SHELF ANGLE SUPPORT ASSEMBLY AND METHOD

Description

FIELD OF INVENTION

This specification relates to structural materials for use in the construction of buildings, and, in one particular context, to support structure external veneer components.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

In former times, brick walls were load bearing structures. In contemporary building structures bricks, or other masonry elements, or other visible finished surface elements, are rarely load-bearing. They tend more often to be employed as surface cladding on the exterior face of load-bearing structure as a masonry veneer.

When mounting face brick or stone veneer on the face of a wall structure, the first row of bricks or stone, or veneer commonly sits on a steel support. The steel support may be termed a shelf angle, and may extend outward from the wall structure, and may run along, or have a major dimension extending in, a direction that is generally horizontal and cross-wise to the wall. The steel support is mounted to the wall before brick-laying commences. The steel support may be welded to a steel anchoring system embedded in the wall. Alternatively, the steel support may be carried in spaced apart brackets that have themselves been mounted to the load bearing wall structure. An earlier patent showing and describing this kind of wall mounting structure is U.S. Pat. No. 6,128,883 of Hatzinikolas.

In some instances it is desirable to mount the assembly of shelf angle, mounting supports, and, in due course, masonry veneer as installed, to a structure made of prefabricated components. This may pose different challenges.

SUMMARY OF INVENTION

In an aspect of the invention there is a masonry veneer support assembly. It has a masonry veneer shelf angle, at least a first mounting bracket, and an adapter. The veneer support assembly is attachable to a building structure. As installed, the building structure is rearwardly of the first mounting bracket. The shelf angle has a first leg extending upwardly, and a second leg extending forwardly away from the building structure. At least the first mounting bracket has a back that, in use, face toward the building structure, and a web that extends out-of-plane forwardly away from the back. The web of the first mounting bracket has a seat defined therein. In use, the seat of the web of the mounting bracket faces away from the building structure and is engaged by the masonry veneer shelf angle. In use the adapter is located between the building structure and the first mounting bracket. The adapter has a first interface that in use faces toward the building structure and a second interface that is oriented toward the first mounting bracket. The first interface of the adapter is a load-spreading footing that, in use, engages the building structure. The second interface of the adapter defining a receiver to which the back of the mounting bracket is mated. The back of the first mounting bracket and the adapter has aligned assembly fittings. On installation, a single mechanical fastener passing through the aligned assembly fittings of the first mounting bracket, and the adapter, and passes into the building structure. When the fastener is tightened the load spreading footing is placed in compression against the building structure.

In a feature of that aspect of the invention, the adapter includes a first piece and a separate second piece. The first piece has a footprint that, when installed, bears against the building structure. The first and second pieces have mutually engaging indexing features that govern the positioning of the second piece relative to the first piece. In another feature, the first piece is a spreader plate and the second piece is an out-of-plane formed section that has a footprint that is smaller than the spreader plate. In a further feature, the spreader plate has a materials thickness that is at least as great as the out-of-plane formed section. In another further feature, the first piece is a spreader plate with a set of apertures formed therein defining ones of the indexing fittings; the second piece has dogs defining mating ones of the indexing fittings that engage respective ones of the apertures; and the dogs have a length that is contained within the apertures. In another feature, the adapter includes a non-planar formed section. In another feature, the non-planar formed section is a channel section. In a still further feature, the adapter is tapered. In another feature, the adapter has a taper angle in the range of 0 degrees to 10 degrees as measured from vertical. In still another feature, as installed, the back of the first mounting bracket and the first leg of the shelf angle lie in parallel vertical planes.

In another feature, the adapter is a single-piece adapter. In a further feature, on installation, the adapter and the bracket are keyed together by indexing fittings. In a further feature, the adapter has a set of dogs and the mounting support bracket has a set of accommodations for the dogs; and, on installation, the dogs seat in the accommodation.

In another feature there is a combination of the building structure, the masonry veneer support assembly, and the mechanical fastener. The building structure has at least one of (a) a concrete slab; and (b) a wood-based beam. The mechanical fastener secures the masonry veneer mounting bracket and the adapter to that one of (a) that concrete slab; and (b) that wood-based beam. In an additional feature, the building structure includes the concrete slab, and the concrete slab is a pre-cast hollow core floor slab. In another feature, the pre-cast hollow core floor slab has a tapered face, and the adapter mates with the tapered face. In a further feature, at least a first hollow core of the hollow core floor slab is at least partially filled with cementitious masonry material and the mechanical fastener is an anchor secured in a blind hole formed therein. In still another feature, the building structure includes at least the concrete slab. The concrete slab has a toe facing toward the mounting bracket. The adapter defines a stand-off that maintains the mounting bracket clear of the toe.

In another feature, the building structure includes the pre-cast hollow core concrete slab. The pre-cast hollow core concrete slab has a through-thickness and a mid-height plane. At least one of: (a) the mechanical fastener engages the pre-cast hollow core concrete slab at a height that is at least as high as the mid-height plane; (b) the adapter engages a portion of the pre-cast hollow-core concrete slab that is at least as great in vertical extent as ⅓ of the through-thickness thereof; (c) the adapter engages a portion of the pre-cast hollow core concrete slab above the height of the mid-height plane that is at least as great in vertical extent as ⅙ of the through-thickness thereof; and (d) a part of the adapter engages the hollow-core concrete slab above the mid-height plane and a majority of the adapter engages the hollow-core concrete slab below the mid-height plane.

In still another feature, the building structure includes the wood-based beam and the wood-based beam is a laminated beam.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE ILLUSTRATIONS

The foregoing aspects and features of the invention may be understood with the aid of the accompanying illustrations, in which:

FIG. 1a is a perspective view of a masonry veneer support assembly;

FIG. 1b is a perspective view of the masonry veneer support assembly of FIG. 1a with the shelf angle removed;

FIG. 1c is an exploded perspective view of the masonry veneer support assembly of FIG. 1a;

FIG. 2a is a perspective view from above of an alternate masonry veneer support assembly to that of FIG. 1a;

FIG. 2b is an exploded perspective view of the masonry veneer support assembly of FIG. 2a;

FIG. 3a is a side view of the masonry veneer support assembly of FIG. 1a as installed in a building;

FIG. 3b is a side view of the masonry veneer support assembly of FIG. 2a as installed in a building;

FIG. 4a is a side view of a detail of an example of the masonry veneer support assembly of FIG. 3b on a vertical face;

FIG. 4b is a side view of a detail of another example of the masonry veneer support assembly of FIG. 3b on a large angle of deflection;

FIG. 5a is a perspective view from above of a further alternate masonry veneer support assembly to that of FIG. 1a;

FIG. 5b is an exploded perspective view of the masonry veneer support assembly of FIG. 5a;

FIG. 5c is a side view of an installation of the masonry veneer support assembly of FIG. 5a in a building;

FIG. 6a is a side view of an alternate example of a masonry veneer support assembly to that of FIG. 3a mounted to a concrete vertical face;

FIG. 6b is a side view of an alternate example of a masonry veneer support assembly to that of FIG. 3b mounted to a concrete face on a large angle of deflection;

FIG. 7a is a side view of an alternate example of a masonry veneer support assembly to that of FIG. 3a mounted to a stone vertical face;

FIG. 7b is a side view of an alternate example of a masonry veneer support assembly to that of FIG. 3b mounted to a stone face on a large angle of deflection;

FIG. 8a is a side view of an alternate example of a masonry veneer support assembly to that of FIG. 3a mounted to a vertical wall of a hollow steel section; and

FIG. 8b is a side view of an alternate example of a masonry veneer support assembly of FIG. 3b mounted to a vertical face of an angle iron.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The description that follows, and the embodiments described therein, are provided by way of illustration of an example, or examples, of particular embodiments of the principles of the present invention. These examples are provided for the purposes of explanation, and not of limitation, of those principles and of the invention. In the description, like parts are marked throughout the specification and the drawings with the same respective reference numerals. The drawings may be taken as being to scale, or generally proportionate, unless indicated otherwise.

The terminology used in this specification is thought to be consistent with the customary and ordinary meanings of those terms as they would be understood by a person of ordinary skill in the art in North America. Following from the decision in Phillips v. AWH Corp., the Applicant expressly excludes all interpretations that are inconsistent with this specification, and, in particular, expressly excludes any interpretation of the claims or the language used in this specification such as may be made in the USPTO, or in any other Patent Office, other than those interpretations for which express support can be demonstrated in this specification or in objective evidence of record in accordance with In re Lee, (for example, earlier publications by persons not employed by the USPTO or any other Patent Office), demonstrating how the terms are used and understood by persons of ordinary skill in the art, or by way of expert evidence of a person or persons of experience in the art.

Referring to the masonry veneer support assembly of FIG. 1a and the installation side view of FIG. 3a, there is a partial cross-section of a wall assembly, indicated generally as 20, such as might include a masonry veneer support assembly 30. For the purposes of this description it may be helpful to consider a Cartesian co-ordinate frame of reference. The vertical, or up-and-down, direction may be designated as the z-axis, or z-direction. The direction perpendicular to the plane of the page may be considered as the longitudinal direction or x-direction, or x-axis, and may be taken as being the cross-wise direction of the wall. The left-to-right direction in the plane of the page, i.e., perpendicular to the wall, may be considered the sideways, or y-direction, or y-axis.

In this description, reference is made to a wall assembly or building structure, or load-bearing structure, and load-bearing wall structure, indicated generally as 20. That wall structure may be taken as having some form of vertical support, such as vertical columns 22, and some kind of horizontal members which may define floor slabs, such as floor slab 24 that is supported by or on vertical supports such as vertical columns 22. In the examples of FIGS. 3a and 3b floor slabs 24 are hollow core pre-cast concrete floor slabs, the hollow spaces being indicated as 26. The description pertains to mounting bracket assemblies, such as masonry veneer support assembly 30, that support external facing veneer components, such as face brick or face stone veneer 32, spaced away from the supporting structure 20. The mounting brackets are anchored to load-bearing structure. Whether that load bearing structure is a structural wall or a concrete floor slab carried by framework, by a poured wall, by a block wall, or other load bearing members, in the context of this description whether it is a wall, a floor, or a ceiling, within the meaning of this specification it is a load-bearing wall structure to which the veneer supporting members may be mounted.

This description relates to apparatus, such as shelf angle assembly 30, for supporting masonry veneer, such as face brick or face stone 32, whether rough or finished. The masonry veneer may be taken as having a weight of 35 lbs/sq. ft. The various alternatives herein include a first member (or several first members), and a second member. The first member, or members, may be wall mounting brackets. The second member may be a shelf angle. A shelf angle is not a cosmetic member. The term “shelf angle” is a term of art in the science of building construction. See, for example “Technical Notes on Brick Construction” by the Brick Industry Association, 1850 Centennial Park Drive, Reston, Virginia, 20191, www.gobrick.com (703) 620-0010, identified as 28B and dated December 2005, found at https://www.gobrick.com/docs/default-source/read-research-documents/technicalnotes/28b-brick-veneer-steel-stud-wa lls.pdf?sfvrsn=. A “shelf angle” is a substantial structural member, capable of carrying the 35 lbs/sq. ft. load of a masonry veneer, and is not to be confused with light metal railings for kitchen shelves, book shelves, or display cabinets in a retail display. A shelf angle has a forwardly extending leg that has a length, or reach, that exceeds the depth of face brick. Such a length may be 4 to 6 inches, or possibly more. Unless otherwise stated, as a default herein, the first member and second member may be taken as being steel, which may be a mild steel. Other materials may be suitable depending on the circumstances. A shelf angle may be a rolled steel member, rolled at the steel mill, having a back, or web, square to the horizontal flange, or shelf, upon which the masonry veneer sits. It is usually hot rolled steel. It has a material thickness that is generally ¼″ or more, such as or 5/16″, ⅜″ or 7/16″ or ¼″, with various lineal weights per foot. A shelf angle is not something in which the horizontal leg can be bent by hand to change the angle relative to the back: it is a rigid, rolled steel section. Shelf angles are shown and described in at least U.S. Pat. No. 6,128,883 issued on Oct. 10, 2000; U.S. Ser. No. 14/556,824 filed Dec. 1, 2014, issued as U.S. Pat. No. 9,316,004 on Apr. 19, 2016; U.S. Ser. No. 14/556,947 filed Dec. 1, 2014, issued as U.S. Pat. No. 9,447,585 on Sep. 20, 2016; U.S. Ser. No. 14/688,477 filed Apr. 16, 2015 issued as U.S. Pat. No. 10,323,419 on Jun. 18, 2019; U.S. Ser. No. 15/075,682 filed Mar. 21, 2016issued as U.S. Pat. No. 10,294,676 on May 21, 2019; U.S. Ser. No. 15/626,474 filed Jun. 19, 2017, issued as U.S. Pat. No. 11,078,672 on Aug. 3, 2021; U.S. Ser. No. 16/137,177 filed Sept. 20, 2018, issued as U.S. Pat. No. 11,041,315 on Jun. 22, 2021; U.S. Ser. No. 16/426,801 filed May 30, 2019, issued as U.S. Pat. No. 11,118,358 on Sept. 14, 2021; U.S. Ser. No. 16/700,868 filed Dec. 2, 2019, issued as U.S. Pat. No. 11,255,091 on Feb. 22, 2022; U.S. Ser. No. 16/841,611 filed Apr. 6, 2020, issued as U.S. Pat. No. 11,162,265 on Nov. 2, 2021 and U.S. Ser. No. 17/332,667 filed May 27, 2022, issued Mar. 29, 2023 as U.S. Pat. No. 11,629,504.

Shelf angles are not light steel, aluminum or plastic sections. Examples of apparatus that are not shelf angles are shown in WO 99/21669 of Ferrante et al. ; US 2006/0 010 789of Andino; US 2006/0 277 840 of Bailey; US 2007/0 151 190 of Huff; WO 02/06603 of Guerrasio; U.S. Pat. No. 6,094,877 of White; US 2009/060 656 of Szkola; U.S. Pat. No. 5,212,917 of Kurtz. This listing is not thought to be exhaustive. None of these references show, describe, or suggest shelf angles. Items provided for forming the edges of gardens, or as a border for driveway interlocking paving stones, or trimming dry-wall have no relationship to substantial structural elements that carry masonry loads on a cantilevered leg of an angle section. By definition, they are not shelf angles, and cannot reasonably be interpreted as shelf angles.

Shelf angles are sometimes made in 20 ft or 40 ft lengths, cut to length, and, in some instances, may have mounting apertures or other fittings in the back as described hereinbelow, or machined, cut, or punched to yield the segmented form described in greater detail herein. Likewise, shelf angle mounting brackets are substantial structural elements of sizes, thicknesses and weights commensurate with the role of supporting shelf angles and the masonry veneer they carry.

Shelf angles have been mounted to poured concrete walls and to steel columns, beams and girders. When mounted to structural steel framing, shelf angle support fittings may typically be secured in place using metal fastening hardware such as bolted connections through the webs or flanges of the structural steel framing members. When mounted to poured concrete walls or floor slabs, they are typically held in place by concrete anchors that seat in blind holes in the concrete. When the concrete anchor is tightened the tapered end of the anchor is drawn into a deformable metal fitting that is forced to expand in the blind hole, thereby forming a tight, plastically deformed connection in radial compression relative to the long axis of the bolt.

A different challenge arises when either (a) the shelf angle is to be mounted to a pre-formed hollow-core concrete slab, such as a hollow-core floor slab 24; or (b) the shelf angle is to be mounted to a structure that is neither structural steel nor concrete, such as a wood-framed structure seen in FIG. 5c and discussed below.

In that regard, and considering FIGS. 1a, 1b, 1c and 3a, the externally visible facing elements 32 are mated to, or linked to, or stabilized by, load bearing structure 20. The linking, or positioning, of the facing elements with the load-bearing structural elements may be achieved by use of interface elements, or force and moment transfer elements, such as supports, or support assemblies, such as masonry veneer support assembly 30. Support assemblies 30 may be taken as being made of mild steel unless otherwise noted. Combinations of load bearing frame or wall assemblies, such as 20, facing elements 32, and support assemblies 30 may be assembled as indicated in FIG. 3a.

Load-bearing structure 20 can be understood as being a supporting primary structure, which may have several different forms. It may include a foundation, such as a poured concrete foundation (not shown). There may be a floor structure. In the example shown, that floor structure may include a set of pre-fabricated concrete members or sections that are assembled to yield a floor, such as hollow-core sections. As the name suggests, a pre-fabricated “hollow core” floor section is one that is poured concrete with an array of hollow “cores” 26, the result being that the pre-fabricated section weighs less than if it were a uniform solid section without the hollow cores. Hollow core sections, such as pre-cast hollow core concrete slab 24, have a top surface and a bottom surface, and a peripheral upstanding edge or set of edges that (as installed) extend predominantly in the vertical or upward direction. Although the ends of the hollow core slab perpendicular to the cores may be vertical, as if sawn, the side wall faces 28 that run along the sides parallel to cores 26 may be tapered, as having a draft angle α₂₈. In some instances as in FIG. 3a or FIG. 3b, the magnitude of the draft angle, or taper, may be about 4 degrees. However, it may be an angle ranging from 0 degrees—i.e., a vertical face as in FIG. 4a, or it may be as large as 10 degrees, or thereabout, as in FIG. 4b. Furthermore, the bottom edge of the respective side walls 28 may have a lip, or toe 34, that extends laterally proud of the plane of the taper of the major portion of side wall faces 28 more generally. Slab 24 has a mid-height plane, or neutral plane, or Center-Line (CL) plane designated as P₂₄. Cores 26 have a longitudinal centerline that lies in plane P₂₄.

It may not be desirable to attempt to secure a masonry anchor 40 in the void defined by a vacant core 26, since in such a situation the expanding plug of anchor 40 has nothing against which to gain a purchase and tighten. Accordingly, a preliminary step is to fill the hollow core 26 closest to side wall face 28, either entirely or at least in the region in which masonry anchors 40 are to be located. Filling 42 is a masonry filling such as a cementitious filling whether of poured concrete or grouting. For example, supposing that masonry filling 42 is grouting, once the grouting has solidified, blind holes 44 may be drilled as suitable. Blind holes 44 are then of a diameter and depth appropriate for the installation of masonry anchor 40. In the example illustrated, blind holes 44 are formed in the mid-section, or mid-plane, or neutral plane P₂₆, of the hollow core panel or slab 24.

The floor slab 24 may carry a wall structure (not shown) which may have the form of laid blocks, or which may in other embodiments include a framed structure, such as may be a wood or steel framed structure.

The visible facing elements 32 may include brickwork or stonework, be it rough stone or finished stone, or other cladding. The anchor system may support masonry veneer, thin granite veneer, large stone panels or pre-cast concrete in place of the bricks.

In FIG. 1c, support assembly 30 may include a base or bench or first member 52 in the form of a “shelf angle”, or angle iron 46. Shelf angle 46 may be an angle iron that runs along the wall structure in the horizontal direction, and provides the bed upon which the lowest course of bricks or stone, or other masonry veneer 32 finds its support, hence shelf angle 46 may be termed a masonry support. First member 52 may be mounted to a second member, or second members, 54, which may have the form of a support bracket or mounting bracket 48. Second member, or second members, 54 it itself fixedly mounted to the load bearing wall structure 20. Typically, there are two or more “second members” 54 spaced along shelf angle 46, with self angle 46 spanning the distances between them. The vertical load of the facing masonry veneer 30 is carried by the bench or “shelf” of first member 52, i.e., the shelf is defined by the horizontal or substantially horizontal shelf angle leg 56 of the shelf angle, and passed into such number of second members 54 as may support first member 52. Shelf angle 46 has a back 58. To the extent that shelf angle 46 is a hot rolled structural steel section produced in a steel rolling mill, shelf angle leg 56 and shelf angle back 58 are square to each other, i.e., they meet at a square corner. As installed shelf angle leg 56 is typically understood to be horizontal, and back 58 is vertical. There are at least first and second mounting brackets 48 spaced laterally apart along supporting wall structure 20. For example, there may be several such supports on, for example, 24″ centers, which may correspond to the spacing, or double the spacing of wall studs in standard framing. Second members 54 may then carry the shear load from first member 52 into the load bearing wall structure 20. The depth of second members 54 in the y-direction (i.e., normal to the wall) may typically be less than the vertical height of second members 54, such that the outstanding support webs of second members 54 to which shelf angle 46 may be considered low aspect ratio beams in which the bending moment is small, or negligible.

Second members 54 are secured to load bearing wall structure or building structure 20. As noted above, the securement may be, for example, mechanical securements such as threaded fasteners. In securement to the hollow core floor slab 24 (as shown), fasteners 40 may be expanding anchor fittings, as in FIG. 3a. They could also be embedded threaded rods, studs, or bolts. Masonry anchors are commonly available.

Second members 54 have a depth (in the y-direction) that may correspond to, or may be greater than, the thickness of insulation panels (not shown) such as may be mounted to the front (or outside) face of the structural load-bearing wall assembly 20. There may also be a drainage shield, or flashing, such as may encourage moisture to drain outwardly of and away from structural wall assembly 26. A vapour barrier membrane may be captured behind insulation panels. The flashing may traverse insulation at the level of shelf angle 46 with its lowermost margin draining over shelf angle 46, the lowermost margin of the flashing terminates outwardly at a drip edge, such that any moisture draining over the vapour barrier is drained away. The anchor system shown allows cavity insulation to be continuous behind the brick support. The rigid insulation may be of a thickness that allows an air space or gap ‘G’ between the insulation and the external veneer masonry 32 mounted on shelf angle 46. Mounting brackets 48 may be made in a variety of sizes each corresponding to a desired thickness of the masonry veneer 32, the rigid insulation and the air space.

The assembly further includes a third member, such as identified as an adapter 50. Adapter 50 seats between the back wall of mounting bracket 48 and the tapered portion of outer surface of side wall face 28 of hollow core floor slab 26 of the floor structure upward of toe 34. Conceptually, adapter 50 can be thought of as a body, or a medium, or an intermediate member, that has a first interface or first side 36 that, on installation, faces toward and interacts with building structure 20; and has a second interface, or second side 38 that, on installation, faces toward and interacts with mounting bracket 48. To the extent that adapter 50 provides or is an element in a load path between mounting bracket 48 and building structure 20, first and second interfaces 36 and 38 can be thought of conceptually as input and output ports of adapter 50 at which the load is received or transmitted. In the embodiment shown in FIGS. 1a, 1b and 1c, adapter 50 has the form of a shallow channel 60 having a back 62 and a pair of first and second legs 64, 66 that extend away from back 62. That is, legs 64, 66 are bent out-of-plane relative to the plane of back 62. Each leg has a distal edge 68 most distant from back 62. Moreover, each leg 64 or 66 has a protruding member, (or members), such as may be termed an extending finger, or toe, or lug, or dog. In the example shown, each distal edge 68 has first and second such dogs, those being, respectively, an upper dog 70 and a lower dog 72. There may be more than two such dogs, as may be. Dogs 72 may function as vertical shear load transfer interfaces between second member 54 and third member 50.

Considering FIGS. 1a, 1b, 1c, each support mounting bracket 48 may have the form of a channel 80 having a first member in the nature of a rear plate or back 82, and a second member in the nature of a web or leg 84. Channel 80 is, by definition, a non-planar formed section insofar as one portion—back 82—lies in a plane, and legs 84 and 86 extend out of that plane. Other shapes of non-planar formed section are possible, such as rectangular steel tubes, top hat sections, and so on. Channel 80 may also have a third member in the nature of a second web or leg 86. In the embodiment shown, legs 84 and 86 stand outwardly of back 82. That is, as installed back 82 may lie in an x-z plane abutting the load bearing structure 20. Legs 84 and 86 stand outwardly away from that y-z plane. In context that outwardly direction may be termed forwardly away from the wall. In general, it may be convenient that legs 84 and 86 stand in y-z planes perpendicular to the plane of back 82, standing spaced apart and parallel, but this is not necessarily so. For example, legs 84, 86 could be splayed to form a V or winged shape as opposed to a square-sided U. In the particular embodiment illustrated, legs 84, 86 are a pair of side plates that extend from respective sides of the rear plate, back 82, in a direction away from the wall to form the sides of the U-shaped channel. The side plates are generally rectangular in shape and lie in respective vertical planes.

Back 82 has a mounting, a seat, or an attachment fitting 74 by which mechanical fastener such as a concrete anchor 40 may secure bracket 48 to the load bearing structure 20. Fitting 74 may be a slot 76 that permits height adjustment of bracket 48. Slot 76 may be oriented at a non-parallel angle or direction that is skewed, or oriented on a diagonal, relative to the vertical axis at an angle θ₇₆. Slot 76 may be an elongate aperture in back 82 that extends along an inclined axis angularly offset from vertical. The slot may be left-handed or right-handed, as may be. In one example, the inclined axis may be offset 22.5 degrees from vertical. The upright plate of back 72 can thus be fastened to the wall structure 20 at numerous locations relative to the wall corresponding to different positions of the bolt within the slot. As may be appreciated, back 62 of channel 60 of adapter 50 has a corresponding slot 76, also inclined at angle θ₇₆, such that when assembly 30 has been installed slot 76 in back 62 aligns with slot 76 in back 82 to permit the mechanical fastener 40 to pass therethrough.

The side plates defined by legs 84, 86 carry the brick support defined by shelf angle 46. Looking at leg 84 as being representative also of leg 86, the distal portion of leg 84 (i.e., the portion standing away most distantly from back 82) has a fitting, or accommodation, or seat 78 that is matingly co-operable with first member 52, and that provides a shear load transfer interface 88, e.g., in which a vertical gravity load from first member 52 is transferred into web 84 (or 86 as may be). Seat 78 includes vertical reaction interface 92, and has a back 94 that conforms to the shape of the back of first member 62. In the examples shown, seat 88 is generally L-shaped.

Back 82 of channel 80 has a set of accommodations 90 that correspond in size and spacing to dogs 70, 72 of the respective distal edges 68 of legs 64 and 66 of channel 60. In that regard, accommodations 90 and dogs 70, 72 function as mating indexing features that govern the relative position and orientation of the various support mounting brackets 48 and their respective adapters 50. On installation, adapter 50 and mounting bracket 48 are keyed together by those indexing fittings, namely dogs 70, 72 and accommodations 90, as the various dogs seat in the respective accommodations. To some extent it is functionally arbitrary whether the male dogs 70, 72 are provided on adapter 60 and the female sockets or female accommodations 90, are provided on mounting support brackets 58, or the other way around. However, it is relatively convenient to punch, stamp, or otherwise cut or form holes in back 82, and it is relatively convenient to form dogs 70, 72 on the distal edge profiles 68 of legs 64 and 66. In either case, whether dogs 70, 72 are on adapter 50 or on mounting bracket 48, the dogs function as abutments or stops, and the interface of dogs 70, 72 and the sockets defined by accommodations 90 is a shear transfer interface. Notably, when concrete anchor 40 is tightened in place with a nut 96 and washer 98, the load in back 62 is spread into mating distal edges 68 of legs 64 and 66. That load is then spread into back 62 of channel 60, which is insubstantially planar contact with side wall face 28 of the hollow core slab 24. That interface between the steel of channel 60 and face 28 has a distributed load in compression.

It may be noted that the reach, or length, of legs 64, 66 from face 28 then exceeds the distance by which toe 34 protrudes outwardly proud of the lower end of side wall face 28. Adapter 60 is then performing three functions. First it is converting the vertical planar orientation of back 82 to the angled orientation of back 62, and therefore also of side wall face 28, i.e., it is truing an orientation mis-match. Second, it is spreading the reaction load so that the concrete face 28 is not subject to a point-load, but rather to a distributed load. That load is a compressive load. Third, it makes sure that the load is not being applied to toe 32, but rather is being applied at the stand-off distance of the reach of legs 64, 66. Moreover, Adapter 50 is a substantial structural element, with substantial structural stiffness in its own right. That is, it is not soft and flexible like a gasket or a coated thermal insulation shim. The material of which adapter 50 is made is of the same order of thickness, and may be the same thickness, as the wall thickness of mounting bracket 48. Thus adapter 50 has the structural strength to transfer the imposed load over the stand-off distance in the forward-rearward direction defined by legs 64, 66. While toe 34 faces toward mounting bracket 48, adapter 50 defines the stand-off that maintains mounting bracket 48 clear of toe 34. The standardized mounting support bracket 58 with a vertical back 82 can then be used as a standard part, with an adapter provided particular to any angle of inclination of hollow core side face as may be specified. That is, as installed back 82 lies in a plane that is parallel to the plane in which leg 58 of mounting bracket 48 lies. To the extent the leg 58 lies in a vertical plane, back 82 lies in a parallel vertical plane.

It may also be noted that, of course, as indicated in FIGS. 4a and 4b, the angle of inclination of the taper may very from zero (i.e., face 28 of slab 24 is parallel to back 92 of mounting bracket 58) to a much more pronounced angle of inclination, as in FIG. 4b. In the embodiment shown, the inclination in FIG. 4b approximates 10 degrees from vertical. The angle of inclination may be anywhere in the range between the angles of FIGS. 4a and 4b.

The embodiment of FIGS. 2a and 2b can be understood as being substantially the same as that of FIGS. 1a, 1b and 1c. However, support assembly 100 differs insofar as it includes a deeper mounting support bracket 102 that is sized to mate with a correspondingly deeper hollow core floor panel slab 104. That is, slab is an 8-inch thick slab, whereas slab 104 is 10 inches thick. Accordingly masonry veneer mounting bracket 102 is deeper in the vertical direction than is masonry veneer mounting bracket 48, such that back 82 and legs 84, 86 of mounting bracket 102 are correspondingly deeper in the vertical direction than back 82, and legs 84, 86 of mounting bracket 48. That thickness is the through thickness of the respective slab, and where the floor slabs are mounted horizontally, that through-thickness is the vertical dimension of the floor slab. As before, there is an adapter 110 that seats in the same manner between back 82 of mounting bracket 102 and tapered side wall surface 108. As before, the bottom edge of back 62 of adapter 110 terminates above, and clear of, toe 114 of slab 104. The length of back 62 of adapter 30 along the slope again extends upwardly from toe 114 and past the centerline plane P₁₀₄ of the mid-height plane of slab 104. That is to say, whether in the embodiment of FIGS. 1a, 1b and 1c or FIGS. 2a and 2b, adapter 50 or 110 as may be overlaps the central plane, or mid-height plane, of the hollow core slab. In the embodiments shown the length of adapter 50 or 110, as may be, is greater than half the overall depth of the hollow core floor slab, be it 24 or 104. Expressed differently, the extent of the back of adapter 50 or 110 covers the central ⅓ of the through-thickness of the section of floor slab 24 or 104, meaning that the upper edge of back 62 extends at least 1/6 of the through thickness of the overall section depth of slab 24 or 104 above the central plane, be it P₂₄ or P₁₀₄, and likewise the lower edge extends at least ⅙ of the section depth below that central plane. To the extent that the lower edge extends almost to toe 34, the lower portion of adapter 50 or adapter 110, namely that lying below the respective central plane, is of greater extent than the portion of adapter 50 or adapter 110 lying above that central plane. That is, a majority of the adapter, be it 50 or 110, engages the side wall of the hollow core concrete slab, be it 24 or 104, below the mid-plane height. Given the rotational moment on shelf angle 46, the lower portion imposes a compressive load on the face of side wall face 28, whereas the rotational moment tends to rotate the upper portion away from side wall face 28, opposite the direction of the compressive pre-load applied by tightening the threaded fastener. Whether in respect of adapter 50 or adapter 110, on installation the adapter is sandwiched between the shelf angle and the building structure. As noted, to the extent that the adapter is used to take up an angular difference between the back of the mounting bracket and the building structure, the adapter may be tapered, and may consequently have a wedge shape. The angle of the sloped face, i.e., the face that mates with the sloped side face of the pre-cast hollow core concrete slab, may have a slope in the range of 0 degrees to 10 deg. Measured from vertical. This may alternatively be expressed as the included angle between the sloped face and the mounting bracket face of the adapter is in the range of 0 to 10 deg.

In summary, there is a masonry veneer support assembly 30. It includes a first 52 such as member masonry veneer shelf angle 46, and at least one of a second member 54, such as at least a first mounting bracket 48, and a third member such as an adapter 50. The veneer support assembly 30 is attachable to a building structure such as load bearing wall structure 20. To establish directional nomenclature, as installed, the building structure 20 is rearwardly of first mounting bracket 48. It may equivalently be said that first mounting bracket 48 is mounted forwardly of building structure 20. Shelf angle 46 has a first leg such as vertical leg 58 that extends upwardly, and a second leg such as horizontal leg 56 that extends forwardly away from building structure 20. Mounting bracket 48 has the form of a channel 80 that has back 82 that, in use, faces toward building structure 20, and a web, be it first leg 84 or second leg 86 that extends out-of-plane forwardly away from back 82. That is, back 82 lies in a plane. Legs 84 and 86 extend out of that plane of back 82. As shown legs 84 and 86 are spaced apart from each other, and are opposed to each other. In the example shown, legs 84 and 86 are in planes parallel to each other, and square to the plane of back 82. That web, be it leg 84 or leg 86, of mounting bracket 48 has a seat 78 defined therein. That seat has a profile form in which to receive shelf angle 46. In use, seat 78 faces away from building structure 20 and is engaged by masonry veneer shelf angle 46. In use, adapter 50 is located between building structure 20 and mounting bracket 48. Adapter 50 has a first interface 36 that in use faces toward building structure 20 and a second interface 38 that is oriented toward first mounting bracket 46. First interface 36 of adapter 50 is a load-spreading footing that, in use, engages building structure 20. Second interface 38 of adapter 50 defines a receiver to which back 82 of mounting bracket 48 is mated. Back 82 of first mounting bracket 48 and adapter 50 having aligned assembly fittings 74. On installation, a single mechanical fastener 40 passes through aligned assembly fittings 74 of first mounting bracket 48, and adapter 50, and passes into building structure 20. When the mechanical fastener 40 is tightened, load spreading footing defined by back 62 is placed in compression against the building structure.

Although the foregoing description is made in the context of a normal “short” masonry veneer support mounting bracket, that is not to say that the use of an adapter such as adapter 50 or adapter 110 cannot be used with either a long-legged masonry veneer support bracket, whether with a single shelf angle or double shelf angle arrangement, such as shown and described in U.S. Pat. No. 11,162,265 issued Nov. 2, 2021; or with a segmented or curved arrangement such as shown and described in U.S. Pat. No. 11,255,091, issued Feb. 2, 2022; or with a depending wedge or brace or other support as shown and described in U.S. Pat. No. 11,162,265. For brevity, the descriptions provided in these documents are not repeated here, although their content may be deemed to be incorporated herein to support understanding of the combination of the masonry support bracket assemblies disclosed therein, respectively with an adapter such as adapter 50 or adapter 110 to take up or correct, or adapt to a dimensional gap of difference in angular orientation at the location of the mechanical fastening to supporting wall structure. The examples described in those documents are particularly intended to be encompassed in this specification in respect of mounting to hollow core pre-fabricated concrete floor panels.

The premise of the description so far has been the use of a masonry veneer support assembly that is employed, or is intended to be employed, in combination with pre-cast cementitious panels, such as the hollow core pre-cast concrete panels shown and described in FIGS. 3a and 3b. However, a somewhat similar challenge may arise where a masonry veneer support assembly is mounted to a non-steel, non-concrete, non-masonry supporting structure. That is, in the context of FIGS. 5a, 5b and 5c, masonry veneer support assembly 130 is provided in the context of mounting to a non-metallic, non-cementitious supporting structure in the form of a wooden framing structure, or wooden beam wall support structure 120. Wall support structure 120 may be completely wood framing, or it may employ a combination of vertical steel posts and horizontal wooden beams. In this case, a horizontal wooden beam is identified as 122. Wooden beam 122 is primary structure designed to carry the load of the external cladding of the building. In this description, it may be understood that “wooden” beam 122 may be made of sawn wooden members in the traditional sense. However the tern “wooden”, or “wood-based”, is intended to include not only traditional sawn wooden beams but also laminated beams made of multiple layers of wood joined together, and to composite beams that may include not only various layers of wood, but also polymer resins, and reinforcing matrix materials such as glass or aramid based mesh-and-resin plies such as may be used to reinforce wood materials, and may also encompass wood-based engineered composite materials. That cladding is taken as including, at least in part, masonry veneer such as face brick or stone veneer 32 identified above. To that end beam 122 is taken as being a multiply-ply laminated beam that may have multiple layers standing upright side-by-side that have been laminated together. It may also include a cap layer lying on top of the upstanding layers, and a bottom cover layer. The top cap layer and the bottom cover layer may function as flanges. Given the nature of masonry veneer, a multi-ply laminate may be chosen for enhanced stability. As suggested above, beam 122 may include composite resins, and may include layers of composite webbing material impregnated with resin. The composite structure may be a thermally cured composite material.

In this context, masonry veneer support assembly 130 again includes a first member 132 and a second member 134. First member 132 may be a shelf angle 126 as before, and second member 134 may be a masonry support mounting bracket 128, substantially as before either in the context of mounting bracket 58 or 102. In this instance, however, whereas adapter 50 and adapter 110 described above are single-piece adapters, support assembly 130 has a two-piece adapter 124 that includes a first member (or first piece) and a second member (or second piece). The first member or piece is separate from the second member or piece. On installation that seat together and co-operate. As before, adapter 124 is installed as an intermediate member or element that is located between, and co-operates in turn with the building structure and mounting bracket 48 or 102, as the case may be.

In two-piece adapter 124, the first member is a plate 136. Plate 136 is a foot plate or load spreading plate that mounts against the outside face of laminated beam 122, i.e., as installed plate 136 bears against the outside of the building structure. The second member has the form of an out-of-plane bent adapter body 138 that is similar in form to the channel section of channel 70. That is, adapter body 138 may have the form of a channel 140 that has a back 142 and a pair of spaced apart legs 144, 146 that extend away from back 142. However, channel 70 has its legs, or toes, extending away from the supporting wall structure and toward the masonry veneer mounting bracket in a “toes-out” orientation. By contrast, channel 140 has its legs 144, 146 extending toward plate 138, and therefore also toward laminated beam 122. As before, the first and second members or pieces of adapter 124 have mutually engaging indexing features that govern the position of the first piece relative to the second piece on assembly. In that regard, the distal edges or margins 148 of legs 144, 146 has a set of indexing features in the nature of respective upper and lower dogs 150, 152 that engage upper and lower accommodations 154, 156 formed in plate 138. It may be noted that the length, or reach, of dogs 150, 152 is less than or equal to the through thickness of plate 138 such that the ends of dogs 150, 152 do not stand proud of plate 138, and so therefore do not dig into the matrix of the laminated beam 122. That is, the first piece is spreader plate 138 with a set of apertures of the accommodations 154, 156 formed therein defining ones of said indexing fittings. The second piece has dogs 150, 152 defining mating ones of said indexing fittings that engage respective ones of said apertures; and said dogs have a length that is contained within said apertures.

Plate 138 and back 142 have respective apertures, or holes, 158 that are aligned, and that admit the threaded shaft of the mechanical fastener, such as fastener 160. As may also be noted, the footprint of channel 140 falls completely within the perimeter of plate 138, or, expressed differently, the footprint of channel 140 is smaller than the footprint of plate 138, which is functioning as a load spreader. As before, plate 138 is of substantial thickness such as to resist bending. That thickness, and the thickness of the material of which channel 140 is made are comparable to the thickness of the material of which mounting bracket 148 is made. That is, plate 138 is not a flexible membrane of trivial flexural stiffness, such as a gasket.

As before, on installation, the tightening of the mechanical fastener 160 draws back 82 of mounting bracket 148 against back 142 of adapter 124; dogs 150, 152 locate in corresponding respective accommodations 154, 156 of plate 138; margins 148 are forced hard against plate 138, and plate 138 is held tightly in facial contact against the side of laminate beam 122, and thus the assembly is tightly bound together. Shelf angle 126 can then be received in the seat of mounting bracket 128 in the same manner as seen in FIG. 1a.

Although the apparatus has been shown and described in the context of hollow-core concrete pre-fabricated, i.e., pre-cast, slabs or modules, and in the context of a wooden structure, it can also be used in other contexts. This is illustrated in the various views of FIGS. 6a and 6b; 7a and 7b; and 8a and 8b. In the context of FIGS. 6a and 6b the apparatus is mounted not to a hollow-core concrete structure, but to a solid concrete slab that may have been poured in situ. In FIG. 6a the concrete slab 162 is shown as having a vertical face 164. In FIG. 6b the concrete slab 166 is shown as having an inclined or sloped face 168. As may be appreciated, the angle of inclination in FIG. 6b may correspond to the angle of inclination shown in FIG. 4b, such as a₂₈. As may also be appreciated, in other alternative arrangements that angle of inclination may be any angle from zero, as shown in FIG. 6a to a₂₈ as shown in FIG. 6b. Shelf angle 46, mounting bracket 48 and adapter 110 are mounted as before using concrete anchor 40.

Similarly, in FIG. 7a there is a stone or rock structure 170 having a vertical face 172. Anchor 40 seats in a bore formed in the rock, which may be natural stone, or may be a manufactured stone product. FIG. 7 b shows the same kind of stone or rock structure as 174 with an inclined face as 176. The embodiments of FIGS. 7 a and 7 b are analogous to those of FIGS. 6a and 6b. As before, in alternate arrangements the angle may be anywhere between vertical as in FIG. 7a, to the fully incline of FIG. 7b. Once again, shelf angle 46, mounting bracket 48 and adapter 110 are mounted as before using concrete anchor 40.

FIG. 8a shows supporting structure, namely a hollow steel tube 180. The stand-off defined by adapter 110, mounting bracket 48 and shelf angle 46 are as in FIG. 2b, for example, and are mounted to the vertical wall, or vertical web 178 of steel tube 180. Rather than a concrete anchor 40, the assembly of mounting bracket 48, adapter 110 and the hollow structural section of structural steel tube 180 is held together with mechanical fastener 182 which may be a threaded or permanently mechanically deformed fastener such as a rivet or a Huck™ bolt. Similarly, the same assembly may be mounted to an open structural section such as a channel T-section or angle iron such as structural angle 184 having an horizontal leg 186 and a vertical leg 188. The mechanical fastening is made through vertical leg 188. As shown, structural angle 184 is of substantial section, being much larger than shelf angle 46 whether in the length of horizontal leg 186 (roughly double that of leg 56) or vertical leg 188 (roughly double that of leg 56) or thickness (again, roughly double).

Various embodiments of the invention have been described. Those embodiments described address one or more of the various problems and challenges of dealing with curved walls and with discontinuities or interruptions in a wall structure such as corners, windows, doors, the desirability of reducing heat transfer, the facilitation of manufacturing, and so on. Since changes in and or additions to the above-described best mode may be made without departing from the nature, spirit or scope of the invention, the invention is not to be limited to those details but only by the appended claims.