Patent Application
20060000182
This invention relates generally to a wall stud assembly and more particularly to a wall stud assembly for clean rooms and portable/in-plant buildings.
The buildings of the type which utilize wall stud assemblies are typically prefabricated and ready for assembly at the building site. Such buildings include in-plant offices, guard houses, food service buildings, control rooms, toll booths, parking lot booths, noise control buildings, clean rooms, and the like. Such buildings are formed from load-bearing wall structures as opposed to mere partitions. These portable buildings must be of quality construction, strong and durable. They should be energy efficient, have good sound control and low maintenance. Other characteristics of such buildings are that they must be relatively easy to assemble at the job site and easily disassembled for moving to a different location if desired. They should also be economical.
Such building structures are well-known in the art as are wall studs for use with such building structures. Typically, such wall studs are of steel or extruded aluminum and have side recesses for receiving the side edges of wall panels to form the walls of the building.
One such prior art wall stud has first and second stud members, each of which is generally U-shaped in cross-section with a base and opposing sides forming an open side and a base side of each stud member. Each stud member has laterally extending flanges extending outwardly from the side walls at the open side. The base sides of the stud members are affixed in surface engagement with the open sides of the stud members facing outwardly, therefore to sandwich a wall panel between the outwardly extending flanges of the stud members. The base sides are affixed to each other by means of anchoring screws which extend through the base sides of the stud members. Thus, the fasteners or screws are oriented along a single longitudinal line.
Such assemblies suffer certain drawbacks, however. For example, such assemblies are not as strong as desired. Thus, in order to withstand typical loads, the stud assemblies are generally limited to twelve feet in height. Moreover, such assemblies are adapted to walls of limited thickness, generally about 3 inches thick, while in certain situations thicker walls (such as 4 to 5 inches thick) are desired for temperature or sound insulation, ventilation passageways or other reasons. Although the width of the sides of the U-shaped stud members may be increased thereby to deepen the U-shaped cross-section to accommodate thicker walls, it has been found that retooling costs to effect such changes increases the cost of the stud assembly significantly. In addition, it does not adequately address the desire for stronger stud assemblies.
In one aspect, a wall stud assembly comprising a first elongate stud member, a second elongate stud member, and a plurality of connectors is provided. The first elongate stud member comprises a back section, a front section substantially parallel to the back section, and two substantially parallel side portions connecting and extending between the back section and the front section. The parallel side portions comprise engagement extensions extending past the front section forming a receiver portion with the front section. The back section extends beyond the side portions. The second elongate stud member comprises a back wall configured to engage the front section of the first elongate stud member and two side walls substantially parallel to and extending from the back wall and each configured to engage the engagement extensions of the first elongate stud member. The second elongate stud member also comprises two wall flanges substantially perpendicular to and extending from the side walls. The plurality of connectors attach the side walls of the second elongate stud member to the engagement sections of the first elongate stud member.
In another aspect, a wall stud assembly is provided that comprises a substantially rectangular first elongate stud member comprising engagement extensions extending therefrom and forming a receiver portion and a second elongate stud member substantially forming a channel and configured for insertion into the receiver portion.
In still another aspect, a wall assembly is provided which comprises a plurality of wall sections and a plurality of wall stud assemblies, each wall stud assembly is between a pair of wall sections. The wall stud assemblies each comprise a substantially rectangular first elongate stud member comprising engagement extensions extending therefrom and forming a receiver portion and a second elongate stud member substantially forming a channel and configured for insertion into the receiver portion of the first stud member. The first elongate stud member and the second elongate stud member are configured to engage the wall sections.
In one embodiment, junctions 34 and 36 are formed where back section 20 and parallel side portions 24 and 26 meet. Junctions 34 and 36, in one embodiment, each include an arcuate section 37 extending from back section 20 to the respective parallel side portion in order to provide strength to junctions 34 and 36.
Second elongate stud member 14 includes a back wall 40 configured to engage front section 22 of first elongate stud member 12 in a surface-to-surface manner. Second elongate stud member 14 also includes two side walls 42 and 44 substantially parallel to and extending from back wall 40 and two wall flanges 46 substantially perpendicular to and extending from side walls 42 and 44 respectively. Back wall 40 and side walls 42 and 44 form a channel, sometimes referred to as a raceway, for insertion of wiring and the like as further described below. Back wall 40 and portions of side walls 42 and 44 (e.g., the channel) are inserted into receiver portion 32 of first elongate stud member 12 as described in more detail below.
In one embodiment, side walls 42 and 44 are each configured to engage engagement extensions 28 and 30 respectively such that connectors 18 are utilized to attach side walls 42 and 44 to engagement sections 28 and 30. In a specific embodiment, side walls 42 and 44 each include a V-shaped portion formed therein having a first side 47 and a second side 48. In the illustrated embodiment, engagement extensions 28 and 30 are at least partially configured to engage first sides 47 of the V-shaped portion. Engagement sections 28 and 30 include a first segment 50 extending inward from parallel side portions 24 and 26, a second segment 52 extending from first segment 50 that is substantially parallel to parallel side portions 24 and 26, and a third segment 54 extending outward from second segment 52, segments 50, 52, and 54 effectively forming a channel. As illustrated in
In one embodiment, connectors 18 are self tapping screws. Alternatively, any means for connecting adjacent surfaces can be used, including rivets, nuts and bolts, pins, rods, and nails.
Cover 16, which in one embodiment is configured to engage side walls 42 and 44 of second stud member 14, forms a portion of a wall. Cover 16 includes a plurality of clips 60 extending substantially perpendicularly therefrom and configured to provide a snap fit connection with side walls 42 and 44. Particularly, clips 60 include a protrusion 62 which snaps into the V-shaped portion of side walls 42 and 44 engaging a surface of second side 48 of the V-shaped portion. When cover 16 is fitted onto second elongate stud member 14 as previously described, a channel is formed for routing one or more of ducting, piping, wiring, pressure lines, cabling, plumbing, and the like.
Ends 70 of cover 16 extend a short distance beyond the location of clips 60. In a particular embodiment, as shown in
The configuration of the components of wall stud assembly 10 also allows for construction of wall section from a single side of wall assembly. By placing a first elongate stud member 12 in position between two respective wall sections 102, a second elongate stud member 14 is then insertable into the receiver portion of first elongate stud member 12 and connectors 18 are inserted as described above, followed by the snapping in place of cover 16 (after any insertion of wiring and the like).
The above described embodiments allow for the construction of temporary walls that provide routing for electricity, fluids and the like, while also providing a relatively smooth wall surface of the kind typically utilized in clean room construction. Therefore, the wall stud assembly described herein allows for the simple construction of any size room having walls with properties desirable for use in clean rooms and also providing a sturdy construction.
The wall stud assembly described herein also allows for construction of in-plant and portable buildings which must support a load such as a roof, as opposed to a partition system that provides little or no structural vertical support. Moreover, wall stud assemblies 10 and 200 are configured not to bow under vertical or lateral loads.
While the invention has been described in terms of various specific embodiments, those skilled in the art will recognize that the invention can be practiced with modification within the spirit and scope of the claims.
