Facing

Sheet metal building facing elements, a plurality of which can be assembled and fastened to buildings to present a smooth front. Each element at its upper and lower edges has bent upper and lower tongues forming complementary shapes of V-cross-section, and at its side edges has bent portions of different configuration. The bent tongues and bent side portions enable assembled interengagement of the various edges of adjacent facing elements. There are also facing elements configured for use on building corners and window and door recesses.

This invention relates to a facing of sheet metal for residential, factory 
and other buildings. 
The invention, more precisely, relates to a facing comprising facing 
elements and means for attaching the same. 
Facings of the aforementioned kind are previously known in a great number 
of designs and dimensions. 
Conventional facings, however, which are assembled of a plurality of 
elements, which often have dimensions of about 0,5-1 m square, are 
designed so that between each element grooves or elevations are located, 
to which attachment means are provided. The conventional facing elements, 
thus, are not designed so as to create a substantially plane front. 
Since recently facing elements are demanded, which render it possible to 
imitate a plastered front. In Swedish patent specification No. 11004/77, 
however, a facing element is disclosed which yields an entirely smooth 
front. This facing element is mounted by fitting screw heads or the like 
into keyhole-recesses in the elements. The mounting method is relatively 
difficult, but the difficulty is compensated for by the possibility of 
exchanging every mounted element without requiring any one of the 
remaining elements to be removed. 
The present invention relates to a facing, which yields an entirely smooth 
front, has a simpler design, is easier and less expensive to manufacture 
and extremely simple to mount. The invention, thus, is an essential 
progress in several respects compared with said known facing elements. 
The present invention relates to a facing of the kind defined in the 
preamble of the attached claim 1 and having substantially the 
characterizing features as defined in the characterizing clause of claim 1 
.

In FIGS. 1-4 a facing element 1 according to the invention is shown. In 
FIGS. 1 and 2 the upper surface 2 of the the facing element is shown seen 
from the rear side. Every facing element has a substantially plane upper 
surface intended to constitute the outer surface of a mounted front. From 
the upper and, respectively, lower short side of the facing element 1 an 
upper tongue 3 and, respectively, a lower tongue 4 are formed. The tongues 
3,4 extend upward and in the direction from the upper surface 2 so as to 
form an angle with the upper surface. The upper tongue 3 as well as the 
lower one 4 are bent at their free ends, so that every tongue together 
with the associated bent portion 5,6 forms a V-shaped cross-section, as 
clearly appears from FIG. 5. The angle of the V is smaller than 
90.degree.. The free legs of the bent portions 5,6 are seen by way of a 
cross-section in parallel with the upper surface 2, which also appears 
clearly from FIG. 5. 
From the plane upper surface 2 of every facing element, two parallel 
lateral edges 7,8 are bent downward to serve as the vertical side surfaces 
of the facing element. One, 7, of these lateral edges is bent at its free 
end to a U-shaped portion 9, the bottom 10 of which is in parallel with 
the upper surface. The free legs 11 of the U-shaped portion 9, further, 
preferably are in parallel with the lateral edge 7. The U-shaped portion 
9, thus, forms a strip 9 projecting from the bent-down side surface 7 of 
the facing element 1. 
The attachment means comprise a section 12 to be attached to a building 
wall 13 or the like by a suitable member 16. At one of its ends, which in 
mounted state of the section is the end farthest remote from the wall, the 
section 12 is formed to a portion 14 of U-shaped cross-section. The bent 
portion 5 of the upper tongue 3 of a facing element 1 and the bent portion 
6 of the lower tongue 4 of a facing element located next above said 
aforementioned facing element are intended at the mounting of facing 
elements to be inserted into the U-shaped portions 14 of the attachment 
means, as can be seen in FIG. 5 where facing elements in mounted state are 
shown. The U-shaped portion 14 hereby retains the two facing elements in 
vertical and horizontal direction when the upper surfaces 2 of the facing 
elements are in a vertical plane. The bent portion 5 of the upper tongue 3 
of the facing element 1 has such a length, that the bent portion 5 
substantially or fully reaches to the bottom of the U-shaped portion 14 of 
the attachment means 12. When the facing element is being mounted, the 
bent portion 5 is connected to the U-shaped portion 14 by a screw 15, a 
rivet or the like, as shown in FIG. 5. Said screw or rivet preferably 
connects also the bottom 10 of said projecting strip 9 with the U-shaped 
portion, as shown in FIG. 5. Every facing element is attached preferably 
by only one screw or rivet, but in certain cases, depending a.o. on 
climatological conditions, several screws can be used. Alternatively, in 
many cases the facing element can be attached without using a screw at 
all. 
The attachment means 12 according to a preferred embodiment comprises a 
bent sheet metal section, which has a length corresponding to a part of or 
to the entire horizontal length of a wall 13 or the like to be faced. The 
length of the attachment section 12 along the wall, however, also can be 
very short. The attachment section 12 preferably is designed so that the 
distance of the U-shaped portion from the building wall 13 permits the 
mounting of insulation material 17 between the wall 13 and the facing 
elements 1. 
In the foregoing a building wall 13 has been mentioned, but the attachment 
means 12 can be secured also in frame work or the like. 
In FIGS. 6 and 7 is shown how facing elements 1 are positioned and attached 
to the side of each other. FIG. 6, which is a section along the line B--B 
in FIG. 5 on a slightly reduced scale, shows that the downward bent side 
surface 8, which is not provided with a projecting strip, at the mounting 
is positioned in the U-shaped portion of the projecting strip 9 of a 
facing element located adjacent in horizontal direction. In FIG. 7 this is 
shown on an enlarged scale. FIG. 7, which is a section along the line C--C 
in FIG. 5, the screw or rivet 15 is indicated dashed in order to show how 
it connects a facing element with the attachment means 12. 
FIG. 9 shows two facing elements 18,19, which agree with the previously 
shown facing elements 1, except for the configuration at the corner 20. At 
the facing elements 18,19, which are intended to constitute a corner of a 
building, so-called corner elements, their lateral edge 21,22 located at 
the corner is bent inward beneath the upper surface 2, so that the lateral 
edge on each corner element forms an angle of substantially 45.degree. 
with the upper surface. The inward bent lateral edge 21 of one corner 
element 18 is bent at its free end to a U-shaped portion 23, into which 
the lateral edge 22 of the other corner element is intended to be inserted 
and secured by a screw, rivet or other connection (not shown). 
In the lower part of FIG. 5 the attachment means 23 for a facing element 1 
located lowermost on the wall is shown. The facing element 1, as 
mentioned, is provided farthest downwardly with its lower V-shaped 
portion, which consists of the lower tongue 4 and associated bent portion 
6. The attachment means 23 consists of a bent sheet metal section to be 
secured in a building wall 13 by a suitable member 24 or the like, the 
cross-section of which at the location of the lower V-shaped portion 4,6 
consists of a V-shaped portion 25, which substantially agrees with the 
form of the V-shaped portion 4,6 of the facing element 1. This attachment 
means, thus, locks the lower portion of the facing element against 
movement to and from the wall 13. The attachment means 23 further 
preferably comprises a portion 26 projecting from the front and formed to 
serve as a drip sheet. 
Facing elements for front parts located perpendicularly to the plane of the 
main building front, such as about windows and doors, so-called window and 
door recess elements 27,28, are secured in the facing elements described 
above by a screw 32, rivet or the like, when the facing elements adjoin a 
window or door recess element. The window and door recess element may have 
any suitable design, but preferably it is formed as shown in FIG. 8 where 
a window or door recess element 27,28 is shown adjacent a windowframe 29 
with associated window-pane 30. The two parts of the window or door recess 
element 27,28 are movable relative one another and fixed in position 
relative one another by a screw 31, rivet or the like. 
When mounting facing elements 1 according to the invention, after some or 
all of the attachment means 12,23 have been mounted, first the lowermost 
elements 1 are attached by suspending them on the attachment means 12,23 
and pushing them adjacent each other, so that two adjacent facing elements 
1 engage with each other by a lateral edge 8 and a projecting strip 9. As 
appears from FIG. 7, the lateral edge 8 can be moved at the mounting into 
abutment to the lateral edge 7, so that an entirely smooth front is 
obtained. The next row of facing elements 1, counted upward, are suspended 
on the next following attachment means 12 and also fitted into the 
attachment means 12 located next below, as appears from FIG. 5. 
The present invention, thus, provides a facing comprising facing elements 
and attachment means, which are extremely easy to mount. As appears from 
the aforesaid, in many cases it is only necessary to suspend the facing 
elements on the attachment means without screwing or riveting them. Even 
when only one screw or rivet is used, this reduces the working time and 
thereby the cost substantially compared with the mounting of known 
facings. Furthermore, a completely covering and substantially entirely 
smooth front is obtained. 
A further advantage is the possibility of positioning the facing elements 
spaced from the building wall, so that additional insulation of insulated 
buildings or the insulation of uninsulated buildings is possible in a 
simple manner. 
The invention must not be regarded restricted to the embodiments described 
above, but can be varied within the scope of the attached claims.