Steel framing system for multi-story buildings

Claim 1

In a multi-story building structure having a lower floor and at least one upper floor, including poured steel-reinforced concrete floors, and load bearing walls, including upper walls, including steel studs, supporting the upper floors and transmitting seismic and bearing loads therebetween, the improved framing system for transmitting the entire seismic loads and the entire bearing loads of the upper walls and floors by steel structural elements of the walls therebelow, said steel structural elements comprising, in combination: (a) horizontally spaced steel studs, having upper and lower ends, forming said walls; (b) vertically spaced steel channel members running along the entire length of said walls at floor and ceiling level, shaped and dimensioned to receive and locate the upper and lower ends of said steel studs to directly transmit said loads from said studs to a hybrid wide-flange steel beam, each of said channel members having a U-shaped cross-section, including a horizontal web in steel-to-steel contact with said beam and continuous side flange portions extending perpendicular to said beam; (c) the hybrid wide-flange steel beam running along the length of said walls at floor level between said spaced channel members, said hybrid beam including (i) a lower horizontal flange extending laterally a distance sufficient to support outer edges of said steel-reinforced concrete floor which abuts the side walls between said channel members, (ii) an upper horizontal flange to support said channel member thereabove, and (iii) a web connecting said upper and lower flanges; and (d) means for securing said steel structural elements together with steel-to-steel contact and for joining said secured steel elements and said concrete floors to form a unitary building structure in which the entire seismic loads and bearing loads of the upper walls and floors are transmitted by said steel structural elements of the walls therebelow.