NL2012864B1 - Prewired wall panel and method for manufacturing the panel. - Google Patents

Abstract

Prewired wall panel for a building, such as a house, comprising a wall panel (1) having a wire wall assembly (5) embedded therein. The wire wall assembly (5) comprising an interconnected arrangement of a plurality of wall boxes (6) and one or more wire conduits (7, 7a) for providing a wire passageway there through, and one or more wires (9, 9a, 9b, 10) extending through the wire passageway. At least one wire comprises a mains wire (10) configured for connecting the wall panel (1) to an external electrical power source (11). The wire wall assembly (5) extends along a longitudinal floor region (1a) of the wall panel (1) and the plurality of wall boxes (4) being substantially aligned therewith.

Description

Prewired wall panel and method for manufacturing the panel Field of the invention

The present invention relates to a prewired wall panel, in particular to a prewired wall panel for a building such as a house. In a further aspect the present invention relates to a method for manufacturing a prewired wall panel at an off-site location.

Prior art US patent application US 4,199,206 A1 (Hayworth) discloses portable, prefabricated panel adapted to be connected with a plurality of similar panels to form a wall or partition structure. The panel is electrically prewired and includes electrical power blocks disposed adjacent opposite lower comers of the panel.

Summary of the invention

The present invention seeks to provide a prewired wall panel for a building, such as a house, wherein the prewired wall can be readily manufactured at an off-site location and reduces various building costs associated with routing wires through the building at a construction site.

According to the present invention, a prewired wall panel of the type defined in the preamble is provided, comprising a wall panel having a wire wall assembly embedded therein, the wire wall assembly comprising an interconnected arrangement of a plurality of wall boxes and one or more wire conduits for providing a wire passageway there through, and one or more wires extending through the wire passageway, wherein at least one wire comprises a mains wire configured for connecting the wall panel, i.e. all or a subset of the plurality of wall boxes, to an external electrical power source, and wherein the wire wall assembly extends along a longitudinal floor region of the wall panel and the plurality of wall boxes being substantially aligned therewith.

The wall panel of the present invention has the advantage that the wall panel is provided with pre-installed and pre-routed electrical wiring and/or data communication wires. Rerouting wires can be easily achieved as well once the wall panel is installed on site. According to the present invention, on site installation of electrical wiring and/or data communication wires in the wall panel is circumvented and associated costs are reduced as a result. And, because of the prewired at least one mains wire, each or a subset of the plurality of wall boxes may be instantly connected to the external electrical power source through a single electrical connection of the wall panel with the external electrical power source.

Another advantage of the wall panel is that the wire wall assembly extends along a longitudinal floor region of the wall panel and the plurality of wall boxes are substantially aligned therewith, so that each wall box is within reach of an electrical appliance often found in homes, for example. The longitudinal floor region is sufficiently small so that the plurality of wall boxes can be easily taken out of sight by e.g. placing furniture close or near the wall box in question.

In an embodiment, the wall panel further comprises one or more connection spaces (e.g. recesses) configured for accessing the one or more wires from a side surface of the wall panel. The one or more connection spaces are disposed within the wall panel and allow for a convenient out of sight electrical connection of the wall panel with the external electrical power source. In an advantageous embodiment, the side surface is a floor surface of the wall panel. Having the one or more connection spaces disposed in the floor surface enables immediate electrical connectivity of each or a subset of the plurality of wall boxes when the wall panel is erected and positioned on top of a floor provided with an external electrical power source. In an embodiment, for example, a connection space may comprise a connector that matches a connector originating from the floor, so that the wall panel may be simply plugged into the external electrical power source coming out of the floor when it is placed thereon.

In an embodiment, the wall panel may be made of concrete, which is particular advantageous as the wall panel need not be provided with wiring on the job site, and activities relating to wall slotting (“wall chasing”) a preinstalled concrete wall is kept to a minimum or even completely avoided.

In addition to pre-installed and pre-routed electrical wiring, the prewired wall panel of the present invention may further comprise one or more data communication wires extending through the wire wall assembly. Especially for modern homes there has been a long felt need for such flexible pre-wired network connectivity, which is also easily adapted and rerouted if needed once the wall panel is installed. For safety and legal requirements, in an embodiment the wall panel may be provided with a parallel arrangement of a plurality of wire conduits along a longitudinal floor region of the wall panel. In particular, the wall panel may comprise a pair of parallel disposed wire conduits, wherein a first wire conduit is prewired with only electrical wiring and the second parallel disposed wire conduit is prewired with only data communication wiring. This embodiment is particular advantageous in case it is not legally allowed to have high voltage wires and data communication wires extend through the same wire conduit.

In a further aspect, the present invention seeks to provide a method for manufacturing a prewired wall panel at an off-site location such that on-site building times are reduced as a well as expenses associated with routing wires through the building at a construction site.

According to a further aspect of the present invention, a method for manufacturing a prewired wall of the type defined in the preamble is provided, comprising providing a plurality of wall boxes and one or more wire conduits to be embedded in a wall panel at the off-site location; interconnecting the plurality of wall boxes with the one or more wire conduits for providing a wire passageway there through; inserting one or more wires through the wire passageway for obtaining a wire wall assembly, wherein the one or more wires comprise at least one mains wire configured for connecting the wall panel, i.e. each or a subset of the plurality of wall boxes, to an external electrical power source; and embedding the wire wall assembly in wall material of the wall panel along a longitudinal floor region thereof at the off-site location.

The method of the present invention is advantageous as on site activities relating to providing wall boxes and wire conduits in existing wall panels is avoided and associated labour costs are reduced. The prewired wall panel is manufactured completely off-site and can be easily transported to a required construction site and erected there.

In an embodiment, the method may further comprise providing the wall panel with one or more connection spaces configured for accessing the one or more wires from a side surface of the wall panel. As with the prewired wall panel mentioned above, this enables a convenient and out of sight connection of the wall panel to an external electrical power source. In an advantageous embodiment, the side surface is a floor surface of the wall panel, so that a convenient single point electrical connection with a floor can be obtained. In particular, the external electrical power source may originate from the floor and may connect to the mains wire of the wall panel when the wall panel is erected on site.

In an embodiment, embedding the wire wall assembly comprises providing one or more recesses into the wall panel substantially congruent to the wire wall assembly, and disposing the wire wall assembly into the one or more recesses. The one or more recesses may be provided in a prefabricated brick or concrete wall, but also in timber walls or metal stud walls for example.

In an advantageous embodiment, the method may further comprise disposing the wire wall assembly into a wall mould and pouring wall material into the wall mould, thereby immersing the wire wall assembly at least in part into the wall material. This embodiment completely avoids providing one or more recesses in a prefabricated wall panel, so that difficult and labour intensive activities such as wall slotting are circumvented as well as associated costs thereof. Specifically, the wall material may be concrete, so that the wire wall assembly is at least in part immersed into pourable concrete after which the concrete is allowed to cure. This embodiment is advantageous as concrete is often very hard so that special and expensive tools may be required for providing one ore more recesses into a fully cured slab of concrete.

In conventional building construction, each ceiling of a room is typically provided with a distribution box from which electrical wiring, i.e. one or more external electrical power sources, are routed toward associated wall sockets, wherein the one or more external electrical power sources extend through the ceiling into the wall panel. Since the wall panel of the present invention can be connected to an external electrical power source through a floor surface of the wall panel, distribution boxes and electrical wiring connected therewith may be installed from above into a floor instead of installing said boxes and electrical wiring in the ceiling. No overhead work is required by local contractors on a building site, which greatly simplifies the installation of electrical wiring throughout the building. So in an embodiment the method may further comprises embedding a distribution box and an external electrical power source connected thereto in a floor of a building, and connecting the external electrical power source to the at least one mains wire of the wall panel.

Short description of drawings

The present invention will be discussed in further detail hereinafter based on a number of exemplary embodiments with reference to the drawings, wherein:

Figure 1 shows an embodiment of a prewired wall panel according to a present invention embodiment;

Figure 2 shows a detailed view of a wire wall assembly as part of the prewired wall panel of Figure 1; and

Figure 3 shows a top view of a room comprising a prewired wall panel according to a present invention embodiment.

Detailed description of exemplary embodiments

Building construction, such as home construction, is a highly competitive market subject to tight budgets and time schedules. Currently there is a strong demand in the building industry for low cost, fast and high volume building construction whilst still meeting construction requirements, codes and standards thereof. A significant part of building expenses can be attributed to providing the infrastructure for utilities such as sanitation, ventilation, heating, the supply of gas, water and/or electricity, wherein these utilities often need to be installed in an early stage of the building process. However, any error and delay in installing such utilities will typically have a significant impact on time schedules and often lead to budget overruns.

In residential buildings electrical wire routing typically starts once floors, walls and ceilings have been erected, wherein electrical wiring is often embedded in e.g. a pre-existing wall using special cutting, drilling, and slotting machines. However, this type of activity is labour intensive, time consuming, prone to error and may even pose a health hazard on building sites due to the fine dust generated.

In view of the above there is a need to reduce the cost and time needed for installing and routing electrical and data communication wiring throughout a building, such as residential buildings, as well as reducing health risks while doing so. Also, there is a need to reduce the total length of wiring needed for providing rooms with electrical and/or data communication utilities. Furthermore, there is a need for a flexible routing system wherein electrical and data communication wiring inside a wall can be easily adapted and/or serviced once installed.

The present invention fulfils this need by providing a prewired wall panel that can be efficiently manufactured at an off-site location and transported to a building site. The prewired wall panel is easily erected and connected to an external power and/or a data communication source, wherein the prewired wall panel may be connected to such a source at a single point for distributing electrical power and/or communication data to/from various wall boxes, sockets and outlets positioned in the prewired wall panel.

Figures 1 and 2 each show a side view and a detailed view, respectively, of a prewired wall panel according to a present invention embodiment, wherein the prewired wall panel comprises a wall panel 1 having a wire wall assembly 5 embedded therein. In the embodiment shown, the wire wall assembly 5 comprises an interconnected arrangement of a plurality of wall boxes 6 and one or more wire conduits 7, 7a for providing a wire passageway there through, wherein one or more wires 9, 10 extend through the passageway. In most embodiments the plurality of wall boxes 6 and/or the one or more wire conduits 7, 7a may be made of a plastic material.

In other embodiments the plurality of wall boxes 6 and/or the one or more wire conduits 7, 7a may be made of the same material as the wall panel 1.

According to the present invention, to allow for a single point electrical mains connection of the wall panel 1, at least one wire comprises a mains wire 10 configured for connecting the wall panel 1 to an external electrical power source 11 (typically another wire/cable). That is, the mains wire 10 is adapted to provide each or a subset of the plurality of wall boxes 6 with electrical power through a single point electrical mains connection of the wall panel 1.

For maximum convenience and aesthetics, the wire wall assembly 5 extends along a longitudinal floor region la as indicated in Figure 1 of the wall panel 1 and the plurality of wall boxes 6 are substantially aligned therewith. This floor region la is conveniently within reach of most electrical appliances used in the building being provides with the wall panel 1.

The prewired wall panel of the present invention is particularly advantageous as it is now possible to feed all wall boxes 6 with electricity through a single mains wire 10 as shown in Figure 2. In an embodiment it is of course possible to provide the wall panel 1 with a plurality of mains wires 10 each connectable to an external power source 11. In any case, there is no need for onsite wall slotting as the wire wall assembly 5 may be embedded in the wall panel 1 at an offsite location and provided with pre routed wiring 9, 9a, 9b, 10. Consequently, building times are significantly reduced as the plurality of wall boxes 6 may be connected to an external power source 11 without wall slotting separate wire conduits in the wall panel 1 from e.g. a ceiling, and a single point connection is now possible with the prewired wall panel of the present invention.

As shown in Figure 1, the wall panel 1 typically comprises a room facing surface 2 from which the plurality of wall boxes 6 may be accessible, so that wall sockets can be easily inserted or replaced from the room being provided with the wall panel 1. The wall panel 1 also comprises side surfaces 3, 4 for connection to adjoining walls and/or floors and/or ceilings.

In an embodiment, the wall panel 1 may further comprise one or more connection spaces 8, e g. recesses 8 in the wall panel 1, configured for accessing the one or more wires 9, 9a, 9b, 10 from a side surface 3, 4 of the wall panel 1. In most embodiments the one or more connection spaces 8 are rectangular recesses in the wall panel 1 as depicted in Figure 2. The connection spaces 8 are particularly convenient as the room facing surface 2 of the wall panel 1 remains free from visible connections of the one or more wires 9, 9a, 9b, 10 inside the wall panel 1. In the embodiments shown the mains wire 10 conveniently extends toward a connection space 8 for connecting the wall panel 1 to an external electrical power source 11 out of sight. In a specific embodiment the side surface is a floor surface 4 of the wall panel 1, so that the wall panel 1 is easily connected to an external electrical power source 11 originating from a floor 12 of a building.

In an advantageous embodiment, a connection space 8 may also comprise an electrical connector connected to the mains wire 10, wherein the external electrical power source 11 comprises a matching connector to be connected with the electrical connector in the connection space 8. This allows for a convenient and fast installation of the wall panel 1, thereby further reducing labor hours and associated costs thereof

According to the present invention, the wire wall assembly 5 extends along a longitudinal floor region la, as indicated in Figure 1, wherein the plurality of wall boxes 6 are substantially aligned therewith. In particular, the plurality of wall boxes 6 are embedded in the wall panel 1 at substantially identical distances from a side surface such as the floor surface 4 for higher aesthetics.

The wall panel 1 may further comprise two side regions lb and a central region lc along which the wire wall assembly 5 may be distributed in a longitudinal fashion with respect to the wall panel 1. In a typical embodiment, the wired wall panel 1 is horizontally distributed along the central regions lc and two side regions lb. The two side regions lb and central region lc may each be provided with a wall box 6 for providing conveniently located and a sufficient number of wall sockets in a room.

In a typical residential buildings, the two side regions lb may be associated with a living area and a kitchen area in the front and/or back of the building, where the central region lc may also be associated with a living, kitchen, lounge or hallway area of the building. The advantage of the prewired wall panel of the present invention is that the mains wire 10 is able to supply all wall boxes 6 along the central region lc and the side regions lb with electricity and/or data communication through a single point connection provided in e g. the one or more connection spaces 8 in the floor surface 4.

In a specific embodiment of the floor region la, a maximum height h of the floor region la is smaller than 30% of a maximum height H of the wall panel 1, typically measured from the floor surface 4. This provides a convenient location for the plurality of wall boxes 6 as it is within reach of electrical appliances used in e g. kitchen cupboards and/or on tables disposed along the wall panel 1. In specific variants, a further set of wall boxes 6 may be provided which are positioned higher in the wall panel 1, which are pre-wired e.g. using a vertical wire conduit connected to the wire conduit 7, 7a.

The prewired wall panel may be of any material, but in advantageous embodiments the wall panel 1 is made of concrete. This allows for fast and easy to manufacture wall panels 1 in great quantities at an off site location, wherein concrete provides greater strength as well as sufficient mass for sound insulation in case the wall panel 1 is part of a cavity wall separating living rooms of two adjoining houses. In addition, wall slotting a concrete wall is generally very hard and often requires expensive machinery and cutting blades. The prewired wall panel 1 of the present invention circumvents providing (e.g. slotting) wire conduits 7, 7a in a pre-existing concrete wall panel 1 on the building site, thereby reducing building times and associated labour costs.

Figure 2 depicts a detailed view of a wire wall assembly 5 according to a present invention embodiment. In the embodiment shown, the plurality of wall boxes 6 adjoin a room facing surface 2 of the wall panel 1 for facilitating access to the one or more wires 9, 9a, 9b, 10 as well as installing or replacing wall socket interior elements and the like. The wire wall assembly 5 is clearly shown to comprise the plurality of wall boxes 6 and one or more wire conduits 7, 7a, where the one or more wires 9, 9a, 9b, 10 extend through the wire passageway defined by the wire wall assembly 5. In many embodiments each wire conduit 7, 7a comprises a tubular member, such as a tubular member made of PVC. Likewise, in many embodiments each wall socket 6 is often made of a plastic material as well, such as PVC.

As mentioned earlier, the wall panel 1 may not only be provided with electrical wiring but may comprise one or more data communication wires 9a, 9b extending through the wire wall assembly 5. The one or more data communication wires 9a, 9b may typically comprise Ethernet wires for network and internet connectivity, wires for audio and/or TV connectivity and the like. As with the mains wire 10, the one or more data communication wires 9a, 9b may be connected to one or more external communication sources through the one or more connection spaces 8, wherein each of the connection spaces 8 is conveniently disposed in a side surface 3, 4, such as the floor surface 4. The prewired wall panel 1 of the present invention thus provides a complete prefabricated flexible wiring and data connectivity solution for a wall panel inside a building.

In specific embodiments, the wall panel 1 may comprises a parallel arrangement of a plurality of wire conduits 7, 7a as depicted in Figures 1 and 2. Such a parallel arrangement of wire conduits 7, 7a is particularly advantageous in case it is not allowed to have a high voltage electrical wire 9, 10 (e.g. 120V, 220V) and a data communication wire 9a extending through the same wire conduit 7. See Figure 2 for example. In such cases it may now be possible to extend one or more data communication wires 9b through an additional wire conduit 7a which is parallel disposed to and separate from the wire conduit 7 along a longitudinal floor region la of the wall panel 1, and interconnects also two or more (or even all) of the wall boxes 6. The shown data communication wire 9a in Figure 2 may then be removed from the wire conduit 7 to comply with e.g. building safety regulations of electrical installations. In a typical embodiment, the parallel disposed wire conduit 7a as shown in Figure 1 and 2 connects one wall box 6 in a left side region lb with one wall box 6 in a right side region lb of the wall panel 1. This is an effective and convenient embodiment to comply with e.g. safety regulations but also to provide flexible routing of one or more data communication wires 9b from one end of the wall panel 1 to another end thereof.

In an embodiment, the wall panel 1 may further comprise a plug, connector or socket for the mains wire 10 and/or each data communication wire, wherein the plug, connector or socket is provided in a connection space 8. The external electrical power source 11 may be provided with a congruent plug, connector or socket disposed just above a floor surface 12. This embodiment allows the prewired wall panel to be erected and electrically connected at e.g. the floor surface 4 in one single building step.

Figure 3 shows a top view of a room of a building comprising a prewired wall panel according to a present invention embodiment. In the embodiment shown, the wall panel 1 comprises the interconnected arrangement of the plurality of wall boxes 6 and one or more wire conduits 7. Since the wall panel 1 is prewired at an off-site location and provided with at least one mains wire 10, the wall panel 1 may be connected to an external electrical power source 11 at a single point of the prewired wall panel 1. This is advantageous as only a single mains wire 11 is needed that may originate straight from a central electrical cupboard 13 comprising the mains connection for the entire house 14, or it may originate from a distribution box 16 in a e.g. a living or kitchen area of the house. In advantageous embodiments, the external electrical power source 11 is embedded in the floor 12 of a room and connects with the mains wire 10 of the wall panel 1 in a connection space 8 at a floor surface 4 of the wall panel 1. In contrast to existing building practice, no separate electrical wires are needed for connecting a wall panel to an external electrical power source by routing individual wires from a distribution box in e.g. the ceiling of a room toward each wall box in the wall panel. This greatly simplifies the building process and reduces on site labour hours, as well as the length of wires needed for providing electrical connections in a wall panel. The same applies to data communication wires and connections thereof.

In a further aspect, the present invention relates to a method for manufacturing a prewired wall panel at an off-site location, so that on-site building times are reduced as a well as expenses associated with providing pre-existing erected wall panels with wire conduits and routing wires there through. Reference is made to all Figures 1 to 3.

According to the invention, the method comprises providing a plurality of wall boxes 6 and one or more wire conduits 7, 7a to be embedded in a wall panel 1 at the off-site location, and interconnecting the plurality of wall boxes 6 with the one or more wire conduits 7, 7a for providing a wire passageway there through. In many embodiments, each wall box 6 and/or wire conduit 7, 7a may be made of a plastic material, such as PVC, that are fitted together.

The method further comprises inserting one or more wires 9, 9a, 9b, 10 through the wire passageway for obtaining a wire wall assembly 5, wherein the one or more wires 9, 9a, 9b, 10 comprise at least one mains wire 10 configured for connecting the wall panel 1 to an electrical power source 11.

To complete the wall panel 1, the method further comprises embedding the wire wall assembly 5 in wall material of the wall panel 1 along a longitudinal floor region la thereof at the off-site location.

According to the present invention, the wall panel 1 is provided with pre-routed wiring extending through the wire wall assembly 5 and is completely manufactured offsite. This is particularly advantageous for large scale building projects and fast turnaround thereof, as the prewired wall panel 1 can be erected and connected to further electrical and/or data communication wiring in one single step. There is no need for providing various wall boxes, wire conduits and wires in a pre-existing on site wall panel. This greatly reduces building times and possible errors and delays.

Note that in some embodiments the one or more wires 9, 9a, 9b, 19 may be inserted into the wire wall assembly 5 after embedding the wire wall assembly 5 into wall material of the wall panel 1. So the interconnected arrangement of the plurality of wall boxes 6 and the one or more wire conduits 7, 7a may be embedded in the wall panel 1 before the one or more wires 9, 9a, 9b, 10 are actually inserted there through.

For improved convenience in connecting the wall panel 1 to further external electrical power and/or data communication sources, the method may further comprise providing the wall panel 1 with one or more connection spaces 8, e.g. recesses 8 in the wall panel 1, configured for accessing the one or more wires 9, 9a, 9b, 10 from a side surface 3, 4 of the wall panel 1. This allows a compact and out of sight connection of the one or more wires 9, 9a, 9b, 10 to further wiring of an adjoining wall or floor.

Electrical wiring is typically routed through distribution boxes 16 in a floor and/or a ceiling, wherein the ceiling may act as a floor for a room above. Consequently, in advantageous embodiments the side surface 3, 4 of the wall panel 1 may be a floor surface. This embodiment allows straight forward connection of the wall panel 1 with further wiring originating from a floor, thereby reducing the total length of wires used and thus reducing associated building times and costs.

In a further embodiment, embedding the wire wall assembly 5 may comprise providing one or more recesses into the wall panel 1 substantially congruent to the wire wall assembly 5, and disposing the wire wall assembly 5 into the one or more recesses. In this embodiment wall material of the wall panel 1 is provided with one or more recesses that congruently follow the shape of the wire wall assembly 5. These one or more recesses may be envisaged as drill holes, slots and/or grooves in e.g. a timber, metal/timber stud dry wall, brick or a concrete wall panel 1 and the like. In this embodiment the wall panel lisa prefabricated slab of material without the plurality of wall boxes 6 and the one or more wires 9, 9a, 9b, 10. In order to embed the wire wall assembly 5 into the wall panel 1, various congruent holes, slots, and or grooves will need to be provided for accommodating the wire wall assembly 5 therein.

In an advantageous embodiment, the method may further comprise disposing the wire wall assembly 5 into a wall mould and pouring wall material therein, thereby immersing the wire wall assembly 5 at least in part into the wall material. In advantageous embodiments the wall material is concrete. This allows for a solid, strong prewired wall panel comprising embedding the wire wall assembly 5 without the need for e.g. drilling and/or cutting slots in a fully cured slab of concrete.

In an embodiment, to allow access to the plurality of wall boxes 6 in the wall panel 1 once it is erected and installed in a building, the plurality of wall boxes 6 must be positioned in the mould such that a room facing side 2 of the wall panel 1 registers and aligns with each wall box 6. Fully immersing each wall box 6 should thus be avoided in case accessibility to the one or more wires 9, 9a, 9b, 10 is required.

According to the invention, for conveniently and aesthetically located wall boxes 6, the wire wall assembly 5 may be embedded in wall material of the wall panel 1 along a longitudinal floor region la thereof at the off-site location. In most embodiments the floor region la is a rectangular region along a floor surface 4 of the wall panel 1 having a height h which is accessible to most electronic appliances in e.g. a residential home, but wherein the wall boxes 6 remain out of sight in most situations as one or more wall boxes may be obscured by e.g. furniture.

In a particular embodiment, embedding the wire wall assembly 5 may further comprises embedding the wire wall assembly 5 within a maximum height h of the floor region la, which maximum height h is smaller than 30% of a maximum height (H) of the wall panel 1. In other words, in most embodiments a convenient location for each wall box 6 is within approximately a third of the height of a rectangular wall panel 1 as measured from a floor surface of the wall panel 1, so that most electrical appliances used in e.g. a living and/or kitchen area are easily connected to an electrical outlet and/or data communication port.

For obtaining an aesthetically appealing wall panel 1, the method may further comprises aligning the plurality of wall boxes 6 along the floor region la of the wall panel 1. In a typical embodiment this means that each of the wall boxes 6 of the wall are located at a substantially same distance from the floor surface 4.

Returning to Figure 3, a distribution box 16 is often disposed in a ceiling, wherein conventional electrical installations require that electrical wiring extends from such a distribution box 16 through the ceiling toward each wall box in a wall. In such conventional installations electrical wiring extends from the ceiling downward into the wall; however, on site building contractors are then forced to work overhead in order to provide each room with electrical outlets.

According to the present invention no such overhead work is needed and it is now possible to provide the wall panel 1 with electricity from the floor 12 as shown in Figure 2. To that end the method of the present invention may further comprise embedding a distribution box 16 and an external electrical power source 11 connected thereto in a floor 12 of a building, and connecting the external electrical power source 11 to the mains wire 10 of the wall panel. This embodiment is particularly advantageous for rooms on e.g. the first level floor and higher, wherein a distribution box 16 is embedded in the floor 12 from above, which floor 12 forms the ceiling of a room below, and an external electrical power source 11 is embedded in the floor 12 from above as well. No overhead work is required. The wall panel 1 of the present invention is then connected to the external electrical power source 11 at a floor surface 4 of the wall panel 1.

Note that in Figure 3 a ground floor installation is depicted, wherein the external electrical power source 11 (dotted line) is embedded in the ground floor and directly connected to a central electrical cupboard 13. The depicted distribution box 16 may in this case provide a wall panel 1 on e.g. a first level floor instead.

The present invention embodiments have been described above with reference to a number of exemplary embodiments as shown in and described with reference to the drawings. Modifications and alternative implementations of some parts or elements are possible, and are included in the scope of protection as defined in the appended claims.

Claims (16)

A pre-wired wall panel for a building, such as a house, comprising a wall panel (1) with an embedded conduit assembly (5) therein, the conduit assembly (5) comprising an interconnected arrangement of a plurality of flush-mounted boxes (6) and one or more wire channels (7, 7a) for providing a wire passage therethrough, and wherein one or more wires (9, 9a, 9b, 10) extend through the wire passage, wherein at least one wire comprises a main wire (10) arranged for connecting the wall panel (1) to an external power source (11), and wherein the conduit assembly (5) extends along a longitudinal floor area (1a) of the wall panel (1) and the plurality of flush-mounted boxes (4) are substantially along it aligned. Pre-wired wall panel according to claim 1, wherein the wall panel (1) further comprises one or more connecting spaces (8) which are adapted to provide access to the one or more wires (9, 9a, 9b, 10) from a side surface ( 3, 4) of the wall panel (1). The pre-wired wall panel according to claim 2, wherein the side surface (3, 4) is a floor surface (4) of the wall panel (1). Pre-wired wall panel according to any of claims 1-3, wherein a maximum height (h) of the floor area (1a) is less than 30% of a maximum height (H) of the wall panel (1). Pre-wired wall panel according to any of claims 1-4, wherein the wall panel (1) is made of concrete. Pre-wired wall panel according to any of claims 1-5, wherein the plurality of flush-mounted boxes (6) are adjacent to a room-facing surface (2) of the wall panel (1). Pre-wired wall panel according to any of claims 1-6, further comprising one or more data communication wires (9a, 9b) extending through the conduit assembly (5). A method for manufacturing a pre-wired wall panel at an external location, comprising providing a plurality of flush-mounted boxes (6) and one or more wire channels (7, 7a) that are embedded in a wall panel (1) at the external location; interconnecting the plurality of recessed boxes (6) with the one or more wire channels (7, 7a) to provide a wire passage therethrough; inserting one or more wires (9, 9a, 9b, 10) through the wire passage to obtain a conduit assembly (5), the one or more wires (9, 9a, 9b, 10) having at least one main wire (10) ) which is adapted to connect the wall panel (1) to an external power source (11); and embedding the conduit assembly (5) in the material of the wall panel (1) along a longitudinal floor area (1a) thereof at the external location. The method of claim 9, further comprising providing the wall panel (1) with one or more connection spaces (8) adapted to provide access to the one or more wires (9, 9a, 9b, 10) from a side surface (3, 4) of the wall panel (1). The method of claim 9, wherein the side surface (3, 4) is a floor surface (4) of the wall panel (1). The method of any one of claims 8-10, wherein embedding the conduit assembly (5) further comprises providing one or more recesses in the wall panel (1) that are substantially congruent with the conduit assembly (5), and arranging of the conduit assembly (5) in the one or more recesses. A method according to any of claims 8-10, further comprising arranging the conduit assembly (5) in a wall jig and pouring the material from the wall into the wall jig, thereby immersing at least a portion of the conduit assembly (5) in the material of the wall. The method of claim 12, wherein the material of the wall is concrete. A method according to any one of claims 8-13, wherein embedding the piping system (5) further comprises embedding the piping system (5) within a maximum height (h) of the floor area (1a), which maximum height (h) is smaller is then 30% of a maximum height (H) of the wall panel (1). The method of any one of claims 8-14, wherein embedding the conduit system (5) further comprises aligning the plurality of recessed boxes (6) along the floor area (1a) of the wall panel (1). A method according to any of claims 8-15, further comprising embedding a central box (16) and an external power source (11) connected thereto in a floor (12) of a building, and connecting the external power source (11) with the at least one main thread (10) of the wall panel (1).