Panel systems

Claim 1

A PANEL ASSEMBLY FOR USE IN BUILDING CONSTRUCTION AS A MAJOR PORTION OF THE FABRIC OF A BUILDING WITHOUT ADDITIONAL FRAMEWORK COEXTENSIVE WITH THE ASSEMBLY, THE ASSEMBLY COMPRISING A NUMBER OF CO-PLANAR PANELS, EACH HAVING FLANGES INTEGRALLY FORMED ALONG AT LEAST TWO OPPOSITE EDGES, BOTH FLANGES ON EACH PANEL EXTENDING IN THE SAME DIRECTION THEREFROM, A NARROW, UNITARY STIFFENING LENGTH EXTENDING ALONG EDGES OF SAID PANELS THAT LIE TRANSVERSELY TO SAID FLANGES AT ONE END THEREOF, A SECOND NARROW, UNITARY STIFFENING LENGTH EXTENDING ALONG EDGES OF SAID PANELS THAT LIE TRANSVERSELY TO SAID FLANGES AT THE OTHER END THEREOF, MEANS FOR ATTACHING SAID STIFFENING LENGTHS TO SAID PANELS AT ISOLATED POINYS DISTRIBUTED ALONG SAID STIFFENING LENGTHS IN A MANNER WHICH PERMITS SEPARATION OF ADJACENT FLANGES OF ADJACENT PANELS, MEANS, FOR JOINING THE ADJACENT FLANGES TOGETHER SO AS TO INTERNALLY STRESS SAID PANELS IN THE PLANE THEREOF, THEREBY ELIMINATING PLAY IN THE JOINTS ETWEEN ASID PANELS AND IN THE JOINTS BETWEEN SAID PANELS AND SAID UNITARY LENGTHS, WHEREBY A RIGID ASSEMBLY FOR USE AS AN INDEPENDENT UNIT IN BUILDING CONSTRUCTION IS PROVIDED.