WALL MODULE AND METHOD FOR INTERCONNECTING SUCH MODULES

Abstract: A gutter bracket for supporting a gutter, whose one longitudinal edge has an elongate bead, comprises a pivotable snap-on member (3) which is adapted to be snapped on to the bead and which is permanently hingedly mounted on the bracket (1). A hinge connection (4) between the snap-on member (3) and the body (2) of the bracket (1) engages two tongues projecting from the body (2) and bent around an adjoining edge portion of the snap-on member (3). In a method of producing such a gutter bracket (1), said bending of the tongues is effected around the edge portion of the snap-on member (3).

Description: WALL MODULE AND METHOD FOR INTERCONNECTING SUCH MODULES Technical Field The present invention relates to an element for con¬ nection with an elongate gutter or the like. The inven¬ tion is particularly, but not exclusively, directed to an element for connection with a gutter included in a water draining system, one longitudinal edge of the gutter hav¬ ing an elongate bead, to which a pivotable snap member can be snapped on for retaining of the element. Moreover, the invention concerns a method for pro- ducing an element of the above-mentioned type. Background Art The invention is especially applicable to compo¬ nents well known to the expert, such as gutter brackets, gutter joints, gutter end portions, connectors etc, which are used to receive and support eaves gutters along roofs. A leaflet published by the Swedish company Lindab Platisol AB in 1980, p. 3, shows, with designations as stated, a gutter R having a longitudinal outer bead, a gutter joint RSK with a rubber seal, a gutter bracket K21, different types of gutter end portions RGTV/RGGV and RGV, and a connector OK, which is adapted to form a connection between a horizontal eaves gutter and a vertical downpipe. A common feature of these components is that they have on the one hand a first member, for instance a hook, for engaging the outer longitudinal edge, provided with a bead, of the gutter and, on the other hand, a second member, usually a hook as well, for engaging the opposite inner longitudinal edge of the gut¬ ter. As is the case with the prior-art gutter bracket K21, use can be made of a deformable front clip for fix¬ ing the bracket, said clip, during mounting, being folded around the bead of the gutter, and a deformable rear clip which is folded around the opposite longitudinal edge of the gutter. Such mounting of the gutter in the bracket is relatively complicated, and the grip around the gutter will in many cases be unsatisfactory owing to resilience of the two clips. Since the foldable clips usually are riveted to the bracket, this is weakened locally around the riveting point, which is negative from the viewpoint of strength. A further drawback, which is common to the above- described components, is that relatively good accuracy is required when mounting the gutter. If this accuracy is neglected during mounting, there is a risk that the brackets and other accessories for the gutter come loose if the gutter is subjected to a load, for instance by a ladder being placed against the gutter. As to prior art, reference is further made to Patent Specification CH-A-527,987, which discloses a gutter bracket having riveted, foldable clips, and PCT Publica¬ tion WO 95/08681, which discloses a similar bracket with foldable clips. These two known brackets, however, suffer from the same drawbacks as described above, particularly undesired weakening and reduced strength owing to rivets and tongues, respectively, which are cut out directly from the body of the gutter bracket. It is known that experts in the field have expe¬ rimented with pivotable members for engaging the bead edge of the gutter. As an example, mention can be made of the gutter bracket according to Patent Specification CH-A-247, 637, the outer end of which has a pivotable holder in the form of a hook for engaging a gutter. How¬ ever, no snap action is described, and this prior-art bracket also has welding and riveting points, which as a logical consequence of that stated above cause weaken¬ ings and reduced strength. An example of snap function is disclosed in US-A- 1,903,861, in which a bracket has, at its outer end, a wire-shaped snap-on clamp adapted to be snapped on to a bead of a gutter. For reasons of adjustment, the snap-on clamp can be removed and shifted between different fixing holes formed in the free end portion of the bracket. The fixing holes cause, analogously to that stated above, an undesired weakening of the material of the bracket, at the same time as the loose snap-on clamp can easily be lost and disappear during mounting. This prior-art bracket thus consists of two parts, viz. a body and the snap-on clamp, which is negative from the viewpoint of manufacture since the mounting of the snap-on clamp constitutes an additional operation. Owing to its wire shape, this known snap-on clamp is very elas¬ tic and has little strength, which means that its snap action around the bead will be unreliable. The connectors that are available on the market mean special inconveniences by the fact that the rear edge, during mounting, must be folded around the inner longitu¬ dinal gutter edge, which in most cases is difficult to reach. The experts mounting gutters and downpipes thus desire that connectors should, as far as possible, allow mounting from the front edge of the gutter. Regarding further prior-art brackets having diffe¬ rent types of wire-shaped snap-on clamps, which however suffer from drawbacks similar to those mentioned above, reference is made to US Patent Specifications 2,239,468, 2,256,843, 2,387,241, 2,534,145 and 2,654,555. A fixed gutter bracket also belongs to prior art, especially intended for the supporting of gutters of plastic hav¬ ing relatively great elasticity (according to US-A- 3,222,828). Summary of the Invention An object of the present invention is to eliminate the above drawbacks and provide an overall solution in the form of elements which are adapted to be connected with gutters of the above-mentioned type or the like, and the snap function of which is improved and which permit a reliable support. A special object of the invention is to provide a solution that satisfies the very great requirements which today's experts place on quick and rational mounting of such gutters, without lowering the requirements for reli¬ able retaining of the gutters. A further object of the invention is to provide a method of producing such elements for said connection with e.g. a gutter. According to the invention, these and other objects that will appear from the following specification have now been achieved by means of an element as defined in the accompanying claim 1, preferred embodiments being defined in the subclaims related thereto. Moreover, the objects are achieved by a method according to the accom¬ panying claim 9, preferred variants being defined in the subclaims related thereto. According to the invention, elements are provided which permit quick and rational mounting of e.g. gutters, and also purely aesthetical advantages are achieved. The snap-on member can in fact be received very close to the gutter, thereby eliminating any projecting parts. More- over, the elements are very simple in terms of manufac¬ ture, which results in obvious advantages. In particular, a very reliable hinge connection is obtained between the snap-on member and the element. In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the hinge connection is arranged in the free end of the ele¬ ment, such that the hinge connection, when connecting the element to the gutter, is placed directly under the bead of the gutter. This results in an excellent snap action and retaining of the snap-on member on the bead. Brief Description of the Drawings The invention and its many advantages will now be described in more detail with reference to the accompa¬ nying schematic drawings, which show some non-restricting embodiments and in which Figs 1 and 2 are an obliquely perspective view and a side view, respectively, of an element designed according to the invention in the form of a gutter bracket, Fig. 3 is a sectional view of a snap-on clamp be¬ longing to the gutter bracket. Fig. 4 is a cross-section of the body of the bracket shown in Fig. 2, Fig. 5 is a separate view of the snap-on clamp of the bracket, Fig. 6 shows the sheet-metal blank which is formed to the snap-on clamp in Fig. 5, Fig. 7 shows the end portion of the bracket before being assembled with the snap-on clamp, and in particu¬ lar tongues of material projecting from the body of the bracket are shown, Fig. 8 shows a portion of the sheet-metal strip which is formed to the end portion of the bracket shown in Fig. 7, Figs 9-10 illustrate how a rear clip belonging to the bracket is formed from a planar sheet-metal blank, Fig. 11 is an end view of the clip, Figs 12-14 are side views of the clip in different folding positions, Fig. 15 is a perspective view of a gutter joint designed according to the invention, Fig. 16 is a perspective view of an outer gutter end portion designed according to the invention, Fig. 17 is a perspective view of an inner gutter end portion formed according to the invention, Fig. 18 is a side view of a connector designed according to the invention, Fig. 19 is a partial view of the snap function of the connector, and Fig. 20 is a front view of the connector. Description of Embodiments of the Invention Figs 1-2 illustrate a gutter bracket which is gene¬ rally designated 1 and which has a body 2 preferably made by bending the longitudinal edge of a planar sheet-metal strip, as will be described in more detail below. The gutter bracket 1 comprises a pivotable snap-on clamp 3 which is hingedly mounted on the body 2 of the bracket 1 in the free end thereof. The hinge connection 4 will be described in more detail below. Further the bracket 1 has a rear clip 5 which is fixed, preferably clamped, in an internal longitudinal groove 6 in the body 2. The clip 5 is foldable in known manner. A number of fixing holes 7 are also formed in the body 2 in prior-art manner. The snap-on clamp 3 is adapted to be snapped on to a bead 8 shown in Figs 18 and 19 and belonging to a gut- ter 9 of known type. The clip 5 is adapted to be folded around a longitudinal edge portion 10 opposite the bead 8 (cf. Fig. 18). Fig. 3 shows the outer bent terminal edge 11 of the snap-on clamp 3 and its inner bent terminal edge 12 which is included in the hinge connection 4. The snap-on clamp 3 is formed from the planar sheet-metal blank which is indicated in Fig. 6. Fig. 4 is a cross-section of the body 2, from which appears how a sheet-metal strip has been bent to form a "tubular section". The longitudinal edges of the sheet- metal strip are bent inwards in a manner reminding of that shown in the reference WO 95/08681 mentioned by way of introduction. There is a difference, however, in the form of the groove 6, which, as mentioned above, is used for fixing of the rear clip 5. The bending of the longi- tudinal edge of the sheet-metal strip for forming the body 2 is indicated in Figs 7 and 8. In practice, the groove 6 of the bracket 1 according to the embodiment illustrated has a width of a few milli¬ metres, but according to an alternative embodiment (not shown), the groove 6 is wider, preferably 7 mm. In the latter case, use is made of a different kind of clip 5, whose portion connecting with the inside of the body 2 is partly pressed into the groove 6 for fixing the clip 5. In this embodiment, which in practical experiments has given excellent results, the body of the bracket 1 pre¬ ferably is of a width of 26 mm. The hinge connection 4 is formed by bending tongues 13, 14 projecting from the free end of the body 2 (see Fig. 7) around the inner bent terminal edge 12 of the snap-on clamp 3, see Figs 5 and 3. The tongues 13, 14 are formed by a special cutting of the sheet-metal strip, as indicated in Fig. 8. Thanks to the brilliant hinge connection 4, which is accomplished by the bending of the tongues 13, 14 around the terminal edge 12 of the snap-on clamp 3, said termi- nal edge being bent to essentially cylindrical shape, an excellent and reliable articulation of the snap-on clamp 3 is obtained. As appears from the Figures, especially Fig. 5, the snap-on clamp 3 is U-shaped and its outer terminal edge 11 is bent in the direction of the U-shape. This results in a highly reliable snap action on the bead 8 (see Figs 18-19). Figs 9-10 show how the clip 5 is made from a planar sheet-metal blank 15, which is cut in a special manner. At one end, the blank 15 has two flaps 16 and 17, which are formed in a special bending operation to the embodi¬ ment shown in Figs 10-11. By this bending, the clip 5 obtains a T-shaped portion 18, which, during mounting of the clip 5, is clamped into the groove 6 (see Figs 1 and 4). This fixing of the clip 5 is extremely advantageous since the body 2 of the bracket 1 does not obtain any weakening of material in the form of rivet holes, as is often the case with prior-art gutter brackets. The alter¬ native type of clip, which has been described above and which is partly pressed into the groove, does, of course, not give rise to any weakening of material. The foldable clip 5 is illustrated in various posi¬ tions in Figs 12-14, from which especially the extent of the clamping portion 18 is evident. It should be pointed out that the clip 5 is in fact an arbitrary component, which in some cases may be excluded. It may also have a design other than described here. By the brilliant interaction between the tongues 13 and 14 of the body 2 and the inner terminal edge 12 of the snap-on clamp 3, a permanently hingeable mounting of the snap-on clamp 3 is accomplished. Practical experi- ments with gutter brackets 1 of the type described above have given excellent results. A particularly reliable retaining of the bracket 9 is obtained. Moreover, aesthe- tical advantages are achieved by the snap-on clamp 3 being designed so as to closely follow the outside of the bead 8. This makes the new snap-on clamp 3 less visible than the corresponding prior-art folding clips and wire- shaped snap-on clamps. As is clearly seen in Figs 18-19, the particularly good snap action is obtained by the hinge connection 4 being located immediately under the bead 8 in connection with the gutter outside, against which the hinge con¬ nection 4 preferably rests. This "toggle joint action" results in excellent retaining of the snap-on clamp 3 around the bead 8. The expert realises that the hinge connection 4 between the snap-on clamp 3 and the body of the bracket 1 alternatively, and with equivalence, can be accomplished by the bending of tongues (not shown), projecting from the snap-on clamp 3, around a cylindrical end portion, preferably a bent portion, at the free end of the body 2 (not shown) . It will be further appreciated that the inventive concept is generally applicable to other elements. Fig. 15 shows, for instance, a gutter joint 19 having a snap-on clamp 3 corresponding to the one described above. The hinge connection 4 is accomplished in the same man¬ ner as before by bending two spaced-apart tongues 13, 14, which project from the body of the gutter joint 19, around the neighbouring terminal edge 12 of the snap-on clamp 3. In addition to the snap function, the gutter joint 19 comprises a fixed hook portion 20 and an inter¬ nal seal 21. Fig. 16 illustrates a gutter end portion 22 which is formed analogously with that stated above and adapted to be arranged on the outside of the gutter 9 at one end thereof. In addition to the pivotable snap-on clamp 3, the outer gutter end portion 22 has an end piece 23, a hook portion 24 and an internal seal 25. An alternatively designed gutter end portion 26 intended to be arranged inside the gutter 9 is illustrat¬ ed in Fig. 17. In this case, the pivoting motion of the snap-on clamp 3 must be reversed, implying that the outer bent terminal edge 11 of the snap-on clamp 3 is snapped on to the lower portion of the bead 8. Otherwise, the inner gutter end portion 26 corresponds to the above- described outer gutter end portion 22, except of course the positioning of the seal. Finally, Figs 18-19 show a connector 27 adapted to be snapped on to the bead 8 of the gutter 9 by means of the snap-on clamp 3. A great advantage is that the person who is to mount this new type of connector 27 can operate entirely from the front edge of the gutter 9. This can be done by a hook portion 28, which belongs to the connector 27, first being hooked on to the inner edge portion 10 of the gutter 9 and then being pivoted upwards, whereupon the final mounting easily takes place by snapping on the snap-on clamp 3 to the bead 8. This mounting is extremely simple and thus rational to carry out. According to a preferred method of producing an ele¬ ment according to the invention, for instance a gutter bracket 1 or a connector 27 as described above, at least one, preferably two tongues 13, 14 are formed on the body of the element, whereupon the tongues 13, 14 are bent around an edge portion belonging to the snap-on clamp 3, thereby forming a permanent hinge connection 4 between the body of the element and the snap-on clamp 3. Accord- ing to a preferred variant, the element is further pro¬ vided with a foldable clip 5 which is positioned at a distance from the snap-on clamp 3 and which is clamped into a groove 6 in the element and folded over the inner longitudinal edge 10 of the gutter 9. It should finally be pointed out that the inventive concept is in no way restricted to the embodiments and variants described above, and several modifications are conceivable within the scope of the appended claims. It should also be emphasised that the pivoting direction of the snap-on clamp can be reversed (inner gutter end por¬ tion according to Fig. 17), and that the hinge connection can be accomplished mainly according to two variants, where tongues project either from the body of the element or from the snap-on clamp. The elements produced according to the invention, e.g. gutter brackets and equivalent brackets, can of course be used to support gutters of other types; mention can here be made of flower-boxes, feeding troughs etc. The arcuate holding part of the gutter bracket can then be designed in a manner other than here described, according to the shape of the object to be supported.

Claims: CLAIMS 1. An element for connection with an elongate gutter or the like, preferably an eaves gutter (9), whose one longitudinal edge has an elongate bead (8 ), said element (1; 19; 22; 26; 27) comprising a pivotable snap-on member (3 ) , which is adapted to be snapped on to the bead ( 8 ) and which is permanently hingedly mounted on the element, c h a r a c t e r i s e d in that the hinge connection (4) between the snap-on member (3 ) and the element comprises at least one tongue (13, 14) which projects from the element or alternatively from the snap-on member (3 ) and which is connected to, preferably bent around, an adjoining edge portion (12) of the snap-on member (3) or of the element. 2. The element as claimed in claim 1, wherein the hinge connection (4) is arranged in a free end of the element, such that the hinge connection, when connect- ed to the gutter (9 ) , is positioned under the bead ( 8 ) thereof. 3. The element as claimed in claim 1 or 2, wherein said edge portion of the snap-on member (3) consists of a bent portion (12) of essentially cylindrical shape, around which said tongue or tongues (13, 14) is/are bent. 4. The element as claimed in claim 1, 2 or 3, comprising two spaced-apart tongues (13, 14), which are adapted to be bent around said edge portion (12) of the snap-on member (3) . 5. The element as claimed in any one of the preced¬ ing claims, wherein the snap-on member is an essentially U-shaped clamp (3), whose terminal edge (11) opposite the hinge connection (4) is bent inwards in the U-shape. 6. The element as claimed in any one of the preced- ing claims, comprising an arcuate portion for receiving and supporting the gutter (9 ) , the gripping portion of the snap-on member (3) being, in the snap-on position, directed to said arcuate portion. 7. The element as claimed in any one of the preced¬ ing claims, comprising a clip (5) which is spaced from the snap-on member (3 ) and fixed in a groove (6 ) in the element ( 1 ) and which is foldable around a second longi¬ tudinal edge (10) of the gutter (9) opposite said longi¬ tudinal edge (8) having a bead. 8. The element as claimed in any one of the preced- ing claims, the element being a gutter (1), a gutter joint (19), a gutter end portion (22; 26) or a connector (27). 9. A method for producing an element (1; 19; 22; 26; 27 ) , which is adapted to be connected to an elongate gut- ter or the like, preferably an eaves gutter (9), and which is provided with a pivotable snap-on member (3), which is permanently hingedly mounted on the element and, when connected, is snapped on to a longitudinal edge bead ( 8) of the gutter (9), c h a r a c t e r i s e d in that the hinge connection (4) between the snap-on member (3) and the element is accomplished by at least one project¬ ing tongue (13, 14) being formed on the element, or alternatively on the snap-on member (3 ) ; and that the tongue or tongues (13, 14) is/are connected to, prefer- ably bent around, an edge portion (12) of the snap-on member (3) or of the element. 10. The method as claimed in claim 9, wherein said hinge connection (4) is provided in the free end of the element. 11. The method as claimed in claim 9 or 10, wherein a foldable clip (5), which is positioned at a distance from the snap-on member (3), is fixed in a groove in the element (1), said clip (5), when connected, being folded over a longitudinal edge (10) of the gutter (9) opposite the longitudinal edge (8) thereof, provided with a bead. 12. The method as claimed in claim 9, 10 or 11, wherein the element is designed as a bracket (1), which is formed by longitudinal bending of a planar sheet-metal strip, which is provided with said tongue or tongues (13, 14).

Inventors: ANDERSSON TOMMY, FELLERT OERJAN, LARSSON HANS, SONDEN CARL-GUSTAF, THUVESSON STELLAN, ANDERSSON, TOMMY, FELLERT, OERJAN, LARSSON, HANS, SONDEN, CARL-GUSTAF, THUVESSON, STELLAN
Applicants: ANDERSSON TOMMY, FELLERT OERJAN, LARSSON HANS, LINDAB AB, SONDEN CARL GUSTAF, THUVESSON STELLAN, ANDERSSON, TOMMY, FELLERT, OERJAN, LARSSON, HANS, SONDEN, CARL-GUSTAF, THUVESSON, STELLAN
Application year: 1996
Main classification: E04D13
IPC codes: E04D13