Panel

Nov. 5, 1940. r. bernhardt 2,220,596

PANEL Filed April 4, 1938 2 Sheets-Sheet 1

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Nov. 5, 1940

R. BERNHARDT

2,220,596

PANEL

Filed April 4, 1938

Sheets-Sheet 2

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ROV ptRH HARDT/

Patented Nov. 5,1940

2,220,596

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE

2,220,596

PANEL

Roy Bernhardt, Portland, Ong., assignor to M and M Wood Working Company, Portland, Oreg., a corporation of Oregon

Application April 4,1938, Serial No. 199,866

Claim. (CL 20—91)

This invention relates to the construction of panels and analogous articles, and more particularly to that style of panel made up of stiles and rails constituting a frame and having 5 veneered surfaces.

The construction is characterized primarily in that the panel comprises two face sheets or veneers held rigidly in spaced apart relation by a core member comprising sheet material so 10 fashioned as to be alternately secured to the opposed surfaces of the separated face sheets or veneers to form a truss or bridging therebetween.

It is an object of the invention to provide a panel for use as a door and the like which will IS eliminate or greatly minimize the tendency of the panel to distortion or warping when in use. _ It is a further object of the invention to provide a panel or analogous article comprising a frame overlaid with veneers and having a core member therefor disposed within said frame intermediate said veneers consisting of material secured at angularly spaced intervals to opposed surfaces of the face veneers in the form of a __ truss, resulting in a panel which is strong and durable in construction, light in weight, and simple and economical to manufacture.

A particular advantage of the construction is that it provides a multiple number of air spaces throughout the panel, or, in a modified construction, a multiple number of intercommunicating spaces, which may be filled with an insulating material to make the panel impervious to heat or cold, and sound. The construction is adapted to ₃₅ a wide variety of uses, being particularly advantageous when used for doors.

With these and other advantages and objects in view, the invention resides in the novel construction and combination of parts hereinafter described, illustrated in the accompanying drawings and set forth in the appended claim; It being understood that various changes in form, proportion, size and details of construction within the scope of the claim may be resorted to without 45 departing from the spirit or sacrificing any of the advantages of the invention.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of the core member for a panel embodying the present invention.

Figure 2 is a perspective view of the core member affixed to the stiles and rails of a door frame, a portion of the frame being broken away to better illustrate the position of the core member with respect to the frame.

Figure 3 is a perspective view of a portion of a finished panel, one of the stiles being removed to better illustrate the arrangement of parts.

Figure 4 is a front elevation of a panel constructed according to the present disclosure, a portion of the face veneer being broken away- .

Figure 5 is a front elevation of a panel illus- * tratlng an alternative method of mounting the core member in the frame.

Figure 6 is a perspective view of a panel illustrating a modified form of construction embody- .n ing the invention. ¹⁹

Figure 7 is an enlarged fragmentary view of the core member illustrated in figure 6.

Figure 8 is a sectional elevation of a panel, taken on the line 8—8 of Figure 6. »

In its simplest embodiment, the invention consists of a panel comprising a frame made up of stiles I and rails 2, and having a core member 3 secured to either the stiles or rails and occupying the space bounded thereby. To each side of the 20 frame is secured a face sheet or veneer 4, providing a flush exterior surface for the pand.

In constructing the panel the stiles and rails are first assembled to create a frame of the desired shaped and dimensions, one surface of each 25 of two oppositely positioned frame members being grooved along the inner edges thereof, as at 5, to receive the end portions 6 of the core member 3. The core member is composed of sheetlike material, and is so fashioned as to be alter- SO nately secured to the opposed surfaces of the face sheets 4—4 at angularly spaced intervals. Thus the core member consists of a series of interconnected oppositely disposed surface engaging portions 7, intermediate which the core member is 35 angularly disposed to create the struts or bridging sections 8. It will be appreciated that the thickness of the core member, i. e., the distance between the parallel planes of the oppositely disposed surface engaging portions 7, must be ex- 4η actly the same as the thickness of the frame members to avoid bulging or sagging of the veneered surfaces. With this consideration to be kept in mind, the struts or bridging sections 8 may be inclined at any desired angle, depending 45 upon the stresses to be Imposed thereon when the panpl is put in use.

The core member 3 is secured to the frame by positioning the ends 8 of the core member in the grooves 5 and fastening them in place. There- 50 upon glue or cement is applied to the surfaces of the frame and to the surface engaging portions 7 and face sheets 4—4 applied thereto to complete the panel.

In a preferred form of construction the core 55

2,220,596 “member is made up of a plurality of ribbon-like strips 9—9 of sheet material placed in edge to edge relation, each strip being made with surface engaging portions 10 designed to alternately en0’ gage and secure opposed surfaces of the fsse ^J sheets, the surface engaging portions 10 of each strip 9 being interconnected by angularly disposed struts i I to form a truss or bridging. In panels embodying this form of core member, each 10] of two oppositely positioned frame members are ^J grooved along the inner edges of both surfaces thereof, as at 12—12, to receive the respective end portions 13—13 of adjacent core strips 9. Thus the end portions of adjacent strips are se15’ cured to opposite sides of the frame members, the strips being so positioned with respect to the frame that adjacent ^aligned surface engaging portions 10 thereof engage opposed surfaces of the face veneers. .

The combination of assembled stiles, rails and core members herein described comprise compound frames, so designed that the particular angles created by the struts or bridging sections 8 of the core member cannot alter without change 25 in the length or width, as the case may be, of the frame, according to the maimer in which the core member is mounted therein. The only strains, therefore, in the cone member are those of tension and compression, and the resistance offered thereby serves to stiffen, support and 5 hold the face sheets of the panel in spaced apart predetermined relation.