A shaft member having an engaging part at a lower part is formed to project from a front edge part of a plate-like fitting main body having a required thickness, and an engaging member having an engaging part at a lower part is mounted to a tip surface of the shaft member, the engaging parts communicating with each other, wherein the fitting main body has a gripping part formed of a through-hole at a central part and pin insertion parts which are formed collinearly in the vicinity of an upper edge part and a lower edge part at a rear side of the fitting main body, and wherein a shaft-member insertion part resisting shear stress is provided at a portion different from the pin insertion parts formed on the upper edge part and the lower edge part.

A device for compensating for the natural shrinkage of building materials includes a hinged expander mounted on an elongate base plate. The base plate includes a plurality of spaced apart teeth on each longitudinal end that define a notch between each pair of adjacent spaced teeth. The hinged expander included two leafs that are joined at an apex in a hinged relationship. Each leaf has an outer edge configured for receipt within a notch in the base plate. Apex is biased in a direction away from the base plate. The teeth prevent outward movement of the leaf edges while permitting inward movement. The base plate is securely fastened to a first building member. A fastener is longitudinally fixed relative to a second building member and the apex of the hinged expander but not fixed longitudinally relative to the base plate and first building member.

There is disclosed a modular platform assembly including a plurality of legs (18), a plurality of floor beams (20a,b,c), and a plurality of connectors (24a,b,c,d) for connecting the legs (18) and the floor beams (20a,b,c). Each said connector (24a,b,c,d) comprises: a downwardly open blind recess (59) with a closed top end (60) and an open bottom end (62); and an upwardly open blind recess (64) with a closed bottom end (66) and an open top end (68). The legs (18) are mounted into the downwardly open blind recesses (59) of the connectors (24a,b,c,d) and the floor beams (20a,b,c) are mounted into the upwardly open blind recesses (64) of the connectors (24a,b,c,d) such that the legs (18) extend downwardly from the floor beams (20a,b,c).

A connection means for building components is described. According to the invention, a connection means can be arranged opposite on the external surface of a building component, having a body, this body comprising a case and containing at least one filling material within said case, where said filling material is more elastic than the material forming said case, said case and said filling material being adapted to receive at least one through anchoring element which can be fixed to said building element.

In one aspect, a smart corner is provided that can be prefabricated. The smart corner comprises a rear side including a first hole, a first side including a second hole, a second side including a third hole, and a top. A wall frame is also provided. The wall frame includes a top plate, a bottom plate, studs, and four smart corners. A framing system is also provided comprising at least two wall frames. The at least two wall frames connect via the smart corners.

A sill plate anchorage assembly for supporting prefabricated building walls includes an elongated member having spaced holes. A concrete formwork defines a space for receiving concrete to form a foundation to support the elongated member. The elongated member may be supported temporarily from the formwork. Anchor shafts extend within each of the spaced holes and extend below the elongated member into the space defined by the concrete formwork. After forming and curing the concrete, nuts or other fasteners are tightened over the upper ends of the anchor shafts to secure the elongated member against the foundation. The upper portions of the spaced holes may include enlarged recesses for receiving the fasteners. Indicia marked upon the elongated member may show the location and type of pass-through regions. A method to secure a horizontal sill plate to an underlying concrete foundation to support vertical building wall panels is also disclosed.

A hydraulic expandable connector for taking up a slack in a tie rod in a hold-down system includes an inner cylindrical body disposed within an outer cylindrical body; a first actuation spring operably attached to the inner cylindrical body and the outer cylindrical body to urge relative motion between the inner cylindrical body and the outer cylindrical body such that the connector expands axially to take up the slack; a first chamber and a second chamber disposed between an outer wall surface of the inner cylindrical body and an inner wall surface of the outer cylindrical body; a first passageway communicating between the first chamber and the second chamber; and a valve operably disposed in the first passageway in an open position when the connector expands and a closed position when the connector is subjected to an axial load.

A building framework is disclosed herein having a first structural member, a second structural member, and a third structural member disposed between the first and second structural members, a first web member connecting the first and third structural members in a spaced apart relationship, and a second web member connecting the second and third structural members in a spaced apart relationship. The first web member is positioned relative to the second web member such that the shortest distance between the first web member and second web member is greater than or equal to 5 times the thickness of the third structural member. Additional products, systems, and methods also are disclosed.

A shrinkage compensating device for seismic restraint in wood building construction combines a spring-operated take-up device (TUD) with a ratcheting split nut. The split nut, attached to or formed as part of a rotatable component of the TUD, acts as the securing nut for the TUD and allows the TUD with the split nut to be slipped over the top of a threaded rod and pulled down along the rod into place against a structural member. Several forms of attachment of the split nut to the spring-operated TUD are disclosed, as is a simplified rotatable split nut version.

A metal joint adapted to be fitted into a hole formed in a building component and fixed to the hole with an adhesive includes: a small diameter portion having an elongated shape and an outer diameter smaller than an inner diameter of the hole; and two large diameter portions fixed to the small diameter portion individually at two locations spaced apart from each other in a longitudinal direction of the small diameter portion, each large diameter portion having an outer diameter corresponding to the inner diameter of the hole. Furthermore, irregularities are formed on an outer peripheral surface of the small diameter portion in a section between the two large diameter portions.