WOOD ARCH FRAME SYSTEM
The wood arch frame system comprises a plurality of arch-shaped frames, which are parallel to each other and separated by specific bay lengths, or radially distributed at specified angles, and in either case are laterally supported by wood purlins, which are transversal to the frames. The main purpose is to provide an economical solution for agricultural buildings and is intended for the construction of barrel vaults or round-type buildings that can be covered by fabric, steel cladding, or plywood and shingles. These frames are assembled by interconnecting segments, which are comprised of curved or linear lower and upper chords joined together by a vertical web panel. Chords are made from wood, usually of the spruce-pine-fir type, and the web panel of plywood or oriented strand board (OSB). Adjacent segments are interconnected using steel straps bolted to the chords and plywood web connectors bolted at both sides of each connection.
The present invention pertains to a wood arch frame system, usually curved, mainly used in economical agricultural constructions in which the main component are wooden arch frames which have a cross-section similar to wood joists presently available in the building market. The main component of these frames is the arch segments, which can then be interconnected to form the arch frames.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTIONWooden joists are increasingly used in a large number of building applications. They comprise upper and lower wood chords with a web system composed of a diverse type of materials.
One such wood joist may be found in U.S. Pat. No. 5,867,963 issued Feb. 9, 1999 to Hershey. Another joist may be found described in Canadian patent application 2,008,043 published Jul. 18, 1991 issued to Lemyre.
The present invention, on the other hand, presents a curved wood structure that can be economically used for buildings with diverse free span lengths, and amenable to a diversity of covers like fabric, metal cladding or plywood and shingles.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,336,678 issued Jun. 29, 1982, wooden joists are described with a web member formed of sheet material such as plywood. In the present invention, the wooden structure is generalized to linear or curved arch shapes, and specific solutions are given for the interconnection between the arch segments that form part of the wood frame.
In Canadian patent No. 1,059,872 issued Aug. 7, 1979 to Philip Sprung, a building system is described with steel members covered by fabric. In the case of the present invention the improved system that is intended has a curved arch frame structure made of timber which is more economical and which makes it easier to implement future building modifications or expansions.
OBJECTS AND STATEMENT OF THE INVENTIONIt is an object of the present invention to provide a novel wooden arch frame system consisting in manufacturing curved arch segments, which can be interconnected to form a wood frame structure. A plurality of these wood frames is spaced over a number of bays to create a system that will produce an economical barrel vault type building. This structure is then amenable to economical covers like fabric, but can be covered by sheet metal or plywood and shingles as well.
The same frames can be used in halves that can be interconnected to assemble a circular or round building, which can be an economical solution required in other agricultural uses.
The present invention relates to a structural wooden arch segment which comprises: a) an elongated lower chord; b) an elongated upper curved chord generally but not necessarily parallel to the lower chord, and c) a web joining the chords usually of plywood or OSB material.
The arch segments connect to produce the wood arch frame in the following manner: a) the two chords connect by means of a steel strap bolted to both sides of the connection, and b) the web connects to the abutting web by using a wooden bolted web connector of the same material as the web.
The chords for each arch segment are made of kiln-dry wood, preferably one selected from the group that includes fir-spruce-pine.
Other aspects and further scope of applicability of the present invention will become apparent from the detailed description given hereinafter. It should be understood, however, that this detailed description, while indicating preferred embodiments of the invention, is given by way of illustration only, since various changes and modifications within the spirit and scope of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art.
Referring to
Between the upper and lower chords is provided a plywood or OSB web panel 12, adhesively joined to chords 10 and 11.
At the ends of top chord 10 can be seen the bolts required for the connection with an abutting arch segment, and indicated as 16. Similarly, at the ends of bottom chord 11, the bolts 17 shown are for the connection to another arch segment. The bolts 18 shown in the stiffeners 15 are required for the connection of the webs of abutting arch segments. We also observe web splicers 14 glued at both sides of the web 12, at lines of discontinuity 13.
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Although the invention has been described above with respect to one specific form, it will be evident to a person skilled in the art that it may be modified and refined in various ways. It is therefore wished to have it understood that the present invention should not be limited in scope, except by the terms of the claims.
Claims
1. A wood arch frame system, used to create building structures of a cylindrical or circular configuration comprises of a number of wood arch frames, which in turn are assembled from a number of interconnected wood arch segments composed of lower and upper chords fabricated with kiln dried elongated wood comprising spruce, pine or fir, rectangular in cross-section, straight or steam bent to achieve a desired curvature and of a size calculated to support desired snow and wind loads, said chords spaced apart at a calculated distance, both chords being adhesively joined by a vertical plywood web, which consists of a panel of plywood or OSB, laterally stabilized with glued web stiffeners of the same lumber as the chords, and spliced at points of discontinuity with plywood or OSB web splicers; and with the lower and upper chords joined where segments meet with bolted steel straps and web connectors made of plywood or OSB providing the continuity of the web at these abutting wood arch segments, which are laterally stabilized by elongated elements in the form of purlins, said purlins braced by tension elements in the form of tensors.
2. A gable wall, an integral part of cylindrical buildings built with the wood arch frame system of claim 1, is structured with wood columns built with elongated and linear wood arch segments composed of two chords fabricated with kiln dried elongated wood comprising spruce, pine or fir, rectangular in cross-section, straight and of a size calculated to support the desired loads, said chords spaced apart at a calculated distance, both chords being adhesively joined by a vertical plywood web, which consists of a panel of plywood or OSB, laterally stabilized with glued web stiffeners of the same lumber as the chords, and spliced at points of discontinuity with plywood or OSB web splicers; and with the chords joined where segments meet with bolted steel straps and web connectors made of plywood or OSB providing the continuity of the web at these abutting wood arch segments.
Type: Application
Filed: Jul 5, 2006
Publication Date: Jan 10, 2008
Inventor: ALEJANDRO HORACIO ESTEVERENA (Swampscott, MA)
Application Number: 11/428,678
International Classification: E04C 3/30 (20060101);