EP1333131A1

EP1333131A1 - Cladding

Info

Publication number: EP1333131A1
Application number: EP03250565A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Andrew Peter Dunne
Original assignee: Architectural Profiles Ltd
Current assignee: Architectural Profiles Ltd
Priority date: 2002-01-30
Filing date: 2003-01-30
Publication date: 2003-08-06
Anticipated expiration: 2023-01-30
Also published as: DE60303740D1; EP1333131B1; GB2384792B; GB0302190D0; ATE318970T1; DE60303740T2; GB2384792A

Abstract

Inner and outer membranes (5,1) of a roof- or wall-cladding system are carried by two sets of rails (6,2) which are spaced apart by sheet-metal brackets (11) that are coupled in series with heat-insulating spacer blocks (10). Each bracket (11) is of inverted top-hat cross-section with its cross-web (18) clamped through one, or a pair, of the blocks (10) to a purlin (6) or other rail supporting the inner membrane (5), and with its flanges (19) clamped to a rail (2) supporting the outer membrane (1). Each spacer block (10) is of an elongate form with lengthwise bores (17) for the clamping screws or bolts. The bracket-web (18) is notched and slots under a tab (14) of the spacer block (10) with its notch (20) engaged with a pillar-support (16) of the tab (14). An alternative form of block (50) has a short tab (59) that is inserted through an opening (62) through the web (61) to hook the bracket (60) and block (50) together before the screws or bolts are inserted for clamping.

Description

This invention relates to cladding systems and is concerned especially (though not exclusively) with cladding systems for walls and roofs of buildings.
The walls and roofs of industrial and commercial buildings are commonly constructed with inner and outer membranes, each usually of profiled metal sheeting, that are held spaced apart to accommodate an in-filling of heat-insulating material. The inner and outer membranes are supported by respective sets of laterally-spaced rails, and spacer blocks are located at intervals along the rails to hold the two rail-supported membranes spaced apart with the spacer blocks sandwiched between them.
According to one aspect of the present invention there is provided a cladding system including spacer blocks that are located between two sets of rails or other support members of inner and outer membranes respectively, wherein the spacing between the two sets of rails or other support members is established using brackets coupled in series with the spacer blocks.
The blocks and brackets may have plural-point fixing to one another and to individual rails or other support members of the two sets respectively, for restraining relative angular movement between the two sets of rails or other support members.
In the prior art, the spacing between the two sets of rails or other support members is established by the length or height of the spacer-block used, and so it would be possible to provide for variation of spacing by providing blocks of different lengths or heights. The present invention enables the variation of spacing to be achieved using a block of standard length or height. By using spacer blocks of plastics or other heat-insulating material, thermal insulation between the two sets of rails or other support members and the membranes need not be compromised.
Each spacer block of the cladding system of the invention may be of an elongate form, for example of elongate parallelepiped form, having one or more bores for receiving screws or bolts extending lengthwise through the block between top and bottom faces of the block for clamping the block and its bracket together and to one of the rails or other support members. The blocks may each include a laterally-extending tab that overlies the top face so as to form a slot between the tab and top face, the one or more bores open through the tab, and in these circumstances part of the bracket may be entered into the slot to be sandwiched between the tab and the top face in the clamping together of the block and bracket. As an alternative, each block may have a retainer-clip upstanding from its top face for engagement over a part of the bracket for hooking the block and bracket together, and in this respect, the retainer-clip may include a pillar portion which is upstanding from the top face of the block and which is topped by a tab that projects partially across the top face from the pillar portion. In these latter circumstances, the pillar portion may project through an opening through said part of the bracket for engaging the tab over an edge of the opening in hooking the block and bracket together.
The brackets, which may be of sheet metal, may have an inverted top-hat cross-section with a cross-web for clamping via a respective spacer block or blocks to a rail or other support member of one of the two sets, and flanges for clamping to a rail or other support member of the other set. The flanks of the bracket between the cross-web and its flanges may be at right angles to the web or inclined to it.
Cladding systems in accordance with the present invention will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:
Figures 1 and 2 are, respectively, a plan and a sectional side elevation of part of a first cladding system of the invention, for a roof of a building, the section of Figure 2 being taken on the line II-II of Figure 1;
Figure 3 is a sectional end elevation of a portion of the roof-cladding system of Figures 1 and 2, the section of Figure 3 being taken on the line III-III of Figure 1;
Figure 4 is an exploded perspective view illustrating a typical combination of a spacer block with a stool or bracket, in the roof-cladding system of Figures 1 to 3;
Figure 5 is an enlarged perspective view, partly broken away, of a typical spacer block used in the roof-cladding system of Figures 1 to 4;
Figure 6 is a perspective view of a second cladding system according to the invention, for a wall of a building, using spacer blocks of the form illustrated in Figure 5;
Figure 7 is a perspective view of a part of the wall-cladding system of Figure 6;
Figures 8 to 10 are, respectively, a perspective, side elevation and plan of an alternative form of spacer block for use in cladding systems according to the present invention;
Figure 11 is illustrative of a combination of the spacer block of Figures 8 to 10 with a form of stool or bracket, that may be used as an alternative to the combination of Figure 4;
Figure 12 is a perspective view illustrative of another roof-cladding system according to the invention, utilising combinations of spacer block and bracket of the form illustrated in Figure 11;
Figure 13 is a perspective view of another wall-cladding system according to the invention and corresponding to that of Figure 6, utilising spacer blocks of the form shown in Figures 8 to 10; and
Figure 14 is a perspective view of a further wall-cladding system according to the invention, utilising combinations of spacer block and bracket of the form illustrated in Figure 11.
Referring to Figures 1 to 3, the roof-cladding system involves an outer membrane made up of profiled metal cladding sheets 1 which overlap one another and which, where they overlap, are bolted or otherwise secured to individual ones of a set of laterally-spaced rails 2 of 'Z'-shape cross-section having top and bottom flanges 3 and 4 respectively. The overlapping sheets 1 bear on the flanges 3 and are bolted or otherwise secured to them from above.
The inner membrane is made up of profiled metal liner panels 5 that overlap one another, and support for them and the sheets 1 and rails 2 is provided from below by a set of spaced horizontal purlins 6 to which the rails 2 run parallel. Each purlin 6 is of 'Z'-shape cross-section with top and bottom flanges 7 and 8 respectively, and is tilted to give fall to the roof. The overlapping panels 5 bear on and are bolted or otherwise secured to the flanges 7.
The rail-supported sheets 1 and the panels 5 are held apart to accommodate heat-insulation material 9, by means of spacer blocks 10 and sheet-metal stools or brackets 11 intercoupled with them. The spacer blocks 10, which are seated on the panels 5 over the purlins 6, are spaced apart from one another along the purlins 6 at intervals suited to the load-span capabilities of the rails 2.
Each block 10 is clamped with its respective bracket 11 to the top flange 7 of the underlying purlin 6.
Referring now also to Figures 4 and 5, the spacer block 10, which may be of polypropylene, is generally in the form of an elongate parallelepiped having flat top- and bottom- faces 12 and 13 respectively. The block 10 includes a tab 14 that overlies the face 12 with a small spacing from it so as to define a slot 15 which extends laterally through substantially the full width of the block 10. The tab 14 is held to the rest of the block 10 by a pillar portion 16 (which is small enough to allow the tab 14 to be easily torn off if desired), and four bores 17 extend throughout the length of the block 10 to open through the tab 14 and the faces 12 and 13.
The stool or bracket 11, as shown most clearly in Figure 4, has an inverted top-hat cross-section, with a cross-web 18 and flanges 19. The cross-web 18, which has a notch 20 on one edge, is inserted in the slot 15 during assembly of the bracket 11 with the block 10. The web 18 is inserted in the slot 15 with the notch 20 leading and aligned with the pillar portion 16, so that when the web 18 is fully inserted the pillar portion 16 is engaged closely within the notch 20. This locates the bracket 11 appropriately between the tab 14 and the face 12 to align four holes 21 in the web 18 with the four bores 17 respectively, of the block 10. Self-drilling screws 22 (only two shown in each of Figures 2 and 3) are inserted in the bores 17 through the tab 14, to pass through the holes 21 and the body of the block 10, for screwing into the purlin 6 through the panel 5.
In this way, the blocks 10 are firmly clamped to the purlins 6 and the brackets 11 are attached firmly to their respective blocks 10, with the web 18 in each case clamped hard against the face 12 of the block 10 under the tab 14. The rails 2 are fixed to the flanges 19 of the clamped brackets 11 by self-tapping or -drilling screws 23 (Figure 3) driven through the flanges 4 of the rails 2.
Plural-screw fixing of the intercoupled brackets 11 and blocks 10 to the purlins 6, and of the rails 2 to the brackets 11, precludes the possibility of angular displacement or tipping of the blocks 10 between the rails 2 and purlins 6. It is not necessary for this purpose always to use four screws 21 or 23, two may often be sufficient in all but high-load situations. A four-point fixing to a bracket 11 may be used, for example, where the bracket 11 bridges separate lengths of rail 2 butted end-to-end.
The spacer blocks and brackets are used in the cladding system described above between purlins and rails of 'Z'-shape, but the invention is not limited to this, and may be used in circumstances where the purlins and rails take other forms (for example, where the purlins are of 'C'-shape). Also, the coupling together of spacer blocks and brackets in series with one another, may be used in accordance with the invention for wall cladding as well as for roofs.
An example of a wall-cladding system according to the invention is illustrated in Figure 6 and will now be described.
Referring to Figure 6, the wall-cladding system involves an outer membrane made up of cladding panels 31 which in the vertical direction interlock with one another and in the horizontal direction effectively butt onto one another with a vertical strip 32 of infill insulation between. The panels 31 are supported against a set of vertical tracks 33 (only one shown) located respectively behind the vertically-extending butt joints. Weather protection of each of these joints is provided externally by an extruded- or pressed-metal strip 34 that is squeezed under pressure into the joint and has an optional decorative insert 35 (shown separated from the strip 34 in Figure 6). Protection internally is provided by a gasket 36 that is sandwiched between the panels 31 and the track 33 along the joint.
The inner membrane is made up of profiled metal liner panels 37 that overlap one another. The panels 37 are supported from behind by a set of spaced horizontal rails 38 (only one shown in Figure 6).
The rail-supported panels 37 are held apart from the tracks 33 and their supported panels 31, to accommodate heat-insulation material 39, by means of pairs of spacer blocks 40 that are intercoupled respectively with sheet-metal load-spreading brackets 41; the blocks 40 correspond in all respects to the block 10 of Figure 5. More particularly, each pair of blocks 40 is located at a respective virtual intersection of rail 38 with track 33, with the two blocks 40 of the pair spaced apart along the rail 38 and screwed to the forward flange 42 of that rail 38 with panels 37 sandwiched in between.
As illustrated in Figure 7, the bracket 41 is of top-hat cross-section with flanges 43. The two blocks 40 are oriented with the open mouths of their respective slots 45 (each corresponding to the slot 15 of the block 10 of Figure 5) facing towards one another. The two ends of the web 44 are notched to engage the pillar portions 46 of the blocks 40 (corresponding to the engagement of the portion 16 with slot 20, described above with reference to Figure 4), and are trapped in the slots 45 before the blocks 40 are screwed to the flange 42 to hold the bracket 41 and blocks 40 firmly to the rail 38.
Referring again to Figure 6, the track 33 has flanges 47 that abut, and are secured by screws (not shown) to, the flanges 43 of the bracket 41. As a result, the load on the track 33 is spread by the bracket 41 between the pair of blocks 40 to the rail 38. The track 33 and rail 38 are at the same time restrained from angular displacement with respect to one another, by the plural-point fixing.
Further examples of roof and wall cladding according to the present invention, using an alternative form of spacer block according to the invention, will now be described. The alternative spacer block is illustrated in Figures 8 to 10.
Referring to Figures 8 to 10, the alternative spacer block 50, which may be a moulding of polypropylene, is generally in the form of an elongate, rectangular parallelepiped having flat top- and bottom-faces 52 and 53 respectively. Three cylindrical bores 54 extend throughout the length of the partially-hollow block 50, each bore 54 where it opens through the closed top face 52 being restricted to a triangular aperture 55 but being otherwise of unobstructed, circular cross-section. A small retainer-clip 56 is upstanding from the face 52 spaced from the bores 54, mid-way along the rear edge 57 of the face 52. The clip 56 is formed by an upstanding, rectangular pillar 58 that is topped by a short, rectangular tab 59 which projects inwardly across the face 52. The tab 59 does not overlap the apertures 55, so that it does not interfere with insertion of screws through the apertures into the bores 54.
The block 50 may be used in a manner similar to the block 10, in series with a stool or bracket (for example of inverted top-hat form) which is notched for engagement with the pillar 58. However, in this case, instead of a slot or notch in the bracket for engagement with the pillar 58, the bracket may have an opening through which the clip 56 can be inserted and engaged with its tab 59 over the edge of the opening, hooking the block 50 and bracket together. This form of engagement between block and bracket is illustrated in Figure 11.
Referring to Figure 11, an inverted top-hat bracket 60 (which in this example has sloping, rather than vertical, flanks) has a cross-web 61 through which there are two rectangular openings 62 that are spaced apart from one another across its width. The bracket 60 and block 50 are brought together with the clip 56 entered through one or the other of the openings 62 so that a slight forward movement of the block 50 engages the tab 59 over the inner-edge of the opening 62; the two openings 62 are provided to allow the block 50 to be inserted and engaged from either direction. When the tab 59 is engaged in this way, the web 61 abuts the face 52 of the block 50 with three holes 63 that are centrally-located in the web 61, in register with the three apertures 55 respectively, ready for insertion of self-drilling screws (not shown) into one or more of them.
The pillar 58 of the clip 56 is a close fit between the side-edges of the rectangular opening 62 and this, together with the engagement of the tab 59 with the inner-edge of the opening 62, acts to retain the block 50 and bracket 60 correctly aligned with one another, in particular during insertion of the screws. Depending on the thickness of the web 61, the tab 59 may exert some resilient restraint, but even where this does not apply the tab 59 tends to retain the web 61 against the face 52 while screw-insertion is taking place. As the screws are inserted through the holes 63 they are pushed and turned slightly to engage resiliently through the restricted apertures 55 below, for entry fully into the respective bores 54.
As illustrated in Figure 11, the flanges 64 of the bracket 60 incorporate up-turned tags 65. The tags 65 act as stops for assisting appropriate location of a rail on the flange 64 of the bracket 60.
A roof-cladding system incorporating spacer blocks and brackets of the form described above with reference to Figures 8 to 11 will now be described with reference to Figure 12.
Referring to Figure 12, the roof-cladding system involves an outer membrane made up of profiled metal cladding sheets 71 which are joined together in seams 72 along their overlapping, upturned edges 73. The sheets 71 are secured to a set of laterally-spaced rails 74 (only one shown) of 'Z'-shape in cross-section, by clips 75 (only one shown) that are engaged between the overlapping edges 73 at each of the positions where the seam 72 crosses a rail 74. Each clip 75 is screwed to the top flange 76 of the rail 74.
The inner membrane is made up of profiled metal-liner panels 77 that overlap one another and are supported from below by a set of spaced horizontal purlins 78 (only one shown) that run parallel to the rails 74. Each purlin 78 is of 'Z'-shape cross-section with top and bottom flanges 79 and 80 respectively. The overlapping panels 77 bear on and are screwed or otherwise secured to the top flanges 79 of the purlins 78.
The rail-supported sheets 71 and the purlin-supported panels 77 are held apart from one another with the intervening space filled with heat-insulation material 81, by means of spacer blocks 82 (only one shown) in combination with sheet-metal stools or brackets 83. Each spacer block 82 is seated, as illustrated, on overlapping panels 77 overlying a purlin 78, and together with its associated bracket 83 is screwed through the panels 77 into the top flange 79 of the purlin 78. The bottom flange 84 of a rail 74 for supporting the sheets 71, is then located on the flanges 85 of the bracket 84 in abutment with its upturned tags 86, ready for screwing down to the flanges 85.
An example of a wall-cladding system using the alternative form of spacer block is illustrated in Figure 13. This corresponds to the wall-cladding system of Figure 6 with each load-spreading bracket 90 in this case having an opening through its web 91 at either end to receive and locate the clips 92 of respective spacer blocks 93.
A further wall-cladding system incorporating the alternative spacer block and bracket is illustrated in Figure 14. In this case, a bracket 94 and block 95 are located at each virtual intersection of vertical rails 96 (only one shown) that support the outer cladding 97, and horizontal rails 98 (only one shown) that support inner-liner panels 99.

Claims

A cladding system including spacer blocks that are located between two sets of rails or other support members of inner and outer membranes respectively, wherein the spacing between the two sets of rails or other support members is established using brackets coupled in series with the spacer blocks.
A cladding system according to Claim 1 wherein the brackets are coupled in series with respective ones of the blocks.
A cladding system according to Claim 1 wherein spaced portions of each bracket are coupled in series with respective ones of the blocks.
, A cladding system according to Claim 3 wherein the spaced portions of the bracket are coupled in series with their respective ones of the blocks to the same rail or other support member as one another.
A cladding system according to any one of Claims 1 to 4 wherein the brackets are of sheet metal, and the blocks are of plastics or other heat-insulating material.
A cladding system according to any one of Claims 1 to 5 wherein each bracket has an inverted top-hat cross-section with a cross-web for clamping via a respective spacer block or blocks to a rail or other support member of one of the two sets, and flanges for clamping to a rail or other support member of the other set.
A cladding system according to any one of Claims 1 to 6 wherein the rails or other support members of a first of the two sets are purlins of a roof system that carry the inner membrane and onto which the blocks and brackets are clamped, and the rails or other support members of the second set support the outer membrane and are clamped to the brackets.
A cladding system according to Claim 7 wherein the outer membrane comprises profiled roof-cladding sheets that overlap one another.
A cladding system according to any one of Claims 1 to 6 wherein the rails or other support members of a first of the two sets are rails or support members of a wall system that carry the inner membrane and onto which the blocks and brackets are clamped, and the rails or other support members of the second set support the outer membrane and are clamped to the brackets.
A cladding system according to Claim 9 wherein the outer membrane comprises panels that interlock with one another in the vertical direction.
A cladding system according to any one of Claims 1 to 10 wherein the outer membrane is of sheet metal.
A cladding system according to any one of Claims 1 to 11 wherein the rails or other support members of each set extend at right angles to the rails or other support members of the other set.
A cladding system according to any one of Claims 1 to 12 wherein each block is of an elongate form having one or more bores for receiving screws or bolts extending lengthwise through the block between top and bottom faces of the block for clamping the block and its bracket together and to one of the rails or other support members.
A cladding system according to Claim 13 wherein each block includes a laterally-extending tab that overlies the top face so as to form a slot between the tab and top face, the one or more bores open through the tab, and part of the bracket is entered into the slot to be sandwiched between the tab and the top face in the clamping together of the block and bracket.
A cladding system according to Claim 14 wherein the tab is carried by a pillar portion that is upstanding from the top face of the block, and the pillar portion and a notch in the part of the bracket within the slot are engaged with one another for alignment between the block and bracket.
A cladding system according to Claim 13 wherein each block has a retainer-clip upstanding from its top face for engagement over a part of the bracket to hook the block and bracket together.
A cladding system according to Claim 16 wherein the retainer-clip includes a pillar portion which is upstanding from the top face of the block and which is topped by a tab that projects partially across the top face from the pillar portion.
A cladding system according to Claim 17 wherein the pillar portion projects through an opening through said part of the bracket for engaging the tab over an edge of the opening in hooking the block and bracket together.
A cladding system according to Claim 18 wherein engagement of the pillar portion within the opening acts to align the block and bracket with one another.
A cladding system according to any one of Claims 1 to 19 wherein the couplings between the blocks and the brackets, between the blocks and the rails or other support members of one of the two sets, and between the brackets and the rails or other support members of the other set, are each plural-point screw- or bolt-fixings so as to resist relative angular movement between the two sets of rails or other support members.