GB2317627A

GB2317627A - Securing cladding panels to a wall

Info

Publication number: GB2317627A
Application number: GB9620090A
Authority: GB
Inventors: John Grange
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1996-09-26
Filing date: 1996-09-26
Publication date: 1998-04-01
Also published as: GB9620090D0

Abstract

A method is disclosed for securing cladding panels to a wall. Threaded studs 24 are inserted into the wall 22, and individual fixing plates 16, 18, each having a screw threaded boss 30 secured to the plate with its axis normal to the plane of the plate, are screwed onto the studs 24. The fixing plates 16, 18 are rotated relative to the studs 30 until they all lie in the same predetermined plane, and the cladding panels 10, 12 are riveted to the fixing plates 16, 18.

Description

SECURING CLADDING PANELS TO A WALL The present invention relates to a method and a system for securing cladding panels to a wall.

In order to improve to appearance and thermal properties of buildings, especially older building with concrete external walls, it is known to secure cladding panels over the surface of the concrete and also to place a thermal insulation, such as rock wool, in the cavity between the cladding panels and the wall.

It is important that all the cladding panels should lie in exactly the same plane and the method and system used for fixing the cladding panels must allow the distance of the cladding panels from the wall to be set accurately.

Furthermore, because buildings cannot be relied upon to be perfectly square, the distance of the cladding panels from the wall is seldom constant over the entire surface of any particular wall.

In order to allow for such accurate alignment, the method of fixing cladding panels that it currently in use is to secure studs to the wall at regular intervals. Vertical rails are then secured to the studs using brackets that afford some latitude in the positioning of the rails, the rails being aligned using accurate surveying instruments such as lasers.

Such a method of fixing adds considerably to the cost of securing cladding panels to a building both because it is time consuming and because of the cost materials, namely the fixing rail and the brackets.

The present invention therefore seeks to provide a system and method of securing cladding panels to a wall that it simpler and less expensive to implement.

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of securing cladding panels to a wall, which comprises inserting threaded studs into the wall, providing a plurality of individual fixing plates each having a screw threaded boss secured to the plate with its axis normal to the plane of the plate, screwing the fixing plates onto the studs, the fixing plates being rotated relative to the studs until they all lie in the same predetermined plane, and securing the cladding panels to the fixing plates.

Preferably, locking means, such as lock nuts or an adhesive preparation applied to the screw threads, are provided to prevent the fixing plates from rotating on the studs after they have been accurately positioned.

Advantageously, the same fixing studs may be used to secure thermal insulation to the wall in the cavity between the wall and the cladding panel. To this end, the insulating material may be pushed over the projecting studs before the fixing plates are screwed onto the studs and fixing straps may be placed over the studs to hold the thermal insulation in place.

Such fixing straps may conveniently be formed of an elastomeric material having holes at regular interval that can simply be stretched over the studs. Once the fixing plates have been screwed onto the studs, the straps are held in place without the need to take any additional steps.

If the fixing plates are to lie in a given plane, the it is important to insert the studs into the building with their axes precisely normal to the desired fixing plane.

Furthermore, as earlier explained, the studs need not necessarily be normal to the surface of the wall. A drilling jig may be used, in order to achieve such correct alignment and positioning of the studs.

The correct fixing plane may be defined by stretching piano wire across pegs driven into the wall, the piano wire being accurately located in the same way as the fixing rail is positioned in the prior art fixing method. Once the desired fixing plane has been defined in this manner, the taught wires may be used as references points for positioning the fixing plates and the drilling jigs.

The studs may be held in the wall either by expansion fixings or by the use of a suitable filler that affords the studs an adequate grip in the wall to support the weight of the cladding panels.

In accordance with a second aspect of the invention, there is provided a system for fixing cladding panels to a wall, comprising a plurality of threaded studs for insertion into the wall and a plurality of fixing plates each having a screw threaded boss secured to the plate with its axis normal to the plane of the plate.

Preferably, the system further includes locking means, such as lock nuts or an adhesive preparation applied to the screw threads, to prevent the fixing plates from rotating on the studs.

Advantageously, the system additionally includes fixing straps formed of an elastomeric material and having holes at regular interval that can be stretched over the studs to secure thermal insulation to the wall in the cavity between the wall and the cladding panel.

The invention will now be described further, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 schematically shows three cladding panels secured to a wall by the fixing method of the present invention, Figure 2 is a section along the line II-II in Figure 1 and Figure 3 shows a strap for holding a thermally insulating material against the wall in the cavity between the cladding panels and the wall.

Figure 1 shows three cladding panels 10, 12 and 14 in which part of the panel 10 has been cut away to reveal two fixing plates 16. It should be mentioned that the drawing is not shown correctly to scale, as the fixing panels are up to 3.0 by 1.2 meters whereas the fixing plates are of about 10 to 15 cms in diameter. The fixing plate 18 being located at the junction between four cladding panels is larger than the fixing plate 16 to which only two cladding panels are fixed.

Referring now to Figure 2, the method of fixing the cladding panels to the wall will be described in greater detail. First a hole 20 is drilled into the wall 22 for receiving an externally threaded fixing stud 24. The hole 20 is accurately drilled so that the stud 24 should lie with its axis precisely normal to the desired plane of the cladding panels 12 and 14. The method of achieving this objective is described in more detail below. The threaded stud 24 is held in the hole either by an expansion fixing or, as illustrated, by using am appropriate filler.

After all the studs 24 have been inserted in the wall in their desired positions and with the correct orientation, rock wool is pressed onto the wall in large sheets and pushed over the studs so that the studs penetrate through the rock wool and hold it temporarily in place. Elastomeric straps 26 made of a material capable of withstanding the environmental stresses are stretched over the studs 24 to form a lattice of straps for holding the insulation securely in place. The straps 26 have holes 28 arranged at regular intervals allowing them simply to be stretched from one stud onto another.

Each of the plates 16, 18 to which the cladding panels 12 and 14 are secured, has a boss 30, typically 40 mm in length and 15 mm in diameter, fixed onto its reverse side and lying with its axis normal to the plane of the plate 16, 18. The boss 30 has an internal thread, typically 10 mm in diameter, to be screwed directly onto the threaded stud 24 and the plate is rotated until it lies in the desired plane.

A locking compound is applied to the threads so that once the plate has been turned to the desired extent, it will remain in its set position while the panels 12 and 14 are secured to it by means of rivets 32.

A flat aluminium strip 34, preferably anodised black, is placed between the cladding panels and the mounting plates 16, 18 to form a black flash gap between the panels and provide a neater appearance. The aluminium strip 34 is held in place by the panels 12 and 14, the rivets securing the panels 16, 18 to the mounting plates 16, 18 passing also through the aluminium strip 34.

To mount the cladding panels, pegs are first inserted near the edges of the building and piano wire is stretched taught between the pegs. The pegs and wires are positioned accurately using plumb lines and laser markers to define planes that are exactly vertical and at the appropriate angle to one another. At each point where a fixing plate is to be secured, a drilling jig is positioned so that a reference plane of the jig lies exactly parallel to the plane of the reference wires. Thereafter a hole is drilled into the wall along the normal to the reference plane and a stud 24 is inserted in the hole.

After all the studs 24 have been inserted at the correct position to coincide with the edges of the cladding panels, the insulation is placed over the wall and held in position by the'straps 26 in the manner earlier described and the plates 16 and 18 are then screwed to the studs until they all lie at a predetermined distance from the reference wires. The plates 16 and 18 do not contact the wires to avoid the position of the wires being disturbed if any of the plates should be mounted incorrectly.

The cladding panels 10, 12 and 14 are then secured to the fixing plates. The cladding panels have pre-drilled holes and a hole is drilled in one of the plates 18 to receive a rivet passing through the cladding panel. The rivet used for this first corner is received in the hole in the cladding panel without clearance so as to position the cladding panel accurately on the building. Holes are then drilled in the remaining fixing plates centred on the predrilled holes in the cladding panels and these receive rivets 32 that pass with clearance through the holes in the cladding panels, as shown in Figure 2. This clearance allows small movements of the panels to allow for movement in the building. The strip 34 is placed between the panels and is held in place between the cladding panels and the fixing plates once the rivets 32 are tightened.

For an improved appearance, caps (not shown) are fitted over the heads of the rivets and such caps fitted to washers captured between the heads of the rivets and the surface of the cladding panels.

Claims

1. A method of securing cladding panels to a wall, which comprises inserting threaded studs into the wall, providing a plurality of individual fixing plates each having a screw threaded boss secured to the plate with its axis normal to the plane of the plate, screwing the fixing plates onto the studs, the fixing plates being rotated relative to the studs until they all lie in the same predetermined plane, and securing the cladding panels to the fixing plates.

2. A method as claimed in claim 1, wherein locking means, such as lock nuts or an adhesive preparation applied to the screw threads, are provided to prevent the fixing plates from rotating on the studs after they have been accurately positioned.

3. A method as claimed in claim 1 or 2, wherein the same fixing studs are used to secure thermal insulation to the wall in the cavity between the wall and the cladding panel.

4. A method as claimed in claim 3, in which the insulating material is pushed over the projecting studs before the fixing plates are screwed onto the studs and fixing straps are placed over the studs to hold the thermal insulation in place.

5. A method as claimed in claim 4, wherein the fixing straps are formed of an elastomeric material having holes at regular interval that are stretched over the studs.

6. A method as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the studs are held in the wall by expansion fixings or by the use of a suitable filler.

7. A system for fixing cladding panels to a wall comprising a plurality of threaded studs for insertion into the wall and a plurality of fixing plates each having a screw threaded boss secured to the plate with its axis normal to the plane of the plate.

8. A system as claimed in claim 7, further including locking means, such as lock nuts or an adhesive preparation applied to the screw threads, to prevent the fixing plates from rotating on the studs.

9. A system as claimed in claim 7 or 8, further comprising fixing straps formed of an elastomeric material and having holes at regular interval that can be stretched over the studs to secure thermal insulation to the wall in the cavity between the wall and the cladding panel.

10. A method of securing cladding panels to a wall substantially as herein described with reference to and as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.