GB2111633A

GB2111633A - Connector

Info

Publication number: GB2111633A
Application number: GB08232157A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Josephus Opdam
Original assignee: BRUYNZEEL INTERSYSTEEM
Current assignee: BRUYNZEEL INTERSYSTEEM
Priority date: 1981-11-13
Filing date: 1982-11-10
Publication date: 1983-07-06
Also published as: NL8105154A; GB2111633B; FR2516569B1; NL181882B; DE3241424C2; NL181882C; DE3241424A1; FR2516569A1

Abstract

A connector for connecting at least two uprights 1, comprising at least two L-section sheet elements 6 and a coupling element 10. The L-section sheet elements 6 have a first leg 7 arranged to be connected to an upright 1, and a second leg 8 having a portion with teeth 9. The coupling element 10 can be placed around juxtaposed, intermeshing toothed legs 8 of adjacent sheet elements to closely enclose the same, and the element 10 is a sleeve having a slot in its longitudinal direction and it is dimensioned to slide snugly over the aligned first legs 7 of the sheet elements 6. The arrangement is such that the uprights 1 are thus fixed in all directions relative to each other. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Connector This invention relates to a connector, and in particular to a connector for coupling profiled members of partitions built up from elements.

Partitions may be built up from elements which may or may not be self-supporting, and have a thickness equal to that of the wall to be formed, being provided with finished wall surfaces on both sides. Partitions may also be built up from a framework against which the material that is to form the wall can be mounted on the building site.

The present invention is concerned with a connector for a partition that can be built up from pre-fabricated elements provided with a finished wall surface on one side only, and having a thickness virtually equal to half the thickness of the partition to be formed. In particular, the pre-fabricated elements comprise a pair of uprights in which relatively thin panel material is secured. This panel material may take the form of wood, plaster board, metal, glass or the like, and may be covered with a desired finish layer, such as vinyl, veneer, paint, cork, hard plastics, and the like. In this construction the uprights project some distance from the back surface of the panels.

The height of the uprights is preferably equal to that ofthe pre-fabricated elements. Such partitions built up from pre-fabricated elements of half the ultimate wall thickness have been found in practice to have very favourable properties with regard to sound insulation and fire resistance.

For erecting a partition consisting of the pre-fabricated elements described above, the uprights of adjacent co-planar panels, as well as those of adjacent panels on opposite sides of the partition must be interconnected.

For this purpose the present invention provides a connector by means of which it is possible to connect at least two adjacent uprights of pre-fabricated wall elements together, with the position of the elements relative to each other being fixed in all directions.

For this purpose the connector according to the invention comprises at least two sheet elements L-shaped in section, one leg of each sheet element to be connected to the upright to be connected, and the other leg of each sheet element being provided with a toothed portion, the connector further comprising a coupling element adapted to be fittingly placed around a pair of such other legs placed in parallel relationship to each other with their teeth intermeshed.

For interconnecting four uprights, naturally each upright is provided with an L-shaped sheet element with the teeth of said other legs of each pair of sheet elements juxtoposed in the direction of the thickness of the wall being intermeshed, and said first legs of a pair of sheet elements adjacent to each other in the direction of the plane of the wall being formed being in surface-to-surface contact with each other.

When the connector according to the invention is used the interconnection of the uprights during assembly only requires one loose element per connector to be applied on the building site, as the other parts of the connector may be mounted on the uprights during manufacture.

Four associated uprights of a length equal to the height of the partition to be formed only require two connectors according to the invention, namely one near the top and one near the bottom of the wall.

Further advantages of the connector according to the invention are that it can easily be removed and reused without loss of material, and that it is so formed that faulty assembly is excluded.

The invention will be described in more detail hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawing, which shows a perspective view of one embodiment of the connector according to the invention by way of example.

For the sake of clearness, the drawing only shows three of the four uprights to be coupled together, and of each upright, as viewed in the longitudinal direction, only shows the portion adjacent to the connector. Also for the sake of clarity X, Y and Z directions are indicated in the figure.

Reference numeral 1 in the figure in each case designates an upright. Each upright is essentially L-shaped in section, with one leg 3 of the L being connected to a panel or sheet 2 of a suitable material for the partition, such as wood, plaster board, synthetic plastics material, glass, etc., in a manner appropriate to that material. The other leg 4 of the L is formed of a web portion folded upon itself, with the web portions lying in contact with each other in the part adjacent to the outside of the wall, i.e. near panel 2, and being spaced apart in the part located more inwardly of the wall. At the innermost end of leg 4, the web portions are interconnected by means of a web portion 5 extending transversely of the leg.

Web portion 5 is essentially shorter than leg 4. The application of the connector according to the invention does not necessarily require the provision of a web portion 5: leg 4 may be doubled throughout its entire length, or may even consist of a single web.

Secured to legs 4, 4' and 4" of each of uprights 1, by means of welding, adhesive, screws or the like, is one leg 7, 7', 7", respectively, of an anchor sheet 6 folded to an L-shape. The other leg 8, 8' and 8" of the L-shaped sheets is in each case located in spaced parallel relationship to web portion 5. In this way an interspace is formed between the legs 8, 8' and 8" and portion 5 of the associated upright 1.

The side of the respective legs 8, 8' and 8" facing away from the upright 1 is provided with teeth 9 extending perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of anchor sheet 6. Sheet members 6 are in each case secured in an identical manner and at the same level to the associated upright 1. so that when the four uprights are placed in juxtaposition to each other the teeth 9 of two legs facing each other in the Z direction, such as 8' and 8", become intermeshed. In the X direction the legs of adjacent anchor sheets 6, such as legs 7 and 7', are in surface-to-surface contact with each other. Thanks to the teeth, the juxtaposed uprights are fixed pair-wise in the Y direction relatively to each other by means of the anchor sheets secured to them.

For fixing four uprights relatively to each other in the X and Z directions, use is made, according to the invention, of a coupling element 10. This coupling element 10 consists of a sleeve, rectangular in section, and made of, for example, metal or synthetic plastics material, with slots being formed over a portion of the length of the lement in the opposing longer sides 11 and 11' of the rectangular sleeve, said slots extending from the underside in the longitudinal direction of element 10. The width of the slots is dimensioned to be in essence equal to twice the thickness of a leg 7 of an anchor sheet 6.The width of the shorter sides 12 2 and 12' of the element 10 is dimensioned so that the perpendicular distance between the inner surfaces of sides 11 and 11' is in essence equal to the thickness of two legs of anchor sheets 6, such as 8' and 8", with their teeth intermeshed. The width of sides 11 and 11' is dimensioned so that the perpendicular distance between the inner surfaces of sides 12 and 12' is virtually equal to the total dimension, as viewed in the X direction, of two aligned legs such as 8 and 8' of anchor sheets 6 having their legs such as 7 and 7' in surface-to-surface contact with each other.

Finally, the thickness of the walls of coupling element 10 is less than the perpendicular distance between, respectively, legs 8, 8' and 8" and sides 5, 5' and 5" of the adjacent uprights 1.

For fixing four uprights 1 relatively to each other in the X and Z directions, the coupling element 10 is placed over four anchor sheets 6 with the slot pointing to the anchor sheets, so that four legs 8 are fittingly received within coupling element 10, and in each case a pair of adjoining legs such as 7 and 7' can project outwardly from the coupling element through the slot in the side 11'.

It will be clear that the above-described dimensions of the coupling element prevent the anchor sheets, and hence the uprights, from moving in the X direction, owing to both the width of the slots in sides 11 and 11' and the inner dimensions of element 10 in the X direction. Motion in the Z direction is prevented owing to the interior dimen sionsofsides 12 and 12'.

Naturally it is not necessary for both the size of the slots in sides 12 and 12' and the interior size of sides 12 and 12' to satisfy the above-described dimensioning, but it is sufficient for one of these sizes to satisfy the conditions described, while the other may be larger than described.

Preferably a hole 13 is formed in coupling element 10 to receive a tool for detaching the coupling. The coupling is detached simply by removing element 10 in the upward direction from the four anchor sheets 6. Indeed, the connector can be mounted and removed many times without wear and tear and without the need to replace any parts.

It is observed that the invention is not limited to a connector for the uprights of partitions, but that other uses are conceivable. Also, the connector according to the invention may be used for coupling only two uprights adjoining each other in the Z direction, for example, at the end of a partition. In that case modified cupling elements 10 must be used, the form of which will be obvious to one skilled in the art after reading the above.

It is finally observed that it is possible for the partition built up from pre4abricated elements to be given a greater thickness than that dictated by the thickness of the uprights in the Z direction, for example, for better insulation. For this purpose a spacer member, for example, H-shaped in section, may be inserted between the toothed legs of two anchor sheets adjoining each other in the X direction and the - also toothed - legs of anchor sheets lying opposite thereto in the Z direction, with the legs of the H being provided with teeth similar to those of the legs of the anchor sheets, and the legs of the H being capable of co-operating with the toothed legs of two adjoining anchor sheets and being capable of being coupled therewith by means of the coupling element described above. Accordingly, the extra parts required for making the wall thicker are the H-shaped spacer member and a second coupling element, by means of which, again, a reliable connection can be provided between the uprights, and one which is easy to assemble and disassamble.

It is also possible for the pre-fabricated elements to be usedforwainscoting,forwhich purpose use is made of an element having teeth one side and a provision for attachment to the wall to be lined on the other side. The tooth part can then again be connected to the toothed legs of two anchor sheets adjoining each other in the X direction, using the coupling element described hereinbefore, and the other side is secured to the wall or the like prior to installing the wainscot.

Claims

1. A connector for connecting at least two uprights, characterised by at least two sheet elements L-shaped in section, one leg of each sheet element to be connected to an upright, and the other leg of each sheet element being provided with a toothed portion, and by a coupling element adapted to be fittingly placed around at least two of such other legs located parallel to each other with intermeshing teeth, said coupling element having a slot in the longitudinal direction thereof, which is capable of accommodating a portion of the first legs.

2. A connector according to claim 1 for connecting four uprights, characterised by comprising four L-section sheet members, each to be connected by its one leg to a different one of said uprights, with the arrangement being such that in the assembled condition a first and a second pair of sheet elements have their first legs in surface-to-surface contact with each other and a first other leg of the first part has its toothed portion enmeshed with the toothed portion of a first other leg of the second pair, and a second other leg of the first pair has its toothed portion enmeshed with the toothed portion of a second other leg of the second pair, said coupling element being of elongate shape and rectangular in section, and being provided over a portion of each of the sides having the larged width with the slot extending in longitudinal direction.

3. A connection according to claim 1 or 2, characterised in that the teeth extend at least substantially perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the sheet element concerned.

4. A connection according to claim 2 or 3, characterised in that the width of the slot is at least equal to twice the thickness of the one leg of the sheet element, and that, in crosssection, the inner dimension of the shorter side of the coupling element is at least equal to twice the thickness of the other leg, and the inner dimension of the longer sides of the coupling element is at least equal to twice the length of said other leg.

5. A sheet element described as a part of a connector according to any one of claims 1-4.

6. A coupling element described as a part of a connector according to any one of claims 1-4.

7. A spacer element for use with a connector according to any one of claims 1-4, characterised in that said spacer element is H-shaped in section, that the outer faces of the legs of the H are provided with toothed portions, and that each of these legs can be coupled by means of a respective coupling element with the toothed portions of the other legs of two sheet elements placed with their first legs in surface-to-surface contact with each other.

8. A partition to be assembled from pre-fabricated elements, characterised in that each of said pre-fabricated elements comprises a panel-shaped face and a pair of uprights, the dimension of said uprights as viewed in the direction of the thickness of the wall being essentially equal to half the desired thickness of the wall, and that each upright is connected to one leg of a sheet element L-shaped in section, with the other leg of said sheet element facing the median plane of the wall, extending parallel to the median plane of the wall being formed, and being provided with teeth extending transversely to the longitudinal direction of said upright.

9. A connector for connecting two uprights substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawing.