US4453359A — Building wall panel

Claim 1

Independent Claim 192 words

A building wall panel, comprising: (a) a plurality of thin granite or marble panels positioned in adjacent relationship to each other; (b) anchor means mounted in the back surfaces of each of said granite or marble panels and extending rearwardly therefrom; (c) a backing layer of glass fiber reinforced concrete overlying the rear of said granite or marble panels and encasing said anchor means, said fiber reinforced backing layer initially being of slurry composition and upon solidifying said reinforced backing layer supporting said facing panels through said anchor means; (d) support frame means overlying the back side of said backing layer opposite said granite or marble panels at locations separate from the locations of said anchor means, said support frame means formed from a plurality of metal first members having attachment means extending outwardly therefrom; and (e) additional amounts of glass fiber reinforced concrete overlaying portions of said attachment means and adjacent portions of said backing layer, said additional amounts of glass fiber reinforced concrete being initially of slurry composition and upon solidifying said additional amounts of glass fiber reinforced concrete securely bonding said support frame means to said solidified backing layer.

Claim 2

Dependent Claim 192 words

A building wall panel, comprising: (a) a plurality of thin granite or marble panels positioned in adjacent relationship to each other; (b) anchor means mounted in the back surfaces of each of said granite or marble panels and extending rearwardly therefrom; (c) a backing layer of glass fiber reinforced concrete overlying the rear of said granite or marble panels and encasing said anchor means, said fiber reinforced backing layer initially being of slurry composition and upon solidifying said reinforced backing layer supporting said facing panels through said anchor means; (d) support frame means overlying the back side of said backing layer opposite said granite or marble panels at locations separate from the locations of said anchor means, said support frame means formed from a plurality of metal first members having attachment means extending outwardly therefrom; and (e) additional amounts of glass fiber reinforced concrete overlaying portions of said attachment means and adjacent portions of said backing layer, said additional amounts of glass fiber reinforced concrete being initially of slurry composition and upon solidifying said additional amounts of glass fiber reinforced concrete securely bonding said support frame means to said solidified backing layer.

Claim 3

Dependent Claim 39 words

The building wall panel according to claim 1, wherein said additional amounts of glass fiber reinforced concrete overlying portions of said attachment means and said backing layer constitute the only connection of the backing layer to said support frame.

Claim 4

Dependent Claim 20 words

The building wall panel according to claim 1, wherein said granite or marble panels are less than one inch thick.

Claim 5

Dependent Claim 32 words

The building wall panel according to claim 1 or 3, wherein the thickness of said backing layer is substantially equal to or less than the thickness of said granite or marble panels.

Claim 6

Dependent Claim 22 words

The building wall panel of claim 1, wherein said anchor means alone mount said granite or marble panels on said backing layer.

Claim 7

Dependent Claim 28 words

The building wall panel of claim 1, wherein said glass fiber reinforced concrete comprises a mixture of concrete and randomly oriented chopped strands of alkali resistant glass fiber.

Claim 8

Dependent Claim 22 words

The building wall panel of claim 6, wherein said chopped strands of glass fiber are approximately one and one-half inches in length.

Claim 9

Dependent Claim 25 words

The building wall panel according to claim 6, wherein the glass fibers comprise from between two to six percent of the weight of said mixture.

Claim 10

Dependent Claim 45 words

The building wall panel according to claim 1, wherein: said support frame means comprises a plurality of individual, elongate, first members interconnected together by transverse second members; and said attachment means extending generally transversely from at least one side of said first and/or second members.

Claim 11

Dependent Claim 43 words

The building wall panel according to claim 9, wherein said attachment means comprise bar members formed in an angle shape attached to said first and/or second members to overlie portions of the side of said backing layer opposite said granite or marble panels.

Claim 12

Dependent Claim 42 words

The building wall panel according to claim 9, wherein said attachment means comprise lines extending outwardly from said first and/or second members which at least portions of said lines overlying the side of said backing layer opposite said granite or concrete panels.

Claim 13

Dependent Claim 40 words

The building wall panel of claim 9, wherein said attachment means comprise flanges on at least one side of said first and/or second members overlying a portion of the side of said backing layer opposite said granite or marble panels.

Claim 14

Dependent Claim 20 words

The building wall panel according to claim 12, wherein said flanges are integrally formed with said first and/or second members.

Claim 15

Dependent Claim 40 words

The building wall panel according to claim 12, wherein said attachment means comprise angle members attached to said first and/or second members to overlie a portion of the back side of said backing layer opposite said granite or marble panels.

Claim 16

Independent Claim 208 words

A method of forming a building panel from a plurality of relatively thin, pre-sized panels of selected facing materials such as granite or marble, comprising the steps of: (a) placing the panels of the selected facing material face down on a support; (b) securing anchor means to the backs of said facing panels; (c) covering the backs of said panels and encasing said anchor means with a relatively thin layer of slurry formed from glass fiber reinforced concrete such that when the concrete slurry is cured, said anchor means interconnected said facing panel and said concrete layer; (d) placing on said concrete layer a wall panel support frame formed from a plurality of primary members and placing in said concrete layer attachment means extending outwardly from said primary members (e) positioning said wall panel support frame on said concrete layer to locate said primary and attachment means on the side of said concrete layer opposite said granite or marble panels at locations separate from the locations of said anchor means; (f) placing additional amounts of said slurry over at least portions of said attachment means means and adjacent portion of said concrete layer; and (g) curing said slurry and removing the completed building wall panel from the support.

Claim 17

Independent Claim 208 words

A method of forming a building panel from a plurality of relatively thin, pre-sized panels of selected facing materials such as granite or marble, comprising the steps of: (a) placing the panels of the selected facing material face down on a support; (b) securing anchor means to the backs of said facing panels; (c) covering the backs of said panels and encasing said anchor means with a relatively thin layer of slurry formed from glass fiber reinforced concrete such that when the concrete slurry is cured, said anchor means interconnected said facing panel and said concrete layer; (d) placing on said concrete layer a wall panel support frame formed from a plurality of primary members and placing in said concrete layer attachment means extending outwardly from said primary members (e) positioning said wall panel support frame on said concrete layer to locate said primary and attachment means on the side of said concrete layer opposite said granite or marble panels at locations separate from the locations of said anchor means; (f) placing additional amounts of said slurry over at least portions of said attachment means means and adjacent portion of said concrete layer; and (g) curing said slurry and removing the completed building wall panel from the support.

Claim 18

Dependent Claim 27 words

The method of claim 15, further including the step of rolling and compacting said slurry on the back surfaces of the panels of facing material after spraying.

Claim 19

Dependent Claim 19 words

The method of claim 15, further including forming the slurry from concrete and randomly oriented chopped glass fiber strands.

Claim 20

Dependent Claim 44 words

The method of claim 17, wherein the step of forming said slurry comprises mixing said randomly oriented glass fiber strands with the concrete such that the weight of said strands are equal to between two and twelve percent of the weight of the concrete.

Claim 21

Independent Claim 189 words

A method of mounting relatively thin granite or marble facing panels on a building, comprising the steps of: (a) placing a plurality of granite or marble facing panels generally adjacent to each other in a support form; (b) mounting anchor means on the backs of said facing panels; (c) forming a slurry of concrete and randomly oriented chopped glass fiber strands; (d) covering the backs of said panels and encasing said anchor means with a backing layer of said slurry such that when said slurry is cured, said anchor means interconnect said facing panels and said backing layer; (e) placing on said backing layer a wall panel support frame formed from a plurality of primary members and attachment means means extending outwardly from at least one side of said primary members; (f) locating said panel support frame to avoid positioning said primary and attachment means at the locations of said anchor means; (g) spraying additional amounts of said slurry over portions of said attachment means and adjacent portions of said slurry backing layer; and (h) mounting said building wall panel support frame on a building to clad said building.

Claim 22

Independent Claim 189 words

A method of mounting relatively thin granite or marble facing panels on a building, comprising the steps of: (a) placing a plurality of granite or marble facing panels generally adjacent to each other in a support form; (b) mounting anchor means on the backs of said facing panels; (c) forming a slurry of concrete and randomly oriented chopped glass fiber strands; (d) covering the backs of said panels and encasing said anchor means with a backing layer of said slurry such that when said slurry is cured, said anchor means interconnect said facing panels and said backing layer; (e) placing on said backing layer a wall panel support frame formed from a plurality of primary members and attachment means means extending outwardly from at least one side of said primary members; (f) locating said panel support frame to avoid positioning said primary and attachment means at the locations of said anchor means; (g) spraying additional amounts of said slurry over portions of said attachment means and adjacent portions of said slurry backing layer; and (h) mounting said building wall panel support frame on a building to clad said building.

Claim 23

Dependent Claim 31 words

The method of claim 19, wherein the step of placing the wall panel support frame on said backing layer includes abutting portions of said attachment means means against said backing layer.

Claim 24

Dependent Claim 46 words

The method of claim 19, wherein the step of forming said slurry comprises mixing the randomly oriented glass fiber strands with the concrete such that the weight of said strands are to equal to between two percent and six percent of the weight of the concrete.

Annuity Stage	Window Opens	Payment Deadline	Surcharge Period Until	Estimated Fee	Status
3.5 Years (Year 4)	1987-06-12	1987-12-12	1988-06-12	$2000.00	Window Closed / Lapsed
7.5 Years (Year 8)	1991-06-12	1991-12-12	1992-06-12	$3760.00	Window Closed / Lapsed
11.5 Years (Year 12)	1995-06-12	1995-12-12	1996-06-12	$7700.00	Window Closed / Lapsed

Building wall panel

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