US3009509A - Method of making a structural member - Google Patents

Description

Nov. 21, 1961 E. MARTIN 3,009,509

FIG. 4 23 INVENTorc EDWARD MARTIN Nov. 21, 1961 E. MARTIN METHOD oR MAKING A STRUCTURAL MEMBER i5 Sheets-Sheet 3 Original Filed May 7, 1957 INVENTORI EDWARD MARTIN BY M2 W j ATT'YS United States Patent Office 3,009,509 Patented Nov. 2l, V1961 3,009,509 METHOD OF MAKING A STRUCTURAL MEMBER Edward Martin, Chicago, Ill., assignor to Central Farm Equipment Company, Chicago, Ill., a partnership Original application May 7, 1957, Ser. No. 657,643. Divided and this application May 22, 1958, Ser. No.

Z Claims. (Cl. 153-54) This invention relates to a method of making a structural panel member that may be used in multiple to form the walls and/or roof of a trussless b-uilding, although other uses and purposes may be apparent to one skilled in the art.

More specifically, the panel formed according to the present invention is generally trough-shaped and arched longitudinally and provided with smooth inner and outer surfaces.

This application is a division of my copending patent application Serial Number 657,643, filed May 7, 1957, entitled Structural Member.

Heretofore, many panels of this type and configuration have been developed, but in nearly all cases transverse corrugations or the like have been formed in the panel in order to form the longitudinal arch in the panel.

It has been found that these cross or transverse corrugations weaken the panels.

Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide an improved panel which obviates the above difficulties, and which has smooth inner and outer surfaces.

Another object of this invention resides in the provision of a generally trough-shaped and longitudinally arched panel having smooth inner and outer surfaces thereby greatly enhancing the strength and rigidity thereof.

Still another object of this invention is in the provision of a generally trough-shaped and longitudinally arched structural panel, wherein the longitudinal arching may be accomplished without resorting to cross corrugations thereby giving a more durable and stronger panel.

A further object of this invention is to provide a method of making a generally trough-shaped and longitudinally arched panel devoid of cross corrugations.

Y' A still further object of this invention is in the provision of a method of making a generally trough-shaped and longitudinally arched structural panel having smooth inner and outer surfaces, wherein the arching of the panel is accomplished without forming any cross corrugations therein thereby providing a stronger and more rigid anel.

p Another object of this invention resides in the provision of a blank for forming a generally trough-shaped and longitudinally arched ystructural panel having smooth inner and outer surfaces, wherein the blank is generally rectangular in shape with the middle areas of the opposite ends having portions removed therefrom so that when the panel has been preformed and arched, the ends will be flush.

Other objects, features and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following detailed disclosure, taken in conjunction with the accompanying sheets of drawings wherein like reference numerals refer to like parts, in which:

' FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a trussless building embodying the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a single arch of the building in FIG. 1 illustrating the manner in which the panels embodying the present invention are secured in end-to-end relationship;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the structural panel embodying the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a broken top plan view of the blank utilized for fashioning the panel of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the blank in its preformed condition prior to the longitudinal arching thereof;

FIG. 6 is a fragmentary longitudinal sectional view, taken substantially along line 6-6 of FIG. 7, and illustrating the method of arching the panel according to the invention;

FIG. 7 is a greatly enlarged transverse sectional view, taken substantially along line 7-7 of FIG. 6; and

FIG. 8 is a modification of the invention.

The structural panel or member of the present invention is preferably made of sheet steel or aluminum, although it may `be constructed of any other type of suitable material such as plastic. When the panels are made of plastic, it will be appreciated that the panels will then be constructed by a molding process as is well known in the plastic fields.

This structural panel or member is generally transversely trough-shaped and longitudinally arched i-n such a manner that the inner and outer surfaces are completely smooth. The method of forming the panel includes preforming a blank and feeding the panel through successively spaced sets of coacting rollers arranged to gradually fashion the longitudinal arch in each panel. The panel is formed from a blank, substantially rectangular in shape and having portions removed from the opposite ends thereof so that when the panel is completely formed and arched, the ends will be ush.

Referring now more particularly to the drawings, there is illustrated herein a structural panel or member 10, FIG. 3, embodying the present invention. Each panel includes a center concavo-convex section 11 facing upwardly, outer concavo-convex sections 12-12 facing downwardly extending from the upper edges of the center section, and inner and outer smooth surfaces 13 and 14. The outer sections 12 serve to provide connecting portions for connecting a plurality of these panels in sideby-side and e-nd-to-end relationship, when forming a building such as the building 15 in FIG. 1, and accordingly are provided with a plurality of holes 16, FIG. 3, spaced therealong for receiving fasteners for connecting the pan els together.

The building 15 in FIG. 1\, being formed by connecting a plurality of panels together in multiple, includes straight end Walls 17 formed from a sheathing or the like of any desirable material, and wherein a door 18 may be arranged in one of the end Walls 17. Due to the rigidity and strength embodied in each panel, and the combined rigidity and strength of a plurality of panels secured together, the building 15 needs no additional trusses, and is therefore of a trussless type. Actually, a plurality of the panels 10 secured together in end-to-end relationship form an arch 19, FIG. 2, which not only serves as the walls and roof of a building but also serves as an individual truss. For illustrating the invention, the panel herein shown has a certain longitudinal arch, which will, when connected in end-to-end relationship with other panels to form the truss 19, form the truss having a center maximum height 20 and a maximum width 21 at the bottom. By changing the Ilongitudinal arch of the panel, the radius of curvature longitudinally of the panel will also 4be changed and a building of a different height `and width may be constructed. Accordingly, the amount of longitudinal arch to be provided in each panel may vary according to the demands of the user.

The panel o-f this invention is formed from a flat, generally rectangularly shaped blank 22, FIG. 4, having opposed parallel side edges 23-23. The opposed end edges are formed so that when fthe panel has been preformed and longitudinally arched, the end edges will be flush or straight. To accomplish this, portions are cut away or removed from the middle areas 24 and the outer areas are convexly formed at 25. Thus, the middle areas 24 are concavely formed while the outer areas 25 'are convexly formed. This is because the longitudinal radius of curvature is greater at the outer edges of the panel (the outer surfaces of the outer sections 12), and lesser at the inner surface of the center section 11. Illustrating -this concept with the preformed but not longitudinally arched member of FIG. 5, when the panel has been longitudinally arched, the longitudinal radius of curvature is greater at the outer extremity 26 than at the inner extremity 27, and this radius of curvature gradually increases from the value at the inner extremity 27 to the value at the outer extremity 26. Accordingly, in order to have lthe opposite edges of the panel flush after the longitudinal arching has been accomplished, the shortening of the outer sections 12 due to the longitudinal arching is compensated by having the lengths in these areas greater in the blank as seen in FIG. 4. It will be understood that when forming the panel from the blank 22, it will necessarily be of metal such as sheet steel or sheet aluminum. Thus, in order to form the parts on the panel having the longer or greater longitudinal radius of curvature, it is necessary that more metal be present to effect this formation, and therefore the shaping of the opposite ends of the 4blank 22 will accordingly provide the longitudinal arched panels with fiushed ends.

In the formation of the metal panel from the blank 22, the blank is initially preformed to the shape as shown in FIG. to fashion the preaformed member 28. This may be accomplished in a single stamping operation or several stamping operations or by any other suitable method desired.

The next step of longitudinally arching the preformed panel 28 is extremely important in that the arching must be `accomplished in such a manner as to avoid the formation of any wrinkles or the like in the panel which would obviously weaken the panel. Accordingly, as seen in FIGS. 6 and 7, the panel is fed through a series of spaced sets of coacting rollers. First, the outer sections 12 are introduced between coacting sets of outer rollers 29 and 30 one set for each outer section 12, and being arranged in transversely spaced relation so that they engage properly the opposing outer sections 12 as well as being arranged along one transverse plane. Each set of rollers includes an upper roller 31 having a conrvexly shaped face and being mounted on a rotatably supported shaft 32, and a lower roller 33 having a concavely shaped face complementary to the convex face of the upper roller 31, and being mounted on a rotatably supported shaft 34.

The panel is fed through the rollers in the direction as indicated by the arrow 35, FIG. 6, and any of the rollers may or may not be power driven.

Spaced from the first set of outer rollers 29 and 30 and positioned to receive the center section 11 of the panel is a tirst set of inner rollers 36 including upper and lower rollers 37 and 38 having respectively complementary formed concave and convex faces. The upper roller 37 is supported on a rotatable shaft 39, while the lower roller 38 is supported on a rotatable shaft 40. The sections of the panel ahead of the rst set of outer rollers 29 and 30 and the first set of inner rollers 36 will be straight. These sections are indicated respectively by the letters a. and c.

The outer sections 12 are then fed through a second set of outer rollers 41 spaced from the lirst set of outer rollers and of the same type, while the center section 11 of the panel is fed through a second set of inner rollers 42 which are spaced from the iirst set of inner rollers 36 and of the same type. These second sets of rollers are arranged so that tangents extending from the bight (point of contact between coacting rollers) thereof will be displaced or spaced from tangents extending from the bights of the rst sets of rollers to the extent that an arching of the panel will be effected by feeding them through the rollers. The sections of the panel between the first and second sets of outer and inner rollers as indicated by the letters b and d will be slightly curved, and the panel will be finally arched upon leaving the second set of rollers. Thus, the outer sets of rollers 29, 30, and 41 effect the arching of the outer sections 12, while the inner sets of rollers 36 and 42 effect the arching of the center section 11, although all of the rollers coact to effect the arching of the entire panel. An example of the relative distances between the rollers relative to the lengths of the panels would be where the panels are approximately l0 feet long, the distance between the iirst set of outer rollers 29 and 30 and the last set of inner rollers 42 is approximately 36 inches. Accordingly, the distance between the first outer set of rollers and the second set of inner rollers is about one-third the length of a panel.

Wrinkles, which would reduce the strength of a panel, -are avoided by longitudinally arching a panel in accordance with the method of the present invention. The metal of the panel is worked as the panels are fed through the rollers, and since the metal panels are not heated, it may be said that a cold working operation is performed on the panels in order to effect a longitudinal arching thereof.

In FIG. 8 a modiiication of the invention is illustrated which differs from the embodiment of FIG. 3 only in that a panel 43 is arranged between one of the upper edges of the center section 11 and one of the outer sections 12. In all other respects this panel is like that of the embodiment of FIG. 3 including the provision of having smooth outer and inner surfaces 13 and 14. This panel is also longitudinally arched and may be arched by substantially the same type of roller arrangement as shown in FIGS. 6 and 7 except that for arching the panel 43 a pair of coacting rollers having cylindrical faces may be employed.

It will be undelstood that modifications and variations may be elected without departing from the scope of the novel concepts of the present invention, but it is understood -that this application is to be limited only by the scope of the appended claims.

The invention is hereby claimed as follows:

1. The method of making a transversely trough-like and longitudinally arched structural panel having smooth inner and outer surfaces from a flat rectangular metal blank including preforming the blank to define a panel having a center concavo-convex section facing upwardly and outer concavo-convex sections facing downwardly and extending from the upper edges of the center section, longitudinally arching said panel at ambient temperature by feeding same through a series of rollers rotatable about axes parallel to each other comprising, feeding the outer sections between a rst set of transversely spaced outer coacting rollers, feeding lthe center section through a tirst set of inner coacting rollers spaced ahead of said first set of outer rollers, feeding the outer sections between a second successive set of transversely spaced outer coacting rollers spaced -ahead of said rst set of inner rollers and positioned along a plane extending through the bight of said second set of outer rollers and tangent thereto angularly intersecting a plane extending through the bight of said first set of outer rollers and tangent thereto, and feeding said center section between a second successive set of inner coacting rollers spaced ahead of said second set of outer rollers and positioned along a plane extending through the bight of said second set of inner rollers and tangent thereto angularly displaced from a plane extending through the bight of said first set of inner rollers and tangent thereto, whereby all said rollers gradually effect a cold working of the metal panel to longitudinally arch the panel.

2. The method of making a transversely trough-like and longitudinally arched structural panel having smooth inner and outer surfaces from a flat rectangular metal blank including prefornu'ng the blank to define a panel having a center concavo-convex section facing upwardly and outer concavo-convex sections facing downwardly and -extending from the upper edges of the center section, longitudinally arching said panel at ambient temperature by feeding same through a series of rollers rotatable yabout axe-s parallel to each other comprising, feeding the outer sections between la rst set of transversely spaced outer coaoting rollers, feeding the center section through `a first set of inner coacting rollers spaced ahead of said rst set of outer rollers, feeding the outer sections between a second successive set of transversely spaced outer coasting rollers spaced `ahead of said rst set of inner rollers and positioned along a plane extending through the bight of said second set of outer rollers and tangent thereto angularly intersecting a plane extending through vthe bight of said rst set of outer rollers and tangent thereto, and feeding said center section between a second successive set of inner coacting rollers spaced ahead of said second set of outer rollers and positioned along a plane extending through the bight of said second set of inner rollers and tangent thereto angularly displaced from a plane extending through the bight of said first set of inner rollers Iand tangent lthereto, whereby all said rollers gradually effect `a cold working of the metal panel to longitudinally arch the panel, the distance between said rst set of outer rollers and `said second set of inner rollers being about one-third the length of the panel.

References Cited in the tile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 37,308 Seely Jan. 6, 1863 774,108 Richardson N'ov. 1, 1904 1,068,893 Green July 29, 1913 1,158,484 Groehn Nov. 2, 1915 1,793,351 Bell Feb. 17, 1931 2,206,068 Yoder July 2, 1940 2,279,197 Hoell Apr. 7, 1942 2,342,026 Watter Feb. 15, 1944 2,674,294 Ekberg Apr. 6, 1954

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