Patent Publication Number: US-2010107533-A1

Title: Self-sealing furring assembly

Description:
BACKGROUND 
     1. Field 
     The present disclosure relates generally to furring products, and more particularly, to a self-sealing furring assembly and a self-sealing fastener assembly configured to provide a watertight alternative to components used by the building industry for attaching a waterproofing material to an exterior surface of the framing of a home. 
     2. Background 
     In the building industry, sealing out water from penetrating to the interior surfaces of a home is always desirable. Making structures watertight against rainwater, irrigation water, and any other moisture is a concern. Creating this seal against the effects of water may be accomplished best by wrapping the exterior surfaces of a home in a building paper and fastening the paper to the framing of a home or other structure. In applications where an exterior surface, such as siding, roofing, or plaster lath, is subsequently attached, fastening the exterior surface to the framing requires penetrating the sealing paper. In so doing, the integrity of the building paper may be compromised, allowing moisture to penetrate through the hole and mold, mildew, freeze, thaw, rot the wood, or cause other problems associated with waterproof exterior systems. 
     SUMMARY 
     One aspect of the disclosure, a self-sealing furring assembly, includes a spacer and a sealing member abutting the spacer. 
     Another aspect of the disclosure, a self-sealing furring assembly configured to be installed between a plaster lath and a frame for a structure, includes building paper mounted on the frame for the structure, a sealing member and a fastening member supporting the sealing member, wherein the fastening member includes a head and a shank and extends through the plaster lath, the sealing member and the building paper into the framing so that the plaster lath is between the head of the fastening member and the sealing member, the sealing member being compressed to seal the hole formed by the shank of the fastening member in the building paper. 
     Another aspect of the disclosure, a method of installing plaster lath to a framing, includes wrapping the framing with building paper, placing a self-sealing furring assembly against the building paper in a location aligned with a member of the framing, supporting the plaster lath on a surface of the furring assembly, and extending a fastening member having through the building material, a sealing member, and the building paper into the framing so that the plaster lath is between a head of the fastening member and the sealing member, and the sealing member compresses to seal the hole formed by the fastening member in the building paper. 
     Another aspect of the disclosure, a self-sealing fastener assembly, includes a spacer, a sealing member, and a fastening member supporting the spacer and the sealing member. 
     In another aspect of the disclosure, an exterior assembly for a structure having framing, includes building paper mounted on framing for the structure, a self-sealing fastener assembly including a spacer, a sealing member, and a fastening member extending through the spacer, the sealing member, and the building paper into the framing, the spacer compressing the sealing member to seal the hole formed by the fastening member in the building paper. 
     A method is disclosed for installing a self-sealing fastener assembly to a framing that includes wrapping the framing with building paper, placing a self-sealing fastener assembly against the building paper in a location aligned with a member of the framing placing the tip portion of the fastening member against the paper on the framing, and extending the fastening member through the spacer, the sealing member, and the building paper into the framing so that the spacer compresses the sealing member to seal the hole formed by the fastening member in the building paper. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS 
       Various aspects of the present invention are illustrated by way of example, and not by way of limitation, in the accompanying drawings, wherein: 
         FIG. 1  illustrates a side view of a self-sealing furring assembly; 
         FIG. 2  illustrates a side view of a self-sealing furring assembly, wherein the sealing member is an o-ring type; 
         FIG. 3  illustrates a side view of a self-sealing fling assembly, wherein the spacer has a recessed portion; 
         FIG. 4  illustrates a side view of a self-sealing furring assembly, wherein the spacer has a recessed portion and the sealing member has a beveled surface; 
         FIG. 5  illustrates a side view of a structural system for use with a variation of the self-sealing furring assembly, wherein the sealing member is uncompressed; 
         FIG. 6  illustrates a side view of a structural system for use with a variation of the self-sealing furring assembly, wherein the sealing member is compressed; 
         FIG. 7  illustrates a front perspective view of a structural system for use with variations of the self-sealing furring assembly; 
         FIG. 8  illustrates a side view of a self-sealing fastener assembly; 
         FIG. 9  illustrates a side view of a self-sealing fastener assembly, wherein the sealing member is an o-ring type; 
         FIG. 10  illustrates a side view of a self-sealing fastener assembly, wherein the spacer has a recessed portion; 
         FIG. 11  illustrates a side view of a self-sealing fastener assembly, wherein the spacer has a recessed portion and the sealing member has a beveled surface; 
         FIG. 12A  illustrates a side view of a structural system for use with a variation of the self-sealing fastener assembly, wherein the sealing member is uncompressed; 
         FIG. 12B  illustrates a side view of a structural system for use with a variation of the self-sealing fastener assembly, wherein the sealing member is compressed; and 
         FIG. 13  illustrates a front perspective view of a structural system for use with variations of the self-sealing fastener assembly. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     The detailed description set forth below in connection with the appended drawings is intended as a description of various embodiments of the present invention and is not intended to represent the only embodiments in which the present invention may be practiced. The detailed description includes specific details for the purpose of providing a thorough understanding of the present invention. However, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the present invention may be practiced without these specific details. 
       FIG. 1  illustrates a side view of an example of a self-sealing furring assembly  1 . The self-sealing furring assembly  1  may include a spacer  10  and a sealing member  20 . A lower surface of the sealing member  20  abuts an upper surface of the spacer  10 . These surfaces may be adhered together by adhesive or affixed or held together in any other manner as would be evident to one of ordinary skill in the art. The spacer  10  may be comprised of any suitable material, including modified or unmodified bitumen, tar, plastic, rubber, cardboard, fiberglass, metal, and wood. The material choice is flexible as long as the spacer  10  can provide a space between an exterior surface of the structure to which the self-sealing furring assembly  1  is attached and any exterior building material subsequently attached to the structure. The spacer  10  may be manufactured to be round, square or rectangular to align easier to structural components or the exterior building material for easier fastening, but the spacer  10  may be made in any shape. The sealing member  20  may be comprised of any suitable compressible material, including modified or unmodified bitumen, tar, neoprene, fluoroelastomer, silicone, natural rubber, or any suitable synthetic rubber, for example. The compressible sealing member  20  may be manufactured to be round, square or rectangular to align easier with the spacer  10  and/or to structural components for fastening, but the sealing member  20  may be made in any shape. For example,  FIG. 2  shows a sealing member  20 ′ that is an o-ring type and  FIG. 4  shows a sealing member  20 ″ that includes a beveled surface  25 . 
       FIGS. 3 and 4  illustrate a variation of the self-sealing furring assembly  1 ′, wherein the spacer  10 ′ comprises a recessed portion  12 . The sealing member  20 ″ may be designed to fit into an opening  13  and seat against the inside lower surface  14  of the recessed portion  12 . The dimensions of the portion of the sealing member  20 ″ that fits within the recessed portion  12 , such as the length and width or circumference, may be such that the exterior sidewall surfaces of the sealing member  20 ″ directly abut the inner side surfaces of the recessed portion  12 . In so doing, the recessed portion  12  provides a secure seat for the sealing member  20 ″ in the spacer  10 ′. As illustrated in  FIG. 4 , the portion of the sealing member  20 ″ exterior to the recessed portion  12  may vary in shape and dimensions from the recessed portion  12 . In  FIG. 4 , for example, the sealing member  20 ″ may include a beveled surface  25 . Combined with the choice of material, the dimensions of the sealing member  20 ″ may be varied in order to achieve predetermined compression characteristics of the sealing member  20 ″. The self-sealing furring assembly  1 ′ may be completely assembled during manufacture or the individual components provided separately for assembly on-site or at a secondary facility. Moreover, the spacer  10 ′ may be interference fit, integrally formed or co-molded with the sealing member  20 ″. 
       FIGS. 5 and 6  will be used to illustrate operation of the self-sealing furring assembly  1 . A waterproofing material, such as building paper  60 , is placed around the studs  70  (and where plywood is used over the studs  70  (not shown)) of a structure requiring waterproofing protection. The furring assemblies may be placed in position by aligning each furring assembly  1  with a stud  70  so that the bottom surface of the sealing member  20  faces the paper  60 . The furring assembly  1  may have an adhesive on the bottom surface of the sealing member  20  so that the furring assembly  1  may be bonded in place to the paper  60  by simply pressing the furring assembly  1  against and in the direction of the stud  70 . Alternatively, the fastening assembly  1  may be manually held in place while plaster lath  28 , for example, is applied to the structure. The plaster lath  28  may be made of any suitable material, including wire. 
     Initially, as shown in  FIG. 5 , the plaster lath  28  is held up to the assembly  1  and a fastening member  30  is driven home through the plaster lath  28 , the furring assembly  1 , the paper  60  and into the stud  70 . The fastening member  30  may be a furring nail, screw, bolt staple, or any other suitable fastener as would be evident to one of ordinary skill in the art. As the fastening member  30  drives through the spacer  10  and the sealing member  20  of furring assembly  1 , the fastening member  30  compresses the sealing member thus enabling the self-sealing function of the assembly. The fastening member  30  may comprise a head  31  and a shank portion  32 . The head  31  of the fastening member  30  abuts an exterior surface of the plaster lath  28 , wherein continued driving causes the plaster lath  28  to be pinched between the head  31  of the fastening member  30  and an upper surface  11  of the spacer  10 . While it may be desirable to always pinch a portion of the plaster lath  28  between the head  31  and the spacer  10 , it is not always necessary. Continued driving of the fastening member  30  results in the head  31  of the fastener exerting a distributed force across the upper surface  11  of the spacer  10 . The distributed force, in turn drives the spacer  10  toward the paper  60 , compressing the sealing member  20 , as illustrated in  FIG. 6 . The sealing member  20  is compressed between the spacer  10  and the exterior surface of the paper  60 , creating a water tight seal around the shank  32  of the fastening member  30  in the area of the penetration hole (not shown) formed by the fastening member  30  entering the building paper  60 . The compressed sealing member  20  will also cover or protect any enlargements of the penetration hole or small tears in the building paper  60  at the penetration hole due to shifting of the building paper  60  during the construction process caused by wind or other accidental movement or pressure on the building paper  60 . 
       FIG. 7  illustrates an exterior section of a structure in which self-sealing furring assemblies  1  have been used to hang the plaster lath  28 . The furring assemblies  1  may be placed at sixteen inch intervals from one another in a horizontal direction in accordance with the framing of the structure, but the furring assemblies  1  should be placed at no more than seven inch intervals in the vertical direction. The spacing may be provided according to the specific dimensions and requirements of the exterior material being used. The exterior building material may be a plaster or stucco material, but the furring assemblies may also work with any type of siding, such as bevel, lap, board and batten, channel, clapboard, shingle, or tongue and groove, or roofing, for example. As shown in  FIG. 6 , an air gap  80  may be enabled between the plaster lath  28  and the paper  60 . The air gap  80  may function to keep everything dry by preventing moisture from building up and becoming trapped between the plaster lath  28  and the paper  60 . The gap  80  also may serve as a drainage plane allowing any rain or water that gets behind the plaster lath  28  to flow down, out and away from the protected structure. 
     Although shown and described with reference to the spacer  10  and sealing member  20  as shown in  FIG. 1 , the description above applies to the o-ring type sealing member  20 ′ and the sealing members  20 ″ seated in the recessed furring wad assemblies  10 ′. The amount of any deformation caused by the compression of the sealing member  20  by the spacer  10  may be dependent on the choice of material and geometric configuration of each member. Furthermore, deformation of the sealing member  20  is not required to ensure a waterproof seal, as long as sufficient force is applied in driving the fastening member  30  home to ensure that the sealing member  20  is held with force against the paper  60  by the spacer  10 . 
       FIG. 8  illustrates a side view of an example of a self-sealing fastener assembly. The self-sealing fastener assembly  101  may include a spacer  110 , a sealing member  120 , and a fastening member  130 . The spacer  110  is mounted on the fastening member  130  and may be comprised of any suitable material, including modified or unmodified bitumen, tar, a wide variety of plastics, rubbers, cardboard, fiberglass, metal, and wood. The material choice is flexible as long as the spacer  110  can provide a space between a head portion  131  of the fastening member  130  and an exterior surface of the structure to which the self-sealing fastener assembly  101  is attached. The spacer  110  may be manufactured to be round, square or rectangular to align easier to structural components for fastening, but the member may be made in any shape. The seal member  120  is mounted on the fastening member  130  adjacent to the spacer  110  so that seal member  120  is closer to the tip portion  132  of the fastening member  130 . The spacer  110  is thus situated between the head portion  131  of the fastening member and the sealing member  120 . The sealing member  120  may be comprised of any suitable compressible material, including modified or unmodified bitumen, tar, neoprene, fluoroelastomer, silicone, natural rubber, or any suitable synthetic rubber, for example. The compressible sealing member  120  may be manufactured to be round, square or rectangular to align easier with the spacer  110  and/or to structural components for fastening, but the member may be made in any shape. For example,  FIG. 9  shows a sealing member  120 ′ that is an o-ring type coaxially mounted onto the shaft of the fastening member  130 , and  FIG. 11  shows a sealing member  120 ″ that includes a beveled surface  125 . The fastening member  130  may be a nail, screw, bolt, staple, or any other suitable fastener as would be evident to one of ordinary skill in the art. 
       FIGS. 10 and 11  illustrate a variation of the self-sealing fastener assembly  101 ′, wherein the spacer  110 ′ comprises a recessed portion  112 . The sealing member  120 ″ may be designed to slidably enter an opening  113  and seat against the inside lower surface  114  of the recessed portion  112 . The dimensions of the portion of the sealing member  120 ″ that fits within the recessed portion  112 , such as the length and width or circumference, may be such that the exterior sidewall surfaces of the sealing member  120 ″ directly abut the inner side surfaces of the recessed portion  112 . In so doing, the recessed portion  112  provides a secure seat for the sealing member  120 ″ in the spacer  110 . As illustrated in  FIG. 11 , the portion of the sealing member  120 ″ exterior to the recessed portion  112  may vary in shape and dimensions from the recessed portion  112 . In  FIG. 11 , for example, the sealing member  120 ″ may include a beveled surface  125 . Combined with the choice of material, the dimensions of the sealing member  120 ″ may be varied in order to achieve predetermined shape or force characteristics during compression of the sealing member  120 ″. The self-sealing fastener assembly  101 ′ may be completely assembled during manufacture or the individual components provided separately for assembly on-site or at a secondary facility. Moreover, the furring wad assembly  110 ′ may be integrally formed with the sealing member  120 ″. 
       FIGS. 12A and 12B  will be used to illustrate operation of the self-sealing fastener assembly  101  shown in  FIG. 8 . A waterproofing material, such as building paper  60 , is placed around the studs  70  (and where plywood is used over the studs  70  (not shown)) of a structure requiring waterproofing protection. The fastener assemblies  101  may be placed in position by aligning each fastener assembly  101  with a stud  70  so that the bottom surface of the sealing member  120  faces the paper  60 . The fastening member  130  is driven home through the spacer  110 , the sealing member  120 , paper  60  and into the stud  70 . As shown in  FIG. 12A , the fastening member  130  drives through the spacer  110  and the sealing member  120  until the head  131  of the fastening member  130  abuts an exterior surface of the spacer  110 , wherein continued driving causes spacer  110  to exert a distributed force across an inner surface  114  abutting an outer surface  122  of the sealing member  120 . The sealing member  120  is squeezed between the spacer  110  and the exterior surface of the paper  60 . Continued driving of the nail  130 , in turn, drives the spacer  110  further toward the paper  60 , compressing the sealing member  120 , as illustrated in  FIG. 12B . The sealing member  120 , by virtue of forced compression between the spacer  110  and the paper  60  creates a water tight seal that will cover any enlargements of the hole or small tears in the building paper  60  at the penetration hole due to shifting of the building paper  60  during the construction process caused by wind, or other accidental movement or pressure on the building paper  60 . 
     Although shown and described with reference to the spacer  110  and sealing member  120  as shown in  FIG. 8 , the description above applies to the o-ring type sealing member  120 ′ and the sealing members  120 ″ seated in the recessed furring wad assemblies  110 ′. The amount of any deformation caused by the compression of the sealing member  120  by the spacer  110  may be dependent on the choice of material and geometric configuration of each member. Furthermore, deformation of the sealing member  120  is not required to ensure a waterproof seal, as long as sufficient force is applied in driving the fastening member  130  home to ensure that the sealing member  120  is pressed with force against the paper  60  by the spacer  110 . 
       FIG. 13  illustrates an exterior section of a structure in which self-sealing fastener assemblies  101  have been used with a waterproofing material, such as building paper  60 , for example. The fastener assemblies  101  may be placed at sixteen inch intervals from one another, horizontally, or no greater than seven inches apart vertically, or the spacing may be provided according to the specific dimensions and requirements of the exterior material being used. By using the fastener assemblies  101 , it may be possible to create an air gap  180  between an exterior material  128 , such as plaster lath, siding or roofing, for example, and the paper  60 . The air gap  180  may function to keep everything dry by preventing moisture from building up and becoming trapped between the exterior material  128  and the paper  60 . The gap  180  also may serve as a drainage plane allowing any rain or water that gets behind the exterior material  128  to flow down, out and away from the protected structure. 
     The previous description is provided to enable any person skilled in the art to practice the various embodiments described herein. Various modifications to these embodiments will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, and the generic principles defined herein may be applied to other embodiments. Thus, the claims are not intended to be limited to the embodiments shown herein, but is to be accorded the full scope consistent with the language claims, wherein reference to an element in the singular is not intended to mean “one and only one” unless specifically so stated, but rather “one or more.” All structural and functional equivalents to the elements of the various embodiments described throughout this disclosure that are known or later come to be known to those of ordinary skill in the art are expressly incorporated herein by reference and are intended to be encompassed by the claims. Moreover, nothing disclosed herein is intended to be dedicated to the public regardless of whether such disclosure is explicitly recited in the claims. No claim element is to be construed under the provisions of 35 U.S.C. §112, sixth paragraph, unless the element is expressly recited using the phrase “means for” or, in the case of a method claim, the element is recited using the phrase “step for.”