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US 7,621,089 B2Granted
Prefabricated modular building component and method of use
OwnerJohn Potterinventor
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A modular prefabricated deck system which includes a plurality of rectangular flooring modules. Each module may include a plurality of laminations, such as a decorative upper element, and a lower support element for supporting the module upon the underlying joist structure of the deck. Additionally, the system includes spline and support portions for attaching the modules upon an underlying structure, such as a wood deck structure, upon installation.
Claims14
A deck structure comprising
- a plurality of modular building panels, each of said plurality of building panels including a first element being relatively inflexible and of a material selected from among the group consisting of:
- stone, mineral, tile, and concrete product, and further including a second element of a fiber-reinforced composite material, said second element being disposed beneath the first element and coupled thereto, said second element supporting the building panel upon two of a plurality of joists of an underlying deck structure, each of said building panels further including a top side, a bottom side and a plurality of side edges extending from said top side to said bottom side, with at least one groove defined on said plurality of side edges;
- and
- a connector system defined by a plurality of connectors with each connector having a spline portion extending generally perpendicular to the plurality of joists and generally perpendicular to the side edges of the plurality of building panels and a support portion extending generally parallel to the joists, said spline portion engaging a pair of grooves in the side edges of an adjacent pair of building panels, and said support portion supporting corner regions of the adjacent pair of building panels away from the top face of said joist, with the plurality of connectors being secured to the joists by a plurality of threaded fasteners, and with each connector having a plurality of spacer elements, with said plurality of spacer elements being orthogonally aligned and maintaining a separation between adjacent pairs of the plurality of building panels.
1 more element
An assembly for providing a deck surface on a deck structure having a plurality of generally parallel joists, said assembly comprising:
- a plurality of modular building panels, each of said plurality of building panels including a first element being relatively inflexible and of a material selected from among the group consisting of:
- stone, mineral, tile, and concrete product, and further including a second element of a fiber-reinforced composite material, said second element being disposed beneath the first element and coupled thereto, said second element supporting the building panel upon two of the plurality of joists, each of said building panels including a top side and a bottom side and a plurality of side edges extending from said top side to said bottom side, and further including at least one groove defined on said plurality of side edges;
- and
- a plurality of connectors each defining a spline element and a support element, said spline element engaging a pair of grooves in side edges of an adjacent pair of building panels, said spline element and support element being secured to the plurality of joists by threaded fasteners to secure the pair of building panels to the deck structure and with each connector having a plurality of spacer elements, with said plurality of spacer elements being orthogonally aligned and maintaining a separation between adjacent pairs of the plurality of building panels.
1 more element
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.