Patent Description:
Current energy-saving standards require the construction of buildings that are increasingly efficient from a thermal standpoint.

This requires the perimetric enclosure of a building to have ever higher thermal resistances and the perimetric masonry becomes increasingly thick.

In the manufacture of the enclosure of buildings, moreover, it is necessary to pay particular attention to so-called heat bridges, since an enclosure that is highly thermally insulating enhances these defects, causing the onset of humidity and molds in inhabited rooms.

In order to meet the requirements of thermal insulation and attenuate all heat bridges, the predominantly adopted solution for the provision of walls in new buildings is masonry in blocks with external insulation.

This system entails the provision of the perimetric walls in two steps.

In a first step, masonry is provided by means of blocks composed of various materials, clay-based material, Gasbeton, wood fiber, etc., and having a thickness of <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, so as to form a uniform and planar surface, both vertically and horizontally, without differences in thickness beyond the allowed tolerances.

In a second step, the external insulation is provided by laying the sheets of insulating material, by means of glue and mechanical fixing members such as expansion plugs, then finishing them subsequently with base plaster, reinforced by a mesh, and subsequent finishing skimming.

<CIT> discloses a wall construction including sheets of insulating material secured along one side of a series of upstanding structural members. The abutting edges of the insulation are secured by clips.

<CIT> discloses a structure constructed by attaching metal nets to opposite sides of support members to form a framework. Concrete is poured into the framework and the support member is removed after the concrete has set. The nets are attached by pins extending into holes in the support members, or by lugs pressed out of the support members.

The traditional systems described above have some important drawbacks, which first of all include the long and laborious installation and the considerable weight of the structure.

Also, the hydraulic and electrical systems are installed by providing chases or breaks in the masonry and subsequent restoration thereof is necessary.

The openings, such as windows and French windows, require lintels, i.e., beams of clay-based material or iron, to support the overlying blocks.

Scaffolding is always necessary and must be maintained until the building is completed and also for subsequent modifications.

The aim of the present invention is to provide a new wall structure and a method for making the wall that offer considerably reduced building times and a very limited total thickness with respect to the structures of the cited prior art.

Within the scope of this aim, an object of the invention is to provide a wall that has thermal and acoustic insulation characteristics that are extremely more advantageous than traditional structures of equal thickness.

Another object of the invention is to provide a structure that ensures substantially total absence of thermal bridges.

Another object is to provide a method that allows to install any utilities inside the structure without making chases or breaks in the masonry.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a wall which, by virtue of its particular constructive characteristics, is capable of giving the greatest assurances of reliability and safety in use.

This aim and these and other objects that will become better apparent hereinafter are achieved by a wall having the features of claim <NUM>.

This aim and these and other objects which will become better apparent hereinafter are also achieved by a method for building a wall, having the features of claim <NUM>.

Further characteristics and advantages will become better apparent from the description of preferred but not exclusive embodiments of the invention, illustrated by way of nonlimiting example in the accompanying drawings, wherein:.

With reference to the cited figures, the wall according to the invention, globally designated by the reference numeral <NUM>, includes a load-bearing structure <NUM> and one or more insulating panels <NUM> hooked to the structure <NUM>.

The insulating panels <NUM> have horizontal grooves <NUM> and the load-bearing structure <NUM> has hook-shaped members <NUM> that engage the horizontal grooves <NUM>.

The wall includes a layer of structural plaster <NUM> which incorporates the load-bearing structure <NUM>.

The wall is made starting from the load-bearing structure <NUM>, which is constituted by a series of uprights <NUM> which are mounted on guides, not visible in the figures, and by manually hooking the insulating panels <NUM> to the structure <NUM>.

The load-bearing structure <NUM> includes iron bars <NUM>, which cross the vertical uprights <NUM> horizontally.

The bars <NUM>, which are essentially rebars, create a crossed metal grid with the uprights <NUM>.

Once the load-bearing structure has been completed, it is possible to insert any piping and boxes of electrical and water utilities.

Once this preparation has been completed, one proceeds by embedding the metallic structure in the layer of structural plaster <NUM>, for example roughcast, which is sprayed mechanically until the thickness of the metallic upright <NUM> is filled.

The outer part of the insulating panel may be completed with a classic external finishing, whereas as regards the internal part of the wall there are two possibilities, which are chosen as a function of the intended use of the wall.

A first option is to skim the surface with adequate mortar, in which a glass fiber mesh is embedded, completed with finishing mortar or a plaster skim.

A second option is to provide a complementary wall.

The load-bearing structure <NUM> includes guides, not shown in the figures, which are constituted by members made of folded sheet metal, with a U-shaped cross-section, to be fixed to the floor and ceiling, by means of steel nails or expansion plugs; the guides constitutes the fastening base of the vertical uprights <NUM>.

The uprights <NUM> are provided by means of sheet metal of variable thickness.

The sheet metal is cut and shaped in order to obtain a C-shaped profile.

Fins <NUM> having a preset center distance are formed on a lateral rib <NUM> of the profile and are designed and bent in order to receive and anchor the corresponding contour <NUM> that is formed in the insulating panel <NUM>.

Notches are created on the opposite lateral rib <NUM> of the profile and form tabs <NUM> with central holes <NUM>, which allow to anchor the load-bearing structure in order to form optional complementary walls.

In the central part <NUM> of the profile <NUM> there are holes <NUM>, having a preset center distance, in order to allow the passage of the bars <NUM> that horizontally connect all the uprights <NUM>.

The holes <NUM> can also be used for the passage of the utilities.

The external panels <NUM> may be of any material and have characteristics of various kinds; they can be made for example of expanded or extruded polystyrene, wood fiber, rock fiber, wood, PVC, rubber, metal, metal coupled to polyurethane, or any other material suitable to meet the characteristics required for the wall being built.

As for any external thermal insulation, the thickness of the insulating panel is selected depending on the degree of the desired insulation.

These panels are arranged in contact and in continuity with each other in order to form a uniform plane.

The important physical characteristic of these panels <NUM> is that they have, in the rear part, the horizontal grooves <NUM> that are provided specifically to anchor the panels <NUM> to the fins <NUM> arranged on the metallic upright <NUM>, with a simple and rapid operation.

The slots <NUM>, together with other slots, designated by the reference numerals <NUM> and <NUM>, specifically provided in the rear part of the panel <NUM>, have the function of containing the structural plaster <NUM>, which is sprayed in the subsequent building step, in order to create an integral bond between the two components of the system, the external panels <NUM> with the metallic structure <NUM> embedded in the structural plaster <NUM>.

The outer face of the insulating panel may be provided with various finishes.

For example, an unfinished blank panel <NUM>, may be completed once installed in a manner similar to a traditional external thermal insulation, i.e., by means of a mesh embedded in a surface finishing skim of glue and mortar.

Another type of finish includes the use of a prefinished panel and therefore no other completion work is required on the external face. The prefinished panel can be shaped in order to create faces that are designed with studs, lines, frames, etc..

The external part of the insulating panel may be provided with vertical channels which allow to create a passage of air from upward from below, with a stack effect, thus providing a ventilated and insulated wall with a single unit.

As regards the internal part of the wall, once the load-bearing structure has been completed and the panels have been placed, the structure is filled with structural plaster, for example roughcast, until the thickness of the various uprights <NUM> is filled.

This operation is performed simply by spraying mechanically the material in two or three passes, without the need for specialized labor and without the need for any preparation, such as bands or guides, since the uprights themselves act as a guide.

Any utilities, i.e., water piping, channels for electrical cables, etc., can be inserted in the load-bearing structure <NUM> before filling it with the structural plaster and without the need for any masonry work.

Once the operations described above have been completed, boarding is obtained which has a thickness that is equal to the cross-section of the uprights, for example <NUM>, which is added to the thickness of the insulating panel.

<FIG> is view of an example of an embodiment of the wall at an opening such as a window <NUM>.

The wall <NUM>, in this example, is completed with an external finish <NUM> of the insulating panels <NUM> and, internally, with a complementary wall <NUM> which is applied to the structural plaster <NUM> with the interposition of an insulating mat <NUM>.

In practice it has been found that the invention achieves the intended aim and objects, providing a wall with considerably shorter building times and a very limited total thickness with respect to the structures of the prior art.

The wall according to the present invention ensures excellent mechanical characteristics, by virtue of the fact that the boarding is composed of a metallic mesh embedded in the structural plaster, which can be compared to a reinforced concrete partition having a thickness equal to the cross-section of the upright.

The wall also has excellent thermal and acoustic insulation characteristics, in relation to the type and thickness of the panel used.

The wall according to the present invention has no heat bridges, because of the continuity of the insulating panel arranged on the outer side of the wall.

The wall is manufactured very quickly, using a small number of constructive components and with reduced labor.

Another advantage of the system according to the present invention is that the load handling is reduced considerably, because the component parts of the system, the guides, the uprights and the panels, have a weight included between <NUM> and <NUM> each.

The roughcast that fills the structures is sprayed mechanically with plastering machines which are normally fed from silos.

The load-bearing structure <NUM> replaces traditional block masonry and offers thereby numerous advantages with respect to it: building is very quick, all the metal members have a considerably reduced weight with respect to the blocks, laying is performed with small tools such as a drill, power screwdriver, grinder, and there is no need to prepare bedding mortar with a deposit of sand and the use of a cement mixer.

As described above, any utilities can be laid inside the structure without providing chases or breaks in the masonry with subsequent restoration.

Another advantage with respect to traditional masonry is constituted by the fact that the openings, such as windows and French windows, of any size, even large ones, do not require lintels, i.e., beams of clay-based material or iron, to support the overlying blocks and therefore there is a further reduction of production costs and times.

The crossed metallic structure and the subsequent structural plaster of the present invention create a partition that is mechanically very strong and is bonded by metallic bars and especially with a considerably reduced thickness with respect to block masonry.

The shaped insulating panel allows the forming of an external insulation which can be provided by anchoring the panels to the metallic structure with a simple dry and glue-free hooking.

The metallic fins <NUM> of the uprights <NUM> provide a very efficient mechanical fixing and avoid the installation of expansion plugs.

The laying of the panels occurs very rapidly and therefore very economically.

Until the structural plaster is applied, it is possible to provide any modifications simply by disassembling the panels and repositioning them, without waste and rejects. In the case of use of prefinished panels, completion of the laying of the panels entails the completion of the walls of the wall with the possibility to disassemble the scaffolding; furthermore, in some cases it is possible to build the wall by using a simple mobile scaffold and therefore without having to install an entire scaffolding, which would entail a more significant financial commitment.

Also, the wall according to the present invention has a good resistance to break-ins.

Claim 1:
A wall comprising a load-bearing structure (<NUM>) and one or more panels (<NUM>) hooked to said load-bearing structure (<NUM>); said wall (<NUM>) being characterized in that each of said panels (<NUM>) comprises horizontal grooves (<NUM>); said load-bearing structure (<NUM>) having hook-shaped members (<NUM>) formed therein, said hook-shaped members (<NUM>) engaging said horizontal grooves (<NUM>); said wall (<NUM>) comprising a layer of structural plaster (<NUM>) which incorporates said load-bearing structure (<NUM>) and is connected to said panels (<NUM>);
each of said panels (<NUM>) being an insulating panel; said panels (<NUM>) being mutually adjacent with continuity in order to form a uniform external surface;
characterized in that said load-bearing structure (<NUM>) comprising a plurality of uprights (<NUM>) which are mounted on guides and a plurality of bars (<NUM>) which cross said uprights (<NUM>) horizontally; and in that each panel (<NUM>)
comprising additional grooves adapted to receive said structural plaster (<NUM>).