Jamb Construction

Abstract

A jamb construction which can be readily installed around approximately aligned openings in adjacent partitions in spite of variations in the orientation of one opening relative to the other opening and which provides an attractive finished appearance when installed.

Description

SUMMARY AND BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a jamb construction which is particularly useful with modular-type building construction.

In building construction where modular-type components are erected on site, corresponding door openings in adjacent modular components which are intended to align with each other are subject to a certain amount of misalignment. Such misalignment may be either linear or angular and in any direction. Accordingly, such misalignment usually requires that the jamb around the door openings be individually tailored to the misaligned openings so that a suitable finished appearance is presented.

Some of the objects of the present invention are: to substantially reduce, or eliminate entirely, the individual tailoring of a jamb to an opening; to provide a door jamb construction which can accommodate misalignment of approximately aligned door openings in adjacent modules; to provide a jamb construction which can be economically fabricated and mass produced, thereby tending to reduce building construction costs; to eliminate shrinking, warping, and large tolerance problems; and to facilitate on-site building construction. The invention need not be limited to use in modular-type building construction and may be advantageously used in conventional construction to substantially reduce jamb installation cost.

The foregoing, as well as additional objects and advantages of the invention will be seen in the ensuing description and claims which are to be taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The drawings illustrate a preferred embodiment of the invention in accordance with the best mode presently contemplated for carrying out the invention.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a building unit which includes the jamb construction according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view taken along line 2--2 in FIG. 1 and having portions exploded away.

FIG. 3 is a horizontal sectional view taken in the direction of arrow 3 in FIG. 2 showing how the invention overcomes longitudinal misalignment between openings.

FIG. 4 is a view similar to FIG. 3 showing how the invention overcomes lateral misalignment between openings.

FIG. 5 is an enlarged perspective view taken in circle 5 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 6 is an enlarged perspective view taken in circle 6 of FIG. 1.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Turning now to the drawings and first to FIG. 1, a pair of doors 10 and 12 are hung in doorways 14 and 16, respectively. Doorway 14 provides passage between adjacent modular units while doorway 16 is entirely within one modular unit. Both doorways 14 and 16 include door jamb constructions 18 and 20, respectively, according to the present invention. Each jamb 18 and 20 extends from the floor up one side of its doorway, across the top of the doorway, and down the other side of the doorway to the floor.

The details of each jamb 18 and 20 are shown in FIGS. 2-4. Considering doorway 14 and jamb 18 first, doorway 14 is formed by rectangular openings 22 and 24, respectively in partitions 26 and 28, respectively of adjacent modular units. Partitions 26 and 28 are generally similar having interior wall panels 30 and 32, respectively and exterior wall panels 34 and 36, respectively. The door openings are provided with vertical jamb members 38 and 40, respectively which are of generally U-shaped cross-section and inserted into the space between the interior and exterior wall panels around the door openings for attachment to the respective wall panels and which extend the full height of the wall panel and hence also serve as wall studs. (The other vertical jamb section on the opposite side of the doorway as well as the horizontal jamb section extending across the top of the doorway are not shown but are of like construction.) Jamb member 38 is formed to the illustrated configuration from a single piece of metal and comprises U-shaped channels 42 and 44 which run the length of the member. Channel 42 is narrow and relatively shallow and opens away from partition 28. Channel 44 is of the same width as channel 42, but is substantially deeper and opens in the opposite direction. The bottom portion of channel 44 overlaps channel 42 and the laterally inner side walls of the channels are connected together by a right angle segment 46 which forms a door stop strip along the jamb member. Because jamb member 38 is formed from a single metal piece, the shape thereof illustrated in the drawing provides a strong, rigid member while facilitating assembly of the remainder of the jamb construction around doorway 14.

A molding 48 covers the transition between jamb member 38 and interior wall 30 of partition 26. Molding 48 comprises a flange 50, the free end 52 of which is folded over onto itself and inserted into channel 42. A contoured portion 54 extends from the other end of flange 50 and wraps around wall panel 30 to abut the exterior surface thereof. In order to hang door 10, hinge recesses 56 are fashioned in molding 48 and hinge mounting plates 58 are mounted on member 38 (for example, by spot welding) within suitable cut-outs 59 therein.

A molding 60 connects jamb member 38 with partition 28 for the purpose of concealing any gap between the two partitions and covering door opening 24. Molding 60 comprises a contoured portion 62 (similar to contoured portion 54 of molding 50) wrapped around panel 32 and abutting the exterior surface thereof. A relatively long flange 64 extends from the laterally inner end of portion 62 and the free end 66 thereof is folded over onto itself and inserted into channel 44. A rectangular stiffening bead 68 is formed in flange 64, but leaves sufficient length to the flange end 66 so that end 66 can be inserted fully into channel 44 if necessary. Thus, flange end 66 has a lost-motion engagement with channel 44. In view of the relatively long length of flange 64, a plurality of supporting tabs 70 are struck out of member 40 along the length thereof and lodge in bead 68 to assist in supporting flange 64. Preferably, tabs 70 are permanently affixed to molding 60 after installation and one way of doing this is by lining bead 68 with an adhesive strip 71 to which the free ends of tab 70 adhere.

FIG. 3 shows how the lost-motion connection of flange end 66 with channel 44 permits the contoured portion 62 of molding 60 to be mounted against wall panel 32 in spite of variations in the distance separating partitions 26 and 28. Preferably, the jamb construction is dimensioned so that flange end 66 is inserted halfway into channel 44 for nominal separation between partitions 26 and 28 as indicated in solid lines in FIG. 3. Should partitions 26 and 28 actually abut as indicated at 72, flange end 66 would be fully inserted into channel 44; at maximum separation between partitions 26 and 28 as shown at 74, free end 66 is just barely inserted into channel 44.

As seen in FIG. 4, the overlap of contoured portion 62 of molding 60 with wall 32 is sufficient to accommodate lateral variation in the alignment of door openings 22 and 24. Preferably, the construction is dimensional for nominal lateral separation of corresponding edges as indicated in solid lines in FIG. 4. Preferably, tabs 70 in their free state just abut bead 68 when lateral separation between corresponding edges is maximum as indicated at 76 in FIG. 4. As the lateral separation between corresponding edges of the openings decreases, tabs 70 are increasingly deflected by bending to the desired position prior to installing molding 60.

The invention also overcomes misalignment caused by the plane of door opening 24 being slightly out of parallelism with the plane of door opening 22. Such out-of-parallelism of door opening 24 relative to door opening 22 can occur about any one, or combination of, three axes: for example, about a vertical axis through the center of door opening 22; about a horizontal axis through the center of door opening 22 in the plane thereof; about a horizontal axis through the center of door opening 22 perpendicular to the plane thereof. In the first out-of-parallel condition, flange end 66 of the horizontal jamb construction extending across the upper edge of the door opening (not illustrated) would have a variable depth of insertion into channel 44 along the length thereof, and one of the vertical jamb sections would have its flange end 66 inserted into its channel 44 deeper than the flange end 66 of the other vertical jamb section into its channel 44. In the second condition, flange ends 66 of the vertical jamb constructions at each side of the door opening would have variable depths of insertion into their respective channels 44 along the lengths thereof. In the third condition, the contoured portion 62 of molding 60 would have variable degrees of overlap with wall 32 around the door opening.

Thus, even if door openings 22 and 24 are slightly out of parallel, flange end 66 will be inserted into channel 44 around the entire jamb, so long as the maximum separation between partitions 26 and 28 at any point around the door openings does not exceed the maximum separation as indicated in broken lines at 74 in FIG. 3. Hence, the jamb construction provides total concealment of door openings 22 and 24 and presents a neat trim appearance in spite of misalignment of the openings.

The invention affords expeditious on-site assembly. Customarily, jamb members 38 and 40 are mounted in partitions 26 and 28 during construction of the modules in the factory and moldings 48 and 60 are assembled on site after the modules have been placed side by side. Alternatively, molding 48 could be assembled at the factory or could be integrally formed with jamb member 38. It will be observed that no fasteners are required to attach moldings 50 and 60 and that the contoured portions may be bonded to the wall panels by suitable adhesive 78 (FIG. 2). The portions of moldings 48 and 60 which are bonded to the respective wall panels include a groove 79 into which excess adhesive 78 is forced when the moldings are pressed against the wall panels. This renders the installation smear-proof, which is important where the interior wall panels are pre-painted.

FIG. 5 illustrates a preferred construction allowing a horizontal molding, such as molding 92 running across the top of doorway 14, to be quickly and accurately fitted with a vertical molding, such as molding 48. A right angle bracket 94 is located within the two moldings at their junction. Bracket 94 comprises a portion 97 which mates with molding portion 54 of molding 48 and a portion 98 which mates with portion 96 of molding 92. With bracket 94 affixed to one of the two moldings, the other molding may be rapidly fitted thereto with the aid of bracket 94. The resulting flush fit of the two moldings provided a neat, trim finished appearance.

FIG. 6 illustrates a preferred construction of molding 48 in the vicinity of a baseboard molding 102. Molding portion 54 of molding 48 is provided with a cutout 100 which has a lost motion engagement with molding 102. This allows baseboard molding 102 to be installed prior to the vertical molding, and permits the vertical molding to be readily installed thereafter.

While doorway 16 does not present potential misalignment problems as does doorway 14 (but rather typifies conventional-type construction), a jamb member 80 (FIG. 2), similar or identical to jamb member 38, can be used in jamb 20. Moldings 82 and 84 are inserted into jamb member 80 around the door opening in similar fashion to moldings 48 and 60 with respect to jamb member 38. Jamb member 80 and molding 84 are fashioned with suitable threaded tabs 86 and a strike plate recess 88, respectively, for monting a strike plate 90.

While it will be apparent that the invention herein disclosed is well-calculated to achieve the benefits and advantages as herein above set forth, it will be appreciated that the invention is susceptible to modification, variation and change without departing from the spirit thereof.

Claims

We claim:

1. In a jamb construction for an opening through a partition having two spaced walls, a channel element having a web and two flanges disposed between said walls at said opening with the channel facing inwardly, the web of said channel element having a pair of oppositely facing channel portions disposed outwardly on top of each other, a molding having an outer contoured portion covering one wall about said opening and a flange portion extending into one of said oppositely facing channels, a second molding having a contoured portion engaging the other wall about said opening and a flange portion extending into the other of said oppositely facing channels, and means for securing said moldings in fixed relation to each other and said walls.

2. In a jamb construction as recited in claim 1, wherein the oppositely facing channels along with the supporting portion therefor forms a stop for the closure element between said webs.

3. In a jamb construction as recited in claim 1, wherein a second pair of walls are disposed adjacent and parallel to said first set of walls and having said channel element disposed between one pair of walls, a second channel element disposed between said second pair of walls and facing thereinto, said second molding having its flange extended so as to pass over the two inner adjacent walls into the other oppositely facing channel in the web of said first channel element.

4. In a jamb construction as recited in claim 3, wherein tabs extend outwardly from said second channel element into engagement with the inner surface of the extended flange of said second molding, and an adhesive on said inner face of said extended flange which is engaged by the tabs and adherred thereto in fixed relation.

5. In a jamb construction as recited in claim 1, wherein said receiving means is an adhesive applied to the inner face of the contoured portion of the moldings for engagement with the outer surfaces of the outermost walls.