Locking device for building panels and the like

Aug. 10, 1965 w. h. yake 3,199,641

LOCKING DEVICE FOR BUILDING PANELS AND THE LIKE

Filed May 3, 1961

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ATTORNEYS.

3,199,641

Patented Aug. 10, 1965

United States Patent Office

3,199,641

LOCKING DEVICE FOR BUILDING PANELS AND THE LIKE

William H. Yake, Connersville, Ind., assignor to Armco Steel Corporation, Middletown, Ohio, a corporation of Ohio

Filed May 3,1961, Ser. No. 107,396 6 Claims. (Ci. 189—36)

This invention relates to a locking device which, although it is adaptable to many uses, is particularly advantageous in connection with a type of building construction involving a gridlike framework having panels attached thereto. Such a building construction is generally disclosed in a copending application, Serial No. 808,659, filed April 24, 1959, in the name of Konrad Wachsmann, now abandoned in favor of the filing of a continuation-inpart, Serial No. 324,816, filed November 19, 1963, and a typical building panel per se is disclosed in a copending application Serial No. 808,771, filed April 24, 1959, in the name of Konrad Wachsmann, now Patent No. 3,065,831, dated November 27, 1962. This application is related to an application in the name of Wachsmann, Serial No. 107,585, filed May 3, 1961. The device herein described and claimed is a simplified version of that disclosed originally in the Wachsmann patent above identified.

In the type of construction outlined in said copending applications, there is disclosed a grid-like framework having square or rectangular openings into which a series of panels fit. The present invention relates to devices for securing the panels in the framework.

Since the framework described above has thickness, there will generally be panels secured to both sides of the framework. Thus, there will be a number of inner panels and a number of outer panels. These panels may be of any suitable material and may be provided with any desired surface treatment, i.e., they may be stainless steel or aluminum with no surface treatment, or they may have a porcelain enamel surface or they may be painted in desired colors. It will be understood that the term “panel” is inclusive of a trim frame, where an opening in the structure is desired, and also of a frame holding a sheet of glass, plastic, or other material.

In a structure as has been outlined above, it may be desirable from time to time to remove one or more panels for replacement or even rearrangement, and it is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a locking device such that a panel may be secured in place or removed in a very simple manner and without requiring the use of a skilled mechanic.

If the building is a tail one, it may be necessary at some time to remove an outer panel from the inside of the building so as to make it unnecessary to erect scaffolding on the outside of the building. It is, therefore, another object of the invention to provide a construction whereby an outer panel may be unlocked and removed from the inside of the building, or vice versa.

Other objects include the provision of a locking device which consists of relatively few parts and is substantially maintenance free in operation.

These and other objects of the invention which will be apparent to one skilled in the art upon reading these specifications or v/hich will be pointed out in more detail hereinafter are accomplished by that construction and arrangement of parts of which the following is an exemplary disclosure.

Reference is made to the drawings forming a part hereof and in which:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of a wall construction showing the locking device. Parts are broken away to show the construction.

FIGURE 2 is a fragmentary perspective view with parts broken away showing the locking device in unlocking condition.

FIGURE 3 is a view as seen from the right of FIGURE 2 showing the device in locking and clamping position.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view through a typical assembly according to the above identified Wachsmann patent, showing two locking devices as claimed herein, in position and securing panels to both sides of the grid.

Briefly, in the practice of the invention the locking device comprises a bolt and a locking member. The bolt is preferably tubular and is provided on its inside with internal tool engaging configurations which are adapted to be engaged from either end by a correspondingly configured tool to be rotated thereby. The bolt passes through a mounting plate which constitutes apart of the building grid and has threaded engagement with the locking member. The locking member may occupy a position in which it does not engage the panels to be secured to the grid. Having been turned to locking position, rotation of the. bolt in the proper direction draws the panels tightly into engagement with the grid so as to clamp them in place. Conversely, rotation of the bolt in the opposite direction frees the locking member from clamping position and ultimately permits the locking member to return to unlocking position.

In FIGURES 1-3 the grid of the building structure may be in the form of a sort of bar-joist made up of two facing channel elements 5® and 51 such as is disclosed and claimed in the copending application of Robert Blickensderfer, Serial No. 99,545, filed March 30, 1961, now Patent No. 3,122,224, dated February 25, 1964. In the present invention the mounting plate is constituted of a small channel member 52 which is suitably attached as by welding transversely of one of the channel members 5® or 51. It will be understood that if panels are to be secured to both sides of the grid, a plate 52 will be secured to the opposite channel members.

The bolt 54 is preferably tubular and is provided on its inside with a hex configuration so that it may be operated by a tool having a hexagonal part. It has a reduced diameter portion 54α, and is passed through a hole in the mounting plate 52 with the portion 54α entering the hole 63 in the channel member 51. The hole 63 will accommodate the portion 54α but not the major diameter of the bolt, so that the bolt cannot be pushed through the hole 63. After the bolt is inserted as above described, a clip element 53 is engaged in a suitable groove in the bolt 54 to prevent the bolt from being pulled back out of the mounting plate. Approximately one-half of the length of the bolt is threaded as at 55 and the threaded portion 55 is in threaded engagement with the locking member 56. In the particular embodiment shown the locking member 55 is in the form of a sheet metal channel and it is-provided with the threaded boss 57 which may be spot welded or otherwise suitably secured to the member 56. It will be understood that the sheet metal thickness could be too thin in order to. provide sufficient threads for effective clamping action.

The locking member 56 is provided with an abutment or tab 58, which as shown in FIGURE 2 is adapted to abut the mounting plate 52 to limit and prevent further clockwise rotation of the locking member 56.

A typical panel to be secured and clamped to the grid member 51 is indicated generally at 6®. The particular structure of the panel member does not form a part of the present invention but it may be of the type disclosed in the copending application in the name of William H. Yake, Serial No. 108,171, filed May 5, 1961. Thus, the panel 6® may have a flange 61 with which the locking device 5fi may cooperate and a flange 62 adapted to be

3,199,641 clamped against the grid member 51 as best seen in FIG» URES 1 and 2.

Assuming a panel 6® to have been placed in the position of FIGURES 1 and 2 and the locking device to be in the position shown in FIGURE 2, the locking and clamping of the panel 60 to the grid member 51 is accomplished as follovzs: A tool 19 is inserted as shown in FIGURE 3 and turned in a counterclockwise direction. As soon as the bolt 54 is turned counterclockwise, the locking member 56 by its frictional engagement of its threads with the threads 55 will rotate to the position shown in FIGURE 1. Thereupon further counterclockwise rotation of the bolt 54 moves the locking member 56 rearwardly as seen in FIGURES 1 and 3 until it abuts the flange 61 pushing it rearwardly and thereby pulling the flange 62 into tight engagement vzith the grid member 51. This then represents the locked and clamped condition.

It will be noted that the length of the locking member 56 is such that it abuts the portion 61α at an angle of about 80°. This angle may of course be greater or smaller but it must be less than 90° so as to limit counterclockwise rotation of locking member 56. Thus the member 56 may be rotated through about 80° of arc from the locking position of FIGURE 1 to the unlocking position of FIGURE 2.

The end of the member 56 is preferably beveled as at 56α to provide maximum contact area between the end of the member 56 and the flange 61.

To unclamp and unlock the device, the bolt 54 is turned in a clockwise direction by means of the tool 19 which withdraws the locking member 56 forwardly and removes it from clamping contact with the flange 61. As soon as the locking member 56 loses contact with the flange 61, further clockwise rotation rotation of the bolt 54 returns the locking member 56 to the position of FIGURE 2 in which it is retained by the tab 5§. It will be noted that in the position of FIGURE 1 the locking member is held in locking position during clamping movement by contact between the end of the member 56 and the portion 61α.

In FIG. 4 (which corresponds to FIG. 14 of the above noted Wachsmann patent), the locking devices of the present invention are shown in position securing panels to both sides of the grid-like framework referred to in the said Wachsmann patent. This figure shows hovz, for example, an outer panel may be locked or unlocked from the inside by means of the tool 19 by passing it through the tubular bolt into engagement with the tool engaging configuration in the outside bolt.

It will be clear that various modifications may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention and no intent should be inferred to limit the claims beyond their apparent scope.