GB2377486A

GB2377486A - A radiator mounting jig

Info

Publication number: GB2377486A
Application number: GB0112090A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Stephen Groves
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2001-05-17
Filing date: 2001-05-17
Publication date: 2003-01-15
Anticipated expiration: 2021-05-17
Also published as: GB0112090D0; GB2377486B

Abstract

A jig 10 which allows a radiator 50 to be mounted against a plasterboard false wall 40 but without mounting the radiator 50 directly to the plasterboard wall 40 and therefore preventing damage to the plasterboard wall 40 comprises an elongate base portion 11 and two upstanding portions 12 mounted on a brick wall 20 by screws 21. Assymetrically arranged elongate rods 30 which may be threaded are removably located by nuts welded to the upstanding portions 12 and extend perpendicularly away from the brick wall 20 and protrude though holes drilled in a plasterboard wall 40 so that 1-section brackets 51 which are attached to the radiator 50 can be mounted and secured in place by nuts. Spaced apart pipework 60 at either end of the base portion 11 is connected and corresponds to the spacing between an inlet and outlet of the radiator 50 and extends though the plasterboard wall 40 and holes 70 in the jig 10 to connect to a boiler. Rubber grommets in holes 70 prevent metal to metal contact of the pipes 60 and base portion 11, and because the ends of the base portion are not fixed to the wall 20 they are bent to accommodate the pipe 60 behind the ends. The jig 10 may be made of sheet metal or durable plastic and of a size to correspond to various sizes of radiator.

Description

Radiator Mounting Jig The present invention relates to the field of radiators used in central heating systems for buildings and more specifically to an apparatus used to mount radiators on walls or the like.

Radiators are an integral component of central heating systems used to heat the majority of houses. Radiators work by transferring heat from hot water passing through the radiator to the surrounding air. To facilitate efficient transfer radiators are made of metal and have a large surface area. Consequently, when the radiators are in use and contain water they are heavy.

In many houses-particularly those newly builtplasterboard is used to line the inside surface of external walls and construct internal walls.

Plasterboard has the advantage that it is cheap and allows for efficient insulation.

The present method of mounting a radiator on a plasterboard wall is the same as the method used previously with brick walls. The radiator is simply

screwed to the wall. The problem is that the composition of plasterboard is not suitable for the mounting of heavy items, such as radiators. Due to the force exerted on the screws by the weight of the radiator the screws often become loose rendering the radiator liable to fall away from the wall, causing unsightly damage to the wall and possibly even flooding.

In use, a radiator is provided with a continuous flow of hot water so that it can constantly transfer heat to the surrounding air. The radiator is thus connected at each end to a pipe allowing water to flow into the radiator at one end, pass through the radiator, and flow out of the other. Previously, on brick walls the pipework connected to the radiator was situated on the surface of the wall and would often run along the skirting board. This was unsightly. An advantage of plasterboard walls is that the pipework can be placed in a cavity behind the plasterboard wall, thus removing it from sight. A problem, though, is that the pipework must be inserted through the plasterboard walls and it is often difficult to calculate where exactly the pipework should be inserted.

This problem is exacerbated by a common practice in the house building trade. Generally, once the external walls and timber frames for internal walls have been erected by the builders, a plumber will come in to fit the pipework for the central heating system and water supply. Once this has been done the builders are left to erect the plasterboard walls and insert the pipes for the radiators through the walls. The builders are often unsure exactly where the radiator is to be fitted and so have to guess where to insert the pipes.

Therefore the pipework often still has to be run, at least for a short distance, along the surface of the wall to the radiator. Again this is unsightly and also inconvenient.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a more secure means for mounting a radiator on a plasterboard wall.

According to one aspect of the present invention there is provided a radiator mounting jig comprising a generally planar base member to be anchored to a wall or other upstanding member, which base member is provided with radiator support means projecting from one side thereof, the radiator support means

permitting mounting of a radiator thereon at a location spaced apart from and generally parallel to the base member, whereby a plasterboard false wall may be interposed between the radiator and the base member.

Thus, the radiator mounting jig allows a radiator to be mounted against a plasterboard false wall whilst not having to mount the radiator directly on the plasterboard wall. This reduces the risk of the radiator becoming detached and causing damage to the property. A further advantage of the present invention is that the radiator mounting jig may be hidden from view behind the plasterboard wall.

The jig may be provided as a kit comprising the base member on the one hand and the support means on the other.

Preferably the bracket is attached to a structural wall or the timber frame of an internal wall.

Alternatively, the bracket may be attached to an additional structure placed behind the wall.

In the preferred embodiment the support means comprise

a plurality of elongate rods projecting perpendicularly from the base member. The elongate rods may be arranged asymmetrically. By arranging the elongate rods asymmetrically the radiator is prevented from being mounted inverted.

Typically, the elongate rods are between 2 and 10 centimetres long, preferably 3 to 7 cm. The elongate rods may be screw threaded. The elongate rods being screw threaded allows for the radiator to be removably attached to the support means by corresponding nuts.

The base member may be formed with means for engaging with the support means. In the case of the support means comprising elongate rods, the means for engaging may comprise screw threaded holes formed in the base member. The screw threaded holes may comprise nuts fixed to the base member. However other attachment means are possible, such as wing nuts.

The base member may also be provided with a plurality of holes formed therethrough for taking masonry screws by way of anchorage to a wall or the like. However, the way of anchoring the base member to a wall or upstanding member is not limited to using masonry

screws, or even screwing in general, but depends upon the suitability of the wall or supporting structure for the anchorage method.

The base member may be formed with one or more pipe guides for locating radiator water supply pipework. In the preferred embodiment there are two pipe guides provided, one at each end region of a foot portion of the base member. The pipe guides may be holes. There may be two guides, one for the inlet pipe and one for the outlet pipe. The pipe guides are spaced apart one from another, typically by an amount generally corresponding to radiator spacing between the inlet and outlet ports. In this way it is ensured that once the radiator mounting jig has been fitted behind a plasterboard false wall, with the pipework guided therethrough, the pipework will be in the correct position to be connected to the radiator. This means that when the builders insert the pipes through the plasterboard, the pipes will be available for easy and neat connection to the radiator. To achieve this a variety of sizes of radiator mounting jigs may be available corresponding to the various sizes of radiator on the market.

Preferably, the base member is formed from sheet metal material. In addition, the base member may have the form of an inverted pi symbol, having a foot portion and two upstanding arm portions. The base member being made of sheet metal means that the weight of the bracket is kept to a minimum. The sheet metal construction may also permit portions of the base member to be bent to accommodate the pipes which are inserted through the pipe guides in the base member.

According to another aspect of the present invention there is provided a method for mounting a radiator on a plasterboard false wall comprising the steps of: (i) providing a radiator mounting jig as hereinbefore described, (ii) mounting a base member thereof on a building wall or frame, (iii) locating a plasterboard false wall over base member and spaced apart from the wall or frame, (iv) providing support means holes at locations overlaying support means engaging portions of the base member, and (v) inserting the radiator support means through the holes in the plasterboard wall.

Preferably, where the jig is provided with radiator pipework guides, the method further comprises at step (ii): accommodating the pipework in the guides, and forming corresponding pipework holes in the plaster board false wall.

The method may further comprise fixing a radiator to the support means, by for example bolting or any common attachment method.

Following is a description by way of example only and with reference to the drawings of a method of putting the present invention into effect.

In the drawings :Figure 1 shows a front perspective view of a jig according to the present invention.

Figure 2 shows a side view of the a jig according to the present invention in situ and with a radiator attached thereto via a plasterboard wall.

Figure 3 shows an exploded perspective view of the jig and other surrounding elements shown in figure 2.

Figure 1 shows a radiator mounting jig 10. Jig 10 comprises an elongate base portion 11 and two upstanding portions 12. In the present embodiment jig 10 is made of sheet metal but could also be made from durable plastic. Jig 10 is mounted on a brick wall 20 and attached by masonry screws 21. Screws 21 are screwed into wall plugs 9 (shown in figure 2) inserted in brick wall 20, thereby strongly anchoring jig 10 to brick wall 20.

Located on upstanding portions 12 are bolts 30. The bolts are removably located and engaged with the upstanding portions by means of nuts welded to the upstanding portions (not shown). The Bolts 30 extend perpendicularly away from brick wall 20 and protrude through holes drilled in a plasterboard wall 40.

Mounted on the protruding ends of bolts 30 are Lsection brackets 51 which are attached to a radiator 50. The brackets may be secure din place by means of wing nuts or conventional hexagonal nuts (not shown) Radiator 50 has inlet/outlet ports 52 (one only shown) at bottom corners thereof. The ports 52 are each attached to respective portions of pipework 60 shown in figure 1. End regions of base portion 11 of jig 10

are formed with holes 70. Pipes 60 extend from radiator 50, through plasterboard wall 40 and holes 70 in jig 10. Rubber grommets (not shown) in holes 70 prevent metal to metal contact of the pipes and base member. Because the end regions of base portion 11 are not fixed to brick wall 20 the end regions can be bent slightly (indicated as arrow Q in figure 1) to accommodate pipes 60 behind the end regions of base portion 11. Hence the pipes are urged in position by the bracket, thereby preventing dislocation and loosening of the pipes. Pipes 60 then run along brick wall 20 to a boiler (not shown). Holes 70 are spaced one from the other by a distance corresponding to the distance between connections 21 on radiator 20 thereby spacing pipes 60 to allow for convenient and neat connection to ports 52 of radiator 50.

In use the jig of the present invention provides for structural support of the radiator without stressing the weak plasterboard (or other) false wall. The pipework guides and support means ensure that the radiator and its associated pipework may be conveniently and accurately located, thereby simplifying the process of installing central heating in a building.

Claims

Claims 1. A radiator mounting jig comprising a generally planar base member to be anchored to a wall or other upstanding member, which base member is provided with radiator support means projecting from one side thereof, the radiator support means permitting mounting of a radiator thereon at a location spaced apart from and generally parallel to the base member, whereby a plasterboard false wall may be interposed between the radiator and the base member.
2. A radiator mounting jig as claimed in claim 1 wherein the support means comprise a plurality of elongate rods projecting perpendicularly from the base member.
3. A radiator mounting jig as claimed in claim 2 wherein the elongate rods are arranged asymmetrically.
4. A radiator mounting jig as claimed in claims 2 or wherein the elongate rods are between 2 and 10 centimetres long.
5. A radiator mounting jig as claimed in any of claims

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2 to 4 wherein the elongate rods are screw threaded.
6. A radiator mounting jig as claimed in any preceding claim wherein the base member is formed from sheet metal material.
7. A radiator mounting jig as claimed in claim 6 wherein the base member has the form of an inverted pi symbol, in situ having a foot portion and two upstanding arm portions.
8. A radiator mounting jig as claimed in any preceding claim wherein the base member is provided with a plurality of holes formed therethrough for taking masonry screws by way of anchorage.
9. A radiator mounting jig as claimed in any preceding claim wherein the base member is formed with one or more pipe guides for locating radiator water supply pipework.
10. A radiator mounting jig as claimed in claim 9 wherein there are two pipe guides provided, one at each end region of a foot portion of the base member.

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11. A radiator mounting jig as claimed in claim 10 wherein the respective end regions may are sufficiently compliant to be bent from the plane of base member in order to accommodate pipe work therebehind between the end regions and a wall against which the base member is anchored.
12. A radiator mounting jig as claimed in any of claims 9,10 and 11 wherein the pipe guides are holes.
13. A method for mounting a radiator on a plasterboard false wall comprising the steps of: (i) providing a radiator mounting jig according to any of claims 1 to 8, (ii) mounting a base member thereof on a building wall or frame, (iii) locating a plasterboard false wall over base member and spaced apart from the wall or frame, (iv) providing support means holes at locations overlaying support means engaging portions of the base member, and (v) inserting the radiator support means through the holes in the plasterboard wall.
14. A method for mounting a radiator on a plasterboard

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false wall comprising the steps of: (i) providing a radiator mounting jig according to any of claims 9 to 12, (ii) mounting a base member thereof on a building wall or frame, (iii) accommodating radiator pipework in the guides, (iv) forming corresponding pipework holes in a plaster board false wall, (v) locating a plasterboard false wall over base member and spaced apart from the wall or frame, (vi) providing support means holes at locations overlaying support means engaging portions of the base member, and (vii) inserting the radiator support means through the holes in the plasterboard wall.
15. A method as claimed in claim 14 further comprising attaching a radiator to the support means protruding through the plaster board wall, and attaching the pipework protruding through the wall to radiator inlet/outlet ports.
16. A radiator mounting jig substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the drawings.