Patent Publication Number: US-2006000175-A1

Title: Insulating attachment strip

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
      The invention relates to structural and framing members, including metal and wood studs and beams used in building construction, and more particularly to an insulating strip applied to studs and beams of existing structures to prevent heat or cold from entering and leaving a building structure through the walls and ceilings.  
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
      Many commercial buildings and some residents have walls and ceilings framed with metal or wood studs and beams. These frames are fabricated to length to form the structure on which wall and ceiling sheathing is attached. Even though insulation is placed between the beams/studs, there is heat/cold transfer through the metal and wood members and the wall boards. Various structural members exist to help prevent the heat/cold transfer. Several patents are described below that show several structural members that use insulating materials.  
      U.S. Pat. No. 6,494,012 defines a composite building stud that combines two metal shapes, inner and outer, with an insulating material to form a composite structural member having excellent acoustical properties. The stud also has an insulating valve (R-value) greater than a similar metal member normally used as a stud in a residential structure. The composite also has a strength comparable to that of a similar steel member normally used as a stud in a residential structure. One shape encompasses the other shape. The composite structural member eliminates any direct metal connections and thus eliminates any thermal shorts that reduce the overall insulating value (R-value) of the composite member  
      In U.S. Pat. No. 5,720,144, a metal beam with a thermal break between opposite sides and method of making is disclosed. In a first embodiment a huck rivet extends through aligned holes in a pair of opposed beam sections having a base wall portion and a side wall portion. In a second embodiment a punch/swedge operation forms a rivet in the base wall portion of one beam section that extends through the other base wall portion of the other beam section. In a third embodiment a series of spaced, alternating tabs and recesses are formed in the beam section and the tabs overlap and are riveted at overlapping tabs only to form a gap in the formed beam. In a fourth embodiment oppositely opening hooks are formed in the inner sections of first and second beam sections that interfit and are seamed together to fasten the two beam sections with a continuous seam along the center of a composite beam.  
      U.S. Pat. No. 5,678,381 defines an insulative beam and method for its construction. The insulative beam includes two support channels formed from a sheet metal and a block of a plastic material shaped so that each of the two channels wraps at least partly around the block of plastic material. In some embodiments of the invention, the channels extend longitudinally beyond the block of plastic material. If desired to give additional strength to the ends of the insulative beam, the ends are reinforced with angles or channels that fit at the end of the block of plastic material and the angles or channels are welded to the support channels. In other embodiments, the reinforcement is supplied by vertical ribs formed in the web of the support channels. The location of the vertical ribs can be at the ends of the beam or at other areas that are otherwise weakened. Additional reinforcement can be provided by vertical supports within each of the channels. In a further preferred embodiment, the channels are further reinforced by rectangular tubes that run longitudinally along the corners of the channels. In a still further preferred embodiment, the support beam includes two angles with a rectangular tube placed at the corner of the angle and another rectangular tube attached at the upper end of the angle. To further strength the beam, copies of the beam can be placed together and welded so that they act together.  
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
      A combination structural member and insulating strip is attached to a wood or metal stud/ceiling beam. The wall and ceiling board is then attached to the insulating strip to prevent heat/cold transfer from the outside into the room or from the room to the outside. The insulating strip includes a plate or U-shaped support member with an insulating strip secured to the plate or inside the U-shaped member. The plate of U-shaped member can be made of a metal, plastic or fiber glass construction. The insulating strip is secured to an existing stud or beam with the insulating strip adjacent to and contacting the existing stud or beam. A wall board is then attached to the support member which is insulated from the stud and ceiling beams. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       FIG. 1  shows a portion of a wall framing using the insulation strips of the invention;  
       FIGS. 2   a  and  2   b  show a cross-sectional view of an insulating strip mounted on a wall stud;  
       FIG. 3  shows a cross-section view of the insulating strip;  
       FIG. 4  shows another embodiment of the insulating strip;  
       FIG. 5  shows another embodiment of the insulating strip;  
       FIG. 6  shows a wall with an insulation strip mounted on a wall top plate between two insulation strips on studs;  
       FIG. 7  shows an end view of an insulating strip for mounting at the intersection of a wall and ceiling; and  
       FIG. 8  shows the insulating strip of  FIG. 7   
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT  
       FIG. 1  shows a framed wall  10  with insulating strips of the present invention attached to each of the vertical studs. For example wall  10  has three vertical studs  11 ,  12  and  13 , secured to the floor plate  20  and top plate  14 . There is an insulating strip  17  on stud  12  and an insulating strip  18  on stud  13 . Each insulating strip has two basic parts. For Example, each strip has a support strip and an insulating strip. Insulating strip  18  has a top portion of it removed to show the insulation  18   a  against stud  13  thermally isolating the support portion  18   b  of strip  18  from stud  13 .  
      Insulating strip  15  is shown as it is to be positioned to be attached to stud  11 . Strip  15  is placed against stud  11  with the insulation portion  15   b  against stud  11 . Insulating strip  15  is then secured to stud  11  by screws or other fastener  19 . Only three fasteners are shown, but as many as needed are used to securely attached the insulating to the stud.  
       FIGS. 2   a  and  2   b  is a cross-sectional view, taken through section line  2 - 2 , of stud  11  with insulating stip  15  attached. Stud  11  may, for example, be C-shaped, as shown in  FIG. 2   a , or may be a solid stud  11   a , as shown in  FIG. 2   b . Insulating strip  15  has an outer support portion  15   a , and may be, for example, C-shaped with re-enforcing ridges  15   c  extending down each side. Ridges  15   c  may also be used to hold insulating material  15   b  in place and prevent it from separating from support stip  15   a  before it is secured to a stud by fasteners  19 . In the even that support ridges are not used, insulating strip  15   a  could be held in place with an adhesive. It should be noted that in mounting and insulating strip to a stud, or ceiling framing member (not illustrated) the strip is positioned so that there is a space S on each side of the strip so that only the insulating material is in contact with the stud, preventing thermal transfer from the stud to the support member of the insulating strip.  
       FIG. 3  illustrates an end view of insulating strip  30 . This view of only the insulating strip shows the support portion  31  with the insulating material  32  inside. The fastner hole  33 , of which there are several, is shown.  
       FIG. 4  shows a variation of the insulating strip of the invention. In this embodiment, the support portion  41  of insulating strip  40  does not extend, or enclose as much of the insulating material as in  FIG. 3 . This embodiment reduces the amount of material used in the insulating strip and the weight of each strip. By using a plastic or fiber glass material for the support member, the weight is reduce over the use of metal. The weight factor may be important when attaching the insulating strips to ceiling rafters. In this embodiment, it may be necessary to apply a small amount of adhesive to hold the insulating material  42  to metal strip  41  until it is mounted on a stud or ceiling rafter with fasteners through holes  43 .  
       FIG. 5  shows another embodiment of an insulating strip where in strip  50  has a flat strip  51  with an insulating material  52  attached thereto. The strip is attached to existing metal structures by fasteners through openings  53 .  
      To seal and provide support for wall boards at the ceiling and floor between the insulation strips on the studs, insulating strips  60  and  61  may be secured to the floor and ceiling plates of the wall. This is shown in  FIG. 6  where insulating strips  60  and  61  are mounted above and below, or between the insulating strips  15 ,  17  and  18 .  
       FIG. 7  shows an insulating strip for mounting around the ceiling to support wall boards between the mounting strips on the studs and/or for mounting ceiling boards.  FIG. 7  shows stud  71  with ceiling joist/rafter  70 . Insulating strip  72  has an angled support strip  73  and an insulation strip  74  which are secured to either the ceiling joist/rafter  70 , or it could be secured to stud  71 . A ceiling board  78  is mounted to insulating strip  72 , and a wall board  79  is secured to an insulating strip  80 , made up of support strip  82  and insulating material  81 . In  FIG. 7 , the insulating stip  72  is mounted over insulating strip  80 , however, insulating strip  80  could extend to the ceiling, and ceiling insulating strip  72  could be mounted adjacent to the wall insulating strip  80 .  
      An isometric view of insulating strip  72  is shown in  FIG. 8 . Metal support  73  is on two sides of insulating material  74 , and insulating strip is mounted using fasteners inserted though holes  76  and secured to the studs, or ceiling plates.