RELOCATABLE BUILDING WALL CONSTRUCTION
A relocatable wall construction includes a center sheet (preferably magnesium oxide), vertical strips, floor and ceiling attachment strips, and tongue-and-groove connectors for joining adjacent aligned panels (also called vertical strips). Fasteners connect components together, and can include magnets, bolts, screws clips, and/or hook-tabs. Magnetic tape can be used for releasable attachment to outer sheets, along with fibrous sound-deadening material for noise reduction and slots for providing adjustment for non-uniform floors and ceilings.
This application claims benefit under 35 U.S.C. § 119(e) of provisional application Ser. No. 61/053,200, filed May 14, 2008, entitled RELOCATABLE BUILDING WALL CONSTRUCTION, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.
BACKGROUNDThe present invention concerns relocatable building walls configured for utilities.
The walls of traditional houses and commercial buildings are permanent, making it difficult to rearrange and reallocate their interior space. Further, it is difficult and expensive to access, maintain and/or add services and utilities (e.g., electrical, communications, and plumbing). However, the inhabitants of buildings undergo changing lifestyles. In homes, as the family grows, there is a need for more rooms and/or different rooms as well as different utilities. As the family leaves, the home may have other needs, such as the need for home offices and/or grandparent apartments. In condos, there may be owners that want more or less space, or rearranged rooms/space. Also the space in condos may change to commercial, or be changed from commercial into condo space.
SUMMARY OF THE PRESENT INVENTIONAn object of the present invention is to provide a wall that is accessible from either side for services without disturbing the other side. The wall is designed to have a low noise transmission coefficient with three or more planes and a noise-reducing blanket of fibrous material. The wall with its three rigid planes can be made very fire-resistant for meeting building codes.
In one aspect, the center plane includes semi-permanently-attached sections and the outside planes are easily removed with no visible fasteners or battens or ugly seams. Panels can butt right up next to each other in alignment such that their joints are minimal. The finish surfaces on the outer plane panels can be prefinished with veneers, wallpaper, paint, and/or other decorative surfaces. The outer surface may also be a textured surface that has a low noise reduction coefficient.
Preferred materials for this invention are: a) magnesium oxide planar surfaces, b) mineral wool noise filler blanket reductions, c) steel studs to the center plane, d) magnets for attachment and for fixed attachment to the outer plane of the magnesium oxide sheets, and placed for magnetic adherence to the metal studs. However, other materials may be used to reduce cost, or that are preformed, or that are treated or made with performance enhancement, if found appropriate.
These and other aspects, objects, and features of the present invention will be understood and appreciated by those skilled in the art upon studying the following specification, claims, and appended drawings.
In each of
It is to be understood that variations and modifications can be made on the aforementioned structure without departing from the concepts of the present invention, and further it is to be understood that such concepts are intended to be covered by the following claims unless these claims by their language expressly state otherwise.
Claims
1. A wall for dividing an area in a building having a floor and a ceiling, comprising:
- a planar center panel;
- studs attached to opposing sides of the center panel, and at least one of the center panel and the studs being attached to the floor and to the ceiling; and
- second and third panels removably attached by releasable fasteners to the strips to define with the center panel spaces on opposite sides of the center panel for routing utilities.
2. The wall defined in claim 1, wherein at least one of the second and third panels are attached to the studs with magnets.
3. The wall defined in claim 1, wherein the second and/or third panels are attached with screws.
4. The wall defined in claim 1, wherein the second and third panels are attached with non-threaded clips.
5. The wall defined in claim 1, wherein the second and third panels are attached with adhesive.
6. The wall defined in claim 1, wherein the second and third panels are attached with at least one of magnets, screws, or clips.
7. A wall construction for a building comprising:
- at least three sheets positioned adjacently in three parallel planes;
- strips between and connecting the three sheets to define spaces for utilities, outer ones of the at least three sheets being removable for providing access to the spaces for servicing utilities; and
- utilities in the spaces, including at least one of electrical, communication, plumbing, ventilation ducts, and heat transfer components.
8. The wall defined in claim 7, wherein the sheets are made from at least one of drywall, magnesium oxide, cement board, wood, wood composite, polymeric composite, and particulate composite.
9. The wall defined in claim 7, wherein a center one of the at least three sheets is semipermanently attached to a floor and ceiling with fasteners such as screws or nails.
10. The wall defined in claim 7, wherein the strips include vertical metal channels or studs that reinforce the wall.
11. The wall defined in claim 7, wherein the at least three sheets include a center sheet, and the utilities are mounted to the center sheet.
12. The wall defined in claim 7, wherein the at least three sheets include a center sheet which acts as a noise and security barrier in the wall construction.
13. The wall defined in claim 7, wherein the at least three sheets include a center sheet which is attached to a floor and ceiling of the building.
14. The wall defined in claim 7, wherein the at least three sheets include a center sheet which is fire-resistant material and also including sound-deadening material located in the spaces between the sheets.
15. The wall defined in claim 7, including a fibrous material placed in the spaces and adapted to reduce sound transmission through the wall construction.
16. The wall defined in claim 7, wherein the strips extend vertically and at least some of the strips are positioned at edges of the sheets, the edge-positioned strips defining one of a tongue-and-groove for mating engagement with an adjacent identical wall construction.
17. The wall defined in claim 7, wherein the strips extend vertically and include apertures for passing utilities horizontally therethrough
18. The wall defined in claim 7, wherein the at least three sheets include at least four sheets, two of which define an interior of the wall construction and provide sound reduction and improved security and privacy.
19. The wall defined in claim 7, wherein the at least three sheets include a center sheet, and wherein at least certain ones of the strips attach to the center sheet and to the building floor and ceiling, the certain one strips being vertically extended and adjustable to allow for ceiling height changes.
20. The wall defined in claim 7, wherein the at least three sheets are made primarily of organic material, and include magnetic components for magnetic attachment to metal on the strips
21. A relocatable wall construction comprising:
- a center sheet defining a vertical plane; and
- vertical studs attached on one or both sides of the center sheet; the studs including notches so that long rigid piping or conduit can be placed in the notches and routed along the wall.
22. The wall defined in claim 21, including outer sheets attached to an outer surface of the studs for aesthetically covering the wall construction.
23. The wall defined in claim 22, wherein the outer sheets are removably attached to the studs.
24. The wall defined in claim 23, wherein the outer sheets include magnets for removable attachment to the studs.
Type: Application
Filed: May 13, 2009
Publication Date: Nov 19, 2009
Inventor: William H. Porter (Saugatuck, MI)
Application Number: 12/465,070
International Classification: E04C 2/52 (20060101); E04C 2/38 (20060101); E04B 2/58 (20060101);