A WALL STRUCTURE FOR WET ROOMS

Abstract: A wet-room wall structure comprising a wall covering and a framework intended for erection against an existing wall. The invention is characterized in that the framework includes a top horizontal member (2), which is provided with a downwardly facing U-shaped channel (3) and a bottom horizontal member (4), which is provided with an upwardly facing U-shaped channel (5); in that vertical members (8) extend between the top and bottom members, these vertical members (8) being provided with two channels (9, 10) which face away from one another; in that all of the U-shaped channels (3, 4, 9, 10) are located at a distance from that part of the top, bottom and vertical members (2; 4; 8) intended to be located nearest a rearwardly lying wall (1). The wall structure also includes wall attachment devices (20), which function to secure the framework members (2; 4; 8) to the rearwardly lying wall (1) and also to space the vertical members (8) from the existing wall (1) by means of the wall attachment device (20). The wall structure also includes water-impervious and moisture-impervious panels which are intended to be inserted into and carried by the afore-mentioned U-shaped channels (3, 4, 9, 10).

Description: A wall structure for wet rooms The present invention relates to a wall structure for so-called wet rooms. One problem prevailing in the construction of wet rooms, by which is meant such rooms as shower cubicles, bathrooms, domestic utility rooms, and like facilities, resides in obtaining a wall material which is impervious to water. In reality, the demands placed on such wall materials are even greater than this, since the wall material must also be impervious to moisture. The penetration of moisture to regions behind the wall would result in moisture damage, mould attack and like damage. One method of rendering such a room impervious to moisture is to tile all of the walls of the room. Another method involves adhesive bonding water- impervious wall covering material onto the walls of the room, and thereafter welding the joins between adjacent wall-covering lengths. The cost of tiling a wet room is very high, inter alia because of the work involved. The result, however, is generally very good. The work involved when covering walls with wall-covering material is also relatively demanding, and requires the wall on which the wall covering is to be hung to be perfectly smooth and even, in order to achieve a good result. The task of hanging such wall-covering material on the walls of existing wet rooms under renovation is particularly expensive, since it is normally necessary to fill-in cracks in the wall with filler and to rub- down the walls. Small repairs and minor changes to the lay-out of wet rooms, such as bathrooms, where the walls are covered with such wall-covering material often require all of the wall covering to be removed and new wall coverings to be hung when the repair work, or re-construction work, is complete, in order to ensure that the walls are totally impervious. Accordingly, the known technique is directed towards coating the walls of wet rooms with a totally water and moisture impervious wall material. Despite the efforts to provide a totally impervious wall material, extensive damage is still caused, every year, by the permeation of water and moisture. The present invention solves the aforesaid drawbacks and provides a wet- room wall structure which avoids moisture and water damage and which can be erected quickly and simply. Accordingly, the present invention relates to a wet-room wall stucture comprising a wall covering and a framework, or studwork, intended to be placed against a wall, and is characterized in that the framework includes a top, horizontal member provided with a downwardly facing U-shaped channel and a bottom horizontal member provided with an upwardly facing U-shaped channel; in that vertical members extend between the top and bottom hori¬ zontal members, each said vertical member being provided with two U-shaped channels which face away from one another; in that all of the U-shaped channels are spaced from that part of the horizontal and vertical framework members which are intended to lie closest to a rearwardly located existing wall; and in that a wall attachment device is provided for the purpose of securing said members to the rearwardly located wall, the vertical members being spaced from said wall by means of the wall attachment; and in that water-impermeable and moisture-impermeable panels are inserted into and carried by respective U-shaped channels of said framework. The invention will now be described in more detail with reference to exemplifying embodiments thereof illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which - Figure 1 is a perspective view of the framework of the wet-room wall structure, showing the principle construction thereof; - Figure 2 is a perspective rear view of a wall attachment device; - Figure 3 is a horizontal sectional view corresponding to the section A-A in Figure 2 of a vertical framework member and an adjoining wall panel; - Figure 4 is a sectional view corresponding to the view of Figure 3 and illustrating a vertical framework member of modified configuration; - Figure 5 is a cross-sectional view corresponding to the section B-B in Figure 1 of said wall attachment device; - Figure 6 is cross-sectional view corresponding to the section B-B in Figure 1 of a top horizontal member; - Figure 7 is a cross-sectional view of a bottom horizontal member corresponding to the section C-C in Figure 1; - Figure 8 is a cross-sectional view of said vertical members corresponding to the section A-A in Figure 1; - Figure 9 is a horizontal cross-sectional view of two profiled sections which together form an inner corner profile; - Figure 10 is a horizontal cross-sectional view of a profiled section forming an outer corner profile; - Figure 11 is a horizontal cross-sectional view of a profiled section forming a terminal strip or rail; - Figure 12 is a cross-sectional view of a spacer element; - Figure 13 is a sectional view of said bottom horizontal member and a side view of a vertical member resting against said bottom horizontal member; - Figure 14 illustrates an inventive wet-room wall structure during the erection of said structure; and - Figure 15 illustrates the coaction of an attachment device with a vertical framework member. In Figures 5-11 and 13 and 15, the profiled sections or members are drawn to a scale of approximately 1:3, whereas the profiled sections or members in Figures 3, 4 and 15 are drawn to a scale of approximately 1:1. Figure 1 is a perspective view of the framework of a wet-room wall struc¬ ture, and shows the principle construction thereof. The reference numeral 1 identifies the wall against which the wet-room wall structure is to be erected. The framework includes a top horizontal member 2 having a downwardly facing U-shaped channel 3, and a bottom horizontal member 4 having an upwardly facing U-shaped channel 5. The cross-sectional configuration of the top member is illustrated in Figure 6, and the cross-sectional con¬ figuration of the bottom member is illustrated in Figure 7. The framework also includes vertical members 8 which extend between the top and bottom members. Each of the vertical members 8 has provided therealong a respective U-shaped channel 9 and 10, these channels facing away from one another. See also figure 8 illustrating the cross-sectional configuration of a vertical member. All of the U-shaped channels 3, 5, 9, 10 are located at a distance from that part of respective top, bottom and vertical members, which is intended to lie closest to the rearwardly located wall 1. Protruding from the rear surface of the top horizontal member 2 is a grooved profile, generally referenced 11 in Figure 1, which is intended to cooperate with an attachment device. Also the bottom horizontal member 4 has provided on its rear surface a protruding grooved profile 12, which is also intended to cooperate with said attachment device. Figure 2 illustrates the rear side of the vertical framework member 8. Projecting from the rear side of the vertical member 8 are L-shaped grooved or channelled profiles 13, 14, see also Figure 8. These profiles extend along the length of the vertical member and terminate at a distance from respective ends of said member, this distance being slightly greater than the vertical height dimension of respective top and bottom members. The grooved profiles 13, 14 are intended to cooperate with an attachment device. The vertical members 8 have at the ends thereof an external dimension, Dl in Figure 8, a thickness, which corresponds to the internal dimension of the U-shaped channel 3 in the top member 2. The vertical member is thus intended for insertion into the U-shaped channel 3 of the top member 2. The bottom member 4, on the other hand, has a U-shaped channel 5, referenced D2 in Figure 7, whose width is smaller than the thickness D2 of the vertical framework member. Accordingly, the lower end of the vertical members have provided therein a channel 15, see Figure 13, which is intended to coact with the U-shaped channel of the bottom member 4, along an upstanding part 16 spaced from the rearwardly lying wall 1. The framework also includes a wall attachment device which functions to secure the framework members to the rearwardly lying wall l. Another important function of the attachment device is to space the vertical members from the wall 1, as will be more apparent from the following. The attachment device 20 is shown in perspective in Figure 1 and in cross- section in Figure 5. The attachment device comprises a plate 21 from which L-shaped and T-shaped profiles 22,23,24 project. These profiles 22-24 are intended to coact with the channelled profiles 11, 12, 13, 14 extending along respective top, bottom and vertical members, of which profiles, two have dimensions corresponding to two of the profiles 22 - 24. The plate of the attachment device 20 has formed therein at least one through-passing slot 25, the longitudinal axis of which forms an angle with the longitudinal direction of the profiles 22-24. Figures 6, 7 and 8 illustrate the manner of coaction between the profiles 22-24 of the wall attachment device and the channelled profiles 11; 12; 13; 14 of respective framework 2; 4; 8, the attachment device 20 being shown in broken lines in these Figures. The channelled profiles 11, 12 of respective top and bottom members project from said members in a manner such that when certain of the profiles coact with the attachment device 20, the rear side 26 of said attachment device will lie in the same plane as the outermost surfaces 27, 28 of the channelled profiles projecting from the top and bottom members, see Figures 6 and 7. Consequently, when the top and bottom members are assembled, they will lie flat against the rearwardly located wall 1, along the whole of its length. The vertical members 8, on the other hand, are spaced from the wall 1 by means of the wall attachment device 20, the distance of said vertical members from the wall 1 corresponding to the thickness of the plate of said attachment device 20, as shown in Figures 1 and 8. In accordance with the invention, the wet-room wall structure includes water-impermeable and moisture-impermeable panels 30, 31, 32, 33; see Figure 14. The panels are intended to be inserted into and carried by the aforesaid U-shaped channels. In principle, the panels extend from floor to ceiling and have a thickness of 5-15 mm, preferably 10 mm. AB will be Been from Figure 3, the thickness of the panelβ 34, 35 is smaller than the internal width of the U-shaped channels or grooves 9, 10 of the vertical members 8. The wall structure also includes a spacer element 40 which is intended to space the panels 34, 35 from the rearwardly lying wall 1, and is intended to urge the panels 34,35 against that part 36, 37 of respective U-shaped channels 9, 10 in the vertical members 8 located furthest from the rearwardly lying wall 1. Figure 12 is a cross-sectional view of the spacer element 40 and shows the element in more detail, said figure illustrating a part 41 of a vertical member 8, see Figure 3, in broken lines. Figure 1 illustrates spacer elements of suitable lengths and positioned at suitable locations. Since the vertical members 8 run in the U-shaped channels 3 of the top framework member 2 , and since the panels 34, 35 are urged outwardly by the spacer elements 40, a gap is formed between the rear sides of the panels and the part 42 of the U-shaped channel of the top member located nearest the wall 1; see Figure 1. In a manner corresponding to said channel or groove 15 provided in the bottom end of the vertical members, the panels are provided with a channel or groove which extends along the lower edge of said panels and which iB intended to coact with an upstanding part 16 on the bottom horizontal member 4; see Figure 13. The whole of the framework, including the wall attachment devices, prefer¬ ably consist of extruded aluminium sections, although they may comprise other materials in the case of certain applications, for instance extruded plastic material. The spacer elements 40 may also be extruded from aluminium. In accordance with one preferred embodiment, the wall panels consist of so-called homogenous laminate panels constructed from paper sheets, inter alia impregnated with melamine and then compacted under high pressure. The panels are then surface treated. Such panels are generally referred as "perstorpsplattor" and are manufactured by Perstorp AB, Sweden. According to one preferred embodiment, the vertical framework member 8 has the configuration illustrated in Figures 1, 3 and 8, namely a configuration which includes a central, partially closed U-shaped channel 45, the opening or mouth of which is intended to face outwardly from the rearwardly lying wall. The channel 45 is intended to coact with suitable, known fastener devices, so as to enable different furnishings to be secured to the wet-room wall. Figure 15 illustrates an example of one such fastener device 46, which in the illustrated case includes a plate 47 provided with a screw threaded peg 48 which coacts with a nut-like part 49 which is operative to squeeze together the flanges 50, 51 defining the mouth of the channel 45. The furnishing, or its means of attachment, will therewith be secured with the nut-like part 49. These furnishings may be of any general kind required in wet rooms, such as bathroom cabinets, towel cupboards, towel hangers, wash basins etc. Figure 4 illustrates an alternative embodiment of a vertical framework member, here referenced 60, in which the channel 45 is replaced with a T-shaped part 61 which projects for coaction with channels or grooves 62, 63 in two mutually adjacent panels 64, 65, such as to form a join between said panels 64, 65 with the edges of said panels in mutual abutment. Figure 14 illustrates an inner corner construction 70 comprising an inner corner profile which includes two profiles 71, 72; see Figure 9. The profile referenced 71 is attached to the wall 1 with the aid of the wall attachment device 20. As indicated by the dash-line 73, the profile 72 is screwed to the bottom horizontal member and optionally also to the top horizontal member. The surface 74 of the bottom member 4 is depicted by a chain line in Figure 9. There is thus formed two U-shaped channels 75, 76, into which panels are inserted. The top member 2 encloses the profiled parts 77, 78, i.e. lies on top of said parts. An outer corner structure 80 (see Figure 14) includes an outer corner profile 81 (Figure 10) which is secured to. the wall 1 with the aid of the wall attachment device 20. The profile 1 includes two U-shaped channels or grooves 82, 83, into which the panels are inserted. The outmost part 84 of the top member 2 adjoins the outer corner profiles 81, as indicated by chain lines 85, 86. The wet-room wall structure is terminated with a terminal strip or bar 90 (Figure 11) which is clamped in one U-shaped channel 10 of the vertical member 8, in the manner shown in Figure 11. The illustrated profiled sections can be complemented with a plurality of other profiled sections, for instance profiled sections which will enable pipes to pass through the wall, or which will enable taps to be fitted etc. Other conceivable profiled sections will include window and door surrounds, such as door surrounds for shower rooms, wet-room access doors, etc. A seal 95 is fitted in the respective U-shaped channels of all framework members and profiled sections which abut the vertical edges of the panels, in order to prevent the ingress of water behind the wet-room wall structure on those occasions when the wall is subjected to water sprays, such as when taking a shower. Erection of the inventive wet-room wall structure will now be described with reference to Figures 1 and 14. The bottom and top horizontal members, the inner corner profiles and outer corner profiles are assembled first. During this assemblage, the top and bottom members are spaced apart to an extent such that when vertical members and respective panels are pushed up from beneath into the U-shaped channel 3 of the top member, the lower ends of said vertical members and panels will pass freely over the upstanding part 16 on the bottom horizontal member, and such that the distance from the lower edge 91 of the bottom- member outermost part 84 to the bottom of the U-shaped channel 5 in the bottom member is less than the vertical length of both panels and vertical members. A panel is then pushed-up into the top horizontal member and in over the bottom horizontal member, whereafter the panel is lowered so that the aforesaid groove in the lower edge surface of the panel is brought into co-acting engagement with the upstanding part 16 on the bottom member. A vertical member is then pushed into the top member, and lowered down into the bottom member so as to bring the groove or channel 15 in the vertical member into co-acting engagement with the part 16. The vertical member is preferably provided with spacer means, prior to being fitted. The vertical member is then moved horizontally against the edge of the panel, until the vertical member, the panel and distance elements coact in the manner illustrated in Figure 3. The vertical member is then screwed securely to the wall 1, with the aid of one or two wall attachment devices. The attachment devices 20 are fitted to the framework members and corner profiles, prior to their assembly. Because the slot 25 is inclined, a suitable location can readily be found for screwing the attachment device to the rearwardly located wall 1. This erection procedure is then continued with the next wall panel, the next vertical framework member, and so on. It will be seen that the wall structure can be assembled and erected very simply and quickly. It is not necessary to make good any defects in the surface of the wall 1 when erecting the inventive wall structure, but the wall structure can be fitted directly to the wall 1, without needing to work on said wall. As before mentioned, the wall attachment devices hold the vertical members spaced from the rearwardly located wall. Consequently, an air gap is left between the whole of the wall structure and the rearwardly lying wall. As before mentioned, an air gap is also found between the top horizontal member and the lowermost part of the panels, since the vertical member runs in the U-shaped channel of said top member. Consequently, there is open communication between the rear side of the wet-room wall structure and the air volume of the wet room, therewith ensuring that any moist air which may nevertheless penetrate behind the wet-room wall structure will be demoisturized. In spite of this open communication, the wall structure is impervious to water which may spray onto the wall, when taking a shower for instance. It will be understood that the inventive wall structure can be dismantled just as readily as it is erected, should it be necessary to carry out repair work. The appearance of the wall structure can be varied readily, by choosing panels of different colours, different patterns and different widths. It will also readily be seen that the aforesaid drawbacks associated with known wet-room wall materials are totally avoided with a wall structure according to the present invention. The invention has been described in the aforegoing with reference to different exemplifying embodiments thereof. It will be understood, however, that the configuration of the different framework members used can be modified without departing from the afore- described basic function of said members, such as to provide an air ven¬ tilating facility and to improve the ease with which the wall structure can be assembled, etc. Accordingly, the invention shall not be considered to be limited to the aforedescribed embodiments, since these embodiments can be varied and modified within the scope of the following claims.

Claims: CLAIMS 1. A wet-room wall structure comprising a wall covering and a framework intended for erection against an existing wall, characterized in that the framework includes a top horizontal member (2) , which has a downwardly facing U-shaped channel (3) provided therealong, and a bottom horizontal member (4) which has an upwardly facing U-shaped channel (5) provided therealong; in that said framework further includes vertical members (8) which extend between the top and bottom horizontal members and which include two U-shaped channels (9,10) which face away from one another; in that all said U-shaped channels (3,4,9,10) are located at a distance from that part of the top, bottom and vertical members (2;4;8) intended to lie nearest a rearwardly located existing wall (1) ; in that a wall attachment device (20) is provided for securing said framework members (2;4;8) to said rearwardly lying wall (1), said attachment device (20) also being operative to space the vertical members (8) from said rearwardly lying wall ( 1); and in that water-imperviouB and moisture-impervious panels (30-33;34, 5;64,65) are inserted in and carried by respective U-shaped channels (3,4,9,10). 2. A wall structure according to Claim 1, characterized in that said panels (30-33;34,35;64,65) comprise so-called homogenous laminate panels constructed from paper sheets which, inter alia, have been impregnated with melamine and compacted. 3. A wall structure according to Claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the thickness of the panels (30-33;34,35;64,65) is smaller than the internal width of the U-shaped channels (9,10) of the vertical members ( 8 ) ; and in that there is provided a spacer element (40) which is operative to space the panels from the rearwardly lying wall (1), and to urge the panels (30-33;34,35;64,65) against that part of respective U-shaped channels (9,10) in the vertical members (8) located furthest from the rearwardly lying wall (1) . 4. A wall structure according to Claim 1, 2 or 3, characterized in that the ends of said vertical members (8) have an external dimension which corresponds to the inner dimension of the U-shaped channel (3) in the top horizontal member (2); and in that the vertical members are intended for insertion into the U-shaped channel (3) of said top member ( 2 ) . 5. A wall structure according to 1, 2, 3 or 4, characterized in that the width of the U-shaped channel (5) of the bottom member (4 ) is smaller than the thickness of the vertical member (8); and in that the vertical member (8) has formed in the lower end thereof a groove or channel (15) which is intended to coact with the upstanding part (16) of the bottom-member U-shaped channel (5) located furthest from the rearwardly lying wall (1). 6. A wall structure according to Claim 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5, characterized in that the vertical member (8) has a central, partially closed U-shaped channel or groove ( 5) , the channel opening of which is intended to face outwardly from a rearwardly lying wall (1), and which channel (45) is intended to coact with fastener means (47-49) operative to fasten various kinds of furnishings to the wet-room wall structure. 7. A wall structure according to Claim 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 or 6, characterized in that the wall attachment device (20) comprises a plate (21) from which there project L-shaped and T-shaped profiled sections (22-24) which are intended to coact with corresponding grooved profiles (11;12,13,14) extending along respective top, bottom and vertical members (2;4;8) ; and in that there is provided in said plate (21) at least one through-passing slot (25), the longitudinal axis of which forms an angle with the longi- tudinal direction of said profiled sections (22-24).

Inventors: CEDERHOLM LARS, CEDERHOLM, LARS
Applicants: PERSTORP AB
Application year: 1989
Main classification: E04B2
IPC codes: E04B2