Partition comprising boards mounted onto upright elongate members and method for constructing the same

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11970854-B2
Application number	US-201917271082-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Sep 10, 2019
Priority date	Sep 24, 2018
Publication date	Apr 30, 2024
Grant date	Apr 30, 2024

Abstract

A partition, mounted on a mounting surface, comprises a plurality of elongate upright members, a first board and a second board. The first board is mounted on one side of a pair of the elongate upright members that are adjacent to each other, and the second board is mounted on the other side of the same pair of adjacent elongate upright members, so as to provide a cavity between the pair of elongate upright members and the first and second boards. The partition further comprises a spacer that is located within the cavity, the maximum dimension of the spacer in the through-thickness direction of the partition being at least 90% of the separation of the two boards. The spacer may help to reduce the extent of inward bowing of the boards between adjacent elongate upright members, so that, for example, the upright members may be spaced further apart.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A partition mounted on a mounting surface, the partition comprising a plurality of elongate upright members;
the partition further comprising a first board and a second board, the first board being mounted on one side of a pair of the elongate upright members that are adjacent to each other, and the second board being mounted on the other side of the same pair of adjacent elongate upright members, so as to define a cavity between the pair of elongate upright members and the first and second boards;
the partition further comprising a spacer, the spacer being located within the cavity defined by the pair of adjacent elongate upright members and the first and second boards, the maximum dimension of the spacer in the through-thickness direction of the partition being at least 90% of the separation of the two boards;
the partition being configured such that the spacer does not provide a load-transferring cross-member between the pair of adjacent elongate upright members;
the partition being further configured such that the spacer does not provide a load-transferring member between the mounting surface and either of the first and second boards, wherein
the spacer contacts both the first and second boards, and
the partition is configured such that the spacer experiences compressive loading in the through-thickness direction of the partition,
wherein
the spacer exhibits a compressive strain of at least 0.5% in the through-thickness direction of the partition, the compressive strain being a difference between a thickness of the spacer as positioned within the cavity as compared to an equivalent thickness of the spacer in a relaxed state.

2. A partition according to claim 1 , wherein the spacer does not contact either of the elongate upright members.

3. A partition according to claim 1 , wherein the spacer has a maximum dimension of 200 mm.

4. A partition according to claim 1 , wherein the distance between the pair of adjacent elongate upright members is at least 700 mm.

5. A partition according to claim 1 , wherein the first board comprises hydraulic cement or gypsum as a principal component by weight of the first board.

6. A partition according to claim 5 , wherein the first board comprises a gypsum matrix having fibres distributed therein, the fibres being present in an amount of at least 1 wt % relative to the weight of the gypsum.

7. A partition according to claim 5 wherein the first board comprises a gypsum matrix having a polymeric component distributed therein in an amount of at least 5 wt % relative to the weight of the gypsum.

8. A partition according to claim 1 , wherein the principal component of the spacer, measured by weight, is a porous polymer.

9. A partition according to claim 1 , wherein the principal component of the spacer, measured by weight, is expanded polystyrene.

10. A partition according to claim 1 , wherein the spacer has a density less than 30 kg/m 3 .

11. A partition according to claim 1 , wherein the spacer is affixed to one of the first or second boards by means of an adhesive.

12. A partition according to claim 1 , wherein the flexural stiffness of the first board in at least one in-plane direction of the board is at least 3.5 GPa.

13. A partition according to claim 1 , wherein the flexural stiffness of the first board in at least one in-plane direction of the board is at least 5 GPa.

14. A partition according to claim 1 ,
wherein the spacer does not contact either of the elongate upright members and has a maximum dimension of 200 mm;
wherein the distance between the pair of adjacent elongate upright members is at least 700 mm;
wherein the first board comprises hydraulic cement or gypsum as a principal component by weight of the first board;
wherein the principal component of the spacer, measured by weight, is a porous polymer; and
wherein the flexural stiffness of the first board in at least one in-plane direction of the board is at least 3.5 GPa.

15. A partition according to claim 1 , wherein a thickness of the spacer when located within the gap is no more than 99.5% of an equivalent dimension of the spacer in a relaxed state.

16. A partition according to claim 1 , wherein the spacer exhibits a compressive strain of at least 2% in the through-thickness direction of the partition.

17. A method of constructing a partition according to claim 16 , the method comprising:
providing a plurality of elongate upright members;
mounting a first board onto one side of a pair of the elongate upright members that are adjacent to each other, such that the first board spans a gap between the pair of adjacent elongate upright members and contacts the elongate upright members on an inner face of the first board;
affixing a spacer onto the inner face of the first board that contacts the elongate upright members; and
mounting a second board onto an opposite side of the pair of adjacent elongate upright members, such that the second board spans the gap between the pair of adjacent elongate upright members,
wherein after the steps of affixing the spacer to the first board and mounting the first board onto the pair of adjacent elongate upright members, and before the step of mounting the second board onto the pair of adjacent elongate upright members, the spacer projects from the inner face of the first board by an amount that is greater than the thickness of the elongate upright members in the same direction, and wherein the mounting of the second board compresses the spacer is compressed between the first board and the second board.

18. A method according to claim 17 , wherein the step of affixing the spacer onto the face of the first board comprises removing a tab from a surface of the spacer to expose an adhesive layer.

19. A method according to claim 17 wherein the spacer projects from the inner face of the first board by an amount that is at least 0.5% greater than the thickness of the elongate upright members in the same direction.

20. A method according to claim 17 wherein the spacer projects from the inner face of the first board by an amount that is at least 2% greater than the thickness of the elongate upright members in the same direction.

Assignees

• Saint Gobain Placo

Inventors

• Rideout Jan
• Jones Nicholas

Classifications

• E04B2/7457 Primary

  with wallboards attached to the outer faces of the posts, parallel to the partition (E04B2/7459 takes precedence) · CPC title

• E04B2/723

  constituted of gypsum elements · CPC title

• E04B2002/7477

  Details of connections using screws or nails · CPC title

• E04B2/789

  of substantially U- or C- section · CPC title

• E04B2/7407 Primary

  assembled using frames with infill panels or coverings only; made-up of panels and a support structure incorporating posts (E04B2/78 and E04B2/80 take precedence) · CPC title