US 5,706,626 AGranted

Pre-assembled internal shear panel

OwnerLee W. Muellerinventor

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Abstract

An internal shear panel for reducing the tendency of the upper portions of buildings to move relative to the foundation when lateral forces, such as those produced by winds and earthquakes, are applied to the walls. The shear panel is pre-assembled having two vertical posts and two diaphragm members interconnecting the two vertical posts. The panel also has an upper and a lower horizontal member that are connected to the vertical posts and the diaphragm members. The lower horizontal member and the vertical posts are configured to be attached via brackets to holdown bolts mounted in the foundation of a building and the upper horizontal member is configured to be attached to an upper plate or rail of the wall. Hence, the shear panel can be installed by connecting the upper horizontal member to the upper portion of the wall and connecting the lower horizontal member to the holdown bolts in the foundation.

Claims20

Dependent claims

A pre-assembled apparatus for reducing the tendency of an upper portion of an existing wall to move with respect to an existing foundation as a result of lateral forces applied in a direction parallel to the wall, said apparatus comprising:

two vertically extending posts having both an upper and a lower end and defining a front and a back side, wherein said two vertically extending posts are positioned in a pre-selected spaced relationship wherein said two vertically extending posts are comprised of an inner retaining member having a U-shaped cross-section and having an opening and defining internal space inside of said inner retaining member extending substantially the full length of said inner retaining member, one or more reinforcing members positioned within said internal space of said inner retaining member to provide reinforcement of said inner retaining member along said length of said member, and an outer retaining member positioned so as to cover the opening defined by said U-shaped inner retaining member and to thereby retain said one or more reinforcing members within said internal space of said inner retaining member;
a horizontally extending upper member which is connected to said upper ends of said two vertically extending posts and is configured to be connected to an upper portion of said wall;
one or more brace members that interconnect said two vertically extending posts so as to maintain said vertically extending posts in said pre-selected spaced relationship when said apparatus is installed in a wall that is under shear stress from said lateral forces;
and
two attachment points which are respectively connected to said lower ends of said two vertically extending posts wherein said both of said two attachment points are configured to be attached to an anchor point that is anchored in said foundation of said building to thereby anchor said vertically extending posts to said anchor points, and wherein said apparatus is pre-assembled to allow for installation in said wall by attaching said two attachment points to said anchor points and connecting said upper member to said upper portion of said wall so that said apparatus thereby reduces the tendency of said upper portion to move relative said foundation.

2 more elements

An apparatus for reducing the tendency of upper potions of an existing wall to move with respect to the foundation as a result of lateral forces applied in a direction parallel to the wall, said apparatus comprising:

two vertically extending posts having both an upper end and a lower end and defining a front and back side, wherein said two vertically extending posts are positioned in a preselected spaced relationship;
at least one panel member interconnecting said two vertically extending posts substantially along the entire length of said posts;
two holdown bolts that are anchored in said foundation of said building;
and
two attachment points which are respectively connected to said lower ends of said two vertically extending posts wherein said both of said two attachment points are respectively attached to said two holdown bolts and wherein said apparatus is configured to allow for installation in said existing wall by attaching said two attachment points to said holdown bolts and connecting said upper end of said vertical posts to said upper portions of said existing walls so that said apparatus thereby reduces the tendency of said upper portions of said existing wall to move relative said foundation as a result of shear stress by transmitting said shear stress from said upper portions of said existing wall through said vertical members and said at least one panel member to said anchor points and said holdown bolts positioned in said foundation.

2 more elements

A method of building a wall so that the tendency of an upper portion of a wall having an upper plate to move relative a lower portion of said wall is reduced, said method comprising the steps of:

providing a foundation for said wall, wherein one or more holdown bolts are installed in said foundation at a pre-selected locations in said foundation;
mounting two or more studs so as to extend substantially vertically upward from said foundation;
positioning an upper plate on a top surface of said two or more studs;
attaching a lower portion of a shear reduction panel, that is pre-assembled to have two vertical posts and at least one panel interconnecting said two vertical posts substantially along the vertical lengths of said posts, to said holdown bolts so that said panel is positioned between said two studs;
and
attaching an upper portion of said shear reduction panel to said upper plate of said wall so that movement of said upper plate of said wall in response to lateral forces applied to said wall is reduced as a result of the lateral forces being transmitted through the vertical posts and the interconnecting panel to the holdown bolts mounted in the foundation.

3 more elements

A method of reducing the tendency of a second story of a wall to move relative a foundation of said wall as a result of forces being applied to said wall, said method comprising the steps of:

attaching a first pre-assembled shear panel to a foundation of said wall wherein said first pre-assembled shear panel includes two vertically extending posts and at least one panel extending therebetween;
attaching an upper portion of said first pre-assembled shear panel to an upper plate of a first story of said wall so as to reduce the tendency of an upper portion of said first story of said wall to move relative said foundation in response to shear forces applied to said wall;
attaching a second pre-assembled shear panel, wherein said second pre-assembled shear panel includes two vertically extending posts and at least one panel extending therebetween, to a lower plate on said second story of said wall;
attaching an upper portion of said second pre-assembled shear panel to an upper plate on said second story of said wall;
and
interconnecting said lower portion of said second pre-assembled shear panel to said upper portion of said first pre-assembled shear panel.

3 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.