Classifications

• • E—FIXED CONSTRUCTIONS
  • E04—BUILDING
  • E04C—STRUCTURAL ELEMENTS; BUILDING MATERIALS
  • E04C2/00—Building elements of relatively thin form for the construction of parts of buildings, e.g. sheet materials, slabs, or panels
  • E04C2/44—Building elements of relatively thin form for the construction of parts of buildings, e.g. sheet materials, slabs, or panels characterised by the purpose
  • E04C2/52—Building elements of relatively thin form for the construction of parts of buildings, e.g. sheet materials, slabs, or panels characterised by the purpose with special adaptations for auxiliary purposes, e.g. serving for locating conduits
  • E04C2/521—Building elements of relatively thin form for the construction of parts of buildings, e.g. sheet materials, slabs, or panels characterised by the purpose with special adaptations for auxiliary purposes, e.g. serving for locating conduits serving for locating conduits; for ventilating, heating or cooling
• • F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
  • F21—LIGHTING
  • F21V—FUNCTIONAL FEATURES OR DETAILS OF LIGHTING DEVICES OR SYSTEMS THEREOF; STRUCTURAL COMBINATIONS OF LIGHTING DEVICES WITH OTHER ARTICLES, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
  • F21V33/00—Structural combinations of lighting devices with other articles, not otherwise provided for
  • F21V33/006—General building constructions or finishing work for buildings, e.g. roofs, gutters, stairs or floors; Garden equipment; Sunshades or parasols
• • F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
  • F21—LIGHTING
  • F21Y—INDEXING SCHEME ASSOCIATED WITH SUBCLASSES F21K, F21L, F21S and F21V, RELATING TO THE FORM OR THE KIND OF THE LIGHT SOURCES OR OF THE COLOUR OF THE LIGHT EMITTED
  • F21Y2115/00—Light-generating elements of semiconductor light sources
  • F21Y2115/10—Light-emitting diodes [LED]

Definitions

• the present invention is applied to the building sector of covers/roofs of industrial sheds, and more specifically to an internally-electrified cementitious tile. Review of the prior art
• Industrial sheds are precompressed reinforced concrete structures that at present are nearly entirely prefabricated.
• the single components are transported from the plant and assembled on site on the plinths of the foundation, within which the support pillars of the cover are lowered; the panels of the external and dividing walls complete the work.
• Today, the latter is an architecturally complex structure, because together with the characteristic needs of luminosity, thermal insulation, ventilation, pluvial channeling and impermeability, fire and seismic resistance etc., there must also be a certain design.
• the poor thermal conductivity of air ensures that the temperature increases locally until a vigorous convective motion is triggered for the removal of the produced heat.
• the temperature will have to rise up to very high values, increasing fire risks even more.
• the duration of the certification period of electric wires depends on the temperatures at which they have worked. This can be explained by the fact that when the temperature is high, the insulating sheath of the differ- ent wires constituting the power supply cable loses consistency, and thus its insulation capacity, increasing the probability of short-circuiting over time. In other words, the more an electric cable heats up, the less it lasts.
• one object of the present invention is to increase the protection against fire risks in prefabricated building structures, especially the covers/roofs of the industrial sheds which support an extensive lighting plant - and not only. Another object of the invention is to increase the duration of the certification period of the electric cables used for supplying power to the lighting plant and the actuators for the opening and closing of the remote windows/doors/shutters. Another object of the invention is to rationalize the wiring of the cables which transport the signaling coming from the various sensors and directed to the actuators used inside the sheds, especially in the covers. Another object of the invention is to improve the aesthetic aspect inside the industrial sheds by reducing the visual impact of ceiling light fixtures and electric cables.
• the subject of the present invention is a reinforced concrete manufactured item, in which according to the invention at least one section of an electric cable suitable for the transport of industrial current is integral with the concrete of the manufactured item, due to the adhesion created during the consolidation around it, the ends of the section being accessible out- side the concrete fort the execution of respective electrical connections, as described in claim 1.
• cementitious manufactured items such as beams, tiles, pillars, new jersey, etc. generally made of precompressed reinforced concrete or simply vibrated reinforced concrete
• an electric power consuming unit placed at a certain distance from the manufactured item, such as for example a remote actuator for a window/door/shutter, it will be convenient to make a section of electric cable exit from the manufactured item at the point closest to the actuator.
• the second section will be branched inside the concrete.
• Each termination of an electric cable section exiting from one end of the longitudinally- extended cementitious manufactured item can be contained in a small box incorporated in the concrete flush with one wall of the formwork, which will be opened after the solidification of the concrete so as to create a space for ac- cessing the termination.
• the separately-wired cementitious manufactured items as described in the present invention achieve an electrical wiring alternative to air-exposed or buried wires, or wires placed in channels outside and/or inside the walls of buildings.
• Conduits which adopt the wiring of the present invention are more capable of protecting the host building from fire dangers than the conduits exposed to air or in channels.
• An electric cable capable of transporting low-voltage industrial current usable in wiring in concrete comprises multiple copper electric wires inside respective insulation sheaths and inside one outer sheath which encloses all of them. Such wires are used for conveying three-phase current, or mono-phase current derived therefore, or direct current.
• the characteristics of the section embedded in the concrete respect the specifications of the principle national and transnational standards regarding electric cables to be used in the low-voltage distribution networks, such as for example CEI/IEC and UNI/ISO.
• the regulation CEI 64-8 (or CEE 73/23) defines as low voltage (LV) the electric voltage comprised between 50 and 1000 volts in alternating current (AC) and between 120 and 1500 volts direct current (DC).
• LV low voltage
• AC alternating current
• DC direct current
• three-phase current is normally distributed at the nominal voltage of 400 V, 50 Hz (380 ⁇ 420 V) between the phases, from which it is possible to obtain three nominal 230 V phase voltages (220 ⁇ 240 V) with respect to
• the electric cables embedded in the concrete have Kevlar reinforcements around the internal sheaths, allowing the cable to resist stresses that will inevitably be caused during the consolidation of the concrete grout and during the installation of the manufactured item.
• the concrete is of self-compacting type, and being very fluid in the casting step does not require any vibratory intervention, which however would not affect the mechanical strength of the cable itself.
• Another characteristic of the electric cables used in the innovative wiring is that of employing insulation coatings that are good heat conductors, thus to facilitate the transmission of the heat from the copper of the wires to the sheaths and from here to the concrete, which, being a much better heat conductor than the air and having a significant thermal mass, is capable of removing (towards the environment) considerable amounts of heat that could be developed therein in the case of short-circuit or overload of the line. This is fully to the benefit of anti-fire prevention and the du- ration of the wires' certification period.
• the idea of introducing an electric wire in a concrete casting appears to have been used up to now more for monitoring the stresses that are propagated through particular critical sections in tunnel arches or in the piers and beams of bridges and viaducts.
• the monitoring device is a piezometric sensor fixed at a critical point of the reinforcement before the casting of the concrete, which incorporates it together with the section of electric cable exiting from the cementi- tious structure. Lower than milliwatt power is required, and consequently the problem of thermal dissipation and how to avoid fire danger is quite far from being contemplated, even in the case of short-circuiting.
• the stress sensor is a disposable device, and if it should fail the monitoring of the critical section would be interrupted.
• the cementitious manufactured item includes at least a first niche having an opening accessible from the outside, the wall of the niche being that of a metal container forming a single unit with the manufactured item due to the adhesion created during the consolidation of the concrete around it, one end of said section being accessible by an electrical power consumer unit placed in the niche.
• the metal walls of the niche are capable of transferring to the reinforced concrete body the heat generated in the niche by a potential power consumer unit supplied therein, whatever such power consumer unit may be.
• the improved thermal conductivity of the concrete with respect to the air contributes to a more balanced diffusion of the heat towards the surrounding environment, avoiding the overheating of the electric wires hit by the thermal flow produced by said unit.
• a wired cementitious manufactured item according to the invention could be a pillar, a beam, a tile, and the consumer could be a lamp, a heater crossed by heating current, or other devices to be defined.
• the penultimate example refers to the attainment of an electric heating plant in which the heat transferred to the cementitious manufactured item is re-irradiated from here to the internal environment.
• the cementitious manufactured item is a tile usable in the covering/roofing of industrial sheds or similar structures; in such case, the niche and the relative metal container incorporated in the concrete correspond to a first half-shell of a ceiling light fixture, hermetically coupled to a second half-shell removable from the intrados, the ceiling light fixture including at least one lamp, preferably constituted by a plurality of power LED with high light efficiency, power-supplied by said section of electric cable accessible in the ceiling light fixture, which also includes electronic circuitry suitable for transforming the voltage supplied by the cable section into the supply voltage for the lamp.
• the electrified tile would allow the incorporation of a multi-lamp ceiling light fixture about as long as the tile or more likely the incorporation of a plurality of ceiling light fixtures for the same number of lamps arranged along the tile.
• the tile includes:
• the tile includes a further section of the same cable having one end inside said ceiling light fixture and the other end exiting from the tile in order to supply power to an actuator.
• each electric cable section is butted with respective military-standard airtight connectors.
• the half-shells constituting the ceiling light fixture are coupled to respective rectangular edges, each end of the first half-shell having an opening for the insertion of a container of the connectors.
• the container is open on the upper part for the inlet of the fluid concrete during the forming of the tile and is bordered by a frame superimposed on the first shell, so as to prevent the entrance of fluid concrete into the ceiling light fixture, the lateral wall of the container that delimits and divides the internal space of the ceiling light fixture being crossed by at least one double connector for the junction of complementary connectors placed on both sides of the dividing wall.
• each said section of electric cable includes wires for the transport of low-voltage industrial current, whether three- phase or mono-phase alternating current or direct current, and at least one pair of supplementary electric wires of smaller size suitable for the transport of the signaling.
• the cable sections shaped in such a manner allow achieving a signaling line on the same path of the electrical power supply line.
• the electronic circuitry inside each ceiling light fixture can be configured for the management of the physical layer of said signaling.
• one or more presence sensors are included in said ceiling light fixture and said electronic circuitry is connected thereto for managing the generated signaling.
• An electrified tile as described in the invention can be electrically connected to another tile, thus making it possible to extend the electrification to the entire cover/roof.
• a set of parallel means can support rows of suitably spaced tiles; each tile of a row can be connected to the adjacent tile, and the head tile of each row to a backbone electric cable traveling along the head beam.
• the wiring of one such cover can be assigned the task of transporting the signaling, both that generated inside the lamp holders and that relative to the management of the sensor devices and actuators outside the tiles.
• a shared bus is used in the Ethernet networks (IEEE 802.3), whereas a serial bus is used in the EIA RS-485 standard, equivalent to the European standard CCITT V11.
• PLC Programmable Logic Controller
• Another object of the invention is a method for manufacturing an electrified tile made of precompressed reinforced concrete, including the following steps:
• hermetic metal ceiling light fixtures including respective lamps, preferably LED lamps, and the connections inside the connectors which cross through the walls of the ceiling light fixtures;
• each said ceiling light fixture to anchorage means at the bottom of the formwork, shaped in a manner so as to include the ceiling light fixture portion exiting outward from the tile;
• the method also includes testing the wiring in order to verify the continuity of all the electrical conductors and the integrity of the electric wires inside the ceiling light fixtures.
• said anchorage means are magnetized.
• said anchorage means are capable of generating reduced pressure between the wall of the ceiling light fixture and the wall of the formwork.
• the method also includes the step of fixing to the reinforcement, at the ends of the formwork flush with the wall, at least two small boxes respectively containing the start and end wiring connectors, in a manner such that once the tile is extracted from the formwork, the small boxes will be opened, allowing access to the connectors.
• this allows electrically connecting the wiring inside one tile to the wiring inside another.
• the self-compacting concrete grout is made by mixing water, sand, cement, calcium carbonate, very fine gravel and chemical additives which allow obtaining a high-strength casting without having to vibrate the form.
• the consolidation period can last from 12 to 15 hours.
• a framework that confers a wing-like shape to the tile allows the course of electric cable sections along the wing-like spaces exiting from the top, in such a manner avoiding operations on the formwork.
• the cable sections with variable length are spiral-like, with an extension that ranges from a minimum of one meter to a maximum of eight meters, in a manner so as to always have the same connection accessory whatever the distance between the ceiling light fixtures.
• a cover made by using the electrified tiles according to the teaching of the pre- sent invention utilizes the massive structure in concrete of the tiles themselves as an enormous radiator for dispersing the heat generated in the ceiling light fixtures and outside these - such heat created due to the Joule effect by the ca- bles which supply power to the LED lamps and on-site electronics.
• the fire danger in the case of short-circuits or overloads is greatly reduced, and the duration of the legal certification of the electric cables is increased.
• the superimposition of the signaling network on the lamp power supply net- work, in the same cables and connectors, allows the total disappearance of any type of visible electric cable, preserving it from accidental impact, improving the reliability of the plant and the aesthetic appearance of the interior spaces.
• FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an industrial shed under construction whose cover/roof includes the electrified tiles according to the present invention
• FIG. 2 is a schematization of the electric wiring incorporated in the tiles of figure 1 for supplying power to the LED lamps and for transporting the signaling;
• FIG. 3 is a schematization of the wiring relative to the signaling alone
• FIG. 4 is a cross section of a tile of figure 1 ;
• FIG. 5 is a bottom perspective view of an LED lamp included in a ceiling light fixture whose casing is incorporated in the concrete of the tile of figure 4 flush with the intrados;
• FIG. 6 shows an enlargement of one end of the ceiling light fixture of figure 5;
• FIG. 7 shows an electric cable section butted with two connectors at the ends, belonging to the electrical wiring incorporated in the concrete of the tiles of figure 1 ;
• FIG. 8 is a cross section of the electric cable of figure 7;
• - Figure 9 is an enlargement of one of the connectors of figure 7;
• FIG. 10 shows a circuit board included in the ceiling light fixture of figure 5 together with the electric cables which branch off therefrom;
• FIG. 18 shows a further enlargement of the container of figure 17' for the housing of the connectors which butt the electric cables outside the ceiling light fixture of figures 15 and 16;
• FIG. 20 is a top view of the ceiling light fixture of figure 5 ideally lacking the upper part in order to show the internal assembly;
• FIG. 21 is a section along the longitudinal axis of the ceiling light fixture of figure 20 complete with the upper part;
• FIG. 29 is the ceiling light fixture of the longitudinal section of figure 21 including a counter-formwork for locking in its own formwork during the casting of the concrete grout and the subsequent hardening;
• Figure 33 is a section of the set of figure 29 along a transverse plane passing between adjacent non-indicated LEDs.
• Figures 34, 35, and 36 show, in exploded view, the various components of the section of figure 33;
• FIG. 37 is a cross section of the formwork used in making the tiles of fig- ure 1 ;
• FIG. 38 is a perspective view of further electrified prefabricated manufac- tured items according to the present invention.
• Figure 1 shows the support structure of the cover/roof of an industrial shed under construction, made of precompressed reinforced concrete elements that are longitudinally extended.
• the structure comprises parallel rows of pillars 1 which support the beams 2 on which the ends of the tiles 3 are abutted, such tiles also arranged in parallel rows.
• the tile 3 is constituted by a prismatic-shaped body 4 in the lower part, from which two wide, oblique wings 5 and 6 extend laterally and upward.
• the figure shows an enlargement of a generic cross section, where one can observe that the lateral faces of the prismatic-shaped body are corrugated and that the two wings 5 and 6 have at the apex an edge 7 that is more internally pronounced.
• the tile 3 can be employed for large lights with cover function, since its V-shape facilitates the flow of meteoric waters.
• an electric wiring is partially schematized that is embedded in the con- crete, composed of electric cable sections 8 and relative connectors 10 used for supplying power to LED lamps 9 included in suitable ceiling light fixtures opened flush with the concrete in which they are incorporated.
• the cover/roof will be completed with rows of vaulted covers, made of polycarbonate, laid between the wings of adjacent tiles, closed on the front and on the rear by gables supported by the beams 2.
• the wiring of a tile continues into the subsequent tile of the row by means of respective interconnection sections 1 1.
• a cable section 25 exits for the connection to a cable 12 which brings the power supply and the signaling to all the tile 3 rows, in such a manner constituting a backbone line for the entire cover and possible devices con- nected thereto.
• Figure 2 is a schematization that shows the electric part 8, 9, 10 incorporated in the concrete of the tiles 3 of figure 1 , as well as the connection to an electrical network 13 and to a PLC 14.
• the electrical network 13 transports three-phase current at 400V over three phase-wires, plus a neutral and a ground wire for a total of 5 wires.
• Two signaling wires connected to the PLC are added to this, to form an electric cable 15 called cable A, running in a channel obtained in the gables 17 for the entire length of the beam 2.
• the cable A is composed of a series of sections DRS connected with each other starting from an initial section 15 and terminating with a final section (not shown).
• Each intermediate section DRS has a first end butted with a connector 18 and the other end connected to a transverse arm of a T-connector 19 placed near the abutment base of the tile 3 on the beam 2.
• the other transverse arm of the T-connector 19 is connected to a short wire butted with a connector 20 in turn connected with the connector 18 of the subsequent cable section A.
• the connector 23 butts a cable section 25 inside the tile 3, called cable B in the following.
• the set of DRS sections of the cable A allows extending the electrical con- nection to the cables B of all the tile rows, thus constituting a backbone common to all the tile rows with the initial section 15 and the terminal section.
• Each cable section B is spiraled and its length can vary from 2 to 8 meters; it is different from the cable A only for the presence of four signaling wires instead of two.
• the conversion from two to four wires at the point of convergence with the cable A is due to the stem of each T-connector, indeed the short conductor 21 has four wires; this will be clearer in figure 3.
• the tile 3 of figure 2 includes a metal ceiling light fixture 26 therein with rectangular plan, accessible flush with the intrados with the LED lamp 9 at its interior.
• the section 25 of cable B enters into the ceiling light fixture 26 where it is butted with a connector 27.
• the ceiling light fixture 26 also includes a circuit board 28 which supports a functional block 29 comprising voltage transformers and AC/DC converters in a sufficient number for the power supply requirements of the lamp 9, of a possible actuator out- side the tile 3, as well as of the board 28 itself and other devices directly housed or managed thereby.
• a processing unit 44 CPU
• a timing circuit for a timing circuit
• two presence sensors 30 of PIR (Passive Infrared Sensor) type, whereas a twilight sensor lies between the external de- vices.
• the board 28 is also assigned for extending the section 25 of cable B towards the next tile of the row, as well as towards the remote actuator (not shown).
• three sections 31 , 32, 33 of cable B depart from the board 28, each section butted with its connector in the ceiling light fixture; wires of connection also depart to the power unit block 29 and to the presence sen- sors 30.
• the connector of the section 31 is connected to the connector 27.
• the connector of the section 32 is connected to the connector 34a of a section 34 of cable B exiting from the ceiling light fixture 26 and from the concrete in a lateral position in order to reach a remote actuator.
• the section 33 is longer than the two preceding sections and reaches the opposite end of the ceiling light fixture where it is butted with a connector 35 which will be connected with the connector 10 of a spiraled section 8 of cable B entering in the ceiling light fixture adjacent to ceiling light fixture 26 and it too included in the tile 3.
• the last section of cable B type 8 is connected to a closure connector 38 inside a small box 39 incorporated in the concrete and equipped with opening flush with the end of the final tile.
• the lamp 10 comprises several groups 40 with N LED in series with each other; each group 38 is connected in parallel with the other LED groups power supplied by the power unit block 29 by means of the wires 41.
• the head tile 3 of each tile row is connected in parallel to the backbone 12, it results that all the LED groups 38 of the entire cover are power-supplied in parallel, as are the remote actuators.
• the connection regarding the signaling based on the physical protocol RS- 485 uses a serial bus. The schematization of figure 3 shows such connection.
• Figure 3 shows part of the cover of figure 1 with the connections of figure 2, where in order to refer only to the signaling wires, the sections 15 and DRS of cable A are called 15s and DRSs, and the sections 25 and 11 of cable B are called 25s and 1s.
• the signaling is of half-duplex type and utilizes the same two wires for transmitting and receiving.
• the section 15s connects the two signaling wires of the cable A of the backbone 12 to a two-wire arm of the T-connector 19 which, by utilizing the four-wire central arm, connects them to two first wires of the section 25s of the head tile 3 of the first row, and from here to the CPU 44.
• the latter completes the signaling proc- essing steps which are due thereto and extends the two wires over the path directed to the subsequent ceiling light fixture 26, and so on for all the ceiling light fixtures of the head tile 3 up to the section 11s of connection to the next tile 3 of the same row. This is repeated for all the tiles from the first row to the last, where the two wires of the section 11s leaving from the last ceiling light fixture 26 encounter the closure connector 38, which transfers them to the other two signaling wires of the section 11s on the reverse path. From here, the connection continues on the other two signaling rows of each section of the cable B of all the ceiling light fixtures of all the tiles of the first row up to the section 25s connected with the T-connector 19 on the four-wire side.
• the latter forwards the two signaling wires of the reverse path onto the other two-wire arm of the T- connector towards the two signaling wires of the next section DRSs. That stated above is repeated for all the tile rows and for all the sections DRSs of the backbone 12 up to the final row of tiles whose section DRSs connected on the reverse path is closed on a termination.
• Figure 4 illustrates with greater detail the cross section of the tile di figure 1 at an end supported on the beam 2.
• the end of the tile 3 comprises a steel reinforcement 46 therein having a profile similar to that of the lower side edge of the same.
• the reinforcement 46 follows the flared profile of the body 4 with overturned isosceles trapezoid form, before ascending along the wings 5 and 6, terminating with two narrow curves towards the interior in the upper ribs 7.
• the central flared part contains the concrete mass 4 in which the longitudinal concrete rods 47 are embedded along with the pre-stressed steel cables.
• the rods and the steel cables are arranged along the flanks, along the upper base, and in a double row close to the bottom.
• the lon- gitudinal reinforcement 47 continues along the wings and is coupled to the upper hook-like ends of the reinforcement 46.
• the concrete body incorporates the aforesaid reinforcements, compacting itself in the formwork.
• the rod cover thickness between the intrados and the reinforcements for the embedding of the ceiling light fixture 26 is comprised between three and six centimeters. Within the rod cover thickness, there are the sections of cable B and the relative connectors included in a semi-open compartment obtained in the body of the ceiling light fixture at the two ends. In one embodiment, the height of the tile 3 is 70 cm, the width 2.4 m, and the length 19.5 m.
• FIG. 5 shows the ceiling light fixture 26 as seen from below the cover/roof.
• Figure 6 is an enlargement of one end of the same.
• the ceiling light fixture 26 is composed of two parts: an upper part 49 and a lower part 50.
• the two parts, both made of metal plate, are concave starting from a nearly rectangular base.
• the subsequent figures 15 and 16, to which reference is made, clarify the form of the two parts 49 and 50 as similar to that of two half-shells, of which the upper half-shell 49 includes part of the lower one 50. The latter is fixed to the other by means of screws penetrating perimeter holes 51.
• the upper half-shell 49 is the casing of the ceiling light fixture 26 incorporated in the concrete which surrounds the entire external surface area, forming a single unit therewith.
• the two containers of the wiring connectors outside the ceiling light fixture have the same setup; these are fixed to the two ends of the half-shell 49 before the laying in the formwork.
• the cover 50 can be detached from the fixed upper part 49, thus this is also called the cover of the ceiling light fixture 26.
• Said half-shell is extended downward be- yond the frame 49' and includes the lamp 9 and the circuit board 28 with the relative sections of electric cable.
• the cover 50 has a rectangular window 37 arranged along the longitudinal axis, closed by a transparent polycarbonate panel 52 for the protection of the lamp 9 placed behind it.
• the cover plate 50 is slightly grooved in the zone comprised between the two ends and the flanks of the panel 52 in order to disperse the heat generated by the electronics mounted on the board 28.
• the cover 50 is crossed by two pairs of holes 53 at the sides of the polycarbonate panel 52; the pair of holes more to the left in the figure is used by the pair of presence sensors 30 for the entrance of the infrared radiation emanated by people moving below the tile 3.
• Figure 7 shows one of such sections, all similar to each other; in the current case, the section 8 butted with two connectors 10 at the two ends.
• the section of cable B is spiraled; this holds true for all the sections of this cable, such that it can be lengthened up to four times and more with respect to the initial length to support the placement of variously-spaced ceiling light fixtures 26.
• the spiraling also makes the section of cable B more resistant to the pressures inside the concrete due to inevitable deformations during installation and operating life.
• Figure 8 shows a cross section of a generic section of cable B, comprising - within an external insulating sheath 72 - five identical wires of greater diameter 58, 59, 60, 61 , 62 for transporting the industrial current through the concrete of the tile 3, plus two identical pairs 64, 71 of wires of smaller diameter 65, 66 for transporting the signaling through the concrete in both directions.
• the sections of cable A differ from the sections of cable B due to the presence of a single pair of signaling wires; however, it is possible to use cable B sections in place of cable A.
• Three of the five wires of greater diameter are used for transporting three alternating currents, mutually 20° out of phase at the frequency of 50 Hz at the nominal tension of 230 V between each wire and a fourth neutral wire; being the fifth the ground wire. Specifically:
• the sheath 72 is made of PVC, ⁇ 8.80 ⁇ 0.20 mm in gray color RAL 7035, and the ends are joined with an anti-tear cord 71.
• the power supply wires are made of red, soft electrolytic copper CuETP 5649/88, 0.5 mm 2 (28 x ⁇ 0.15) section, with insulating sheath 63 made of PVC of flameproof quality T12, ⁇ 1.5 ⁇ 0.10 mm. Color: blue-brown-black-gray-yellow/green.
• the signaling wires 65, 66 are made of red, soft electrolytic copper CuETP 5649/88, 0.22 mm 2 section (26 x ⁇ 0.10), with insulation 67 made of flameproof reticulated polyolefin ⁇ 0.9 ⁇ 0.05 mm. Color: yellow-pink-green-orange.
• Each pair of wires 64, 65 and relative sheaths is separately protected from interferences with a aluminum-polyester screen 68 with 100% coverage.
• a continuity wire 69 is situated, made of tinned soft electrolytic copper CuETP 5649/88, 0.14 mm 2 section (18 ⁇ ⁇ 0.10).
• a spiral screen 73 is wound, made of tinned soft electrolytic copper CuETP 5649/88, with minimum coverage of 90%.
• the spiral screen 73 is inside a flameproof PVC sheath ⁇ 3.30 ⁇ 0.15 mm.
• FIG 9 shows the connector 10 of male type, equipped with contact pin 10d, which butts the sections 8 of cable B (but also of cable A).
• the connector 10 complies with the severe military standards (MIL), and is constituted by a cylin- drical body 10a with two ring nuts 10b and 10c at the two ends; the ring nut 0b is for locking the clamp which immobilizes the cable 8, while the ring nut 10c is for locking the female connector. It is necessary to state that the connectors which butt the cables embedded in the concrete are not directly connected with each other, but rather are connected by means of an interposed double-female connector.
• MIL severe military standards
• Figure 10 shows the circuit board 28 including the presence sensors 30, the CPU 44, the power unit block 29, and all the cables connected thereto.
• the presence sensors 30 are placed behind two respective Fresnel lenses 55 which concentrate the infrared radiation on sensors 30.
• the sections of ca- ble 31 , 32, and 33 which are branched from the circuit board 28 are connected to the power unit block 29 by means of respective connections 74, 75, 76.
• the two sections of cable 31 and 32 butted by the connectors 31a and 32a are much shorter than the section of cable 33 butted with the connector 35. This is due to the fact that the board is placed close to one end of the ceiling light fixture and the cable 33 must therefore cross it lengthwise in order to be connected to the next ceiling light fixture.
• the power supply cables 41 exit from the circuit board 28, in order to supply power to the LED lamps 9 coming from the power unit block 29.
• Figures 11 to 17 show an exploded view of the various components of the ceiling light fixture 26 including the LED lamp 9.
• Figures 11 ' to 17' are associated with the equally numbered figures, in order to enlarge specific details.
• the circuit board 28 is omitted, and the front polycarbonate panel 52 is also eliminated.
• Figures 11 , 12, 13 and the associated 11 ', 12', 13' show that the lamp 9 is composed of six panels 78, 79, 80, 81 , 82, 83, each corresponding with a group of LED 40 (figure 2).
• Each panel includes a strip of seven LED connected in series in order to constitute a single under-lamp piece.
• each row of panels therefore comprises twenty-one LED, for a total of 42.
• Each LED is placed inside an optics FR which focuses the LED light into a pre-established opening beam on the floor.
• the optics reproduces the same arrangement of the LED LD in two parallel rows.
• the optics FR have truncated quadrangular form and are grouped into six plastic panels 84, 85, 86, 87, 88, 89, each with seven lens bodies.
• the set constituted by the six panels LED and by the respective optical panels is placed against an insulating panel 90 and is fixed thereto, so as to constitute the lamp 9.
• FIGs 14, 15 and the associated 14', 15' show the elements used for the fixing of the lamp 9 to the cover 50 of the ceiling light fixture 26.
• the fixing occurs by means of a support panel 91 supported by two longitudinal wings 92 and 93 made of metal plate.
• the cover 50 is a rectangular half-shell with slightly convex lateral walls having the characteristics described in figures 5 and 6.
• the wings 92 and 93 have a raised shoulder, respectively 92' and 93', of a section as high as the thickness of the cover; the shoulders are obtained by folding the metal plate as an L along a longitudinal edge.
• the sup- port panel 91 is fixed to the two shoulders 92 and 93, below such shoulders.
• the lamp-panel 90 has size slightly less than the rectangular window 37 open on the bottom of the cover 50, such that it can cross it in order to come into contact with the support panel 91 and be fixed thereto.
• the cover 50 with the lamp 9 fixed in such a manner is ready to house the circuit board 28 with the relative cables and connectors visible in figure 2 and to execute the electrical connections to the lamp 9.
• Figure 15 shows the position occupied by the circuit board 28 delimited by two dashed lines, within which the holes 53 are comprised for the passage of the infrared radiation.
• Figures 16, 17 and the associated 16', 17' show the elements used for the completion of the ceiling light fixture 26 and the connections to the electric cables that will be embedded in the concrete.
• the completely wired shell 50 assembly is inserted in the rectangular half-shell 49 constituting the casing of the ceiling light fixture 26, having internal size about equal to the external size of the half-shell 50, in a manner such that the walls of the two half-shells are nearly in contact.
• the two half-shells 50 and 49 are made integral with each other by means of screws penetrating into the angular holes 51.
• the frame 49' of the half-shell 49 is extended beyond the edge of the opening for the passage of the screws of connection to a locking counter-formwork, which will be discussed below.
• the wall of the half-shell 49 opposite the cover 50 has, at the two ends, two rectangular openings 96 and 97 for the insertion of two respective semi-open metal containers 100 and 101 intended to house the connectors 27, 34a, 10 (figure 2) belonging to the wiring intended for the embedding in the concrete 4.
• the container 98 of figure 17' has a rectangular base that is wide about half the width of the opening 96, from which lateral walls are extended upward with height about the same as the inner height of the half- shell 50; the upper opening is bordered by a frame 100 tilted slightly downward with one side that is extended to form a wing 100 that is wider than the half- width of the opening 96, so as to be able to abut against the upper wall of the half-shell 49.
• the lateral wall 98a of the container 98 turned towards the interior of the ceiling light fixture is crossed by two holes 102 and 103 for the insertion of two identical junction connectors 106 and 107 which will be illustrated in the following figure.
• the container 99 differs from the container 98 due to the presence of only one hole 104 in the side wall. Before being able to fix the two containers 98 and 99 to the half-shell 49, it is necessary to connect the connectors 31a, 32a, 35 (figure 10) of the wiring inside the ceiling light fixture 26 to the re- spective junction connectors.
• Figure 18 shows a perspective view of the half-shell 49 in which the container 98 is housed.
• the edge of the latter which is laterally extended as a frame, is screwed around the opening 96.
• the wall 98a of the container 98 together with the wing 100 create a compartment within the ceiling light fixture 26 for housing the connectors 31 a and 32a of the internal wiring.
• the wall 98a is crossed by the junction connectors 106 and 107.
• an enlargement is reported of the connector 106 constituted by a parallelepiped sideboard 108; at the center thereof, the two ends 109 and 110 of a female type multipolar cylindrical connector are projected, on both sides of the sideboard 108.
• the sideboards 108 are placed inside the container 98 against the wall 98a to which they are fixed by means of screws.
• the space inside the ceiling light fixture 26 results inaccessible from the outside, such that after the opportune working (de- scribed below) the concrete grout can fill the container 98 without danger of leakage. That stated above also holds true for the container 99 and the involved connectors.
• the ceiling light fixture 26 was described up to now in its component parts; the subsequent figures 20 to 28 instead focus on the assembly aspect.
• Figure 20 shows the inside of the ceiling light fixture 26 containing the following:
• the lamp 9 is constituted by 42 LED divided into strips of seven LED, each as indicated in figure 12.
• the LED LD are light-emitting diodes made in latest-generation 3-Watt technology; they are equipped with a high light yield and a white color temperature that can reach 8000 °K.
• the emitted radiation is entirely contained in the visible spectrum and thus does not heat the underlying area, and does not interfere with the PIR sensors.
• Other advantages are those typical of the power LED with respect to the neon lamps.
• Figures 21 to 24 are longitudinal axial sections of the ceiling light fixture of fig- ure 20, of which figure 21 is the complete view while figures 22, 23, 24 are exploded views of the ceiling light fixture of figure 21.
• the view of figure 21 includes an enlarged detail of the fixing of the lower half- shell 50 to the upper half-shell 49 by means of a threaded bush 1 19 integral with such half-shell, and relative screw 1 19'.
• the bush 1 19 acts as a spacer of sufficient length for accommodating the transverse bulk of the circuit board 28 complete with all its components, except for the connectors of MIL type which are included in the containers 98 and 99, also considering the thickness of a rubber seal 1 17 placed between the edge of the lower half-shell 50 and the wall opposite thereto of the upper half-shell 49 for preventing leakage of concrete grout into the ceiling light fixture.
• the screw 1 19' crosses the holes 51 (figure 15) on the side of the polycarbonate panel 52.
• the view of figure 22 includes two enlargements, of which a first is referred to the threaded bush 1 19 and relative screw 1 19', while the second highlights one end of the ceiling light fixture 26, the other end being entirely identical.
• the container 99 is observed, intended for containing the connector 10 of the external wiring embedded in the concrete and the junction connector 1 12.
• the container 99 in placed in the lower half-shell 50 and is fixed thereto by means of a threaded bush 1 14 and relative screw.
• the half-shell 50 is in turn placed inside the upper half-shell 49 with the two flanks mutually in contact and the seal 1 17 between the two half-shells.
• the frame 101 (figure 16), which laterally extends the edge of the container 99, is superimposed on the edge of the opening 97 in the upper half-shell 49, and between the two walls a rectangular frame 1 13 is interposed which compensates for the difference in height.
• the frame 49' of the half-shell 49 is extended towards the exterior and includes perimeter threaded bushes 118 which rise upward beyond the frame and which will serve for the fixing of a counter-formwork, which will be described below.
• the view of figure 23 includes three enlargements, of which a first is referred to the connectors 10 and 35 connected to each other by means of the interposed junction connector 1 12 according to the modes set forth in figure 19 for the other connectors; a second enlargement shows the corrugated profile of the bell-shaped reflecting piece FR, and a third enlargement shows the bell- shaped reflecting piece 55 with which the presence sensors 30 are equipped.
• the view of figure 24 shows an enlargement of the superimposition of the polycarbonate panel 52 on the edges of the rectangular opening 37 of the lower half-shell 50. The connection of the panel 52 will be better illustrated in figure 27.
• FIG. 25 shows the section along the plane A-A in the end zone of the ceiling light fixture 26 where the container 98 is present. The latter rises upward beyond the upper half-shell 49 for the thickness of the interposed seal 1 15. It can be observed in the figure that the lower half-shell 50 is more concave than the upper half-shell 49 that partially contains it, so that its lateral wall comprises an outwardly-tilted section starting from the base contiguous with a shorter vertical section in contact with the lateral wall of the half-shell 49.
• Figure 26 shows the section along the plane B-B in the zone of the ceiling light fixture 26 where the presence sensors 30 are present, each provided with a Fresnel lens 55 for the infrared radiation placed behind a radiation inlet hole 53. Said sensors are derived from those commonly found on the market and adapted to the electrical scheme of the ceiling light fixture.
• the two ends show the detail enlarged in figure 22 with the exclusion of the seal 1 15 since the section does not comprise the container 98.
• Figure 27 shows the section along the plane C-C in the zone of the lamp 9 between two LED of the two adjacent rows.
• FIG. 28 shows the section D-D which centrally crosses two LED of the two adjacent rows; with respect to the preceding figure, the two LED LD are added along with the respective bell-shaped reflectors FR.
• the subsequent figures 29 to 36 are directed towards the manufacturing of the electrified tile 3 with particular regard to the incorporation of the casing of the platform 26 in the concrete together with the sections of electric cable and relative connectors entering and exiting therefrom.
• Figure 29 shows a longitudinal section of the tile 3 at the ceiling light fixture 26 which, as can be observed, is surrounded by the concrete 4 except on the front part where a barrier 122 is present, more visible in the two enlargements placed below.
• the longitudinal section of figure 29 can be divided into three parts, respectively shown in figures 30, 31 , 32.
• the set of figure 29 is transversely sectioned in figure 33, where the height of the concrete above the ceiling light fix- ture is such to also show several reinforcement rods 47.
• the devices within the ceiling light fixture are omitted from the section, as is the electrical wiring.
• the subsequent figures 34 to 36 represent the same number of exploded views of the components of the set of figure 33.
• the step of the manufacturing process that Figure 29 refers to is that in which the concrete 4 is completely consolidated and the formwork (shown in figure 37) has been dismantled, freeing the tile 3 to which the frontal barrier 122 is still applied; such barrier 122 blocked the concrete grout from penetrating beneath the ceiling light fixture 26 and obstructing the transparent panel 52.
• the barrier 122 will thus have to be coupled to the lower part of the ceiling light fixture 26 by lat- erally fastening around it and on the bottom of the formwork, both during the filling and in the concrete consolidation step, opposing the stresses generated in such step.
• the barrier 122 being placed between the ceiling light fixture 26 and the formwork, in contact with both, is called the counter-formwork, in such a manner underlining the fact that it too locally contributes to the form assumed by the tile 3.
• the formwork is made of iron
• the en- largement on the right in figure 29 together with the cross section of figure 36 shows the fact that the counter-formwork 122 is a container with rectangular support base, whose lateral walls constitute a perimeter edge having a same cross section with rectangular trapezoid form whose larger base is part of the rectangular support base.
• the lower base 124 of the aforesaid edge is as wide as the frame 49' of the upper half-shell 49 which abuts against it, while the inner side 125 of said edge rises upward from the base for a height such to contain the lower half-shell 50 inside the counter-formwork 122 with the frame 49' abutted, as said.
• a screw with flared head 123 penetrates into the trapezoidal edge of the counter-formwork 122, through the frame 49', and is tightened in the threaded bush 1 18; this holds true for all the perimeter screws 123, firmly tightening the counter-formwork to the ceiling light fixture 26 to hermetically include the lower part which must remain outside the concrete 4.
• the oblique side 126 of said trapezoidal edge once the counter-formwork 122 is dismantled, creates a perimeter zone lacking concrete which facilitates the dismantling of the cover 50.
• Figure 30 and the relative enlargement show the elements of the ceiling light fixture 26 which remain stably connected to the concrete 4 after the removal of the counter-formwork 122, of the cover 50 with all that it is possible to extract from the ceiling light fixture.
• the elements bound to the concrete 4 include: the casing 49, the two containers 98 and 99 with the connectors of the external wiring and the junction connectors, the seal 1 15, and the threaded bushes 1 14 and 1 18.
• Figure 31 shows the elements of the platform complementary to those of the preceding figure, and these include: the cover 50, the connectors of the internal wiring, the circuit board 28 with the PIR sensors, the LED lamp, the polycarbonate panel 52, the seal 1 17, and the screws 1 19 and 1 19'.
• Figures 32, 33, 34, 35, 36 show characteristics already comprised in the description made with reference to figures 29 to 31.
• Figure 37 show a cross section of an iron formwork used in making the tile 3.
• Such formwork is constituted by two opposing parts 130 and 131 which reproduce the profiles, respectively lower and upper of the tile 3.
• the upper part 131 is included in the lower part 130 and is maintained separate from this by the common thickness of the two wings.
• the volume that is formed between the two wings reproduces the form of the tile 3 body.
• a ceiling light fixture 26, from which an electric cable 34 exits, is first anchored to the magnetized counter- formwork 122 and then placed on the bottom of the formwork 130.
• the electric cable 34 crosses through one wing from the bottom to the top and exits from the flat upper edge of the wing for a length such to allow it to reach a remote actuator, when the tile is formed and placed in its position.
• the manufacturing of the electrified tile as it appears in the figure 1 and 29 utilizes the steps already described in the introductive part.
• Figure 38 shows the precompressed reinforced concrete manufactured items already mentioned in the introduction, where the electrification is illustrated according to the present invention, carried out by means of solidification of the concrete grout around electric power cables and possible connectors, which upon completed consolidation form a single unit with the cementitious manufac- tured item.
• the scenario shown in the figure uses a wiring with wires for three- phase or mono-phase current (either one), for providing energy to the current outlets distributed along the cementitious manufactured item, as well as for feeding the resistive plates situated in metalized niches obtained in the cementitious manufactured item, where the electrical power supply is brought.
• the simplified scenario includes two pillars 135 and 136 which support a beam 134.
• the latter is crossed lengthwise by an electric cable 137 incorporated in the concrete 160.
• the cable 137 by means of the T-connectors inside the concrete 160, is branched in order to reach the respective connectors accessible from the outside.
• the pillar 135 incorporates a section of electric cable 138 which departs from an external connector inserted in the respective connector exiting from the beam 134, travels a short horizontal section outside the concrete 160 supported by a channel, enters inside the concrete 160 of the pillar 135 where it runs vertically.
• the cable 138 is branched by means of suitable T-connectors into a predetermined number of horizontal sections 139, 140, 141 , etc.
• the pillar 136 includes a section of electric cable 146 which departs from an external connector inserted in the respective connector exiting from the beam 134, travels a short horizontal section outside the concrete supported by a channel, and then enters into the concrete 160 of the pillar 136, where it runs vertically.
• the cable 146 is branched by means of suitable T-connectors into a predetermined number of horizontal sections 147, 148, 149, etc., whose other end is butted with respective connectors 161 , 162, 163 made accessible inside the same number of niches obtained in the body of the pillar 136 by inserting metal containers 150, 151 , 152 in the formwork. Situated in the niches are users of the electrical power drawn there, constituted by resistive heating bars 153. On the right side in the figure, an enlargement is shown of a niche where it incorporates a frontally open parallelepiped metal container 150-1-2. The concrete 160 consolidated around the walls of the container firmly maintains it bound to the pillar, facilitating the transfer of heat to the cementitious mass 160, and from this to the internal environment with greater uniformity.
• Tests were executed on a prototype tile made of precompressed reinforced concrete with three pre-stressed strands with adhering wires.
• the tile has the same shape as the tile 3: length 19.2 m, height 0.75 m, and width 2.50 m equipped with transverse and longitudinal reinforcements; in the casting, a multipolar electric cable was incorporated, 3 cm from the lower edge of the section.
• the object of the tests was to verify the compatibility between the electric cable and the concrete in its characteristics of:
• T 7,500 kg
• M 62,200 kg.m.
• CHARACTERISTIC 1 During the loading and unloading steps, the manufactured item is deformed, in elastic phase, in a manner so as to lengthen or shorten the lower fibers of the section, thus subjecting the electric cable to repeated tensile stresses and compressions that can lead it to breakage, interrupting its electrical continuity.
• An electric cable like that of figure 8 has been incorporated in the manufactured item, and has about 65 m length; it is bent 180° several times in a manner so as to enter and exit three times from the concrete mass in the "critical" zone. With the wires present, five lines at 220 Vca were attained, which supplied power at one end to five lamps, which were kept power-supplied for the entire test duration period. Their constant functioning, even in a limit tension-deformation situation and with cracking of the manufactured item, proved that the electric cable did not sustain any tearing, keeping the electrical continuity unchanged.
• CHARACTERISTIC 4 The capacity of the large concrete mass to conduct heat considerably aids the dispersion of the heat of the cable, overheated due to the Joule effect.
• a current flow was created, variable from 0 to 43 A at the voltage of 380 Vca with the objective of overloading a wire with 0.5 mm 2 section.
• the high absorption created a sudden increase of heat, due to the Joule effect, reaching the melting temperature of the insulation interposed between the copper cores, thus causing a short-circuit. It should be noted that in 100% of the cases, the short-circuit occurred at the point where the wire exited from the concrete mass, at an absorption that stabilized at 35 A. This is evidence of the fact that the inert substance worked well as a radiator, constantly maintaining the temperature of the incorporated cable lower than that of the cable surrounded by air alone.

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• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Architecture (AREA)
• Civil Engineering (AREA)
• Structural Engineering (AREA)
• General Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Non-Portable Lighting Devices Or Systems Thereof (AREA)

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• 2011
  • 2011-06-01 IT IT001004A patent/ITMI20111004A1/it unknown
  • 2011-07-08 WO PCT/IT2011/000235 patent/WO2012164593A1/en active Application Filing
  • 2011-07-08 EP EP11770528.5A patent/EP2715007A1/en not_active Withdrawn
  • 2011-07-08 BR BR112013031005A patent/BR112013031005A2/pt not_active IP Right Cessation

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