GB2377459A

GB2377459A - Joining panels of plastics underfloor insulation

Info

Publication number: GB2377459A
Application number: GB0214497A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Julian Mark Dison; John Michael Dison
Original assignee: H Gordon and Co Ltd
Current assignee: H Gordon and Co Ltd
Priority date: 2001-06-23
Filing date: 2002-06-24
Publication date: 2003-01-15
Anticipated expiration: 2022-06-24
Also published as: GB0115410D0; GB0214497D0; GB2377459B

Abstract

Overlapping parts of plastics underfloor insulation panels 5, 11, are joined using a member 13 of wire having a return bend which produces a barb at the leading end, and a loop which produces a "handle" at the trailing end. In use the member 13 is pushed through sheets 5, 11 where they overlap until the barb has passed through; the member 13 is then rotated and pulled back so that the barb impales the lower sheet 11, and the head portion is then bent over to contact the upper surface of sheet 5. The system is of use in connecting sheets of insulation under a floor comprising concrete beams 1,3, and panels 7,11, and 5, over all of which concrete is cast. Where an infill panel such as 11 is needed, this is joined to panel 7 by a wire dowel 15 of the shape shown.

Description

Title : Method and apparatus for connecting insulating floor panels DESCRIPTION The present invention relates to a method of connecting insulating panels, especially panels used in constructing floors in buildings, and to a clip for use in the method.

A common floor construction for buildings utilises prestressed concrete beams of inverted T-section set at spaced intervals and infilled with panels, of insulating material. Concrete is laid over this substructure to create a smooth load bearing floor surface. A preferred configuration of insulating panel has one edge formed with a groove to engage with and overlie the head of one T-beam, whilst its other edge has a tongue to cooperate with another T-beam spaced from the first, and which in turn will be contacted by a limb of the groove of the next adjacent insulation panel so as to provide a continuous insulation layer when viewed from underneath. In certain situations the use of this standard component alone does not allow the desired abutment/overlay of adjacent panel members. For example, in some situations two concrete beams are disposed side by side. The underside of the two beams is too wide to be covered by the limb of the standard panel and a separate piece of insulation has to be inserted to bridge the gap. At present this is intended to be done using a first length of wire with an intermediate stop formation which acts as a dowel to enable two adjacent edges of insulating material to be joined in abutting relation, and for a

second length of wire having a stop at one end to be pushed through two pieces of insulation which overlap one another at their other edge. Once inserted the free end of the wire has to be bent over to hold the panels in overlapping engagement. However, inserting this second length of wire and subsequently bending over the end to hold the panels together presents difficulties as it requires access to both the upper and under sides of the floor. Furthermore, it is difficult to bend the clip as the insulation offers little resistance. The present invention aims to provide a solution.

Accordingly, a first aspect of the invention provides a method of connecting overlapping parts of insulating panels of a flooring system using a retaining member having a head at one end and a hook at its other end, in which method the hook of the retaining member is pushed through the overlapping parts of the insulating panels from one side until the hook protrudes from the other side of the panel, the retaining member is then rotated and drawn back to engage the hooked end with said other side of the panel assembly, and then the head is deformed into engagement with the said one side of the panel assembly.

Another aspect of the invention provides apparatus for securing together overlapping parts of insulation panels, the apparatus comprising a slender elongate member having a hook at one end directed toward the trailing end, and a head formed at or adjacent to the trailing end, and wherein the head is movably deformable in a direction towards the leading end.

More particularly, the apparatus is formed from a length of wire. The hook is formed by bending back one end of the wire. Where the panels are

polystyrene insulation the optimum angle for the hooked end has been found to be 450 to the elongate member and the optimum length 15mm. Other lengths and angles will work, but whilst reducing the angle makes it easier to insert, the retention is reduced, and whilst increasing the angle provides better retention, it makes it more difficult to insert.

The head is formed by bending the wire into a loop, for example a D or oval shape, which is in a plane which initially is substantially normal to the axis of the elongate member. We find it particularly advantageous if the head includes a first portion that is disposed substantially at right angles to the said axis and spaced from a panel engagement portion of the head. With such a construction, bending of the head to secure the panels in place is achieved by twisting of the wire along said first portion. This is achieved more easily than bending of the wire section. Furthermore, the twisting movement is achieved relative to the elongate member. This makes it easier to bend than with the prior art clip where the operator has to try and support the clip if deformation of the panel is to be avoided.

Accordingly, in the preferred method, the retaining member comprises a wire member as aforedescribed and the preferred method involves inserting the retaining member from the upperside, and deformation of the head by twisting of wire to bring a spaced portion of the head into contact with upper side of the panel assembly.

The present invention will now be described further, by way of example only with reference to the accompanying drawings; in which :-

Figure 1 is a perspective view illustrating part of a floor structure that is secured in place in accordance with the invention, Figure 2 is an end view of part of the panels of Figure 1, Figures 3a, 3b and 3c are side end and plan views of fixing apparatus according to one aspect of the invention; Figure 4 is a perspective view of a wire dowel, Figure 5 is a schematic view of a prior art system of infilling spaces in the flooring, Figure 6 is a schematic end view showing an alternative to the system of Figure 5, and Figure 7 is a perspective view to an enlarged scale of the fixing of Figure 6.

Referring firstly to Figures 1,2, 3 and 4, there is illustrated a floor construction that requires polystyrene insulation panels to be secured together in overlapping relation. Two pre-stressed inverted T-section concrete beams 1,3 are shown disposed side by side. Part of a first preformed polystyrene insulating panel is shown at 5, and another part of a second preformed polystyrene insulating panel is shown at 7. The two parts show the configuration of the opposite edges that make up any panel and it will be apparent that when only one T-beam is present, the opposite edges of two adjacent panels are supported by the T-beam and that the projecting limb part 9 overlies the underside of the T-beam. No fixing means is required to secure the insulation panels where they overlap. However, in certain situations such as for example,

a twin beam arrangement as illustrated in Figure 1, a filler or auxiliary floor panel 11 is required to overlay the underside of the second beam and overlap with the panel 5.

This has to be held in position and the present invention provides an improved method of retaining same utilising a wire fixing element 13 as described in further detail with reference to Figures 3a, 3b and 3c, and a wire dowel 15 as described further with reference to Figure 4.

The fixing element 13 comprises a length of wire which has a slender straight elongate portion 17. One end of the wire is bent back through 135 to form a hooked leading end to the fixing element. The bent back limb 19 preferably has a length x of the order of 15mm and preferably lies at an angle y of 45 to the axis of the elongate portion 17.

The length x and angle y are chosen to give a good compromise between ease of insertion and good retention. Other length and angle combinations are possible. The other end of the wire is bent to form a head 21. A first bend 23 leads to a portion 25 that lies at 90 to the portion 17. In the illustrated embodiment, the portion 25 lies in a plane at 900 in overlapping relation to the plane accommodating the portion 17 and the limb 19. However, this is not essential, and the hook can be at any orientation relative to the elongate portion 17. The head is in the form of a closed loop which is brought back into close proximity with the bend 23 to avoid snagging of heads when several fixing elements are grouped together for storage and/or transportation purposes. The loop may be any convenient shape e. g. rectangular, triangular, oval or circular.

However, an eliptical shape is preferred which provides an abutment portion 27 that is disposed substantially parallel to the portion 25 but spaced there from. It is advantageous if the abutment portion is substantially straight, but other configurations are feasible. In the as made configuration before installation, the loop of the head preferably lies in a plane that is substantially normal to the portion 17. However, this is not essential and a deviation from the normal is permissible without detracting from the advantageous construction.

The fixing element 1 : 3 is used to connect piercable sheet or panel like elements in overlapping relation such as the polystyrene insulating element of a flooring structure as shown in Figures 1 and 2 and its method of use is described herein.

However, it will be apparent from Figure 1 that the filler 11 as well as being secured to the element 5 in overlapping relation is also required to be secured in abutting relation to the element 7. This requires the use of a wire dowel 15 which is described with reference to Figure 4. Essentially, the wire dowel comprises a length of wire that is formed with a loop 31 intermediate to oppositely disposed straight limbs 33,35. The loop lies in a plane normal to the aligned limbs 33,35.

The method of connecting the insulating elements 5,11, 7 involves inserting one or more wire dowels 15 into the edge of one or the other of panel 7 or filler 11 and then pushing the components together. The panel 5 is then placed in position and one or more fixing elements pushed through the insulation material hook end first and then through the filler panel 11. The length of the

shank 17 is greater (by at least the length of the hook) than the overall thickness of the two insulating components and when the hook bursts through the underside of component 11 it is rotated and then drawn back so that the hooked end embeds in the insulation material and acts as an anchor. Normally the element will be rotated by 180 but a lesser rotation will also be effective.

Rotations of between 900 and 2700 are possible. In order to hold the components together the head is then turned down to engage the upper surface of the upper component 5. The wire is malleable which allows a permanent deflection to take place and the configuration of the head allows movement to occur relatively easily as the turning movement is achieved by twisting of the wire rather than bending. With the preferred configuration the twisting occurs along limb 25 or at the bend 23. A further advantage is that the turning force is exerted against resistance applied to the shank 17. Thus, the turning force does not distort the insulation material.

Figure 5 illustrates another situation in which a filler is required. In this instance, the filler 45 extends between the limb 9 of a panel 7'and a wall 47. In this prior art configuration the insulation 45 rests on the wall. Figure 6 describes an alternative which allows the insulation to abut against the wall, by the use of a special fixing clip 49. In this arrangement the filler 45'abuts the limb 9 and is located with respect thereto by one or more of the aforesaid wire dowels 15. Fixing clip 49-shown in greater detail in Figure 7 comprises a first limb 51 for piercing the edge of the insulation and offset from an abutment defined by limbs 57,59 and part of limb 61 which are disposed in a common plane. The common

plane of the abutment is offset from the limb 51 by connecting limb 54. Bends 53,55 are right angle bends. A loop 63 is formed at the end of the limb 61. The limb 61 extends beyond the end of limb 51 to ensure correct positioning of the clip relative to the panel 45'. The special fixing clip and the situation in which it is used constitute other inventive aspects.

Claims

1. Apparatus for securing together overlapping parts of panel members, the apparatus comprising a slender elongate member having a leading end and a trailing end, and wherein the elongate member has a hook at one end directed toward the trailing end, and a head formed at or adjacent to the trailing end, and wherein the head is movably deformable in a direction towards the leading end.

2. An apparatus as claimed in claim 1 and formed from a length of wire.

3. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1 or 2 in which the hook is formed by bending back one end of the wire.

4. Apparatus as claimed in claims 1,2 or 3 in which the hooked end has an inclined angle of substantially 450 to the elongate member and a length of the order of 15mm.

5. Apparatus as claimed in any one of the preceding claims in which the head is formed by bending the wire into a loop, which is initially disposed in a plane which is substantially normal to the axis of the elongate member.

6. Apparatus as claimed in claim 5 in which the wiie loop is either D shaped, triangular, rectangular, circular or oval.

7. Apparatus as claimed in any one of the preceding claims in which the head includes a first portion that is disposed substantially at right angles to the said axis and spaced from a panel engagement portion of the head.

8. Apparatus as claimed in claim 7 in which in use said first portion is twisted relative to the elongate member to move the panel engagement portion of the

head into contact with the panel.

9. Apparatus constructed and arranged as hereinbefore described and as illustrated in Figures 1 to 3 of the accompanying drawings.

10. A method of connecting overlapping parts of insulating panels of a flooring system using a retaining member having a head at one end and a hook at its other end, in which method the hook of the retaining member is pushed through the overlapping parts of the insulating panels from one side until the hook protrudes from the other side of the panels, the retaining member is then rotated and drawn back to engage the hooked end with said other side of the panel assembly, and then the head is deformed into engagement with said one side of the panel assembly.

11. A method as claimed in claim 10 in which the retaining member is rotated by between 90 and 270 .

12. A method as claimed in claim 10 or 11 in which the retaining member comprises a wire member and the method comprises inserting the retaining member from an upperside of the panels to be connected and deforming the head by twisting of wire to bring a spaced portion of the head into contact with an upper side of the panel assembly.

13. A method of locating a filler of insulation material with respect to two adjacent insulation panels of a flooring system, the filler being located in edge abutting relation with one panel and in overlapping relation with the other panel, the method comprising inserting one or more wire dowels into the edge of one or the other of the filler or the edge abutting panel and pushing the components

together, disposing the filler in overlapping relation with the other panel or vice versa and pushing one or more retaining members, each comprising an elongate member having a hook at a leading end and a head at adjacent its trailing end, through the overlapping parts of said panel and filler until the hook emerges from the panel assembly, rotating the retaining member and drawing the hook back to engage the hooked end with the panel, and then deforming the head into engagement with the other side of the panels to hold the filler in position.

14. A method as claimed in claim 13 in which the wire dowel comprises a length of wire that is bent to form with a loop disposed normal to and intermediate oppositely directed straight ends.

15. A method of connecting insulation panels in overlapping relation substantially as described with reference to the accompanying drawings.