EP0814218B1 - Homogeneous interlocking modular elements, to realize wall or floor coverings - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to elements homogeneous, self-blocking modular, stony appearance, obtained by molding, for the production of facings or pavements imitating wall coverings (building facades, walls, etc.) or paving made using rubble or small blocks of stone real or reconstituted stone, grouted by means mortar or cement.

The execution of such surfaces by the methods of bricklaying is a long and arduous job which also requires the search for rubble or small stone blocks meeting the characteristics desired appearance and often a complementary size stones to give them conformation desired.

We have already sought to remedy the drawbacks aforementioned masonry methods traditional.

• la répétition inévitable des rangées ou alignements horizontaux des éléments, entrainant un aspect géométrique monotone ;
• la possibilité de glissement des rangées horizontales d'éléments les unes sur les autres, en raison de l'absence d'autoblocage des rangées superposées ;
• la difficulté de rattrapage des défauts d'horizontalité des rangées d'éléments, à laquelle on doit pallier par l'exécution de tracés de repérage horizontaux sur les façades allongeant d'autant la durée d'exécution des revêtements ;
• une limitation à des décors constitués d'imitation de pierres carrées ou rectangulaires.

For example, the document FR-1,366,104 A describes molded modular elements whose facing face has a plurality of rectangular parts in relief having the appearance of real building stone, separated by grooves having the appearance of joints of facing, the vertical edges of these elements having, respectively, a projecting shape and a complementary re-entrant shape allowing nesting of said elements in a horizontal direction. The implementation of these elements allows recovery of walls or other surfaces, quickly, simply and economically, giving them the appearance of a construction made of cut stones, but they have several drawbacks such as, for example :

• the inevitable repetition of horizontal rows or alignments of elements, resulting in a monotonous geometric appearance;
• the possibility of sliding the horizontal rows of elements one on the other, due to the absence of self-locking of the superimposed rows;
• the difficulty of making up for the horizontality defects of the rows of elements, which must be compensated for by the execution of horizontal marking patterns on the facades thus lengthening the duration of execution of the coatings;
• a limitation to decorations made of imitation square or rectangular stones.

Document FR-2,343,875 A describes an element whose the facing face has a plurality of reliefs having the appearance of real building stones and of which the parallel sides are provided with projections and alternate hollows, distributed equally over two floors so as to allow its nesting in four neighboring elements. However, this is an element relatively complex prefabricated and whose implementation work requires the use of two types of elements of identical physical structure but whose backdrops must be flipped 90 degrees if you want make a coating that looks like masonry traditional, due to the fact that the elements of the kind of the one shown in figure 2 of this document, must be positioned alternately in one way and the other to get their nesting.

• de formation d'un élément de base en ciment ;
• de pose sur une des faces de l'élément de base avant la prise complète du ciment, d'éléments individuels simulant la pierre (dont la prise est incomplète) et du matériel en ciment pigmenté différemment ;
• puis de pression de ces éléments simulant la pierre afin qu'ils soient en contact intime avec l'élément de base ;
• et de permettre au ciment de prendre ;

ainsi les éléments simulant la pierre sont en permanence liés à l'élément de base.
Ce document ne concerne pas des éléments modulaires homogènes obtenus par une unique opération de moulage et dont la face de parement présente une pluralité de bossages ayant l'apparence d'une pluralité de pierre véritables.The American document N, 2,130,911 describes a modular unit and the method of manufacturing these units comprising the steps:

• forming a basic cement element;
• laying on one of the faces of the basic element before the complete setting of the cement, individual elements simulating the stone (whose setting is incomplete) and cement material pigmented differently;
• then pressing these elements simulating the stone so that they are in intimate contact with the base element;
• and allow the cement to set;

thus the elements simulating the stone are permanently linked to the basic element.
This document does not relate to homogeneous modular elements obtained by a single molding operation and whose facing face has a plurality of bosses having the appearance of a plurality of real stones.

However, he suggests that the problem of the absence of self-locking of the superimposed rows of slab thanks to a particular slab whose element of base has advanced parts on its opposite edges which assemble in recesses of a slab or unit adjacent to ensure a tangle between the units on all their faces. On this basic element stones are arranged, which protrude from some sides of the base.

When making a facing, the assembly of these units put "end to end" by tangle of advanced parts in withdrawals can only be done by translation in the plane of the element to be assembled towards the element already placed because of the elements worn (stones) protruding from the basic element.

The placement of each unit is done by translation of axis perpendicular to the plane containing the unit already placed, which generates a difficulty and slow installation in addition to the others aforementioned drawbacks which remain unresolved.

An object of the invention is, if not to eliminate totally, at least to minimize significantly, the disadvantages resulting from the implementation of traditional masonry processes without presenting the disadvantages or inadequacies of the processes and elements described in documents representative of art prior.

According to the invention, this objective is achieved thanks homogeneous self-locking modular elements obtained by molding and whose facing face has a plurality of bosses having the appearance of a plurality of real stones or rubble stones, separated by grooves having the appearance of joints of facing (flush or recessed), these elements modular with corresponding main body to a quadrangular mesh and having, on the one hand, a protruding part on two of their sides perpendicular and, on the other hand, a notch in their other two sides perpendicular.

The projecting parts and the notches have a corresponding configuration between them and particular in that each of the first of a modular element is designed to fit easily and quickly in one of the notches of an element similar modular juxtaposed, by simple translation in the plane containing the modular elements to follow suit.

• de réaliser, dans des conditions exceptionnelles de rapidité et de facilité et, par conséquent, avec moins de fatigue et de manière beaucoup plus économique, des revêtements de parois (telles que façades de bâtiments, murs, etc.), ou de pavage, ayant l'aspect d'une maçonnerie à joints incertains, c'est-à-dire d'une maçonnerie dont les parties en relief de formes irrégulières ayant l'apparence de pierres à batir, composent des joints sans alignements, au moyen d'un seul type d'élément modulaire, c'est-à-dire d'éléments modulaires homogènes ;
• de rattraper immédiatement et facilement les défauts d'alignement, à n'importe quel stade de l'avancement du travail de recouvrement des façades ou des sols ;
• d'éviter la formation d'alignements trops réguliers des "pierres", à la fois dans la direction horizontale et dans la direction verticale, qui laisseraient trop facilement transparaítre le caractère factice desdites "pierres", grâce au fait que les parties en reliefs ou excroissances latérales de chaque élément, se trouvent noyées dans les creux des éléments environnants ; ce qui permet également d'éviter l'écroulement du parement dû à l'alignement vertical des bossages (ou pierres) superposés et à la force de leur poids.
• d'obtenir un emboítement réciproque de chaque élément modulaire homogène avec les éléments qui l'entourent, sur chacun de ses quatre côtés ; de la sorte elle réalise un autoblocage de chaque élément dans toutes les directions.

Thanks to these self-locking modular elements, it is possible:

• to produce, under exceptional conditions of speed and ease and, therefore, with less fatigue and in a much more economical manner, wall coverings (such as building facades, walls, etc.), or paving, having the appearance of a masonry with uncertain joints, that is to say of a masonry whose raised parts of irregular shapes having the appearance of building stones, make joints without alignment, by means of a only type of modular element, that is to say homogeneous modular elements;
• immediately and easily make up for any misalignment at any stage of the work on covering façades or floors;
• avoid the formation of regular too much alignments of "stones", both in the horizontal direction and in the vertical direction, which would allow too easily to reveal the factitious nature of said "stones", thanks to the fact that the raised parts or lateral outgrowths of each element, are embedded in the hollows of the surrounding elements; which also avoids the collapse of the facing due to the vertical alignment of the superimposed bosses (or stones) and the force of their weight.
• to obtain a reciprocal nesting of each modular element homogeneous with the elements that surround it, on each of its four sides; in this way it achieves a self-blocking of each element in all directions.

On the other hand, by the conformation of the molds and / or adding pigments or other materials basic it is possible to get greater originality.

According to another characteristic arrangement of the method of the invention, the projecting parts and the notches of the self-locking modular elements are shaped and dimensioned so that a space is made between at least the upper portion of the lateral surfaces facing said elements, when said protruding parts are housed in said notches.

Thanks to this arrangement, the real joints which join the elements have a width and an appearance substantially identical to the false joints delimiting the bosses of said elements.

According to another characteristic arrangement, the modular elements have a peripheral rim on a lower portion of their thickness, this rim peripheral being dimensioned and shaped so that the projecting parts of the modular elements can fit together without significant play, at said edge, in the notches of the juxtaposed elements.

Thanks to this arrangement, it is possible to joint the assembled modular elements, while retaining the self-blocking nature of said elements.

According to another characteristic arrangement, the ends of the raised parts which delimit the two notches, are aligned on two straight lines perpendicular.

Thanks to this arrangement, the modular elements starting from the realization of a coating of a wall vertical or from the ground, can be aligned on two straight lines forming an angle of 90 degrees and defining the plumb of said elements, which then facilitates the poses the following.

The above goals, features and benefits, and others will emerge better from the description which follows and attached drawings in which :

Figure 1 is a plan view of an element modular self-locking device according to the invention.

Figure 2 is a sectional view along the line 2-2 of figure 1.

Figure 3 is a plan view and on a larger scale reduced by a portion of surface coated with the self-locking modular elements and process according to the invention.

Figure 4 is a sectional view along the line 4-4 of figure 3.

FIG. 5 is a detail view, in section and at larger scale, illustrating the jointing of two self-locking modular elements juxtaposed.

Figure 6 is a perspective view illustrating a first example of an element modular self-locking angle.

Figure 7 is a perspective view of a second example of conformation of a modular element self-locking especially intended for coating wall angles forming a right angle.

Figure 8 is a sectional view of a third example of execution of a self-locking modular element for coating curved surfaces or surfaces forming any angles.

Reference is made to said drawings to describe interesting examples of implementation and realization of self-locking modular elements according to the invention.

Homogeneous self-locking modular elements 1 according to the invention are prefabricated by molding a material such as plaster, cement, terracotta, resin synthetic or other, whether or not added with diverse nature (glass or plastic beads expanded, debris and fossil shells, pigments, etc.).

Their facing face has a plurality of bosses 2 separated by grooves 3.

The bosses 2 have the appearance of rubble stones or blocks of real stone and their number and dimensions may vary, in particular depending on the dimensions self-locking elements. Their conformation can also vary, depending on the aesthetic appearance research ; they can, for example, present a quadrangular outline or approximately quadrangular imitating a building stone of any what kind, or a brick, or a rubble, or a curved outline imitating a pebble, etc ...

Their appearance of real stone can be improved by the use of a coloring product or loads of the aforementioned kind, arranged in the background molds, or incorporated into the base material.

The visible surface of the grooves 3 may have a different coloring, obtained during molding, these grooves having, for example, a width of the order of 4 at 10 mm and a depth of the order of 1 to 5 mm, depending on whether they imitate flush or recessed joints.

Modular elements have parts protruding and notches or hollow allowing their juxtaposition by nesting of said parts.

Advantageously, the modular elements have a main body 1a delimited by a quadrangular mesh M, square or rectangular (Figure 1), this main body extending over two on its perpendicular sides, by parts protruding or protuberances 1b, 1b '. On the other hand, the main body 1a present, in each of its two other perpendicular sides, a notch 1c, 1c '. The growths 1b, 1b 'and the notches 1c, 1c' occupy the entire thickness of the elements 1.

Each protruding part 1b, 1b 'of each element is intended to fit into a notch 1c or 1c ' a similar element juxtaposed; in other words, each notch 1c, 1c 'is intended to receive a protruding part 1b or 1b 'of a similar element juxtaposed. In addition, each outgrowth 1b, 1b 'can be advantageously covered by at least one part at least one boss 2, while each notch is shaped and dimensioned to accommodate this boss or this part of the boss. In this way, said boss 2 is "completely" or partially "drowned" between the bosses 2 arranged around the notch 1c, 1c 'of the adjacent element in which is embedded said outgrowth, so that the outline of the elements does not not shown in the coatings executed.

According to another characteristic arrangement of the invention, the ends 1d ', 1e', 1e ", 1f 'of raised parts 1d, 1e, 1f, respectively, which delimit the two notches 1c, 1c ', are aligned on two perpendicular lines x, y. As shown in Figure 1, the ends 1d ', 1e' of the parts relief 1d, 1e which delimit the notch 1c, are aligned on a straight line y, while the ends 1e ", 1f 'of the raised parts 1e, 1f which delimit notch 1c ', are aligned on a straight line x forming an angle of 90 degrees with the previous one.

When performing facade cladding or of ground, the ends 1d 'and 1e' or 1e "and 1f'de the starting element (drawn in a strong line in the figure 3) are placed on a horizontal straight line and / or vertical. The direction of the pose of this starting element, defining the laying direction of the following elements.

Self-locking modular elements according to the invention are placed on the ground to achieve pavements, or on walls or facades for the execution of siding, by implementing laying methods appropriate to the nature of the supports and materials. For the execution of pavements, the modular elements can be simply placed on a form and assembled by interlocking and jointing. For the execution of siding, the modular elements are assembled by interlocking and fixed on the facades or other surfaces, using adhesive materials or suitable adhesives such as adhesive mortar or cement glue, etc.

Self-locking modular elements 1A, 1B, 1C, 1D, ..., 1N can all be the same or not. It is for example possible to make, by molding, a number of modular elements having a conformation general identical, but with bosses of different conformation, so as to avoid too much uniformity resulting from exclusive employment strictly identical modular elements.

According to another characteristic arrangement of the invention, the projecting parts 1b, 1b 'and the notches 1c, 1c 'of the self-locking elements 1 are shaped and dimensioned so that a space E is automatically made between at least the portion upper side surfaces opposite lg, 1g ' of said elements, when said projecting parts are housed in said notches.

The bottom of this space E is then lined with a jointing material 4 chosen according to the nature of the material in which the modular elements. In this way, the visible surfaces of this real joint, have an appearance similar to that false seals 3 delimiting the bosses 2 of each modular element.

After jointing, we no longer distinguish the contours of each modular element in the surface of facing or paving carried out, which presents thus the appearance of a facade or a_pavage made of traditional way.

In order to improve the self-blocking nature of modular elements, these comprise, according to a another characteristic feature of the invention, a peripheral edge 5 on a lower portion of their thickness and this peripheral rim is sized and shaped so that the parts protruding 1b, 1b 'modular elements can interlock, without significant play, through said ledge, in the notches 1c, 1c ', of the elements juxtaposed.

Preferably, the surfaces 5a, 5b, of the ledge 5 of the modular elements intended to be in contact, during the juxtaposition of said elements, are sloped or beveled in a complementary manner (figure 5).

According to another characteristic arrangement of the invention, self-locking modular elements include corner elements which, developed to flat, have a conformation identical to that of flat elements.

According to a first example of embodiment (figure 6), these corner elements comprise two portions 6A, 6B angularly oriented and connected in such a way preferred, along a line L passing through the vertex of a protrusion 1b 'and through the bottom of a notch 1c ', this line corresponding, for example, to a groove 3 'substantially straight joining said vertex and said bottom.

When the elements are intended for execution corner facing of walls or facades forming a right angle, their portions 6A, 6B oriented orthogonally may have angle bosses 2 'projecting from the two perpendicular faces of said elements and imitating the appearance of rubble stones angle (figure 7).

Self-locking modular elements can also be executed in such a way as to allow them to be folded, as needed, for example along a line 3 ', for the production of wall cladding or curved facades or angles of walls or facades meeting by forming any angles. In this case the modular elements are executed in a non-brittle material (e.g. resins, blend natural aggregates and synthetic resins, etc.) and the flexible connecting portion 6C of their portions 6A, 6B, constituting the bottom of the groove 3, may have a small thickness, for example of the order of 1 to 4 mm, so as to allow this folding. After installation elements on the walls or facades, the 3 'grooves can be filled with jointing material to hide visible broken spots possible.

Claims (9)

1. Self-locking modular elements, obtained by moulding, for manufacturing wall or ornamental tiling facings, and the facing side of which has several bosses (2) which have the appearance of several real pieces of rubble or stones, separated by grooves (3) which have the appearance of facing joints, the said modular elements having projecting areas (1b, 1b') and indentations (1c, 1c') at the sides, making interlocking fitting with juxtaposed similar modular elements possible, distinguished by the fact that they include a main body corresponding to a square mesh (M) and have at the side, on the one hand a projecting part or an excrescence (1b, 1b') on two of its perpendicular sides, and on the other hand an indentation (1c, 1c') in their other two perpendiscular sides, and that the said projecting parts (1b, 1b') and the indentations (1c, 1c') have a configuration making interlocking fitting with juxtaposed similar modular elements possible, by simple translation into the plane containing the said elements.
2. Self-locking modular elements as Claim 1, distinguished by the fact that their projecting parts (1b, 1b') and their indentations (1c, 1c') are formed in such a way that a space (E) is created between at least the upper parts of the side surfaces with regard to the said elements when the said projecting parts (1b, 1b') are positioned in the said indentations (1c, 1c') during the assembly of the elements.
3. Self-locking modular elements as one of Claims 1 or 2, distinguished by the fact that the ends (1d', 1e', 1e", 1f') of the parts in relief(1d, 1e, 1f) which delimit the two indentations (1c, 1c') are aligned on two perpendicular straight lines (x, y).
4. Self-locking modular elements as one of Claims 1 to 3, distinguished by the fact that each excrescence (1b, 1b') is covered, at least in part, by at least one boss (2), whilst each indentation (1c, 1c') is formed and dimensioned to seat this boss (2) or this part of a boss.
5. Self-locking modular elements as any of Claims 1 to 4, distinguished by the fact that they include a peripheral edge (5) on a lower portion of their thickness, this peripheral edge (5) being dimensioned and formed in such a way that the projecting parts (1b, 1b') of the said elements can be interlockingly fitted without any notable play, at the level of the said edge, in the indentations (1c, 1c') of the juxtaposed elements.
6. Self-locking modular elements as Claim 5, distinguished by the fact that the surfaces (5a, 5b) of the edge (5) of the said elements intended to come into contact with each other when the latter are juxtaposed are sloping or bevelled in a complementary manner.
7. Self-locking modular elements as one of Claims 1 to 6, distinguished by the fact that they include angle elements comprising two sections (6A, 6B) positioned at an angle.
8. Self-locking module elements as one of Claims 1 to 7, distinguished by the fact that they comprise two sections (6A, 6B) connected by a thin link component (6C), along a line (L) passing through the top of an excrescence (1b') and through the base of an indentation (1c'), this line corresponding, for example, to an approximately right-angled groove (3') connecting the said top and the said base.
9. Self-locking modular elements as one of Claims 1 to 8, distinguished by the fact that they are manufactured in a material which does not break easily.

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