EP0011257B1

EP0011257B1 - Paneling system for wear-resistant plates

Info

Publication number: EP0011257B1
Application number: EP79104427A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Jr. Charles Hunter Bradley
Original assignee: Kennecott Corp
Current assignee: Kennecott Corp
Priority date: 1978-11-21
Filing date: 1979-11-09
Publication date: 1983-09-07
Also published as: AU532149B2; ES8101171A1; EP0011257A1; CA1116860A; AU5300379A; DE2966140D1; ES486154A0; ZA796083B; JPS55101371A

Description

The invention relates to a paneling system for wear-resistant plates of the type used to protect the walls, ceilings and floors of blast cabinets of the type wherein workpieces are subjected to an abrasive blast stream of abrasive grit and the like. A paneling system for wear-resistant plates is known in accordance with the prior art portion of claim 1 (US-A-3733752).
This patent discloses a liner system for use in blast cabinets and the like, in which parts are subjected to surface treatment, comprising a universal liner panel in the form of a rectangular panel having a structure for mounting the panel to the walls of a blast cabinet and one or more corner liner panels adapted to be mounted on the lateral walls of a blast cabinet in an overlapping relation with the universal liner panel. Due to the close tolerance required in order to have tight joints, and because of tight joints, to remove and replace any of the plates, such as when it is desired to remove a worn or damaged plate, requires the removal of all plates installed after the plate which is to be replaced.
The claimed invention intends to remedy this deficiency and provides a paneling system which includes two different panel types, each being generally flat and having a series of peripheral edges, wherein -a series of flange portions are provided for overlapping flange portions of adjacent plates when assembled upon a wall, ceiling, floor, etc.
With the present invention a paneling system is provided, wherein any wall area can be easily paneled and the assembly procedure does not require the plates to be assembled starting from an edge. The main benefit offered by the present invention is that, in order to remove and replace a worn or damaged plate, it is not necessary to remove all of the plates installed after the plate which is to be replaced.
One way of carrying out the invention is described in detail below with reference to drawings which illustrate only one specific embodiment, in which:

Figure 1 is a view of a wall showing a series of plates assembled in accordance with the present invention,
Figure 2 is a plan view of one side of a first plate constructed in accordance with the invention,
Figure 3 is a plan view of the first plate, from the opposite side,
Figure 4 is a plan view of one side of a second plate,
Figure 5 is a plan view of the opposite side of said second plate shown in Fig. 4.
Fig. 6 is a perspective view of the first plate,
Fig. 7 is a perspective view of the second plate.
Fig. 8 is a fragmentary sectional view showing one form of attachment means for affixing one of the plates to an underlying substrate.

As is shown in Fig. 1, a paneling system, generally indicated by the numeral 10, includes a series of panels or plates fixedly secured to an underlying wall or substrate 12. For purposes of illustration, the respective plates shown in Fig. 1 are lettered A, B, C, and D, so that the sequence of attaching the respective plates to the substrate 12 is readily understandable.
Figs. 2, 3, and 6 show the details of a first plate 14, the plate 14 being generally flat and having a series of peripheral edges 16, a first face 18 and a second face 20. The first plate 14 is provided with a series of flange portions 22, one portion 22 for each peripheral edge 16 of the first plate 14. The flange portions 22 have a thickness less than the thickness of the plate 14, the preferred thickness being equal to one-half of the thickness of the plate, and each of the flange portions 22 have one surface thereof which is coplanar with the first face 18 as is best shown in Fig. 2. For attachment purposes, plate 14 may be formed with a centrally located opening 24 which passes through the total thickness of the plate 14 and is slightly oversized for receiving therethrough a threaded stud 26 (Fig. 8), the threaded stud 26 being shown as spot-welded to the wall or substrate 12 and having the threads thereof protected by a cap-nut 28.
It will be apparent from the foregoing that the first plate or panel 14 is reversible and may be mounted upon substrate 12 in either of two positions, the first position being that shown in Fig. 2 (which will hereinafter be referred to as plate A) and the second position being that shown in Fig. 3 (which will hereinafter be referred to as plate B).
- Figs. 4, 5, and 7 illustrate various views of a second plate 30 which is preferably formed of wear-resistant material, is generally flat and rectangular, is provided with a series of peripheral edges 32, and has a first face 34 and a second face 36. Second plate 30 includes a series of flange portions each having a thickness less than the thickness of the plate, a preferred thickness of the flange portions being one-half of the thickness of the plate 30, a first set of flange portions 38 being spaced from each other and each having a surface coplanar with the first face 34, as is best shown in Fig. 4. A second set of flange portions 40 are spaced from each other and each having a surface coplanar with the second face 36 of the plate 30, as is best shown in Figs. 5 and 7. It will be apparent that second plate 30 can be attached to the substrate 12 in two positions, the first position being that shown in Fig. 4 (hereinafter described as plate C), and the second position being that shown in Figs. 5 and 7 (hereinafter described as plate D). Second plate 30 is provided with a centrally located opening 42 which passes through the complete thickness thereof and is formed for receiving a mounting bolt, such as the threaded bolt 26 (Fig. 8) and can be attached to the substrate or wall 12 with a cap-nut 28.
In the prior art, the wear plates or panels were usually assembled on a series of welded studs (such as studs 26) and fixed thereto by cap-nuts (such as cap-nuts 28). The welded studs were evenly spaced to form a grid and the plates would be positioned by starting at an edge and progressing across and up the wall until the total area was covered. Because of the tight joints and plate contours, to remove and replace any of the first few plates, such as when they became worn or damaged, required the removal of all plates installed after the plate to be replaced.
With the present invention, a paneling system 10 is provided wherein the area of the wall 12 can be easily paneled and the assembly procedure does not require the plates to be assembled from an edge. Assembly requires that the installer start by positioning a plate B and proceed outwardly in any direction in accordance with the assembly scheme depicted in Fig. 1. The beauty of the present invention is that, in order to remove and replace a worn or damaged plate, it is not necessary to remove all of the plates installed after the plate which is to be replaced. Every plate A can be removed and replaced without removing any other plate; it is only necessary to unscrew the cap-nut 28 and lift plate A off of its threaded stud 26. Plate C or plate D can be removed and replaced by simply removing an adjacent plate A and then removing the desired plate C or plate D. Thus, any plate C or plate D is replaceable by removing only two plates. Plate B is the most difficult plate to replace. In order to replace a plate B, such as the plate 50 in Fig. 1, it is necessary to first remove a total of five plates. Referring to Fig. 1, and the plates surrounding plate 50, first remove any two plates A, the intervening plate C or D, and then the two plates C or the two plates D along opposite edges of the plate 50. After unscrewing cap-nut 28, the plate 50 may then be tipped from the stud 26 and removed. Thus, while it is necessary to remove five plates in order to replace a plate B, this is a distinct improvement over the prior art in which it might be necessary to remove an entire wall. Of course, the improvement over the prior art is readily apparent from the fact that any plate A may be removed by itself, and any plate C or plate D can be replaced by removing such plate following the removal of any single adjacent plate A.
It is to be understood that the first plate 14 and the second plate 30 may have various dimensions. As one example, the plates may be 12.7 mm thick, and the flange portions 22, 38 and 40 can be 6.35 mm thick and 12.7 mm wide. Referring to Figs. 2, 3, 4, and 5, respectively, and including the 12.7 mm width of the respective flanges with the dimensions of the surface with which they are coplanar, face 18 is 26.67 cm by 39.31 cm, face 20 is 24.13 cm by 36.83 cm, face 34 is 26.67 cm by 36.80 cm, and face 36 is 24.13 cm by 39.31 cm.
First plate 14 and second plate 30 are, preferably, integrally cast of wear-resistant material such as manganese or chrome-moly cast iron. It is to be understood, however, that the plates may also be fabricated instead of cast, such as by forming each plate 14 and 30 from two separate sheets of metal or other material and affixing the two sheets together by welding, epoxy, etc.
Further, it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that the invention is not limited to the field of abrasive blast treatment but may also be utilized in the field of decorative panels, sound absorption panels, etc. The decorative or sound absorption patterns may be placed on the opposed faces of the respective plates, or, alternatively, may be placed on only a single face of the plates. In the latter instance, a total of four distinct plates would be required.

Claims

1. A paneling system (10) for wear-resistant plates comprising a first wear-resistant plate (14) and a second wear-resistant plate (30), each of said plates being generally flat and having a series of peripheral edges (16; 32, 38, 40) and having a first face (18; 34) and a second face (20; 36), one flange portion for each edge of each of the first and second plates, said flange portions having a thickness less than the thickness of each of the first and second plates and each of said flange portions having a surface coplanar with one of said first and second faces of said first and second plates, characterized in that each of said flange portions (22) of said first plate (14) have their surfaces coplanar with said first face (18) of said first plate and that a first set of flange portions (38) of said second plates (30) being spaced from each other and having a surface coplanar with said first face (34) of said second plate, and a second set of flange portions (40) of said second plate (30) being spaced from each other and having a surface coplanar with said second face (36) of said second plate; said first and second plates being both reversible for exposing either of the respective first (18, 34) or second faces (20, 36) to a blast treatment media.

2. A paneling system as defined in claim 1, characterized in that said first (14) and second plates (30) are rectangular.

3. A paneling system as defined in one of claims 1 and 2, characterized in that said first plate (14) is an integral one-piece casting.

4. A paneling system as defined in claim 1, characterized in that said wear-resistant first and second plates (14; 30) each have a centrally located opening (24) formed therein for receiving a mounting bolt (26) there through.