder length 170 of about 0.750 inches and a cheek length 160 of about 1.000 inches. A rabbeted T-moulding conceal trim board width in some rabbeted conceal board embodiments is from about 3.5 to about 10 inches wide, including 5″ and 8″ widths being provided with a board thickness of about 1.000 inches.

Referring to FIGS. 5 and 9, an exemplary rabbeted outside corner board 100 is shown. In some embodiments, the rabbeted outside corner 100 includes dual rabbet joints 151 each with a pocket having a curved surface 201 with a rounded radius 200 that is about 0.125 inches, a shoulder length 170 of about 0.750 inches and a cheek length 160 of about 1.000 inches. A rabbeted outside corner board 100 includes a seam 500, such as glued or mechanically secured seams, and a shoulder angle 590 of 90 degrees. In embodiments, a width of a side of a rabbeted outside corner board 100 may range from about 3 inches to about 6 inches, including some embodiments of about 3 11/16″ and about 5 11/16″.

With further reference to FIGS. 10 and 11, a rabbeted trim board 100A and corner board 100B with rounded pockets having curved surface with a radius are shown in an environment of a building wall joining with siding boards, such as fitted boards 180 as shown in FIG. 1, to provide reinforced pockets and edges at a rabbeted end of the board.

Table 1 below shows the results of various examples of testing rabbeted edges with curved surface pockets of the present invention against conventional rabbeted edges with perpendicular surfaces in the rabbet joint. FIG. 12 shows the general testing procedure wherein force (in lbs.) is applied at the cheek 110 of a rabbeted board 100 until a break 112 results.

TABLE 1
					% of
				Comparison	improved
		Pocket	Lbs. of	Lbs. of	performance
Pocket Design		Dimensions	Force	Force	over current
Testing	Radius	in Inches	to Break	to Break	designs	Notes
#1 - Conventional	—	1 × ¾	69.33		—	1″ actual
Rabbet Joint						pocket
Design Control - 1″						length
Pocket - No
Radius
#2 - New	0.125	⅞ × ¾	219.90	69.33 (#1)	217.2%	⅞″ actual
Invention Design -						pocket
1″ Pocket - ⅛″						length
Radius
#3 - New	0.125	15/16 × ¾	199.80	69.33 (#1)	188.2%	15/16″ actual
Invention Design -						pocket
1 1/16″ Pocket -						depth
⅛″ Radius
#4 - New	0.063	15/16 × ¾	149.50	69.33 (#1)	115.6%	15/16″ actual
Invention Design -						depth
1″ Pocket - 1/16″						pocket
Radius
#5 - New	0.025	¾ × ¾	169.25	69.33 (#1)	144.1%	¾″ actual
Invention Design -						pocket
1″ Pocket - ¼″						length
Radius
#6 - Conventional	—	¾ × ¾	163.60	219.9 (#2)	34%	¾″ actual
Rabbet Joint						pocket
(Shallow Depth)						length
Design - ¾″
Pocket - No
Radius

The testing results show that an inventive embodiment with a curved surface in a pocket of a rabbet joint having ⅛″ radius is 217% better than a current conventional design with no curved pocket surface (219.90 lbs. to break for #2 vs. 69.33 lbs. to break for #1 ((219.90 lbs.-69.33 lbs.)/69.33 lbs.), and 34% better than competitive designs that incorporate a more shallow pocket depth and no curved pocket surface (219.90 lbs. to break for #2 vs. 163.60 lbs. to break for #6 ((219.90 lbs.-163.60 lbs.)/163.60 lbs.). Further, the results show that other curved pocket embodiments, such as including 1/16″ and ¼″ radii also show substantial improvement (i.e., improved strength that requires more lbs. of force to break the rabbet edge than with conventional rabbet edges). Comparing a competitive control example (with ¾″ pocket) against the 1″ pocket with ⅛″ radius of an inventive embodiment shows that the invention provides a deeper pocket (thereby accommodating thicker boards in the rabbet joint) while also providing 34% better performance (resistance to breakage) than the competitive control.

It will be appreciated that a variety of pocket depths may be provided with a variety of curved pocket surfaces with different radii depending on the desired rabbet joint and end use for products including rabbeted edges. Preferably in building and construction applications rabbeted pieces include a rabbet with at least ¾″ inch pocket depth and curved pocket surface having a radius in the range from 1/16″ to ⅛″. However, other dimensions may be applied without departing from the key aspects of the invention to provide the combination of rabbeted edge together with a pocket having a curved surface. As used herein, “about” dimensions include exact dimensions and approximate dimensions of less than or greater than the exact dimension referred to. In some embodiments, providing a greater radius of the curved surface in the rabbet joint is expected to provide more strength and even better performance of a rabbeted edge to resist breaking.

Various embodiments of the invention have been described. It will, however, be evident that various modifications and changes may be made thereto, and additional embodiments may be implemented, without departing from the broader scope of the invention disclosed herein. This specification is to be regarded in an illustrative rather than a restrictive sense.

Claims

1. A building or construction piece comprising: at least one rabbet joint including a shoulder and cheek; anda curved surface having a radius in the rabbet joint.

2. The piece of claim 1 further comprising polyvinyl chloride.

3. The piece of claim 2, further comprising cellular polyvinyl chloride.

4. The piece of claim 3, wherein the radius is from about 1/16″ to about ¼″.

5. The piece of claim 4, wherein the radius is about 0.250 inches.

6. The piece of claim 1, wherein the radius is about 0.250 inches.

7. The piece of claim 6, wherein the shoulder includes a shoulder length of at least about 0.750 inches.

8. The piece of claim 7, wherein the cheek includes a cheek length of at least about 1.000 inches.

9. The piece of claim 2, wherein the radius is from about 1/16″ to about ¼″, the shoulder includes a shoulder length of at least about 0.750 inches, and the cheek includes a cheek length of at least about 1.000 inches.

10. The piece of claim 9, further comprising cellular polyvinyl chloride.

11. The piece of claim 1, further comprising: a first rabbet joint with a first shoulder and first cheek and a first curved surface having a first radius in the first rabbet joint; anda second rabbet joint with a second shoulder and second cheek and a second curved surface having a second radius in the second rabbet joint.

12. The piece of claim 11, wherein each of the first and second radius is from about 1/16″ to about ¼″.

13. The piece of claim 12, further comprising polyvinyl chloride.

14. The piece of claim 13, further comprising cellular polyvinyl chloride.

15. A building or construction piece comprising: a generally planar first outer surface portion with an embossing of polyvinyl chloride material;a first rabbet joint including a first shoulder and a first cheek, wherein the first outer surface portion is part of the first cheek; anda curved surface having a first radius in the first rabbet joint.

16. The piece of claim 15, wherein the first radius is from about 1/16″ to about ¼″.

17. The piece of claim 16, wherein the first radius is about ¼″.

18. The piece of claim 15, further comprising: a second rabbet joint including a second shoulder and a second cheek, wherein the first outer surface portion is also part of the second cheek; anda second curved surface having a second radius in the second rabbet joint.

19. The board of claim 18, wherein each of the first radius and second radius are from 1/16″ to about ¼″.

20. The piece of claim 15, further comprising: a generally planar second outer surface portion with an embossing of polyvinyl chloride material, wherein the second outer surface portion forms a corner with the first outer surface portion;a second rabbet joint including a second shoulder and a second cheek, wherein the second outer surface portion surface is part of the second cheek; anda second curved surface having a second radius in the second rabbet joint.

21. The board of claim 19, wherein each of the first radius and second radius are from 1/16″ to about ¼″.