SE540801C2 - Method of assembling a sandwich panel system - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a method of assembling a system (25) of sandwich panels (10) for isolation of a building, comprising providing at least one fastening stud (19) on a substrate (11); and arranging sandwich panels (10) on the fastening stud such that the sandwich panels are stacked to form an isolating layer.

Description

Method for assembling a sandwich panel system The present invention relates to a method of assembling a sandwich panel system by stacking sandwich panels on top of each other to form isolating outer walls for isolation of a building e.g. at renovation. Sandwich panels of the system comprise an external plate and an internal plate with intermediate isolation material arranged between the plates. The internal plate comprises expansion sections in a load bearing direction. An upper edge of at least the external plate has a hook-shape for attaching to a fastening stud. The lower edge of at least the external plate has a groove-shape for receiving the hookshape of another plate such that sandwich elements may be stacked to form the isolating layer.

Background of the invention Sandwich elements are used in the construction industry primarily for outer walls and roofs. Industrial buildings typically comprise a body of pillars and laying sandwich element extending between the pillars and stacked on top of each other to form isolating outer walls. However, these systems are commonly associated with a number of problems. Firstly, it may occur that an external plate and an internal plate of the sandwich panel do not expand uniformly, having the result that the sandwich panel may bend outwards e.g. during warm summer conditions or inwards e.g. during cold winter conditions. This phenomenon typically arises when the external plate is subject of thermal expansion due to heating e.g. due to exposure to the sun while the internal plate is subjected to less heat and thereby less expansion than the external plate.

A further problem which may be encountered by sandwich panel systems according to the prior art are so-called thermal bridges. The effect may for example arise when sandwich panels are mounted to a surface or pillar by means of thoroughgoing fastening means of attachment such as screws and bolts, rivets or like means which provide a thermal link, often referred to as a bridging of cold, between the ambient air and the surface of attachment. A thermal bridge may thus counteract the isolating capability of the sandwich panel system.

A yet further problem which stem from the same principle as a thermal bridge is that of moisture conductivity of thoroughgoing means of attachment, which attachment or like may allow moisture to migrate from moist or wet ambient conditions through the isolating layer into the surface of attachment and inner space via the channel created by the thoroughgoing means.

Brief description of the invention On this background, it is an object of the present invention to provide a method of assembly of a sandwich panel system which solves or at least mitigates the problems of such panel systems taught in the prior art.

A further object of the present disclosure is achieved by providing a fastening stud which aligns a panel vertically, from which a panel may be suspended and on which stud a panel may rest and which fastening stud does not extend though the whole panel or through the external plate to an external side of the panel layer.

A further object of the present disclosure is achieved by providing a sealing strip in the upper and/or lower edges of the external plate.

In order to facilitate such movements, the intermediate isolation material may be resilient or porous enough to allow the expansion or contraction without exerting sufficient resistance or counter force to hinder stretching and/or movements of the internal and/or external plate. Acc. to one embodiment, the pleat is configured such that it is flush with the internal plate of the panel and does not protrude out from the internal plate of the panel. Acc. to one embodiment, the thickness of the internal plate may be made thinner at the locations where the pleats are disposed such as to facilitate easier expansion of the pleats.

The distance between the expansion sections or the number of expansion sections per unit length of the sandwich panel may differ depending on the appliance of the sandwich panel system and dimensions of each panel. An environment characterised by large differences in temperature may e.g. require the distance between the expansion sections to be relatively smaller or that expansion sections are capable of a more expansion individually.

Acc. to a further embodiment the external plate may have an upper edge and a lower edge, the upper edge having a hook-shape and the lower edge having a groove-shape. Acc. to a further embodiment the hook-shape and/or said groove-shape extend along the length of said upper edge and/or said lower edge of the sandwich panel.

Acc. to a further embodiment, the external plate may have an upper edge where the upper edge may have a hook-shape. The hook-shape may have an opening towards the internal plate. Acc. to a further embodiment, the external plate may have a lower edge where the lower edge has a groove shape.

The hook may feature resilience, for receiving a fastening stud in a resilient attachment. The hook-shape may extend along a length of the upper edge of the sandwich panel and the groove-shape may extend along a length of the lower edge of the sandwich panel.

The groove-shape for receiving the hook-shaped upper edge may preferably have a width corresponding substantially to the width of the hook-shaped upper edge or slightly smaller. A slightly smaller groove-shape may have the result that parts of the periphery of a hook-shaped edge resiliently abut the inside of a groove-shaped edge. Such resilience may assure a proper seal between an upper edge of a first sandwich plate and a lower edge of another sandwich plate.

According to a further embodiment, the sandwich panel may be suspended and aligned vertically by means of the groove-shape being configured to receive a hook-shape or a fastening stud and the hook-shape being configured to engage with a fastening stud. The engagement may be resilient in that the hook-shape is biased when receiving a fastening stud.

According to a further embodiment, the fastening stud extends lengthwise along a substrate and/or a sandwich panel. Acc. to a further embodiment, the sandwich panel may be suspended and/or aligned vertically by means of the groove-shape being configured to receive a hook shape and/or a fastening stud. According to a further embodiment, the hook-shape and the grooveshape and said fastening stud forms a lengthwise extending joint.

According to a further embodiment the joint comprises a seal strip between the groove-shape and the hook-shape such that a water tight joint is achieved.

According to a further embodiment, the joint, the hook-shape and the grooveshape are displaceable in a lengthwise direction of the fastening stud in response to a lengthwise expansion of a sandwich panel.

According to a further embodiment, the sandwich panel slidably rests on the fastening stud or is slidably suspended by the fastening stud. Slidably resting or suspended here imply that the fastening stud is capable of supporting the weight of a sandwich panel while allowing for the panel to slide along the fastening stud in a longitudinal direction of the fastening stud. The above described interplay between the design of the upper and lower edge of the external plate of the sandwich panel having a hook and groove shape and the fastening stud, allows for an expansion or contraction of the sandwich panel in response to thermal conditions, thereby the movement of a panel is unconstrained in a horizontal direction in parallel with the substrate when attached to a substrate. It may here be emphasized that an expansion of the external plate may give rise to forces in the core of the sandwich panel which cause the expansion sections to expand and thereby also the internal plate, thus, the external plate may indirectly stretch or pull out the expansion sections of the internal plate.

According to a further embodiment, the fastening studs may extend in a plane transverse a substrate and extend horizontally parallel to the surface such as to provide support and/or suspension of at least one sandwich panel.

In a further aspect the invention relates to a method of assembling a sandwich panel system comprising the steps of: - providing a first fastening stud on a substrate by fastening the fastening stud to the substrate by suitable means of attachment; - arranging a first sandwich panel on the fastening stud such that a grooveshaped lower edge of an external plate of said first panel receives an outer part of said fastening stud; - providing a second fastening stud on said substrate such that a hookshaped upper edge of said first sandwich panel receives said second fastening stud.

According to a further embodiment, the method further comprises the steps of: - arranging a second sandwich panel such that a groove shaped lower edge of said second panel receives said hook-shaped upper edge of said first panel; - providing a third fastening stud on said substrate such that a hook-shaped upper edge of said second panel receives said third fastening stud.

Further objects, features, advantages and properties of the sandwich panel system and method according to the invention will become apparent from the detailed description.

Brief description of the drawings In the following detailed portion of the present description, the invention will be explained in more detail with reference to the exemplary embodiments shown in the drawings, in which: Fig. 1 is a perspective depiction of a sandwich panel according to the present invention.

Fig. 2a is a perspective cross sectional depiction of an upper part of a sandwich panel according to the invention.

Fig. 2b is a perspective cross sectional depiction of a lower part of a sandwich panel according to the invention.

Fig. 3a is a diagrammatic depiction of a method according to the invention. Fig. 3b is a diagrammatic depiction of a method according to the invention. Fig. 3c is a diagrammatic depiction of a method according to the invention.

Detailed description of the invention In following detailed description, an assembly method of a sandwich panel system according to the invention will be described by reference to the preferred embodiments.

Figure 1 shows a sandwich panel 10 which may, as a typical non-limiting example measure from 1 m to 1.2 m in height and 5 - 9 m in a lengthwise direction A. The panel may be comprised of two outer layers 12, 13 of galvanised and painted steel plate with a core 33 of isolation material arranged there between. The core 33 may typically be comprised of mineral wool or expanded polystyrene.

Acc. to one embodiment, the isolation material of the core 33 may be arranged between the internal plate 12 and the external plate 13 by means of mechanical adhesion or other means of attachment such as adhesive compounds. The thickness of the core 33 may typically range from 10-100 mm but may attain other dimensions depending on the desired characteristics of the sandwich panel.

The expansion sections 14 extend in the loadbearing direction indicated by arrow B from a lower edge 26 of the internal plate 12 to an upper edge 27 or the internal plate 12. The number of expansion sections 14 illustrated in Fig. 1 is for exemplary purposes only.

A sandwich panel 10 acc. to one embodiment of the invention comprises an expansion section 14 further comprising a pleat 15.

A sandwich panel 10 acc. to one embodiment of the invention comprises an internal plate 12, an external plate 13 and an expansion section 14 further comprising a pleat 15. The dimensions of the pleat may as a typical nonlimiting examples range from 6-10 mm, the depth of the pleats typically extend 4-8 mm into the core 33 and the pleats typically dimensioned such as to provide a lengthwise play of 1 mm per meter sandwich panel 10.

A sandwich panel 10 acc. to one embodiment of the invention comprises an internal plate 12, an external plate 13 and an expansion section 14 further comprising an overlap 16 between partial plates 24. The overlap may for example be in the range of 5 mm.

A sandwich panel 10 acc. to one embodiment of the invention comprises an internal plate 12, an external plate 13 and an expansion section 14 further comprising a gap 17 between partial plates 24. The gap may be dimensioned as a column, gap or slit along the whole length of the internal plate 12 or it may comprise a perforation along only a part of the length or the internal plate or a combination, i.e. a slit beside perforations.

As shown in Fig. 2a, the external plate 13 has a hook-shaped upper edge 21. Inside the hook-shape of the upper edge 21 there may in one embodiment be arranged a sealing strip 18 extending continuously along the length of the upper edge 20.

As shown in Fig. 2b, the external plate 13 has a groove-shaped lower edge 20. Inside the groove-shape of the lower edge there may in one embodiment be arranged a sealing strip 18 extending continuously along the length of the lower edge 20.

A sealing strip in the upper 21 and/or lower 20 edges of the external plate 13 may contribute to the isolation capacity of the panel system 25 in that the joint 28 between two sandwich panels 10 provide a water tight seal.

In further embodiments of the invention, also the edges of the internal plate 12 comprise corresponding hook and groove shapes or a tongue and groove shape such that the sandwich panels may be stacked on each other to form an isolating wall.

Figs. 3a-c illustrate one embodiment of sandwich panel system 25 that comprises at least one fastening stud 19. The fastening stud 19 comprises an inner part 32 attached to a substrate 11, an intermediate part 31 and an outer part 30. The transitions between the parts 30, 31, 32 typically constitute right angles although they may be altered or inclined in other angles in relation to each other to ensure proper function of the sandwich panel system 25. The fastening stud 19 or plurality of fastening studs 19 typically extend along the lengthwise extension of the substrate 11 and/or the sandwich panel 10 and/or a plurality of substrates/sandwich panels 11/10.

The fastening stud 19 may engage with a hook-shaped upper edge 21 or a groove-shaped lower edge 20 individually or simultaneously to form a joint 28 which may comprise a sealing strip 18 as depicted in Fig 3a-c. The system 25 thereby achieves that the internal plates 12 and the external plates 13 of the sandwich panels 10 are unconstrained in their respective lengthwise and/or broad wise direction as they expand or collapse. Depending on if the panels 10 are stacked standing or laying down when being larger in one direction, the internal plate 12 of the sandwich panels may slide and be displaced in a lengthwise direction along the fastening stud 19 as the internal plate slidably rest on the intermediate part 31 of the fastening stud 19. The hook-shaped upper edge 21 of the external plate may further slide in its engagement with the outer part 30 or the fastening stud 19 and/or the lower edge 20 of the external plate may alike slide in its engagement with a hookshaped upper edge 21 of a sandwich panel.

Thereby, sandwich panel system 25 achieves interplay between sandwich panels 10 and fastening studs 19 in that the panels 10 are unconstrained in their respective engagement with the fastening studs 19 and/or each other in a lengthwise direction A.

Figs. 3a-c provide schematic depictions of a method acc. to one embodiment of the invention.

In a first step at least one fastening stud 19 comprising an inner part 32, an intermediate part 31 and an outer part 30 is attached to a substrate 11. The transitions between the parts 30, 31, 32 of the fastening stud 19 typically constitute right angles although they may be altered or inclined in other relative angles to ensure proper function and assembly of sandwich panel system 25.

The fastening stud 19 is fastened to an arbitrary substrate such as substrate 11 by suitable means of attachment 29. The fastening stud 19 or a plurality of fastening studs 19 may extend along a preferred length of the substrate 11 depending e.g. on the width of the substrate 11 which is to be isolated.

Following the first step, a sandwich plate 10 is arranged on the fastening stud 19 such that the outer part 30 of the fastening stud is received by a grooveshaped lower edge 20 of an external plate 13 of the panel 10, preferably having a sealing strip 18 arranged between the lower edge 20 and the outer part 30 of the fastening stud which is received by the lower edge 20 (see Fig 2b). In the resulting arrangement, sandwich panel 10 rests on fastening stud 19 while being aligned vertically and horizontally by the fastening stud and lower edge 20 while being able to slide along the length of the fastening stud.

In a subsequent step, the sandwich panel is aligned and suspended at its hook-shaped upper edge 21 by means of a further fastening stud 19 (not shown). The fastening stud has the outer part 30 having the same height as the hook-shaped upper edge 21, measured from the core 33 of the sandwich panel 10. The outer part 30 of the fastening stud 19 may be inserted into the hook-shaped upper edge 21 and subsequently rotated in the direction of arrow C, about its longitudinal axis such that the intermediate part 31 of the fastening stud 19 abut the core 33 of the sandwich panel 10 and the outer part 30 extend inside the hook-shaped upper edge 21. The further fastening stud 19 is subsequently fastened to the substrate 11.

In a following step, a second sandwich panel 10 is stacked on top of the further fastening stud 19 and the first sandwich panel 10 in that the grooveshaped lower edge 20 of the second panel receives the hook-shaped upper edge 21 of the first sandwich panel 10 such that a joint 28 is created between the first and the second panel as illustrated in Figure 3c. The joint 28, comprising the upper edge 21, the fastening stud 19 and the lower edge 20 thereby provide a water tight joint which isolates against moisture without facilitating thermal bridging between the substrate 11 and the ambient 23.

In one aspect of sandwich panel system 25 for building isolation, the system comprises a plurality of sandwich panels 10 each comprising an internal plate 12, an external plate 13, a core of isolating material 33 arranged between the plates and adhered thereto, wherein the internal plate 12 comprises expansion sections 14 extending in a loadbearing direction B of sandwich panel 10 between a lower edge 26 and an upper edge 27 of internal plate 12 and wherein the expansion sections 14 are adapted to facilitate horizontal lengthwise A play of the internal plate in response to a corresponding lengthwise A thermal expansion of external plate 13.

In a second aspect of the system acc. to the above first aspect, the expansion sections 14 each comprises at least one pleat 15. In a third aspect of the system acc. to any of the first or second aspect above, the internal plate 12 is comprised of one or more partial plates 24. In a fourth aspect of the system acc. to the third aspect above, the expansion sections 14 comprises at least one gap 17 between said partial plates 24. In a fifth aspect of the system acc. to the third aspect above, the expansion sections 14 comprises overlapping 16 of the partial plates 24. In a sixth aspect of the system acc. to any preceding aspect one to five above, the external plate 13 has an upper edge 21 and a lower edge 20, the upper edge 21 having a hook-shape and the lower edge 20 having a groove-shape. In a seventh aspect of system acc. to the sixth aspect above, the hook-shape and/or said groove-shape extend/-s along the length of the upper edge 21 and/or the lower edge 20 respectively. In an eighth aspect of the system acc. to any of above aspects one to seven, sandwich panel 10 is suspended and aligned vertically by means of a groove-shape 20 being configured to receive a hook-shape 21 or a fastening stud 19 and the hook-shape being configured to engage with the fastening stud. In a ninth aspect of the system acc. to the eighth aspect above, fastening stud 19 extends lengthwise along a substrate 11 and/or a sandwich panel 10. Acc. to a tenth aspect of the system acc. to any of aspects eight to nine above, the hook-shape 21 and the groove-shape 20 and the fastening stud 19 form a lengthwise extending joint 28. In an eleventh aspect of the system according to aspect ten above, the joint 28 comprises a seal strip 18 between the groove-shape 20 and the hook-shape 21 so that a water tight joint 28 is achieved. In a twelfth aspect of the system acc. to any of aspects ten to eleven, the joint 28, the hook-shape 21 and the groove-shape 20 are displaceable in a lengthwise direction A of the fastening stud 19 in response to a lengthwise expansion of a sandwich panel 10.

Claims (4)

Claims

1. Method of assembling a sandwich panel system (25) comprising steps of: - providing a first fastening stud (19) on a substrate (11) by fastening the fastening stud to the substrate (11) by suitable means of attachment (29); - arranging a first sandwich panel (10) on the fastening stud (19) such that a groove-shaped lower edge (20) of an external plate (13) of said first panel (10) receives an outer part (30) of said fastening stud (19); - providing a second fastening stud (19) on said substrate (11) such that a hook-shaped upper edge (21) of said first sandwich panel (10) receives said second fastening stud (19).

2. Method according to claim 1, further comprising the steps of: - arranging a second sandwich panel (10) such that a groove shaped lower edge (20) of said second panel (10) receives said hook-shaped upper edge (21) of said first panel (10); - providing a third fastening stud (19) on said substrate (11) such that a hook-shaped upper edge (21) of said second panel (10) receives said third fastening stud (19).

3. Method according to claim 1 or 2, further comprising: - arranging a sealing strip (18) inside the groove-shaped lower edge (20) before the outer fastening stud part (30) or the hook-shaped upper edge (21) is received by the groove-shaped lower edge (20).

4. Method according to claim 1, 2 or 3, further comprising: - inserting the outer part (30) of the fastening stud (19) into the hookshaped upper edge (21); - rotating the outer part (30) such that an intermediate part (31) of the fastening stud (19) abuts a core (33) of the sandwich panel (10) and the outer part (30) extends inside the hook-shaped upper edge (21).