GB1589113A

GB1589113A - Building structure

Info

Publication number: GB1589113A
Application number: GB2939377A
Authority: GB
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1977-07-13
Filing date: 1977-07-13
Publication date: 1981-05-07

Description

(54) A BUILDING STRUCTURE (71) I, FRANZ ASTL, of Kinkstrasse 8, A-6330 Kufstein, Austria, an Austrian Citizen, do hereby declare the invention, for which I pray that a patent may be granted to me, and the method by which it is to be performed, to be particularly described in and by the following state ment:- The invention relates to a building structure.

The invention provides a building structure comprising at least first and second parallel vertical walls having a cavity therebetween, each wall comprising a plurality of substantially rectangular panels each having a horizontal groove in each of their upper and lower edges, a plurality of linking elements for maintaining the first and second walls in spaced relationship, each linking element comprising at least two spaced parallel strips or plates which are integrally connected by one or more spacers extending therebetween, each strip or plate projecting from its respective spacer or spacers in two opposite directions such that one of strips or plates each linking element is engaged in grooves of two superposed panels of said first wall or in a groove of a panel of said first wall and in a groove formed in a member disposed immediately above or below the latter panel and another strip or plate of each linking element is engaged in grooves of two superposed panels of said second wall or in a groove of a panel of said second wall and in a groove formed in a member disposed immediately above or below the latter panel, and at least one substantially non-apertured vertical support member provided between the first and second walls.

Preferably, each panel is also provided with a vertical groove in each of its end edges for receiving strips or plates of further ones of said linking elements.

Preferably, the or each vertical support member is so dimensioned as to be unable to fit in the cavity between said first and second spaced walls, yet has at least two projections each so shaped as to fit in the cavity between said first and second spaced walls of a respective one of at least two adjacent sections of the building structure.

Preferably, the building structure comprises at least one additional substantially non-apertured vertical support member so dimensioned as to fit into the cavity between said first and second spaced walls.

Conveniently, the end portions of the strips or plates that are engaged in respective grooves are covered with elastomeric material such as rubber or soft plastics material.

The linking elements may be made of non-corrodable metal or plastics material.

The invention will now be more particularly described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein: Fig. 1 is a perspective view of one embodiment of a linking element used in a building structure, Fig. 2 is a perspective view of another embodiment of a linking element used in a building structure, Figs. 3-6 inclusive are oblique top views showing various ways in which two or three walls of the building structure can be maintained in spaced parallel relationship by linking elements.

Fig. 7 shows a connection between the panels and door cases or window frames.

Fig. 8 shows an exploded view of part of a building structure in which the panels are connected by the linking elements shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 9 is an exploded view showing part of the building structure with the panels connected by means of the linking elements shown in Fig. 2.

Fig. 10 shows part of an assembled building structure with pipes or wires laid in the cavities between the walls, and Fig. 11 is a perspective view of part of one embodiment of a building structure constructed in accordance with the present invention Referring firstly to Fig. 11, the building structure shown therein comprises two spaced parallel vertical walls supported on a base 18. One of the two walls comprises a plurality of rectangular panels 5 whilst the other wall comprises a plurality of panels 6. Each panel 5, 6 has a horizontal -groove in its upper and lower edge and a plurality of linking elements are provided for maintaining the two walls in placed parallel relationship.

The linking elements shown in Fig. 11 are of the type more clearly shown in Fig.

2 and comprise two spaced parallel strips 9 and 10 which are integrally connected by spacers 8 extending perpendicularly thereto.

The thickness of each strip 9, 10 corresponds to the width of the horizontal grooves formed in the panels 5, 6. The strip 9 of each linking element engages in the groove in the upper edge of one of the panels 6 or-in each such groove of two horiozntally aligned and adjacent panels 6 and in a corresponding groove or grooves in the lower edge of one or more vertically aligned and adjacent panels 6. The strip 10 engages in similar fashion in horizontal grooves formed in the panels 5 to maintain the the panels 5 and 6 in spaced parallel relationship. As shown, strips 9 and 10 of linking elements may similarly engage in grooves formed in the lower edges of the lowermost panels 5, 6 and in grooves formed in the base 18.

The structure shown in Fig. 11 also includes conventional non-apertured or substantially non-apertured support members 2 onto which the walls can be screwed. The support member 2, as shown, is located at a corner of the structure and is so dimensioned as to be unable to fit it in the cavity between the two spaced walls, yet has two projections 17 each so shaped as to fit in the cavity between the spaced walls of a respective one of at least two adjacent sections, which extend perpendicularly to each other, of the building structure. The projections 17 form a support for the adjacent panels 5 and 6 which are fixed relative to each other by the aforesaid linking elements which are reinforced by the support members 2. Between the panels 5 and 6, further supporting members 16 can be provided.These supporting members 16 are so dimensioned as to fit into the cavity between the two spaced walls and to lie adjacent to those panels 5 and 6 to further reinforce the structure.

As shown in Fig. 9, each panel of the building structure 1 may have in addition to the aforesaid horizontal grooves, vertical grooves in its end edges for receiving strips of further linking elements. The vertical and horizontal grooves merge at the corners of the panels and thus each panel 5, 6 has a circumferential groove 4 the width of which corresponds to the thickness of the strips 9, 10.

As shown in Fig. 9, linking elements may be fixed to a floor or a ceiling by means of screws which will project through the apertures 14. The panels 5, 6 can be made of wood fibre boards, plaster boards or asbestos-cement sheets, wood boards or concrete slabs, form-work panels or the like according to their particular application and the cavities 15 defined therebetween can be filled with insulating materials such as insulating fibres, plastics foam or other filling-material. Moreover, the panels 5 could be made of different material from the panel 6.

Instead of the linking element shown in Fig. 2, a linking element of the type shown in Fig. 1 or Fig. 8 could be used. Such a linking element 3 comprises two spaced parallel plates 9', 10' or 11', 12' (Fig. 8) integrally connected by a spacer 8' which, as illustrated has the same width as plates 9', 10', 11' and 12', but which could be narrower. Fig. 8 shows in particular how a two wall structure could be constructed using linking elements 3.

Fig. 6 illustrates how a building structure possessing three walls comprising respectively a plurality of panels 5, 6 and 7 could be constructed. The linking element shown in Fig. 6 comprises four spaced parallel strips 9, 10, 11 and 12 integrally connected by spacers 8 extending perpendicularly thereto. The outer strips 9 and 12 engage in grooves formed in panels 5 and 7 in the manner previously described. However, the panels 6 are inserted between the intermediate strips 10 and 11 and preferably have chamfered edges in order to facilitate such insertion. Such combinations can naturally be used in many ways and a building structure having more than three walls could be constructed for special purposes.In the case of a four wall structure defining three cavities therebetween, one of the cavities could, for example, be filled with heat insulating material, the second one with sound-insulating material and the third one could be used for the laying of pipes or wires.

Figures 3, 4 and 5 show further possible connections between the panels by means of strip-like linking elements. Figure 3 shows an open joint and figure 4 a closed joint.

Figure 5 shows a structure comprising three panels 5, 6 and 7, where each linking element has three parallel spaced strips 9, 10 and 11 engaged in grooves 4 of panels 5, 6 and 7 respectively.

Figure 7 illustrates how panels 5 and 6 can be connected with a door or window frame or with solid wooden pieces by means of a linking element.

Figure 10 illustrates how pipes and wires can be laid in the cavities 15 between the walls.

In order to increase sound insulation, the end portions of the strips 9, 10, 11, 12 or the plates 9', 10', 11', 12' of the linking elements 3 that are engaged in respective grooves 4 are covered with elastomeric material, such as rubber or soft plastics material. For the same reason, the grooves 4 of the panels 5, 6, 7 can be lined with a similar material.

The linking elements can be made of non-corrodable metal or plastics material.

WHAT I CLAIM IS: 1. A building structure comprising at least first and second parallel vertical walls having a cavity therebetween, each wall comprising a plurality of substantially rectangular panels each having a horizontal groove in each of their upper and lower edges, a plurality of linking elements for maintaining the first and second walls in spaced relationship, each linking element comprising at least two spaced parallel strips or plates which are integrally conneced by one or more spacers extending therebetween, each strip or plate projecting from its respective spacer or spacers in two opposite directions such that one of the strips or plates of each linking element is engaged in grooves of two superposed panels of said first wall or in a groove of a panel of said first wall and in a groove formed in a member disposed immediately above or below the latter panel and another strip or plate of each linking element is engaged in grooves of two superposed panels of said second wall or in a groove of a panel of said second wall and in a groove formed in a member disposed immediately above or 'oelow the latter panel, and at least- one substantially non-apertured vertical support member provided between the first and second walls.

2. A building structure as claimed in claim 1, wherein each panel is also provided with a vertical groove in each of its end edges for receiving strips or plates of further ones of said linking elements.

3. A building structure as claimed in claim 1 or claim 2, wherein the or each vertical support member is so dimensioned as to be unable to fit in the cavity between said first and second spaced walls, yet has at least two projections each so shaped as to fit in the cavity between said first and second spaced walls of a respective one of at least two adjacent sections of the building structure.

4. A building structure as claimed in claim 3 comprising at least one additional substantially non-apertured vertical support member so dimensioned as to fit into the cavity between said first and second spaced walls.

5. A building structure as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the end portions of the strips or plates that are engaged in respective grooves are covered with elastomeric material such as rubber or soft plastics material.

6. A building structure as claimed in any one of claims 1-4, wherein the linking elements are made of non-corrodable metal or plastics material.

7. A building structure substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and as shown in the accompanying draw ings.

**WARNING** end of DESC field may overlap start of CLMS **.

Claims

**WARNING** start of CLMS field may overlap end of DESC **. end portions of the strips 9, 10, 11, 12 or the plates 9', 10', 11', 12' of the linking elements 3 that are engaged in respective grooves 4 are covered with elastomeric material, such as rubber or soft plastics material. For the same reason, the grooves 4 of the panels 5, 6, 7 can be lined with a similar material. The linking elements can be made of non-corrodable metal or plastics material. WHAT I CLAIM IS:

1. A building structure comprising at least first and second parallel vertical walls having a cavity therebetween, each wall comprising a plurality of substantially rectangular panels each having a horizontal groove in each of their upper and lower edges, a plurality of linking elements for maintaining the first and second walls in spaced relationship, each linking element comprising at least two spaced parallel strips or plates which are integrally conneced by one or more spacers extending therebetween, each strip or plate projecting from its respective spacer or spacers in two opposite directions such that one of the strips or plates of each linking element is engaged in grooves of two superposed panels of said first wall or in a groove of a panel of said first wall and in a groove formed in a member disposed immediately above or below the latter panel and another strip or plate of each linking element is engaged in grooves of two superposed panels of said second wall or in a groove of a panel of said second wall and in a groove formed in a member disposed immediately above or 'oelow the latter panel, and at least- one substantially non-apertured vertical support member provided between the first and second walls.