Horizontal panel skirting for below dwelling
I United States Patent 1191 1111 3,877,188  
 Struben Apr. 15, 1975 [54] HORIZONTAL PANEL SKIRTING FOR 3,383,819 5/1968 Zimmer et a1. 52/D1G. 3 BELOW DWELLING 3,451,180 6/1969 Struben 52/1316. 3 3,537,218 l1/1970 Hindman 52/DlG. 3 Inventor: Francis Struben, Whitehall, 3,5s9,0s5 6/1971 Sickler 52/126 Assigneez silverqbp Manufacturing 3,694,979 10/1972 Vadme 52/DIG. 3  
 Company, Inc., White Marsh, Md.  
  Przmary Exammer-Frank 1... Abbott 1 Filedi 1973 Assistant ExaminerJames L. Ridgill, Jr. [211 App] No: 404,930 Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Walter G. Finch Related U.S. Application Data [57] ABSTRACT [63] Continuation of Ser. No. 223,245, Feb. 3, 1972,  
 abandoned A paneled sktrtmg for enclosmg the crawl space beneath dwelling, especially those of the mobile home 52 us. c1 52/169; 52/1310. 3 type is provided- This Skirting insists Of a Piuiaiiiy 15 1 1111. C1. E04g 9/06; EO4g 11/00 horizontally meta Paneisi These Panels iii 58 Field 61 Search 52/126, 169, D16. 3 iiii simied, angled and &#34;nifwmiy Spaced meta Posts- The posts are spring loaded, adjustable in height, and [56] References Cited are attached to the underside of the dwelling and into the ground or a base pad.  
 7 Claims, 6 Drawing Figures HORIZONTAL PANEL SKIRTING FOR BELOW DWELLING This is a continuation of application Ser. No. 223,245, filed Feb. 3. 1972. now abandoned.  
 the scope of the appended claims the invention may be practicedotherwise than as specifically described.  
 I claim:  
 1. A panel skirting for enclosing the space below an This invention relates generally to building structure, elevated dwelling disposed on a base, COmprisingz and more particularly it pertains to skirting for enclosing the crawl space beneath dwellings. especially those of the mobile home type.  
  It is an object of this invention. therefore. to provide a skirting arrangement which utilizes formed metal panels which are positioned horizontally and which are attached to post assemblies of extruded shape metal.  
  Another object of this invention is to provide an eas ily installed skirting which compensates for irregularities between the underside of a dwelling and a base pad Still another object of this invention is to provide clapboard-like panels having hidden attachment slots.  
  Other objects and attendant advantages of this invention will become more readily apparent and understood from the detailed specification and accompanying drawings in which:  
  FIG. I is a perspective partial view of a mobile home illustrating a skirting embodying features of this invention;  
  FIG. 2 is a front elevation view of the skirting showing the post assembly with the panels attached;  
  FIG. 3 is a side elevation view taken along line 33 of FIG. I:  
  FIG. 4 is a rear elevation view of the skirting post assembly;  
  FIG. 5 is a cross sectional view taken along line 55 of FIG. 2; and  
 FIG. 6 is a plan view taken along line 66 of FIG. 2.  
  Referring now to the drawings; as shown best in FIG. I, there is illustrated a typical mobile home 10 with a skirting system I2 attached thereto.  
  The skirting system 12 consists of a plurality of metal post assemblies 14 as shown in FIGS. 2, 3, 4, and 5. They are uniformly spaced. and are attached at the top end by a screw 16, passing through a hole in a spiked cap 18, onto the underside of the mobile home 10.  
  At the bottom end of each post assembly 14, a spiked cap 18 is mounted on the adjustable bar 22. This spiked cap 18 makes contact with the ground or a base pad 25, and it is locked in a spring loaded condition by the action of a locking screen 24 and a spring 26.  
  The post assemblies 14 are slotted on the edges. There are two slots to accept each end of horizontally positioned metal panels 28. One slot is angled up for the top edge and one slot 31 is angled down for the lower edge of a panel 28.  
  As viewed in FIG. 3 the installation of a panel 28 is by simply compressing the panel 28 slightly and slipping it into the slots 30 and 31 on the post assembly I4.  
  Referring now to FIG. 5, as the panels 28 are positioned into the slots 30 and 31 of each post assembly 14, they are pushed in firmly and butted up against the channel 32 on the post assembly 14. A metal trim strip 34 is then placed over an opening 38 provided between the panels 28 and secured into place by a screw 36 screwed into a channel 32. Angle stock provides the corner finishing 40 as shown in FIG. 1.  
  Obviously many modifications and variations of the present invention are possible in light of the above teachings. It is. therefore, to be understood that within a plurality of spaced vertically disposed posts. each said post having spaced pairs of slots formed along its opposite edges, one slot of each pair of slots being angled upwardly and the other slot of each pair of slots being angled downwardly;  
 a plurality of panel members disposed horizontally to said posts and being disposed on a forward side of the posts, each panel member having horizontal edges engaging in said slots of each pair of slots, horizontally adjacent panel members being held in alignment and the ends thereof being held spaced apart by said posts;  
 a longitudinal channel on each of the posts on the forward side of the post common with and located between the spaced ends of the horizontally adjacent panel members supported in the slots in each of said posts, the longitudinal channel on each of the posts having a vertically disposed longitudinal aperture disposed in the forward surface thereof which faces outwardly normal to the plane in which the panel members substantially lie. the longitudinal aperture extending the length of the longitudinal channel and communicating the interior of the channel to ambient;  
 means mounted on the top of each post and attaching into at least two spaced loci on the underside of the dwelling;  
 fastening means on said last-mentioned means and fastening said lastmentioned means and said post to the dwelling;  
 a trim strip positioned over the seam formed by the spaced edges of said horizontally adjacent panel members. the trim strip substantially comprising a U-shaped member invertedly positioned over the seam to cover said seam; and,  
 securing means inserted through the outwardly facing surface of each said trim strip and extending through the longitudinal aperture and into the longitudinal channel, the securing means engaging the walls of the channel defining the aperture to secure the trim strip to the post, thereby to cover the seam between said panel members and to hold the panel members in place between the trim strip and the posts.  
 2. A panel skirting as recited in claim 1, wherein said attaching means comprises:  
 a cap attached to the upper end of each post and having a plurality of spikes extending from an upper surface thereof for attaching into at least two spaced loci on the underside of the dwelling, and an opening formed in the cap for permitting insertion of a fastening member therethrough and into the dwelling so that each post is secured to the dwelling.  
  3. A panel skirting for enclosing the space below an elevated dwelling as recited in claim 1, and further comprising:  
 means positioned at the bottom of each post for attachment into at least two spaced loci of the upper surface of the base for the dwelling.  
 4. A panel skirting as recited in claim 3, and further comprising:  
 means for adjusting each said post lengthwise to compensate for irregularities in distance between the underside of said dwelling and said base.  
 5. A panel skirting as recited in claim 4 wherein said adjusting means comprises:  
 a bar slidably extending slidably downwardly from each post; and,  
 cap means on the bottom of said bar and having a plurality of downwardly extending spikes thereon for attachment into at least two loci on the surface of said base.  
 6. A panel skirting for enclosing the space below an elevated dwelling surmounting a base. comprising:  
 a plurality of substantially rectangular skirting panel members disposed between the dwelling and the base, the members being. substantially co-planar and lying end-to-end with the vertical disposed edges thereof spaced apart;  
 plurality of spaced post members disposed on one side of and at right angles to said skirting panel members and further extending between the underside of the dwelling and the base for the dwelling, the post members each comprising,  
 a flat body portion having flanged edges extending from either side thereof, the flanged edges being disposed at an angle to the plane of the flat body portion and extending toward the skirting panel members, the flanged edges further having spaced pairs of slots formed therein. the slots being oppositely disposed from each other. one slot of each pair of slots being angled upwardly and the other slot of each pair of slots being angled downwardly, the panel members having horizontal edges engaging in said slots of each pair of slots.  
 a longitudinal channel on the flat body portion of each of the post members and disposed on that side of the post member facing the skirting panel members, horizontally adjacent skirting panel members being held in alignment and the vertically disposed edges thereof being held spaced apart by and abutting the longitudinal channel. thereby forming a seam between the skirting panel members;  
 a trim strip positioned over the seam thus formed on each post member, the trim strip comprising a U- shaped member invertedly positioned over the seam to cover said seam and to enclose saidseam in concert with the flat body portion of the post;  
 securing means inserted through said trim strip and into said channel for securing said trim strip to said post, thereby to cover the seam between said panel members and to hold the panel members between the trim strip and the flanged edges of the post members;  
 a longitudinally disposed housing on the flat body portion of each of the post members and disposed on that side of the body portion opposite the skirting panel members;  
 bar means in the lower portion of the housing and extending slidably therefrom into contact with the base;  
 spring means in the housing and having the lower portion thereof biasing against the upper portion of the bar means;  
 means for locking the spring means in a compressed.  
 configuration so that said spring means tensionably holds the bar means in contact with the base;  
 means mounted on the top of each post member for attaching into at least two spaced loci on the underside of the dwelling; and,  
 means on said last-mentioned means for fastening said last mentioned means and said post member to the dwelling. v  
 7. The apparatus of claim 6 and further comprising:  
 means mounted on the bottom of each bar means for attaching into at least two spaced loci on the upper surface of the base for the dwelling.  
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