Patent ID: 8578671

Claim:
A pressure plate assembly for securing curtain wall panels, the pressure plate assembly including: an elongated base member having opposite exterior and interior main faces and having opposite lateral edges, the base member being made of a first material; an elongated stiffening member having opposite exterior and interior main faces and having opposite lateral edges, at least a portion of the interior main face of the stiffening member being removably engagable against a corresponding mating surface on the exterior main face of the base member, the stiffening member being substantially similar in length to the base member and being made of a second material having a mechanical stress resistance higher than that of the first material, the second material also having a thermal conduction coefficient higher than that of the first material; at least one longitudinally-extending thermal insulation chamber provided within a space located between the interior main face of the base member and the interior main face of the stiffening member; two spaced-apart gaskets attached to the exterior main face of the base member, the gaskets extending parallel in a lengthwise direction of the base member and being adjacent to a respective one of the lateral edges of the base member, the gaskets having an elastic modulus higher than that of the base member; and a plurality of spaced-apart fastener holes, each fastener hole having a first portion extending across both main faces of the stiffening member and a second portion extending across both main faces of the base member, the corresponding first and second portions of each fastener hole being in registry with one another when the pressure plate assembly secures the curtain wall panels.