Panel joints

A panel joint for quickly assembling, or disassembling, two upstanding, in-line, non-metallic panel members via a vertical motion which produces only metal-to-metal contact between the joint elements, comprising:

• first and second adjoining, upstanding wall panel members having front and rear surfaces, and adjacent edges, with said adjacent edges in contact with one another, and with the front surfaces of the panel members in a common plane,
• a plurality of metallic alignment plates fixed in vertically spaced relation to the rear surfaces of said first and second wall panel members, along their adjacent edges, with a portion of each alignment plate extending outwardly from its associated wall panel member to contact the rear surface of the other wall panel member, a plurality of metallic spacer members having head and shank portions, said spacer members being fixed in vertically spaced relation to the rear surfaces of said first and second wall panel members, along their adjacent edges,
• and an elongated metallic joining member having first and second ends and a flat major surface which extends between its ends, said metallic joining member being constructed such, and of sufficient rigidity, that said flat major surface lies in a flat plane which resists deformation, said joining member further including first and second columns of spaced elongated slots disposed in a common plane on opposite sides of a longitudinal axis, with the slots in said first column having sides parallel with the longitudinal axis, and with the slots in said second column having sides which are parallel with one another, but inclined relative to the longitudinal axis,
• said joining member being in slideable, metal-to-metal contact with said plurality of alignment plates, with the spacer members on said first wall panel member captured by the slots in said first vertical column, and the spacer members on said second wall panel member captured by the slots in said second vertical column,
• said joining member being in a downwardly displaced frictionally locked position, with said spacer member and elongated slots being configured to force the flat major surface of said metallic joining member tightly against said metallic alignment plates, to force the surfaces which contact the metallic joining member, and the front surfaces of the panel members, into a common plane, and with the inclined slots in the second vertical column forcing the associated spacer members on the second wall panel member towards the first wall panel member to urge the adjoining edges of said first and second wall panel members tightly together,
• said joining member being releasable from said locked position by an upward force applied thereto.