IES20000976A2 - A brick structure cladding support - Google Patents

Abstract

A brick and stone cladding support comprises a set screw (3), an S/S expander (4) mounted on one end of the set screw and an L-shaped stone cladding engaging bracket (2) adjustably mounted on the other end of the set screw. The L-shaped stone cladding engaging bracket having means to adjust the position of the stone cladding relative the set screw in both the vertical and horizontal directions. Alternative constructions of L-shaped stone cladding engaging brackets are provided so that two or more stone slabs may be engaged by the same bracket. <Figure 1>

Description

“A BRICK STRUCTURE CLADDING SUPPORT” The present invention relates to a brick and stone structure cladding support and restraint of the type for supporting and restraining a brick or block cladding on another substantially vertical building surface.

Currently, there are numerous types of supports used for mounting brick, stone and 10 block type cladding to buildings, hereinafter stone slabs and brick structure cladding support. Typically, the brick structure cladding support consists of a combination of a separate wall-mount bracket and a brick support bracket mounted thereon. Such a type of support is shown in the applicant's own patent specification, GB2313858. This type of brick structure cladding support is a particularly efficient way of mounting a fagade of bricks to a to building shell and the like as the parts can be manufactured easily. One of the main problems with this type of support is that very little adjustability is allowed for and extensive measurements must be undertaken to ensure correct alignment. Once the holes in the structure have been drilled though the movement of the support bracket and hence the brick cladding visa vis the wall are almost non existent. This leads to a very lengthy preparation process.

One type of bracket that goes some way to obviate these difficulties is described in GB patent 2292398 in the name of Metsec Pic. There is described an anchor member attached to a wall and a bracket member mounted on the anchor member.

Once the anchor member is attached to the wall some vertical and lateral movement of the bracket is allowed. This is achieved by movement of a connecting bolt in a track formed in the anchor member and in a slot formed in the bracket member. Some movement of the bracket member relative to the wall is allowed by introducing shims between the anchor member and the bracket member. A problem is the bulk, complexity and number of the components involved which leads to a relatively expensive system.

US Patent Specification No. 565793 describes an adjustable bracket in which there is provided a fixing bracket for mounting on a wall and a horizontal positioning plate to -2support external cladding. The horizontal positioning plate must be welded in place on the fixing bracket once the desired position has been achieved. This is then not truly adjustable. Vertical adjustability is found by way of a slot in the fixing bracket through which a screw may be inserted into a wall. This holds the bracket in place until further screws are inserted. Once these are inserted no further adjustment is possible. Again, this requires a number of components and an extensive measuring process to be carried out before work can begin. Due to the nature of the brackets they can be quite costly to construct.

The present invention is directed towards overcoming these problems in existing brick structure cladding supports and also to providing a system that will allow complete adjustability in operation and importantly economy and simplicity in manufacture.

Statements of Invention According to invention there is provided a brick structure cladding support for mounting stone slabs to a wall of the type comprising a threaded set screw, wall engaging means mounted on one end of the set screw, means for securing the wall engaging means in position along the set screw, a stone cladding engaging bracket mounted on the other end of said set screw, means for securing the stone cladding engaging bracket in position along the said screw, characterised that said stone cladding engaging bracket is substantially L shaped and is provided with means to adjust the- position of the stone cladding relative the set screw in both a vertical and horizontal direction, said stone cladding engaging bracket being capable of being mounted spaced apart from said wall.

Another embodiment of the invention provides a stone retention fixing for mounting stone slabs as characterised in that said means to adjust the position of the stone relative the set screws is provided by vertical and horizontal slots formed in the L shaped bracket.

According to another embodiment of the invention there is provided a brick structure cladding support in which the wall engaging means is provided by an S/S expander. fp ο Ο Ο 9 7 6 -3The adjustability of the apparatus is brought about by having nuts to secure the bracket in place. These may be placed along the set screw for securing both the wall engaging means and the L-shaped bracket in position.

In another particularly preferred embodiment, the bracket is formed having rounded edges. This is preferred as it limits the number of sharp edges which can cause accidents on building sites and the like. It is included as an extra added safety feature. It can be seen that the L shaped bracket may be formed out of the one sheet of metal with a minimum of manufacturing required. This will provide a very cost effective bracket that is easy to produce and use.

In another embodiment of the invention there is provided a brick structure cladding support for mounting stone slabs characterised in that said L shaped bracket is supplied with a further cross bar at its distal end in which there is provided a plurality of slots for adjustment of the position of stone slabs. In this embodiment called a “hammer head configuration” two or more stone slabs can be engaged at the same time. This may further reduce the number of drilling holes that may be required in a surface on which the cladding is to be mounted. Again, this is particularly beneficial when time is of the essence.

In one preferred embodiment the slots are formed laterally along the cross bar although they may also be formed longitudinally along the cross bar.

In a further embodiment of the present invention there is provided a method for mounting stone slabs to a surface comprising the steps of drilling a hole in the surface, inserting a screw having wall retention means mounted on one end of said screw into said hole, securing said screw in position relative the wall, mounting a stone slab engaging bracket on the other end of said screw, mounting a stone slab on said bracket, adjusting the position of said stone slab relative the bracket and the screw and the wall until in its desired position, securing the bracket in position and hence securing the stone slab in position relative the bracket on the wall.

Detailed Description of the Invention -4The invention will be more clearly understood from the following description of some embodiments thereof given by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:Fig 1. is a side sectional elevational view of wall mounting a brick structure cladding support according to the invention; Fig. 2 is a perspective view of a stone cladding engaging bracket used in the invention; Fig. 3 is top plan view of the brick structure cladding support as shown in Fig, 1.; Fig. 4 is a side elevational view of the brick structure cladding support; Fig. 5 is a top plan view of an alternative construction of cladding support; Fig. 6 is a side view of another set screw used in the invention; Fig. 7 is a side view of the set screw of Fig. 6 with an S/S expander mounted thereon; Fig. 8 is a side view of a still further set screw; Fig. 9 is a side view of another set screw; and Fig. 10 is a perspective exploded view of a brick structure cladding support utilising the set screw of Fg. 9.

Referring to the drawings and initially to Figs. 1 to 4 thereof, there is illustrated a brick structure cladding support indicated generally by the reference numeral 1. The brick structure cladding support 1 comprises a stone cladding engaging bracket 2 mounted upon one'end of a set screw 3, said set screw 3 having wall engaging means formed by an S/S expander 4, the expander illustrated is a core expander as sold under the ¢800978 -5Trade Mark SUREGRIP, mounted on the other end thereof. Nuts 5 and washers 6 are provided to retain the stone cladding engaging bracket 2 in position on the set screw 3.

Referring to Fig. 2, the stone cladding engaging bracket 2 comprises a substantially L shaped angle bracket having a vertical back portion 21 and a brick support horizontal portion 22. The vertical back portion 21 and brick support horizontal portion 22 have through slots 23 and 24, respectively formed therein. The particular orientation of the slots may be seen in Fig. 2 of the drawings. The relative orientation of the slots 23 and 24 is such that no alone are they at right angles to each other but they are not in the same plane. It can be seen from Fig. 2 that the edges of the stone cladding engaging bracket 2 have been rounded off. This is an additional safety feature of the invention. The bracket 2 may be punched from one sheet of metal in one operation negating the need for any further welding or interconnection to be carried out. This allows production costs to be kept at a minimum.

In operation, a wall is marked out and drilled in the appropriate locations. The set screws 3 with the S/S expander 4 mounted thereon are inserted into the holes and secured in place. The stone cladding engaging bracket 2 is mounted loosely on the other end of the set screw 3 placed apart from the wall. Cladding elements such as brick or stone blocks 60 (see Fig. 1) each having a hole for a dowel 30 drilled therein are placed on the bracket 2 with the dowel 30 protruding through the slot 24 in the horizontal, portion 22 of the stone cladding engaging bracket 2. The dowel 30 also is inserted into a stone block 60 if there is one below the block 60 resting on the brick structure cladding support 1. The stone cladding engaging bracket 2 is then adjusted to the appropriate position for being secured in place by the nuts 5 and washers 6. It will be appreciated that adjustment in all three planes is allowed even after the set screw 3 is in position. This is been found to be particularly advantageous. Also, it will be noted that no welding is necessary. The dowel 30 is allowed to move within the slot 24 to allow for some adjustability in the horizontal direction. This amount of adjustability facilitates a quick installation of the entire system.

A further element base support 40 is shown in Fig. 4. This element is supplied with generally more heavy duty materials than those used before for obvious reasons.

II? 0 9 0 9 7 6 -6Some adjustability may be provided by way of a slot (not shown) formed in an L shaped support member 41. Again, an expander 42 is used to retain the apparatus relative the wall. The L shaped support member is held in place by a bolt 43 and washer 44.

Fig. 5 shows another brick structure cladding support 50. In this embodiment the brick structure cladding support 50 terminates in a lateral cross bar 51 to give a hammer-head configuration. This enables one support to carry more than two stone/brick elements at a time thereby reducing the number of drilling holes to be made. This is achieved by having the slots 52 formed in the lateral position for reception of dowels.

Figs. 6 and 7 show an alternative constructions of set screw identified by the reference'numeral 65, parts similar to those described with reference to the previous drawings are identified by the same reference numerals. In order to ensure that sufficient clearance is left for insulation, an unthreaded section 66 is left on the set screw 65 so that the nuts 5 cannot travel beyond the threaded portions. An alternative to providing this unthreaded section is to crimp the thread at 68 as in a set screw 69 of Fig. 7. This will have a similar effect.

Fig. 9 illustrates a set screw 70 having a rectangular in cross section inner portion 71. Fig. 10 shows an exploded view of another brick structure cladding support 75 incorporating the set screw 70. Again, parts similar to those described with reference rot he previous drawings are identified by the same reference numerals.

As can be seen, the number of parts has been kept to a minimum which can also be important if transporting materials up the face of a building any significant distance. It is suggested that the support of the present invention is much simpler in construction than any already on the market. This in turn leads to the production of a support which, in many instances, may be lighter than comparable supports. However, the main advantages of the present invention reside in its flexibility of adjustment and simplicity of construction.

In the specification the term comprise, comprises, comprised and comprising or any ΓΕΟ ο ο S 7 β -7variation thereof and the terms include, includes, included and including or any variation thereof are considered to be totally interchangeable and they should all be afforded the widest possible interpretation and vice versa.

The invention is in no way limited to the embodiments here and before described which may be varied in both construction and detail within the scope of the claims. kc\Pre!2\PS0027

Claims (5)

1. A brick structure cladding support for mounting stone slabs to a wall of the type comprising a threaded set screw, wail engaging means mounted on one end of the set screw, means for securing the wall engaging means in position along the set screw, a stone cladding engaging bracket mounted on the other end of said set screw, means for securing the stone cladding engaging bracket in position along the said set screw, the stone cladding engaging bracket being substantially L-shaped and being provided with means to adjust the position of the stone cladding relative the set screw in both a vertical and horizontal direction and said stone cladding engaging bracket being capable of being mounted spaced apart from said wall.

2. A brick structure cladding support as claimed in claim 1 in which the means to adjust the position of the stone relative the set screws is provided by vertical and horizontal slots formed in the L-shaped bracket.

3. A brick structure cladding support as claimed in claim 1 or 2 in which the Lshaped bracket is provided with a further cross bar at its end distal the wall in which there is provided a plurality of slots for adjustment of the position of stone slabs.

4. A brick structure cladding support as claimed in any preceding claim in fl? β ο ό δ ? β -9which the L-shaped bracket may be stamped out of a single sheet of metal.

5. A brick structure cladding support substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.