Corrugated Wall Tie

Abstract

A corrugated wall tie includes rounded corners to avoid injury to installers and other workmen.

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION[0001]The present invention relates generally to the field of building construction elements and, more particularly, to a wall tie with rounded corners.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION[0002]One typical construction arrangement commonly in use today calls for a brick veneer to be assembled over a wood frame backing. To maintain good insulation properties, the layer of brick is laid with an air gap between the bricks and the backing. However, in order to maintain the stability of the assembly, a number of brick ties or wall ties are attached to the backing, such as for example by nailing, and then the layer of bricks is laid with the ties joined to the brick layer by mortar.[0003]As described by Masonry Advisory Council, Park Ridge, Ill., the Building Officials and Code Administrators (BOCA) National Building Code BOCA 1405.5.3 states that wall ties must be installed at not less than one per three square feet of wall area, not more than 32 inches apart horizontally, a...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0009]The present invention provides a corrugated wall tie, formed in the usual fashion, with the additional step in the manufacturing process of rounding the corners of tie. As used herein, the term “rounding” as it refers to the corners means that the curvature of the corners meets the long and short sides of the tie tangentially. In this way, no point is left on the tie to cause injury to the installer and other workers at the job site. This also makes the manufacturing simple and easy, adding very little to the cost of the tie, which is typically used in large quantities on projects involving the application of the brick veneer.

Problems solved by technology

Typically, wood stud framing is on 16″ centers, so the limit of 32″ on center horizontally would permit one tie in every other stud, but the one tie per three square feet requirement would then limit the vertical spacing to 13″+, which would require that ties be installed in every fourth course of brick, which may unneccesarily slow down the mason when laying the brick.

In doing so, sharp corners are formed at each end of the tie, which can be hazardous to the installer, whether the tie is installed by the frame carpenter or the brickmason.

These sharp corners have been known to cut through the skin of the installers, and to pose a hazard to those who come in contact with the ties sticking from the backing wall until they are covered up by the laying of brick over the wall.

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