Thorley Exhibit No. 1006
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`Pi3.'1'Ei\lTEDAFR" ems
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`3,875,623:
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`/40:I
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`1
`FABRIC JOINTS
`This invention relates to a fabric joint.
`It is frequently desirable to be able to join sheets of
`fabric to one another by a connection which is easy to
`engage, has high strength and is substantially weather-
`proof. Examples of applications of the joint are the
`joining of covers of all kinds and the joining of sections
`of an airhouse i.e., a structure made to sheets of fabric
`and kept erected by air under slight pressure. At pres-
`ent the method of joining the fabric sections making
`such a house is by sliding clasp fastener or by some
`form of lacing such as Dutch lacing or by use of eyelets
`connected to one another in various fashions. All these
`methods suffer from their own disadvantages. Lacing
`and eyelets require a certain degree of skill to manufac-
`ture and are time-consuming besides being difficult to
`manipulate under adverse weather conditions in the
`open while sliding clasp fasteners are liable to damage.
`It requires only damage to one of the elements ofa slid-
`ing clasp fastener to render the entire fastener useless.
`Fabric joints are known in which the edge portions of
`sheets of fabrics are jammed in slots in connecting ele-
`ments by suitably shaped jamming members.
`Such joints are troublesome to assemble because
`they require the simultaneous filament of the sheet and
`the jamming member in the slot, they cannot be used
`for joining vaulted sheets because of the necessary ri-
`gidity of the jammed member, and they are compara-
`tively easily pulled apart because their grip depends
`only on friction.
`It is an object of the present invention to provide a
`joint which has great strength, is cheap, is easy to fit to-
`gether by unskilled labour, is weatherproof, and is us-
`able to join vaulted sheets such as those which form the
`roof panels of an air house.
`A fabric joint according to the invention incorporates
`a rib of non-resilient material formed with two parallel
`passageways and two continuous lateral slots each pro-
`viding lateral access to a respective passageway and
`two sheets of fabric each having one boundary edge en-
`larged by formation of an integral bead thereon, the
`beads on each sheet being located within a respective
`passageway and the portion of the sheet extending back
`from the bead passing through the slot.
`For joining sheets in the one plane the slots face away
`from one another in opposite directions. For forming a
`corner joint the slots may face in directions at an acute
`angle to one another.
`Each rib may be cut away to present at each end a
`cut-away portion having a cut face parallel with the
`plane containing the axes of the passageways.
`The rib may be formed ofa metal such as aluminium
`or may be formed of a non-metal such as nylon.
`The rib may have a figure of eight cross section, the
`passageways being located in the two loops of the eight.
`In this construction forjoining sheets in the same plane
`the portions of the loops at the top and bottom of the
`eight are formed with the slots.
`Practical embodiments of the invention are illus-
`trated in the accompanying drawings in which
`FIG. I illustrates in cross section a joint of two sheets
`in one plane,
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`35
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`40
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`45
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`50
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`55
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`60
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`65
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`3,875,623
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`2
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`FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the joint showing the
`meeting point of two adjacent short ribs forming sec-
`tions of a longer rib,
`FIG. 3 is a side view of two adjacent rib sections
`showing how the ends may be cut away and engage one
`another and
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`FIG. 4 is a cross section of a joint at a corner.
`In the drawings and referring to FIGS. 1 to 3, 1 de-
`notes a rib of figure eight cross section formed with two
`parallel passageways 2 located in the loops of the eight,
`and two lateral continuous slots facing away from one
`another. Two sheets of fabric 4 are formed along edge
`portions to be joined with integral enlarged beads 5.
`The bead 5 of each sheet is located within the respec-
`tive passageway 2 and the portion of the sheet extend-
`ing back from the bead passes through the respective
`slot 3.
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`10
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`I5
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`20
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`25
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`30
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`Each rib 1 is cut away at each end to present a cut
`away portion 6 having a cut face 7 parallel with the
`plane containing the axes of the passageways 2, the cut
`faces 7 facing in opposite directions with respect to the
`plane containing the axes of the passageways 2.
`In the construction of FIG. 4 the lateral slots 3 face
`in directions at right angles to one another. Otherwise
`the construction of the joint is similar to that illustrated
`in FIGS. 1 to 3 and the same reference numerals denote
`the same parts.
`In practice, ajoint is made by sliding each sheet 4 on
`to the rib 1 so that the bead 5 enters an associated pas-
`sageway 2 while the portion of the sheet 4 extending
`back from the bead 5 passes through the lateral slot 3.
`At the junction of two short ribs forming sections of a
`longer rib the cut away end 6 of one rib section I over-
`laps the adjacent rib section 1 whereby to enhance the
`waterproof properties of the joint.
`The joint is easy to assemble or dismantle, it is cheap,
`has a strength equal to the strength of the fabric sheets
`being joined and because of the tortuous nature of the
`passage from one side of each sheet to the other is vir-
`tually weatherproof. Where the rib is made of metal it
`has the additional advantage of serving as a lightning
`conductor where the joint is used to join the fabric sec-
`tions of an airhouse. The ribs may be curved to the con-
`tour of a vaulted roof without causing any difficulty in
`assembly.
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`What is claimed is:
`1. In a fabric joint incorporating adjoining aligned
`ribs of non-resilient material each formed with two par-
`allel aligned passageways and two lateral continuous
`slots each providing lateral access to a respective pas-
`sageway and two sheets of fabric each having one
`boundary edge enlarged by formation of an integral
`bead thereon, the beads on each sheet being located
`within a respective passageway and the portion of the
`sheet extending back from the bead passing through
`the slot, said adjoining‘ ribs being cut-away at adjacent
`ends so that each rib presents a cut-away portion hav-
`ing a cut face parallel with the plane containing the
`axes of passageways, the cut faces facing in opposite
`directions with respect to the plane containing the axes
`of the passageways. *
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