GB2374614A

GB2374614A - Wall cladding fitting

Info

Publication number: GB2374614A
Application number: GB0205895A
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: GB0106081D0; GB0205895D0

Abstract

A fitting for attaching wall cladding comprises a body 1 from which extends a lip 6, an outer portion of the lip forming a return for extending over and trapping an engagement element 21, one of the fitting and engagement element to be provided on the cladding and the other on a substrate for the cladding. The body 1 is preferably annular.

Description

1 Wall Claddincr Fitting 2 3 The present invention relates to a fitting 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.

13 14 The traditional method of mounting cladding panels is 15 by the"rod and hook"method. Horizontal rods are 16 provided which are either spaced in front of the 17 existing wall to be clad or within the skeletal 18 structure on which the wall is to be built. Hooks 19 are provided on the back of the cladding panels so 20 that the panel hangs on the rod. These hooks are 21 usually attached to the cladding panel by standard 22 screw or bolt type mechanical fixtures. Depending on

1 the overall height of the panel, there will be two or 2 more pairs of hooks provided on the back of the 3 panel. Each pair of hooks is disposed so that there 4 is one hook on each of the opposite vertical edges of 5 the cladding panel. This ensures enough support for 6 the panel and also ensures that the cladding panel 7 stays parallel to the plane of the existing wall or 8 skeletal structure. If only one pair of hooks was 9 used the panel would tend to pivot around the rod.

10 11 There are a number of disadvantages to this method.

12 Firstly, correct alignment of each hook on the 13 cladding panel can be difficult to achieve. If the 14 hooks are not aligned correctly then the cladding 15 panel may not sit aligned exactly vertical.

16 Generally, cladding panels are disposed side by side, 17 and each one has to be correctly aligned with its 18 neighbour for the overall cladding to have an 19 attractive appearance.

20 21 Secondly, very precise positioning of each hook is 22 necessary if a good contact is to be made between 23 each hook and rod. If a hook does not fully contact 24 the rod unwanted movement or vibration may be evident 25 in the cladding panel.

26 27 Thirdly, the hooks can be of a complex design and 28 therefore difficult and expensive to manufacture.

29 Surmounting these disadvantages increases the cost 30 and time spent on cladding projects.

1 According to a first aspect of the present invention 2 there is provided a wall cladding fitting for 3 applying cladding to a substrate, comprising a body 4 from which extends a lip, an outer portion of the lip 5 forming a return for extending over and trapping an 6 engagement element, one of the fitting and the 7 engagement element to be provided on the cladding and 8 the other on the substrate.

9 10 Preferably the body is annular or circular, and 11 preferably also the lip extends around the 12 circumference.

13 14 Preferably the fitting is made of nylon or other 15 resilient material.

16 17 Preferably the fitting has a central through hole to 18 allow fixing to a cladding panel or substrate by a 19 screw or other mechanical fastener.

20 21 Preferably also the fitting has rotational symmetry 22 about the axis of the hole.

23 24 Preferably the body decreases in thickness towards 25 the lip.

26 27 Preferably the lip's angle is in the region of 3 to 28 250 to the intended plane of the cladding.

29

1 The fitting preferably has an end face for abutting 2 the cladding or the substrate, and the angle of the 3 lip is also 3 to 25 to the plane of said end face.

4 5 According to a second aspect of the present 6 invention, there is provided a wall cladding system 7 including at least one wall cladding fitting 8 according to the first aspect of the present 9 invention.

10 11 An embodiment of the invention will now be described 12 by way of example only with reference to the 13 accompanying drawings, in which: 14 15 Fig. 1 is a plan view of a cladding fitting 16 according to the invention; 17 18 Fig. 2 is a side view of the fitting of Fig. 1 ; 19 20 Fig. 3 is a section on A-A of the fitting of 21 Fig. 1; 22 23 Fig. 4 is a front isometric view of the 24 fitting of Fig. 1; 25 26 Fig. 5 is a rear isometric view of the fitting 27 of Fig. 1; 28 29 Fig. 6 is a side view of a cladding fitting 30 according to the invention attached to a panel 31 and mounted; and

1 2 Fig. 7 is an isometric view of the cladding 3 fittings showing how they are situated when the 4 panel (not shown) is mounted.

5 6 Referring to the drawings and initially to Fig. 1, 7 there is provided a cladding fitting generally 8 indicated as 1. The detailed form of the fitting 1 9 can be seen more clearly in Figs. 2 and 3 and 10 comprises a central cylindrical boss 3 from which 11 extends an annular flange 4. Through the centre of 12 the boss 3 and annular flange 4 there is a hole 2 13 which is countersunk into the annular flange 4. The 14 annular flange 4 tapers towards its outer edge and 15 terminates in a lip 6 which extends around the 16 outside edge of the annular flange 4, the lip 6 being 17 slightly inclined at an angle to the plane of the end 18 face of the annular flange 4 (in this case 19 approximately 8 ).

20 21 In use, pairs of fittings 1 are screwed through the 22 countersunk hole 2 to the rear of a panel 10 (Fig. 6) 23 to be used for cladding. An extruded rail 20 is 24 screwed to the existing wall 100 or skeletal 25 structure which is to be clad. The extruded rail 20 26 is in the form of a U-section plate with flanges 21 27 along each edge of the U. The flanges 21 are 28 substantially flat plates 22 with tapering wedge 29 profiles 23 one along each edge. The outer edges of 30 the wedge profiles 23 are formed with a smooth and 31 rounded finish. The wedge profiles 23 themselves

1 each extend for approximately a quarter to a third of 2 the overall width of the flat plate 22.

3 4 For installation, the cladding panel 10 is manoeuvred 5 into position so that the fittings 1 are slightly 6 above the corresponding flanges 21 on the extruded 7 rail 20. The panel 10 is then lowered into its 8 resting position in which each fitting 1 and 9 corresponding flange 21 are in close physical contact 10 such that the lip 6 of the fitting 1 passes the 11 innermost edge of the wedge profile 23. The inner 12 surface of the flange 4 on the fitting 1 is in 13 contact with the angled face of the wedge profile 23 14 and the rounded edge of the wedge profile 23 abuts 15 the boss 3. The lip 6 has some resilience and, as it 16 passes the inner surface of the wedge profile 23, 17 acts much like a clip to secure the arrangement in 18 place.

19 20 In the standard"hook and rod"set-up, if any of the 21 hooks is not in exact alignment with the overall 22 layout, there is little or no contact between the 23 misaligned hook and the rod. This means that a 24 correct fit of the panel is not achieved at that 25 particular point and the panel may move or become 26 subject to unwanted vibration. Each hook must also 27 be aligned so that its vertical portion, which is 28 situated behind the rod in use, is parallel to the 29 vertical edge of the cladding panel. If one screw or 30 bolt is used to attach the hook to the cladding 31 panel, the hook may pivot around the attachment

1 point, making a good contact difficult to achieve.

2 If the hook is attached by more than one bolt or 3 screw, then aligning all the attachment points, so 4 that the vertical portion of the hook is parallel to 5 the vertical edge of the cladding, can be difficult 6 and time-consuming.

7 8 A fitting of the present embodiment of the invention 9 that is not aligned to the overall layout will still 10 give ample contact and support due to the lip 6. The 11 lip 6 of any unaligned fittings 1 is forced against 12 the upper surface of the wedge profile 23 and acts as 13 a damper. Thus, movement and vibration are 14 effectively eliminated. Further, since the fittings 15 1 are symmetrical around the central axis only one 16 attachment point is required since rotation around 17 the central axis has no dimensional effect.

18 19 The tolerances that can be accommodated will depend 20 on the particular dimensions chosen for the fitting 21 1, but it has been found that an annular flange 4 22 diameter of approximately 25mm will accommodate 23 vertical misalignments of 2.7mm (approximately 11%).

24 25 The invention is not limited to the embodiment 26 hereinbefore described but may be varied in both 27 construction and detail.

Claims

1 CLAIMS 2

3 1. A wall cladding fitting for applying cladding

4 to a substrate, comprising a body from which extends

5 a lip, an outer portion of the lip forming a return

6 for extending over and trapping an engagement

7 element, one of the fitting and the engagement

8 element to be provided on the cladding and the other

9 on the substrate.

10 11

2. A wall cladding fitting according to Claim 1 12 wherein the body is annular.

13 14

3. A wall cladding fitting according to Claim 2 15 wherein the lip extends around the circumference of 16 the body.

17 18

4. A wall cladding fitting according to any 19 preceding claim wherein the fitting is made of 20 resilient material.

21 22

5. A wall cladding fitting according to any 23 preceding claim wherein the fitting is made of 24 nylon.

25 26

6. A wall cladding fitting according to any 27 preceding claim wherein the fitting has a central 28 through hole to receive a mechanical fastener.

29 30

7. A wall cladding fitting according to Claim 6 31 wherein the fitting has rotational symmetry about 32 the axis of the hole.

1

2

8. A wall cladding fitting according to any

3 preceding claim wherein the body decreases in

4 thickness towards the lip.

5

6

9. A wall cladding fitting according to any

7 preceding claim wherein the angle of the lip is in

8 the region of 30 to 250 to the intended plane of the

9 cladding.

10 11

10. A wall cladding fitting according to any 12 preceding claim further including an end face for 13 abutting one of the cladding or the substrate, the 14 plane of said end face being substantially parallel 15 to the intended plane of the cladding.

16 17

11. A wall cladding system including at least one 18 wall cladding fitting according to any preceding 19 claim.

20 21

12. A wall cladding fitting substantially as herein 22 described with reference to Figs. 1 to 5.

23 24

13. A wall cladding system substantially as herein 25 described with reference to Figs. 6 and 7.