U.S. patent number 3,826,050 [Application Number 05/341,142] was granted by the patent office on 1974-07-30 for jamb construction.
This patent grant is currently assigned to Fruehauf Corporation. Invention is credited to Tara N. Banerjea, Robert B. Schwartz, Donald B. Stinson, Jr..
United States Patent |
3,826,050 |
Schwartz , et al. |
July 30, 1974 |
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.
Inventors: |
Schwartz; Robert B. (Harper
Woods, MI), Banerjea; Tara N. (Warren, MI), Stinson, Jr.;
Donald B. (Farmington, MI) |
Assignee: |
Fruehauf Corporation (Detroit,
MI)
|
Family
ID: |
23336403 |
Appl.
No.: |
05/341,142 |
Filed: |
March 14, 1973 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
52/212;
49/505 |
Current CPC
Class: |
E06B
1/52 (20130101); E06B 1/20 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
E06B
1/12 (20060101); E06B 1/52 (20060101); E06B
1/20 (20060101); E06b 001/20 (); E04c 003/40 () |
Field of
Search: |
;52/211-217,718,656
;49/504,505 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Primary Examiner: Sutherland; Henry C.
Assistant Examiner: Ridgill, Jr.; James L.
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Harness, Dickey & Pierce
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.
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.
* * * * *