US 6,438,923 B2Granted

Method of assembling lightweight sandwich wall panel

OwnerJohn F Millerinventor

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Abstract

The present invention relates to an improved casting process of mass producing complete lightweight cementitious house walls. More specifically, the invention relates to the manner in which thin cementitious skins are separately cast on either face of the wall against a sub-assembly of thick panels of insulation material shaped and located in a manner to control the movement of displaced cementitious fluid so that the exposed top and bottom chords of small vertical structural trusses, sandwiched between these the panels of insulation and other perimeter reinforcing members are encased with the least amount of cementitious material. The size and strength of each wall component can be varied to achieve the specific characteristics of the wall. Smooth or textured faces in the casting beds reproduce whatever profiles are of required on the finished walls. Accurate window and door openings are cast in such a manner as to eliminate the need for trim. These completed wall panels enable the rapid assembly of many houses, with factory controlled quality and cost controls.

Claims13

Dependent claims

A method of progressively assembling a cementitious wall panel with cementitious skins on each face of the said wall panel encasing a central subassembly which comprises at least two rectangular blocks of insulation material abutting each other, encapsulating a structural element, said insulation blocks and said structural element extending substantially the entire height of said wall panel with the abutting edges of said insulation material beveled in such a manner as to sufficiently expose portions of said structural element, wherein at least a first skin is cast by forcibly immersing a first face of said central subassembly in a thin layer of fluid cementitious material so that said displaced cementitious material is directed to surround those exposed portions of said structural element with a minimum thickness at least equal to the thickness of said skin, further wherein along a top edge of said wall panel, attachment means are formed therein, adapted to facilitate the joining of the top of said wall panel with an adjacent structure, and wherein attached to a bottom edge of said wall panel is a device to connect said bottom edge to an adjacent structure.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.