PREFABRICATED PIPELINE CASSETTE AND METHOD FOR MOUNTING SUCH A CASSETTE

Abstract: A prefabricated pipeline cassette, intended to be mounted against a wall (42) in a bathroom or other similar room, comprises a body (10), usuable as a support structure for a wall-mounted water-closet bowl (34). In order to avoid disadvantages of previously known such cassettes, the body (10) is arranged to be mounted in a position lifted up from the floor (38) of said room by being mounted suspending from the ceiling (21) of said room by at least one anchoring means (22) anchored to said ceiling and by being subsequently secured in a position in close contact against said wall (42) by securing means (26) fixed to said wall.

Description: Prefabricated pipeline cassette and method for mounting such a cassette The present invention relates to a prefabricated pipeline cassette for mounting against a wall in a bath¬ room or other similar room. More particularly, the inven¬ tion relates to such a cassette of the kind comprising a body usable as a support structure for a wall-mounted water-closet bowl. Pipeline cassettes of said kind are used especially in connection with the renovation of bathrooms and other similar rooms in apartment blocks in order to facilitate a rapid and easy installation of new main conduits for water and waste water by utilizing pipe sections pre- mounted in said cassettes and simultaneously to permit an installation of new water-closet bowls in a very favourable manner, namely by mounting them directly on said cassettes. In previously known pipeline cassettes of the kind above described, the body has been formed as a support for the water-closet bowl mounted on the floor of the room in question. In order to meet prescribed standard requirements, this support should be capable of with¬ standing a weight load of 400 kilograms on the water- closet bowl without being deformed or becoming loose. This has made it necessary to construct the support as a very heavy steel structure which is able to stand the high bending moments to which it will be subjected if such a high weight load is placed on the water-closet bowl. Furthermore, it has been necessary to anchor the support in the floor by several bolts which means that it has been necessary to complete the preparation of the floor before mounting the pipeline cassette and the water-closet bowl. In practice, this means that the room in question may not be utilized for its intended purpose for a period of several days. The invention has for its purpose to provide an improved pipeline cassette of the kind initially speci¬ fied, which eliminates the above disadvantages of the previously known cassettes in a favourable manner. According to the invention, for said purpose, there is provided a pipeline cassette of said kind, primarily characterized in that the body is arranged to be mounted in a position lifted up from the floor of said room by being mounted suspending from the ceiling of said room by at least one anchoring means anchored to said ceiling and by being subsequently secured in a position in close contact with said wall by securing means fixed to said wall. Through the invention, the stress to which the body of the pipeline cassette is subjected when a weight load is placed on the water-closet bowl will be restricted to substantially only pure tensile stress. Hereby, the body may be constructed in a far more expedient and weight- saving manner than previously possible. Moreover, the water-closet bowl may be installed and used immediately. Thus, it will not be necessary to wait for the completion of the preparation of the floor. This means that a current renovation of a bathroom or other similar room need not cause any substantial interruption in the use of said room for its normal purpose. According to a preferred embodiment of the inven¬ tion, the body of the pipeline cassette may suitably consist of an elongate vertical load carrying structure comprising at least two longitudinally extending horizon- tally spaced apart vertical supporting members and a number of cross members attached between said supporting members. The term load carrying structure is intended to include both framework-like structures in which the cross members consist of a plurality of short bars and box-girder-like structures in which the cross members instead are formed by longitudinally extending plates as well as structures partly made in a framework-like manner and partly having a box-girder-like shape. A special advantage when utilizing an elongate vertical load carrying structure as the required body for the pipeline cassette is that such a structure may easily be made from light metal and hereby be given a very low weight. In order to make it possible to mount the load carrying structure suspending from the ceiling of said room in an easy and rapid manner, at its upper end, said structure may be provided with an upper cross member having a through bore for an anchor bolt mountable in the ceiling of said room. Said bore may well be arranged to receive the anchor bolt with a comparatively large lateral play therein in order hereby to reduce the re¬ quired accuracy with regard to the location of the anchor bolt in the ceiling. Similarly to previously known cassettes of the kind in question, the pipeline cassette of the invention may be arranged to carry a water-closet bowl by means of a number of at least approximately horizontal mounting bolts mounted in the body. In order to avoid high local mechanical stresses in the body within the regions thereof where the bolts are mounted, each mounting bolt may suitably extend through at least two mounting bores in the body located spaced apart in the longitudinal direc¬ tion of said bolt. For the purpose of facilitating an easy adjustment of the level of the water-closet bowl at any later time, for instance in order to bring said level to fit a disabled person, the body may advantageously be provided with at least two separate sets of mounting bores for said mounting bolts located on mutually different levels. The invention also relates to a method for mounting a prefabricated pipeline cassette against a wall in a bathroom or other similar room, said cassette being usable as a support structure for a wall-mounted water-closet bowl . The main characteristic features of said method appear from claim 7 and additional characteristic features are set forth in claims 8 and 9. Below the invention will be further described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in whic : - Figure 1 shows a perspective view of a prefabrica¬ ted pipeline cassette according to an embodiment of the invention, selected by way of example, said cassette being mounted against a wall in a bathroom or other simi¬ lar room, Figure 2 shows a front elevation of said cassette, Figure 3 shows a top plan view of the cassette and Figure 4 shows a side elevation, in section taken along line IV - IV in Figure 3. The pipeline cassette shown in the drawings com¬ prises a body, generally designated 10, which has the shape of an elongate vertical load carrying structure comprising two longitudinally extending horizontally spaced apart vertical supporting members 11 and cross members 12, 13 and 14 attached between said supporting members . Supporting members 11 are formed by two equal but mutually mirror-inverted profile members having the general shape of U-profile members comprising a rear web portion 15 and two legs, projecting in a forward direction from said web portion and consisting of an outer shorter leg 16 and an inner longer leg 17. The more precise shape of supporting members 11 appears clearly from Figure 3. The cross members consist of a rear plate 12, extending along the whole length of body 10, and a number of horizontal bars 13, located near the front side of the body and at a suitable vertical distance from each other. Furthermore, at the upper end of the body, there is provided an upper cross member 14, formed as a hori¬ zontal box-girder and having substantially larger dimen¬ sions than bars 13.' The different cross members 12, 13 and 14 are fixed to supporting members 11 by means of rivets 18, screws 19 and bolts 20. The pipeline cassette is intended to be mounted against a wall, for instance the illustrated wall 42, in a bathroom or other similar room. When mounting the cassettte, as illustrated in Figures 1, 2 and 4, body 10 is mounted suspending from the ceiling 21 of said room in a position lifted up from the floor 38 of said room, i.e. in a position at a certain distance above the floor, by means of an anchor bolt 22 anchored to ceiling 21 in any suitable manner. As shown in Figures 2 and 4, anchor bolt 22 extends through clearance bores 23 in member 14 and, at its lower end, it is provided with a nut 24 by which the desired height level of body 10 may be adjusted. When body 10 has been brought to the desired height level and into a vertical position, it is secured to wall 42 by means of a number of securing screws 26, inserted through bores 27 in outer edge flanges 28 of supporting members 11 and screwed into said wall. In order to reduce the required accuracy with respect to the location of bolt 22 in ceiling 21, bores 23 in member 14 may have a relatively large diameter as compared to the diameter of bolt 22, in which case a washer 25, having a comparatively large outer width or diameter, is placed between nut 24 and the lower side of member 14. The space 29 (Figure 3) between the two legs 16 and 17 of one supporting member 11 serves to receive pipeline sections 43 for cold water and hot water pipes, premounted in said space, while the corresponding space of the other supporting member 11 serves to receive a premounted pipeline section 44 for a waste water conduit. As may be seen from Figure 3, space 29 of each supporting member 11 is normally closed by a longitudinally extending cover plate 30, having a curved profile, which, however, easily may be removed when it is desired to obtain access to said space. The space 31 between the two supporting members 11 may be utilized for various purposes. At its front side, it is covered by a cover plate 32, composed of several sections, individually secured to and removable from supporting members 11. In Figure 2, the upper sec- tion has been assumed to be removed. If desired, one or more sections of cover plate 32 may alternatively consist of an easily opened door. Body 10 is also intended to serve as a support structure for a water-closet 'bowl of a kind intended for wall-mounting and apt to be mounted on the pipeline cassette. For this purpose, body 10 is provided with two horizontal mounting bolts 33, mounted therein and capable of supporting a water-closet bowl 34 in a manner diagramatically indicated in Figure 4. As may be seen from Figure 3, each mounting bolt 33 is mounted in the inner leg 17 of one supporting member 11 at three dif¬ ferent locations along its length, namely on the one hand in a rear mounting bore 35 and on the other hand in two front mounting bores 36. By mounting bolts 33 in this manner, it is possible to avoid that a weight load placed on water-closet bowl 34 will cause excessive local mechanical stresses on body 10. In order to facilitate an adjustment of the height level of the water-closet bowl, for instance in order to bring it to suit a disabled person, legs 17 may be provided with at least one additional set of mounting bores for bolts 33, so that these bolts may be moved from the positions shown in Figures 2 and 4 to alterna¬ tive positions, in which they are located on a higher level. As indicated in Figures 1 and 2, the required flushing water tank 40 for water-closet bowl 34 may be located within space 31. Moreover, a press button 41 for controlling the flushing operation may be mounted in cover plate 32. The design of the pipeline cassette above described and the described manner of mounting body 10 by mounting it suspending from ceiling 21 by means of anchor bolt 22 and subsequently securing it in a posi¬ tion in close contact with wall 42 by means of securing screws 26 result in that the mechanical stresses to which body 10 will be subjected when a weight load is placed on water-closet bowl 34 will consist mainly of pure tensile stresses. Moreover, since the body is mounted in a position lifted up from 'floor 38, the required pre- paration of the floor may be effected at a later stage. Thus, water-closet bowl 34 may be used immediately and it will not be necessary to wait for the usually relative¬ ly time-consuming preparation of the floor. Upon the installation of the pipeline cassette and the required connection of pipeline sections 43 and 44, the space between ceiling 21 and the upper end of the cassette may be shielded by a shield plate 37, as indicated in Figures 1, 2 and 4. Additionally, the space between the lower end of the cassette and floor 38 may be shielded by a skirting plate 39. The invention is not restricted to the embodiment above described and shown in the drawings. Instead, many alternative embodiments are feasible within the scope of the invention. For instance, the body of the pipeline cassette may include four elongate vertical supporting members instead of only two such members, as shown in the drawings.

Claims: Claims 1. Prefabricated pipeline cassette for mounting against a wall in a bathroom or other similar room and comprising a body usable as a support structure for a wall-mounted water-closet bowl, characterized in that the body (10) is arranged to be mounted in a position lifted up from the floor (38) of said room by being mounted suspending from the ceiling (21) of said room by at least one anchoring means (22) anchored to said ceiling and by being subsequently secured in a position in close contact with said wall (42) by securing means (26) fixed to said wall. 2. Pipeline cassette according to claim 1, characterized in that the body (10) consists of an elongate vertical load carrying structure comprising at least two longitudinally extending horizontally spaced apart vertical supporting members (11) and a number of cross members (12, 13, 14) attached between said supporting members. 3. Pipeline cassette according to claim 2, characterized in that, at its upper end, the load carrying structure (10) is provided with an upper cross member (14) having a through bore (23) for an anchor bolt (22) mounted in the ceiling (21) of said room. 4. Pipeline cassette according to claim 3, characterized in that said bore (23) is arranged to receive the anchor bolt (22) with a comparatively large lateral play therein. 5. Pipeline cassette according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the body (10) is arranged to carry a water-closet bowl (34) by means of a number of at least approximately horizontal mounting bolts (33) mounted in the body (10), characterized in that each mounting bolt (33) extends through at least two mounting bores (35, 36) in the body (10) located spaced apart in the longitudinal direction of said bolt. 6. Pipeline cassette according to claim 5, characterized in that the body (10) is provided with at least two separate sets of mounting bores (35, 36) for the mounting bolts (33) located on mutually different levels. 7. A method for mounting a prefabricated pipeline cassette against a wall in a bathroom or other similar room, said cassette being usable as a support structure for a wall-mounted water-closed bowl, characterized by mounting the body (10) suspending from the ceiling (21) of said room in a position lifted up from the floor (38) of said room by at least one anchoring means (22) anchored to said ceiling (21) and by subsequently securing the body in a position in close contact with said wall (42) by securing means (26) fixed to said wall. 8. A method according to claim 7, characterized by mounting the body (10) suspending from the ceiling (21) of said room by anchoring means (22) permitting an adjust- ment of the position of the body (10) before securing it against said wall (42). 9. A method according to claim 7 or 8, characterized by suspending the body (10) from the ceiling (21) of said room by at least one anchoring bolt (22) anchored to said ceiling.

Inventors: BUTLER THEOBALD LARS, BUTLER, THEOBALD, LARS
Applicants: BUTLER THEOBALD LARS, LASSE BUTLER ARKITEKTKONTOR AB
Application year: 1993
Main classification: E03D11
IPC codes: E03D11