초록 ▼

An installation system designed specifically for thin reinforced natural stone panels used as exterior cladding, re-cladding, or over-cladding of buildings is comprised of a series of extruded aluminum shapes which, when properly applied to the back side of the thin reinforced stone panels, provide

An installation system designed specifically for thin reinforced natural stone panels used as exterior cladding, re-cladding, or over-cladding of buildings is comprised of a series of extruded aluminum shapes which, when properly applied to the back side of the thin reinforced stone panels, provide structural support for the thin panels and facilitate their installation and will also provide the means for the panels to be pre-assembled in order to obtain desired shapes or profiles and to be easily installed on the building. The series, or family, of extruded aluminum shapes are designed to mate or interlock to perform a variety of tasks such as perimeter frames, structural stiffeners, corner angle supports, interlocking sleeves, runner clips which facilitate attachment to various substrates of a building such as steel stud framing, aluminum curtain wall frames, brick or concrete walls or plywood sheathing.

대표청구항 ▼

What is claimed is: 1. A wall cladding system for covering an exterior building wall, the covering including thin reinforced natural stone supported by the wall cladding system, the system including: (a). framing means supporting panels, each said panel including a thin natural stone element conne

What is claimed is: 1. A wall cladding system for covering an exterior building wall, the covering including thin reinforced natural stone supported by the wall cladding system, the system including: (a). framing means supporting panels, each said panel including a thin natural stone element connected with said framing means for attachment of said thin natural stone element to the exterior building wall; (b) said framing means including framing members supporting a multiplicity of said panels arranged in closely spaced relation for defining both vertical and horizontal joints between adjacent panels, said multiplicity of panels including a plurality of planar panels each having a plurality of linear edges, each said planar panel having a principal wall forming a portion of the covering of the exterior building wall formed by said wall cladding system; (c) each of said framing members comprising a top frame member, a bottom frame member and two side frame members and each of said frame members having shapes and profiles constructed of extruded aluminum; (d) each said planar panel having a facing sheet of thin reinforced natural stone adhesively bonded to said framing members with a double bite of silicone adhesive; (e) said framing means including slip connection means and two extended legs of a clip fitting into female sockets of an interior space of members forming intersecting framing members for structurally connecting said framing members at the corners of the panel with a slip connection member, each said slip connection member permitting controlled movement in the plane of the panel and along the axis of each said intersecting framing member while maintaining a substantially rigid planar relationship between the intersecting framing members formed by the insertion of said two extended legs of a clip into said female sockets of an interior space of each of the intersecting framing members while a mid-section of the clip envelops one of the flanges of the intersecting framing members; (f) each said framing member having a top portion, an interior space and a flat bottom section for contacting the thin reinforced natural stone, and including two flanges provided at the top portion of the framing member oriented in the same plane as the face of the planar panel and separated by a space which opens to the interior space of the framing member, and said framing member including two outside edges, one of which is perpendicular to the face of the planar panel forming a flush edge, and an opposite edge forming an angle with the face of the planar panel defining a rebate edge, and both said edges include female sockets for the purpose of engagement with other external devices and having two lower outside corners recessed to receive beads of silicone adhesive to implement an adhesive connection between a facing sheet and the framing members, whereby the framing members at the edges of the planar panel provides structural support and resistance to deformation due to lateral live loads such as wind and seismic forces as well as physical protection for vulnerable edges and corners of the thin natural stone formed of thin fascia sheets; and (g) said planar panel having a perpendicular wall formed at an outside edge of said framing member with the flush edge of the framing member positioned flush with the edge of a fascia panel and the facia panel being situated closely to the adjacent panel, the flush edges of the two panels together create a pocket between them of sufficient depth to provide a space for a backer rod of a compressible polystyrene circular rope to be inserted into said space between two said adjacent panels for the caulking sealant to be applied during construction to create a watertight joint between said adjacent panels. 2. A wall cladding system for supporting panels on an outer or exterior wall of a building, said supporting panels being formed of thin reinforced natural stone, each said panel comprising framing means and a facing sheet of thin reinforced natural stone, the system including: (a) said framing means including framing members forming a frame supporting a multiplicity of said panels arranged in closely spaced relation defining both vertical and horizontal joints between adjacent panels, said multiplicity of panels including a plurality of non-planar panels each having a plurality of linear edges, each said panel having a principal wall to form a portion of an exterior building wall; (b) each of said framing members comprising a top frame member and a bottom frame member and two side frame members, each of said frame members each having shapes and profiles constructed of extruded aluminum; (c) each said non-planar panel including said facing sheet of thin reinforced natural stone adhesively bonded to said frame members with a double bite of silicone adhesive; (d) slip connection means structurally connecting said framing members at corners of the panel with a slip connection member to form intersecting framing members which allows movement of the panel along the axis of each intersecting framing member while supporting a rigid planar relationship between the intersecting frame members formed by the insertion of two extended legs of a clip into female sockets of an interior space of each of the intersecting frames while a mid-section of the clip envelops one of the flanges of the intersected frame; (e) each said framing member being characterized by having a flat bottom section for contacting the thin natural reinforced stone, and two flanges provided at the top of the frame oriented in substantially the same plane as the face of the panel faces and separated by a space which opens to an interior space of the frame, and said frame having two outside edges, one of which is perpendicular to the face of the panel forming a flush edge, and one of the opposite edges forming an angle with the face of the panel defining a rebate edge, and both said edges including female sockets for the purpose of engagement with other external devices and having two lower outside corners recessed to receive beads of silicone adhesive to implement an adhesive connection between the face of the panel and the frame; (f) whereby at least the bottom framing member of the framing members at the edges of the panels provided structural support and resistance to deformation due to lateral live loads such as wind and seismic forces as well as physical protection for the vulnerable edges and corners of the thin reinforced stone; (g) said framing members at a linear edge form an angled intersection of two non-planar panels to form intersecting panels being oriented to present the rebate edge of the framing members toward the panel edge and, when engaged with an attachment clip, will position the intersecting panels in desired relative locations with respect to each other; (h) an attachment clip for positioning of the intersecting panels by engaging the framing members of the intersecting panels with said attachment clip, made of extruded aluminum, with the respective sockets and flanges of the frames and the clip meshing in a nesting reciprocal male/female engagement which automatically positions the intersecting panels in the correct relationship; (i) said attachment clip also controlling the angled intersection of the intersecting panels and the angles and shapes of the various attachment clips which nest with the flanges and sockets of the framing members in a reciprocal male/female engagement whereby correct positioning of the intersecting panels is achieved through a dimensional coordination of the specific placement of a rebate edge framing member on the backside of a facing panel with a specific profiled edge finish applied to the edge of the thin natural stone panel in order to produce a required panel intersection; and (j) said attachment clips automatically positioning two intersecting panels to form a pocket between the panels of sufficient size and depth for the insertion of a compressible polystyrene circular rope to serve as a backer rod for the application of the caulking sealant which creates a watertight joint between panels. 3. A wall cladding system according to claim 1 or 2 and further characterized in that each said panel includes a stiffener member extending between and connected to opposite framing members by means of a splice-connector clip and being adhesively bonded to a back face of the facing panel, and said stiffener being composed of a similar framing member as used at the periphery of the panel and for providing resistance against deflection due to lateral loading caused by high wind pressures, both positive and negative. 4. A wall cladding system according to claim 1 or 2 and further characterized in that attachment clips are utilized to create connections and attachments between one of the panels with another panel. 5. A wall cladding system according to claim 2 wherein the attachment clips include male flanges and female sockets which engage in male/female nesting with the framing members for supporting the required intersection of the framed panels in the correct relationship for automatically creating a desired joint condition. 6. A wall cladding system according to claim 2 or 5 and further characterized in that attachment clips are utilized to pre-assemble in a shop the framed panels with other smaller panel sections to create various panel profiles including edge returns, sill returns, jamb returns, soffit returns, column cover returns, all by means of locking engagement, secured by screws, of the flanges and sockets of the panel frames and attachment clips. 7. A wall cladding system according to claim 6 and further characterized in that said attachment clips are utilized to pre-assemble in a shop an edge return on a framed panel with the intersecting stone edges cut in a full miter and brought to a tight joint filled with epoxy adhesive to create a virtually invisible miter joint in order to simulate a thicker conventional slab of stone as much as 4" thick all by means of the structural support of a locking engagement of the flanges and sockets of the panel frames and the attachment clips as secured by screw attachment. 8. A wall cladding system according to claim 2 and further characterized in that said attachment clips are utilized to pre-assemble in a shop an edge return on a framed panel with the intersecting stone edges cut in a full miter and brought to a tight joint filled with epoxy adhesive to create a virtually invisible miter joint in order to simulate a thicker conventional slab of stone as much as 4" thick all by means of the structural support of a locking engagement of the flanges and sockets of the panel frames and the attachment clips as secured by screw attachment. 9. A wall cladding system according to claim 1 or 2 and further characterized in that a mechanical connection is provided to supplement the adhesive bond between the stone panel and the structure represented by the structural framing member on an edge of the panel by means of an anchor clip for providing a bridge connection between an undercut expansion bolt installed in the back face of the thin stone panel and a flange of a framing member of a panel to permit a slip movement in order to compensate for any movement due to expansion or contraction caused by temperature differentials. 10. A wall cladding system according to claim 1 or 2 and further characterized in that the framed panels are self-contained structural entities and include anchoring clips anchoring the panels loosely to a building substrate, runners attached to the building for permitting some horizontal sliding movement in the sockets and flanges of the panel frames and the various anchorage and attachment clips in the event of building sway movement due to high wind or seismic forces.