A wall cladding system for supporting panels on an outer or exterior wall of a building, said supporting panels being formed of thin reinforced natural stone, each said panel comprising framing means and a facing sheet of thin reinforced natural stone, the system including:
- (a) said framing means including framing members forming a frame supporting a multiplicity of said panels arranged in closely spaced relation defining both vertical and horizontal joints between adjacent panels, said multiplicity of panels including a plurality of non-planar panels each having a plurality of linear edges, each said panel having a principal wall to form a portion of an exterior building wall;
- (b) each of said framing members comprising a top frame member and a bottom frame member and two side frame members, each of said frame members each having shapes and profiles constructed of extruded aluminum;
- (c) each said non-planar panel including said facing sheet of thin reinforced natural stone adhesively bonded to said frame members with a double bite of silicone adhesive;
- (d) slip connection means structurally connecting said framing members at corners of the panel with a slip connection member to form intersecting framing members which allows movement of the panel along the axis of each intersecting framing member while supporting a rigid planar relationship between the intersecting frame members formed by the insertion of two extended legs of a clip into female sockets of an interior space of each of the intersecting frames while a mid-section of the clip envelops one of the flanges of the intersected frame;
- (e) each said framing member being characterized by having a flat bottom section for contacting the thin natural reinforced stone, and two flanges provided at the top of the frame oriented in substantially the same plane as the face of the panel faces and separated by a space which opens to an interior space of the frame, and said frame having two outside edges, one of which is perpendicular to the face of the panel forming a flush edge, and one of the opposite edges forming an angle with the face of the panel defining a rebate edge, and both said edges including female sockets for the purpose of engagement with other external devices and having two lower outside corners recessed to receive beads of silicone adhesive to implement an adhesive connection between the face of the panel and the frame;
- (f) whereby at least the bottom framing member of the framing members at the edges of the panels provided structural support and resistance to deformation due to lateral live loads such as wind and seismic forces as well as physical protection for the vulnerable edges and corners of the thin reinforced stone;
- (g) said framing members at a linear edge form an angled intersection of two non-planar panels to form intersecting panels being oriented to present the rebate edge of the framing members toward the panel edge and, when engaged with an attachment clip, will position the intersecting panels in desired relative locations with respect to each other;
- (h) an attachment clip for positioning of the intersecting panels by engaging the framing members of the intersecting panels with said attachment clip, made of extruded aluminum, with the respective sockets and flanges of the frames and the clip meshing in a nesting reciprocal male/female engagement which automatically positions the intersecting panels in the correct relationship;
- (i) said attachment clip also controlling the angled intersection of the intersecting panels and the angles and shapes of the various attachment clips which nest with the flanges and sockets of the framing members in a reciprocal male/female engagement whereby correct positioning of the intersecting panels is achieved through a dimensional coordination of the specific placement of a rebate edge framing member on the backside of a facing panel with a specific profiled edge finish applied to the edge of the thin natural stone panel in order to produce a required panel intersection;
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- (j) said attachment clips automatically positioning two intersecting panels to form a pocket between the panels of sufficient size and depth for the insertion of a compressible polystyrene circular rope to serve as a backer rod for the application of the caulking sealant which creates a watertight joint between panels.