Patent Description:
In particular, the metal cover uses a plurality of metal slabs adjacent to one another and connected by the special shaping of the lateral edges thereof.

Such edges are fixed on the underlying structure by means of brackets and the system thus made forms a continuous cover that is easy and rapid to install, long-lasting, very resistant to wind and appropriate for the protection of the underlying building.

The present invention is advantageously applied in the sector of coverings for roofs of buildings in general and panel coverings in particular with a metal structure.

The use in the construction sector of various types of coverings for buildings is known, which in some cases, as in industrial buildings, establishments, airports or the like, are constituted by adjacent panels or slabs.

The coverings of roofs with large-surface elements, being panels or slabs, is usual for large surfaces, such as industrial sheds, or production facilities, or large infrastructures, because of the greater implementation speed and low cost thereof.

The panels and slabs for coverings of buildings are prefabricated elements having large surfaces and supplied directly to the construction site, ready to mount and equipped with all the components and accessories for realising the complete cover.

Such panels are made of various metals, aluminium, copper, zinc, steel or the like, or of plastic materials, ABS, polycarbonate, PVC, or the like.

The slabs that make them up can have various dimensions, both in length (from less than one metre up to hundreds of metres) and in width, which is usually not greater than a metre, both for static reasons and for the limitation in width of the starting laminated strip that is known as a coil.

It is also known in this sector that the lateral edges of the covering panels or slabs can be connected to enable joining thereof in very many ways, from a simple superposing of the edges to very complex geometries with drainage channels in the joint, fixing surfaces to the sub-structure, utilising geometries suitable for special fixing systems.

In the latter case, in which geometries suitable for special fixing systems are used, the fixing brackets can be made of metal or plastic materials, can avoid the need for piercing of the slabs, and can allow for dilation of the slabs in the lengthwise direction.

Further, the choice of geometry of the slab and the metal in production determines the frequency of the fixings in the lengthwise direction and the mechanical performance at concentrated positive load, for example so as to support foot traffic, at distributed load, like snow and wind, and at negative load, as in the typical cases of wind uplift, i.e. the lifting thrust of the wind.

To complete the system there exist innumerable systems outside the slabs for fixing, with or without piercing, clamps, hooks etc., made of various materials and suitable for application of various accessories on the roof, such as snow catches, anti-fall systems, solar panels, walkways, plants, etc..

One example of such cover systems is described in documents <CIT> and <CIT> which propose providing systems for connecting or constraining accessories to coating panels or slabs for covering buildings which enables joining the overlapped edging of two adjacent panels without any need for piercing the panels/slabs to which the assembly is applied.

According to the first solution the use of gripping and hooking components is included, which gripping and hooking components are applicable on the joined edges of two adjacent panels, which are fixable by use of a tightening and constraint component which, in this case, has the characteristic of including at least one part being adapted to enable the constraint of an accessory, represented for example by solar panels or other components and accessories located on the cover.

In the second case, the system comprises a plurality of metal sheets to be connected together along portions of lateral edges that are shaped to define a first longitudinal projection facing laterally outwards, and several mounting brackets to be anchored to a roof. Each bracket comprises at least one longitudinal groove for housing in a snap-fit coupling the first longitudinal projections of the adjacent panels so that the first longitudinal projections have opposite upper surfaces that are at least partially flat and substantially parallel or slightly tilted to promote the action of retaining the panels and increase the separating load that would cause the detachment of the edge portions.

Despite some of the systems having good performance characteristics, however, technology proposes continuous improvements both to the geometric configuration of the edges of the slabs and to the means used for mutual connection, which are designed, as in the case of the present invention, also by virtue of the constantly increasing requests for higher performance components for covering buildings because of the serious climatic changes that have greatly increased the cases of typhoons and hurricanes and as a result of roofs blown off and new architectural and structural needs.

The present invention aims to provide a metal coating cover for roofs of buildings which uses a plurality of metal slabs adjacent to one another and connected by the special shaping of the lateral edges thereof which is able to improve the general performance of the system to meet the requirements highlighted above.

In particular the invention proposes providing a metal coating cover for roofs of buildings, the slabs of which, positioned adjacent to one another, comprise edges which are fixed on the underlying structure by means of specially shaped brackets and the system thus made forms a continuous cover that is easy and rapid to install, long-lasting, very resistant to wind and perfectly adequate for the protection of the underlying building.

An important objective proposed by the present invention to significantly improve the performance of the covering system in place, enabling an increase in terms of distance, or span, between successive rests in the lengthwise direction of the slabs, and/or a greater resistance to the wind-uplift phenomenon, i.e. the resistance to the lifting thrust of the wind.

A further object of the present invention is to improve the sliding of the slabs into the respective fixing brackets in order to enable free longitudinal dilation of the slabs themselves, enabling the manufacturing of even very long slabs (well above <NUM> metres), without this compromising and limiting the wind-uplift value, as instead happens with existing systems.

A further object of the invention is to reduce to a minimum the number of folds of the profile of the edges of the panels to be placed against one another, in the interest of greater production cost effectiveness.

A further objective of the invention is to maintain for these folds of the profile of the edges of the panels to be placed against one another with a curvature radius that is sufficiently wide, so as to enable the use of hard metal alloys, for example aluminium alloys, on the one hand avoiding the risk of formation of cracks, which can lead to the breakage of the material, and on the other hand avoiding the possibility of whitening of some types of colouring of the surface, which occurs for example using PVDF paints that may involve so-called whitening phenomena, which is particularly unwelcome in dark colourings.

Another objective of the invention is to facilitate the mounting of external clamps, without any need to pierce the slabs, but guaranteeing great resistance thereof to the lateral, longitudinal and extraction stresses, without however increasing friction between the slabs and the fixing brackets.

This is obtained through a coating cover for roofs with a metal structure of buildings, comprising a plurality of metal slabs adjacent to one another and connected by the special shaping of the lateral edges thereof and locked by special brackets, the characteristics of which are described in the main claim. The dependent claims of the present solution delineate advantageous embodiments of the invention.

Further characteristics and advantages of the invention will become apparent from reading the following description of an embodiment of the invention provided by way of non-limiting example, with the aid of the figures illustrated in the appended tables of drawings, in which:.

With reference to the appended figures, and initially in particular to <FIG> denotes in its entirety a coating cover for roof of buildings with a metal frame defining a first slab <NUM>, while reference signs <NUM>' and <NUM>" denote the adjacent slabs.

Each slab <NUM> has a substantially rectangular conformation, indicatively a width of about <NUM> metres and a length that can also be much above <NUM> metres, which, given the specific conformation thereof, is makable using hard metal alloys, for example aluminium.

The slabs <NUM> are destined to be mutually joined to form the whole cover and for this purpose each pair of consecutive slabs coupled to one another form a longitudinal joint <NUM>.

The connecting element of such a joint <NUM> is constituted by the geometry of the edges of the slabs, which are mutually retained, both by the mutual co-penetration thereof and by fixing brackets <NUM> which join to one another two consecutive slabs and guarantee fixing of the slabs to the underlying structure, not illustrated.

The fixing brackets <NUM> are arranged in relation to the design, and in a normal situation, but not every situation, they would be aligned in a transverse direction in every joint <NUM> between the slabs <NUM>, thus at a distance that coincides with the width of the slab, and aligned in a longitudinal direction at a distance that coincides with the rests of the underlying structure, not illustrated herein.

The joint <NUM> further guarantees the seal of the roof against penetration of water and air. The described system adapted in the longitudinal direction with the length of the slabs, and in a transverse direction with the multitude of coupled slabs, forms a single continuous surface that constitutes the cover in its entirety.

According to an embodiment shown in <FIG>, the fixing brackets <NUM> comprise a body typically made with a plastic material, or a metal material, or a group of these materials, or other materials, having a conformation generally defined by a flat base surface <NUM> that rests on the sub-structure of the roof, to which it remains fixed.

The fixing bracket <NUM> comprises two holes <NUM> which constitute the housing of the fixing elements to the sub-structure, typically screws, or other suitable elements.

According to the embodiment shown in <FIG>, the fixing bracket <NUM> has a central axis of frontal symmetry and has a shaping that enables two consecutive slabs <NUM> to be fixed.

Shaping the fixing bracket <NUM> defines two opposite recesses <NUM> and <NUM>, formed respectively by two portions <NUM>' and <NUM>' protruding upwards and folded to face one another in a reciprocally specular manner towards the common middle plane of symmetry.

The two recesses <NUM> and <NUM>, positioned specularly relative to the common middle plane of symmetry, have a low part that is horizontal and parallel to the rest surface <NUM>, whereas the high part has a geometry with further indentations 15a and 16a upwards in the distal portion relative to the middle axis, adapted to receive the corresponding portion of slab only during the wind uplift step. These indentations 15a and 16a determine the best performance in relation to wind uplift, i.e. the lifting thrust of the wind.

With reference to the embodiment illustrated in <FIG>, every single slab has two opposite lateral edges <NUM> and <NUM> that are only partially symmetrical to one another, from the first fold, proximal with respect to the central axis of the slab, as far as the sixth fold.

According to the embodiment shown in <FIG> and <FIG> the opposite lateral edges <NUM> and <NUM> of each slab comprise folds 18a, 19a and 20a, made on the lateral edge <NUM> and corresponding folds 18b, 19b and 20b made on the lateral edge <NUM>, which are symmetrical to one another and coincide with the geometry of the fixing bracket <NUM>. As is visible in <FIG>, the process that corresponds to the folds 21a, 21b of the slab is housed in the recesses <NUM> and <NUM> of the fixing bracket <NUM>, nevertheless, the slab does not have further indentations 15a and 16a that are on the other hand present on the bracket.

These indentations will abut on the folds 21a and 21b of the slab, which are symmetrical to one another, only during the rotation of the corresponding portion during the wind uplift step.

Still symmetrically, the folds 22a and 22b, respectively at the lateral edges <NUM> and <NUM> of the slab, return the slab to a substantially vertical position with an upward direction. The opposite lateral edges <NUM> and <NUM> of two contiguous slabs, as shown in <FIG>, become parallel, opposite and substantially adhere in this vertical portion, after the folds 22a, 22b and before the folds 23a, 23b.

Lastly, the two folds 23a and 23b, respectively lateral edges <NUM> and <NUM> of the slab are also substantially symmetrical. These two folds lead the two contiguous slabs to continue horizontally to the outside with respect to the middle plane of the joint <NUM>.

At the portion between the folds 22a, 22b and 23a, 23b, an external fixing system can be mounted for mounting accessories, such as snow catches, anti-fall systems, solar panels, or others besides.

The fact that the two slabs are adhering, permits, with no need for piercing the slab, a very effective and resistant locking, by means of an external clamp, not illustrated, which is opposed to both longitudinal stresses and upwards vertical stresses.

This clamp, when tightened, does not deform the slabs and does not lock them in the support bracket, enabling free longitudinal dilation, even in the case of slabs of significant length.

The following geometries of the two sides are differentiated.

According to the embodiment shown in <FIG>, on the lateral edge <NUM>, the slab <NUM>, after the fold 23a, continues upwards by means of the fold <NUM>, to then form a curve of about <NUM>° at the fold <NUM>, covering, when engaged in the joint <NUM>, the lateral edge <NUM> of the opposite slab.

Lastly, the edge <NUM> of the slab <NUM>, has, at the end thereof, a fold <NUM>, that, when it is engaged in the longitudinal joint <NUM>, comes to adhere to the fold <NUM> of the opposite slab.

The coupling between the folds <NUM> and <NUM>, as a sealing, exploits the elasticity of the construction material of the slabs and represents an element with an excellent seal against water, as the external surface exposed to a pressure determined by the level of the rising water pushes the edge <NUM> and the last fold <NUM> against the fold <NUM> with an intrinsically positive cohesion mechanism: the greater the pressure the better the seal.

Still with reference to <FIG>, the lateral edge <NUM> of the slab <NUM> continues after the fold 23b with a fold <NUM>, opposite the fold <NUM> of the opposite lateral edge <NUM>, lastly continues upwards as far as the end fold <NUM>, which contrasts the inside of the fold <NUM> of the opposite lateral edge <NUM>.

According to the embodiment shown in <FIG>, at the fold <NUM> of the lateral edge <NUM> of each slab <NUM> the last two folds <NUM> and <NUM> of the lateral edge <NUM> determine the formation of a channel <NUM>, which is visible in <FIG>, dedicated to collecting the residual water that might have penetrated into the coupling <NUM> and 23b, and transferring the residual water to the end of the slab.

As shown in <FIG>, the processes formed by the folds 21a, 21b of the slabs that are housed in the recesses <NUM> and <NUM> of the fixing bracket <NUM> are substantially horizontal. The upward thrust of the wind, that acts both on the flat surface in the centre of the slab <NUM>, and on the joint <NUM> formed by the coupling of the opposite lateral edges <NUM> and <NUM> of two contiguous slabs, has a component having a direction, with respect to the horizontal axes of the recesses <NUM> and <NUM>, tilted from the bottom at the centre of the joint upwards in the portion that is distal relative to the joint <NUM>.

This component determines a rotation of the slab in the portion from the fold 18a to the fold 22a, clockwise on the left side identified by the letters b of <FIG>, and anticlockwise on the right side identified by the letters a of <FIG>. This rotation determines housing of the folds 21a, 21b in the indentations 15a and 16a.

According to the embodiment shown in <FIG>, the two vertical portions between the folds 22a, 22b and the folds 23a, 23b adhere to one another in the coupled joint so as to prevent the exit of the folds 21a, 21b from the recesses <NUM> and <NUM>.

Consequently the seal limit for wind uplift, or lifting thrust of the wind, of the cover of the present invention is uniquely determined by the resistance of the fixing bracket <NUM> which, if built for example of metal, is extremely high, and by the resistance of the material used for the slabs.

Consequently an increase in thickness of the metal or the use of very tenacious metals, special aluminium, steel, or other alloys, proportionally increases the resistance of the whole system.

Further, the solution according to the present invention determines an interference stress between the slab <NUM> and the fixing bracket <NUM> only in the moment of mechanical stress, for example during a meteorological event with very strong winds. This leaves total freedom between slabs <NUM> and fixing brackets <NUM> in normal conditions and significantly improves the longitudinal sliding necessary for the free heat dilation of the slabs, even in the case of very long slabs.

The slabs can be mounted on the sub-structure following the following procedure: after mounting on the lateral edge <NUM> of the first slab, the fixing brackets <NUM> are coupled manually to the lateral edge <NUM> of the first slab and subsequently fixed with the screws to the sub-structure, not shown in the drawings; subsequently, the subsequent slab is brought near with the lateral edge <NUM> at the lateral edge <NUM> of the already mounted slab, such that simple pressure of the edge <NUM> at the fixing brackets <NUM> causes snap fitting thereof exploiting the normal elasticity of the material used.

The operation will be repeated until the roof has been completely assembled. The operations are identical for dismantling but are conducted in reverse order. It should be noted that unlike the stress of the wind that occurs simultaneously on both sides of the joint <NUM>, the assembly (and dismantling) steps occur on one side of the slab at a time because they would otherwise be prevented by the fact that the two vertical portions between the folds 22a, 22b and the folds 23a, 23b adhere to one another, thus preventing the folds 21a, 21b from exiting the recesses <NUM> and <NUM>.

According to a further embodiment illustrated in <FIG>, a further bracket <NUM> is used, that replaces the fixing bracket <NUM>, which is provided with a magnetic system adapted to simplify assembly and dismantling of the slabs, as described below.

In <FIG>, an exploded view of this bracket is shown, which consists of three elements, a base <NUM>, a rotating element <NUM> and a ferromagnetic cylinder <NUM>. <FIG> depicts a perspective view of the bracket <NUM>; The base <NUM> is made for housing the lateral edge <NUM> of the slab as shown in <FIG>. The geometry on that side is in fact substantially identical to the fixing bracket <NUM>.

The base has two holes <NUM> and a flat surface <NUM> identically to the details <NUM> and <NUM> of the fixing bracket <NUM> in <FIG>. The holes are intended to house the fixing screws for fixing to the sub-structure, which is not shown. On the opposite side of the bracket there is a semicylindrical housing <NUM> with an axis parallel to the flat surface <NUM> and to the direction of the joint <NUM> of <FIG>.

This semicylindrical housing houses the cylinder <NUM> of the rotating element <NUM>. The upper conformation of the rotating element is substantially identical to that of the fixing bracket <NUM> that houses the lateral edge <NUM> of the slab as in <FIG>. The rotating element <NUM> can rotate around the axis of the cylinder <NUM> by widening the space between the portions <NUM>' and <NUM>', so as to facilitate the operations of insertion and removal of the ends of the slabs, i.e. the steps of assembling and dismantling the system and in particular housing the folds 21a, 21b in the recesses <NUM> and <NUM>.

The base <NUM> and the rotating element <NUM> have vertical holes 38a and 38b that are substantially perpendicular to the axis of the semicylindrical housing <NUM> and of the cylinder <NUM>, in which the ferromagnetic cylinder <NUM> is housed.

Before assembly, with the system open, the rotating element is in the position of <FIG> and the ferromagnetic cylinder <NUM> occupies only the hole 38b of the rotating element <NUM>, without locking the rotation. With the system assembled, the element <NUM> rotates to compress the inserted slab until it is in the position of <FIG> and the ferromagnetic cylinder <NUM> descends and occupies both the hole 38a as well as 38b, preventing rotation in an opposite opening direction of the rotating element. The passage from the position of <FIG> to the position of <FIG> is possible with the application from the exterior of a magnet, which is not shown, that determines lifting of the ferromagnetic cylinder <NUM>, enabling in this manner rotation of the rotating element <NUM> and resulting dismantling of the lateral edge <NUM> of the slab.

According to the embodiment shown in <FIG>, the slabs can be installed above a customised sandwich panel <NUM> and with apposite brackets that can be retained by the insulating mould of the sandwich panel or they can be fixed to the sub-structure.

In this case, the slab <NUM> is not glued to the insulating material and is in fact mounted in the manner described previously with a vertical translation from above. The only difference in the profile is the lack of the folds 18a, 18b, 19a and 19b that in this application are not necessary.

Note that the illustrations are merely indicative of the cover according to the invention, and the various dimensions and inclinations can be freely changed, customised and set up and conceived without influencing the scope of protection defined by the following claims.

Further, the drawings show ideally a system of slabs that are provided with lateral edges <NUM> and <NUM> on each slab, but this can be reversed on the two sides or slabs can be conceived that are totally symmetrical with lateral edges <NUM> on both sides that are coupled with symmetrical slabs characterised by lateral edges <NUM> on both the sides, which are mounted alternately.

Claim 1:
A coating cover with a metal structure for roofs of buildings, comprising a plurality of slabs (<NUM>) of substantially quadrilateral shape each of which is provided with the lateral edges (<NUM>,<NUM>) that are parallel to one another and opposite and are intended for mutual connection between adjacent slabs (<NUM>) in the longitudinal direction and are intended for the formation of a joint (<NUM>) positioned between each of the adjacent slabs (<NUM>),
wherein said lateral edges (<NUM>, <NUM>) comprise first folds (18a,18b,19a,19b,20a,20b,21a,21b,22a,22b,23a,23b) at least partially symmetrical on the two edges, and moreover further folds (<NUM>,<NUM>,<NUM>) made on at least one of the lateral edges (<NUM>), and still further folds (<NUM>,<NUM>) made on at least the other of the lateral edges (<NUM>) and configured to interlock with said further folds (<NUM>,<NUM>,<NUM>),
said cover further comprising at least one fixing bracket (<NUM>) that is configured to join the lateral edges (<NUM>,<NUM>); said fixing bracket (<NUM>) having at least two recesses (<NUM>,<NUM>) that are symmetrical to one another and indentations (15a, 16a) that are symmetrical to one another,
the recesses (<NUM>,<NUM>) of the fixing bracket (<NUM>) being defined respectively by two portions (<NUM>',<NUM>') projecting upwards and then folded partially downwards in the direction of the space comprised between the recesses (<NUM>,<NUM>) themselves forming horizontal portions,
wherein said lateral edges (<NUM>,<NUM>) comprise at least one curvature defined by some first folds (20a,20b) that overlies some other first folds (21a,21b) so as to accommodate at least one of said horizontal portions of the fixing bracket (<NUM>),
wherein said recesses (<NUM>,<NUM>) of the fixing bracket (<NUM>) extend along a horizontal direction parallel to a flat base (<NUM>) of said bracket (<NUM>), characterised in that the folding of the two horizontal portions (15a, 16a) defines said indentations (<NUM>',<NUM>') that extend upwards,
and in that the indentations (15a, 16a) of said recesses (<NUM>,<NUM>) house said at least one curvature formed by the other first folds (21a,21b) placed respectively to the lateral edges (<NUM>,<NUM>) of the slabs in order to compensate for a rotation caused by stress due to wind-uplift.