GB2281571A

GB2281571A - Restraint devices for wall cladding

Info

Publication number: GB2281571A
Application number: GB9318268A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Anthony K Morrison
Original assignee: METAL UK Ltd A
Current assignee: METAL UK Ltd A
Priority date: 1993-09-03
Filing date: 1993-09-03
Publication date: 1995-03-08
Also published as: GB9318268D0

Abstract

A restraint device 50 prevents movement of cladding 90, 92 mounted on a wall 59 in a direction normal to the wall. The device 50 has a support member 52 which is attachable to the wall 59 by securing means 58 and which is arranged to support an arm member 54. The arm member 54 has, at one end region thereof, means 56 for engaging at least one cladding element to restrain movement thereof in the normal direction. The arm member 54 is adjustably attachable to the support member 52 to vary the distances of said engaging means 56 from the wall. <IMAGE>

Description

Restraint devices The present invention relates to restraint devices for preventing movement of cladding mounted on a wall in a direction normal to said wall, hereinafter referred to as the "lateral" direction.

Cladding is applied to the inside or outside of a wall in order to improve its appearance and/or to provide protection. The cladding elements, which may consist of stone, marble or any other suitable material, are attached to the walls of buildings using fixing members which hold the cladding elements on the wall.

In addition to these fixing members it is also desirable to provide restraint devices for preventing lateral movement of the cladding elements relative to the wall. One known lateral restraint device is shown in Figures 1 and 2 of the accompanying-drawings. This restraint device 2 has an L-shaped plate 4 which is bolted to a wall 6 by an expansion bolt in the form of a threaded bolt 8 threadedly received in a wedge anchor (not shown) located in an expansion sleeve 10. A dowel 12 extends vertically through a hole 14 at one end of the plate 4. This dowel 12 is received in a first hole 16 of a first cladding element 18 and a second hole 20 in a second cladding element 22 which is arranged below the first. In this way, lateral movement of the cladding elements 18 and 22 relative to the wall 6 is prevented.

However, to adjust the distance of the dowel 12 from the wall 6, it is necessary to use a packing washer 24 which only allows a small change in the distance of the dowel from the wall. As will be appreciated, the hole 14 in the plate 4 and the holes 16 and 20 in the cladding elements 18 and 22 must therefore be drilled with relative accuracy. Furthermore, the position of the restraint device relative to the wall must also be carefully chosen. This can make the use of such restraint devices a laborious process. It is also necessary to remove from the region of the restraint device 2 a block 26 of any insulation which is arranged between the wall and the cladding elements in order to provide sufficient space for the L-shaped plate 4 and, if necessary, the washer 24 immediately adjacent to the wall 6.

A second known restraint device is illustrated in Figures 3 and 4. It should be noted that this second known restraint device 30 is not usually used with walls having an insulation layer, although it is shown with such a wall in Figure 4. The L-shaped plate 32 and dowel 34 are the same as those of the first known restraint device 2. However, the arrangement for fixing the plate 32 to the wall 36 is different. A relatively long threaded bolt 38 extends through a hole 40 in the plate 32 and is threadedly received in a wedge anchor 41 located in an expansion sleeve 42. A nut 44 is provided so as to clamp the plate 32 between a head 46 of the threaded bolt 38 and that nut 44. A second nut 48 is provided which acts on the expansion sleeve 42 via a washer 49.

To alter the lateral position of the dowel 34 relative to the wall 36, the second nut 48 is held with a spanner to prevent loss of expansion in the expansion sleeve 42 whilst the head 46 of the bolt 38 is rotated with a spanner either clockwise or anticlockwise to alter the spacing of the plate 32 from the wall and consequently the lateral distance of the dowel from the wall. However, in order to access the second nut 48, it is necessary to remove a block 47 of any insulation provided on the wall.

Thus, in both the known restraint devices, the Lshaped plate, which supports the dowel for engaging the cladding elements, is attached directly to the exansion bolt which secures the device to the wall. In both cases, adjustment of the lateral position of the dowel involves gaining access to the expansion bolt where it protrudes from the wall, in the first device to unscrew the bolt to insert or remove a washer, and in the second device to hold a nut acting on the expansion sleeve to prevent loss of expansion during adjustment. This is inconvenient, particularly if an insulation layer is provided on the wall.

According to the present invention, there is provided a restraint device for preventing movement of cladding mounted on a wall in a direction normal to said wall, the device comprising a support member attachable to the wall by securing means and arranged to support an arm member having at one end region thereof means for engaging at least one cladding element to restrain movement thereof in said normal direction, said arm member being adjustably attachable to the support member to vary the distance of said engaging means from the wall.

In use, the securing means, for example an expansion bolt, is fixed to the wall so as to attach the support member thereto, and then the desired distance of the engaging means from the wall is obtained by adjustment of the arm member relative to the support member, independently of the fixing of the securing means to the wall. Thus it is advantageously possible to vary the distance of the engaging means from the wall without affecting or tampering with the fixing of the securing means to the wall.

Preferably, the securing means is arranged to locate the support member at a spacing from the wall.

If an insulation layer is provided on the wall, the spacing will be greater than the thickness of the layer, so that adjustment of the position of the engaging means can be effected without removing any of the insulation.

Where an expansion bolt is used as the securing means, the insulation layer can be first attached to the wall, followed by simply drilling a hole through the insulation layer and into the wall, for insertion of the expansion bolt and easy installation of the restraint device.

Preferably the support member is provided with an elongate slot for receiving the securing means, said securing means being positionable at a plurality of locations along the length of said slot to thereby alter the position of said engaging means in a direction parallel to the wall. This provides for further adjustment of the position of the engaging means. In a preferred embodiment, the slot is vertical when the support member is in an initial, unadjusted condition.

Preferably, in addition or alternatively, the support member is rotatably mounted by the securing means.

Where a slot is provided, this can permit rotation and thus provide the rotatable mounting. Rotatability of the support member provides still further adjustability of the position of the engaging means in a direction parallel to the wall, making it easier to compensate for tolerances in the various elements and for incorrect positioning of the restraint device on the wall. Thus, it is possible to attain adjustment in three orthogonal directions: one direction normal to the wall and two directions parallel to the wall.

It is preferred that the arm member is threadedly attachable to the support member whereby rotation of the arm member varies the distance of the engaging means from the wall. This provides precise control of the lateral position of the arm member and hence the engaging means. Moreover, since the arm member is rotatable relative to the support member, this can ensure that the engaging means has a predetermined orientation for engagement with the cladding element.

For example, the engaging means may be a dowel which must maintain a vertical orientation for engagement in a vertical hole of the cladding element, even if the support member is rotated away from a vertical condition.

The support member may be in the form of a plate.

Preferably it is in the form of a plate having first and second portions which are parallel to each other and, in use, parallel to the wall and which are joined by an intermediate portion, the first portion being connectible to the securing means and the second portion being connectible to the arm member, and the second portion being offset from the first portion in the direction away from the wall. By offsetting the second plate portion away from the wall, there is more space for adjusting the arm member towards and away from the wall.

In one embodiment, the securing means may be provided by a headed threaded bolt which may, for example, be threadedly received in a wedge anchor located in an expansion sleeve. This has the advantage of low cost. In an alternative embodiment, a headless threaded rod is provided instead of the headed bolt.

This rod may have two threaded portions, one at either end region thereof. The thread may be formed by cutting. This latter embodiment has the advantage that the securing means can be fixed to the wall before the support member and other parts of the restraint device are attached thereto.

Preferably said engaging means comprises a flanged dowel which is received in a hole of said arm member, the flange of said dowel having a diameter greater than that of said hole. The flange may be provided in the middle region of the dowel. The presence of the flange has the advantage that the dowel will not fall through the hole in the arm member, thus reducing the risk that the dowel is dropped. Preferably the engaging means engages two cladding elements simultaneously, thereby substantially preventing relative lateral movement between the cladding elements. For example, a vertical dowel with a flange in its middle region may project downwardly into a vertical bore in the top edge of a cladding element below, and upwardly into a vertical bore in the bottom edge of a cladding element above.

Two embodiments of the invention will now be described by way of example and with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Figure 1 shows an exploded, perspective view of a first known lateral restraint device; Figure 2 shows a side view of the first known restraint device, in use; Figure 3 shows an exploded view of a second known lateral restraint device; Figure 4 shows a side view of the second known restraint device, in use; Figure 5 shows a side view of a first embodiment of the invention, when in use; Figure 6 shows a front view of a plate used in the embodiment of Figure 5; Figure 7 shows a plan view of an arm member used in the first embodiment; Figure 8 shows a side view of a modification of the securing means of Figure 5; Figure 9 shows a side view of a second embodiment of the invention, when in use; and Figure 10 shows a side view of a securing rod used in the second embodiment.

The first embodiment of the invention will now be described with reference to Figures 5 to 7. The restraint device 50 has a support member in the form of a plate 52, an arm member 54, cladding engaging means in the form of a dowel 56, and securing means 58 for attaching the plate 52 to a wall 59.

As can be seen particularly from Figures 5 and 6, the plate 52 has a stepped profile with first and second portions 61,63 arranged parallel to the wall joined by an intermediate portion 65 perpendicular to the wall.

The first portion has a first hole in the form of an elongate sLot 60. The width of the slot 60 corresponds substantially to the diameter of the bolt 62 used in the securing means 58. A second hole 64 is provided in the second portion 63 and is threaded so as to receive a threaded part 66 of the arm member 54.

The arm member 54 has, in addition to the threaded part 66, a flattened part 68. At one end region of the flattened part 68, a hole 70 is provided for the dowel 56. The dowel 56 has a flange 72 in its middle region which is dimensioned so as to be slightly larger than the diameter of the arm member hole 70. The arm member 54 is fixed in position relative to the plate 52 by two nuts 74 and 76, one on either side of the plate 52.

Thus, the position of the dowel 56 relative to the plate 52 can be easily altered by rotating the arm member 54 relative to the plate 52.

The securing means 58 comprises a threaded bolt 62 which passes through the elongate slot 60 of the plate 52. A first nut 78 is provided which sandwiches the plate 52 between the head 80 of the bolt 62 and that first nut 78. An expansion sleeve 82 is provided at the other end of the threaded bolt 62, having therein a threaded wedge anchor (not shown) which receives the bolt 62. Two locking nuts 84 and 86 and a washer 87 are provided to maintain a locked position on the bolt 62, so that when the bolt 62 is rotated, the two nuts 84 and 86 are stationary relative to the bolts that the expansion sleeve 82 is forced to adopt its expanded state.

In order to use the restraint device 50, the following steps are carried out. A hole 88 is drilled through an insulation layer 90 and into the wall 59.

The bolt 62 is passed through the slot 60 of the plate 52 and the first nut 78 is positioned so as to loosely sandwich the plate 52 between the head 80 of the bolt 62 and that first nut 78. The locking nuts 84 and 86 and the washer 87 are positioned at an appropriate distance along the length of the bolt 62 and are tightened so that the nuts 84 and 86 are locked in position on the bolt. The expansion sleeve 82 is attached to the end of the bolt, in an unexpanded state. The bolt 62 and expansion sleeve 82 are then pushed into the predrilled hole 88. The bolt 62 is rotated via bolt head 80 so as to pull the wedge anchor outwardly, so that the expansion sleeve 82 adopts its expanded state and is thus fixed in position. The first nut 78 is tightened to maintain the plate 52 in the desired orientation as described in more detail below.

The arm member 54 is screwed into the second hole 64 of the plate 52 and fixed at the desired location with the two nuts 74 and 76. The dowel 56 is dropped into the hole 70 at the end of the arm member 54, the flange 72 retaining the dowel 56 in the hole 70. The cladding elements 90 and 92 are arranged so that the dowel 56 extends into the vertical bores 94 and 96 thereof.

As will be appreciated, the lateral distance of the dowel 56 from the wall 59 can be altered by loosening nuts 74 and 76 and rotating the arm member 54 so as to move it either towards or away from the wall.

Furthermore, the restraint device is also adjustable in a vertical direction ie. in the direction of arrow A.

This is achieved by altering the position of the bolt 62 within the elongate slot 60. The restraint device 50 can also be adjusted in the horizontal direction by rotating the plate 52 about the bolt 62. Vertical movements of the arm member 54 resulting from such rotation can be compensated for as necessary by vertical adjustments permitted by the slot 60. The arm member 54, which is rotatable relative to the plate 52, permits the dowel 56 to maintain a vertical orientation when the plate 54 is rotated about the bolt 62. Once the restraint device 50 is in the desired position, nut 78 is tightened so as to retain the device in that position. In this way, relatively large tolerance variations can be accommodated with ease making the assembling process quicker and easier.

Instead of using nut 84 to lock nut 86 on the bolt 62, a spring clip 98 such as shown in Figure 8 can be used. The spring clip 98 is clipped onto the threaded part of the bolt 62 and is received in a thread thereof which prevents the clip 98 from moving along the length of the bolt 62. The clip is substantially circular with a small gap which allows the spring clip 98 to be clipped onto and removed from the bolt 62.

A second embodiment of the invention is shown in Figures 9 and 10. Those parts which are the same as the first embodiment are marked with the same reference numerals. The difference between the two embodiments resides in the threaded rod 102 used to attach the plate 52 to the wall 59. This rod 102 is shown in more detail in Figure 10. As can be seen, the rod 102 does not have a head and has two threaded portions 104 and 106 which are formed by cutting, not rolling. This is to ensure that the external diameter of the threaded portions 104 and 106 is the same as that of the unthreaded portion 110 of the rod 102. To position the rod 102 relative to the plate 52, nuts 78 and 108 are provided on either side of that plate. Furthermore, only a single nut 86 is required adjacent the expansion sleeve 82.This is because unthreaded portion 110 of the rod has the same diameter as the external diameter of the threaded portions. Thus the nut 86 cannot move onto the unthreaded portion 110.

In order to use this restraint device 100, a hole 88 is drilled through the insulation layer 90 into the wall. The nut 86 and the washer 87 are positioned on the rod 102 and the expansion sleeve 82 is attached to one end of the rod, which is then inserted through the drilled hole. The rod is then rotated so as to force the expansion sleeve 82 into its expanded state. The plate 52 is then fixed in position by the two bolts 108 and 78. The adjustment steps described in relation to the first embodiment are carried out as required.

As will be appreciated, these two embodiments of the present invention allow the restraint device to be attached to a wall and then adjustment of the position of the dowel carried out without affecting the security of the attachment to the wall. Moreover, there is no need to remove a substantial part of the insulation layer from the wall. Instead, the insulation layer and the wall can be drilled simultaneously. Furthermore, the embodiments of the invention are arranged so as to allow adjustment of the dowel normal to the wall and in a plane parallel to the wall. Both vertical and horizontal adjustment is permitted in the plane parallel to the wall.

Whilst the invention has been described particularly in relation to "lateral" movement, it will be appreciated that the invention can be used to restrain movement of cladding or similar elements in any appropriate direction. It will also be appreciated that the invention has applications to other suitable surfaces in addition to the described vertical wall surfaces.

Claims

1? A restraint device for preventing movement of cladding mounted on a wall in a direction normal to said wall, the device comprising a support member attachable to the wall by securing means and arranged to support an arm member having at one end region thereof means for engaging at least one cladding element to restrain movement thereof in said normal direction, said arm member being adjustably attachable to the'support member to vary the distance of said engaging means from the wall.

2. A restraint device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the securing means is arranged to locate the support member at a spacing from the wall.

3. A restraint device as claimed in claim 1 or 2, wherein the support member is provided with an elongate slot for receiving the securing means, said securing means being positionable at a plurality of locations along the length of said slot to thereby alter the position of said engaging means in a direction parallel to the wall.

4. A restraint device as claimed in claim 1, 2 or 3, wherein the support member is rotatably mounted by the securing means.

5. A restraint device as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the arm member is threadedly attachable to the support member whereby rotation of the arm member varies the distance of the engaging means from the wall.

6. A restraint device as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the support member is in the form of a plate having first and second portions which are parallel to each other and, in use, parallel to the wall and which are joined by an intermediate portion, the first portion being connectible to the securing means and the second portion being connectible to the arm member, and the second portion being offset from the first portion in the direction away from the wall.

7. A restraint device as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein said securing means comprises a headed threaded bolt.

8. A restraint device as claimed in any of claims 1 to 6, wherein said securing means comprises a headless threaded rod.

9. A restraint device as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein said engaging means comprises a flanged dowel which is received in a hole of said arm member, the flange of said dowel having a diameter greater than that of said hole.

10. A restraint device as claimed in claim 9, wherein said dowel is provided with the flange in a middle region thereof.

11. A restraint device substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to Figures 5 to 8 or Figures 9 and 10.