Multiple-panel load-bearing building walls and load-bearing panel units therefor

Claim 1

A PREFABRICATED LONG SPAN PANEL UNIT COMPRISING A STRUCTURAL PANEL AND TWO PARALLEL OPPOSED SIDE MEMBERS, SAID STRUCTURAL PANEL BEING COMPRISED OF A CORE ASSEMBLY OF A PERIPHERAL RECTANGULAR FRAME AND A PLURALITY OF INTERMEDIATE RIGID CORE ELEMENTS, SAID ASSEMBLY PROVIDING TWO OPPOSITELY DIRECTED NETWORKS OF BONDING SURFACES, AND TWO CONTINUOUS FACING MEMBERS, ONE OVERLYING EACH NETWORK OF BONDING SURFACES AND SECURED THERETO, SAID SIDE MEMBERS EACH BEING INTEGRALLY FORMED, EACH COMPRISING AN ELONGATED WEB PORTION, AND TWO OPPOSED, INTEGRAL, RIGID FLANGES EXTENDING AT LEAST TO ONE SIDE OF SAID WEB SUBSTANTIALLY THROUGHOUT ITS EXTENT, EACH FLANGE PORTION HAVING A THICKNESS SUBSTANTIALLY GREATER THAN THE THICKNESS OF THE WEB OF THE CORRESPONDING MEMBER AND OPPOSED FLANGES PROVIDING A PAIR OF OPPOSITELY DIRECTED GENERALLY PLANAR OUTER FLANGES SURFACES EXTENDING ALONG THE LENGTH OF THE PANEL UNIT, ADAPTED TO BE ENGAGED BY OPPOSITE GENERALLY PLANAR PORTIONS OF A COMPRESSIVE CLAMPING MEANS FOR JOINING AND SEALING THE PANEL UNIT TO ADJACENT STRUCTURE, THE OPPOSED INSIDE FLANGE SURFACES OF EACH OF SAID SIDE MEMBERS BEING SPACED APART A DISTANCE SLIGHTLY EXCEEDING THE THICKNESS OF SAID STRUCTURAL PANEL, SAID PARALLEL, OPPOSED SIDE MEMBERS BEING JOINED TO OPPOSITE RECTILINEAR SIDES OF SAID STRUCTURAL PANEL, WITH EACH OF SAID SIDE MEMBERS HAVING ITS OPPOSITE FLANGES OVERLYING OPPOSITELY DIRECTED FACE PORTIONS OF SAID STRUCTURAL PANEL, SEALING MATERIAL INTERPOSED BETWEEN AT LEAST ONE OF SAID INSIDE FLANGE SURFACES OF EACH SIDE MEMBER AND ITS CORRESPONDING FACE PORTION OF SAID STRUCTURAL PANEL AND A PLURALITY OF SPACED-APART, MECHANICAL ATTACHMENT MEANS ALONG EACH OF SAID SIDE MEMBERS, EACH MECHANICAL ATTACHMENT MEANS BEING FASTENED TO THE WEB OF SAID SIDE MEMBER AND A CORRESPONDING CORE PORTION OF SAID STRUCTURAL PANEL DRAWING THEM TOGETHER AND WEDGING IN SAID SEALING MATERIAL WHEREBY SAID SIDE MEMBERS AND SAID STRUCTURAL PANEL ARE LOCKED TOGETHER.