Supports for log structures
AssigneeBLH, Inc
InventorBarry L. Houseal
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
The walls of a wooden log building are provided with vertical support columns acting upon horizontal logs within the walls. The support columns prevent the logs, or groups of logs, from moving downward due to log shrinkage. Each support column comprises a vertical stack of log supports. Each support comprises an elongated support element, such as a pipe, and a plate element removably secured to an end of the support element. The plate elements support bottom surfaces of the logs and substantially prevent such bottom surfaces from moving downward. The weight of the building is concentrated within the support columns.
Claims15
A generally vertical support column for supporting logs in a wall of generally horizontal wooden logs stacked upon a fixed support surface, comprising a plurality of vertically stacked log supports adapted to extend from the fixed support surface, wherein each of said log supports is adapted to provide support to a sub-stack of logs within the wall, each sub-stack being defined as one or more contiguous logs within the wall, an initial position range of each sub-stack being defined as the space between an initial location of the top surface of a top log of the sub-stack and an initial location of the bottom surface of a bottom log of the sub-stack, said log supports being adapted to maintain each sub-stack within its initial position range as the logs shrink, and wherein an initial position range of each log is defined as the space between an initial location of a top surface of the log and an initial location of a bottom surface of the log, said log supports being adapted to maintain each log in the wall within its initial position range.
A generally vertical support column for supporting logs in a wall of generally horizontal wooden logs stacked upon a fixed support surface, comprising a plurality of vertically stacked log supports adapted to extend from the fixed support surface, wherein each of said log supports is adapted to provide support to a sub-stack of logs within the wall, each sub-stack being defined as one or more contiguous logs within the wall, an initial position range of each sub-stack being defined as the space between an initial location of the top surface of a top log of the sub-stack and an initial location of the bottom surface of a bottom log of the sub-stack, said log supports being adapted to maintain each sub-stack within its initial position range as the logs shrink, and wherein each of said log supports comprises:
- a generally vertical cylindrical support element;
- and
- a plate element positioned on an end of said support element, said plate element comprising;
- a plate;
- and
- a rod attached to one side of said plate, an end of said rod being removably and slidably received within an end of said support element.
A log wall comprising:
- a stack of generally horizontal logs, said stack of logs having a vertical channel;
- and
- a support column positioned within said vertical channel, said support column comprising a vertical stack of weight-bearing supports, each of said supports comprising:
- a generally vertical support element;
- and
- a generally horizontal plate positioned on an upper end of said support element;
- wherein each of said logs has an top surface in generally horizontal alignment with an upper end of a corresponding support within said column and a bottom surface in a generally horizontal alignment with a lower end of said corresponding support, all of said logs, except for the lowermost log in said stack of logs, resting upon a plate element of a support corresponding to an adjacently lower log, so that said bottom surfaces of said logs are substantially prevented from moving downward due to log shrinkage.
A log wall comprising:
- a stack of generally horizontally positioned wooden logs, said stack of logs having one or more vertical channels;
- and
- one or more support columns each positioned within one of said vertical channels, each of said support columns comprising a vertical stack of weight-bearing supports, each of said supports comprising:
- a generally vertical support element;
- and
- a generally horizontal plate element positioned on an end of said support element;
- wherein each of said columns includes one support for each log in said stack of logs, said plate elements retaining their vertical position over time, all of said logs above a lowermost log in said wall resting upon one or more of said plate elements so that the bottom surfaces of said logs are substantially prevented from moving downward, relative to a bottom surface of said lowermost log, as said logs shrink.
A log wall comprising:
- a stack of generally horizontally oriented logs on a fixed surface;
- and
- one or more generally vertical columns acting upon said stack of logs, each column comprising a stack of generally vertical log supports, each stack of log supports extending from said fixed surface and being in a plane parallel to or coplanar with a vertical plane through the middle of said stack of logs;
- wherein each of said log supports vertically extends across one or more logs within said stack of logs so that a top end of the log support is generally aligned with a top surface of a log and a bottom end of the log support is generally aligned with a bottom surface of a log, the logs across which each log support extends defining a sub-stack of logs, an initial position range of each sub-stack of logs being defined as the space between an initial location of a top surface of a top log of the sub-stack and an initial location of a bottom surface of a bottom log of the sub-stack, said columns maintaining each sub-stack within its initial position range as said logs shrink.
A log wall comprising a generally vertical stack of generally horizontal logs and a means for maintaining a contiguous set of one or more of said logs within an initial position range of said set of logs as said logs shrink, the initial position range of said contiguous set of logs being defined as the space between an initial location of the top surface of a top log in said set and an initial location of the bottom surface of a bottom log in said set.
A method for supporting a wall of generally horizontally stacked wooden logs, comprising the steps of:
- providing a generally vertical wall of generally horizontally oriented wooden logs on a fixed surface, an initial position range of a contiguous set of one or more logs in said wall being defined as the space between the initial location of the top surface of a top log in the log set and the initial location of the bottom surface of a bottom log in the log set;
- and
- maintaining a contiguous log set, which does not include the lowermost log in the wall, within its initial position range as the width of said logs in said wall shrink.
A method of manufacturing a log wall, comprising the steps of:
- (a) providing a first wooden log on a fixed surface, said first log having a vertical channel formed therein, said first log being the top log in a log wall;
- (b) inserting an elongated support member into the vertical channel of the top log in the log wall so that a bottom end of the elongated support member rests against said fixed surface and a top portion of the elongated support member extends above a top surface of the top log in said log wall;
- (c) cutting off the top portion of the elongated support member in the top log of the log wall by cutting the elongated support member at a location horizontally collinear with the top surface of the top log, the remaining portion of the elongated support member forming a support element within the vertical channel of the top log, the support element being the top support element of said log wall;
- (d) positioning a plate element onto an upper end of the top support element, the plate element having a generally flat top surface and being the top plate element of the log wall;
- (e) stacking a new wooden log onto the top log in said log wall, the new log resting upon the top surface of the top plate element of said log wall, the new log becoming the new top log in the log wall and having a vertical channel in vertical alignment with the vertical channel of the prior top log;
- (f) inserting an elongated support member into the vertical channel of the top log in the log wall so that a bottom end of the elongated support member rests against the top surface of the top plate element and a top portion of the elongated support member extends above a top surface of the top log;
- and
- (g) repeating steps (c)-(f) for each of a plurality of logs stacked onto the log wall.
A plurality of log supports for supporting wooden logs in a generally vertical stack of generally horizontal logs, each of said supports comprising:
- a generally vertical elongated support element comprising an elongated cylinder;
- and
- a plate element positioned on one end of said support element, said plate element extending beyond the width of said support element, said plate element comprising:
- a generally flat plate;
- and
- a rod attached to a flat side of said plate, an end of said rod being adapted to be slidably and removably inserted into an end of said cylinder;
- wherein said log supports are adapted to be vertically stacked to form a generally vertical support column acting on the stack of logs, each log support adapted to vertically extend through the width of one or more logs within the stack of logs so that a top end of the support element of the log support is generally aligned with a top surface of a log and a bottom end of the support element of the log support is generally aligned with a bottom surface of a log, the logs through which each log support extends defining a sub-stack of logs, an initial position range of each sub-stack of logs being defined as the space between an initial location of a top surface of a top log of the sub-stack, relative to an initial location of a bottom surface of a lowermost log in the stack of logs, and an initial location of a bottom surface of a bottom log of the sub-stack, relative to the initial location of the bottom surface of the lowermost log in the stack of logs, said plate elements being located between sub-stacks, whereby each sub-stack is substantially maintained within its initial position range when the logs shrink.
A generally vertical support column for supporting logs in a wall of generally horizontal wooden logs stacked upon a fixed support surface, comprising a plurality of vertically stacked log supports adapted to extend from the fixed support surface, each of said log supports comprising:
- a generally vertical cylindrical support element;
- and
- a plate element positioned on an end of said support element, said plate element comprising:
- a plate;
- and
- a rod attached to one side of said plate, an end of said rod being removably and slidably received within an end of said support element;
- wherein each of said log supports is adapted to provide support to a sub-stack of logs within the wall, each sub-stack being defined as one or more contiguous logs within the wall, an initial position range of each sub-stack being defined as the space between an initial location of the top surface of a top log of the sub-stack and an initial location of the bottom surface of a bottom log of the sub-stack, said log supports being adapted to maintain each sub-stack within its initial position range as the logs shrink.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.