EP2772596A2

EP2772596A2 - System for fixing and supporting railings, balustrades or parapets

Info

Publication number: EP2772596A2
Application number: EP20140156755
Authority: EP
Inventors: Massimo Carmignani
Original assignee: Compas Srl
Current assignee: Compas Srl
Priority date: 2013-02-27
Filing date: 2014-02-26
Publication date: 2014-09-03
Also published as: ITMI20130286A1; EP2772596A3

Abstract

A system (10) is described for fixing and supporting parapets comprising a plurality of base elements (12), configured to be supported and to be fixed on a generic installation surface of the system (10), wherein each base element (12) is shaped so as to house and retain a respective substantially vertical upright (14), a plurality of uprights (14), configured so as to retain and support one or more sheet-shaped elements (16) which form the protection elements of the parapet, and at least one substantially horizontal handrail (18) fixed on the top of the uprights (14). Each base element (12) is made of a first plate-shaped component (20), provided with fixing means (22, 26, 30) to the installation surface of the system (10) and with adjusting means (24, 28) of the positioning of such a first plate-shaped component (20) with respect to the installation surface of the system (10), and of a second bowl-shaped component (32), provided with fixing means (36, 38, 40) with respect to the first plate-shaped component (20) and with at least one shaped housing seat (34) for receiving in shape-coupling the base portion of each upright (14).

Description

The present invention refers to a system for fixing and supporting railings, balustrades and parapets in general, in particular intended for being used with sheet-like protection elements.
As known, the parapet is a protective structure that is used for preventing people and objects from falling from a balcony or from a terrace and, in general, from any place in which there are surfaces having a difference in height. Parapets are substantially characterised for the type of the respective protection elements. For example, balustrades are typically made up of column-shaped elements, called "balusters", which are supported on a base and are connected at the top by a horizontal element, called "coping". The railings are on the other hand made up of vertical uprights, which are usually made from metal, which support closing elements that are covered at the top with a handrail.
There are, moreover, parapets the protection elements of which are of the sheet-shaped type and in many cases they are made up of sheets of glass. Generally, parapets provided with protection elements of the sheet-shaped type comprise a plurality of vertical uprights, which are capable of retaining and supporting the sheets, as well as a plurality of base elements for supporting and fixing the uprights themselves to the ground.
One typical drawback of the parapets of the type just described consists of the difficulty of aligning, centring and lining up all the components of the parapet itself during the relative installation. Indeed the installation surface, which can be for example made up of the walking surface of a balcony or of a floor of a building, is not always perfectly flat, smooth and homogeneous so as to ensure that there is absolute precision in the assembly.
Moreover, in fixing and support systems of the parapets of the known type it is sometimes difficult to position the protection elements in the immediate vicinity of the installation surface. In the case for example of the parapet of a balcony, the presence of protection sheets that are away from the walking surface even by only a few centimetres could indeed lead to the falling of objects from the balcony itself.
Systems for fixing and supporting parapets of the known type are described, for example, in documents DE 295 17 360 U1 , ES 2 040 156 A1 , US 2006/037265 A1 and FR 2 857 394 A1 .
The purpose of the present invention is therefore that of making a system for fixing and supporting railings, balustrades and parapets in general, that is intended in particular for being used with protection elements of the sheet-shaped type, which is capable of solving the drawbacks mentioned above of the prior art in an extremely simple, cost-effective and particularly functional manner.
In detail, one purpose of the present invention is that of making a system for fixing and supporting railings, balustrades and parapets in general that can be installed on site in an extremely precise and simple manner.
Another purpose of the present invention is that of making a system for fixing and supporting railings, balustrades and parapets in general which allows the protection elements of the parapet, be they of the type made of sheets of glass or of sheet-shaped elements of another kind, to be mounted as close as possible to the installation surface.
A further purpose of the present invention is that of making a system for fixing and supporting railings, balustrades and parapets in general that is capable of ensuring reliability, safety and that fully meets the standards in force in the specific field of application.
These purposes according to the present invention are achieved by making a system for fixing and supporting railings, balustrades and parapets in general as outlined in claim 1.
Further characteristics of the invention are highlighted by the dependent claims, which are an integrating part of the present description.
The characteristics and the advantages of a system for fixing and supporting railings, balustrades and parapets in general according to the present invention shall become clearer from the following description, given as an example and not for limiting purposes, with reference to the attached schematic drawings, in which:

figure 1 is a plan view of a first component of the base element of the fixing and supporting system according to the present invention;
figure 2 is a plan view of a second component of the base element of the fixing and support system according to the present invention;
figure 3 is a side elevation view of the base element of the fixing and supporting system according to the present invention, shown in the mounted configuration;
figure 4 is a plan view of one of the vertical uprights of the fixing and supporting system according to the present invention;
figures 5A and 5B show a side elevation view and a plan view, respectively, of one of the support means of the parapet of the fixing and supporting system according to the present invention;
figure 6 is a side elevation view of a first component of the handrail of the fixing and supporting system according to the present invention;
figure 7 is a section view of a second component of the handrail of the fixing and supporting system according to the present invention;
figures 8 to 11 are perspective views that illustrate some mounting steps of the fixing and supporting system according to the present invention;
figure 12 is a section view, obtained along the line XII-XII of figure 13, of the fixing and supporting system according to the present invention, shown in the mounted configuration; and
figure 13 is a side elevation view of the fixing and supporting system according to the present invention, shown in the mounted configuration.

With reference to the figures, a system is shown for fixing and supporting railings, balustrades and parapets in general according to the present invention, wholly indicated with reference numeral 10. The system 10 is of the type comprising a plurality of base elements 12 configured to rest and to be fixed on a generic installation surface of the system 10, like for example the walking surface of the balcony of a building.
Each base element 12 is shaped so as to house and retain a respective substantially vertical upright 14. In turn, each upright 14 is shaped so as to retain and support one or more sheet-shaped elements 16, which form the protection elements of the parapet. Preferably each sheet-shaped element 16 is made in the form of a sheet of glass. The system 10 can be finally provided with at least one handrail 18, which is substantially horizontal, fixed above the uprights 14.
Each base element 12, preferably made from aluminium alloy, is advantageously made up of a first plate-shaped component 20 (figure 1), which is provided with fixing means for fixing onto the installation surface of the system 10 and with adjusting means for adjusting the positioning of such a first plate-shaped component 20 with respect to the installation surface of the system 10. In detail, the fixing means of the first plate-shaped component 20 can be made up of one or more bolts 22 that can be inserted in corresponding elliptical-shaped slots 26 that are obtained on the first plate-shaped component 20 itself. The bolts 22 are thus inserted in corresponding holes 30 (figure 8) made on the installation surface of the system 10 so as to obtain the fixing of the first plate-shaped component 20 on such an installation surface of the system 10.
The adjusting means can on the other hand be made up of one or more threaded grub screws 24 which insert in corresponding threaded through holes 28 that are obtained on the first plate-shaped component 20. The lower end of each threaded grub screw 24, exerting a predefined pressure onto the installation surface of the system 10 as a result of a screwing operation, determines a more or less accentuated gap between the first plate-shaped component 20 and such a surface, thus adjusting the inclination and the positioning of the first plate-shaped component 20 with respect to such a surface.
Each base element 12 is thus made up of a second bowl-shaped component 32, which is provided with fixing means with respect to the first plate-shaped component 20 and with a shaped housing seat 34 for receiving in shape-coupling the base portion of each upright 14. The fixing means of the second bowl-shaped component 32 with respect to the first plate-shaped component 20 can be made up of one or more bolts 36 that can be inserted both in corresponding through holes 38 obtained on the second bowl-shaped component 32, and in corresponding through holes 40 obtained on the first plate-shaped component 20.
According to the invention, the shaped housing seat 34 of the second bowl-shaped component 32 is made up of a pair of arched side walls 72 that define at least one front opening 74 that extends downwards to the supporting base of such a second bowl-shaped component 32. Each upright 14 is thus inserted from top to bottom, in shape-coupling, in the respective shaped housing seat 34 of the second bowl-shaped component 32, in such a way that the base portion of the upright 14 comes down into contact with the supporting base of such a second bowl-shaped component 32. The front opening 74 of the shaped housing seat 34, in combination with the front groove 48 of the upright 14, makes it also possible to move each single support means 52 of the sheet-shaped protection elements 16 as close as possible to the installation surface of the system 10, until it allows a possible contact (see figure 12).
Between the base portion of each upright 14 and the relative shaped housing seat 34 of the second bowl-shaped component 32 mutual fixing means are provided. These mutual fixing means are preferably made up of at least one first substantially vertical screw 42, which retains at the bottom the base portion of the upright 14 in the shaped housing seat 34, and of at least one second substantially horizontal screw 44 provided with a threaded nut 46, which laterally retains the base portion of the upright 14 in the shaped housing seat 34 itself.
The installation of each base element 12 of the system 10 on the relative surface thus occurs in the following manner. After having fixed the first plate-shaped component 20 onto the installation surface, using the relative bolts 22, it is possible to align in a simple and precise manner such a first plate-shaped component 20 by making the respective threaded grub screws 24 rotate inside its threaded through holes 28. This is particularly useful in the case in which the installation surface is not perfectly flat, but rather provided with a certain inclination, like for example what occurs for slightly sloping flooring of balconies. Subsequently, after having fixed the upright 14 in the relative shaped housing seat 34 of the second bowl-shaped component 32, it is possible to fix on the first plate-shaped component 20 the group made up of such an upright 14 and such a second bowl-shaped component 32, as it is shown in figure 10.
Each upright 14 is preferably made in aluminium alloy and it is configured to withstand a force of 2 kN per linear metre without requiring any type of lateral anchoring. This force value is required by the European standards in force in the field of parapets. As shown in the plan view of figure 4, each upright 14 is moreover provided with a front groove 48 having a sectional dovetail shape, which extends for the entire height of such an upright 14. The front groove 48, or dovetail-shaped channel, is configured so as to slidingly house therein a frustoconical engaging portion 50 of each single support means 52 of the sheet-shaped protection elements 16 (figures 5A and 5B).
Every single support means 52 is provided with a C-shaped hooking portion 54 that is capable of surrounding and retaining the perimetrical edge of the protection sheet-shaped elements 16. Inside the C-shaped hooking portion 54 one or more buffers 56 of various shapes can thus be provided, made of polymeric material, which may or may not be elastic, and having the function of support and seal spacers for the perimetrical edge of the sheet-shaped protection elements 16.
Thanks to the particular shape of the dovetail-shaped channel 48 of each upright 14, as well as of the respective frustoconical engaging portion 50 of each single support means 52, which self-centres in shape-coupling inside the dovetail-shaped channel 48 itself, such support means 52 can be fixed in any predetermined position inside the dovetail-shaped channel 48 of each upright 14. The fixing can be obtained by means of at least one bolt 58 which inserts in the frustoconical engaging portion 50 of each single support means 52 (figure 11) and that determines the coupling by friction between such a frustoconical engaging portion 50 and the dovetail-shaped channel 48.
As shown in figure 12, on each upright 14 two distinct support means 52 are advantageously mounted, namely a first support means 52 arranged at the base of the upright 14, at the base element 12, and a second support means 52 arranged at the top of the upright 14 itself. The two support means 52 of each upright 14 thus retain both the lower perimetrical edge, and the upper perimetrical edge of each sheet-shaped protection element 16. Advantageously, thanks to the particular C shape of the relative hooking portion 54, as well as to the presence of the front opening 74 obtained in the shaped housing seat 34 of the second bowl-shaped component 32, the support means 52 can be fixed at the base of the upright 14 so as to be supported on the installation surface of the system 10, so as to allow the sheet-shaped protection elements 16 to be separated from such a surface according to a distance of a few millimetres, like for example around 10 mm. In such a way objects, even having small dimensions, are prevented from passing below the protection elements 16 of the parapet. If the parapet is used for delimiting the surface of a balcony, objects are prevented from accidentally falling off from the balcony itself.
Figure 6 shows a first component of the handrail 18 of the system 10, made up of a support base 60 which can be fixed on the top of each upright 14 by means of a proper grub screw 62. Each support base 60 is provided, at the top, with an anchoring friction element 64 for the handrail 18.
As shown in figure 11, the anchoring friction element 64 for the handrail 18 is advantageously made up of a plate that is provided with a first pair of opposite rounded surfaces 66, which are capable of allowing the insertion of such an anchoring friction element 64 inside a shaped seat 70 obtained below the handrail 18, and of a second pair of opposite pointed surfaces 68, which are capable of allowing the blocking by friction of such anchoring friction element 64, as a result of its rotation, inside the shaped seat 70 of the handrail 18. In other words, the particular "butterfly" shape of the plate that makes up the anchoring friction element 64, as well as its possibility of rotating on the support base 60, allow it firstly to be inserted easily and then to be blocked inside the shaped seat 70 of the handrail 18, so as to be able to carry out the mounting of such a handrail 18 on the system 10 in an effective manner and without requiring mechanical machining to be carried out or visible fixing means to be used.
It has thus been seen that the system for fixing and supporting railings, balustrades and parapets in general according to the present invention obtains the purposes previously highlighted, in particular obtaining the following advantages:

the possibility of lining up the entire system in an extremely simple and precise manner;
the possibility of applying the sheet-shaped protection elements at a minimum distance from the installation surface of the system;
the possibility of applying the handrail to the uprights of the system without requiring mechanical machining to be carried out or visible fixing means to be used.

The system for fixing and supporting railings, balustrades and parapets in general of the present invention thus conceived can in any case undergo numerous modifications and variants, all covered by the same inventive concept; moreover, all details can be replaced by technically equivalent elements. In practice the materials used, as well as the shapes and dimensions, can be any according to the technical requirements.
The scope of protection of the invention is thus defined by the attached claims.

Claims

System (10) for fixing and supporting parapets comprising:
- a plurality of base elements (12) configured to be supported and to be fixed on a generic installation surface of the system (10), each base element (12) being shaped so as to house and retain a respective substantially vertical upright (14);

- a plurality of uprights (14) configured so as to retain and support one or more sheet-shaped elements (16) which form the protection elements of the parapet; and

- at least one substantially horizontal handrail (18) fixed above said plurality of uprights (14), wherein each base element (12) is made up of a first plate-shaped component (20), provided with fixing means (22, 26, 30) to the installation surface of the system (10) and with adjusting means (24, 28) of the positioning of said first plate-shaped component (20) with respect to the installation surface of the system (10), and of a second bowl-shaped component (32), provided with fixing means (36, 38, 40) with respect to the first plate-shaped component (20) and with at least one shaped housing seat (34), characterised in that said shaped housing seat (34) consists of a pair of arched side walls (72) that define at least one front opening (74) that extends downwards to the supporting base of the second bowl-shaped component (32), so that each upright (14) is inserted from top to bottom, in shape-coupling, with the respective shaped housing seat (34) so that the base portion of said upright (14) comes down into contact with the supporting base of said second bowl-shaped component (32), and that each upright (14) is provided with a front groove (48) having a sectional dovetail shape, which extends for the entire height of said upright (14) and which is configured so as to slidingly house therein a frustoconical engaging portion (50) of each single support means (52) of the sheet-shaped elements (16), said front opening (74), in combination with said front groove (48), making it possible to move said support means (52) as close as possible to the installation surface of the system (10), up to allowing a possible contact with said installation surface.
System (10) according to claim 1, characterised in that the fixing means (22, 26, 30) of the first plate-shaped component (20) are made of one or more bolts (22) insertable in corresponding elliptical-shaped slots (26) obtained on said first plate-shaped component (20), said one or more bolts (22) inserting in corresponding holes (30) made on the installation surface of the system (10) so as to obtain the fixing of the first plate-shaped component (20) on said installation surface of the system (10).
System (10) according to claim 1 or 2, characterised in that the adjusting means (24, 28) of the positioning of the first plate-shaped component (20) with respect to the installation surface of the system (10) are made of one or more threaded grub screws (24) which insert in corresponding threaded through holes (28) obtained on said first plate-shaped component (20), the lower end of each threaded grub screw (24) exerting a predefined pressure onto the installation surface of the system (10), as a result of a screwing operation, in order to obtain a gap between said first plate-shaped component (20) and said surface and to adjust the inclination and positioning of said first plate-shaped component (20) with respect to said surface.
System (10) according to any of the claims from 1 to 3, characterised in that the fixing means (36, 38, 40) of the second bowl-shaped component (32) with respect to the first plate-shaped component (20) are made of one or more bolts (36) insertable both in corresponding through holes (38) obtained on said second bowl-shaped component (32), and in corresponding through holes (40) obtained on said first plate-shaped component (20).
System (10) according to any of the claims from 1 to 4, characterised in that it comprises mutual fixing means (42, 44, 46) between the base portion of each upright (14) and the relative shaped housing seat (34) of the second bowl-shaped component (32), said mutual fixing means (42, 44) being made up of at least one first screw (42) substantially vertical, which retains at the bottom the base portion of the upright (14) in the shaped housing seat (34), and of at least one second screw (44) substantially horizontal and provided with a threaded nut (46), which laterally retains the base portion of the upright (14) in the shaped housing seat (34).
System (10) according to any of the claims from 1 to 5, characterised in that said support means (52) self-centres in shape-coupling inside the front groove (48) so as to subsequently be fixed in any predetermined position inside said front groove (48).
System (10) according to claim 6, characterised in that each single support means (52) is provided with a C-shaped hooking portion (54), capable of surrounding and retaining the perimetrical edge of the sheet-shaped elements (16).
System (10) according to claim 7, characterised in that inside the C-shaped hooking portion (54) there are one or more buffers (56) of various shape, made of polymeric material and having the function of support and seal spacers for the perimetrical edge of the sheet-shaped elements (16).
System (10) according to claim 7 or 8, characterised in that the fixing of each support means (52) inside the front groove (48) occurs by means of at least one bolt (58) which inserts in the frustoconical engaging portion (50) and which determines the coupling by friction of said frustoconical engaging portion (50) and said front groove (48).
System (10) according to any one of claims from 6 to 9, characterised in that on each upright (14) two distinct support means (52) are mounted, namely a first support means (52) arranged at the base of the upright (14), at the base element (12), and a second support means (52) arranged at the top of said upright (14), said two support means (52) thus retaining both the lower perimetrical edge, and the upper perimetrical edge of each sheet-shaped element (16).
System (10) according to claim 10, characterised in that the first support means (52) arranged at the base of the upright (14) rests on the installation surface of the system (10), so as to allow the sheet-shaped elements (16) to move away from said surface according to a distance of about 10 mm.
System (10) according to any one of claims from 1 to 11, characterised in that the handrail (18) comprises a plurality of support bases (60) each fixable on the top of each upright (14) by means of a proper grub screw (62), each support base (60) being provided at the top with an anchoring friction element (64) for said handrail (18).
System (10) according to claim 12, characterised in that the anchoring friction element (64) is made of a plate provided with a first pair of opposite rounded surfaces (66), capable for allowing the insertion of said anchoring friction element (64) inside a shaped seat (70) obtained below the handrail (18), and of a second pair of opposite pointed surfaces (68), capable for allowing the blocking by friction of said anchoring friction element (64), as a result of its rotation, inside said shaped seat (70).