GB2062057A - Building panel - Google Patents

Abstract

A panel 3 of non-inflammable expanded plastics material has a surface in the form of a relief and a coating of strong material thereon. The plastics material is preferably phenolic and the strong material concrete or plaster or resin. The panel may be split and have the relief surfaces placed face to face. The panel 3 may be continuously moulded between walls 2 in a machine 1, cut to size by a saw 4, and coated before and/or after transport to a building site. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Building structures The invention relates to the manufacture of structural parts for buildings, that is panels which can be used for making floors, walls, partitions, platforms, roofs and solar heating panels, for example.

The invention provides a building structure comprising a panel of non-inflammable expanded resin having a surface in the form of a relief and a coating of strong material thereon.

The panel, possibly reinforced by a concrete or plaster or further resin cast on its surface, can be transported to a construction site, set in position, and coated. The panel can be light, easily handled and transported without using special handling or lifting equipment.

The invention includes a process of manufacturing such a building structure which comprises moulding an appropriate panel and applying an appropriate coating thereto.

The resin is preferably phenolic and, compared with certain synthetic foams, has the advantage of being fire-resistant and not emitting toxic fumes.

The panels have at least one of their surfaces in relief, in particular grooved and or tapered continuously in a channel produced between two moving walls. By these means one obtains an excellent anchorage for a rough cast coating of cement, plaster, or resin. For continuous manufacture one can use the technique of French Patent publication No. 2394384.

In order to improve the mechanical strength of the panels, it may be an advantage to lag the surfaces continuously at the factory with a thin layer of cement or plaster on the surface. This enables one to obtain a panel of greater hardness than the foam alone without any substantial increase in weight. After having applied this first layer of cement or plaster on the panel surfaces at the works, a second can be applied by means of a plate on a fixed or moving base on which concrete of a certain thickness was first cast. After removing concrete from the tops of the shapes in relief and removing the plate one obtains a smooth surface, behind which are the channels formed in relief. This may be carried out on each of the surfaces of the expanded resin panel.It is equally possible to cast plaster, reinforced synthetic resin or any other binding material on the base, and to obtain as a smooth surface one of these materials as from concrete. Alternatively, the panel with surfaces in relief can be split in two in the centre in order to make two half-panels which are placed face to face. In this way it is possible to obtain longitudinal and transverse shuttering and to cast the necessary quantity of concrete or other strong material in the channel formed between the two faces. A central supporting wall covered with foam on one side or both is thus obtained.

These panels can be assembled in certain structural positions at a building site. For example, they are maintained by wire mesh designed to reinforce concrete, or plaster which are set or introduced by casting or moulded in position. The latter operations are designed to give the desired thickness and strength to partitions or supporting walls. One of the advantages of the grooved panels according to the invention is to keep each side of the parts strong, without it being necessary to support them by the metal framework across the insulating part. Thus all thermal bridges are eliminated.

Drawings Figure 1 illustrates schematically a process of continuously manufacturing core for structures according to the invention by a machine with lateral movement; Figure 2 illustrates a similar process by a machine with downward movement; Figure 3 is a partial vertical section of a base on which concrete is cast and a core panel whose surfaces are in relief; Figure 4 is a perspective view of an expanded resin core panel whose surface reliefs are in the form of frustrums of pyramids; Figure 5 is a perspective view of an expanded resin core panel whose surfaces are grooved; Figure 6 is a vertical section of a panel with reliefs in the form of frustrums of pyramids; Figure 7 shows a vertical section of a panel obtained after having split the panel shown in Figure 6 down the middle and joining the two halfpanels obtained at their relief surfaces;; Figures 8, 10 and 12 show transverse sections of several variants of the panels whose surfaces are grooved and give excellent anchorage for strong materials therein; Figures 9, 11 and 1 3 show transverse sections of panels obtained by splitting the panels shown in Figures 8, 10 and 1 2 respectively down the middle and joining the two half-panels at their relief surfaces; Figure 14 is a cut away schematic diagram of the inside of a house under construction which shows how the core panels are assembled in position in the structure and fixed by casting a coating in concrete or plaster; Figure 1 5 is a detail of Figure 14 showing how a wall panel is fixed in place;; Figure 1 6 is a transverse section of a wall made by assembling two core panels according to the invention; Figure 1 7 shows the use of core panels according to the invention to produce a platform floor; Figure 1 8 is a partial transverse section of a platform floor and a partition comprising core panels according to the invention; and Figure 1 9 shows a method of taking a continuous core panel with grooves out of a mould in which it has been made. As shown in Figure 1, continuous moulding machine 1 produces an expanded resin panel of the required thickness.

The machine 1 consists of an endless wall 2 which advances continuously. Expanded resin panels leave the machine in the direction shown by the arrow, and are cut to the required length by a saw 4 advancing at the same speed as the panel 3. The cut panels are stockpiled at 5 ready for use. In order to increase the stiffness of the panels for easy handling, one can apply a first layer of concrete, plaster or any other strong binding material to the surface, as illustrated at 6, using commercially available equipment. After this coating operation, the panels are stockpiled at 7.

The expanded resin panels obtained are light and easy to handle. They can be easily transported to the construction site and handled without heavy handling equipment. The panels can be transported to a construction site and stockpiled at 8, before assembly at 9, where they are fixed in place.

In Figure 2, the machine 1 consists of a vertical casting channel open at the upper and lower ends, and defined by moving walls consisting of endless chains carrying interchangeable moulds of various shapes, designed to produce reliefs on the panel surfaces. The panels produced have relief surfaces in the form of longitudinal and transverse channels. The coating of the surfaces of the panels with concrete is shown schematically at 6.

Alternatively, liquid concrete 51 is cast continuously on a base 50, which may be fixed or moving to a thickness of for example 5 to 10 mm, and a panel 3 is set therein.

After taking the concrete from the tops of the relief 38, one obtains a panel with a smooth moulded wall behind which channels are formed in relief.

The same operation may be carried out for another surface of a panel. One can thus obtain a panel with two surfaces forming a complete partition with empty internal spaces suitable for profiles, pipework, channels, framework for reinforced concrete, ventilation, circulation of cold or hot air, shuttering for concrete on supporting walls on site.

Alternatively, the panel leaving the machine can be split in the middle to make two half-panels 10 and 11 which are joined on their relief sides (Figure 7 etc). Channels 12 are kept open between the relief sides. Two panels with reliefs on one of their sides only and can be joined with two relief sides together, set up vertically at the construction site, and have concrete cast in the channels between them after having put framework in the channels. In this way supporting structures can be erected under water where the panel forms a coffer dam.

In order to improve the mechanical strength of the panels, and for economy in resin, one can include glass balls, balls of clay etc., in the resin mix.

The panels may be assembled by simple interlocking (Figure 16). A female groove 39 on the surface of panel 40 corresponds to a male projection fixed or adhering to an adjacent panel 41. The assembled panels are completed by coating with concrete or plaster.

In Figure 14, a wall 13 and a platform 14 are made from grooved panels, and concrete 1 5 is poured in to make up the wall 13. Concrete 1 6 is cast on the grooved panels forming the platform 14. An interior wall 1 8 and partitions 1 7 are obtained by assembling several panels on which plaster is cast as at 1 9.

In Figure 15, the expanded resin plate with relief surfaces is surrounded by a coffer dam 20.

Insulating material 21 made of concrete is cast on each side through a nozzle 22.

Where panels according to the invention are used to make a platform floor, they are best placed in a metal framework 23, as shown in Figure 17.

The sides of the framework have a configuration consisting of grooves 25 and tongues 24 so that they can interlock during assembly. The floor consists of an assembly of several panels placed in the framework 23, and is covered with concrete by casting a slab 26 (Figure 18). Plaster is cast on the other surface 27 (Figure 17) which constitutes a ceiling of a lower storey. This plaster coating is not always necessary as the reliefs produced on the surface of the panels have a decorative effect which may be preserved. As can be seen from Figure 14, insulating material forms a continuous strip 28 on the ceiling and wall space 29 and avoids any thermal bridge with the platform floor 30. In Figure 18, the concrete slab 26 has a reinforcing metal framework 31.The channels surrounding the reliefs on the panel surfaces enable the passage of frames and reinforcing cement to take place through a grid communicating with and connected to the whole of the building taking the place of main girders and rubble. This enables one to give the whole structure the same strength, which may be useful in the case of seismic shocks or landslides.

The moving walls of the machine for continuous production of the panels consist of endless chains carrying interchangeable moulds 35 (Figure 19) which enable one to produce relief surfaces on the panels. These moulds are kept rotating by two crown wheels 32 in the direction indicated by the arrows. The set of moulds which forms the mobile walls consists of a succession of adjoining moulds 35 and 36, articulated to each other by hinges 34 so as to form a continuous belt. It is equally possible to fix these moulds on the moving walls of the machine for continuous production of the panels used, where the machine movement is sideways (as in the case of Figure 1) or where the machine movement is downwards (as in the case on Figure 2). These moulds are specially designed to enable continuous moulding and extraction from moulds to take place for panels with grooved relief surfaces according to the invention. Figure 1 9 oniy illustrates one of many possible shapes of moulds, giving an example of a mould profile which enables one to obtain panels with grooved relief surfaces particularly suitable for continuous extraction from moulds. The moulds 35 move away at the outlet of the device and give a continuous output of grooved panels. The moulds 35 mounted on endless chains are interchangeable, one simpiy has to change moulds to obtain panels with grooved relief surfaces such as those shown in Figures 8, 10 and 12. Thanks to this system of continuous extraction from moulds, the continuous manufacture panels with grooved relief surfaces according to the invention is quick, and the manufacturing cost is low.

Claims (13)

1. A building structure comprising a panel of non-inflammable expanded resin having a surface in the form of a relief and a coating of strong material thereon.

2. A structure according to claim 1 in which the relief consists of longitudinal and transverse channels.

3. A structure according to claim 1 or claim 2 in which the resin is phenolic.

4. A structure according to any preceding claim in which the coating is of concrete, plaster or resin.

5. A process of manufacturing a building structure according to any preceding claim which comprises moulding an appropriate panel and applying an appropriate coating thereto.

6. A process according to claim 5 in which the panel is cut to size before coating.

7. A process according to claim 5 or claim 6 in which the panel is transported to a building site before coating.

8. A process according to any of claims 5 to 7 in which the panel is continuously cast between moving walls.

9. A process according to any of claims 5 to 8 in which the panel is given a first coating of concrete before transportation to a building site.

10. A process according to any of claims 5 to 9 in which two panels are placed with reliefs face to face, and the coating is applied between them.

11. A process according to any of claims 5 to 10 in which metal reinforcements are placed in the relief pattern before coating.

12. A process of manufacturing a building structure substantially as herein described with reference to the drawings.

13. A building structure substantially as herein described with reference to the drawings.