US3443345A - Covered wood construction element - Google Patents

Description

y 3, 1969 R. L. SPENCER 3,443,345

, COVERED WOOD CONSTRUCTION ELEMENT I Fil'ed Nov. 50. 1967 124 1/2 I 1 j' y. 2

42 2:9" I INVENTORI 69 {9/ ROBERT L. SPENCER 43 5 av '45 F 45 M 5 ATTORNEY- United States Patent COVERED WOOD CONSTRUCTION ELEMENT Robert L. Spencer, Medford, Wis., assignor to Weather Shield Aluminum Products, Inc., Medford, Wis., a corporation of Wisconsin Filed Nov. 30, 1967, Ser. No. 686,956 Int. Cl. E06b 1/04; E04c 2/38; E04f 19/02 US. Cl. 52211 7 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A wood construction element having a cover including flexible flaps interleaved across a groove defined in the wood element. The covered wood element can be attached to a desired structural member by nailing through the flexible flaps of the cover and through the groove after which the flexible flaps protectively cover the groove. Most usually, the cover is formed of rigid vinvl wall elements and flexible vinyl flaps.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field This invention relates to the field of covered wood structural elements, particularly those having a cover of synthetic plastic material such as vinyl plastic.

Prior Art It is known to cover a wood structural element by applying a cover over the exposed surfaces of the wood wherein the cover has substantially the same exterior configuration as the wood element. Most generally the cover is of plastic material, especially vinyl plastic in the field of exterior building products. With a prior art covered element of this type, it is necessary to nail through the plastic cover and the wood itself to attach the covered element to supporting structure. A second prior art construction of the general type under consideration provides a wood element and a plastic cover having walls covering the exposed surfaces of the wood wherein the cover further includes a flange or flap connected to one of the walls and extending away from the wood. Nails or similar fasteners are driven through the projecting flange or flap to attach the covered wood element to a selected structural members.

The prior art covered wood structural members as described above both possess the disadvantages that when fasteners such as nails are driven through the vinyl cover or the vinyl flange, there is danger of fracturing the vinyl cover or flange because they must usually be of so-called rigid vinyl material in order to provide the desired exterior protection. Also, the second described prior art form requires changes in the normal construction of building elements such as walls in order to make provision for the cover flanges projecting from the covered element itself, such as for example where the covered elements are casings on a window unit. This latter disadvantage can limit the utilization of wood elements covered with the protective vinyl member in the building trades.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention provides a covered wood stluctural element, particularly one in which the cover is of vinyl plastic material, which does not possess the disadvantages of the prior art covered construction as described above. The covered construction element of this invention can be applied to supporting structure by nailing through the cover and the wood element covered thereby without damaging the cover material itself. This is accomplished through the provision of a wood element which has a groove on one of its exposed surfaces com- 3,443,345 Patented May 13, 1969 bined with a cover formed of cover elements each having the flexible flap members which are interleaved with one another and arranged in the aforesaid groove. Attachment of the covered construction element to structural members is accomplished by nailing, or inserting other suitable fasteners, through the groove covered by the interleaved flaps, which fasteners may be inserted through without deforming or rupturing the flexible flaps. After the fasteners have been placed in position, the interleaved flexible flaps extend across and cover the groove to provide weathertight protection therefor. A covered construction element of this invention has the further advantage of being utilized with conventional building techniques and may be incorporated, for example, in window units, doors or other building elements.

Among the main objects of this invention are to provide a new cover construction for a wood structural element; to provide a cover construction for a wood element which can be made of synthetic plastic material, particularly vinyl plastic and enable fasteners to be inserted through the cover without destroying it; and to provide a covered wood structural element which can be incorporated in construction uses without the necessity of employing special building techniques. A more specific object is to provide the particular new or improved articles as hereinafter specifically claimed. These and other objects will appear in the following description of a specific embodiment of this invention, which is intended to illustrate, but not limit, the invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a fragmentary view of a section of wall showing a window incorporating covered wood construction elements of this invention as exterior casings; FIG. 2 is a sectional view along the plane of line 22 of FIG. 1; FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a section of a casing of FIG. 1 illustrating a nail being driven through the covered element; FIG. 4 is a fragmentary end view of the covered element as shown in FIG. 3; and FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing a prior art form of covered construction member for comparison with this invention.

DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENT In the wall section of FIG. 1, spaced studs 10 and 11 are shown as being covered by sheathing 12, with exterior siding 13 applied over the sheathing to form the outside of the wall. The sheathing and siding are cut away and other suitable framing members not visible in the drawing are positioned between the studs 10 and 11 to define therebetween an opening for a window. A window frame indicated generally by the reference numeral 15 is set into such opening and joined to the studs as hereinafter described. Glazed sashes 16 and 17 are supported in the window frame 15 in the usual double hung style, it being understood that this invention can be used with any type of window, including casement, awning and hopper styles.

v The window frame 15 is of standard construction incorporating a rectangular frame defined by spaced side jambs connected across their tops by a head jamb and across their bottoms by a sill member. Not all of these elements are shown in the drawings as their construction is well known to those skilled in the art, although sill 19 is shown in FIG. 1 and one side jamb 20 is shown in the sectional view of FIG. 2, there being a similar jamb on the other side. The sash 16 and 17 are positioned between the side jambs of the window frame and separated from one another by a parting strip 30 set into a groove formed in each side jamb. Blind stop 31 is nailed to the side jamb 20 to cover the exposed end of the sheathing 12. A space as at 21 is left between the window frame 15 and the opening in the wall section which is filled with insulation, not shown, after the window frame is installed, the space commonly being A3" to /2 wide.

Other usual elements such as an undersill, side or head stop, etc. may be attached to the window frame depending upon the type of window desired.

The window frame further includes, returning now to FIG. 1, vertical casings and 26 connected by an upper casing 27, which elements are normally attached to the window frame as structural components thereof. The casings 25, 26 and 27 comprise covered wood construction elements according to this invention and their construction is next described in detail, but it is pointed out that the construction element of this invention may be used for other uses than casing members for window frames. Since casings 25, 26 and 27 have the same construction, the following description of casing 25 is understood to apply to all three casings.

The casing 25, which has a cover constructed in accordance with this invention, includes grooves 36 and 37 formed in two of its opposed sides, which grooves open on its side surfaces. A relatively larger groove 38 is framed along the top of the casing 25 to open onto its top surface which is the exterior of the casing. The cover 35 is formed of two generally L- shaped elements 39 and 40 which are applied over the casing 25. Elements 39 includes a side wall 41 connected to a top wall 42 at right angles thereto, and a flange 43 is connected to the edge of the side wall 42 opposite from the wall 41. The flange 43 is shown as parallel to the side wall and extends into the groove 38 along a side thereof. Resilient flaps 44 and 45 project from the flange 43 and each flap extends across the groove; in the form shown, each flap extends across more than half the width of the groove 38. The second element 40 of the cover is of the same construction as element 39 and includes side wall 46, top wall 47, flange 48 and flexible flaps 49 and 50 attached to the flange 48. The top wall 42 of element 39 covers part of the top surface of casing 25 from one marginal edge to an edge of the groove 38 and top wall 47 of element 40 covers the rest of the top surface from the opposite margin to the other edge of the groove 38. The flaps 49 and 50 are offset slightly below flaps 44 and 45 as shown in FIG. 4 so that flap 45 is substantially flush with top walls 39 and 47 when the flaps are interleaved as in FIG. 2, in which condition it overlies flap 49.

The elements 39 and 40 of the cover 35 are attached to the casing 25 through the use of wedge-shaped fastening means attached to the side walls 41 and 46 of the elements 39 and 40 respectively, each such wedgeshaped fastening means including a wall 56 connected to its respective side wall along one of its ends. A tongue 57 is connected to the opposite end of each wall 50 and disposed at an acute angle thereto, sloping towards the side walls 41 and 46. The free edge of each tongue 57 is spaced from the wall 56 a distance somewhat greater than the width of each groove 36 and 37.

To assemble the cover to the casing, the wedge-shaped fasteners 55 are inserted into the grooves 36 and 37 of the casing 25, with the tongues 57 deflected slightly towards the walls 56 to form a locking engagement of the fastening means 55 in each groove. The flanges 43 and 48 of cover elements 39 and 40 respectively are inserted in the groove 38 formed along the top of the casing and the flexible flaps 44 and 45 attached to the cover elemens 39 are interleaved with and overlap the flexible flaps 49 and 50 attached to the cover element 40. As is shown in FIG. 2 the cover 35 is thus firmly attached over the casing 25, with the flexible flaps covering the groove 38. The length of the top walls 42 and 47 of each cover element is preferably such as to just cover their respective portions of the top of the casing 25 to provide a close fit over the casing, i.e. the cover closely conforms to the shape of the wood element being covered.

The cover is attached to the casing in the above manner after each casing has been nailed to the window frame, as illustrated by nail 60 in FIG. 2 extending through the wood portion of casing 25 and blind stop 31 into side jamb 20. The cover 35 then encloses each such nail 60. The joints between the casing, such as the miters at the corners, are preferably caulked or sealed after the covers are applied to provide a weathertight joint.

To attach the window frame 15 between the stud 10 and stud 11, nails are driven through the groove 38 formed in each casing and covered by the flaps, as shown in FIG. 2 by nail 61 driven through the casing 25 into stud 10. The nails 61 are put into their final position through the interleaved flexible flaps 44, 45 and 49, 50 in the manner shown in FIG. 3 after the flaps have been interleaved; it has been found that nails 61 can be applied through the covered casing 25 to nail the window to a structural member such as a stud 10 and that during such process, the flexible flaps will deflect as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 to permit passage of the fastener without puncturing the flaps. Once the nail 61 has been driven home in the groove 38 and its head set as necessary as shown in FIG. 2, the flaps 44, 45 and 49, 50 return to their interleaved position illustrated in FIG. 2 in which they cover the groove. In this fashion, the covered casing 25 can be nailed to any desired member through the cover 35 without damaging the cover and the fasteners so applied will be hidden and covered by the flexible flaps which will then provide protection for the nailing groove 38.

The advantage of being able to have nails and similar fasteners driven through the wood enclosed by the cover 35 without damaging its protective characteristics is unique with the covered structural element of this invention and not found with covered prior art members such as the one shown in FIG. 5. The casing 25a depicted therein has a cover 65 including walls 66 and 67 over two sides of the casing, wall 68 over the top, and a wall 69 covering part of the bottom surface. In this known construction, a flange 70 is attached to one of the side walls 67 in FIG. 5, and extends outwardly from the casing member 2512. With this type of construction, when the casing is to be attached to another structural member, nails are driven through the flange 70 as indicated at 71. There is danger of splitting the cover 65 which is commonly made of plastic such as extruded or molded vinyl, in the process of nailing through the flange 70. Also, where a covered element of this construction is used, it is often necessary to depart from standard carpentry practice in forming window openings, for example, in a building since special provision must be made to accommodate the flanges 70 especially where they may occur across the head jamb of a window frame. In this latter example, where a flange 70 for a cover projects across or above the head jamb of a window frame, special procedures or changes from standard building practice must be made along the sofiit across the window openings, in order to have enough room for the flange to be nailed into position. This disadvantage does not occur with the covered structural element of this invention since no portion of the cover itself projects out from the usual boundaries of the covered element. Thus window frames incorporating a casing covered according to this invention can be attached to a building in the manner customarily used with other windows.

A useful construction for the elements 39 and 40 of the cover 35 of this invention is to extrude each element from vinyl plastic material as an integral unit where the walls 41, 42, 46, 47, the flanges 43 and 48, and the wedgeshaped fastening means 55 are extruded of rigid vinyl plastic material and the flaps 44, 45 and 49, 50 are simultaneously extruded of flexible vinyl plastic material. When manufactured according to such techniques, the flexible flaps are incorporated as integral elements of the rigid vinyl wall portions. Dual extrusions of this nature are commercially available, such as through Crane Plastic, Inc. and other companies, and hence will not be described in further detail herein. Cover elements of this construction have proved highly useful and offer important economic advantages while still providing the desired protection for the wood member enclosed by the cover. Other cover constructions, however, may be utilized and, for example, the flexible flaps can be separate units attached to the remainder of the structure of the cover elements. The use of vinyl material in this fashion for the cover 35 also enables one to obtain the advantages of eliminating painting of the wood elements covered thereby, and to obtain the scratch and dent resistance of vinyl together with its corrosion and rot resistance in a wood structural member. This combines the permanent protective properties of vinyl and the decorating or building flexibility of wood. While vinyl synthetic plastic material is particularly useful, other materials may be used for the cover 35, including other synthetic plastic materials, depending upon the particular installation.

The term vinyl plastic materia as used herein is defined as homopolymers of vinyl chloride and copolymers of vinyl chloride with minor amounts (not over 50%) of other unsaturated compounds such as vinyl acetate. Rigid vinyl plastic, as for the top and side walls of the cover element, is unplasticized, whereas the flexible vinyl as used for the flaps is commonly plasticized with compounds such as phthalates, high molecular weight polyesters, epox-idized unsaturated triglycerides and epoxidized esters of unsaturated fatty acids; many specific compounds of these classes are known by those skilled in formulating flexible vinyl materials, see e.g., 1967 Modern Plastics Encyclopedia, pp. 443-450. The vinyl plastic material may also contain other ingredients such as fillers, antioxidants, and other compounds added to impart or enhence specific characteristics. Thus where the covered element is to be used outdoors, the vinyl plastic formulation will contain ingredients which provide long life under exposure to sunlight, heat, cold, etc.

The major advantage, however, of the covered construction element of this invention is its ability to enable one to nail (or attach with other fasteners) a window unit, for example, to a building without fracturing the permanently covered exterior vinyl cover. There is the additional advantage that this is provided in a unit that will not require changes is usual construction or design practices.

There has thus been described a new covered construction element comprising generally a Wood element with a groove opening along one of its surfaces and a cover that includes a top wall covering the surface, flange portions extending into the groove along opposite sides thereof and flexible flaps connected to the flange portions and extending across the groove to cover it. The flaps on one flange portion extend partially across the groove and the flaps on the other flange portion extend across the groove to overlap the free edges of the flaps on the first flange portion, preferably the flaps on each flange extend more than halfway across the groove. In a more specific form, the cover also includes side walls extending over side surfaces of the wood elements and including attaching means to co-act with grooves opening along the side surfaces of the wood to attach the cover thereto. In its most useful form, the top and side walls are of rigid plastic material and the flaps of flexible plastic. The groove covered by the flexible flaps, which are normally interleaved, provides a covered nailing groove; the flaps deflect from their position across the groove to allow a fastener to be inserted through the groove into the wood element and then return to their original position across the groove when the fastener passes them in its final position.

It is emphasized that changes can be made in the described embodiment of this invention without departing from its generic concept. Thus, although the invention is illustrated herewith in connection with a covered casing in a window frame, covered structural wood members of this invention can be employed for other uses including door frames, patio doors and interior as well as exterior elements. Wood siding or planks can also be covered with cover elements having the interleaved flexible flaps disposed in a groove through which the element is to be fastened to other structure. Although wedgeshaped fastening means 55 engaging grooves formed inside the wood element are shown herein for joining the cover to the wood element, other means for attaching the cover to the wood may be utilized including different forms of mechanical fasteners or the cover elements can be cemented or adhesively attached to the wood element.

It is to be understood that it is intended to cover all changes and modifications to the examples of this invention herein described as well as other embodiments not disclosed, which do not constitute a departure from the true spirit and scope of this invention.

1 claim:

1. In a covered construction element of the type having a wood element with top and side surfaces and a cover extending over at least the top surface of the wood ele ment, the improvement wherein:

(l) a groove is defined in the wood element .to open along the top surface thereof;

(2) the cover includes (a) a top wall enclosing at least the top surface of the wood element, (b) flange portions attached to the top wall and extending into the groove, and (c) interleaved flexible flaps attached to the flange portions and arranged across said groove;

'(3) means attaching the cover to the wood element;

said covered wood element being attachable to a selected body by inserting fasteners through the groove defined in the wood element wherein the flexible flaps deflect from their position across the groove as a fastener is inserted therein and return to their original position when the fastener er is in its final position.

2. In a covered construction element of the type having a wood element including a top surface and second and third surfaces along opposite boundaries of the first surface, and a cover extending over at least the top surface, the improvement wherein:

( 1) a groove defined in the wood element to open along the first surface thereof;

(2) said cover comprising (a) a first cover element having a top wall extending over part of the first surface to one side of of the groove, a flange portion connected to the wall and extending into the groove along said one side, and spaced flexible flaps attached to the flange portion and extending at least partially across the groove, and

(b) a second cover element including a top wall extending over the balance of the first surface of the wood element not covered by the first cover element, a flange portion attached to said top wall extending along a second side of the groove opposite from the said first side, and flexible flaps attached to the flange portion of the second cover element and extending across the groove to overlap free edges of the flexible flaps of the first cover element, the first and second cover elements being arranged with the flange portion of each element inserted in the groove along opposite sides thereof and the flexible flaps attached to the flange of one element interleaved with the flexible flaps attached to the other element to thereby cover the groove;

(3) means attaching each cover element to the wood elements;

said covered wood element being attachable to a selected body by inserting fasteners through the groove defined in the wood element wherein the flexible flaps deflect from their position across the groove as a fastener is inserted therein and return to their original position when the fastener is in its final position.

3. A covered wood construction element according to claim 2 wherein the wood element has second and third grooves defined therein to open respectively along the second and third side surfaces; and

each cover element includes a second wall attached to its respective top wall, and the second wall of the first cover element extends along the second surface over the second groove and the second wall of the second cover element extends along the third surface over the third groove; and

the means for attaching each cover element to the wood element includes means connected to each second wall of the cover elements and adapted to frictionally engage the second and third grooves.

4. A covered wood construction element according to claim 3 wherein the means adapted to frictionally engage the second and third grooves to attach the cover to the wood element comprises a wedge-shaped fastening means including a first wall connected to each second wall of the cover element and extending into its adjacent groove, and a tongue portion attached to each first wall along a portion thereof remote from its second wall, the tongue portion being at an angle to the first wall and being deformable upon insertion into a second or third groove to thereby hold the respective cover elements on the wood element.

5. In a wood window frame comprising spaced side the flaps attached to each cover element and extending across the first groove providing a flexible covering for the groove which will d:- form as fasteners are inserted into the groove and through the wood element and return to their position across the groove after said fasteners have been inserted; and means attaching each cover element to its respective casing. 6. A wood window frame according to claim 5 wherein each casing has spaced second and third surfaces connected to opposite edges of its top surface, and includes second and third grooves which open respectively along the second and third surfaces; each cover element includes a second wall attached to its respective top wall, and the second wall of the first cover element extends along the second surface over the second groove and the second wall of the second cover element extends along the third surface over the third groove; and the means for attaching each cover element to the wood element includes means connected to each second wall of the cover elements and adapted to frictionally engage the second and third grooves. 7. A wood window frame according to claim 6 wherein the means adapted to frictionally engage the second and third grooves to attach the cover to the wood element comprises a wedge-shaped fastening means including a first wall connected to each second wall of the cover element and extending into its adjacent groove, and a tongue portion attached to each first wall along a portion thereof remote from its second wall, the tongue portion being at an angle to the first wall and being deformable upon insertion into a second or third groove to thereby hold the respective cover elements on the wood element.

jambs connected across their upper ends by a head jamb and across their lower ends by a sill member, and wood casings attached to the window frame, the improvement 00 wherein:

each wood casing member has exposed surfaces including a top surface, and a first groove is defined in each casing member to open along its top surface; a cover encloses the said exposed top surfaces of each wood casing, said cover including (a) a first cover element having a top wall covering part of the top surface of the casing extending to one edge of the groove, a flange portion attached to the top Wall and extending into the References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1 625 637 4/1927 Abel 52467 groove, and spaced flexible flaps attached to the flange portion and extending at least partially 3105323 10/1963 Esler et 5 2-716 X across the groove, and FOREIGN PATENTS (b) a second cover element having a top wall 815,723 7 /1959 Great Britain.

covering the balance of the top surface of the 4 casing and extending to a second edge of the groove opposite from the aforesaid first edge, a flange connected to the second top wall and extending into the groove along the second side thereof, and spaced flexible flaps extending from the second flange across the groove to overlap free edges of the flaps of the first cover element;

HENRY C. SUTHERLAND, Primary Examiner.

S. D. BURKE, Assistant Examiner.

U.S. Cl. X.R.

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