EP1312725A1

EP1312725A1 - Exterior wall panel and corresponding wall structure

Info

Publication number: EP1312725A1
Application number: EP02396164A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Pasi Mikael Riikonen
Original assignee: Rautaruukki Oyj
Current assignee: Rautaruukki Oyj
Priority date: 2001-11-19
Filing date: 2002-11-06
Publication date: 2003-05-21
Anticipated expiration: 2022-11-06
Also published as: PL357176A1; RU2298619C2; DE60224973D1; NO20025458D0; FI20012239A0; NO20025458L; FI114495B; EP1312725B1; ATE386175T1

Abstract

A wall structure composed of exterior wall panels, comprising a frame (30) and exterior wall panels (1) attached to said frame and filled with heat insulation (11), said exterior wall panels being placed one on top of the other, so that the downwardly pointing bottom web (4) of the upper exterior wall panel at least partly rests against the outwardly pointing top web (3) of the lower exterior wall panel, as well as exterior sheathing plates (31a) attached to the exterior wall panels. The panels made of metal sheet (10) also include an inner surface section (2) and a downwardly pointing top flange (6) and a bottom flange (7) provided at the edges of the top web and the bottom web. Both the top web and the bottom web are provided with thermal perforation, and the outer surface (12) of the heat insulation is located in the area of the plane (T) that passes in parallel with the inner surface section, through the top flange, and the bottom flange protrudes from said plane as much as an air gap (W1).

Description

The present invention relates to an exterior wall panel comprising: an inner surface section, made of one single metal sheet and having the width and height of the panel; a top web and a bottom web provided by means of outwardly pointing folds; and a top flange and a bottom flange provided at the edges of the top web and the bottom web by means of downwardly pointing extension folds; as well as a heat insulation that fills the space defined by the inner surface section, the top web and the bottom web. The invention also relates to a wall structure comprising: a load-carrying frame; exterior wall panels of the above described type, attached to the frame and placed one on top of the other, so that the bottom web of an upper exterior wall panel is placed at least partially against the top web of a lower exterior wall panel; and an exterior sheathing plate that is attached to the top flange of the lower exterior wall panel in each case, and to the bottom flange of the upper exterior wall panel in contact with said lower panel.

There are known several different types of exterior wall panels of the described type, as well as various wall structures built thereof and various building methods. For instance in the publications EP 0,801,190, EP 0,849,420, WO 00/77318 and EP 0,896,106, there are described known exterior wall panels or caskets of said types, as well as various wall structures built thereof. These exterior wall panels are composed of an inner surface plate with outwardly pointing folds at the edges thereof, as well as of extension folds provided as a continuation of said folds and pointing in the same direction, said extension folds being parallel with the inner surface plate. Consequently, the casing of this panel made of metal sheet is a wide C-profile, and its folding edges in a way form a Z-profile. This metal sheet casing is filled with heat insulation consisting of mineral wool, and said insulation also extends to the exterior of the casing, so that the above mentioned folds and extension folds are completely located inside the heat insulation, in which case between the extension folds and the outer surface of the heat insulation - that forms an exterior surface that faces the inner surface plate of the exterior wall panel - there is arranged an essential distance. The edges of the casing or metal sheet casket, i.e. said folds and extension folds, must in the above described manner be left inside the heat insulation, in order to prevent thermal bridges from being created at the locations thereof, and in order to achieve a fairly good heat and sound insulation capacity. The wall structure is composed of said elements by piling exterior wall panels on top of each other, with the fold of the bottom edge of the upper casing against the fold of the top edge of the lower casing, by fastening the panels to the stanchions of the building on the side of the inner surface plate, and by fastening on the side of the outer surface of the heat insulation an exterior wall plate that can be a straight metal sheet or corrugated sheet. In order to achieve good fire resistance both for resisting wind loads and other possible forces, the exterior wall plate is in said publications immediately attached to the outer surface of the heat insulation. The exterior wall plate is attached to the extension folds of the casing by means of special screws or other fasteners having a low heat-transfer capacity, at a distance from the extension folds, in which case the fastening screws thus extend from the exterior wall plate through the insulating section located between said plate and the casing extension folds, and further through the extension folds of the upper and lower panel facing each other. Consequently, said fastening screws are the only metal components that extend through the outer layer of the heat insulation. In order to achieve sufficient strength and rigidity in the structures for carrying wind loads and other possible exterior forces, the employed outer surface of the insulation in these structures is often a more rigid, i.e. heavier mineral wool, or an insulation board that is steplessly densing from the inner surface towards the outer surface. It is true that by using the described structures, the desired features of thermal and sound technology are achieved, but it is cumbersome to arrange the additional wool between the casing edge and exterior wall plate, and it makes the fastening of the exterior wall plate difficult. In addition, it is difficult to achieve sufficient rigidity and strength against wind loads, among others. Another drawback is the risk that the heat insulation becomes wet for instance if the fastening points of the exterior wall plate let in moisture, or that the heat insulations that may have become wet are not dried at all, or at least that they are dried extremely slowly. As for a wet heat insulation, it results in a weakening of the heat insulation capacity and in a corrosion of the metal parts.

The use of so-called thermal perforation in the webs of the steel sheet profiles forming the loadbearing or reinforcing structure in walls in order to improve thermal insulation capacity is known as such, for instance from the publications US 4,016,700, EP 0,136,618 and US 4,713,921. Consequently, such thermoperforated profiles are always placed in a vertical position in order to carry at least all loads caused by the wall itself, and possibly also loads caused by other structures placed on top of the wall, and they extend throughout the whole thickness of the wall.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide and exterior wall panel with a metal casing, which wall panel can be used for compiling a wall structure that has excellent rigidity features at least against wind loads, and where the risk that the heat insulation should get wet is minimized, and where any heat insulation that has possibly become wet can also be dried. Another object of the invention is to provide a described exterior wall panel and a corresponding wall structure where the employed exterior sheathing plates can be either horizontally or vertically profiled sheet. A third object of the invention is to provide a described exterior wall panel and corresponding wall structure, where the exterior sheathing plates can be attached by fasteners of a regular type, preferably standard type, such as screws. A fourth object of the invention is to provide a described exterior wall panel and corresponding wall structure, by which an excellent heat insulation and sound insulation capacity can be achieved. Yet another object of the invention is to provide a described exterior wall panel and corresponding wall structure, the compilation of which on the building site would be rapid and simple.

The above described problems are solved and the objects achieved by means of an exterior wall panel according to the invention, characterized by what is set forth in the characterizing part of claim 1, and by means of a wall structure compiled of exterior wall panels according to the invention, characterized by what is set forth in the characterizing part of claim 9.

It has surprisingly been found out that the objects of the invention can be achieved by applying the thermal perforation, used by the applicant in the applicant's thermal profiles, in a new way in the casing of the exterior wall panel, made of metal sheet, and by shaping the metal sheet casing of the exterior wall panel, particularly the flanges of the casing, in a way that is different from the prior art, so that the exterior sheathing plate gets into an immediate contact with the flange or flanges of the metal sheet casing. As one of the most important advantages of the invention, there are thus achieved, among others, a simple wall structure that can be compiled without positioning various wool layers and without using special screws that are specifically designed and manufactured for this purpose. Other advantages are that the casket profile, i.e. the casing made of metal sheet and the heat insulation, can already at the factory be manufactured as a travel-resistant exterior wall panel, and that there can be employed a soft heat insulation or heat insulation board with a low density, so that the weight of the exterior wall panel can be reduced, and expenses cut. Yet another advantage is that the exterior sheathing plate constituting the façade can be freely designed according to the demands set by the architecture without causing problems in the installation or weakening the strength, rigidity and/or insulation capacity of the structure.

The invention is described in more detail below with reference to the appended drawings.

Fig. 1 is a perspective illustration of a first embodiment of the wall structure according to the invention, where the exterior sheathing plate is made of horizontally profiled material.

Fig. 2 is a perspective illustration of a second embodiment of the wall structure according to the invention, where the exterior sheathing plate is made of vertically profiled material.

Fig. 3 is a perspective illustration of a profile shaped by bending and used in the exterior wall panel according to the invention, said profile constituting the loadbearing part of the panel, i.e. the metal casket.

Fig. 4 illustrates exterior wall panels according to the invention, placed one on top of the other, seen in a vertical cross-section that is perpendicular to the wall structure, provided with a planar exterior sheathing plate, along the level IV - IV of figures 1 and 2.

Fig. 5 and 6 show the vertical rib employed in the first embodiment of the wall structure and an alternative shape for the top end thereof, seen in an axonometric illustration.

The wall structure compiled of exterior wall panels comprises, first of all, a loadbearing frame 30 that is only schematically shown in figures 1 and 2. Typically the frame 30 consists of pillars, such as vertical reinforced concrete pillars or preferably steel pillars, to which the exterior wall panels 1 constituting the wall proper are attached at least at their ends. Said exterior wall panels 1 can also be attached to the frame pillars in the middle of the length L1 of the panels, or at several different spots along the length of the panels, depending on the total length of the exterior wall panels and on the horizontal distances between the frame pillars. At the pillars, the ends 28 of the exterior wall panels 1 that are arranged in horizontally in succession are in butt contact or almost in butt contact, in a way not illustrated in the drawings, and attached to the pillars forming the frame 30 of the structure or of the building by panel fasteners 29, for instance through the inner surface section 2 of the exterior wall panels, as is schematically illustrated in figures 1 and 2, by one fastener at the topmost panel. The invention does not relate to said fastening between the exterior wall panel and the frame, which fastening can represent any suitable known or new type, and therefore said fastening is not described in more detail. To the frame, there are generally attached several or many exterior wall panels 1, stacked on top of each other in the direction of their heights H1, and in the vertical direction in succession, in mutual contact, for instance the exterior wall panels 1a, 1b, 1c and 1d etc., in order from top to bottom, as is shown in figures 1 and 2, so that the panel 1c is placed on top of panel 1d, panel 1b is placed on top of panel 1c and panel 1a on top of panel 1b etc. In this connection, there are used distinctive reference numbers 1a, 1b, 1c etc. of the single panels that are placed one on top of the other, but elsewhere in this specification the exterior wall panels are referred to by the general reference number 1, unless there is a particular need to make a distinction between the successive panels. It is pointed out that all exterior wall panels 1a, 1b, 1c etc. are generally mutually similar within the scope of their manufacturing tolerances.

Each exterior wall panel 1 constitutes a combination of a metal casket 18 - that forms the loadbearing structure in the panel - and of a heat insulation 11 placed inside the metal casket. The metal casket of the panel to be described below surrounds the major part of the heat insulation surface, i.e. the rear and top surface of the insulation, as well as the bottom surface thereof, and also extends to the edge sections of the front surface to the extent that the heat insulation remains inside the metal sheet casket, as is apparent from the drawings. Advantageously, although not necessarily, the exterior wall panel 1, and more precisely its metal casket part 18, is made of one single metal sheet 10 by bending of a designed casing, comprising an inner surface section 2, parallel to the main length L1 of the panel - which, when installed in the wall structure is placed in a horizontal position - and to the height H1 - which, when installed in the wall structure is placed in a vertical position - with an outwardly pointing top web 3 and a bottom web 4. The metal casket 18 can easily and advantageously be manufactured of one single metal sheet, such as steel sheet, by suitably bending it, but in principle a corresponding piece can also be manufactured of several sheet elements by welding and/or gluing in addition to possible bending. In average, the top web 3 and the bottom web 4 are perpendicular to the plane formed by the panel length L1 and height H1, and thus also perpendicular to the average inner surface section, or to a plane passing via the edges of said inner surface section, in which case it must be taken into account that the inner surface section 2 may include any possible shapes designed and manufactured for the sake of appearance or for other reasons. Therefore, in figures 1 and 2 there can be discerned a fairly sparse arrangement of grooves in the inner surface section 2. At the edge of the top web 3, there is arranged a downwardly pointing top flange 6, and at the edge of the bottom web 4, there is arranged a downwardly pointing bottom flange 7, the details of which shall be explained more specifically below. As was already pointed out, each exterior wall panel 1 includes a heat insulation 11 that fills the volume defined by the inner surface section and the top and bottom flanges, i.e. the volume of the metal casket.

The exterior wall panels 1 of the type described above, more specifically the panels 1a, 1b, 1c and 1d etc. etc., are in a compiled wall structure placed one on top of the other, in the way described above, so that the bottom web 4 of the upper exterior wall panel rests at least partly against the top web 3 of the lower exterior wall panel. In addition, the wall structure comprises an exterior sheathing plate or plates 31a, 31b, 31c, that in general are in each case attached to the top flange 6 of the lower exterior wall panel and to the bottom flange 7 of the upper exterior wall panel that is in contact with said lower exterior wall panel, in a way to be described in more detail below. The exterior sheathing plate 31a, 31b, 31c may be made of a profiled sheet, such as profiled metal sheet, or of a planar sheet, such as straight metal sheet. In a compiled wall structure, the profiling of the profiled exterior sheathing plate can be arranged to be essentially horizontal, in which case the plate is a horizontally profiled exterior sheathing plate 31a, or essentially vertical, in which case the plate is a vertically profiled exterior sheathing plate 31b. As regards the profiling, the horizontally profiled exterior sheathing plate 31a and the vertically profiled exterior sheathing plate 31b can represent similar or different types - their type is not significant from the point of view of the invention, but the significant factor is that when using, a horizontally profiled exterior sheathing plate 31a, i.e. when aligning the profiling of the exterior sheathing completely or nearly horizontally, in the wall structure according to the invention there are employed vertical ribs 25, to be described in more detail below, that are separate from the exterior wall panels, whereas when using a vertically profiled exterior sheathing plate 31b, i.e. when aligning the profiling completely or nearly vertically, said vertical ribs are not needed in the wall structure according to the invention. When desired, nothing prevents from using vertical ribs also in the latter case, but it is by no means compulsory. When using a planar exterior sheathing plate 31c, the situation is the same as in the case of vertically profiled exterior sheathing plate. In all other respects, the wall structure according to the invention and the exterior wall panels 1 employed therein are the same, whether the exterior sheathing plate is vertically profiled, horizontally profiled or straight.

According to the invention, the exterior wall panel 1 includes a combination of the following features. First of all, both the top web 3 and the bottom web 4 of the metal casket 18 are provided with a thermal perforation 14, consisting of a number of elongate apertures 14 in the lengthwise direction of the webs, so that the apertures located at different spots in the direction of the width of the webs are placed in a mutually interlacing fashion. More precisely, the thermal perforation 14 is a perforation preventing heat transfer, or rather cold transfer, where the lengths L5 of the apertures 15 are parallel to the length L1 of the panel 1 and of the metal casket 18; they are placed in the

webs

3, 4, in parallel, in several rows R1, R2, R3 etc. and in an interlacing fashion, so that for instance the apertures 15 in the second row R2 are placed at the necks 19 between the apertures of the first row R1 and of the third row R3, and vice versa. The length L5 of the apertures 15 is at least five times, preferably ten times the width W5 of said apertures, and typically of the order twenty - thirty times the width W5 of the apertures. There are at least three rows of apertures 15, but generally at least four or five rows, and preferably at least six or seven. Typically the interval between the adjacent rows R1, R2, R3 etc. of the thermal perforations is longer than the width W5 of the thermal perforations in the directions W3 and W4. Similar thermal perforations are described in the applicant's earlier publication WO 98/45545. However, said width measures are in each case designed with respect to the required loadbearing capacity, the thermal insulation capacity between the inner surface section 2 of the top flange 6 and the inner surface section 2 of the bottom flange 7, as well as the sound insulation capacity. Secondly, the total width W4 of the bottom web is larger than the width W3 of the top web, in which case the bottom flange 7 is at least partly located at the distance of the air gap W1 from the plane T that extends in parallel to the inner surface section through the area of the top flange. When the exterior sheathing plates 31a, 31b, 31c are installed in place, their inner surfaces 32 are in contact with the bottom flanges 7 of the exterior wall panels 1 that are placed one on top of the other, more precisely with the bottom sections 9 of the bottom flanges. Thirdly, the outer surface 12 of the heat insulation is located substantially at said plane T, or in the area of said plane, so that an air gap W1 is left between said inner surface 32 of the exterior sheathing plates and the outer surface 12 of the heat insulation.

According to the invention, the bottom flange 7 of the metal casket 18 also comprises a top section 8 of the bottom flange that is made in the bottom web 4 by means of folding the metal sheet downwardly - i.e. away from the top web 3 - said top section being located on said plane T, as well as an intermediate web 5 that is made by means of an outwardly pointing fold - i.e. a fold pointing away from the inner surface section 2 - the extension of said intermediate web 5 being the bottom section 9 of the bottom flange, which bottom section 9 is thus located at a distance corresponding to said air gap W1 from the top section 8 of the bottom web. Consequently, the bottom flange 7 thus designed comprises a step formed by the top section 8 and the intermediate web 5 between the bottom web 4 and the outermost part of the bottom flange, i.e. the bottom section thereof. Preferably, although not necessarily, the intermediate web 5 is parallel with the major width W4 of the bottom web 4, and the top section 8 is preferably, although not necessarily, parallel with the inner surface section 2. Advantageously the metal casket of the exterior wall panel 1 also includes, as an extension of the bottom flange 7 and/or of the top flange 6 folds 17, 16 pointing towards the inner surface section, in which case the rigidity of the metal casket and consequently the rigidity of the exterior wall panel are further improved.

The top web 3 and the bottom web 4 of the metal casket 18 are also provided with

groove sections

23, 24 that indent towards each other and are parallel to the web lengths, i.e. to the length L1 of the exterior wall panel, and said thermal perforation 14 is located within the width W23, W24 of said groove sections. The widths W23, W24 of the groove sections are smaller than the widths W3, W4 of the webs, in which case the edges of the

webs

3, 4 are provided with planar edge strips 33a, 33b and 34a, 34b. When the exterior wall panels 1 are placed one on top of the other, the edge strips 34a and 34b of the bottom web 4 of the upper panel 1 are set against the edge strips 33a and 33b of the top web 3 of the lower panel 1, as is seen in figure 4. Advantageously said edge strips 33a, 33b, 34a, 34b are in a perpendicular position towards the inner surface section 2. Typically - but not necessarily - the widths W23, W24 of the groove sections provided in the top web 3 and the bottom web 4 are equally large. It is also possible that a

groove section

23 or 24 is only arranged either in the top web 3 or in the bottom web 4, in which case the groove-less web is essentially planar throughout its width W3 or W4-W1, when measured from the plane T placed at the top flange 6 and the top section 8 of the bottom flange to the inner surface section. The intermediate web 5 of the bottom flange 7 is provided with a number of apertures 20 that are arranged at equal distances L2 in a row parallel to the width length, for fastening possible vertical ribs 25 and for allowing air to circulate in the air gap. The apertures 20 have a diameter D2. Both the top web 3 and the bottom web 4 are provided, at least at their ends where the exterior wall panels 1 are attached by panel fasteners 29 to the building frame 30, with length sections La that do not have thermal perforation. Said non-perforated length sections La add to the rigidity and strength of the panel. In case the total lengths L1 of the exterior wall panel are very large, so that they must be attached, not only at the ends but also at some place or places inside their length to the building frame, it is possible to leave non-perforated length sections (not illustrated) also at these future fastening spots.

In addition, on the outer surface of the heat insulation 11 of the exterior wall panel 1, i.e. on the opposite surface with respect to the inner surface section 2, there is attached a windbreaker film 13 made of a microporous material that is impermeable to water but permeable to aqueous vapor. The common name for said layer is indeed windbreaker film, although one of its most important roles is to prevent water from being absorbed in the insulation. Advantageously such windbreaker film 13 constitute a laminate of a microporous plastic film that can be bought for example under the trademark "Goretex" and glass fiber net; this type of laminate is available at least under the trademark "Tyvek". It is naturally possible to use any other film or thin sheet material that has corresponding features, i.e. that is impermeable to water and permeable to aqueous vapor, and has a thickness smaller than 10 mm or preferably smaller than 5 mm or not more than 1 mm. However, typically the total thickness of a windbreaker film together with a reinforcing net - which net can also be manufactured of a suitable polymer - is of the order 0.05 mm - 0.5 mm. The heat insulation 11 arranged in the exterior wall panels 1 is made of some light-weight insulating material with a maximum bulk density of 45 kg/m³. The heat insulation 11 can also be so-called soft or resilient mineral wool, with a typical bulk density no more than 40 kg/m³, or so-called soft or resilient glass wool, with a typical bulk density no more than 30 kg/m³. The described mineral and glass wools are also effective sound insulation materials, and they have excellent fire resistance. As the heat insulation 11, it is also possible to employ foam polymers, such as polystyrene foam or polyurethane foam or phenol resin foam, but among these, the fire resistance of particularly the first two polymers is poor. As regards heat insulations 11 made of polymers, i.e. plastics, it is pointed out that when heat insulation is made of so-called closed cell plastic, the windbreaker film is not needed, because an insulation of the described type does not absorb water.

A wall structure according to the invention can be completely compiled of the above described exterior wall panels 1 and exterior sheathing plates, when the employed exterior sheathing that is susceptible to weather is a vertically profiled exterior sheathing plate 31b, or straight exterior sheathing plate 31c. If the employed exterior sheathing plate that is susceptible to weather is horizontally profiled exterior sheathing plate 31a, it is necessary to provide the wall structure with vertical ribs 25 to be described below. Nothing prevents from using said vertical ribs 25 also in cases where the employed exterior sheathing is straight or vertically profiled exterior sheathing plate, but in these cases vertical ribs do not add any particular advantage to the structure.

The vertical ribs 25 are made of metal profile, such as metal sheet profile. In cross-section, the vertical ribs are for instance U-profile, as in figure 1, or

-profile, as in figures 5 and 6, i.e. so-called hat profile, consisting of a web 35, of flanges 36a, 36b pointing in the same direction from said web, in a similar way as in U-profile that has a web 38 and flanges 39a and 39b, but in addition said flanges are provided with extensions, branches 37a, 37b that point in mutually different directions. Moreover, at the bottom end 27 of the vertical ribs 25, there are arranged one or two bottom brackets 28a, 28b, and the diameters W8, L8 of said bottom brackets correspond to the diameter D2 of the apertures 20, arranged in the intermediate web 5, so that the bottom bracket/brackets 28a, 28b of the vertical ribs that are installed in place, in a vertical position, fit in said apertures 20 of the lower exterior wall panels. When desired, also the top end 26 of the vertical ribs 25 can be provided with one or two top brackets 29a, 29b, with diameters W9, L9 that correspond to the diameter D2 of the apertures arranged in the intermediate web 5, in which case the bracket/brackets of the vertical ribs that are installed in place fit in said apertures of the upper exterior wall panels. In order to mutually align the vertical ribs 25 that are placed in succession in the vertical direction, as is illustrated in figure 1, in a case where the vertical ribs also include top brackets 29a, 29b, the diameter D2 of the apertures 20 must be made at least as large as the sum of the diameters of the top and bottom brackets, i.e. according to the formulas D2 ≥ W8+W9 and D2 ≥ L8+L9, because in that case the bottom and top brackets must fit in the same apertures 20. In a case where only bottom brackets 28a, 28b are provided, which alternative is now considered as the most advantageous, it suffices that the bottom brackets fit in the apertures, i.e. the conditions now are D2 ≥ W8 and D2 ≥ L8. In a case where the metal casket 18 of the exterior wall panel 1 is provided with at least one fold 17 in the bottom flange, there is arranged a transversal cut or notch 41 at the top end 26 of the vertical ribs, roughly at a distance equal to the height of the bottom section 9 of the bottom flange 7 from the end surface of the rib, so that the fold 17 provided in the bottom flange fits in said notch.

For compiling a wall structure according to the invention, exterior wall panels 1 are placed one on top of the other, so that the bottom webs 4 of the upper panels 1c, 1b and 1a, etc., or more precisely the edge strips 34a, 34b of said bottom webs, are in each case set against the top webs 3 of the lower panels 1d, 1c and 1b, etc., more precisely against the edge strips 33a, 33b of said top webs. At the same time, the top flanges 6 of the lower exterior wall panels are arranged to be in surface contact with the top sections 8 of the bottom flanges of the upper exterior wall panels, which is carried out easily or nearly automatically, as the inner surface sections 2 of the exterior wall panels, at least in the region of the panel ends, are set against the building frame 30, such as pillars or the like. When stacking exterior wall panels 1 on top of each other in this manner, in the spaces V left between the top web 3 of the lower exterior wall panel and/or the bottom web 4 of the upper exterior wall panel resting against the lower exterior wall panel, which spaces V are formed either of one

groove section

23 or 24, or of two

opposite groove sections

23 and 24, there are preferably placed heat insulation strips 21 representing the compressive type. Said heat insulation strips 21 can be made of the same mineral or glass wool or foam polymer as the heat insulations 11 of the exterior wall panel 1, or they may represent a different type of mineral or glass wool or foam polymer than the heat insulations of the exterior wall panel 1. The exterior wall panels 1 are attached to the building frame by a suitable number of panel fasteners 29 that penetrate into the frame only through the inner surface sections 2. Consequently, said panel fasteners need not and must not extend through the whole exterior wall panel, because that would weaken the strength and rigidity of the structure. However, the fastening of the panel fasteners 29 is easy, because the heat insulation 11 made of soft mineral or glass wool can in the region of the panel ends 28 be pressed somewhat aside, so that there is created a space - not illustrated - through which the fastening can be carried out directly at the inner surface section 2. The soft heat insulation 11 is then returned back to its original shape, and there are not left any gaps in between the adjacent exterior wall panels that are end by end in mutual butt contact; as for insulation, the obtained result is compact.

When the exterior wall panels 31b, 31c are vertically profiled or planar, they can be attached in place next. Now the vertically profiled or planar exterior wall panels 31b, 31c are arranged in place so that the inner surface 32 of the exterior sheathing plates is set against the bottom flanges 7 of the metal caskets 18 of the exterior wall panels, more precisely against the bottom sections 9 of the bottom flanges 7. After that, the exterior sheathing plates are attached by panel fasteners 40 at least to said bottom flanges, but according to the invention the panel fasteners 40, such as self-drilling screws representing any known type that is for instance in general use and commercially available, or any new type, or pop rivets or the like, are preferably wound in place through each top flange 6 of a lower panel and each top section 8 of the bottom flange of an upper panel, said points being in mutual surface contact, as is shown in the central arrangement P1 of figure 4. As an alternative, the exterior sheathing plates can be attached by corresponding fasteners 40c only through the bottom section 9 of the bottom flange of the upper exterior wall panels, as is illustrated in the lowest arrangement P2 of figure 4. In this case, the exterior wall panels arranged on top of each other are also mutually attached by auxiliary fasteners 40b through the top flange 6 of the lower exterior wall panels and the top section 8 of the bottom flange of the upper exterior wall panels, said points being in mutual contact. Now the exterior sheathing plates are only in contact with the bottom section 9 of said bottom flanges, but at the same time the top flanges 6 of the lower panels and the top sections 8 of the bottom flanges of the upper panels become attached to each other and to the exterior sheathing plate. The panel fasteners 40, 40b, 40c are placed at suitable intervals along the length of the top flanges 6 and the top sections 8. The panel fasteners 40, 40c of the exterior sheathing plates are arranged in the contact area of the exterior sheathing plates 31a, 31b, 31c and of the bottom flanges 7, or adjacent to said contact area, but however at the inside of the height H of the width of the bottom flanges, which height is perpendicular to the panel length L1 and to the width W4 of the bottom web. Said panel fasteners 40, 40c of the exterior sheathing plates typically pass directly through the exterior sheathing plates in the surface region A thereof, defined by the visible edges of the exterior sheathing plates.

When the exterior sheathing plates 31a, 31c are horizontally profiled or planar, prior to their fastening, a number of vertical ribs is arranged in the wall structure in the following manner. The top ends 26 of the vertical ribs 25 are pushed upwardly, from bottom to top, in each case to behind the bottom section 9 of the bottom flange of the metal casket 18 of the upper exterior wall panel, when observing the wall from outside, so that said top end 26 is left between said bottom section and heat insulation 11, at the same time as the fold 17 of said bottom flange is set in the notch 41 provided in the vertical rib, thus preventing the vertical rib from moving. Next the bottom ends 27 of the vertical ribs 25 are turned towards the inner surface section, so that the bottom brackets 28a, 28b provided at the bottom ends 27 are inserted in the apertures 20 provided in the intermediate web 5, whereafter the vertical ribs are thus in a grip contact also with the intermediate web 5 of the lower exterior wall panel. The vertical ribs 25 are placed in vertical rows J1, J2, J3, etc., and in said rows the vertical ribs are advantageously mutually aligned, thus forming in the wall structure rib lines along the whole height thereof. In the horizontal direction, along the lengths L1 of the exterior wall panels, the vertical ribs 25 and thus also their rows J1, J2... are arranged at mutual distances L3. When the horizontally profiled or planar exterior sheathing plates 31a, 31c are set in place, their inner surface 32 is always at least in some kind of contact - depending on the design and flexibility of the exterior sheathing plate, as well as on the thickness of the sheet material of the metal casket - and is also supported against said vertical ribs 25, when wind or other force directed from the exterior towards the interior strains the exterior sheathing plate. Also in this case the exterior sheathing plate is attached by for instance said ordinary panel fasteners 40, such as self-drilling screws or even pop rivets, when desired, through the top sections 8 of the bottom flanges and the top flanges 6, said points being in mutual contact, or by corresponding fasteners 40c only through the bottom section 9 of the bottom flange of the upper exterior wall panels, in which case the exterior wall panels arranged one on top of the other are additionally attached to each other by auxiliary fasteners 40b through the top flange 6 of the lower exterior wall panels and the top section 8 of the bottom flange of the upper exterior wall panels, said panels being in mutual contact. Moreover, the panel fasteners 40, 40c at the same time attach the bottom ends 27 of the vertical ribs 25 to the bottom and top flanges, as in the arrangement P1, or the top ends 26 to the bottom flanges, as in the arrangement P2, i.e. through said flanges and ribs 25 in the junctions of said flanges and vertical ribs. Thus the top flanges 6 of the lower panels, the top sections 8 of the bottom flanges of the upper panels and the bottom ends 26 of the vertical ribs 25 become attached both to each other and to the exterior sheathing plate. As above, the panel fasteners 40, 40b, 40c are placed at suitable intervals along the length of the top flanges 6 and the top sections 8. The panel fasteners 40, 40c of the exterior sheathing plates are arranged in the contact area of the exterior sheathing plates 31a, 31b, 31c and of the bottom flanges 7, or adjacent to said contact area, but however at the inside of the height H of the width of the bottom flanges, which height is perpendicular to the panel length L1 and to the width W4 of the bottom web. Said panel fasteners 40, 40c of the exterior sheathing plates typically pass directly through the exterior sheathing plates in the surface region A thereof, defined by the visible edges of the exterior sheathing plates.

As a conclusion, it is maintained that the exterior sheathing plates 31a, 31b, 31c are, at their inner surface 32, in local contact with at least the bottom flanges 7 of the exterior wall panels 1 stacked one on top of the other, or preferably with their bottom sections, and at least the horizontally profiled exterior sheathing plates 31a are also supported against the vertical ribs 25. The exterior sheathing plate 31a, 31b, 31c is connected, by said panel fasteners 40, through the top flange 6 of the lower exterior wall panels and through the top section 8 of the bottom flange of the upper exterior wall panels, and through possible vertical ribs 25, said panels being in mutual contact. The top ends 26 of the vertical ribs 25 placed at the topmost exterior wall panel 1 in the wall structure are attached in similar fashion as the top ends of all other vertical ribs. For this purpose, on top of the topmost exterior wall panel there is placed a horizontal profile 42, constituting a planar web 3* and a top section 8, proceeding in a stepwise manner described above from said planar web 3*, and an intermediate web 5 and a bottom section 9 provided as an extension thereof, as well as a possible fold 17. Thus the shape of the horizontal profile 42 in cross-section is exactly similar as the bottom web and bottom flange of the metal casket 18 are in the section that points away from the plane T and from the inner surface section 2. In a similar way as the metal casket, also the intermediate web 5 of the horizontal profile 42 is provided with apertures 20, the distances L2 and diameters D2 of which are equal to those provided in the intermediate webs of the exterior wall panels. The horizontal profile 42 is attached to the topmost exterior wall panel, so that its planar web 3* is set against the top web 3 of the panel, more precisely against the planar edge strip 33b thereof, and the top section 8 of the horizontal profile is set in surface contact with the top flange 6 of the exterior wall panel, exactly like between the exterior wall panels that are placed one on top of the other. The horizontal profile 42 can be attached to the exterior wall panel by fasteners that penetrate the top web 3 of said exterior wall panel and the planar web 3* of the horizontal profile, said fasteners being for instance self-drilling screws, pop rivets or the like.

Claims

An exterior wall panel comprising:

an inner surface section (2) having a length and a height of the panel, composed of one single metal sheet (10), a top web (3) and a bottom web (4) provided by outwardly pointing folds, and a top flange (6) and a bottom flange (7) at the edges of the top web and the bottom web provided by downwardly extending folds, and

a heat insulation (11) filling the space defined by the inner surface section and the top web and the bottom web, characterized in that in said exterior wall (1), as a combination:

both in the top web and in the bottom web thermal perforations (14) consisting of a number of elongate apertures (15) in the lengthwise direction of the webs, among which apertures located at different regions of the width of the webs are arranged in a mutually interlacing fashion;

the bottom web has a width (W4) larger than a width (W3) of the top web, whereupon the bottom flange (7) is at least partly located at the distance of an air gap (W1) from a plane (T) that extends parallel with the inner surface section through the area of the top flange; and

the heat insulation has an outer surface (12) located substantially at said plane.
An exterior wall panel according to claim 1, characterized in that the bottom flange further comprises a top section (8) of the bottom flange, provided by a downward fold of the metal sheet from said bottom web (4), said top section being located in said plane (T), and an intermediate web (5) provided by an outwardly pointing fold, which intermediate web has, as an extension, a bottom section (9) of the bottom flange located at the distance of said air gap.
An exterior wall panel according to claim 2, characterized in that the intermediate web comprises a number of apertures (20) that are located at equal distances (L2) in a row along the lengthwise direction of the web, for fastening possible vertical ribs (25).
An exterior wall panel according to claim 1, characterized in that it further comprises, on the outer surface of the heat insulation (11), a windbreaker film (13) attached thereto, said film being a microporous material impermeable to water and permeable to aqueous vapor.
An exterior wall panel according to claim 1, characterized in that said top web (3) and bottom web (4) further comprise groove sections (23, 24) parallel to the web lengths and indented towards each other, said thermal perforation (14) being within widths (W23, W24) of said groove sections.
An exterior wall panel according to claim 5, characterized in that the widths (W23, W24) of the groove sections are smaller than the widths (W3, W4) of the webs; and that the widths of the groove sections provided in the top web (3) and in the bottom web (4) are equally large.
An exterior wall panel according to any of the preceding claims, characterized in that the heat insulation (11) is a type of a light-weight insulation material with a maximum bulk density of 45 kg/m³; and that the metal sheet (10) is steel sheet.
An exterior wall panel according to any of the preceding claims, characterized in that it further comprises, at the ends of said top web (3) and bottom web (4), a length section (La) without thermal perforation.
A wall structure made of exterior wall panels, comprising:

a loadbearing frame (30);

exterior wall panels (1) attached to the frame,

each of the exterior wall panels comprising an inner surface section (2) composed of one single metal sheet (10), an outwardly pointing top web (3) and bottom web (4), and a downwardly pointing top flange (6) and bottom flange (7) provided at the edges of the top web and the bottom web, each of the panels being provided with a heat insulation (11) filling the space defined by the inner surface section and the top web and the bottom web, and

which exterior wall panels are placed one on top of the other, so that the bottom web (4) of an upper exterior wall panel rests at least partly against the top web (3) of a lower exterior wall panel; and

an exterior sheathing plate (31a, 31b, 31c), that is attached to the top flange of each lower exterior wall panel and to the bottom flange of the upper exterior wall panel being in contact therewith,

characterized in that further in said wall structure:

in the exterior wall panels: both the top web (3) and the bottom web (4) are provided with thermal perforation (14), the outer surface (12) of the heat insulation is located in the region of a plane (T) passing parallel with the inner surface section (2) through the top flange (6), and the bottom flange (7) is at least partly protruding from said plane as much as an air gap (W1);

the exterior sheathing plate (31a, 31b, 31c) is as to its inner surface (32) in local contact with the bottom flanges (7) of the exterior wall panels (1) placed one on top of the other, so that said air gap (W1) is provided between the exterior sheathing plate and the insulation; and

the exterior sheathing plate is attached, by means of panel fasteners (40 or 40c) to at least said bottom flanges or to a section of said bottom flanges.
A wall structure according to claim 9, characterized in that exterior wall panel (1) further comprises a top section (8) of the bottom flange pointing downwardly from the bottom web (4), said top section being located on said plane (T), and an outwardly pointing intermediate web (5), the extension of said intermediate web being a bottom section (9) of the bottom flange (7), located at the distance of said air gap; and that in the wall structure, the top flange (6) of the lower exterior wall panel is in surface contact with the top section (8) of the bottom flange of the upper exterior wall panel.
A wall structure according to claim 10, characterized in that the exterior sheathing plate (31a, 31b, 31c) is attached, by said panel fasteners (40) through the top flange (6) of the lower exterior wall panels and the top section (8) of the bottom flange of the upper exterior wall panels, said panels being in mutual contact, or by said panel fasteners (40c) through the bottom section (9) of the bottom flange of the upper exterior wall panels.
A wall structure according to claim 9, characterized in that when the exterior sheathing plate (31a, 31c) is vertically profiled or planar, its inner surface (32) is in contact with the bottom section (9) of said bottom flanges only.
A wall structure according to claim 9, characterized in that it further comprises:

in the intermediate web (5) of the exterior wall panel (1) a number of apertures (20) that are located at equal distances (L2) in a row parallel to the lengthwise direction of the web; and

vertical ribs (25), the top ends (26) whereof being placed between the bottom section (9) of the bottom flange of the upper exterior wall panel and the heat insulation (11), and the bottom ends (27) being in grip with the intermediate web (5) of the lower exterior wall panel, said vertical ribs being located at distances (L3) from each other along the lengths (L1) of the exterior wall panels.
A wall structure according to claim 13, characterized in that when the exterior sheathing plate (31b, 31c) is horizontally profiled or planar, its inner surface (32) is also in contact with said vertical ribs (25); that the exterior sheathing plate is attached, by said fasteners, through contacting top sections (8) of the bottom flanges and the top flanges (6), and through these and the vertical ribs (25) in the crossing areas thereof.
A wall structure according to claim 13 or 14, characterized in that further there is provided, at the bottom end of the vertical ribs (25), one or two bottom brackets (28a, 28b) parallel with the vertical rib, transversal dimensions (W8, L8) of said bottom brackets corresponding to a diameter (D2) of the apertures (20) in the intermediate web (5), whereupon the bottom bracket/brackets of a vertical rib installed is/are inserted in said apertures of the lower exterior wall panels.
A wall structure according to any of the claims 13 - 15, characterized in that further there is provided, at the top end (26) of the vertical ribs (25), one or two top brackets (29a, 29b) parallel with the vertical rib, transversal dimensions (W9, L9) of said brackets corresponding to a diameter (D2) of the apertures (20) provided in the intermediate web (5), whereupon the bracket/brackets of a vertical rib installed is/are inserted in said apertures of the upper exterior wall panels.
A wall structure according to any of the claims 13 - 16, characterized in that the vertical ribs (25) are made of U-profile or hat profile.
A wall structure according to any of the claims 9 - 17, characterized in that the top webs (3) and/or bottom webs (4) of the exterior wall panel further comprise groove sections (23, 24) that run along the lengthwise direction of the webs and are indenting towards each other and narrower than the width of the webs; and that in spaces (V) between the top web (3) of the lower exterior wall panel and the bottom web (4) of the upper exterior wall panel resting against it, and formed by a groove section or groove sections, there are arranged heat insulation strips (21) of compressive type.
A wall structure according to any of the claims 9 - 18, characterized in that the exterior wall panel (1) further comprises a windbreaker film (13) on said outer surface (12) of the heat insulation.
A wall structure according to any of the claims 9 - 19, characterized in that the exterior wall panel (1) further comprises folds (17, 16) as an extension of the bottom flange (7) and/or the top flange (6) and pointing towards the inner surface section.
A wall structure according to claim 11, characterized in that said panel fasteners (40; 40c) also simultaneously attach the bottom ends (27) or the top ends (26) of possible vertical ribs (25) to said bottom flanges and/or top flanges attached to each other.
A wall structure according to claim 11, characterized in that when the panel fasteners (40c) of the exterior sheathing plates represent a type that passes through the bottom section (9) of the bottom flange of the upper exterior wall panels, the exterior wall panels that are arranged on top of each other are also attached to each other by auxiliary fasteners (40b) through the top flange (6) of the lower exterior wall panels and the top section (8) of the bottom flange of the upper exterior wall panels, mutually contacting.