A COMPOSITE ACCESS FLOOR PANEL

Abstract: In the field of access floors, a new floor panel (60) is composed of a metal bottom or base element (62) and a metal core element (66), comprising parts arranged at right angles to the base surface and extended to be in contact therewith. It may also comprise an upper element or cover. The core (66) can have any shape in a plan view, for example it can comprise a coiled metal band, or it can consist of a flat metal sheet in which some parts are cut and folded to form tabs at right angles to the surface of the metal sheet itself.

Description: A COMPOSITE ACCESS FLOOR PANEL The present invention concerns the field of so-called access floors, as widely used at present, for exemple, in offices and public buildings. These floors comprise a system of vertical uprights set at a certain distance from one another and resting on a bed, and a 5. horizontal floor surface consisting of panels supported by said uprights. Pipes and cables can be installed in the space between the bed and the floor surface, thus remaining easily accessible for servicing. Floor panels of various types are used. 10. A first type consists of flat chipboard panels. A drawback of panels of this type is that they have little fire-resistance even if they are impregnated with fire-proofing material; they do not flare up, but they burn to ashes in a relatively short time. They do not withstand damp. 15. Concrete panels are also used. Though they having good fire-resistance, a drawback of these panels is that the upper surface cannot be finished as wished. Another type of panel used for access floors consists of metal-plated chipboard panels. These present greater manufacturing 20. and finishing problems, however, which are reflected in higher costs. There are also panels made of anhydrite which have good fire-resistance but are difficult to cut to size and, like all flat panels, simply rest on the supports and must be held in place by side walls. Lastly, U.S. patents Nos. 4.203.268 and 4.411.121 describe access 5. floor panels consisting of a tray-shaped bottom part and a lid-shaped top part, both of sheet metal, in which the tray-shaped part is formed with dome shapes ending in truncated cone shapes substantially extending up to and contacting tne cover. Although these panels present some advantages, their acoustic properties are 10. not satisfactory and they do no afford good thermal insulation or fire-resistance since there are some points at which the tray is welded directly to the cover. They also have to be welded during assembly, thus giving rise to high costs and making it necessary to pain, the outer surface to prevent rust. 15. The aim of this application is to produce an access floor panel that overcomes the drawbacks of previous panels, i.e. that is fire-resistant, thermally insulating, has good acoustic qualities, is sturdy and have an upper surface that can be finished in any way one likes, that represents an innovation in products with simple 20. cold assembly and that is installed by inserting it into its own seat and not simply by resting it on supports. This aim has been achieved with the panels described in claim 1. This panel is strong, hard-wearing, could beof reduced thickness, has good acoustic and thermal properties, is fire-resistant, has space 25. for cables and pipes to pass inside it and can be finished in any way one wishes on its upper surface. It can also be manufactured at a low cost compared to the previous panels made from metal and composite materials. Some embodiments of the invention will be described below by way of example only, with reference to the attached drawings in which: 5. Figure 1 is a plan view of a first type of panel; the cover or upper element is illustrated only in part, the rest having been cut away to show the inside of the panel; the core element has also been partially removed to show the base; Figure 2 is a section along 2-2 in figure 1 of the assembled panel; 10. Figure 3 is a similar section of the panel to that shown in figure 2, but in an exploded view; Figure 4 is an illustration of a length of the metal band making up the coiled core, laid flat and broken off; Figure 5 is a view of a second type of panel according to this 15. invention, along 5-5 in Figure 6; Figure 6 is a section along 6-6 of figure 5, illustrating the three elements that make up the second type of panel, in an exploded view; Figure 7 is a view of a third type of panel according to the 20. present invention along 7-7 in figure 8; Figure 8 is a section along 8-8 in figure 7 which illustrates the parts making up the third type of panel, in an exploded view; Figure 9 is a cross section of the different types of metal sheets 25. used to form the core of the panel; Figure 10 is a plan view of a fourth type of panel; part of the cover has been cut away to show the parts beneath; Figure 11 is a view of the panel in the preceding figure, part of which is an elevational view and part a section along 11-11 in figure 10; Figure 12 is a front view of a tab; 5. Figure 13 is a vertical section through the fourth type of panel, on a different scale from figures 10 and 11; Figure 14 is a perspective view of a further type of panel which, without the cover, can be filled with various materials thus providing a ready-made floor surface. 10. With reference firstly to figures 1 to 4, an access floor panel according to the invention is designated as a whole by number 10 and comprises a bottom element or base 12, a top element or cover 14 and an intermediate core element 16. The bottom element or base is hollow and tray-shaped, having a flat 15. bottom surface with grooves or channels 18, the arrangement of which, when seen in a plan view, corresponds at least in part to the shape of the core part 16 seen in a plan view; said channels serve to accomodate parts of the core and stiffen the base. A peripheral edge 15 of the base extends outwards, forming a flange to join with 20. the cover element and engage with the uprights (not illustrated) to form the floor. The top element 14 or cover is generally a flat sheet of metal. The intermediate core element comprises a metal band wound into a coil starting from the centre of the panel. In each section the 25. coiled metal band is set substantially at right angles to the base and the cover. The metal band 16 making up the coil (figure 4) is cut so that it has projections 16' set at intervals along the .longitudinal edges,- these projections serve to weld the spiral to the cover and to the grooves in the tray. Although the preferred 5. arrangement at present is for these parts to be welded in place, the two parts could also be fitted together through a fixed joint, by suitably shaping the channel 18' and the core parts 16 or they could be fastened together or joined by seaming or by any other method known in the field. In addition to the coil-shaped channel 18, the 10. base 12 preferably has a peripheral channel 19. The base and cover are joined by any known method, for example by seaming. The panel 20 in figures 5 and 6 comprises a tray 22 with straight channels 28, a flat cover 24 and an intermediate spacer element 26 consisting of a flat metal sheet 23 in which flaps or tabs 25 have 15. been formed by cutting along three sides and the tabs thus obtained are folded at right angles to the metal surface of the core element. Number 27 designates the slots visible in the core plate. The folded tabs may be arranged in any fashion in plan view and will be welded, fastened, seamed or otherwise fixed to the base 22 below, which 20. will preferably have channels 28, shaped and arranged to correspond to the tabs. Figure 5 shows a particular arrangement of the folded tabs in the core element; this arrangement, seen in a plan view, comprises slots 27a, 27b (and relative tabs) set at right angles to each other and parallel to the diagonals of a square, slots 27c 25. arranged along the sides of the square and further slots 27d set at right angles to the sides of the square. Panel 30 of figures 7 and 8 differs from the preceding panel only in the arrangement of the slots and relative tabs. Said panel 30, like the preceding one, comprises a base element 32, an upper cover part 34 and an intermediate core element 36. The tabs 35 formed by cutting along three sides and folding along 5. the fourth side, leave slots 37 which in this case are arranged in pairs, each pair being set at right angles to the pair next to it. The channels 38 in the base have an identical arrangement to that of the tabs. Although only a few arrangements of the tabs in the core element 10. have been illustrated, any other arrangement of these tabs is within the scope of this invention. In addition, according to the invention, a core element is also provided comprising metal sections or channels of various shapes, for examples C-, Z- or I-shaped, disposed between the base and the 15. cover, by welding for example. Each panel according to the invention also includes a filling of a per se known material with thermo-acustic properties, such as cellular concrete or expanded material. The panels are used by assembling them on uprights of a conventional type, which are 20. therefore not described herein. A further type of panel, indicated as a whole by number 40 in figures 10, 11 and 12 comprises a tray-shaped element 42, a cover element 44, and a core element or spacer 46. The latter has an arrangement of slots 47 and flaps 45 (obtained from the slots) similar to the arrangement in figure 7, except that the slots and tabs are arranged singly at right angles and not in pairs. Each tab is cut with one or more seaming tongues 45' which protude from the opposite edge to the fold line. 5. The bottom of the tray 42 has channels 48 with slots 48' into which the tongues 45' are fitted and then folded, in a per se known manner, over the metal sheet of the channels 48. The tray has a peripheral stiffening channel 51. The core tray and the cover are preferably seam joined together by a fold along the edge of the 10. cover that fits into a special fold along the edge of the tray. The panel 40, like the panels described above may be filled with material having thermal and acoustic properties, such as cellular concrete for example, or left empty. Although the panels so far described have a cover, panels comprising 15. only a tray element and a core element also come within the scope of the" invention. Such a panel is illustrated in fig. 14, reference number 60. The tray is designated by 62 and the core by 66. Only for the example illustrated, the core is of the cut and folded metal type, similar to cores 36 and 46 in the preceding examples. 20. The empty space within the tray can be filled with concrete or expanded material so that it already forms a floor surface, or it can be left empty.

Claims: CLAIMS 1. A panel for access floors, comprising a sheet metal base element, characterized in that it further comprises a core element connected to the base element, said core element comprising at least one sheet metal section set substantially at right angles to the 5 , base and extended to be in contact therewith. 2. A panel according to claim 1, characterized in that it also comprises a fixed cover element. 3. A- panel according to claim 1 , characterized in that said core element is fastened onto said case by seaming. 10. 4. A panel according to claim 1, characterized in that said core element comprises a coiled metal band. 5. A panel according to claim 2, characterized in that said coiled metal band is welded or seamed to the cover and to the base. 6. A panel according to claim 2, characterized in that said 15. coiled metal band is fixed in corresponding channels in the base and/or cover. 7. A panel according to claim 1 , characterized in that said core ' comprises a sheet of metal in which tabs are cut and folded substantially at right angles to the metal sheet, then fixed by 20. their ends to the base. 8. A panel according to claim 7, characterized in that the tab arrangement, seen in a plan view, consists of tabs arranged parallel to the diagonals of a square, tabs arranged parallel to the sides of the square and tabs perpendicular to the sides of the square. 5_ 9. A panel according to claim 7, characterized in that the tab arrangement, seen in a plan view, consists of staggered pairs of tabs at right angles to each other. 10. A panel according to claim 1 , characterized in that said core consists of portions of shaped metal sections or channels fixed to 10. the base. 11. A panel according to claim 1 , characterized in that it also comprises a filling of material with thermo-acoustic properties. 12. A panel according to claim 7, characterized in that each tab comprises fastening tongues extending from the edge opposite the 15. fold, fitted into special slots in the channels in the tray and folded to effect seaming. 13. A panel according to claim 7, characterized in that the tab arrangement, seen in a plan view, comprises single staggered tabs at right angles to each other. 20. 14 - A panel according to claim 7 with any tab arrangement.

Inventors: MORETTIN ENRICO, MORETTIN, ENRICO
Applicants: MORETTIN ENRICO, MORETTIN, ENRICO
Application year: 1990
Main classification: E04C2
IPC codes: E04C2, E04F15