The invention relates to a lining element,
particularly for aerated or floating lining of walls,
floors, roofs or the like.
The invention has the object to provide an
element, particularly for lining walls, floors, or the
like, which is load-bearing all over its surface,
light-weight, cost-effective and has very good heat and
sound insulating properties, very good fire-retardant
properties, and allows to use any kind of material on
the exposed face, thereby reducing the amount of
material which is expensive for its exterior quality.
The invention achieves the above purposes by providing
a lining element, consisting of a sized panel which
comprises at least one intermediate support layer
having a honeycomb structure, and at least one lining
layer made of lining material on the exposed face,
which is glued and/or welded and/or otherwise fastened
to said exposed face, there being provided an element
in the form of a box or chest wherein the lining
element is accommodated, and which lays over the
peripheral edges and the non exposed face of said
lining element.
The box or chest may be made of any suitable
material.
The walls of the box or chest may be either
continuous or, for instance, at least partly provided
with apertures or lightening elements, or holes or, in
at least a few areas thereof, grid patterns, or the
like.
The chest preferably extends up to the face of the
lining layer which is turned towards the intermediate
layer.
In accordance with a preferred embodiment, the
lining layer projects beyond the intermediate layer so
that it overlaps the peripheral edge of the chest.
In a particular embodiment, the outer edge of the
lining layer terminates flush with the outer peripheral
wall of the chest at the open side thereof.
A layer of adhesive may be provided between the
inner surfaces of the chest and the facing surfaces of
the intermediate layer, especially the face of the
intermediate layer adhering against the bottom of the
chest.
The glue or adhesive may be of the sealing type,
or a suitable sealant may be further provided between
the intermediate layer and the inner surfaces of the
chest, particularly between the side walls of the chest
and the intermediate layer.
The adhesive and/or sealant may be of the fire
retardant type or the sealant may be anyway mixed with
fire retardant aggregate.
According to a further characteristic, the chest
is made in such a manner that it tapers towards the
bottom side with convergent inclined side walls.
As a lining layer, there may be provided any type
of sheet, plate or panel of natural or synthetic
materials, either single- or multilayer, such as
fabric, cloths, felts, made of natural or synthetic or
mixed fibers, plastic plates, stone plates, e.g. made
of marble, granite or the like, thin plates or tiles
made of cotto, ceramic, glass, or other similar
materials, wood, metal, etc.
As an intermediate layer, a plastic honeycomb or
grid panel or the like may be used.
The plastic panel disclosed in US 4,315,050 and
4,315,051 and sold by Norcore with the trade name
"birdwing", is particularly fit for the purpose.
The chest may be made either of plastic or of
metal, such as steel and aluminum.
With reference to the flooring and/or wall lining
uses, the invention provides a combination of a
plurality of said lining elements of a predetermined
size, in combination with spacing and fastening
elements.
To this end, structures made of longitudinal and/or
cross bars may be used, which are secured to the wall
and/or floor, for the elements to rest thereon.
Alternatively, foot elements may be also used, arranged
over the surface of the lining elements.
These foot elements may be also provided at corners and
be shared by adjacent lining elements, e.g. by four
lining elements or by two lining elements only,
particularly at the edges of the surface to be lined.
In the provision of floor linings, the spacer
elements may simply rest on the floor and the lining
elements may in turn simply rest thereon.
Mutual positioning interlocks may be provided.
Means for fastening the spacers to the surfaces to
be lined may be also provided, e.g. by screws, dowels,
gluing, walling, or the like.
Means for fastening the lining elements to the
spacers may be also provided. These means may be of the
screw type, for instance by forming through holes in
the lining elements, or of the hook and/or interlock
type, for instance by providing complementary hooklike
and/or snap interlock means on the spacers and on the
chests.
The aforesaid hooklike means may be hooks projecting
out of the chests and cooperating with hook slots or
holes formed in the spacer elements, or vice versa, or
male interlock projections associated to the chests and
elastically deformable snap interlock seats, associated
to the spacers, or vice versa.
A non limiting example of the snap interlock means
may consist of spherical elements at the ends of
support stems projecting out of the chests and of
complementary spherical recesses, whose angular
extension, i.e. spherical sector, is above 180° and
below 360° which, thanks to the elastic properties of
the material, e.g. plastic, provide elastic deformation
under strain upon interlock and release.
Any combination of the aforesaid fasteners may be
provided for each element.
According to another characteristic, the chests may
also have, alternatively to or in combination with the
above, means for mutual removable coupling, such as
mutual hooklike, interlock, or snap interlock means.
These means may consist of hooklike wings of a chest in
combination with hook slots in the adjacent chest, or
of lateral undercut, e.g. dovetail extensions of a
chest in combination with complementary recesses formed
in the facing side wall of the adjacent chest, which
recesses are open at their end on the bottom side of
the chest, thereby allowing the undercut extensions to
be inserted therein.
The snap fastening of two lining elements may be also
obtained as described as regards fastening between
spacer elements, the interlocking members projecting,
for instance, out of one side of a chest and the snap
interlocking recesses being formed in the facing side
of the adjacent chest.
In this case, the chests might all have snap interlock
recesses, pins or snap interlock members being provided
whose two opposite ends are made like snap interlock
heads for engagement in the seats of the facing sides
of two adjacent chests.
The examples described herein shall be intended without
limitation, and any known means for fastening panels,
plates, doors or the like may be provided both as a
spacer and as a fastener.
The invention relates to further improvements which
form the subject of the dependent claims.
The characteristics of the invention and the advantages
derived therefrom will appear more clearly from the
following description of a few non limiting embodiments
shown in the accompanying drawings, in which:
Fig. 1 is an exploded cross sectional view of a lining
element according to the invention. Fig. 2 is an cross sectional view of a lining element
as shown in fig. 1 in the mounted condition. Fig. 3 shows an enlarged detail of the lining element
as shown in fig. 2. Figs. 4 and 5 show a side view and a top plan view
respectively of a lining element as shown in the
previous figures. Fig. 6 shows the combination of lining elements
according to the invention with spacer elements for
aerated lining of walls. Fig. 7 shows the combination of lining elements
according to the invention with spacers for a floating
lining of floors. Figs. 8 and 9 show two examples of removable
fastening between lining elements. Figs. 10 to 12 show a few examples of removable
fastening between lining elements and support
structures or spacer elements. Figs. 13 and 14 show a variant of a lining element
which may be used for roofs, or the like. Fig. 15 shows a variant of the elements as shown
in figs. 13 and 14.
Referring to the figures, a lining element
according to the invention comprises a lining layer 1
which is glued, welded or otherwise anchored to an
intermediate layer 2, consisting of a honeycomb or grid
panel, particularly having the typical structure of the
panels sold by Norcore with the trade name "Birdwing".
These panels are made of plastic, in accordance with
the description of US 4,315,050 and 4,315,051. This
type of material has a particular honeycomb structure
which combines a high rigidity and mechanical
resistance and a very light weight.
In this case, the lining layer 1 is attached by an
adhesive 3 to the exposed face of the intermediate
panel 2.
The lining layer 2 may be made of any natural or
synthetic material, or of combinations of natural and
synthetic materials, such as stone materials, ceramic,
terracotta, resins, concrete, plaster, plasterboard,
with stone decorative or rough elements incorporated
therein, wood, glass, metal, but may also consist of
plates made of a synthetic material possibly covered
with layers of fabric, nonwoven fabric, natural fibers,
synthetic fibers or mixtures thereof, as well as
leather, imitation leather, and the like.
Obviously, both the lining layer and the
intermediate layer 2 may also consist of combinations
of layers with various properties so, for instance,
expanded layers may be provided between the
intermediate layer and the lining layer, or on the face
of the intermediate layer facing the lining layer, for
calibrating possibly required sound absorbing or
thermal insulating properties or for providing or
further ensuring watertightness properties.
The combination of the layers 1 and 2 is
accommodated inside a chest 4 which has a bottom wall
104 and side peripheral walls 204. The chest 4 extends
on the rear side of the intermediate layer 2 and along
the peripheral edges of the two layers 1, 2 fastened
together.
The side walls 204 of the chest 4 may either
extend up to the surface of the exposed face of the
lining layer 1, or terminate flush with the face of the
lining layer 1 coupled to the intermediate layer 2. In
this case, the lining layer 1 projects at its periphery
out of the lateral edges of the intermediate layer 2 to
such an extent as to overlap the end edge of the side
walls 204 of the chest 4 which abut against the layer
1, terminating at its periphery flush with said side
walls 204 of the chest 4.
The chest 4 is fastened to the intermediate layer
2 and/or even to the layer 1 or part thereof, by an
adhesive layer 5. The latter may only extend along the
bottom wall 104 of the chest 4.
Along the side walls 204 and where the honeycomb
voids are relatively big, the use is provided of a
filling sealant 6 which may also act as an adhesive.
These areas where the sealant may be needed are
typically, but neither necessarily nor exclusively,
located at the side walls 204 of the chest 4.
The adhesive and the sealant in use, e.g.
silicone, expanded sealants, or injectable foams may be
mixed with aggregate.
Preferably, the adhesives and/or the sealants are
of the fire-retardant type or anyway mixed with fire-retardant
aggregate.
With reference to fig. 3, the chest 4 tapers
towards the bottom side 104 like an upturned truncated
pyramid. This provides an intermediate gap between
adjacent chests, which may be required for mounting
them onto a bearing structure, whereas the lining
layers perfectly adhere to each other. In this case,
the cross section of the complete lining element has
the shape of an upturned isosceles trapezoid, topped by
a rectangle substantially consisting of the lining
layer 1.
Figs. 6, 7 and 13 show a few applications of the
lining element according to the invention.
Fig. 6 shows the use of the lining elements to
form the aerated lining of a wall.
Here, a sequence of cross and/or longitudinal bars
7 forms a spacer structure for securing the lining
elements 10.
The cross and/or longitudinal bars 7 are fastened
to a wall 11 in any manner, such as by screws, dowels,
adhesive, walling or in any other manner and form
surfaces which allow the peripheral edge to rest on at
least two sides of a lining element 10. Particularly,
said cross or longitudinal bars have such a length as
to allow at least two adjacent lining elements 10 to
rest thereon.
Figure 7 shows the variant embodiment designed to
make a floating floor. Here, the combination of fig. 6
might certainly be used, although costs could be
reduced by providing, instead of a structure with
continuous elements, a supporting and spacing structure
consisting of support feet 12 designed to bear the
adjacent corners of at least two or of three or four
adjacent panels.
These supporting and spacing feet 12 are well
known in the art of floating floors and are available
in various shapes and variants.
According to a variant, as shown in dashed lines
in fig. 7, the feet may be interconnected by cross bars
7 so that they can also form a bearing framework,
possibly even all along the perimeter of the lining
elements 10, 10', or a cross beam structure.
While in the case of a floor both the feet 12 and
the possible longitudinal and/or cross bar structure 7
may simply rest on a floor and the lining elements 10
may in turn simply rest on the feet 12 or on the
structure 7, in the variant embodiment designed for the
aerated lining of walls, the lining elements must be
secured someway to the structure.
It has to be noted that the provision of aerated
linings for walls may involve, like in the case of
floor lining, a structure composed of feet 12 instead
of the cross and/or longitudinal bar structure.
Figs. 10 to 12 show a few variant embodiments of
possible removable hooklike and or fastening means
which might be used either individually or in
combination.
Fig. 10 show hooklike means wherein the spacer
structure of longitudinal and/or cross bars 7 has slots
107 for engaging hooks 304 projecting out of the bottom
of the chest 4 of a lining element.
Fig. 11 shows a screw fastening 13, whereas fig.
12 shows a coupling by snap interlock means.
In this case, the structure has elastically
deformable snap interlock seats 15, for instance made
of plastic, for cooperation with snap interlock
projections 16 associated to the chests 4. Here, the
interlock projections 16 have a spherical head 116, or
anyway widened with respect to a support stem 216,
whereas the seats have the shape of a spherical sector
with an extension above 180° and below 360°, so as to
form an interlock aperture which is narrower than the
diameter of the spherical head 116, which aperture may
be elastically widened by the interlocking pressure or
the extraction pulling force exerted on the interlock
head 116.
Obviously, all the examples shown herein may be
inverted as regards coupling of the two complementary
elements for fastening to the structure 7 or to the
lining element 10. What has been shown above as regards
the longitudinal and/or cross bar structure 7 also
applies to the feet 12.
As shown in figures 8 and 9, removable fastening
means may be also provided between adjacent lining
elements 10, 10'. These means may also be provided in
combination with the means for removable fastening to
the spacing structures 7, 12.
Fig. 8 shows means for mutually hooking two lining
elements 10, 10'. One of the two lining elements 10 has
a hook slot 17 in the bottom side of a housing recess
18 of the bottom side 104 of the chest 4. The other
element 10' has an extension 19 with an end hook 119.
In the variant embodiment of fig. 9, there are
provided snap interlock seats like those of fig. 12 in
the adjacent side walls 204 of the two elements 10,
10'. The two chests 4 are interconnected by a pin 20
having two interlock heads at its two ends, still like
those of the embodiment of the fasteners as shown in
fig. 12.
Each side of the chest 4 may have one or more
seats. Further, one of the chests may be provided as
stably having pins with interlock heads, and the other
as having the interlock seats.
With reference to figs. 13 and 14 a variant is
shown related to the provision of linings for roofs or
the like.
In this case, the chest 4 has an extension wing 21
at two sides adjacent at their corners. The two wings
are interconnected and may be made of one piece. They
are connected to an extension of the associated side
wall 104 of the chest 4, which extends up to slightly
above the exposed view of the lining layer.
Although this is not presumptively necessary, by
providing an inclined arrangement of the lining
elements, the overlapping wings may extend directly
from the upper edge of the side wall at the level of
the face of the lining layer 1 in contact with the
intermediate layer, as shown in fig. 15.
The ridge element may be also provided with an
element such as the one described hereinbefore which
has an appropriate curved or inverted V shape, and has
in this case overlapping wings on a transverse side and
on the two opposite longitudinal sides.
The above disclosure clearly shows the advantages
of the present invention, which consist in providing
composite lining elements which have a high mechanical
resistance, reduced costs, and a very light weight.
These elements provide the highest versatility as
regards both the type of exposed lining, and the use
thereof. Particularly, these elements ensure a heat and
sound insulation effect, have fire-retardant properties
and are highly versatile in their applications.
Advantageously, the lining element according to
the invention may have any plan shape, and a standard
size, so that it can be used with the currently
available bearing structures for making aerated linings
of walls, linings or roofs and floating floors, or the
like.
Obviously, the invention is not limited to the
embodiments described and illustrated herein, but may
be greatly varied without departure from the guiding
principle disclosed above and claimed below.