U.S. patent application number 11/157456 was filed with the patent office on 2005-12-29 for rigid foam building panel.
Invention is credited to Ritchie, Gordon.
Application Number | 20050284060 11/157456 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 35504001 |
Filed Date | 2005-12-29 |
United States Patent
Application |
20050284060 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Ritchie, Gordon |
December 29, 2005 |
Rigid foam building panel
Abstract
A rigid foam building panel includes a rigid foam body with
elongate reinforcing studs. The rigid foam body has a first face, a
second face, a top edge, a bottom edge and opposed side edges.
Integrally formed non-planar architectural features are positioned
on at least one of the first face or the second face.
Inventors: |
Ritchie, Gordon; (Edmonton,
CA) |
Correspondence
Address: |
CHRISTENSEN, O'CONNOR, JOHNSON, KINDNESS, PLLC
1420 FIFTH AVENUE
SUITE 2800
SEATTLE
WA
98101-2347
US
|
Family ID: |
35504001 |
Appl. No.: |
11/157456 |
Filed: |
June 21, 2005 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
52/309.7 |
Current CPC
Class: |
E04C 2/22 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
052/309.7 |
International
Class: |
E04C 001/00 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Jun 25, 2004 |
CA |
2,472,999 |
Claims
The embodiments of the invention in which an exclusive property or
privilege is claimed are defined as follows:
1. A rigid foam building panel, comprising: a rigid foam body with
elongate reinforcing studs, the rigid foam body having a first
face, a second face, a top edge, a bottom edge and opposed side
edges; and integrally formed non-planar architectural features on
at least one of the first face or the second face.
2. The rigid foam building panel as defined in claim 1, wherein the
non-planar architectural feature is a concave curvature on one of
the first face or the second face.
3. The rigid foam building panel as defined in claim 1, wherein the
non-planar architectural feature is a convex curvature on one of
the first face or the second face.
4. The rigid foam building panel as defined in claim 1, wherein the
non-planar architectural feature is an architectural moulding on
one of the first face or the second face.
5. The rigid foam building panel as defined in claim 4, wherein the
architectural moulding is a crown moulding.
6. The rigid foam building panel as defined in claim 4, wherein the
architectural moulding is a chair rail.
7. The rigid foam building panel as defined in claim 4, wherein the
architectural moulding is a column.
8. The rigid foam building panel as defined in claim 4, wherein the
architectural moulding is a baseboard moulding.
9. The rigid foam building panel as defined in claim 1, wherein the
opposed side edges of the body has grooves extending between the
top edge and the bottom edge, the grooves being adapted to receive
a connecting spline.
10. The rigid foam building panel as defined in claim 1, wherein
the body is divided longitudinally into at least two modular
sections positioned one above the other.
11. The rigid foam building panel as defined in claim 1 wherein the
at least two modular sections include an upper modular section and
a lower modular section.
12. The rigid foam building panel as defined in claim 11, wherein
more than one upper modular section is provided each having a
different crown moulding and more than one lower modular section is
provided each having a different baseboard moulding.
13. The rigid foam building panel as defined in claim 11, wherein
more than one upper modular section is provided each having a
different crown moulding and more than one lower modular section is
provided each having a different chair rail moulding.
14. The rigid foam building panel as defined in claim 10, wherein
elongate vertical connectors connect the at least two modular
sections.
15. The rigid foam building panel as defined in claim 10, wherein
the at least two modular sections are connected by a lap joint in
which one of the at least two modular sections has a depending
tongue which overlaps a modular section positioned immediately
below.
16. The rigid foam building panel as defined in claim 1, wherein
sealing grooves are positioned in the opposed sides edges
immediately adjacent at least one of the first face or the second
face, such that abutting bodies are sealed by placing a sealant in
the sealing grooves.
Description
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0001] The present invention relates to a rigid foam building panel
for use in a building system that utilizes panels made from rigid
foam, which are reinforced by studs inserts.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] The following patents disclose the use of rigid foam with
reinforcing stud inserts: U.S. Pat. No. 4,633,634 (Nemmer et al
from 1987), U.S. Pat. No. 5,722,198 (Bader from 1998) and CA U.S.
Pat. No. 2,363,216 (Ritchie from 2001). The systems disclosed use
parallel-piped panels, which are only suitable for making box-like
structures.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0003] What is required is a rigid foam building panel, which will
make rigid foam building systems more versatile.
[0004] According to the present invention there is provided a rigid
foam building panel which includes a rigid foam body with elongate
reinforcing studs. The rigid foam body has a first face, a second
face, a top edge, a bottom edge and opposed side edges. Integrally
formed non-planar architectural features are positioned on at least
one of the first face or the second face.
[0005] The rigid foam building panel, as described above, can be
made with selected non-planar architectural features, such as a
concave curvature, a convex curvature, or an architectural
moulding. Examples of architectural mouldings include: crown
mouldings, chair rails, baseboard mouldings and columns.
[0006] According to another aspect of the present invention, the
building panel is divided into modular sections, which are arranged
one above the other. This enables a stock of crown moulding
variations, chair moulding variations and baseboard moulding
variations to be provided. The consumer selects the desired crown
moulding variation, chair moulding variation and baseboard moulding
variation. The building panel is then assembled from modular
sections using the crown moulding variation, chair moulding
variation and baseboard moulding variation selected by the
consumer.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0007] These and other features of the invention will become more
apparent from the following description in which reference is made
to the appended drawings, the drawings are for the purpose of
illustration only and are not intended to in any way limit the
scope of the invention to the particular embodiment or embodiments
shown, wherein:
[0008] FIG. 1 is a top plan view of a building panel constructed in
accordance with the teachings of the present invention, having
curvatures and columns.
[0009] FIG. 2 is a side elevation view, in section, of a building
panel constructed in accordance with the teachings of the present
invention, having crown mouldings, baseboard mouldings and chair
mouldings.
[0010] FIG. 3 is a side elevation view of another embodiment of a
building panel having chair mouldings.
[0011] FIG. 4 is a rear elevation view of the building panel
illustrated in FIG. 2.
[0012] FIG. 5 is a exploded top plan view of the connections
between adjacent building panels of the building panel illustrated
in FIG. 1.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
[0013] The preferred embodiment, a rigid foam building
panel-generally identified by reference numeral 10, will now be
described with reference to FIGS. 1 through 5.
[0014] Structure and Relationship of Parts:
[0015] Referring now to FIG. 1, there is shown a structure 12
formed of rigid foam building panels 10. Rigid foam building panels
10 include a rigid foam body 14 with elongate reinforcing studs 16
and electrical conduits 17. Referring now to FIGS. 2 and 5, rigid
foam body 14 has a first face 18, a second face 20, a top edge 22,
a bottom edge 24 and opposed side edges 26. There are integrally
formed non-planar architectural features 28 on either first face 18
or second face 20. Referring now to FIGS. 1 through 4, non-planar
architectural feature 28 may be either a concave curvature 30, a
convex curvature 32, or an architectural moulding such as a crown
moulding 36, a chair rail 38, a column 40, or a base board moulding
42.
[0016] Referring now to FIG. 5, opposed side edges 26 of body 14
have grooves 44 extending between top edge 22 and bottom edge 24.
Grooves 44 are adapted to receive a connecting spline 46, which
allows bodies 14 to be connected together. Referring to FIGS. 2 and
3, body 14 is divided longitudinally into multiple modular sections
48 of upper and lower sections positioned one above the other.
Modular sections 48 therefore allow for crown mouldings 36,
baseboard mouldings 42, and chair rail mouldings 38 to be inserted.
More than one upper and lower modular section 48 may be provided,
each having a different crown moulding 26 or a different baseboard
moulding.42, respectively. Referring now to FIG. 4, modular
sections 48 are connected by using elongate vertical connectors 50
to connect them. Referring to FIG. 2, modular sections 48 fit
together and are connected using a lap joint 52, where one section
48 has a depending tongue 54 which overlaps another modular section
48 positioned immediately below. Referring now to FIG. 3, lap joint
52 may also include a recess 58 that receives tongue 54. Referring
to FIG. 5, sealing grooves 56 are positioned in opposed sides edges
26 immediately adjacent to first face 18 or second face 20, such
that abutting bodies 14 are sealed by placing a sealant in sealing
grooves 56.
[0017] Operation:
[0018] The use of rigid foam building panel 10 will now be
discussed with reference to FIGS. 1 through 5. Referring now to
FIG. 2 and 3, modular sections 48 are chosen according to the
desired use and design of building panel 10, and may include
architectural features 28 such as concave curvature 30, convex
curvature 32, or an architectural moulding such as a crown moulding
36, a chair rail 38, or a base board moulding 42. The selected
modular sections 48 are connected by lap joints 54, where tongue 54
either extends over the modular section 48 below, or fits into a
recess 58. The sections are held together by vertical connectors
50. Once rigid foam building panels 10 have been assembled as
desired, they are fit together to form the desired structure, such
as that shown in FIG. 1. Referring to FIG. 5, rigid foam building
panels 10 are held together by connecting spline 46 that is adapted
to fit in grooves 44 formed in opposed side edges 26. Sealing
grooves 56 are formed at the connection point of opposed side edges
26 and first or second face 18 or 20 such that abutting bodies 14
are sealed by placing a sealant in sealing grooves 56. Referring
again to FIG. 1, bodies 14 need not be rectangular, and may include
curved bodies 14 to allow for corners and other architectural
features, such as columns 40.
[0019] It will be noted that a "C" channel is commonly used to
support and install sectional walls. When working with curved and
angled sections, however, this is no longer practical. What is
preferred is an "L" shaped channel that may be installed on each
side of the wall, if required. The vertical face attached to the
wall, and the horizontal face may be cut to allow the vertical face
to be bent around curves or corners.
[0020] In this patent document, the word "comprising" is used in
its non-limiting sense to mean that items following the word are
included, but items not specifically mentioned are not excluded. A
reference to an element by the indefinite article "a" does not
exclude the possibility that more than one of the element is
present, unless the context clearly requires that there be one and
only one of the elements.
[0021] It will be apparent to one skilled in the art that
modifications may be made to the illustrated embodiment without
departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as hereinafter
defined in the Claims.
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