US1823039A - Jointed lumber - Google Patents

Description

J. K. GRUNER JOINTED LUMBER Sept. 15, 1931.

Filed Feb. '12, 1930 bvvezvroe:

JAY z GEUA/ER.

Patented Sept. 15, 1931 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE JAY K. GRUNER, OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI, ASSIGNOR TO J. K. GRUNER LUMBER GOM- PANY, OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI, A CORPORATION OF MISSOURI JOINTED LUMBER Application filed February 12, 1930. Serial No. 427,759.

My invention relates to improvements in jointed lumber, and has for its primary object a construction of finished lumber which is provided along its longitudinal edges with a combination of ship lap and tongue and groove joints.

A further object is to construct jointed lumber in which the oints are so arranged as to give a caulking space thus maklng the joints weather-tight. My improved lumber has many advantages over the ordinary joints now employed as it gives a positive lock joint, or joints which are interlocklng and which can be made at the same cost as the ordinary tongue and groove joint or sh1p lap. The joints are so arranged that the edges of adjacent boards having these joints Wlll interlock and support each other thereby preventing separation of the joints unduly in the event of shrinkage. The peculiar type of joint will also prevent bulging due to expansion because if one board bulges the adjacent board will have a tendency to prevent such bulging due to the interlocking of the joints.

My improved lumber can be used for flooring, siding, ceiling, roofing, and various other purposes where jointed lumber is to be used.

When used for flooring, especially hardwood flooring, end matching or tonguing and grooving the ends of the lumber is unnecessary on account of the interlocking feature of the side joints. Then, again, considerable cost in laying floors can be saved for the reason that it is not necessary that the ends of the boards be supported by the joists.

Vith ordinary tongue and groove lumber this is necessary if a squeakless floor is desired because unless the boards are end matched, if one edge of the board projects any distance beyond a joist, there is always a possibility of breaking either the tongue or the lower edge of the groove and consequently when any weight is placed on the board, the end will sink, and in returning or springing back will cause a squeak. This is especially annoying in homes where a rocking chair happens to pass over a loose board causing a continual squeak every time the rocker passes over the board.

My lumber is also especially adaptable for siding in freight cars because my joints will have a sort of car coupler action and distribute strains to all of the boards or joints thus relieving any one particular joint of undue strain. These strains are causedby the swaying of a car while in motion and also to the sudden jars imparted to the cars when starting, stopping,-or coupling cars together, and the interlocking feature of the joints will also make a more rigid job.

Then, again, by reason of the interlocking joints of the edges, any boards, which may have warped longitudinally, can be readily straightened out and held in position by the interlocking joints whereas in the present type 65 of lumber, that is tongue and groove or ship lap, this bowing must be straightened out and held by nails, the nails being the sole straightening element. Of course, I do not intend to lay the boards without the use 70 of nailsor similar fastening devices, but in the case of a bowed board, as before stated, all of the strain in holding the board straight is not borne by the fastening devices but also distributed to the tongue. So, therefore, I have a double holding means for such boards.

In the drawings:

Fig. l is a fragmental perspective view of two boards showing the joints interlocked and with caulking in the oint;

Fig. 2 is a similar view with the caulking omitted; and

Fig. 3 is a fragmental top plan view showing the manner of laying the boards either in flooring, siding, etc.

In the construction of my device I employ a board 4 having parallel faces 5 and 6. The face 6 has an outwardly projecting portion 7 which terminates in a vertical edge 8. The projecting portion 7 is provided on its upper 90 end with a tongue 9 and between the tongue 9 and the edge 10, which extends downward from the face 5, is a groove 11. The face 5 of the board is provided with an outwardly extending portion 12, which has a vertical edge 13. This vertical edge is provided with 'a tongue 14. The face 6 is provided with a vertical edge 15 and between the tongue 14 and the vertical edge 15 is a groove 16.

It will be noted from'the foregoing description and by the disclosure in Figs. 1 and 2 that the extending portions 12 and 7 are formed on opposite longitudinal edges of each board and that the tongues and grooves are opposed to each other. In other words, the tongues project in opposite directions, the one projecting upward, the other downward. This permits the adjacent edges of the boards to interlock.

It will also be noted from Figs. 1 and 2 that the tongues 9 and 14 are of less width than the grooves 11 and 16 so that a space 17 is left between opposing faces of the tongues 9 and 14. This space may be left unoccupied as in Fig. 2 thus permitting shrinkage of the lumber, or it may be filled with caulking material 18 where weather-tight joints are to be. made.

This makes the lumber especially adaptable for refrigerator cars, refrigerators, and other structures, which are to be rendered as nearly air-tight as possible.

In Fig. 3, 19 represents a joist, studding or rafter showing a plurality of boards located thereon. It will be noted from these drawings that the second set of boards from the left have their ends resting on the rafter while the remaining boards have their ends projecting beyond. \Vhen laid in this way, the tongue 9 and groove 11 of one board will support the tongue and groove 1-1 and 16 of the edge of an adjacent board. The one board will prevent the downward movement of the adjacent board while this adjacent board will prevent the upward movement of the board, which prevents its downward movement. Therefore a perfectly rigivdhfloor or side can be readily made.

ile I .have shown the tongues and grooves as being rounded, it is to be understood, of course, that they can be made in any desired shape either rectangular, tapered, or triangular without departing from the spirit of my invention, the essential feature being that the edges of the board are provided with a combined ship lap and tongue and groove extending in opposite direct-ions along opposite edges of the board so that the same will be readily reversible and interchangeable.

I have also found by my construction that when it is necessary to replace a defective board, the defective board can be removed and by loosening two or three boards on either side and springing them outward from their supports a new perfect board can be readily snapped in place. This necessitates the removal of only one board, which is impossible to do with the ordinary tongue and groove lumber.

It will be noted from the drawings and foregoing description that I have evolved lumber finished on four sides provided along its edges with ship lap joints and also with tongue and groove joints, the tongue and groove joints extending in opposite directions from the face of the ship lap. In other words, my improved lumber may be termed lumber provided with a combined ship lap and tongue and groove joint.

I have also discovered that by the use of my particular joint, and especially by its interlocking feature, that the lumber or boards when assembled, that is the joints placed within each other, will be self-supporting to a great degree. This is not possible with either the plain ordinary ship lap joint, nor is. it possible with tongue and groove joints because there is no interlocking feature present in either of the twolast mentioned joints as is present in my construction because in the ordinary tongue and groove, the tongues are parallel to the face of the material instead of at right angles to it as in my construction. The same is true of the grooves.

The important feature of my peculiar joint is that the tongues and grooves, that is especially the axes thereof are at -right angles to the faces of the boards and not parallel thereto as in ordinary tongue and groove lumber. In other words, by my peculiar construction of joints I form What may be virtually termed hooks along opposite edges of the boards, the hooks extending in opposite directions so that one board will hook into the other causing an interlocking feature and supporting feature, which will make the joints practically self-sustaining.

Broadly describing my joint, it may be termed a double ship lap joint, that is a board having a ship lap joint along each edge, the inner face of which is provided with an upstanding projection along its longitudinal edge, that is the projection is formed along the outer edge of the ship lap joint thus making two projections along opposite edges of the board, which extend in opposite directions and at right angles to the faces of the board.

Having fully described my invention, what I claim is Jointed lumber comprising boards selectively reversible along their longitudinal axes, each having a hook substantially L- shaped in transverse cross-section extending in mutually opposite directions at the opposite side edges of said boards to form a tongue and an immediately adjacent groove at each of said side edges, said tongues being signature.

JAY K. GRUNER.

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