CONSTRUCTIONAL MEMBER FOR BUILDINGS

Abstract: The constructional member is intended for use in installations of false ceilings, walls, doors and windows in building, and is formed as a substantially U-shaped rail with a web portion (1) and two leg portions (2, 3). Since one leg portion (3) is snapable onto the web portion (1). the rail can be first placed round the member (15) which is to be erected, e.g. a partition wall, and thereafter the constructional member can be fixed in place with the help of the snap-on leg portion (3). The middle portion (5, 7, 8) of the web portion (1) has channels which enable exact fitting of the constructional member either round a building member (17) or against another constructional member, e.g. at comers or edge surfaces. The member can be fixed against the ceiling and floor at an optional location in a room, which substantially simplifies installations and alterations. Further advantages are that all installations can be carried out as pure erection work and that the material which is used in an installation can be recovered and reused on being dismantled.

Description: Constructional member for buildings The present invention relates to a constructional member for buil¬ dings, preferably for use with pre-fabricated building members for false ceiling, wall, door, window and similar installations. In building technology and especially with interior decoration fit¬ tings and fixtures, the different work operations must be very care¬ fully planned today, so that the tradesmen who are to carry out the installation work on site will be of the right category for the work operation, and will be there at the right time as well. The situation becomes especially complicated for installations where tradesmen of different categories must return to the site repeatedly so as to allow other artisans to complete the parts of the building work which are a prerequisite for the next stage in the installation work. For example, electricians and plumbers must return to the site at different stages to put in wiring and pipes according as the installation of partition walls and false ceilings is completed. Such time and work planning is extremely difficult to execute, and in practice there are always- collisions between tradesmen of different categories, who then interrupt each other's work. Artisans in one category sometimes cannot start their work due to the fact that a previous building stage is not ready. In other cases tradesmen in a certain category may perhaps have omit¬ ted to make additions to their work that are required to complete a definite building stage, which means that work already. finished must be pulled down and done again. Planning building work under these conditions must obviously be extremely difficult, thus taking a lot of time as well as being expensive, not to mention how expensive incorrect planning must be for the owner of the building . In calculating building cos ts , one mus t always count o the occurrence of cost increases of this kind , and therefore these costs are also included in tenders to the purchaser. Today , there are certain electrical systems which can be install after most of the structural work has been completed , and these systems can also allow considerable flexibility with respect to placing electric light fittings , plug points and other arrange¬ ments pertinent to the electrical installation . Such systems are built up on a relatively simple basic installation , which must be put in at n early stage in building . The advantages of these known systems care naturally that in the planning stage it is not necessary to s tate in detail where power points and lighting fit tings shall be placed, and they also enable wide rearrangements of these units if it is desired to use the premises for other pu poses than those for which they were originally intended. These known electrical systems are based on standardi zed rails which c be placed in ceilings or on hangers , and which serve as cable ch nels in the ceiling. Both mains s upply and light current cables can be placed in these rails , and the bottoms of the rails are formed with attachments for lighting fittings , thus enabling a flexible lighting installation . The ceiling system can also be supplemented with lines to tables directly from each rail , and such lines ' can then be supplemented in an optional way with- earth power points and telephone j acks . These known rail systems are furthermore designed as carriers for false ceilings , and the rails are then arranged in the form of a grid, the dimensions of which are suited to the ceiling module and lighting fitting lengt Prefabricated building s labs consisting of a compressed fibrous m terial , -of the mineral wool type , on whi ch there has been placed a hard surface material , e . g . of the heavily compressed glass fib sheet type , are already known . These building s labs have extremel good heat and sound insulating pro p erties , and the hard surface material is available in a number of different colours and pat¬ terns . If so required , the surface can be covered with woven or patterned wallpaper during manufacture of the s lab . The cons tructional member according to the present invention is intended for use together with prefabricated building members of the type mentioned above. The installation of partition walls, doors and false ceilings is thus simplified, so that this work can be carried out as .a pure erection job, using prefabricated building members and utilizing the inventive constructional member. The building members as well as the constructional members arrive on site in a finished condition, for putting together with bolted joints. This means that the entire installation of interior fix¬ tures can be carried out by one single category of artisans, who do not need to be trained in joinery or bricklaying, since such work does not need to be involved. The inventive constructional member can. also be used to advantage in conjunction with the electrical system described above, the electrical system thus being simplified to a great degree, and the installation of false ceilings and partition walls can be co¬ ordinated with that of laying electrical cables from the ceiling rails at the rate at which erection work is carried out. These objects are substantially realized in that a substantially U-shaped basic rail comprises a basic web portion and two basic leg portions, the middle portion of the basic web being formed with supporting and anchoring means for connecting building mem¬ bers, and that at least one basic leg portion is removably at¬ tached to the basic web portion. With the inventive constructional member, substantial advantages are obtained in the form of shortened planning time, as well as very much, simplified building construction in essentially two stages. The first stage consists of the finished building struc¬ ture, i.e. all concrete work has been done and the main struc- tures of the building are ready. In general it is then possible for concrete workers and carpenters to leave the site, and the installation of false ceilings, partition walls, interior deco¬ rating fittings and fixtures, electrical installation etc. is be¬ gun. During this latter stage, the whole installation can be car¬ ried out using building members and the inventive constructional member and, as already mentioned, the work can be carried out by a single category of tradesmen trained in electrical installation and erection. Apart from the above-mentioned advantages obtained with the in¬ ventive constructional member, a flexible interior is also achi¬ eved, which can be easily altered and suited to individual requi ments. Since interior work can be mainly carried out by a single cate¬ gory of tradesmen, planning work is -also facilitated, and good coaction between different environmental components such as ligh air and sound can be obtained at the site as early as the plan¬ ning stage. The supply and erection of all interior building mem bers such as false ceilings, partition walls, screens and lighti fittings can be carried out by the same supplier, who also answe for the erection work. Since the entire interior installation is built up from prefabri cated members, dismantling will naturally also be simplified and both walls and ceiling members can be re-used. Some embodiments of the inventive constructional member, selec¬ ted as examples to demonstrate its use, are described in detail below while referring to the accompanying drawings on which Figure 1 is a cross section of a basic rail according to the in¬ vention, Figure 2 is a cross section of a leg portion which is removably connected to the basic web portion, Figure 3 is a cross section of two additional rails attached to a basic web portion according to Figure 1, Figure 4 is a cross section through a partition wall with a basi web portion arranged as ceiling support for the wall, Figure 5 is a longitudinal section through a corner portion of a door frame according to Figure 6 , Figure 6 is a horizontal section through a partition wall with a door frame and door leaf built up from the inventive construction member,• Figure 7 is a cross section through the connection to the floor o the partition wall in Figure 4, Figure 8 is a cross section through the partition wall and door i Figure 6, Figure 9 is a cross section through a screen wall built using the inventive constructional member, Figure 10 is the upper side of the screen wall in Figure 9, Figure -11 is a cross section through a- ceiling connection for a glass wall, whe- the- glazing is fixed by means of an inventive constructional member, Figure 12 is a horizontal section through the glass wall, * inclu¬ ding pillars made up from the constructional member, Figure 13 is a cross x section through the floor connection of the glass wall in Figure 12, Figure 14 is a horizontal section through a window structure built up from the inventive constructional member, containing insulating glazing and ordinary window glazing with window frames and sealing Figure 15 is a beam built up from the inventive constructional ele - ment and Figure 16 shows an alternative beam structure. Figures 1 and 2 show the parts, which together form a basic rail according to the invention. The rail thus comprises a basic web portion 1 and two basic leg portions 2 and 3, one part of the ' basic web portion being formed as an attachment for the basic leg portion 3, which is thus movably attached to the basic web portion 1. The basic rail is further formed with supporting legs 4 and anchoring means in the form of a substantially I-shaped sec¬ tion with a- web portion 5 and flanges 7, 8, 9 and 10. Together with the basic web portion 1 the legs 2 and 3 define a first chan¬ nel in which a building member, e.g. a wall slab, is introduceable with a suitable fit, as is apparent from Figures 4 to 14. With the anchoring web portion 5, the anchoring flanges 7, 8 and 9, 10 form two channels, one on either side- of the rail, into which attaching members are fixable. One type of attaching member is shown in Fi¬ gure 3, .and consists of a supplementary rail 11 provided with re¬ silient means 12 for engagement with the ends of the anchoring flanges 7, 8 or 9, 10. As is apparent from Figure 4, the insides of the support legs 4 and the basic web portion 1 form a third channel, in which a buil¬ ding element such as a wall slab 13 can be introduced with a suit¬ able fit. The basic rail 1, 2, 3 is attached to the wall slab 13 by means of a screwed connection 14, and the first channel, i.e. the one formed by the basic web portion 1 and the basic leg por¬ tions 2 and 3 accomodate another wall slab 15, constituting the ceiling connection for a partition wall. The floor connection is apparent from Figure 7, where the support legs 4 are facing to¬ wards the floor and are fixed sideways by means of wall-to-wall carpeting or a similar soft floor covering, while the first chan¬ nel accomodates the lower part of the wall slab 15. In the centre of the wall slab there is another tubular attaching member 17, fi ting into the second channel formed by the anchoring web portion 5 and the anchoring flanges 7 and 8. This attachment member is forme as a tube, preferably from metal, which locks the wall structure sideways simultaneously as it constitutes a stiffening element in the wall. The cross section of the attachment member 17 can be seen in Figure 6. The horizontal section through the position wall and door in Fi¬ gure 6 illustrates the door frames, consisting of basic rails 1, 2, 3, fixed to their respective wall slabs 15 by means of screwed connections 14 in the member 17. As is apparent from the figures, there is a supplementary rail 11, 12 fixed into the second channel of the basic rail 1, 2, 3, while the attachment member 17 is in¬ serted in the other second channel facing the opposite direction. The ends of the legs of the supplementary rail position the sealin elements 18 and 19, lying in the third channel of the basic rail with a pinching effect. The opposite side of the door frame is put together in a similar way, excepting that the supplementary rail 11, 12 constitutes the attachment for one part (20) of a hinge, th other part (21) of which is attached to the door leaf. The edge finishing.of the door leaf consists of the same supplementary rail wh;j.ch simplifies to a great degree the assortment of rails which must be kept in stock for use in different installations. The tu¬ bular attachment members 17 also serve as channels for electric cables, laid in a ceiling rail (not shown) . Fitting power points is thus- done by drilling a hole at the desired place in the tu¬ bular member 17, and the cable drawn down from the ceiling rail can be taken out for' connecting to the socket, which can then be screwed into place. Figure 5 shows the joint between one side mem¬ ber and the upper member of the door frame, using an angle piece 6, which can be introduced into the partially closed duct formed by the anchoring web portion 5 and each of the anchoring flange pairs 7, 8 and 9, 10. The angle piece is fixed into the duct by means of screws which are screwed against the web portion 5, to lock the angle piece against the edges of either flange pair by clamping action. From the cross section of the door of Figures 4, 6 and 7, shown in Figure 8, it is apparent that threshold as well as upper door frame are built up in a similar way as the frame sides in the other figures. The attachment members 17 are thus arranged as a frame in the side members of the door frame and the upper member, and serve ' as attachment for the screwes fixing the basic rails to the supp¬ lementary rails. The door threshold is thus fixed lengthwise and in height by means of the side members of the door frame, while transverselly it is fixed by the engagement of the support legs 4 against the substructure. In the channel between the leg por¬ tions 2, 3 and the web portion 1, there is a filler body 22, and the whole threshold is encased in a decorative and durable casing 23. The lower edge of the door is provided with a seal 24, attached in a simple manner to the lower supplementary rail 11, 12. The screen wall shown in Figure 9 is also built up from prefabri¬ cated wall slabs 15 and attachment members 17, fixed into a basic rail 1, 2, 3 according to the invention. The basic rail accomodates the pivoting mechanism 25 of the folding wall, and also the roun¬ ded portions 26 enabling effective sealing between the wall slabs, independent of the mutual attitude between them. Figure 10 shows the upper side of the screen wall, which has been provided with a fitting consisting of the basic rail 1, 2, 3-, to which a supplemen¬ tary rail 11, 12 has been attached. Figures' 11-13 show an interesting application of the inventive constructional member. It is possible to utilize the basic rail for glass walls as well as window structures, where of course the wall structure is the simpler one in practice. Figure 11 is a cross section through the connection of the glass wall to an up¬ per wall portion, which as with previous structures, consists of a wall member 15 and attachment rail 17, each acco odated their respective channels on the basic rail 1, 2/ 3. The second channel 9, 10, 5 receives a supplementary rail 11, 12 between the corners of which and the respective adjacent supporting leg 4 there is a sheet of glass 27. Figure 12 shows the glass wall in plan, where the lefthand portion constitutes a connection to a side wall 15, while the righthand portion consists of a pillar, comprising two mutually facing basic rails 1, 2, 3 , 1", 2" * , 3', which are fitte round a supporting body 28, e.g. a steel tube to give the struc¬ ture its carrying capacity. Figure 13 shows the floor connection of the glass wall, where the sheets of glass 27 rest against elas tic support elements 29, and where possible gaps between the glas and the constructional member are shown filled ' with sealing ma¬ terial 30. Figure 14 is a cross section through a window formed with tripple glazing, the- two outer sheets of glass consisting of an insulatio panel 30, rigidly mounted in the window frame, while the inner glazing sheet 32 is hinged. The window is"mounted in a frame con¬ sisting of a basic web portion 1, a fixed leg portion 2 and a removable leg portion 3a-. or 3b, the latter two including a hinge portion 33 and a locking portion 34, respectively. One of the sup port legs 4 engages against the outside of the fazade, while the other is accommό.±ed in a groove in the window wall 36. When the - window is fitted, the cavities in the constructional members are suitable filled with a foam plastics material to improve insulati and prevent the occurrence of cold bridges through the frame mem¬ bers. The web portion is provided with holes 38 for further pre¬ venting the occurrence of cold bridges and to allow the foam ma¬ terial to come into all the cavities in the rail. The insulation panel 31 and the inner seals 32 ' are kept ±v.place by means of supp lementary rails, the width of which are adjustable to suit the me bers positioned by means of clamping action against the leg por¬ tions of the basic rail. In Figure 15 will be seen the principle for a beam structure in which two basic rails are fitted to each other to form a beam section. In this case the surfaces facing each other of the basic supporting legs 4 form a U-section together with the basic web portion,1, this U-section fitting the first channel on another basic rail. Figure 16 shows an alternative beam structure where the basic rails are attached to a support body 28 arranged in the first channels of two basic rails, the leg portions 2 and 3 of which are facing each other. Another support body 39 is ar¬ ranged in the third channel to one of the two basic rails and the third channel of a further basic rail, the support legs 4 of both last-mentioned basic rails facing towards each other. Using this assembly pattern, an entire wall can be built up using the in¬ ventive constructional member.

Claims: CLAIMS r 1. A cons ructional member for buildings , preferably for use prefabricated building members for false ceiling, wall , door, w dow and similar installations , characterized in that a substant -U-shaped basic rail comprises a basic web portion and two basic portions , the middle part of the basic web portion being formed with supporting and anchoring means for connecting building mem¬ bers , and that at least one basic leg portion is removably atta to the basic web portion . 2. A member as claimed in claim 1 , characterized in that the choring means are arranged so that together with the basic leg p tions they define a first channel in which a building member can be accommodated with a suitable fit. 3. A member as claimed in claims 1 and 2 , characterized in tha the basic support means are directed in the same direction from the basic web portion and that together with the basic web .por- tion their surfaces facing away from each other form a U-shaped beam which can be accommodated in the first channel on another basic rail . 4 . A member as claimed in claims 1 and 2 , characterized in tha the anchoring means have a substantially I-shaped cross section , and that the anchoring flanges together with the anchoring web portion define two second channels , one on either side of the web , in which attaching members may be fixed. 5. A member as claimed in claim 4 , characteri zed in that an at taching member consists of a supplementary rail which is attacha in the opposing second channels with the help of spring means , e gaging with the ends of the anchoring, legs . 6 . A member as- claimed in claims 1 and 5 , characteri zed in that the basic support means are directed in the same direction and that together with the basic web portion their surfaces facing towards each other are. intended to form a third channel . 7. A member as claimed in claims 2 and 5 , characterized in that the supplementary rail has a width so adj sted that in its attach¬ ment to either of both the other channels there are gaps between the ends of the supplementary rail and opposing portions of the basic rail , said portions consisting either of the support means or of the leg portions , whereby building details of different kinds can be attached with clamping action in the gaps , and that the width of the supplementary rails is adj ustable with respect to the building details which are to be attached in the gaps . 8. A member as claimed in claim 1 , characterized in that the re¬ movable basic leg portion has a U-shaped groove , the side por¬ tions of which are arranged to engage resilitently with two fork¬ like projections on the end part of the basic web portion . 9 . A member as claimed in claim 4 , characterized in that another attaching member consists of a tubular locking bar, insertable in a cavity in the building member , the edge of which is insertable into the second channel with a suitable fit. AMENDED CLAIMS - (received by the " International Bureau on 24 November 1978 (24.11.78)) 1. A constructional member for buildings, preferably for use with pre¬ fabricated building elements used in ceiling, wall, door, window and similar installations, comprising a base rail (1,2,3) with a substantially U-shaped c section having a -web portion (1) and two leg portions (2,3) of resilient mater e.g. aluminium or hard plastics, one of said leg portions (3) being releasiπgl attached to one end of the web portion (1) by means of resilient engagement between latching members arranged on these portions, characterized in that the base rail is provided with two supporting limbs (k) opposingly directed in rel to the leg portions (2,3), the outer distance between the supporting limbs (4) corresponding to the inner distance between the leg portions (2,3), so that th base rails can fit into each other, and in that the central part of the web portion (1) is formed with two U-shaped attachment rails with a common web portion (5) and opposingly directed shank pairs (7,8 and 9,10) which together with the attachment web portion (5) define similar channels, in which building members and/or clamping elements of the constructional member are insertable. 2. A member as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that the base rail, with the exception of the engaging latching members coacting with one of the leg portions, is formed substantially mirror symmetrical about a symmetry plan in the longitudinal direction of the rail. 3. A member as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that the releasingly attachable leg portion (3) on its outer surface facing away from the other leg portion is provided with means for locking or pivoting engagement with the rai -i . A member as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that a fastening element associated with the constructional member consists of a clamping rail (Fig. 3), which is U-shaped in cross section and provided with a web portion ( and two shanks, the height of which from the outer surface of the web portion facing away from the shanks substantially corresponds to the height of the supporting limbs (k) of the base web portion (1) and that the web portion of the clamping rail is also formed with two gripping ' elements (12) which are at the ends provided with hooks and intended for engagement with the shank ends (7,8 and 9,10) of the attachment rails. 5. A member as claimed in claim k , characterized in that the U-shaped clamping rail (Fig. 3) is mirror symmetrical about a symmetry plane in the length of the rail and through the centre -of the web portion (11). 6. A member as claimed in either of claims k and 5, characterized in that the clamping rail (Fig. 3) is so adapted in width that in its fixation in any of the attachment rails (5,7,8 or 5,9,10) gaps a re formed between the shanks of the clamping rail and opposing portions of the base rail, said portions either consisting of the supporting limbs (h) or the leg portions (2,3), where¬ by building elements of different kinds are fixable by clamping action in said gaps, and that the width of the clamping rail is adjustable to the building details intended for fixing in the gaps. STATEMENTUNDERARTICLE19 From the cited references quoted both during examination of the national as well as the international application it is clearly apparent that up to now a constructional member has been completely lacking, having such universal use as is the case with the member according .to the invention. The main reference in the national application is the publication CH-PS 584 338 which relates to a metal frame structure for glazed windows and doors where, to meet all the assembly needs, at least five different sections must be used for these applica¬ tions alone. Every one of these sections is furthermore exceptionally complicate and the cost thereof is also extremely high. The two ci ed references FR-PS 2 107 391 and 2 100 177 also show a plurality of sections, the use of which has so far been compulsory for meeting different installation needs. Reference is especially made to the former of the French patent specϊ fcations where Figs. 1-15 show different sections which must be combined in different ways for-the instal lations in question. The references FR-PS 2 200 28, 2 281 482 and 2 172 307 and DT-PS 969 7 9, cited in the international " application, are not closer to the inventive subject than the patent specifications discussed above. In Fig. 2 in FR-PS 2 172 307 there is indeed shown a symmetrical U-shaped rail, but it does not have any removable limb and is more reminiscent of the clamping rail according to the present invention, although the rail according to Fig. 2 in the reference is not used together with any base rail, and the technical effect of the combination of clamping rail and base rail according to my invention is not anticipated in any way by this reference. Constructional members according to the present invention can be used in the field of building technology for practically all types of interior decoratio fittings and for window and door frames in a number of different applications illustrated by the drawings. In all the applications a base rail according to the invention is thus incorporated either separately or together with a clamping rail according to the disclosures in the claims now filed. In all the embodiments the base rail with ' its removable leg thus constitutes a universal constructional BUREΛ _ OΛ.PI s b. WIPO κ * . member which, either by itself or together with the clamping rail, can be used in building up different structural details and those for interior decoration fittings. The construction of the base rail is characterized by the shape of its leg portions and web portion, and it forms four U-shaped channels, defined by the main claim now filed, and enabling i s adaptation to a plurality of different fields of use and also enabling joining together several basic rails to form beams, as exemplified by Figs. 15 and 16. Since the clamping rail width can be suited to the building details intended to be fixed between the shanks of the clamping rail and the legs of the base rail, this combination can be used in a plurality of applications, as is apparent ϊ.a. from Figs. 6 and 8-14.

Inventors: KARLSSON J
Applicants: KARLSSON J
Application year: 1978
Main classification: E04B2
IPC codes: E04B2, E06B1, E06B3