A METHOD OF ATTACHING CLADDING BOARDS TO STEELWORK

Abstract: Heat is stored at a steady temperature (about 29°C) using calcium chloride hexahydrate and up to 20 percent strontium chloride hexahydrate to assist crystallisation. This heat storage medium is placed in a heat storage device com­ prising means to seal the medium from water vapour.

Description: Technical field of the Invention This invention relates to the cladding of structural steel members for decorative and/or fire protection purposes. In particular, it relates to a method of attaching cladding boards to I or T section steel joists, herein referred to as flanged structural steelwork. The Prior Art Hitherto, boards have been attached to such steelwork by methods involving the use of battens and/or blocks of material jammed or otherwise secured to the steelwork between or extending along the flanges. The boards have been thereafter screwed or nailed to these battens/blocks, sometimes with the aid of adhesive compositions to fill any gaps. The object of these fixing methods is to substantially completely enclose the flanged structural steelwork without actually drilling into it, if at all possible. In general terms, the use of such methods is labour-intensive and frequently necessitates the carrying out of complicated assembly work in relatively inaccessible locations, often with the aid of ladders and/or scaffolding. Description of the Invention The invention resides in the use of U-shaped metal channel members to attach cladding boards to flanged structural steelwork (as herein defined). According to one aspect of the invention, method of attaching cladding boards to flanged structural steelworls (as herein defined) comprises the steps of fastening the base of a metal U-section channel member to each one of a pair of boards so that the arms of the U project substantially normally of the board, presenting the boards to the steelwork so that an opposite directed flange thereof is received in each of said channels presenting a third board to the other two so as to fridge the gap between them and lie against an arm of each channel followed by fastening said third board to each of said arms. It will be appreciated that the foregoing method serves to clad flanged structural steel work on three sides, but the principle applies equally to the fourth side of an I-section joist, the method then including the steps of fastening U-shaped channels to each of the first two boards and presenting and fastening a fourth board, in the same manner as the third board, above. However, according to another aspect of the invention, the method comprises joining two boards at right angles by fastening them to one arm and the base respectively of.a U-shaped metal channel member to form an L-shaped assembly and fastening a second U-shaped metal channel member to one of said boards so that the arms of the U extend from the board parallel to those of the first channel member in the assembly; a second such assembly of opposite hand is then formed and the two assemblies are presented to opposite sides of an 1-section flanged structural steelwork joist so that the parallel flanges thereof are received in the respective parallel channels with an arm of each assembly abutted against one of the respective side walls of each of the second channel members, followed by fastening said arms to said side walls to substantially enclose the I-section joist. A particularly preferred fastening method is by the use of self-tapping screws, especially of the kind which drill their own pilot hole in the metal channel members. This enables the installation of cladding boards to be carried out without any conventional drilling operations and this helps to speed assembly. An imporranS advantage of the invention resides in the fact that fastening need not involve any screwing or nailing into te material of the boards themselves; tulle metal channel supports the load. Furthermore, it is not necessary to drill the flanged structural steelwork. Also, as much work can be carried out at ground level, installation reduces to cutting and partial assembly (on the ground), followed by temporary clamping to the flanged member and a final fastening operation. Description of one embodiment of the invention One preferred embodiment of the invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawing in which the sole figure is a cross-sectional end view of an I-section joist supporting a floor slab. In the figure, a concrete floor slab 1 rests on the upper face 2 of an I-section joist, 3. Fire protection boards 4, 5 and 6 enclose the joist on its three exposed sides, being retained in place by self-tapping screws (of the self-drilling kind) 7, which fasten the boards to light steel channel members 8 and 9 respectively. The gap 10 between the slab and the edges of the boards abutting the slab is filled with a conventional cement/adhesive composition, 15. Installation of the cladding was carried out by the first of the two basic methods described earlier. The boards 4 and 5 were fastened to the bases of their respective channel members 8 and 9. These boards were then temporarily clamped in place on the joist after trowelling on the cement/adhesive 15, wedges being employed to preserve the gap 10 and hold the arms 11, 12 of the channels against the inside faces 13, 14 of the lower flanges of the joist. This was necessary to prevent extrusion of the cement/adhesive on carrying out the next step, which was the installation and fastening in place of the remaining board 6, to cover the lower face qf the joist. It will be appreciated that the method of the invention is capable of variation to suit the requirements of a particular installation. For example the board 6 need not fit between the other two; it may cover the whole of the bottom of the assembly, by appropriate choice of its width and of the depth of the boards 4 and 5. Other permutations are feasible and, of course, where a four sided flanged member is to be enclosed, similar variations are possible without departing from the basic concept.

Claims: What we claim is : 1. A method of attaching cladding boards to flanged structural steelwork (as aereinbefore defined) so as to substantially enclose the latter, the method including the step of fastening each of said boards to one side wall or to the base of a U-shaped metal channel into which a flange of the steelwork is received and retained therein by the boards fastened to said channel member. 2. A method according to claim 1 for attaching cladding boards to flanged structural steelwork, the method comprising the steps of fastening the base of a metal U-section channel member to each one of a pair of boards so that the arms of the U project substantially, normally of the board, presenting the boards to the steelworh so that an oppositely directed flange thereof is received in each of said channels, presenting a third board to the other two so as to bridge the gap between them and lie against an. arm of each channel followed by two fastening said third board to each of said arms. 3. A method according to claim 1 for attaching cladding boards to flanged structural steelwork, the method comprising joining two boards at right angles by fastening them to one arm and the base respectively - - b'f' a U-shaped metal channel member to form an I,- shaped assembly and fastening a second U-shaped metal channel member to one of said boards so that the arms of the U extend from the board parallel to those of the first channel member in the assembly; ; a second such assembly of opposite hand is then ios asset two j'ssemblies r resentd to opposits sides of an I-section flanged structural steelwork joist so that the parallel flanges thereof are received in the respective parallel channels with an arm of each assembly abutted against one of the respective side walls of each of the second channel members a followed by fastening said arms to said side walls to substantially enclose the I-section joist. '4. A method according to any preceding claim wherein the boards are fastened to the channel by self tapping screws. 5. A method of attaching cladding boards to flanged structural steelwork (as herein defined) substantially as described with reference to and as illustrated by the accompanying drawings.

Inventors: KAY, HENRY JOHN
Applicants: TAC CONSTRUCTION MATERIALS LIMITED
Application year: 1979
Main classification: F16S1
IPC codes: E04B1, E04B9, E04F13