An anchoring system for panels, particularly panels for ventilated-wall façades

Abstract: The system comprises supporting elements (10), or clips, made of resilient material, and uprights (20) provided with retaining flanges for the said supporting elements. Each supporting element is made of spring steel and is V-shaped, with two legs terminating with widened-out retaining feet. The legs have openings for receiving assembly arms (P2) of the ventilated-wall façade panels (P). A crossbar (13) of the clip is preferably coated with a nylon sheath (18). The system may also include brackets for fastening to the masonry and connecting brackets for a panel.

Description: Ventilated-wall façades are at present widely used in the building industry. A "ventilated-wall façade" is a covering or cladding of a masonry or other vertical wall, said covering being made generally of light panels mounted at a distance from the wall itself, so as to create an air-gap between said wall and said covering. Ventilated-wall façades are currently mounted/assembled by means of a system that comprises channel section uprights (profiles), which are fastened to the masonry wall in a vertical arrangement. Nylon coated supporting pins are mounted in holes provided in the flanges of the uprights according to the dimensions and positions of the panels. Onto these protruding pins, arms are engaged which are integral with the panels. This type of assembly, which is currently known, entails a preliminary design phase for the positioning of the holes in the uprights, as well as a preliminary drilling of the holes in the required positions; moreover, it does not leave any room for possible adjustments in situ. DE 41 15 900 discloses an anchoring system for panels comprising uprights for attachment to a wall to which the panels are to be fastened and supporting elements for supporting the panels on the uprights, said supporting elements being resilient elements comprising a "C"-shaped portion provided with retention means for anchoring to the upright. An object of the present invention is to simplify the assembly operations for assembling of a ventilated-wall façade. The above object has been achieved with a system as described in Claim 1. Further new and useful characteristics are said in the subsequent claims. The new system comprises resilient support elements, or clips, and section bars uprights having flanges for engagement of said resilient support elements. The resilient support elements, or clips, are V-shaped with diverging legs, terminating at their apex with a small cross bar and at their ends with feet for engaging the upright. The resilient elements are generally made of spring steel, or stainless steel, or an appropriately resilient cut and bent sheet steel metal. Preferably through-openings are provided in the legs and define said cross bar and cavities for positioning the panels. The end bar is preferably coated with a nylon sheath. The uprights of the system have a web and an enlarged head which comprises two engagement flanges for that face one another and define a longitudinal opening or passage. The resilient clips may be inserted in the longitudinal opening between the flanges of the upright, with their legs brought close to one another and generally vertical; then they are rotated through 90° and allowed to open out elastically, so that the feet engage the flanges of the upright. The new system makes it possible to overcome the drawbacks of the prior art: it does not compulsorily entail a preliminary design phase or involve preliminary drilling of the uprights; it can be easily adapted to various sizes of panels; it is easy to use; and it enables convenient positional adjustment of panels in situ An examplary unrestrictive embodiment of the invention will be described in the following with reference to the attached drawings in which: Figure 1 is a perspective view, in reduced scale, of a resilient supporting clip element, or "clip"; Figure 2 is an interrupted perspective view, in reduced scale, of an upright; Figure 3 is a perspective view, in the same scale as the previous figures, of a coating or sheath made of plastic material, for the cross bar of the resilient element; Figure 4 is a broken-away perspective view of a ventilated-wall façade panel assembled using the system of the present invention; Figure 5 is a perspective view of a bracket for fastening an upright to the wall; Figure 6 is a perspective view of a bracket for assembling a panel; Figure 7 is a broken-away vertical sectional view through a ventilated-wall façade mounted on a masonry wall, taken on a plane indicated by 7-7 in Figure 8; Figure 8 is a horizontal sectional view according to a plane indicated by 8-8 in Fig. 7, of the ventilated-wall facade mounted on a masonry wall. With reference first to Figure 1, an elastic element 10, or clip, of the system is made of sheet spring steel and is V-shaped, when viewed in profile, with two legs, 11 and 12, which diverge in the absence of applied forces and are joined at the apex of the V forming a bar portion 13. The ends of the legs opposite to the bar terminate with retention feet, 14 and 15. The feet 14 and 15 preferably have a rounded (semicircular) shape when viewed in profile, and each of the feet has an edge, 14' and 15' respectively, for engaging the upright, as will be explained later. Opposite edges, 14" and 15", may be provided on the legs. Each of the legs 11 and 12 of the clip element preferably has a through-opening 16 made, for example, by shearing, or punching, which, on one side, defines the bar 13, and on the opposite side forms cavities, 16', 16", 16''', 16"", of sufficient width to contain the thickness of an edge of a panel for positioning of the same. A central projecting part 17 acts as a spacer between adjacent panels. An upright 20 that is part of the system of the invention comprises a longitudinal web 21, terminating at one end with a wall attachment portion 22, and on the opposite end with a widened headpiece 24. The headpiece is C-shaped, and from the sides of the C two longitudinal flanges, 25 and 26, extend towards one another for a length, leaving free a longitudinal opening or passage between them. The flanges 25 and 26 are set at an appropriate distance from a rear wall 27 of the headpart, to enable arrangement of the feet 14 and 15 between the flanges and the rear wall. A sheath 18 made of plastic material, preferably nylon, shown in Figure 3, is preferably provided to be applied on the bar portion 13 of the clip element 10 to protect and facilitate assembly of the panel. It is shaped like a cylindrical sleeve and is generally open along one generatrix so that it can be snapped onto the bar, and is preferably knurled on its outer surface. Figure 4 shows a ventilated-wall façade panel mounted using the system of the invention. As may be seen in Figure 4, clip elements 10, of which only one is shown in the figure, are applied on an upright 20, which is vertically applied on masonry work, not shown. To partially introduce the clip elements in the longitudinal opening of the upright between the flanges 25 and 26, preferably the clip legs 11 and 12 are brought close to one another and, with the said legs close to one another and contained in vertical planes, the clip feet are inserted beyond the flanges 25 and 26. The clip element is then rotated through 90° so as to present the bar 13 lying horizontal, and the legs are thus allowed to open out. This clamps the retaining edges 14' and 15' against the flanges 25 and 26 of the uprights, particularly against the internal walls thereof. The position of each element 10 along the upright is easily adjusted by bringing the legs 11 and 12 closer together and sliding the clip element along the flanges. Onto the bar 13 coated with the nylon sheath 18 there may thus be installed panels P which, as an example, have been shown as traditional panels made of aluminium sheet or rolled composite aluminium sheet, pre-bent at their edges. The vertical edges are provided with L-shaped slots P1, which define engaging arms P2. For the assembly of the uprights 20 to the wall, brackets 30 are provided like the one shown in Fig. 5. As shown in plan view, it has an L shape, with a branch 31 and a branch 32 that are generally at right angles to one another, each branch being provided with a slot or cutout, respectively 33 and 34. As may be seen from Figures 7 and 8, the branch 31 supports the upright 20 to which it is fastened by means of a bolt 35, whilst the branch 32 is fastened to the wall by means of an anchor bolt of any known type, designated by 36. As may be seen in Figure 7, the resilient element or clip 10, which supports the panel, remains gripped to the flanges 25 and 26 of the upright. In a modified embodiment, the system may also comprise brackets 40 like the one shown in Figure 6, for assembly of a panel. In fact, for planar façade panels (not shown) that do not have previously bent vertical edges provided with slots P1, it is necessary to provide a means for gripping to the bars 13. The bracket 40 is L-shaped in plan view, with a branch 41 provided with an eyelet for fastening to the panel and a second branch 42, which is substantially orthogonal to the first, provided with a slot or cutout 43 which defines an engaging arm 44, similar to the arm referenced P2 in Figure 4 or Figure 7.

Claims: An anchoring system for panels, particularly covering panels for ventilated-wall facades, comprising uprights for attachment to a wall to which the panels are to be fastened, and supporting elements, at least one of the said supporting elements being a resilient element (10) comprising a pair of legs (11, 12) which can be brought close together elastically and diverge in the absence of applied forces for supporting the panels on the said uprights characterised in that said at least one of the supporting elements has a V-shaped profile and comprises a bar portion (13) for coupling positioned at the apex of the V-shaped profile and, at the end opposite to the bar portion, retention feet (14, 15) for anchoring to the upright which has retention flanges (25,26) for engagement with said at least one supporting element; the bar portion (13) of said at least one resilient element being defined by openings or cutouts (16) made in the legs (11, 12), one of the said openings (16) also defining cavities (16', 16", 16"', 16"") for positioning panel edge/s. A system according to Claim 1, characterized in that it further comprises a coating sleeve or sheath (18) for the said bar portion. A system according to Claim 1, characterized in that the said upright (20) comprises a web part (21) and a head part (24), said head part comprising a rear wall (27), and the said flanges (25, 26) are longitudinal and are turned towards one another, thus defining a longitudinal opening of the upright. A system according to Claim 1, characterized in that the upright (20) has a longitudinal part (22, 23) for fastening to the wall, the said system further comprising fastening means (30) for fastening the upright to the wall. A system according to Claim 4, characterized in that the said fastening means (30) comprise brackets with through slots (33, 34). A system according to Claim 1, characterized in that it further comprises panel-engaging brackets (40), the said brackets being L-shaped with two branches, a branch of the L being provided with a slot (43) which defines an engaging arm (44).

Inventors: DALLERA FRANCO, DALLERA, FRANCO
Applicants: DALLERA FRANCO, DALLERA, FRANCO
Application year: 1998
Main classification: E04F13
IPC codes: E04F13