Patent Abstract:
A system for assembling a pre-engineered building with a monolithic vapor retarder to control the formation of condensation on the walls. The system allows for numerous different combinations of insulation thickness, different kinds of walls, inside vapor retarders in different rigid panels, different facings or membranes. The system further provides for finished inside surfaces with high thermal quality.

Full Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
       [0001]    This application claims the benefit of priority to U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/681,355 filed on Aug. 9, 2012. 
     
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    1. Field of the Invention 
         [0003]    The invention relates generally to the field of metal buildings. More specifically, the invention relates to the field of insulating a building and maintaining a vapor barrier in a wall of the building. 
         [0004]    2. Description of the Related Art 
         [0005]    Walls are typically supported horizontally by girts attached to columns constituting bays within the building structure. Typically the girts attach into the sides of the columns with the column located near the wall/girt attachment line. This method causes the typical wall insulation and vapor retarder to terminate into the side of the column. With various webs, flanges and stiffeners needed at the column it makes it very difficult to fully insulate and utilize a continuous vapor retarder. Also, by locating the column near the wall line the insulation is usually compressed significantly minimizing the thermal performance of the wall system. 
       SUMMARY 
       [0006]    A typical pre-engineered building wall consists of an outer exposed surface (wall panel), then insulation (blanket or board), and then a vapor retarder (on the interior, conditioned, side of the wall) which can consist of insulation facing, flexible membrane, metal liner (or panels) or other hard interior wall substrates with a good perm rating to minimize water vapor from migrating through it. The problem with the vapor retarder is where it joins up at locations where the building structure causes a break in the continuation of the barrier. This joint must be as tight as the vapor retarder material to maintain the continuation of the barrier. The disclosed technology provides a method to easily seal the joints of the vapor retarder at the structural column lines. 
         [0007]    The disclosed technology installs the girts outside of the column line and eliminates this issue of compressing the insulation. Also, a trim piece is installed on the outside flange of the column to provide a surface to seal the vapor retarder from one side of the column to the other side. This trim extends the full height of the column to make contact with the roof vapor retarder therefore providing an integral roof vapor retarder. 
         [0008]    It is critically important to maintain a continuous vapor retarder in the wall construction of a pre-engineered building and to have it tie to the roof vapor retarder so a continuous, monolithic vapor retarder occurs between the roof and wall. Without this monolithic, continuous vapor retarder, anywhere there is a void condensation or moisture can occur due to the relative humidity of the interior air reaching a surface that is at the dew point temperature. By maintaining a barrier, that is insulated to keep its temperature higher than the dew point temperature, condensation and moisture will avoided. 
         [0009]    The typical wall and structural construction of a pre-engineered metal building creates numerous challenges that make it difficult to maintain a continuous vapor retarder throughout the wall and then tie it to the vapor retarder in the roof plane. The disclosed system, method and kit eliminates one of the major obstacles at each structural column line. The disclosed technology also provides for an area where economical blanket insulation can be installed in significant thickness with numerous exterior and interior wall configurations to make it very versatile for all kinds of wall systems. The purpose is to provide the high “R-value” wall system with a very good vapor retarder solution, and to provide this in a very easy to install method for the installer of the wall. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0010]    Illustrative embodiments of the present invention are described in detail below with reference to the attached drawing figures, which are incorporated by reference herein and wherein: 
           [0011]      FIG. 1  is a side view of the system  100  in assembled form; 
           [0012]      FIG. 2  is an exploded view enabling many of the features to be seen as they exist before assembly; 
           [0013]      FIG. 3  shows a horizontal section taken at a  3 - 3  in  FIG. 1 ; 
           [0014]      FIG. 4  is a perspective view showing the environment in which the wall system is used; 
           [0015]      FIG. 5  is sectional view of a wall and roof of a pre-engineered building with insulation installed revealing outside and inside conditioned, i.e., heated or cooled, air; and 
           [0016]      FIG. 6  is a sectional view of a column showing compressed insulation proximate the column flange. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       [0017]    Before describing the instant invention in detail, several terms used in the context of the disclosed technology will be defined. In addition to these terms, others may be defined elsewhere in the specification, as necessary. Unless otherwise expressly defined herein, terms of art used in this specification will have their art-recognized meanings. 
         [0018]    Girt: a horizontal structural member in a framed wall that provides lateral support to the wall panel, primarily, to resist winds loads. 
         [0019]    Wall line: the outermost perimeter of the wall of a building. 
         [0020]    Perm rating: a measure of the diffusion of water through a material. 
         [0021]    Vapor retarder: a vapor retarder is defined by ASTM Standard C 755 as a material or system that adequately retards the transmission of water vapor under specified conditions. 
         [0022]    Embodiments of the disclosed technology provide a system, a kit and a method for establishing an insulated wall for a building. 
         [0023]    Embodiments of the disclosed invention are shown in  FIGS. 1-4 .  FIG. 5  reveals a sectional view of a pre-engineered building wall and roof detailing the installation of insulation.  FIG. 6  is a column sectional view, consistent with that shown in  FIG. 3 , except that this figure details how the insulation is typically compressed between the column flange and the exterior wall panel  106  thereby reducing the capacity of the insulation to retard heat transfer.  FIG. 1  shows an embodiment for a system  100  in assembled form.  FIG. 2  is an exploded view enabling many of the features to be seen as they exist before assembly. FIG.  3  shows a horizontal section taken at a  3 - 3  in  FIG. 1 , and discloses the roof/column interface of the system in more detail.  FIG. 4  shows the environment in which the wall system is used. 
         [0024]    Referring to  FIGS. 1 and 2 , it can be seen that the system is mounted on to a typical metal column  102  and beam  104  arrangement which exists at a location where the wall and roof meet. In the environment of a typical building,  FIG. 4  shows where the column  102 , beams  104 , and girts  118  might appear. Referring back to  FIGS. 1 and 2 , it can be seen that a wall panel  106  is ultimately secured onto the outside of the building. In the embodiments disclosed, this panel  106  is metal, but could be constructed of other materials. 
         [0025]    Also used to construct the system are a plurality of horizontally extending spacer blocks  108 . The spacer blocks  108  are typically made from a foam board insulation product. Blocks  108  are fastened onto the girts  118  over a blanket sheet of insulation  110 . Insulation blanket  110  might be constructed of a fiberglass insulation, but might be comprised of another sort of insulating material. 
         [0026]    Also included in the system are top  111 , upper  112 , mid  113 , and lower  114  batts of insulation. The batts, in the preferred embodiment, are made of faced or unfaced commercially available fiberglass insulation material. But other insulating materials could be used instead. 
         [0027]    Top batt  111  is contained within a pair of opposed metal C-members  115 . Below that, the upper batt  112  rests above one of the girts  118 . Below that, the slightly larger mid batt  113  is located above another girt  118 . Then below that, the lower batt  114  rests atop an upwardly facing receiving bracket  120 . 
         [0028]    Referring to  FIGS. 2 and 3 , a trim piece  122  is used to secure a vapor barrier  128  on the inside of the building and along with vapor barrier  128 , is used to create a seal. In an embodiment, piece  122  is constructed of metal, but it could be made of other materials. Vapor barrier  128 , is shown as having different embodiments. For example, in the disclosed  FIGS. 1-3 , the liner is seen as being a corrugated metal liner. But it could instead consist of insulation facing, a flexible membrane, metal panels or other hard interior wall substrates with a good perm rating to minimize water vapor from migrating through it. Regardless, in the disclosed embodiments, the liner is fasted to the trim piece to complete the seal. 
         [0029]    The installation, in embodiments, occurs according to the following process. 
         [0030]    First, the column  102  and beam  104  are erected according to known processes. Then, the trim piece  122  is held up in line with and thus overlapping the outer flange  103  of the column  102 . With the trim piece  122  as thus, the external hardware, more specifically, the opposing C-members  115 , bracket  116 , girts  118 , and receiving bracket  120  are all installed in the positions and orientations shown. Each piece of hardware is secured using fasteners. In the disclosed embodiment the hardware is pre-punched or drilled so that it can accept bolts. Of course, other fastener arrangements could be used. The fasteners pass through the trim piece  122  (which can also be pre-punched) and then through predrilled holes into either the outer flange  103  of column  102  (for the girts  118  and receiving bracket  120 ) or the outer flange of the beam  104  (for the upper bracket  116 ). Nuts can be used to complete the securing of the bolts. Thus, the trim piece  122  is secured between the external hardware and outer flange of the column. Outer margins  126  of the trim piece will extend wider than the flanges (e.g., flange  103  of column  102  as seen in  FIG. 3 ; also the outer flange of the beam  104 ), there being useful for receiving the vapor liner  128 . A flat center portion  124  of the trim piece  122  is in contact with the outer flange  103  of the column  102  after being sandwiched by the exterior hardware (e.g., girts  118  and receiving bracket  120 ) upon fastening. A small upper portion of the trim piece  122  extends into the space created by purlins (e.g., purlin  130 ) between the top of the beam  104  and an upper roof structure  132 . 
         [0031]    Now, with the outer hardware being fastened into place, vapor barrier sheets  128  are installed by adhering them to the exposed outer margins  126  (see  FIG. 3 ) of the trim piece  122  using an adhesive, double sided tape, or fasteners. 
         [0032]    Next the batts of insulation  111 ,  112 ,  113 , and  114  are installed. Batt  111  is installed by pressing it between the opposing C-members  115 . Alternatively, it could be installed before that after the first outward facing C-member is fastened onto the bracket  116 . Then the outer C-member could be installed into the open C of the outwardly facing C-member, and the outer C-member then fastened into place thus containing the insulation batt  111 . 
         [0033]    The remaining three batts are installed from outside the building. More specifically, batt  112  is placed between the upper bracket  116 , and the girt  118  right below it. Some batts include adhesive pin tabs about their periphery. This enables them to remain in place after being located in the space desired. Similarly, batt  113  is secured into place underneath the top girt and the girt immediately below it, and pinned. The lower batt  114  is pinned into place between the lower girt, and the receiving bracket  120 . 
         [0034]    It should be noted that  FIG. 3  shows only a single homogenous form  114   a  of insulation. This figure, in embodiments, would include the same insulation features (e.g., a blanket and batt), but does not depict these features for simplicity sake. Alternatively, however, the trim piece  122  and vapor barrier features could be used with the single type insulation embodiments like the one shown in  FIG. 3 . Regardless, it should be understood that the trim piece/vapor barrier arrangement could work equally well with numerous insulation arrangements. 
         [0035]    Now with the internals being secured in place, the blanket of insulation  110  is draped over the outside of the frame, normally by tacking it up at the top somewhere (e.g., near the C-members  115 ), so that it extends all the way down to the ground. The blanket insulation  110 , which comes in rolls, can be premeasured and precut to size, or cut at the ground after it has been unfurled. 
         [0036]    In the disclosed embodiment, the spacer blocks  108  are adhered to the inside surfaces of the exterior wall panel  106  in the appropriate orientations before the panel is installed. Then, the wall panel  106  is raised into position and mounted. This is done by installing fasteners (through pre-punched holes in the outside of the panel) through the blocks  108  (also pre-punched) and through predrilled holes existing in the outer hardware. For example, at the top of the assembly, bolts will be slid through the panel, through the holes through the respective spacer block, through the outside C-member  115 , and nuts will be secured thereon. Below that, bolts will be slid through the wall panel, blocks, through predrilled holes in the outer flanges of the girts  118 , and nuts will be secured thereon. Then, a last group of bolts will pass through holes in the panel and block, through the outer flange of the receiving bracket  120 , and nuts secured thereon. 
         [0037]    It should be noted that alternative assembly of the components could be made. For example, after the installation of the hardware components  115 ,  116 ,  118 , and  120 , but before the installation of the liner  128  and batt insulation components  112 ,  113 , and  114 , the blanket insulation  110  could be tacked and the wall panel  106  with blocks  108  could be installed thereover. Then, the batts  112 ,  113 , and  114  could be installed from the inside of the building, and the vapor barrier liner  128  adhered to the trim flanges  126 . 
         [0038]    Many different arrangements of the various components depicted, as well as components not shown, are possible without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. Embodiments of the present invention have been described with the intent to be illustrative rather than restrictive. Alternative embodiments will become apparent to those skilled in the art that do not depart from its scope. A skilled artisan may develop alternative means of implementing the aforementioned improvements without departing from the scope of the present invention. 
         [0039]    It will be understood that certain features and sub-combinations are of utility and may be employed without reference to other features and sub-combinations and are contemplated within the scope of the claims. Not all steps listed in the various figures need be carried out in the specific order described.

Technology Classification (CPC): 4