Static structures (e.g. – buildings) – Machine or implement
Reexamination Certificate
2002-05-09
2004-08-10
Friedman, Carl D. (Department: 3635)
Static structures (e.g., buildings)
Machine or implement
C052S749100, C052S749100, C052S749100
Reexamination Certificate
active
06772572
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates generally to building structures and, more specifically, to studs used primarily in constructing the walls of buildings.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Wood frame construction is a very common type of building construction technology used today. In the continual quest to reduce the cost of construction and to increase the productivity of the construction labor force, attention is given to reducing the cost of material, reducing the labor required for construction, and increasing the quality of the material used.
One nearly ubiquitous structural element used in wood construction is a piece of lumber called a stud. Studs are the vertical, load-bearing pieces of wood in the interior or exterior walls of a building to which sheathing or panel material is attached to form the wall structures. In addition to their use in wall construction, studs are also used in other parts of the framing process. There is a need to provide a reliable, low-cost supply of high-quality wooden studs for the construction industry.
The traditional stud is made in one piece and cut from tall trees, into 1½ inch by 3½ inch cross-sections (the standard 2×4), or 1½ inch by 5½ inch cross-sections (the standard 2×6), and milled into various lengths—most typically 8 or 9 feet. Such studs are often subject to warping, both bending and twisting.
Among the many factors which contribute to the cost and quality of wooden studs are the following: (1) the cost of the raw material used, affected by the amount and quality of timber available and the demand for timber; (2) the cost of manufacture of the studs; (3) the cost of transportation, which, among other things, is dependent on the weight of the studs; (4) the resistance to warpage of the studs, which reduces waste and increases the quality of the resulting structures; and (5) ease of use of the studs, affected by weight and by the extent of warpage. Thus, the need for a reliable, low-cost supply of high-quality wooden studs can be translated into a need for straight, stable, lightweight studs made from a source of inexpensive raw material.
One source of inexpensive raw material used in the construction industry is oriented strand board (OSB), a dimensionally-stable engineered wood sheet product which utilizes the fiber available from “waste” trees which are too small to produce traditional solid-wood products such as studs. The raw material for OSB itself, therefore, is inexpensive, and the manufacturing process is highly automated, making OSB an excellent, cost-effective source of raw material for fabricated lumber.
OSB has been used in the past as part of fabricated structural members for applications such as trusses, joists, rafters, and girders, i.e., in applications in which it is necessary for a horizontal structural member to carry vertical loads across the horizontal span of the structural member. Such beams, typically in I-beam or box-beam configurations, were structures to which engineered sheet materials could be applied because of the fact that I-beam and box-beam cross-sections are efficient in withstanding the tensile and compressive loads present in such applications, not to mention the fact that timber for long-span structural members is often not readily available.
However, the concept of engineered structures and in particular hollow box structures has not been widely accepted with respect to studs, i.e., 2×4 and 2×6 structures for use as studs in supporting interior and exterior walls. There are several reasons for this. First, it tends to be counterintuitive to make wooden studs hollow since studs are relatively slender. Second, since studs are designed to receive and to secure fasteners such as nails, it is thought that a hollow stud would not secure the appropriate fasteners as readily as solid wood. Third, studs are sized for placement in vertical, upright positions where they carry mainly compressive forces. Thus, box-shaped designs have not typically been associated with wooden studs.
In the past, there have been a number of efforts directed to the manufacture of engineered wooden beams, primarily for horizontal beam applications, with very little effort of practical consequence being applied with respect to the manufacture of studs intended primarily to take compressive loads. In fact, essentially no engineered wooden studs, whether or not made primarily of OSB, are available in normal market channels. Furthermore, the configuration of fabricated beam structures and other structures that may be seen in prior art documents are quite complex, and thus would typically be relatively expensive to manufacture.
There has been a need for a simple, low-cost, stable compressive-load-bearing wooden stud which can be easily manufactured and easily used.
OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION
Accordingly, it is a principal object of the invention to provide a fabricated wooden stud made primarily of OSB, thereby using wood sources not able to be used for solid timber studs.
It is another object of the invention to provide an improved stud which can be produced at a minimum cost.
Another object of this invention is to provide an improved wooden stud having high structural strength without using solid timber.
Another object of this invention is to provide an improved stud that is not subject to the warping that is often typical of traditional construction lumber.
Another object of this invention is to provide a stud that has lower weight, thereby lowering transportation costs and facilitating use on construction sites.
Another object of this invention is to provide a stud having improved insulating properties.
Yet another object of this invention is to provide a fabricated stud which has the ability to receive framing nails and other fasteners used in wooden building construction.
These and other objects of the invention will be apparent from the following descriptions and from the drawings.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The instant invention is a fabricated wooden stud which overcomes the above-noted problems and shortcomings and satisfies the objects of the invention. In describing the invention, certain terminology is used which is defined at the end of this summary section.
The fabricated wooden stud of this invention includes: (1) a pair of fully-aligned face-members of OSB spaced from one another and each having first and second ends and first and second elongate edges; (2) first and second fully-aligned edge-members of OSB spaced from one another, the first and second edge-members being adhesively affixed between the face-members along the first edges and second edges thereof, respectively; and (3) a pair of end-members adhesively affixed between the face-members at the ends thereof.
In certain embodiments of the invention, the OSB planes of the face-members and the edge-members are substantially parallel. In another embodiment of the invention, the end-members are OSB, such that the entire stud is made of OSB. In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the OSB planes of the face-members, the edge-members and the end-members are substantially parallel. Manufacturing studs with OSB members the OSB planes of which are parallel greatly simplifies the manufacturing process while producing studs having substantial compressive strength.
In a particularly preferred embodiment of the invention, each of the face-members of the stud has a width equal to the width of the stud. It is also highly preferred that each of the edge-members of the stud has an elongate outer surface, the edge-members being positioned such that the outer surfaces of the first and second edge-members are substantially coplanar with the first edges and second edges, respectively, of the face-members. Another preferred characteristic of the inventive fabricated wooden stud involves the end-members having end surfaces and the end surfaces being substantially flush with the first and second ends of the stud.
In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the stud further includes at least one core-member ad
Amiri Nahid
Friedman Carl D.
Jansson & Shupe & Munger Ltd.
Riley Beloit Corporation
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