Unified Facade Anchor Assembly for Verifiable Firestopping
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional building facade systems face challenges in providing effective firestopping and smoke sealing without excessive installation time and expense, and they often require multiple laboring crews and notched vertical designs that obscure fire stop material application and compromise safety.
Innovation Solution
A unified anchor system that allows for either notched or unnotched vertical designs, enabling field application of fire safing and smoke seals, reducing the need for multiple laboring crews and eliminating the need for pre-attachment to the building structure.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If a continuous shelf design held in tensile is used in notched curtain wall systems, then structural support is provided, but field application of fire stop materials is obscured and cannot be properly verified
Solution Approach 1:
The anchor system is divided into separate components: a shelf anchor portion and a vertical member portion, allowing the fire stop gap to remain accessible and visible for proper material application and verification while still providing structural support through the assembled anchor system
Solution Approach 2:
The fire stop gap is extracted as a distinct accessible space between the shelf anchor portion and the building floor slab, allowing fire stop materials to be applied and verified without obstruction from the anchor system components
2Strength
If notched vertical framework is used in curtain wall systems, then the facade structure is supported, but fire stop materials cannot be properly applied and verified in the field
Solution Approach 1:
The anchor assembly is segmented into separate portions that create an accessible fire stop gap, allowing workers to properly apply and verify fire stop materials while the assembled anchor provides the necessary structural support for the facade
3Strength
If multiple anchor subassemblies are used in conventional curtain wall systems, then the facade panels are securely anchored, but installation requires multiple laboring crews and excessive time
Solution Approach 1:
Multiple anchor functions are merged into a single unified anchor assembly that can be installed by one crew, combining the shelf support and vertical member connection into one pre-assembled unit that provides secure anchoring while improving installation efficiency
4Ease of manufacture
If conventional curtain wall systems are used with spaced vertical framework, then the facade structure is assembled, but fire paths allow vertical fire spread between floors
Solution Approach 1:
The fire stop gap is extracted as a dedicated space within the anchor assembly structure, ensuring that fire stop materials can be properly applied to block vertical fire paths while the facade assembly proceeds with the spaced vertical framework configuration
Data Source
AI summary
A building facade system is provided with a unified anchor assembly having an anchor member. The anchor member has a blade portion, an anchor fist and an anchor fork. The blade portion has a head at the proximal end, a lateral surface having serrations and a slotted opening. The anchor fist has a channel and a flange, the channel receives the head of the blade portion to slide within the channel. The anchor fork has tines defining a slot with an opening therebetween and a serrated surface to engage the serrations of the blade portion. Upon installation onto a building, the anchor fork is seated on an upwardly extending flange of a structural member affixed to a building floor slab. The anchor fist is secured to a vertical mullion by shear connection made by fasteners coupling the flange of the anchor fist to a lateral surface of the mullion.