GB2424002A

GB2424002A - Lintel faced with glass fibre reinforced concrete

Info

Publication number: GB2424002A
Application number: GB0504917A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Paul Matthews
Original assignee: Corus UK Ltd
Current assignee: Corus UK Ltd
Priority date: 2005-03-10
Filing date: 2005-03-10
Publication date: 2006-09-13
Anticipated expiration: 2025-03-10
Also published as: GB0504917D0; GB2424002B

Abstract

A lintel 10 comprises a rigid elongate beam 16, 18, with a facing element 26 of glass fibre reinforced concrete. The facing may cover the front and lower surfaces as shown, or the front face only, and may be plain or embossed.

Description

I

Pre-fabricated structural building component The present invention relates to a pre-fabricated structural building component. More particularly, it relates to a pre-fabricated lintel.

Lintels are an important component in the construction of modern buildings. It is known in building construction to provide a metal lintel for spanning an opening in an interior or exterior wall of a building. During construction, an exterior wall is firstly erected on either side of an aperture in a wall which is later to form, for example, a window or doorway. A lintel is then fitted across the top of the aperture, at an appropriate height, whereby the lintel spans the gap between the two wall sections either side of the aperture. The lintel is set back away from an exterior outer face of the wall to allow bricks or other facing blocks to be constructed in front of the lintel, thereby providing an aesthetically pleasing exterior wall above the doorway or window.

A lintel structure is disclosed in EP 1443157A1, in which a plurality of facing blocks are fixed to a lintel beam by an adhesive bonding material. The facing blocks comprise brick slips which are manufactured by cutting conventional bricks into appropriate shapes. Each individual facing block is adhered to the outer face of the beam so that it forms a front cover to the beam.

The present invention provides an improved lintel structure which has onepiece front structure made of glassfibre reinforced concrete (GRC).

In one aspect, the invention provides a structural building component for spanning an aperture, the component comprising a rigid elongate beam and a facing element fixed directly to an exterior surface of the beam, the facing element comprising glassfibre reinforced concrete.

* *** I S * * * * I II S I * , , * * . Is. * S S 5. I S S S.. * Preferably the facing element is formed as a single piece.

The facing element may be plain or alternatively may be embossed to replicate the effect of cast/random faced masonry with or without keystone features and embellished end features.

The facing element may be fixed to one or two external surfaces of the beam. Preferably these two surfaces are adjacent and generally perpendicular one to the other.

The invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying diagrammatic drawings, in which:- Figure 1 is a sectional detail view showing a first lintel structure constructed in accordance with the present invention; Figure 2 is a sectional detail view showing a second lintel structure constructed in accordance with the present invention; Figure 3 is a sectional detail view showing a third lintel structure constructed in accordance with the present invention; Figure 4 is a sectional detail view showing a fourth lintel structure constructed in accordance with the present invention; and Figure 5 is a sectional detail view showing a fifth lintel structure constructed in accordance with the present invention.

Figure 1 shows a structural part of a building consisting of two spacedapart wall sections 2, 4. One wall section 2 forms the external wall of a building. The wall 2 has an aperture 6 part of which will eventually receive a door or window frame 8.

* *.* *4, *

I S I I S

I S 5 *S S S SI * I 455 S S 4 4 4 S * * * I 4 1 I S S5. 5 I S A lintel 10 is located within the structure such that the lintel 10 spans top of the aperture 6 to provide a supporting structure to the wall 2 above the lintel 10.

In Figure 1, a further inner-leaf type lintel 12 is provided to act as a supporting structure for the internal wall 4. It will be appreciated that the present invention only relates to the external lintel 10 for reason that the internal lintel 12 does not have an external surface seen by a person once construction of the building has been completed. This description only therefore describes the external wall 2 and lintel 10 configuration.

The external lintel 10 is made of steel or other suitable material and comprises a back plate 16 and a front plate 18 joined in a spacedrelationship at their ends by a top plate 20 and a bottom plate 22. The lintel may alternatively be formed using two inter-related channel sections. When installed into the building structure, the upper surface of top plate 20 of the lintel 10 lies against the under surface 24 of the external wall 2 above the aperture 6. The lintel 10 is installed in such a way that only the outer external surface of the front plate 18 and bottom plate 22 are visible when the construction has been completed. A facing element 26 is bonded to the exterior surface of the front plate 18 and the bottom plate 22. The facing element 26 is formed of glassfibre reinforced concrete material and is formed as a single piece. The external surface 28 of the facing element is plain to emulate the frontage of a stone lintel.

The facing elerhent 26 is generally rectangular in shape.

Alternatively the facing element may have outwardly inclined ends.

The overall shape and dimensions of the steel lintel 10 can be designed to conform to the desired shape and dimension of the facing element 26 to be affixed thereto, provided that the lintel 10 still has the necessary strength to support the external wall 2 above. The steel may a., I..

. ,, a a . p P be plain or perforated, depending on the bonding material used to affix the facing element 26 to the exterior surfaces of the lintel 10.

The facing element 26 is typically between 5 and 30 mm thick. In the construction of figure 1, the facing element 14 is typically 10 mm thick. The front and back plates 18, 20 are approximately 2 mm thick, have a height of approximately 205 mm and are approximately 10 mm apart.

Figure 2 illustrates a further construction example. This construction incorporates a cavity-type lintel 28 which provides support for the internal wall 4. Here, the facing element 26 is only affixed to the external surface of the front plate 18 over the external lintel 10 and does not continue around the external surface of the bottom plate 22. In this arrangement, the facing element is typically 25 mm thick.

Figure 3 illustrates a further construction example. This construction also incorporates a cavity-wall type lintel 28 for the internal wall 4. Here, the facing element 26 is fixed to the external surfaces of the front plate 18 and bottom plate 22 of the lintel 10. In this construction, a supporting plate 30 of the internal lintel 28 extends over the facing element 26 along the exposed face of the bottom plate 22 of the lintel 10.

Figure 4 illustrates a further construction example. This construction also incorporates a cavity-type lintel 28 to provide support for the internal wall 4. Here, the facing element 26 is only affixed to the external surface of the front plate 18 over the external lintel 10. In this construction, however, a bottom corner 32 of the front plate 18 is angled inwardly. The thickness of the facing element 26 is increased at that point and is angled to conform to the angled surface of the corner 32 of the front plate 18 of the lintel 10. Typically, the facing element 26 has a main thickness of the 10 mm increasing to 25 mm at its end point. * : * SI. *

Finally, figure 5 illustrates a further construction example. This construction is the same as that of Figure 3 but here, the height of the front and back plates 18, 20 are reduced to approximately 130 mm.

The lintel structure can be constructed on site. Alternatively the structure allows for the lintel to be constructed prior to delivery on site thereby providing considerable cost savings. The method of construction prior to delivery may be by means of bonding the facing elements to the lintel using adhesive and/or mechanical fixtures.

The above described embodiments have been given by way of example only, and the skilled reader will naturally appreciate that many variations could be made thereto without departing from the scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. A structural building component for spanning an aperture, the component comprising a rigid elongate beam and a facing element fixed directly to an exterior surface of the beam, the facing element comprising glass fibre reinforced concrete.

2. A component according to claim 1, wherein the facing element is formed as a single piece.

3. A component according to claim 1 or claim 2, wherein the facing element is plain.

4. A component according to claim 1 or claim 2, wherein the facing element is embossed.

5. A component according to any preceding claim, wherein the facing element is fixed to one or two external surfaces of the beam.

6. A component according to claim 5, wherein these two surfaces are adjacent and substantially perpendicular one to the other.

7. A structural building component for spanning an aperture substantially as described herein or as shown in the drawings.