JOINING ELEMENT AND BUILDING STRUCTURE JOINED THEREWITH

Abstract: The invention relates to a joining element for joining two adjacent building elements (1, 2). The joining element (3) comprises two concentrically arranged conical portions (6, 7) with their base surfaces facing each other and with threads (9, 10) on the lateral surfaces. According to the invention, the conical portions (6, 7) are joined to an intermediate portion (8) with a grip means for cooperation with a tool for rotating the joining element (3). The threads (9) on one conical portion (6) are oppositely pitched to the threads (10) on the other conical portion (7), and the tip angle of the conical portions (6, 7) is at least 30 DEG . The invention also relates to a building construction with a first building element (1) and a second building element (2). The building elements (1, 2) are joined together by means of at least one joining element (3). Each building element has a hole (14, 15) for the joining element (3) and a cavity (12, 13) about each hole (14, 15) for the tool for rotating the joining element (3).

Description: Joining element and building structure joined therewith The invention relates to a joining element according to the preamble to claim 1 and a building structure according to the preamble to claim 4. In many parts of the world there is a great need for simple, stable and inexpensive building structures. This is true in the warmer areas of the world, where there is no need to in¬ sulate buildings against cold. These buildings and building structures should be composed of more or less standardized construction elements, which are joined in a rapid and inex¬ pensive manner, but at the same time providing a strong and secure joint between the building elements with sufficient air-tightness. For example, in certain tropical countries air-conditioning units are used extensively to cool build¬ ings. These buildings usually have uninsulated walls, and since large amounts of energy are required to cool such a space, the energy consumption would be very high. The purpose of the present invention is to achieve a build¬ ing structure with insulated building elements and a joining element for them. Both the building structure and the joining element must be capable of being manufactured simply and in¬ expensively and being assembled in a simple and rapid manner as well as providing a stable structure with the required air-tightness. The invention will be described in more detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a schematic, partially cut-away side view of a portion of two adjacent building elements in a building structure according to one embodiment of the invention, the building elements being joined together by means of a joining element according to the invention, Figure 2 shows a section along the line II-II in Figure 1, Figure 3 is a partially cut-away side view of a portion of a building element in a building structure according to the invention, and Figure 4 is a schematic side view of a portion of a building structure according to the invention, composed of building elements according to Figure 3, and Figure 5 shows a longitudinal section through a joining ele¬ ment according to another embodiment of the inven¬ tion. Figure 1 shows a side view of two building elements 1 and 2. A portion of the building element 1 is cut away to show a joining element 3, which joins the two building elements 1 and 2. The detailed structure of the building elements 1, 2 will be described in more detail below with reference to Figure 3. Each building element 1, 2 has a frame, of which only one beam 4 and 5, respectively, is shown in Figure 1. As can be seen in Figure 1, the two building elements 1, 2 are tightly joined together with their beams 4 and 5, respec¬ tively, lying against each other. This is achieved by means of the joining element 3, which comprises two concentrically disposed conical portions 6, 7. These conical portions are turned with their base surfaces facing each other and are connected by an intermediate portion 8. The conical portions 6, 7 and the intermediate portion 8 are suitably made in one piece. Each of the conical portions 5, 7 is provided with external threads 9 and 10, respectively, for engagement with the material in the beam 4 or 5, respectively. The threads 9 on the conical portion 6 are pitched oppositely to the thread 10 on the conical portion 7. The intermediate portion 8 is, as is particularly evident from Figure 2, made with a hexago¬ nal shape to be gripped by a tool (not shown) for rotating the joining element 3 about the common axis 11 of the conical portion 6, 7. The intermediate portion 8 can of course also be made in another manner for cooperation with another type of turning tool. It is evident from Figure 1 that each of the beams 4 and 5, respectively, is made with a cavity 12 and 13, respectively, in their surfaces facing each other. In this manner, a space is provided between the beams 4 and 5, which makes it pos¬ sible to gain access to the intermediate portion 8 of the joining element 3 in order to tighten the joining element 3 and pull together the building elements 1 and 2. The joining element 3 is inserted into conical holes 14 and 15, respec¬ tively, on the beams 4 and 5, respectively. The conical holes 14, 15 are made with the same conicity as the conical por¬ tions 6, 7 of the joining element 3. In this manner it is possible to join the building elements 1, 2 together with relatively little turning of the joining element 3, since essentially the entire thread 9 and 10, respectively, of the conical portions 6 and 7, respectively, will come into engagement with the walls of the conical hole 14 and 15, respectively, at the same time. Figure 3 shows a larger portion of a building element 1. It is evident that the beam 4 is a vertical edge beam of the building element and is a part of a frame, which also com¬ prises an upper beam 16 and a lower beam 17 as well as a vertical edge beam (not shown) lying opposite the edge beam 4. The building element 1 also comprises an outer covering 18 in the form of a sheet and an inner covering 19 also in the form of a sheet (see Figure 2) . Figure 3 also shows cavities 12 and conical holes 14 both in the edge beam 4 and in the upper and lower beam 16 and 17, respectively. It is thus possible to join the building ele¬ ment 1 not only to an adjacent building element as is shown in Figure 1, but also to adjacent elements above or below, which elements can, for example, be upper or lower edge beams or the like. As is particularly evident from Figure 3, each building ele¬ ment according to the invention is also provided with insula¬ tion 20, which is disposed between the outer covering 18 and the inner covering 19 in a manner known per se. According to the invention, the insulation 20 consists of a vegetable material in the form of grains of maize, rice, wheat or some other suitable grain. Before these grains are used as insula¬ tion in the building element, they have been expanded in a suitable manner by heat, for example in the same way that popcorn is made. In this manner, the grains will contain a large proportion of air, thus providing an insulation mate¬ rial with very good properties, fully comparable to foamed plastic and mineral wool. In order to obtain a more durable insulation material, the individual grains, prior to inser¬ tion into the building element, can be treated with a very thin layer of glue or other binding agent, and they can also be treated with some other agent which prevents the grains from being attacked by insects and rodents. The advantage of this insulation material is that it is a natural, cheap, easily accessible and easily handled material without tech¬ nical complications and with very good insulating capacity as well as low weight. Figure 4 shows, in addition to the building elements 1, 2, a number of additional building elements, with the building element 21 including a window 22. It is of course also pos¬ sible to have building elements with doors or other openings. Figure 4 also indicates the joining elements 3 schematically, and it is evident that the building elements are joined both to each other and to a sill 23 and to a top plate 24 to form together a finished building wall. In order to obtain the best possible result when joining the various building elements, it is suitable that the tip angle in each of the conical portions 6 and 7, respectively, in the joining element 3 be at least 30°. In this manner, it is pos¬ sible to obtain both exceptionally good guiding-in of the various elements to be joined together, by virtue of the fact that the joining element is used as a guide, and the possibi¬ lity of pulling together adjacent elements by tightening each joining element 3 only one or two rotations. The joining pro¬ cess is therefore rapid and all of the thread rounds engage at the same time, and therefore the risk of destroying the material is reduced. Furthermore, the joining element 3 is centered effectively, thus minimizing the risk of misaligned tightening. The drawing shows that the cavities 12 and 13, respectively, extend both through the beam 4 or 5, respectively, and through the outer covering 18 and the inner covering 19. As an alternative to this, it is of course conceivable that the outer covering 18 will have no cavity, which will make the building element and the building structure composed of a plurality of building elements airtight on its exterior. The cavity in the inner covering 19 will always be required, however, in order to gain access to and rotate the joining element 3. The material in the building elements 1, 2 is primarily intended to be wood, and the beams are of solid wood, while the outer covering 18 and the inner covering 19 are plywood, for example. The beams can possibly also be made in plywood, and it is an advantage if the outer covering 18 is made in water-resistent plywood. Figure 5 shows a joining element 25, the external shape of which corresponds to the joining element 3 according to the previously described embodiment, and is intended to be used as an alternative thereto. The joining element 25 is, how¬ ever, not made as a homegeneous body as is the case with the joining element 3, but is instead made up of two intercon¬ nected, hollow portions 26 and 27. The portions 26 and 27 are essentially mirror-symmetrical, and each of the portions 26 and 27 has the shape of a truncated cone with an external thread 28 and 29, respectively. The threads 28 and 29 are oppositely pitched in the same manner as the threads 9 and 10 on the joining element 3 according to the previously described embodiment. The joining element 25 also has an intermediate portion 30, which connects the truncated conical portions 26 and 27. The intermediate portion 30 consists of bent-out portions 31 and 32 of the end portions of parts 26 and 27. The portions 31 and 32, respectively, are made so that the exterior shape of the intermediate portion 30 will be the same as the interme¬ diate portion 8 of the joining element 3. The portions 31 and 32 are also joined to each other in a stable manner, for example by gluing or welding, so that an intermediate portion 30 is obtained with sufficient strength to cooperate with a tightening tool (not shown) . Each of the portions 26 and 27 is made of a sheet material, for example sheet metal of sufficient strength. The produc¬ tion starts with a flat plate, which is bent to the desired shape by means of sheet metal forming methods which are known per se, and in this process they are provided with threads 28 and 29, respectively. Figure 5 shows that the portion 26 is provided with a slot 33, which extends through the entire threaded portion. The slot 33 provides the portion 26 with thread-cutting proper¬ ties by virtue of the fact that the edge of the material at the slot 33 functions as a cutting edge when the portion 26 is tightened in a surrounding material, for example wood. The portion 27 is of course made in a corresponding manner with a slot which is placed diametrically opposite the slot 33, and is therefore not visible in Figure 5. With the embodiment shown in Figure 5 and described above of the joining element 25, it is possible when making the coni¬ cal holes 14 and 15 in the beams 4 and 5, respectively, to leave a remaining cylindrical core with at most the same dia¬ meter as the opening at the free end of each of the portions 26 and 27. For this purpose it is suitable to use a hollow bit, and by virtue of the fact that a smaller amount of material needs to be removed, the energy consumption in manufacturing will of course be less. The invention is not limited to the example described above but rather changes can be made within the scope of the fol¬ lowing patent claims.

Claims: Claims 1. Joining element (3) for joining two adjacent objects, for example two building elements (1,2) or the like, said joining element (3) comprising two concentrically disposed conical portions (6,7) with their base surfaces facing each other, the lateral surfaces of said conical portions (6,7) being provided with threads (9,10), characterized in that each of the conical portions (6,7) is securely joined to an interme¬ diate portion (8) arranged betwen the conical portions (6,7), that the intermediate portion (8) is provided with at least one gripping means, which is made to cooperate with a tool to make possible rotation of the joining element (3) about the axis (11) of the conical portions (6,7), that the threads (9) on one conical portion (6) are oppositely pitched to the threads (10) on the other conical portion (7) , and that the tip angle of each of the conical portions (6,7) is preferably at least 30°. 2. Joining element according to Claim 1, characterized in that the threads (9,10) on the conical portions (6,7) are made as wood screw threads. 3. Joining element according to Claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the gripping means on the intermediate portion (8) has the shape of a hexagonal part symmetrical about the axis (11) . 4. Joining element according to one of Claims 1-3, character¬ ized in that each of the conical portions (26,27) is hollow. 5. Joining element according to Claim 4, characterized in that each of the conical portions (26,27) is made of sheet metal or the like sheet material, which has been bent into the form of a truncated cone and provided with external threads (28,29). 6. Building structure consisting of a first building element (1) and at least a second building element (2) and/or at least another component (23,24), such as beams or the like, each building element (1,2) comprising a frame with a sheet-shaped covering (18,19) on either side, said building elements (1,2) and possibly other portions (23,24) being joined to each other by means of joining elements (3) , characterized in that each building element (1,2) is provided with at least one hole (14,15) in the frame for a joining element (3), said hole (14,15) being open towards a corre¬ sponding hole (14,15) in the adjacent building element (1,2) and is adapted to the joining element (3) , which consists of a joining element (3) according to one of Claims 1-3, said frame about each hole (14,15) being provided with a cavity (12,13) for a tool for rotating the joining element (3). 7. Building structure according to Claim 6, characterized in that each building element (1,2) has insulation (20) com¬ prising a vegetable material in the form of grains of maize, rice, wheat or some other suitable grain, said grains being expanded by heat. 8. Building structure according to Claim 7, characterized in that the grains in the insulating material (20) are coated with a binder, so that they stick to each other in the build¬ ing element (1,2) . 9. Building structure according to Claim 7 or 8, character¬ ized in that the grains in the insulation material (20) are treated with a means which prevents the grains from being attacked by insects and rodents.

Inventors: ERIKSSON VILHO, ERIKSSON, VILHO
Applicants: ERIKSSON VILHO, ERIKSSON, VILHO
Application year: 1995
Main classification: F16B5
IPC codes: E04B1, F16B5