GB2136844A - Composite panels - Google Patents

Abstract

A building panel 1 comprises a rigid board 2 of thermally insulating material and a breather membrane 3, which enables water vapour to pass through it in one direction but not the other, bonded thereto. The membrane 3 overlaps the board 2 along two adjacent edge portions 4 and 5. A number of such panels 1 may be used to line a wall with the edges of the boards 2 of adjacent panels 1 abutting one another and the membranes 3 overlapping the adjacent panels 1 and being bonded thereto by adhesive bands 6 and 7. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Composite panels This invention relates to composite panels for use in building construction.

A "breather membrane" is a membrane which is permeable to water vapour from one side of the membrane whilst being impermeable to damp from the other side of the membrane. Such membranes are commercially available under the Registered Trade Mark "Tyvek", for example, and are particularly suitable for lining the walls of a building.

Such a lining enables water vapour to pass through the cavity wall from the inside of the building whilst preventing damp from penetrating from the outside beyond the lining.

However, these membranes are in the form of large sheets which are highly flexible, and this causes problems of transport and storage on site so as to prevent the sheets being blown around by the wind and possibly damaged. It also renders the membranes unwieldy in use.

According to the invention there is provided a composite panel comprising a sheet of backing material, and a breather membrane bonded to one face of the sheet over substantially the whole of said face but with the membrane overlapping the edge of the sheet along at least one side.

The sheet of backing material, which is preferably in the form of a rigid board, renders the composite panel less flexible and easier to use. This sheet may be of thermally insulating material in which case the panel will perform the double function of thermally insulating the wall and of allowing the wall to breathe whilst preventing penetration of damp from the outside, so that it is no longer necessary to apply a separate lining of thermally insulating material.

The invention also provides a method of cladding a wall or other surface using a plurality of such composite panels, comprising laying the panels so that the edges of the sheets abut one another and so that the portion of the breather membrane of at least one panel which is not bonded to the associated sheet overlaps at least one adjacent panel, and bonding this portion to the breather membrane of the or each adjacent panel. The overlapping portion may be bonded by means of applied adhesive or double-sided adhesive tape or by any other method which is capable of providing a sealed joint.

In a preferred embodiment the or each panel is substantially rectangular, preferably having adjacent sides unequal, and the membrane overlaps the edge of the sheet along two adjacent sides. This enables the membrane of each panel within a wall of such panels to overlap adjacent panels along two adjacent sides and to be itself overlapped by the membranes of adjacent panels along the other two sides. It is particularly convenient if the panels are laid in rows with the joints between adjacent panels in each row being staggered in relation to the joints between adjacent panels in adjacent rows. It is also advantageous if the breather membrane of a panel within a wall of such panels overlaps at least one further panel below that panel.

It will be appreciated therefore that a continuous damp impermeable barrier may be progressively built up by the use of such composite panels.

In order that the invention may be more fully understood, reference will now be made, by way of example, to the accompanying drawing, in which: Figure 1 is a diagrammatic representation of a composite panel in accordance with the invention; and Figure 2 is a cut-away perspective view of a wall clad with such panels.

Referring to Fig. 1, the panel 1 comprises a 1 200 millimetres X 450 millimetres rigid board 2 of thermally insulating material having a thickness of 25 millimetres, and a 1 350 millimetres X 600 millimetres breather membrane 3 of the type sold under the Registered Trade Mark "Tyvek". The breather membrane 3 is bonded to the board 2 by means of adhesive over the whole of one face of the board 2 so that the membrane 3 overlaps the board 2 along two adjacent edge portions 4 and 5. In use these edge portions 4 and 5 overlap adjacent panels and are bonded thereto by bands 6 and 7 of adhesive applied to the edge portions 4 and 5.

The manner in which such panels may be used to line a wall will now be described with reference to Fig. 2 in which the panels 1 are shown applied as an outer lining 10 to a galvanised steel frame 11 constituting part of the inner skin of a cavity wall. The frame 11 comprises channel section structural members of which four studs 1 2 disposed at 600 millimetre centres are visible in the figure.The bottom row 1 3 of panels is first laid in position with the edge portions 5 downwards so that the sheets 2 of the panels abut one another adjacent the outer flanges of alternate studs 1 2 and the edge portions 4 overlap adjacent panels. wall ties 14 for interconnecting the inner and outer skins of the wall are then attached to the studs 1 2 immediately above this row 1 3 of panels and retainer plates 1 5 are clipped on to the wall ties 1 4 to hold the panels against the frame 10. The joints between adjacent panels of the row 1 3 are then made by applying the adhesive bands 6 to the edge portions 4.

A second row 1 6 of panels is then laid in position against the frame 10 so that the sheets 2 of the panels abut one another and also the sheets 2 of the bottom row 1 3 and so that the edge portions 4 overlap adjacent panels and the edge portions 5 overlap the panels of the bottom row 1 3. The joins between adjacent panels occur adjacent the outer flanges of alternate studs 12, being staggered in relation to the joins of the bottom row 1 3 of panels.The row 1 6 of panels is held in position by wall ties 14 and retainer plates 1 5 immediately above this row 1 6 in a similar manner to the bottom row 1 3. Furthermore cuts 1 7 are made in the edge portions 5 in the vicinity of the wall ties 14 holding the bottom row 1 3 of panels in position to enable these edge portions 5 to be introduced under the retainer plates 1 5 clipped to these wall ties 14. The joints between the panels of the rows 1 3 and 1 6 and between the panels of the row 1 6 are then made by applying the adhesive bands 7 and 6 to the edge portions 5 and 4 of the panels of the row 16. The process is then continued with the third row 18 of panels and with subsequent rows until the whole wall has been covered.

The board 2 may be made from resin bonded rock fibre which has been treated so as to be resistant to water. The vapour resistance of such a board is negligible so that the function of the breather membrane 3 is not interfered with. However, the board 2 could alternatively be made from fibre glass, polystyrene or polyurethane, for example. Furthermore, for certain applications, the backing sheet of the composite panel may be made of a material, such as plywood, particle board or metal, which does not provide a high degree of thermal insulation. The breather membrane 5 is a white spun-bonded polyolefin sheet which has been manufactured by spinning continuous strands of interconnected fibres and bonding them together with heat and pressure to form a sheet.

Claims (11)

1. A composite panel comprising a sheet of backing material, and a breather membrane bonded to one face of the sheet over substantially the whole of said face but with the membrane overlapping the edge of the sheet along at least one side.

2. A panel according to claim 1, wherein the sheet of backing material is in the form of a rigid board.

3. A panel according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the sheet of backing material comprises thermally insulating material.

4. A panel according to claim 1, 2 or 3, wherein the or each panel is substantially rectangular.

5. A panel according to any preceding claim, wherein the membrane overlaps the edge of the sheet along two adjacent sides.

6. A panel according to any preceding claim, wherein an adhesive band is applied to the or each overlapping edge portion of the membrane.

7. A wall or other surface clad with a plurality of composite panels according to any preceding claim, wherein the sheets of adjacent panels abut one another and the portion of the breather membrane of at least one panel which is not bonded to the associated sheet overlaps at least one adjacent panel and is bonded thereto.

8. A method of cladding a wall or other surface using a plurality of composite panels according to any one of claims 1 to 6, comprising laying the panels so that the edges of the sheets abut one another and so that the portion of the breather membrane of at least one panel which is not bonded to the associated sheet overlaps at least one adjacent panel, and bonding this portion to the breather membrane of the or each adjacent panel.

9. A method according to claim 8, wherein the panels are laid in rows with the joints between adjacent panels in each row being staggered in relation to the joints between adjacent panels in adjacent rows.

10. A method according to claim 8 or 9, wherein the portion of the breather membrane of at least one panel which is not bonded to the associated sheet overlaps at least one further panel below that panel.

11. A composite panel substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawling.

1 2. A wall or other surface clad with a plurality of composite panels, substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawing.

1 3. A method of cladding a wall or other surface using a plurality of composite panels, substantially as herein before described with reference to the accompanying drawing.