Building Component and Method of Making the Same

This invention relates generally to a building component and particularly to a multipurpose component having a reinforced plastic skin over a built-in form.

Among the desirable characteristics for building components, particularly those of rather large size such as 8 feet by 4 feet panels, are strength, lightness, resistance to corrosion, sound and heat insulation, fire resistance, inexpensive manufacture, low installation cost and the ability to be used for inside or outside work. Plywood has some of these qualities; it is lightweight and relatively strong, but it is deficient in insulation and fire resistance, requires special treatment for outside use and is costly to install. Gypsum board is a fairly good insulator when used in drywall frame construction, but it is relatively heavy and has little structural strength. Various composite panels are known which employ a urethane foam core with an outer skin of steel or preformed plastic but these tend to be special purpose panels which are expensive to manufacture.

The present component avoids the disadvantages inherent in known prior art components.

This building component is strong and lightweight and has superior fire resistance and insulation qualities. It can be readily made from waste materials and is therefore inexpensive to manufacture.

This component can be used for outside construction and is particularly useful in the construction of service buildings, such as warehouses. It can also be used for inside construction where it finds particular use as a heat and sound insulating panel. It is rigid and the strength can be readily controlled. In addition, it is sufficiently lightweight that one 8 feet.times.4 feet.times.6 inch panel can be handled by one man.

This building component consists of a form of sheet material; an interior core of shredded material and an exterior skin of a reinforced plastic binder such as fiberglass reinforced resin. The form includes a peripheral sidewall and upper and lower walls which cooperate to form a closed casing beneath the exterior skin.

The sheet material providing the form casing is of cardboard or similar material and the interior core is of shredded waste material such as fiberglass or the like, and the reinforced plastic binder is partially absorbed through the cardboard to contact the interior core in adhesive relation.

The method of making the building componet comprises the steps of placing the bottom layer on a work table; placing a sidewall form on top of the bottom layer; filling the sidewall form with core material; placing a top layer on the sidewall form and applying a reinforced plastic binder to the upper, lower and side surfaces.

The bottom layer of the component is a flat sheet having portions extending outwardly of the sidewall and being folded in overlapping relation with said sidewall and being adhesively secured to the sidewall by the reinforced plastic binder.

In a modified component the sidewalls are formed from wood structural members into a rectangular frame and the upper and lower walls are formed from plywood. The interior core includes elongate bracing members extending between opposed framing members.

In a modified method at least one of the top and bottom sheets is omitted and the reinforced plastic binder is applied directly to the form and core material to provide a substantially rigid and complete cover.

This building component is relatively inexpensive to manufacture and can be at least partially formed from recycled and waste material which would otherwise provide a difficult disposal problem. Further, it is readily adaptable, in whole or in part to manufacture by automatic or semi-automatic mass production techiques as well as manufactured by hand.

FIG. 1 is a perspective, somewhat diagrammatic view illustrating the first stage of the method of producing the building component;

FIG. 2 is a similar view illustrating the second stage;

FIG. 3 is a similar view illustrating the third stage;

FIG. 4 is a similar view illustrating the fourth stage;

FIG. 5 is a similar view illustrating the fifth stage and showing the finished component;

FIG. 6 is a perspective view which illustrates the manner in which two components are joined together;

FIG. 7 is a similar view which illustrates an alternative method of joining two components together;

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of a modified component;

FIGS. 9, 10 and 11 are perspective views illustrating various component configurations;

FIG. 12 is an enlarged fragmentary cross sectional view of a component having a reinforced core;

FIG. 13 is a perspective view similar to FIG. 1 illustrating the first stage of the method of producing a modified building component;

FIG. 14 is a similar view illustrating a second stage thereof;

FIG. 15 is a similar view illustrating a third stage thereof;

FIG. 16 is a similar view illustrating a fourth stage thereof, showing the finished product, and

FIG. 17 is an enlarged fragmentary cross sectional view showing a joint construction of the modified component.

Referring now by reference numerals to the drawing and first to FIGS. 1 through 5, it will be understood that FIG. 1 illustrates the initial phase of producing the building component in a somewhat diagrammatic form. Essentially, as shown in FIG. 1 a flat sheet 12 is disposed on a work table 10. The sheet 12 constitutes a bottom layer and in the embodiment shown is of cardboard or the like. A peripheral sidewall form 14, having a generally rectangular configuration and formed from similar sheet material, is disposed on top of the sheet 12. As will be observed sheet 12 is substantially larger in area than the sidewall form 14 and extends beyond said sidewall form on each of the four sides.

As shown in FIG. 2, the open box configuration formed by the bottom sheet 12 and the sidewall form 14 is filled partially or completely with a fragmented material such as shredded waste fiberglass, rubber, or sawdust or the like indicated by numeral 16, which constitutes insulation core material. After the open box has been filled, as shown in FIG. 2, the core material 16 is sprayed with a reinforced plastic binder. Although not necessary in all instances, the sprayed binder mixes with the shredded material and causes it to adhere to itself and to the inside face of the form. Following this, a top sheet 18, see FIG. 3, also of similar material to the bottom sheet 12 and having a size corresponding substantially to the dimensions across the sidewall form 14 is disposed on top of said sidewall form to form a closed casing. Following this operation the top sheet 16 and sidewall form 14 are coated with the plastic reinforced binder from nozzles 20. The reinforced plastic binder effectively seals and adheres the parts together and forms a rigid exterior skin. The plastic reinforced binder may be formed from any of a number of different resins, such as polyester, epoxy, polyurethane and the like in conjunction with the appropriate catalyst and reinforced with synthetic or natural fibers. By way of example it will be assumed that a plastic reinforced binder, of the type well known in the automobile and boating industry for forming automobile bodies and boat hulls, is used such binder being sprayed from a gun represented in FIG. 3 by nozzle 20. The gun delivers converging streams of resin and fiberglass particles which have been chopped from a continuous spool fed strand prior to being issued from the nozzle 20. Following this initial coating operation, as shown in FIG. 4, portions of the bottom sheet 12 indicated respectively by numerals 22 and 24, are folded upwardly to form side flaps 22 and 24 respectively, which are temporarily attached to the sidewall form 14 as by staples (not shown). The flaps are then sprayed to provide a completed box. After the completion of this operation the component is inverted and the bottom thereof is then coated as by spraying with the resin fiberglass composition from nozzles 20. After this final stage the finished component indicated by numeral 30 is ready for use.

Preferably, the cardboard forming the casing should be of a thickness and density which will permit the plastic binder to be absorbed through it into adhering contact with the shredded fiberglass waste material forming the insulated core of the component 30. Recycled cardboard having a thickness of about 60 mils has been found satisfactory for this purpose. Other materials, including fiberglas sheets, particle board, wood and hardboard or other fibrous material can be used. The exterior skin thickness (not shown) depends on the use and strength requirements and one-sixteenth (1/16"), excluding absorption, is suitable for many purposes.

If it is desired to join one or more of the components 30 together this is accomplished, as shown in FIG. 6, by wrapping a strip of fiberglass matting tape indicated by numeral 32 around the joint and spraying or otherwise coating the tape joining the two components with the reinforced plastic binder. Alternatively, as shown in FIG. 7, modified components indicated by numerals 130 may be used having preformed interlocking portions 134 and 136 which can be coated with the reinforced binder to ensure a strong joint.

It will be understood that the strength of the product is derived from the reinforced plastic binder forming the sealed exterior skin and penetrating into the interior through the relatively weak casing. As shown in the modified component 230 of FIG. 8, the casing of the component can be reinforced with fiberglass matting web indicated by numeral 38, which when coated with the resin binder, results in an extremely strong and durable component. As also shown in FIG. 8 the thin wall casing can be provided with perforations generally indicated by numeral 40 (shown enlarged for clarity) to ensure adequate absorption of the binder therethrough.

FIGS. 9, 10 and 11 illustrate various configurations into which a basic rectangular component can be formed. FIG. 9 shows a component 330 which is curved lengthwise for providing an arch structure. FIG. 10 shows a similar arched component 430 curved widthwise and FIG. 11 shows a domed component 530. It will be understood that the curvature can be achieved by providing a suitable supplementary support on the table and by providing a sidewall form with built in curvature.

FIG. 12 illustrates an internally reinforced component 650. Essentially, except for the placing of the corrugated reinforcing members, the method of manufacturing this component is similar to that described above with respect to component 30. One or more layers of lengthwise extending corrugated bracing members such as those indicated by numerals 652 and 660 can be used, said members being separated by an intermediate panel 656. Briefly, a first layer of core material indicated by numeral 650 is disposed within the form 614 lying above the bottom sheet 612 and the corrugated bracing member 652 is disposed on top of said core material. A second layer of core material 654 is disposed above the corrugated bracing member 652 followed by the intermediate panel 656. The reinforced plastic binder material is then sprayed or otherwise applied to the intermediate panel 656. The same procedure is followed with respect to the core material 658, the corrugated bracing member 660 and the core material 662, following the top sheet 618 is place in position. The remaining procedure is substantially as described with respect to the component 30. It will be understood that the upper faces of the corrugated members 652 and 656 can have binder applied to them for additional strength if desired.

A modified construction of the building component is shown in FIGS. 13-17. This component indicated by numeral 730 is formed from a relatively heavyweight material such as wood. In the embodiment shown, the top and bottom sheets 712 and 718 are of from one-half to three-fourths inch thick plywood, while the peripheral sidewall form 714 is of nominally two by four or two by six framing members. The interior of the sidewall form 714 is braced with elongate bracing member, such as one by four or one by six members indicated by numerals 720. As will be readily understood the bottom sheet 712, sidewall form 714 and the framing members 720 can be preformed into an open top box configuration by fastener elements such as nails, screws or the like. The interior of the open box is then partly or completely filled with shredded waste material foamed-in-place styrofoam or other insulation material which together with the bracing members 720 provides a core 716. After this, the top sheet 718 is nailed, or otherwise attached to the top of the sidewall form 714 to form a closed casing. Followng this operation, the entire body form: top wall, sidewall and bottom wall is coated with reinforced plastic binder which assists in adhering the parts together and forms a rigid exterior skin completely covering the wood casing. As shown in FIG. 16 the component 730 is inverted to complete the coating operation. The strength of the component 730 is derived from the exterior coating which penetrates the fibrous and relatively absorbent wood and also from the inherent strength of the wood itself.

In some instances it is desirable to spray the interior of the casing prior to emplacement of the shredded core insulation material to provide an additional waterproof coating and strength. As with the previous embodiment the shredded core material can be sprayed to cause it to adhere to itself and the built-in form.

As shown in FIG. 17, the component can be provided with a single elongate strip 722 on one side and a pair of elongate strips 724 on the opposite side. These strips 722 and 724 provide male and female interfitting tongue and groove joint parts, which provides a means of connecting and aligning the components 710 to form a continuous wall. These strips 722 and 724 are completely coated with binder, as shown by numeral 726, and including the ends to ensure a completely sealed component thereof.

It will be readily understood that the wool-like consistency of core material such as shredded waste fiberglass provides a lightweight component which can be used for flotation devices such as boat docks, piers, stationary swimming-diving rafts and the like. In this respect the outer reinforced plastic sealed exterior skin is particularly useful in that the finished unit is completely waterproof and damp-proof. This feature, combined with its strength also provies a suitable component for use in forming the walls of underground buildings. If desired the components can be sprayed with the binder while under compression. This results in an extremely rigid and self supporting structural component, which can be used as a structural beam member for items such as railroad ties. Alternatively, the core material can be compressed prior to spraying.

If desired, a bottom layer which consists of a parting agent in lieu of the cardboard bottom sheet 12 can be used and the table inverted following the spraying of the top and sides so that the open bottom can then be sprayed with the fiberglass composition. In this way, the reinforced plastic not only mixes with and stiffens the core material but provides an exterior skin in lieu of a bottom cover. The top cover can also be omitted so that the sidewall form is the only form material used. As will be understood when this procedure is used the box is preferably completely filled with core material which is preferably levelled off.

It will also be readily understood that the method is subject to conveyor belt operation when high production is required. In this instance the nozzles 20 shown in FIGS. 2 and 5 will be provided by different sets of nozzles at different stations and the work table 10 will be substituted by a conveyor belt.