A CONNECTION DEVICE

Abstract: Connection device for bringing about connection and sound insulation between two essentially panel-shaped elements (9, 10), which connection device (1) comprises at least two receiving members (3, 5), between which at least one connecting means (19) is arranged in order to make possible displacement of the elements (9, 10) relative to one another. The connecting means (19) consists of at least one bearing body (21), the bearing body (21) interacting with the receiving members (3, 5) in order to bring about the displacement, and at least one of the receiving members (3, 5) comprises a receiving surface (17).

Description: A connection device The present invention relates to a connection device according to the precharacterizing clause of Patent Claim 1. The invention can be assigned but is not limited to the construction industry. This application is concurrent with Swedish patent application no. 0000411-9. Today, connection devices of various types are used for connecting panel-shaped elements, such as wall elements in buildings, vehicles, machines etc., and for preventing sound transmission between these. Large masses, such as barrier masses in, for example, refrigeration machinery systems, are also used for this purpose. Fitting connection devices in the form of strips or cushions of rubber, neoprene or the like between the wall elements is one course of action for preventing sound transmission between the panel-shaped elements. Constructions of the barrier mass type generally suffer from the disadvantage of taking up far too much space to be capable of achieving satisfactory results. The constructions in the form of strips or cushions generally suffer from the disadvantage of having great difficulty in taking up static loads. In the construction of, for example, a multi-storey building, it is important that settlement of the building is avoided. Moreover, known constructions involve demounting work being rendered more difficult. Wall elements in, for example, buildings with supporting constructions made of concrete or wood form so-called "flanked" constructions with regard to sound insulation in the vertical direction. In a building, the sound transmission, or transfer, can be predominantly via flanked elements, such as said panel-shaped elements or wall elements. A plane so-called bending wave is propagated by means of inner forces and a moment in a wave front through the panel-shaped element according to a sound propagation direction. The forces are at right angles to the plane of the panel-shaped element, while the moment is centred about an axis which lies in a neutral plane of the panel-shaped element and in the wave front. It is important that said forces and said moment are not transmitted at the transition from one panel-shaped element to another, because these forces and the moment transmit an acoustic nuisance. The object of the present invention is to produce a connection device which prevents said forces and said moment being transmitted from one panel-shaped element to another, while considerable static forces can be transmitted between the elements. The object of the present invention is also that sound transmission between wall elements in buildings, vehicles, machines etc. can be prevented. The object is also to improve the living environment in multi-storey buildings made of wood. Living in wooden houses is attractive today, and the market value of a property can be increased. Another object of the invention is to reduce the manufacturing cost of, for example, wall elements for buildings. A further object is to simplify the work during the construction of, for example, a multi-storey building. The object of the invention is likewise to produce a connection device which acts in a self-centring manner. The object is also that the connection device is to be easily demountable. This is achieved by a wall element of the type indicated in the introduction, in which the connecting means consists of at least one bearing body, and the fact that at least one of the receiving members comprises a receiving surface. Further solutions for achieving the aim of the invention and further characteristics of the invention are indicated in the other patent claims. The invention means that a connection device has been produced, which allows a certain movement in the direction transverse to the sound propagation direction, the propagation of structure-borne sound waves in the form of bending waves being prevented. The connection device hereby has the effect of reducing the sound propagation, which renders the living environment in a multi-storey building satisfactory. The invention also means that running wiring between panel-shaped elements is made easier, which results in cost savings. The invention also means that the mounting of one box unit in relation to another is made easier, because the connection device according to the invention acts in a self-centring manner. This in turn results in reduced construction costs. The invention also means that demounting of one panel-shaped element from another is made easier. The invention will be described in greater detail in the form of illustrative embodiments with reference to the accompanying figures, in which: Fig. la shows diagrammatically a perspective view of a connection device according to a first embodiment, Fig. lb shows diagrammatically a front view of the connection device in Fig. la in the direction of the arrow p, Fig. lc shows diagrammatically a perspective view of a connection device according to a second embodiment, Fig. Id shows diagrammatically a front view of the connection device in Fig. lc in the direction of the arrow q, Fig. 2a shows diagrammatically a perspective view of a connection device according to a third embodiment, Fig. 2b shows diagrammatically a front view of the connection device in Fig. 2a in the direction of the arrow r, Fig. 2c shows diagrammatically a front view of the connection device in Fig. la, in which a homogeneous cylinder has an oval cross section, Fig. 2d shows diagrammatically a plan view of the connection device in Figs 2a and 2b, Fig. 3a shows diagrammatically a front view of the connection device according to the invention for connection of two panel-shaped elements, Fig. 3b shows diagrammatically a front view of the connection device in Fig. 3a in a working position, Fig. 3c shows diagrammatically an enlargement of what is shown in Fig. 3b, Fig. 4a shows diagrammatically a perspective view of a connection device according to a fourth embodiment, Fig. 4b shows diagrammatically a front view of the connection device in Fig. 4a, Fig. 4c shows diagrammatically a plan view of the connection device in Figs 4a and 4b, Fig. 4d and Fig. 4e show diagrammatically a front view of the connection device in Figs 4a and 4b, and Fig. 5 shows diagrammatically a part of a corner of a building in perspective with connection devices according to the fourth embodiment. Words such as upwards, downwards, vertically, horizontally etc. indicate directions and planes which describe the orientation of what is shown in the drawing, where what is shown has such an orientation as is usual in buildings when these are erected for use. Reference designations in figures corresponding to components which recur in the figures are not always described in the description. For the sake of clarity, components which are not relevant to the invention are not shown. Fig. la and Fig. lb show a first embodiment of the invention. A connection device 1 according to what is shown in Fig. 1 comprises a first and a second receiving member 3, 5, such as steel plates 7. These can be mounted on an essentially panel-shaped element (9, 10, see Figs 3a-3c) such as, for example, a wall unit 11 (see Figs 3a-3b), which is described in greater detail in the abovementioned concurrent Swedish patent application. The receiving member 3, 5 is then mounted with one 12 of its sides against a contact surface 13 of said wall unit 11. The two receiving members 3, 5 are each designed with an elongate groove 15 on those sides of the receiving members 3, 5 which face one another, which grooves 15 form receiving surfaces 17 for a connecting means 19, such as a bearing body 21. In Fig. la, the bearing body 21 is designed as a homogeneous circular cylinder 23 with an imaginary axis X-X. Fig. lb shows a front view of the connection device 1 in Fig. la in the direction of the arrow p. It is clear here that the radius of the cylinder 23 (not shown by any reference designation) is considerably smaller than the radius of curvature which characterizes the groove 15. The bearing body 21 is arranged rollably between the receiving surfaces 17 of the receiving members 3, 5, so that vibration, principally in the direction transverse to the plane of the panel-shaped element 9, 10, of one panel- shaped element 9 is prevented from being transmitted to the other panel- shaped element 10. Fig. lc and Fig. Id show a second embodiment of the invention. What is shown in Figs la and lb corresponds broadly to what is shown in Figs lc and Id. Components corresponding to those in Figs la and lb have therefore not been indicated by any reference designation. What distinguishes this embodiment from the first is that a circular cylinder 24 has an elongate through-bore 25, the centre axis of which coincides with the imaginary axis X-X. Wiring (not shown) can be run through the bore 25. Fig. Id shows a front view in the direction of the arrow q in Fig. lc. Fig. 2a shows a third embodiment of the invention. The connection device 1 is designed to take up static loads vertically, at the same time as it allows a movement of the wall units 11 in the horizontal direction transverse to the plane of the panel-shaped element 9, 10. The sound propagation direction in a wall unit 11 goes from one floor (not shown) to another. In the corners (26, see Fig. 5) of a building, for example, it is possible with the connection device 1 according to this third embodiment that movements are allowed, including a movement horizontally in the direction along the plane of the panel-shaped element 9, 10 or, to be precise, in all horizontal directions. The connection device 1 comprises a bearing body 21 in the form of a ball 27 made of steel. Other hard materials can also be used for the ball 27. The receiving members 1 have receiving surfaces 17 designed as bowl- shaped recesses 29. It is shown clearly in Fig. 2b that the radius r of the ball 27 is considerably smaller than the radius R of the recess 29 in order that the ball 27 is reliable between the receiving members 3, 5. In Fig. 2d, the connection device 1 in Fig. 2a is shown in a plan view. Fig. 2c shows a homogeneous cylinder 30 similar to that shown in Fig. lb, but with an oval cross section. According to such an embodiment, the assembly work can be made easier, because the cylinder 30 does not roll away during the construction of a building or the like. Fig. 3a shows diagrammatically a front view of the connection device 1 according to the third embodiment and how it is connected to two panel- shaped elements 9, 10. A static load F acts on one panel-shaped element 9, which load is transmitted via the connection device 1 to the other panel- shaped element 10. The static load F has its direction through the bearing body 21, in this case a ball 27, and the receiving members 3, 5 along a plane which coincides with the panel-shaped elements 9, 10. It should be pointed out that the panel- shaped elements 9, 10 can also be bowed and curved. As the ball 27 and the receiving members 3, 5 in Fig. 3a are made of steel, the connection device 1 is not deformed. Other materials and combinations of materials can also be used for the connection device 1. The illustration in Fig. 3a shows a rest position. When sound, for example foot impact sound, is propagated through one panel-shaped element 9, the latter is imparted an oscillatory motion or vibration in the direction transverse to the plane of this panel-shaped element 9. This is shown in Fig. 3b. Field quantities, such as a transverse force F τ and a moment M, arise at right angles to a sound propagation direction and in the direction along a normal (not shown) to the plane of the panel-shaped element 9. The invention therefore makes it possible for one panel-shaped element 9 to move in the direction transverse to the plane of the element relative to the other element 10, while the other element 10 remains stationary. The displacement shown in Fig. 3b of one element 9 relative to the other element 10 is greatly enlarged. In reality, the movement is barely visible to the naked eye. The propagation of structure-borne sound waves from one panel-shaped element 9 to the other panel-shaped element 10 is thus prevented. Fig. 3c shows an enlargement of what is shown in Fig. 3b. The ball 27 is arranged rollably between the receiving surfaces 17. The displacement is greatly exaggerated for the sake of clarity. Figs 4a-4e show a fourth embodiment of the invention. In this case, the connection device 1 is in the form of a connection device 1 made of wood, but can nevertheless be made of other materials which allow a movement in a horizontal plane at the same time as vertical loads F can be taken up. In a building, a number of connection devices 1 are made to take up static loads vertically, at the same time as they allow a movement of the wall units (11, see Fig. 5) in the horizontal direction. The sound propagation direction in a wall unit 11 goes from one floor to another. Field quantities, such as the transverse force F τ and the moment M, arise at right angles to the sound propagation direction and in the direction along a normal to the plane of the wall unit 11. The connection device 1 comprises two receiving members 3, 5 made of pressed wood, such as pressed aspen. This type of wood has proved to have suitable properties and is very elastic transverse to the grain direction of the wood, which is shown by E. Other elastic materials can also be used. The grain direction is shown by the arrow FR. The connection device 1 consists of two wooden plates 31 , 33. Each of these wooden plates 31, 33 has a thickness which corresponds approximately to the cross-sectional dimension of the bearing body 21, in this case a cube 35. Fig. 4c shows a plan view of the connection device 1 in Fig. 4a. The grain direction of one wooden plate 31 is oriented transversely to the grain direction of the other wooden plate 33. The grain directions are oriented fundamentally transversely to the plane which coincides with the plane of the panel-shaped elements (9, 10, see Fig. 4b). Fig. 4b and Fig. 4d show the connection device 1 according to the fourth embodiment in a rest position and, respectively, a working position. The displacement of the two wooden plates 31, 33 is greatly exaggerated in Fig. 4d and Fig. 4e. In reality, the displacement is barely visible. In the working position (Fig. 4d and Fig. 4e), the transverse force F τ and the moment M act in a similar manner to that described in connection with the description of Fig. 3b. The cube 35 is arranged rotatably and displaceably between the two wooden plates 31, 33, as the pressed wood is elastic in the grain direction according to the arrow E. In this respect, one panel-shaped element 9 can move relative to the other panel-shaped element 10. Fig. 4e shows clearly how stretching of a portion 34 of the upper wooden plate 31 takes place in the direction of the arrow E when an upper wall unit (11 , see Fig. 4b) moves relative to the other wall unit (11 ', see Fig. 4b), the possibility of sound being transmitted between the wall units therefore being excluded. Lines with the designation t show diagrammatically how the stretching is distributed within the area of the contact surface between the cube and the wooden plate. The distance between two adjacent lines t shows the stretching within an active portion (the lines t'-t') and an inactive portion (the lines t-t) of the wooden plate. This illustration is of course highly diagrammatic, the lines representing different stretching in reality having a different orientation. The important factor is that the stretching takes place transversely to the grain direction of the wood. The stretching is barely visible to the human eye. Other materials, which have elasticity in one direction and are rigid in the opposite direction, can also be used for this described embodiment. Fig. 5 shows diagrammatically a corner 26 of a building, seen from inside the building. The panel-shaped elements 9, 10 together constitute wall units 11, 11 ' which are mounted next to and on one another. Connection devices 1 are arranged between two wall units 11 , 1 1 ' standing one on the other. The panel-shaped elements 9, 10 are bolted to one another by means of bolts (not shown) at the factory. The wall units 11, 11 ' are bolted to one another on a building site by means of other bolts (not shown). The connection device 1 shown here is described above in connection with the description of Figs 4a-4d. Parts which are not relevant to the invention are not shown in the figures. The distribution of connection devices 1 can be more sparse the higher up a building they are located, because the static loads then decrease. This is visible in the figure according to arrows A and B. The position of a joist floor 39 is shown by broken lines. For the sake of clarity, the wall units 11, 11 ' are separated from one another in the vertical direction. The connection device 1 achieves the effect that the transverse force and the moment cannot be transmitted from one wall unit 11 to another wall unit 11 '. On the other hand, considerable static forces can be transmitted vertically in the longitudinal direction of the wall units 11, 11 '. The connection device 1 is inter alia space-saving, environmentally friendly and easy to handle. Both the cube 35 and the receiving members 3, 5 can be made of any material. However, they must be dimensioned so that the local reactions in the receiving members and in the cube 35 are such that the transverse force and moment shown in Fig. 4 are not transmitted from one wall unit 11, in which the sound has been generated, to the other wall unit 11 '. This is suitably brought about by virtue of the fact that the receiving members 3, 5 of the connection device 1 are made of pressed wood and by virtue of the fact that the receiving members 3, 5 have a thickness which essentially corresponds to the transverse dimension of the cube. As mentioned in the introduction, the invention is not limited to the construction industry, but can also be used within other industries, such as the automotive industry, other manufacturing industry etc.

Claims: Patent Claims 1. Connection device for bringing about connection and sound insulation between two essentially panel-shaped elements (9, 10), which connection device (1) comprises at least two receiving members (3, 5), between which at least one connecting means (19) is arranged in order to make possible displacement of the elements (9, 10) relative to one another, characterized in that the connecting means (19) consists of at least one bearing body (21), the bearing body (21) interacting with the receiving members (3, 5) in order to bring about the displacement, and in that at least one of the receiving members (3, 5) comprises a receiving surface (17). 2. Connection device according to Claim 1, characterized in that the connection device (1) is designed to take up static loads (F) in a direction through the bearing body (21) along a plane which coincides with the essentially panel-shaped elements (9, 10), while the bearing body (21) is essentially undeformable at said static loads. 3. Connection device according to Claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the bearing body (21) is arranged rollably on the receiving surface (17) of the receiving member (3, 5), so that vibration of one element (9) is prevented from being transmitted to the other element (10). 4. Connection device according to Claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the bearing body (21) is arranged rotatably and displaceably on the receiving surface (17) of the receiving member (3, 5), so that vibration of one element (9) is prevented from being transmitted to the other element (10). 5. Connection device according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the bearing body (21) is a ball (27). 6. Connection device according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that at least one receiving member (3, 5) has a receiving surface (17) designed as a bowl-shaped recess (29). 7. Connection device according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the bearing body (21) is a circular cylinder (24) with an elongate through-bore (25). 8. Connection device according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that at least one receiving member (3, 5) has a receiving surface (17) designed as an elongate groove (15). 9. Connection device according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that at least one of the receiving members (3, 5) and/or the bearing body (21) is made of metal or of another hard material. 10. Connection device according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the receiving members (3, 5) are made of an elastic material, such as pressed wood, in which the grain direction of one receiving member (3) is oriented fundamentally transversely to the grain direction of the other receiving member (5) and transversely to a plane which coincides with the essentially panel-shaped elements (9, 10). 11. Connection device according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the essentially panel-shaped elements (9, 10) consist of wall units (11, 1 1 ') in a building or the like.

Inventors: HIDEMARK BENGT, JAKOBSSON OLLE, LJUNGGREN STEN, MOELLER TORE, SAMUELSSON STURE, HIDEMARK, BENGT, JAKOBSSON, OLLE, LJUNGGREN, STEN, MOELLER, TORE, SAMUELSSON, STURE
Applicants: HIDEMARK BENGT, JAKOBSSON OLLE, LJUNGGREN STEN, MOELLER TORE, SAMUELSSON STURE, VETENSKAPSSTADEN, HIDEMARK, BENGT, JAKOBSSON, OLLE, LJUNGGREN, STEN, MOELLER, TORE, SAMUELSSON, STURE
Application year: 2001
Main classification: E04B1
IPC codes: E04B1, G10K11