Static structures (e.g. – buildings) – Multiroom or level – Curtain-wall; i.e. – panel attached outside floor or beam
Patent
1991-05-02
1993-02-09
Scherbel, David A.
Static structures (e.g., buildings)
Multiroom or level
Curtain-wall; i.e., panel attached outside floor or beam
52475, 52476, 52477, 52308, 526569, E04B 200
Patent
active
051844400
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
The present invention concerns a facing or window panel designed to form a prefabricated element of the exterior surface of a building facade and comprising at least one rectangular exterior plate, especially of glass, stone, fibro-cement, synthetic material or the like, and a metal frame supporting the said exterior plate provided with means for attaching it to a facade structure or to a window, said frame comprising metal rims hooked to at least two opposite edges of the exterior plate.
The invention also concerns a building facade covered with panels of this type.
For covering facades, the use of glass plates or thin plates made of stone or other similar materials such as fibro-cement is becoming more and more common in order to profit from their esthetic and technical properties, particularly their thermal and acoustical qualities, their durability and easy cleaning. To achieve optimal technical and esthetic results, it is desirable that the spaces between plates be as small as possible.
One known solution consists of attaching to a facade structure prefabricated panels with a metal frame to which the exterior plate is glued. Such panels with glued plates, however, have various disadvantages due to the fragility of the plate edges, the longterm unreliability of the glue, and also the difficulty of replacing a plate after eventual deterioration. For these reasons there is a tendency to abandon this solution in favor of plates with a frame having edges which hook firmly to the plate edges. For example, Patent Application GB-A-2 155 981 describes prefabricated glazed panels with a metal frame surrounding the exterior plate and a right-angled edge extending in front of the exterior surface of the glass. This edge is visible, breaks the unity of appearance on the facade and may cause a disturbing reflection. Furthermore, it interferes with cleaning the exterior plate surface.
To overcome these disadvantages, Patent Application FR-A-2 619 587 proposes a type of panel wherein the edges of the exterior plate have a bevel on the side for the building exterior. The metal frame edge covers the plate only in front of this bevel in such a way that it does not project from the flat exterior surface of this plate. Nevertheless this metal rim, which cannot be reduced indefinitely in size since it holds the plate, remains visible from the outside. Moreover, since the frame is generally made of light metal, it undergoes thermal expansion, the amplitude of which is a multiple of plate expansion. Therefore it is necessary to interpose between each rim and the plate a profiled elastomeric element which absorbs the expansion differences but increases the thickness of the visible frame portion.
Austrian Patent AT-B-379 186 describes a facade covering formed of glass plates which may have two unattached vertical edges, but they are not prefabricated panels with their own frames. The plates are supported by horizontal profiled elements which have been previously attached to the facade and which have oblique opposing rims, so that each plate may be inserted by sliding it horizontally between two opposite profiled elements and then sealed to them by means of an elastic mass.
The goal of the present invention is to overcome the disadvantages of the prior art by perfecting a panel of the type described in the preamble and reducing visible frame parts insofar as possible so as to achieve a facade on which virtually only the exterior panel plates are visible. A secondary goal consists of disposing the frame so that differential expansion between the frame and the plate is reduced.
To achieve this, the panel according to the invention is characterized in that the metal frame comprises at least one pair of support elements provided with the said rims and disposed on two opposite edges of the exterior plate, and traction elements connecting the two support elements in each pair so as to pull them toward each other and clamp the exterior plate between the said rims.
Each one of the traction elements advantageously comprises a steel rod
REFERENCES:
patent: 4453355 (1984-06-01), Stoakes
patent: 4543756 (1985-10-01), Kaminaga et al.
patent: 4570406 (1986-02-01), DiFazio
patent: 4765107 (1988-08-01), Ting
Felix Andre
Felix Laurent
Scherbel David A.
Wood Wynn
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