Self-stiffened welded wire lath assembly

Abstract

A self-furring wire lath comprises a mesh of transverse and longitudinal wires welded at their intersections. Stiffening trusses are formed by bent sections in the transverse wires and longitudinal wires attached to the shoulders of the bent sections. A barrier layer material is retained in the lath between the apex of the bent sections and the principal plane of the lath mesh. The barrier layer material has apertures that coincide with the intersections only at the bent sections to enable mesh size reduction without compromising the barrier layer but still allow the fabrication of the lath. The lath provides good embedment in the stucco, reduces cracking and wastage of stucco while remaining easy to work with.

1 . A welded wire lath comprising: 
 (a) a plurality of generally parallel transverse wires lying primarily in a first plane and each departing from the first plane in a plurality of spaced-apart bent sections, each bent section defined between first and second shoulder regions;    (b) a plurality of generally parallel first longitudinal wires lying generally in the first plane and intersecting with and attached to the transverse wires, the first longitudinal wires including, for at least one of the plurality of bent sections, at least one of said longitudinal wires being attached to the transverse wires in a first one of said shoulder regions;    (c) a plurality of generally parallel second longitudinal wires lying generally in a second plane parallel to and spaced apart from the first plane, the second longitudinal wires attached to the bent sections of the transverse wires; and    (d) a barrier layer material disposed between the first and second planes wherein the barrier layer material is perforated by apertures which coincide with some but not all of the intersections of the transverse and longitudinal wires of the first plane.    
   
   
       2 . The wire lath of  claim 1  wherein said apertures coincide with said intersections only at said bent sections and said bent sections extend through said apertures.  
   
   
       3 . The wire lath of  claim 2  wherein said apertures are round in shape.  
   
   
       4 . The wire lath of  claim 3  wherein said barrier layer material comprises an absorbent paper.  
   
   
       5 . The wire lath of  claim 4  wherein the barrier layer material has additional perforations that are substantially smaller than said apertures and that do not overlap said intersections.  
   
   
       6 . The wire lath of  claim 4  or  5  wherein said barrier layer material has slits that do not overlap said intersections.  
   
   
       7 . The wire lath of  claim 4  further comprising a backing layer adhesively affixed to said barrier layer material, and wherein said second longitudinal wires extend between the backing layer and the barrier layer.  
   
   
       8 . The wire lath of  claim 1  wherein said apertures are elongated and extend in a transverse direction.  
   
   
       9 . The wire lath of  claim 1  further comprising a longitudinal wire attached to the transverse wires in the second one of said shoulder regions.  
   
   
       10 . The wire lath of  claim 1  wherein at least some of said first longitudinal wires are non round in cross-section.  
   
   
       11 . The wire lath of  claim 10  wherein at least some of said first longitudinal wires are flattened and are oriented to lay generally in said first plane.  
   
   
       12 . The wire lath of  claim 9  wherein said bent sections are generally V-shaped.  
   
   
       13 . The wire lath of  claim 12  wherein the angle formed between each leg of the V formed by said bent sections and the normal to said first plane is  45  degrees or less.  
   
   
       14 . The wire lath of  claim 12  wherein said longitudinal wire attached to said first shoulder regions and said longitudinal wire attached to said second shoulder regions are spaced from one another a distance equal or greater than the height of said V-shaped bent sections.  
   
   
       15 . The wire lath of  claim 12  wherein the second longitudinal wires are attached approximately near the bottom outside of said bent sections.  
   
   
       16 . The wire lath of  claim 1  further comprising a plurality of spaced apart furring spacers on said transverse wires.  
   
   
       17 . A building structure comprising a plurality of generally parallel transverse framing members and a welded wire lath attached to said framing members, said wire lath comprising: 
 (a) a plurality of generally parallel transverse wires lying primarily in a first plane and each departing from the first plane in a plurality of spaced-apart bent sections, each bent section defined between first and second shoulder regions;    (b) a plurality of generally parallel first longitudinal wires lying generally in the first plane and intersecting with and attached to the transverse wires, the first longitudinal wires including, for at least one of the plurality of bent sections, a pair of longitudinal wires, one of the pair of longitudinal wires attached to each of the transverse wires in a first one of the shoulder regions corresponding to the bent section and another one of the pair of longitudinal wires attached to each of the transverse wires in a second one of the shoulder regions corresponding to the bent section;    (c) a plurality of generally parallel second longitudinal wires lying generally in a second plane parallel to and spaced apart from the first plane, said second longitudinal wires being attached to said bent sections;    (d) a barrier layer material disposed between said first and second planes, said barrier layer material comprising apertures that coincide with intersections of said transverse and longitudinal wires only at said bent sections, and wherein said bent section extend through said apertures; and, (e) said wire lath being oriented such that said second longitudinal wires are adjacent to the framing members, each of said second longitudinal wires crossing a plurality of said framing members, and said first longitudinal wires being spaced from said framing members.    
   
   
       18 . The building structure of  claim 17  wherein said framing members lie in the horizontal plane.  
   
   
       19 . The building structure of  claim 17  further comprising a layer of solidified stucco encasing said first longitudinal wires and at least substantially filling a space between said barrier layer material and said first longitudinal wires.  
   
   
       20 . The building structure of  claim 17  wherein said first longitudinal wires are flattened and are oriented with a wide dimension substantially parallel to the horizontal plane.  
   
   
       21 . A method of fabricating a welded wire lath having a plurality of transverse wires that are attached to a plurality of longitudinal wires at intersections between them, said transverse wires including bent sections thereof, said wire lath further including a barrier layer material having apertures coinciding with said intersections only at said bent section, comprising the steps of: 
 (a) producing a substantially flat welded wire lath mesh of intersecting transverse and longitudinal wires;    (b) processing said lath mesh to form spaced bends in said transverse wires, said bends extending portions of said transverse wires out of, and then back into, the principal plane of said lath mesh;    (c) providing a sheet of a barrier paper material in which a limited number of apertures are pre-cut in the paper to correspond only to the location of said bends;    (d) presenting said lath mesh and said barrier paper in overlapping relationship to a welding machine such that said pre-cut apertures overlap said bent sections of said transverse wires; and,    (e) welding longitudinal backing wires to said transverse wires through said apertures to thereby retain said barrier paper onto said lath mesh.