CROSS REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application claims the benefit of United States Provisional Patent Application Serial No. 63/009078 filed April 13, 2020.

SPECIFICATION: CANTILEVERED LOAD BEARING SYSTEM

TECHNICAL FIELD

0001

The invention relates to the field of construction materials and specifically to sub-girts and insulation stitches used to support insulation on and against walls, and mount insulation and cladding materials to, allowing for insulation and cladding to be cantilever mounted forming a less expensive, higher quality, lower thermal and acoustic transfer framing system for a complete wall assembly.

BACKGROUND ART 0002

In the past there have been a good number of ways that insulation can be installed on a building including friction fitting insulation batts between thermal clips and then screwing them to the wall with a long screw and plastic cap in a pre-designated pattern, each of which will penetrate the weather barrier and create a potential location for leakage to the building substrate. Other options include stick-on pins that the Insulation is mounted over, and then lock washers of various types are placed over the pins so that they don't back off of the pin keeping the insulation in place, however this process is very time consuming and unpredictable regarding adhesion. There are also continuous sub-girts used, but they transfer far too much thermal energy through them to the substrate.

The present invention is a Continuous Insulation Mounting System that requires less penetrations through the wall assembly and weather barrier, and would be a notable advance in the field because it will eliminate many potential leak points to the building by reducing the number of penetrations through the weather barrier, dis-include any materials other than the mounting screws to be within the insulation, provide anti-reversing installation of the screws, and will provide for less thermal, vibration, water, air and moisture transfer to the building. TECHNICAL PROBLEM

0003

Insulation materials are subject to attachment to walls using pins of various sorts. Many attachment means are a form of mechanical pin and washer fastening type that require fasteners to penetrate the barrier and substrate creating unwanted holes that can allow air, moisture, water, vibration and thermal transfer into the substrate, all of which pose significant negative effects to the building's substrate materials. Other attachment means include adhesives used to hold pin and washer fastening mechanisms to foe weather barrier and substrate in order to not penetrate foe weather barrier, however adhesives are not recommended by major insulation manufacturers, particularly with mineral wool types of insulation, and must only be used temporarily until a structural method can be used. All of these methods, especially when not mounted directly over structural studs or other substrate, can cause foe insulation to begin to sag and create what’s known as the 'stack effect’ where all of the insulation begins to drop because of their combined weight, losing foe benefits of the insulation where gaps are created.

SOLUTION TO PROBLEM

0004

The present invention is a Continuous Insulation Mounting System that includes an adjustable girt as part of the insulation mounting, eliminating the need for additional girts to mount façade systems to. The adjustable girt will structurally support insulation stitches that require less penetrations through the wall assembly and weather barrier, and would be a notable advance in the field because it will eliminate many potential leak and/or transfer points for thermal, noise (vibration), water, air and moisture while dis-inciuding the use of adhesives, clips, isolators and adjustable girts. The Continuous Insulation Mounting System will allow the speed of insulation installation and planing of the adjustable girt to be increased. 0005

While prior art contains references on ways to mount insulation to a wall, none disclose or suggest foe features and benefits that comprise foe present invention. The disclosed girt has multiple flanges for a fastener to pass through to keep a fastener from bending, a separate mounting surface for cladding materials, and means to prevent fasteners from backing out while fixing the girt in a specific location. The insulation stiches are of various shapes and made of stainless steel fully hardened spring wire able to be bent to provide ongoing stored energy to hold insulation pieces together and/or pressed against a surface when used with the girt.

ADVANTAGEOUS EFFECTS OF THE INVENTION 0006

The invention consists of girts, insulation stitches and holding pins having a particular configuration to allow efficient connection to support insulation toads that are applied perpendicular to a building surface without penetrating the weather barrier.

0007

An object of the present application is to provide a Continuous Insulation Mounting System with a sub-girt having multiple bends that allow for more than one hole to become aligned once formed so that fasteners can pass through the holes simultaneously.

0008

Another object of the present application is to provide a Continuous Insulation Mounting System that has a sub-girt with multiple holes for the screw to pass through to help prevent deflection of the sub-girt and fastener when loads are placed onto the sub-girt. 0009

Another object of the present application is to provide a Continuous Insulation Mounting System with a sub-girt with one or more surfaces providing attachment for fagade panels, Including resting directly on or adjacent to the sub-girt, or to an attachment that is connected to the sub-girt.

0010

Another object of the present application is to provide a Continuous insulation Mounting System with insulation stitches to help hold multiple insulation batts together as a single unit prior to final fastening of the insulation to the substrate. 0011

Another object of the present application is to provide a Continuous Insulation Mounting System with insulation stitches that hold insulation in place when the insulation stitches are attached to the sub-girts of this invention, where the insulation stitches are under rotational or torsion pressure when mechanically fastened to the sub-girts. 0012

Another object of the present application is to provide a Continuous Insulation Mounting System with insulation stitches that can have at least two the coiled springs, one on each side of a sub-girt flange, to be mechanically fastened to the sub-girt through each coiled spring and the sub-girt material, where the coils act as anti-reversal mechanisms for the fastener.

0013

Another object of the present application is to provide a Continuous Insulation Mounting System with insulation stitches that snap into place onto the sub-girts in lieu of additional mechanical fasteners. 0014

Another object of the present application is to provide a Continuous Insulation Mounting System that utilizes insulation to help prevent movement of the sub-girt once attached to the studs via screws, the insulation having a surface that does not easily crush or deform under pressure, and the amount of pressure required to crush or deform the insulation being based, in part, on the amount of surface area the sub-girt provides adjacent to the insulation.

0015

Another object of the present application is to provide a Continuous Insulation Mounting System that allows the insulation to be installed continuously without any materials penetrating or otherwise positioned between the insulation except for the screws.

0016

Another object of the present application is to provide a Continuous insulation Mounting System that allows for one sub-girt of the present invention to fit inside another so that they can be 'stacked' continuously and held temporarily until additional fasteners can be added to them. This can be done by tapering the sub-girts from one end to the other so that one side is smaller than the other allowing it to fit inside it; compressing or expanding one end to fit inside or outside of the other side, or by adding a splice plate to one side that allows the other to fit inside or outside of it. 0017

Another object of the present application is to provide a Continuous Insulation Mounting System that has additional aligned through holes in the sub-girts that allow a fasteners to fasten holding pins to prevent the insulation stitches, and therefore the insulation from moving, holding each insulation panel in place to eliminate the "stack effect" of insulation by structurally holding each insulation panel separately. 0018

Another object of the present application Is to provide a Continuous Insulation Mounting System with an insulation holding pin that prevents the sub-girt from being pushed towards the wall because it Is mounted over the top of the mounting screws whether or not there's insulation being used, and where the holding pin presses against the mounting screw so as to help prevent the mounting screw from reversing.

0019

Another object of the present application Is to provide a Continuous Insulation Mounting System with mounting screws that are prevented from reversing out of the building by the friction created between the multiple contact points on the sub-girt and the pressures introduced at those locations from the added weight of the facades.

0020

Another object of the present application is to provide a Continuous Insulation Mounting System with pre-made holes in the sub-girts for holding pin alignment, and for additional sub-girt mounting to increase the ease and speed of mechanical fastener installation.

0021

Another object of the present application is to provide a Continuous Insulation Mounting System with slots in the vertical arm of the sub-girts to allow for additional sub-girts to be mounted to it, so that when a mechanical fastener is added it can move freely within the slot for complete adjustability perpendicular to the building's walls and or soffits.

0022

Another object of the present application is to provide a Continuous Insulation Mounting System with insulation stitches to hold smaller pieces of insulation at jamb and head locations to structurally supported insulation pieces so that wall penetrating fasteners are not required to hold the small pieces in place. 0023

Another object of the present application is to provide a Continuous Insulation Mounting System with insulation stitches that are formed with inward pointing penetrating arms so that once they are inserted, they will not come out of the insulation easily, staying embedded in the insulation via stored spring tension but not touching the weather barrier.

0024

Another object of the present application is to provide a Continuous Insulation Mounting System with an adjustable sub-girt using mechanical fasteners only.

0025

The invention possesses other objects or advantages especially with concerns to particular characteristics and features thereof which will become apparent as the specification continues.

0026

Another object of this invention is to provide a continuous insulation mounting system without the use of new tools and without any significant additional training than a typical manner of assembly.

0027

The objects of this invention are achieved by providing a The sub-girts will be fabricated and formed of a material such as galvanized steel sheet metal or coil on a roll forming machine with various in-line punches, or it may be made with multiple machines such as a turret press and brake press. The sub-girts will have holes that allow for the special screw to pass through them in-line when the sub-girt is positioned adjacent to the insulation. Having multiple holes for the special screw to attach to adds structural strength and minimized deflection (or sag) of the sub-girt by minimizing bending/deformation of the sub-girt material when a load is applied to the sub-girt. The sub-girts may have protrusions coming from them that penetrate the insulation. The protrusions are made by turret pressing a "U" or "V" shape into the metal so that the material left as the inside of the "U" or "V" is then bent outwards to form the protrusions. These protrusions may then have other mechanical fasteners attach to them that further hold the insulation in place such as formed wire shapes (as disclosed in a previous patent application). The sub-girts may have vertical, horizontal, diagonal and/or other shaped surfaces to attach additional clips, sub-girts or other materials to allow for planing, leveling and plumbing of the substrate for installation of a façade system, or to help hold in position the insulation material(s). The sub-girts will have a surface that contacts the insulation in such a way as to provide a certain amount of contact area so that the insulation is not easily moved, deformed or crushed. By preventing movement of the sub-girts air gaps will not open up at the screw locations allowing air, water, moisture, vibration and thermal transfer to more easily access the substrate. The girt posseses an outer shaped cross section generically in the shape of a 'W'.

0028

The objects of this invention are further achieved by providing insulation stitches that may made of stainless steel folly hardened spring wire and made on wire forming machinery. They may be used to help hold the insulation batts together prior to the sub-girts being installed to help prevent them from falling out or having gaps between them. Insulation stitches may have a coiled spring area with legs protruding from it in various directions. insulation stitches may also hold insulation in place by being fastened onto the sub-girts of this invention and where the insulation stitches are formed to provide pressure against the insulation to hold it firmly against the walls, supporting the insulation weight, and may have a washer inserted onto the impaling arms to provide more surface area to hold the insulation up against the wall.

0029 Fastener material, size and quantity determine the amount of load that can be applied to a girt and expect a certain amount of fastener deflection. 0030

Anti-reversaf of the fasteners is achieved in part by having multiple points of contact within the stud and girt frictionally fit around the fastener.

0031 A fastener acting as the sole structural bridge between a cantilevered load on the girt and the stud, assuming tensive, compressive, bending, shear and other forces, as well as being the sole bridge for acoustic and thermal transfer to the stud aside from the insulation itself.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

0032

Fig. 1 shows a 3D isometric elevation view of one sub-girt fitting inside another of the same kind by them being tapered from end to end. 0033

Fig. 2 shows a 3D isometric elevation view of a holding pin installed to prevent the sub- girt from being pushed in towards the wall, and to prevent the mounting screw from backing out.

0034

Fig. 3 shows a 3D elevation view of an alternate embodiment of the holding pin.

0035

FIG. 4 shows a 3D plan view of the insulation stitches mounted to a sub-girt to hold "loose" friction fit insulation batts in place with the inward pointing penetrating arms embedded into the insulation and the torsion arms pressing against the insulation for a distance before bending up to the mechanicaiiy fastened location. The mechanically fastened insulation stitch is angled to push downward creating tension in the torsion arms to push the insulation towards the weather barrier.

0036

FIG. 5 shows a 3D isometric elevation view of an insulation stitch that can be mounted to a sub-girt of the present invention. 0037

FIG. 6 shows a 3D isometric elevation view of an alternate insulation stitch that can be mounted to a sub-girt and having an anti-reversal spring coil, and it can double to be used to hold insulation pieces to other insulation pieces without the use of a sub-girt. 0038

FIG. 7 shows a 3D Isometric elevation view of the preferred sub-girt of this invention.

0039

For a better understanding of the invention of this application, reference is made to the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments thereof which should be referenced to the prior described drawings.

DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

0040

Embodiments of the invention are identified by an upper case letter with an additional upper case letter of the same kind for a variation of the embodiment. Elements of the invention are identified by reference character 10.

0041

With reference to FIG. 1, it can be seen that sub-girt D of the present invention having a small end 94 and a large end 96 so that the small end 94 can slide into the large end 96. With the first sub-girt D mechanically attached (not shown) to the substrate of the building (not shown), the second sub-girt D can slide into the first sub-girt D which allows for the second sub- girt D to have some stability so that it will not fall out and will retain its orientation so that insulation materials (not shown) may be placed behind it without the second (or more) sub-girt D being mechanically fastened until desired. Slot 98 is used to allow an adjustable sub-girt (not shown) to be mechanically fastened loosely at this location so that the adjustable sub-girt (not shown) can move inward and outward to easily plane, level and plumb the adjustable sub-girts (not shown) to each other. Holes 100 are then used to quickly and permanently affix the adjustable sub-girts (not shown) to sub-girt D by allowing a mechanical fastener (not shown) to pass through hole 100 with little resistance so that the mechanical fastener (not shown) only needs to drill and attach to the adjustable sub-girt material (not shown). Hole 102 is in direct alignment with hole 102a (not visible but shown by a dotted lines) on the bottom of sub-girt D so that a mechanical fastener (not shown) may pass through holes 102 and 102a in a straight line to attach to the substrate (not shown). Hole 104 is in direct alignment with hole 104a (not visible but shown by a dotted lines) on the bottom of sub-girt D so that an insulation holding pin H (not shown) may pass through holes 104 and 104a in order to hold the insulation (not shown) in a fixed position. Hole 106 is provided as a location to place a mechanical fastener (not shown) that will permanently affix the insulation holding pins H (not shown) in place. 0042

Referring now to FIG. 2, sub-girt D is shown with insulation holding pin H Installed. Insulation holding pin H is comprised of a pointed end 110 at the end of segment 112 that is installed through alignment holes 104 and 104a (not shown but indicated by dotted lines) so that holes 104 and 104a don't allow insulation holding pin H to move in a direction other than parallel with holes 104 and 104a. Segment 114 presses against mechanical fastener 122 to prevent it from reversing out from the substrate (not shown) and to prevent sub-girt D from being able to be moved towards the substrate (not shown), locking sub-girt D in a fixed location. Segment

120 connects to neck 118 which allows for mechanical fastener 108 to fit adequately, while mechanical fastener 108 is positioned through head 116 and into hole 106 (not shown under head 116). Mechanical fastener 122 is positioned through holes 102 and 102a (not shown but indicated by dotted lines) so that holes 102 and 102a don't allow mechanical fastener 122 to move other than in parallel with holes 102 and 102a.

0043 FIG. 3 shows horizontal sub-girt DDD with mechanical fastener 124 not allowing holding pin HH to move on top of mechanical fastener 126, preventing mechanical fastener 126 from rotating and from sub-girt DDD from being moved towards the substrate (not shown). Mechanical fastener 126 is positioned through holes 128 and 128a (position indicated by dotted line) so that mechanical fastener may only move indirections parallel with holes 128 and 128a. Holding pin HH is comprised of angled arm 130 attached to segment 132 which is then substantially perpendicular to arm 134, which is then substantially perpendicular to segment 136, which is then substantially perpendicular to arm 140 having hole 138. Holding pin HH is tilted up as shown un-installed so that angled arm 130 fits inside slot 152 (slightly shown with the installed holding pin HH inserted). Holding pin HH is then rotated so that angled arm 130 makes contact with the inside of sub-girt DDD providing some spring action when holding pin HH is rotated and arm 140 Is fastened to sub-girt DDD by mechanical fastener 124, which places stress (not shown) onto mechanical fastener 126 to help prevent it from rotating. Sub-girt DDD is comprised of web 142 having substantially perpendicular arms 144 on both sides. Arms 144 may be used to attach adjustable sub-girts (not shown) to in order to level, plane and/or plumb the substrate (not shown). Arms 144 are then attached to segments 146 (on each side) which allows a surface for mechanical fasteners 126 to be attached through alignment holes 128 and 128a that are found in segments 146 and web 142 respectively. Arms 148 are substantially perpendicular to segments 146 and are found on both sides of sub-girt DDD as well, and segments 146 are tall enough to extend above the tops of fasteners 126. Surfaces 150 are then parallel to segments 146, web 142 and insulation (not shown) and are used to attach additional sub-girts, panel mounting extrusions and/or other façade mounting items (not shown). 0044

FIG. 4 shows sub-girts DDD installed over insulation 154 and weather barrier 156 with fasteners 158 installed. Insulation stitches II are comprised of flexible arms 160 that when installed will bend and contact the surface of the insulation 154 for a portion of its length. Flexible arms 160 have impaling arms 162 (not fully shown as they're inserted Into the insulation 154) positioned substantially perpendicular and which are shown installed into the Insulation 154, with impaling arms 162 never long enough to contact or damage the weather barrier 156. Flexible arms 160 are attached to angled arms 164 which then extend into mounting hole 166. Mounting hole 166 is positioned at an angle to flexible arms 160 so that when mounting hole 166 is mechanically fastened to sub-girt DDD it forces stress into flexible arms 160 as to bend them and force the arms into contact with insulation 154. Insulation stitches may be mounted to segments 146 of sub-girts DDD. Holding pin HH is shown installed with mechanical fastener 168 to sub-girt DDD.

0055 FIG. 5 shows insulation stitch II having mounting hole 166 extending to separation arms 164 which extend somewhat perpendicularly to parallel arms 165 which extend at a downward angle to torsion arms 160, which then extend substantially perpendicular at bend 169 to impaling arms 162. Impaling arms 162 are formed at a radius that equals the distance from bend 169 to separation arms 164 to that impaling arms 162 enter insulation (not shown) at a given point and are fully impaled into the insulation (not shown) with minimal damage to it (not shown.

0056

FIG. 6 shows insulation stitch Ill having spring coil mounting hole 167 which extends to torsion arms 161 which then extend to inwardly pointed impaling arms 163. 0057

FIG. 7 shows preferred embodiment sub-girt DD having flange A 170 extending to web A 172 which extends to flange B 174 extending to web B 176 which extends to flange C 178, all at substantially perpendicular angles to each other. Flange B 172 is for mounting insulation stitch mounting hole (not shown) flush against it, with a portion of insulation stitch (not shown) passing through web B 176 at either hole 180 depending on orientation of insulation stitch (not shown). Fastener (not shown) passes through insulation stitch mounting hole (not shown) and threads into aligned holes 182 to permanently fix insulation stitch (not shown) in place. Aligned holes 184 are for stud fastener (not shown) to pass through to prevent fastener (not shown) from bending once installed, supporting it within tight tolerances. Aligned holes 186 are for holding pin (not shown) to pass through, and aligned holes 188 are for the holding pin mounting hole (not shown) to be positioned over and held with a fastener (not shown) that will thread into aligned holes 188.

0058 While the foregoing embodiments of the application have been set forth in considerable particularity for the purposes of making a complete disclosure of the invention, it may be apparent to those of skill in the art that numerous changes may be made in such details without departing from the spirit and principles of the application. Additionally, combinations and interchangeability or inter-use of components and embodiments should be considered apparent to the spirit and principles of the application, and in which all terms are meant in their broadest reasonable sense unless otherwise indicated. Any headings utilized within the description are for convenience only and have no legal or limiting effect.

0059

While the invention has been described in connection with what is presently considered to be the most practical and preferred embodiment, it is to be understood that the invention is not to be limited to the disclosed embodiment, but on the contrary, is intended to cover various modifications and equivalent arrangements included within the spirit and scope of the following claims.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY

0060

The insulation installation products and methods of this invention have significant industrial applicability by eliminating traditional insulation mounting methods that pose danger to the building's substrate by way of holes through the weather barrier, providing a new way to mount insulation to eliminate those holes, and thereby creating a more thermally and acoustically efficient mounting system that is also safer for the building substrate. By not allowing holes to penetrate the weather barrier risk is greatly reduced for problems such as rust, mold and other water damage.