GB2374613A

GB2374613A - Wall cladding system

Info

Publication number: GB2374613A
Application number: GB0205892A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Brian Watson; Anthony Arthur Wills; Trevor Henman
Original assignee: GRANFIT HOLDINGS Ltd
Current assignee: GRANFIT HOLDINGS Ltd
Priority date: 2001-03-13
Filing date: 2002-03-13
Publication date: 2002-10-23
Also published as: GB0205892D0; GB0106083D0

Abstract

A cladding panel is mounted adjustably on a substrate such as a wall by means of an assembly comprising a supporting member such as a rail 20 mounted on e.g. the wall, and a fitting 40 on the panel which is supported by the member 20, the fitting 40 having a cam surface engaging member 20 and being movable, e.g. rotatable, to select the part of the cam surface which engages the member. The fitting may have a polygonal cam surface and a head with flats to enable it to be turned by a spanner. The assembly may also comprise a fixing member 30 mounted on the panel and engaging the rail 20, the member 30 comprising two parts allowing two dimensional relative motion between them.

Description

1 Wall Claddinq System 2 3 The present invention relates to a system for wall 4 cladding.

5 6 Wall cladding is a method by which panels are 7 attached to an existing structure either to provide 8 an attractive or protective facade to an existing 9 wall or to form a wall on to a skeletal structure.

10 In many cases it is advantageous if the cladding is 11 not permanent and can be removed to allow access 12 behind the panels. It is also advantageous if the 13 system can be adapted so that the cladding becomes 14 semi-permanent so that additional loading can be 15 applied to the cladding panel without the cladding 16 detaching itself from its fixing points.

17 18 The traditional method of mounting cladding panels is 19 by the"rod and hook"method. Horizontal rods are 20 provided which are either spaced in front of the 21 existing wall to be clad or within the skeletal 22 structure on which the wall is to be built. Hooks

1 are provided on the back of the cladding panels so 2 that the panel hangs on the rod. These hooks are 3 usually attached to the cladding panel by standard 4 screw or bolt type mechanical fixtures. Depending on 5 the overall height of the panel, there will be two or 6 more pairs of hooks provided on the back of the 7 panel. Each pair of hooks is disposed so that one 8 hook is placed at each of the opposite vertical edges 9 of the cladding panel. This ensures enough support 10 for the panel and also ensures that the cladding 11 panel stays parallel to the plane of the existing 12 wall or skeletal structure. If only one pair of 13 hooks was used the panel would tend to pivot around 14 the rod.

15 16 There are several disadvantages to this method.

17 18 The method does not cope well with tolerances. If 19 the hooks are misaligned unwanted movement and 20 vibration are apparent in the panel.

21 22 When panels are being mounted they require to be 23 placed slightly above their final position and 24 allowed to fall into place so that the hook contacts 25 the rod in the prescribed manner. To remove the 26 panel this process is reversed. The panel requires 27 to be lifted first vertically so that the hook clears 28 the rod and then the panel can be removed from its 29 position in the cladding arrangement. If the gap 30 between successive vertical panels is less than the 31 distance the panel needs to be lifted before the hook

1 clears the rod, the panel immediately above also 2 requires to be removed. As most cladding 3 arrangements involve numerous cladding panels, 4 gaining access behind a single panel can be 5 complicated and time consuming.

6 7 The rods used in traditional cladding arrangements 8 can be complicated to set up on site and can require 9 pre-machining or other process that adds to the cost 10 and time of the project.

11 12 The rods can be difficult to mount and may require 13 special fittings to attach them to the wall or 14 structure to be clad.

15 16 In many cases subsidiary features such as shelving, 17 mirrors or cabinets require to be added to the 18 cladding. This can be difficult to mount directly 19 onto the cladding if it is of an unsuitable material 20 for mechanical fixtures.

21 22 According to the present invention there is provided 23 a wall cladding system for use in mounting a cladding 24 panel on a substrate, comprising a support member to 25 be secured on one of the substrate and the panel, and 26 a fitting to be secured on the other of the panel and 27 the substrate and engageable with the support member, 28 the fitting having a cam surface for engaging the 29 support member and being movable so as to allow 30 selection of the part of the cam surface that engages 31 the support member.

1 2 Further according to the invention there is provided 3 a wall cladding system for use in mounting a cladding 4 panel on a substrate, comprising a support member to 5 be secured on one of the substrate and the panel, and 6 a fixing member to be secured on one of the panel and 7 the support member and engageable with the support 8 member, the fixing member having a first part for 9 securing on one of the panel and the support member 10 and a second part mounted on the first part in a 11 manner providing two-dimensional movement between 12 them.

13 14 Preferably the support member is in the form of a 15 rail having along it formations on which the fitting 16 and/or the fixing member can be supported, thus 17 providing facility for random positioning of the 18 fitting and/or the fixing member on the support 19 member in one direction. The rail may have flanges 20 for engagement with the fitting and/or the fixing 21 member so as to trap the fitting and/or the fixing 22 member against movement in a second direction.

23 24 Preferably also at least a portion of the fitting is 25 rotatable to bring different areas of the cam surface 26 into engagement with the support member in use. The 27 fitting may have connection means that allows it to 28 be rotated in its entirety while secured to the panel 29 or the substrate, or it may comprise first and second 30 portions which are rotatable relative to one another.

1 Preferably the cam surface is in the form of a series 2 of flats disposed around the fitting so as to provide 3 more than point or line engagement with the support 4 member in use.

5 6 The fitting may be provided with a profile adapted 7 for engagement by a hand tool such as a spanner, so 8 as to allow the fitting to be moved in use to select 9 the part of the cam surface that engages the support 10 member. Said profile is conveniently a hexagonal 11 head.

12 13 An embodiment of the invention will now be described 14 by way of example only with reference to the 15 accompanying drawings, in which: 16 17 Fig. 1 is an isometric view of a wall cladding 18 system for installing a cladding system 19 according to the invention; 20 21 Fig. 2 is a side view of the extruded rail of 22 Fig. 1; 23 24 Fig. 3 is an isometric view of the clip fitting

25 of Fig. 1 ; 26 27 Fig. 4 is an isometric view of the levelling 28 support of Fig. 1 ; 29

1 Fig. 5 is an isometric view of the wall cladding 2 system of Fig. 1 showing the installation of the 3 clip fitting into the extruded rail; and 4 5 Fig. 6 is a side view of cladding installed with 6 the wall cladding system of Fig. 1.

7 8 Referring to the drawings and initially to Fig. 1, 9 there is provided a wall cladding system for 10 installing a cladding system generally indicated as 11 1. The system includes three components; an extruded 12 rail 20, a clip fitting 30 and a levelling support 13 40.

14 15 The extruded rail 20 is in the form of a U-section 16 plate with flanges 22 extending at right angles to 17 the legs of the U and disposed at the outer edges of 18 the U. The extruded rail 20 is attached to the wall 19 10 (Fig. 6) or structure to be clad with bolts, 20 screws or similar mechanical fasteners. It is to be 21 understood though that any suitable method of 22 attachment can be used such as adhesives, rivets, 23 welding, etc. without departing from the scope of the 24 invention. The flanges 22 are substantially flat 25 plates 23 with two tapering wedge profiles 24 on each 26 edge. The outer edges of the wedge profiles 24 are 27 formed with a smooth and rounded finish. The wedge 28 profiles 24 themselves each extend for approximately 29 a quarter to a third of the overall width of the flat 30 plate 23.

31

1 The clip fittings 30 are formed from two components- 2 a central metal clip 31 in an injection moulded 3 plastic housing 32. The central metal clip 31 is of 4 a known type and is adapted to receive a stud fitting 5 50 (Fig. 6). The metal clip 31 contains a central 6 float section 31a in a casing 31b. The float section 7 31a allows the stud fitting 50 to move vertically 8 while the float section 31a itself can move 9 horizontally within the casing 31b. Thus, tolerances 10 in the placement of the stud fittings 50 in both the 11 horizontal and vertical directions can be 12 accommodated.

13 14 The levelling support 40 is formed in the shape of a 15 central polygonal section 41 disposed between an 16 asymmetrical generally D-shaped flange 44 and a 17 hexagonal face 43. The number of sides of the 18 polygonal section 41 can vary depending on the total 19 vertical displacement and the number of levelling 20 increments required. Through the centre of the 21 levelling support 40 is a countersunk hole 42 for 22 attachment of the levelling support 40 to the 23 cladding panel 100 (Fig. 6). The central axis of the 24 polygonal section 41 is offset from the axis of the 25 hole 42. The head 43 is adapted to receive a spanner 26 by having flats provided around its periphery.

27 28 In use stud fittings 50 are attached to the rear 29 surface of the cladding panel 100, the number of 30 fittings 50 depending on the height of the cladding 31 panel 100. Each stud 50 is located adjacent a

1 vertical edge of the cladding panel 100. A levelling 2 support 40 is screwed to the cladding panel 100 at 3 each of the lower corners.

4 5 The clip fittings 30 are mounted within the extruded 6 rail 20. The clip fittings 30 have two out-of-plane 7 fasteners 33 located at opposite sides of the clip 8 fitting 30. The clip fittings 30 are placed into the 9 extruded rail 20 at an angle and then rotated so that 10 the slot on the central metal clip 31 runs 11 vertically. The two fasteners 33 thus clip behind 12 the wedge profiles 24 between the two flanges 22 and 13 secure the clip fitting 30 in place.

14 15 In addition to the extruded rails 20 retaining the 16 clip fittings 30, there is also provided a lower 17 support extruded rail 20 near the bottom of the 18 cladding panel 100.

19 20 Once the stud fittings 50 have been attached to the 21 cladding panel 100, the levelling supports 40 are 22 screwed to the panel 100 through the holes 42, and 23 with the extruded rails 20 and clip fittings 30 in 24 place, the wall 10 or skeletal structure is ready to 25 be clad.

26 27 The cladding panel 100 is manoeuvred into position so 28 that the bottom face of the central polygonal section 29 41 of the levelling support 40 contacts the upper 30 wedge profile 24 of the upper flange 22 of the lower 31 support extruded rail 20. The panel 100 is then

1 pivoted around this contact into position so that the 2 clip fittings 30 are aligned with the stud fittings 3 50, and the panel 100 clips into position.

4 5 Any misalignment of individual stud fittings 50 is 6 accommodated by the slight vertical and horizontal 7 movement allowed by the central metal clips 31 of the 8 clip fittings 30.

9 10 Once in place the levelling supports 40 adjacent the 11 lower corners of the cladding panel 100 can be 12 adjusted by rotating them around their central axes 13 to either raise or lower each corner, by cam action.

14 In this way the cladding panel 100 can be correctly 15 aligned. In the present embodiment each step 16 rotation of the levelling support 40 raises or lowers 17 the corner it is attached to by approximately 0.333 18 mm. It is to be understood that this can be varied 19 in line with the necessary requirements and may also 20 be, for example, O. lmm, 0. 25mm, 0. 5mm etc.

21 22 In an alternative arrangement, the cladding can be 23 made semi-permanent by the addition of levelling 24 supports 40 at the upper corners of the cladding 25 panel 100. In this arrangement the upper levelling 26 supports 40 are first aligned so that the flat 27 surface of the D-shaped flange 44 is facing downwards 28 and is parallel to the extruded rail 20. When the 29 cladding panel 100 is clipped into position the 30 flange 44 is then behind the upper extruded rail 20.

31 The upper levelling supports 40 can then be rotated

1 through 1800 around their axes. The lip 44a of the 2 flange 44 (Fig. 4) then locates behind the wedge 3 profile 24 of the flange 22. Increased loading on 4 the cladding panel 100 is then supported by the 5 contact between the upper face of the wedge profile 6 24 and the lip 44a of the flange 44.

7 8 A plate spanner 70 (Fig. 5) is used to rotate the 9 levelling supports 40 and clip fittings 30 into 10 position.

11 12 In addition to the features detailed above, the 13 system can also accept additional seals or subsidiary 14 features which attach directly onto the extruded rail 15 20 rather than the fascia of the cladding panel 100.

16 In this example, a vertical seal 60 is attached to 17 the extruded rail 20. In this case the vertical seal 18 60 is in the form of a T section with two V shaped 19 rubber seals 61 on either branch of the T. The 20 vertical seal 60 is located at the junction between 21 neighbouring cladding panels 100. When the cladding 22 panel 100 is clipped into place, the edges of the 23 panel 100 are forced against the V-shaped rubber 24 seals 61, which are resilient and form a seal against 25 the cladding panel. Horizontal seals (not shown) are 26 also provided along the upper and lower edges of the 27 cladding panel 100. The cladding can therefore be 28 made watertight for protection against ingress of 29 water, dust or other foreign matter. As well as the 30 simple T-shaped section other auxiliary devices can 31 be added to the system. A range of vertical sections

1 which are disposed between the neighbouring cladding 2 panels 100 can be extended a suitable distance out 3 from the fascia of the panels 100 and used to mount 4 shelving, cabinets, etc.

5 6 The apparatus 1 also offers the additional advantage 7 of allowing a variety of background structures to be 8 used as the basis for the cladding. This may range 9 from a simple timber post type system as a budget 10 option to a more complicated metal structure, such as 11 the Grant Westfield heavy duty steel support system, 12 to provide a more robust and versatile solution. The 13 apparatus 1 can also be mounted onto a more solid 14 support base such as brickwork, blockwork or set 15 concrete.

16 17 The invention is not limited to the embodiments 18 hereinbefore described but may be varied in both 19 construction and detail.

20

Claims

1 CLAIMS 2

3 1. A wall cladding system for use in mounting a

4 cladding panel on a substrate, comprising a support

5 member to be secured on one of the substrate and the

6 panel, and a fitting to be secured on the other of

7 the panel and the substrate and engageable with the

8 support member, the fitting having a cam surface for

9 engaging the support member and being movable so as 10 to allow selection of the part of the cam surface 11 that engages the support member.

12 13

2. A wall cladding system for use in mounting a 14 cladding panel on a substrate according to Claim 1 15 further including a fixing member to be secured on 16 one of the panel and the support member and 17 engageable with the support member, the fixing 18 member having a first part for securing on one of 19 the panel and the support member and a second part 20 mounted on the first part in a manner providing two- 21 dimensional movement between them.

22 23

3. A wall cladding system for use in mounting a 24 cladding panel according to Claims 1 or 2 wherein 25 the support member is in the form of a rail having 26 along it formations on which the fitting can be 27 supported.

28 29

4. A wall cladding system for use in mounting a 30 cladding panel according to Claim 3 wherein the rail 31 further includes flanges for engagement with the

1 fitting so as to trap the fitting against movement

2 in a second direction.

3

4

5. A wall cladding system for use in mounting a

5 cladding panel according to any preceding claim

6 wherein at least a portion of the fitting is

7 rotatable to bring different areas of the cam

8 surface into engagement with the support member in

9 use.

10 11

6. A wall cladding system for use in mounting a 12 cladding panel according to any preceding claim 13 wherein the cam surface is in the form of a series 14 of flats disposed around the fitting.

15 16

7. A wall cladding system for use in mounting a 17 cladding panel according to any preceding claim 18 wherein the fitting is provided with a profile 19 adapted for engagement by a hand tool.

20 21

8. A wall cladding system for use in mounting a 22 cladding panel according to Claim 7 wherein said 23 profile is a hexagonal head.

24 25

9. A wall cladding system for use in mounting a 26 cladding panel on a substrate, comprising a support 27 member to be secured on one of the substrate and the 28 panel, and a fixing member to be secured on one of 29 the panel and the support member and engageable with 30 the support member, the fixing member having a first 31 part for securing on one of the panel and the 32 support member and a second part mounted on the

1 first part in a manner providing two-dimensional

2 movement between them.

3

4

10. A wall cladding system for use in mounting a

5 cladding panel on a substrate according to Claim 9

6 further including a fitting to be secured on one of

7 the panel and the substrate and engageable with the

8 support member, the fitting having a cam surface for

12 13

11. A wall cladding system for use in mounting a 14 cladding panel according to Claims 9 or 10 wherein 15 the support member is in the form of a rail having 16 along it formations on which the fixing member can 17 be supported.

18 19

12. A wall cladding system for use in mounting a 20 cladding panel according to Claim 11 wherein the 21 rail further includes flanges for engagement with 22 the fixing member so as to trap the fixing member 23 against movement in a second direction.

24 25

13. A wall cladding system for use in mounting a 26 cladding panel according to any of Claims 10 to 12 27 wherein at least a portion of the fitting is 28 rotatable to bring different areas of the cam 29 surface into engagement with the support member in 30 use.

31

1

14. A wall cladding system for use in mounting a

2 cladding panel according to any of Claims 10 to 13

3 wherein the cam surface is in the form of a series

4 of flats disposed around the fitting.

5

6

15. A wall cladding system for use in mounting a

7 cladding panel according to any of Claims 10 to 14

8 wherein the fitting is provided with a profile

9 adapted for engagement by a hand tool.

10 11

16. A wall cladding system for use in mounting a 12 cladding panel according to Claim 15 wherein said 13 profile is a hexagonal head.

14 15

17. A wall cladding system for use in mounting a 16 cladding panel substantially as herein described 17 with reference to the accompanying drawings.