US20200291659A1

US20200291659A1 - Profile element and facade system with profile element

Info

Publication number: US20200291659A1
Application number: US16/815,341
Authority: US
Inventors: Reto Dörig
Original assignee: Gft Fassaden AG
Current assignee: Gft Fassaden AG
Priority date: 2018-03-09
Filing date: 2020-03-11
Publication date: 2020-09-17
Also published as: CH714733A9; CH714733A1; EP3536873A1; EP3536873B1; CA3074846A1

Abstract

A profile element and a facade system for mounting on buildings having facade panels are connected to profile elements, each profile element having a receiving section, a fastening section and a mounting section. The receiving section forms a receiving space at its free end and the fastening section is formed such that it rests at least partially on the back of the facade panel. The fastening section is positioned with respect to the facade panel such that the mounting section extends beyond the facade pane.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

The present application claims priority to European Patent App. No. EP19162007.9 (Publication No. EP3536873A1) for PROFILE ELEMENT, FACADE SYSTEM WITH PROFILE ELEMENT filed on Mar. 11, 2019, the entirety of which is incorporated by this reference.

BACKGROUND

Field of the Invention

The invention relates to a profile element for attaching a facade panel to a building wall or facade beam, a facade system, and a construction kit with the profile element for producing a facade by mounting facade panels on a building wall or a facade beam. In particular, the invention relates to facade systems for curtain-type, rear-ventilated facades. The invention may be used in the case of small or medium format facade panels, which are made in particular from glass fiber concrete or fiber cement.

Prior Art

Prior art profile elements and facade systems are generally known. However, these are complex and therefore expensive to manufacture and use.
US Patent Application No. 2014/0325927A1 discloses a wall panel consisting of a thin stone slab of 3-10 mm thickness, a reinforcement plate attached to this stone slab and a frame comprising this reinforcement plate. The reinforcement plate is the same size as the stone slab and is glued to it. The frame consists of individual beams, which individually form one side of the frame, and is attached to the reinforcement plate. In the upper and lower beams of the frame recesses for receiving hooks are provided. Using these hooks, the wall plate is fastened to the facade. The wall panels must be fastened from the bottom up. It is not possible to remove or install a wall plate placed in the middle of the facade.
The present invention solves the deficiencies of the prior art by providing a profile element for an alternative facade system that is inexpensive to manufacture, flexible and easy to use and yet easy to mount or to dismount. In particular, individual facade panels can be replaced on a finished facade without having to dismantle adjacent panels. A facade system according to the present invention that can be efficiently and economically produced and has only a few individual parts.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Accordingly, the invention relates to a profile element for arrangement on the back of a facade panel and a method for fastening the facade panel to a building wall or a facade beam via the profile element. According to the invention, the profile element is integrally formed and has a receiving section, a fastening section and a mounting section, wherein the receiving section forms a receiving space at its free end and the fastening section is positioned with respect to the facade panel so that the mounting section extends beyond the facade panel.
In this way, a facade system is created, wherein there is no need for the profile element to cooperate with other elements of the facade system in order to fulfill its carrying function. Only the integrally formed profile element must be connected to the facade panel, and the facade element thereby created is fixed to the building in the area of the mounting section extending beyond the facade panel. Due to their shape, the profile elements have the advantage that each facade element can be installed or removed independently of the neighboring facade elements.
Advantageous embodiments of the profile element are also described herein. The advantageous variants of embodiments described below, either alone or in combination with each other, result in further improvements of the profile element.
According to a first advantageous embodiment of the profile element according to the invention, the receiving space is essentially U-shaped and has a first leg of the U-shaped receiving space, which lies in the same plane as the fastening section resting on the back of the facade panel. This makes it possible to place the profile element on the facade panel and fasten it. The profile elements are mechanically fastened to the facade panel, for example screwed, but can in principle also be glued or otherwise attached by devices, materials or methods known in the art. For this purpose, for example, the TU-S blind fastening system from SFS or undercut anchor systems from Fischer or Keil can be used. It is also conceivable that rivets may be used to fasten the profile elements on the facade panel.
According to a further advantageous embodiment, the profile element according to the invention has a second leg in the area of the receiving space, which lies in the same plane as the mounting section. This makes it possible to place the profile element on a wall of a building or on a facade beam and then to fasten it without the facade element being able to tilt. In one embodiment, the facade panel with the profile elements is mounted on a wall of a building or on a facade beam by screws, the screws being placed in the area of the mounting section. In particular, when the facade panels in the installed state are mounted so that a gap is formed between the facade panels, and if this gap is sufficiently large dimensioned, it is possible for a tool to reach the screws in the area of the mounting section to screw on the facade panel together with profile elements or to detach it from the wall or facade beam. The gap between the installed facade panels should therefore be between 5 mm and 20 mm, between 6 mm and 10 mm, or about 8 mm. With this gap dimension, on the one hand, the facade appears elegantly styled and offers sufficient visual protection for the elements attached behind the facade and, on the other hand, is large enough to easily reach the screws with a tool.
With regard to the U-shaped receiving space, which is formed from a first and a second leg that extend from a base, it should be noted that this U-shaped receiving space can also be formed so that the second leg together with the base and the facade panel forms the receiving space. The first leg can therefore be omitted.
In a further embodiment, a stepped recess is formed on a free end of the mounting section and in a further embodiment, in the installed state, superposed facade panels are positioned such that the stepped recess of the one profile element protrudes into the receiving space of the other profile element.
Furthermore, a stop which is aligned essentially transversely to the leg can be formed on the free end of the second leg of the U-shaped receiving space. This stop can fix the stepped recess protruding into the receiving space with respect to its horizontal movement play. In order to be able to insert the recess into the receiving space or to take it out again, the height of the second leg is equal to or greater than the height of the recess.
The profile element may be attached exclusively to the back of the facade panel. Parts of the profile element can come to rest on the top or bottom of the profile element. There is no part of the profile element on the front of the facade panel. In a further embodiment, the profile element is arranged only on the back and top of the facade panel.
One to five profile elements can be fastened to a facade element. Furthermore, the profile elements may be made of aluminum and produced in an extrusion process and then anodized. Typical dimensions of a profile element for a facade panel with the dimensions of 15 cm×180 cm are 16 cm×6 cm, 3 profile elements being used with a length of the facade panel of 180 cm. The height of the facade panel can vary between 6.5 cm and 15 cm.
A construction kit with the profile element according to the invention described above additionally has a start and an end profile as the second and third profile elements. Using the start and end profiles, the facade panels can be mounted on the facade edge, usually at the bottom and at the top. Both the start and the end profile have certain features of the profile element, that is to say they are basically half a profile element formed either from the top or bottom section of the profile element according to the invention. The start profile is fastened to the building wall or facade beam and defines the bottom edge of the facade wall. Compared to the profile element, it has only one mounting section and the recess adjacent to the mounting section. In this way, the start profile is used to receive the profile element of the bottommost facade panel.
The end profiles, however, are only mounted on the back of the topmost facade panel of a facade wall or on a facade panel adjacent to a window sill, for example. The structure of the end profiles basically only differs in the mounting section. The end profile has mounting section that is, in the installed state, flush vertically oriented along the building wall. The profile is fastened with a screw above the upper edge of the facade panel. If the facade panel has to be narrower for reasons of space, for example, because it has to be installed under a window sill, the facade panel is cut accordingly and then the end profile is mounted on the back. The end profile is then also shortened to such an extent that the fastening continues to be above the top edge of the facade. A subject of the invention also relates to a facade system with the profile element described above for producing a building facade, comprising facade panels and profile elements connected or connectable to the facade panels.
The facade system according to the invention is particularly suitable for small or medium-sized facade panels in the typical size of a width of about 6 cm to 40 cm and a length of up to about 180 cm, wherein the facade panels can be made of glass fiber concrete, fiber cement or laminate panels plates also referred to as HPL-panels (High Pressure Laminate—HPL). The facade system may be used for horizontal orientations of the facade elements. However, vertical or diagonal orientations are also possible.
The height of the profile element, that is to say the distance from the mounting section to the receiving section, is greater than the height of the facade panel to which the profile element is attached. This facilitates both the mounting and dismantling of a facade panel, regardless of its position in the facade wall.
The optional features mentioned can be implemented in any combination, provided that they are not mutually exclusive. Further advantages and features of the invention result from the following detailed description of the invention with reference to schematic representations in the drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTIONS OF THE DRAWINGS

In a representation that is not to scale:

FIG. 1 shows a sectional view through a facade system according to the invention with three facade elements in the installed state.

FIG. 2 shows a sectional view through a facade system according to the invention with three facade elements, the central facade element being shown in an uninstalled or dismounted state.

FIG. 3 shows a side view of a further possible embodiment of a profile element.

FIG. 4 shows a vertical section of the profile element shown in FIG. 3.

FIG. 5 shows a side view of a start profile for receiving the profile element of the bottommost facade panels.

FIG. 6 shows a side view of an end profile as a partial profile of the profile element.

FIG. 7 shows a vertical section of the end profile shown in FIG. 6.

FIG. 8 shows a sectional view through a façade system according to the invention with three facade elements and the correct arrangement of the three different profiles.

FIG. 9 shows a top view of a possible embodiment of a corner connection panel.

FIG. 10 shows a representation of a sheathing of a corner with a facade system according to the invention and the use of a corner connection panel.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

FIG. 1 shows a sectional view through a facade system 11 according to the invention with three facade elements mounted one above the other in the installed state, a building wall or a facade support not being shown. The facade elements are all identical in construction and are formed from a facade panel 12 and a profile element 13. Profile element 13 is designed as an aluminum extrusion part and has a receiving section 15, a fastening section 17 and a mounting section 19. At the free end of the receiving section 15, a receiving space 21 is formed, which is U-shaped. The U-shaped receiving space is formed by two legs 23, 25. A stepped recess 27 is formed on the free end of the mounting section. The height of profile element 13 is determined by the distance between receiving section 15 and mounting section 19.
Profile element 13 and facade panel 12 are screwed together (screws not shown). The screwing takes place in the area of fastening section 17. In this fastening section, profile element 13 is designed in such a way that fastening section 17 forms a support surface which can be placed flat on facade element 12 and subsequently screwed on. In the interaction between the support surface with a first leg 23 of receiving space 21, the profile element is further stabilized on the facade panel because the first leg also rests on facade panel 12. In the area of the free end of the profile part at which mounting section 19 begins, a cross strut 35 is formed, which forms a stop edge 37. This stop edge 37 serves as a positioning aid, since this stop edge 37 abuts top longitudinal side 45 of facade panel 12 in the installed state. A little further towards fastening section 17, a rib 33 is provided, which forms a further additional support on facade panel 12 for profile element 13.
Mounting section 19 extends beyond longitudinal side 45 of facade panel 12. In the area of mounting section 19, which rests directly on a building wall or a facade beam (both not shown), profile element 13 with facade panel 12 carried by profile element 13 is fastened to the wall or the facade beam by means of a screw not shown. Support surface 22 formed in the area of mounting section 19, which rests on the wall or the facade beam, is in the same plane as second leg 25 of receiving space 21. Thus, it is possible to push profile element 13 together with the facade panel against the housing wall or against the facade beam during mounting, because profile element 12 rests cleanly.
The facade elements are mostly mounted from the bottom up on a building wall or a facade beam, which means that the bottommost row of the facade elements is the first to be screwed to the building. Then the second row follows. Here, the facade elements of the second row are placed or attached so that a recess 27 of a profile element 13 of the bottommost row of facades engages in receiving space 21 of a profile element 13 of the row of facades above. The facade elements are mounted in such a way that a gap is formed on all sides between adjacent facade panels 12, which is about 8 mm wide. This ensures that facade panels 12 have enough space for expansion caused by heat. In addition, it is possible to reach the screws through gap 31 between facade panels 12 with a tool.
U-shaped receiving space 21 has a stop 29 at its free end. This stop 29 serves to limit or fix recess 27 protruding into receiving space 21 and thus profile element 13 as a whole with regard to the horizontal movement play.
FIG. 2 shows a sectional view through a facade system according to the invention with three facade elements, the central facade element being shown at a moment of installation or dismantling. The height h_Sof second leg 25 is equal to or greater than the height h_Rof recess 27. In this way, it is ensured that it is possible that, retrospectively, a facade element can be dismantled from a facade system in the installed state or can be reinstalled, because this creates a sufficiently large space for movement. In FIG. 2, the central facade element is shifted in the direction of the facade element located above. As a result, recess 27 of the facade element located underneath no longer protrudes into receiving space 21 of the central facade element and the facade element can therefore be given away in relation to the housing wall. With this procedure, retrospectively installing or retrospectively dismantling individual facade elements is possible at any time in a simple manner.
As can be seen in both figures, profile elements 13 according to the invention have grooves 39, 41 on the side facing the building wall for receiving a corner connector 43. Such a corner connector 43 is designed for example as an L-shaped metal angle and is only used in the area of corners and reveals of a building. Corner connector 43 is inserted into grooves 39 and 41 of those adjacent profile elements 13, the facade panels of which on the face end at a building corner and which are mounted on different sides of the building. This corner connector 43 secures and fixes the facade in the corner areas of buildings.
A further embodiment of a profile element is shown in FIG. 3. In contrast to the previous embodiment, this embodiment has slight structural differences. Recess 27 at the free end of mounting section 19 is configured in a rounded shape, but still has a stepped structure. Furthermore, two support surfaces are arranged one below the other in fastening section 17. This enables profile element 13 to be screwed onto facade panel 12 by two superposed screws 60. Below and above the fastening section there are two ring-shaped screw receptacles 46 on profile element 13. These are not completely closed in their ring shape but have an opening, which gives them a crescent shape.
FIG. 4 shows a vertical section of profile element 13. It shows fastening section 17 of two superposed rows of holes 51, which serve to receive screws for fastening profile element 13 at façade panel 12. A horizontal row of holes is arranged in the mounting section, an elongated hole 53 and a circular hole 55 alternating in each case. Elongated holes 53 are aligned in the horizontal direction and have the same dimension in the vertical direction as circular holes 55. These holes in mounting section 19 serve to fasten profile element 13 to a building wall 57 or a facade beam. Elongated holes 53 allow play in the horizontal direction to accommodate a possible expansion of profile element 13.
FIG. 5 shows a start profile 113, which defines the bottom edge of the facade. Start profile 113 has, as profile element 13, a mounting section 119 with a recess 127 in which is formed in a stepped manner. Recess 127 is used to hold receiving section 15 of a profile element 13 which is mounted on the back of a facade panel (see FIG. 8). The mounting section has in this case also a support surface 122, which in the mounted state abuts the building wall. Using a screw 59, supporting surface 122 and with it start profile 113 can be fastened to building 57. In contrast to profile element 13, start profile 113 has recess 127 not at the upper but at the lower free end. However, recess 127 is still directed upwards in order to ensure its functionality. Start profile 113 has a length corresponding to that of facade panel 12.
End profile 213 is shown in sectional view in FIG. 6. End profile 213 has some identical features as a partial profile of profile element 13. Receiving section 215 is constructed the same, on the one hand. Fastening section 217 also has a vertical support surface 218 in end profile 213. Mounting section 219 is formed by a further vertically oriented support surface. Above fastening section 217 there is attached a leg 256 which comes to be flush with the surface of facade panel 12. The fact that this surface rests on the facade surface prevents the end profile 213 from pivoting. Another horizontal connecting piece 258 connects to mounting section 219. Said mounting section 219 begins below the center of end profile 213 and extends vertically upwards, so that, in use, the support surface representing mounting section 219 is flush with building wall 57 or the facade beam.
The vertical section of end profile 213 in FIG. 7 shows the different through bores 251 arranged at end profile 213. In fastening section 217 there are three through bores 251 arranged horizontally next to one another. Through these holes 251 screws 260 are passed, which fasten end profile 213 to facade panel 12. Several rows of through holes are arranged in mounting section 219, with an elongated hole 253 and a circular hole 255 alternating in the horizontal direction. In the vertical direction, the holes are always arranged one below the other and always have the same hole shape in a row. If below a ceiling or an upper limiter, facade panel 12 must be reduced in height, end profile 213 can be adapted to the new height of facade panel 12 by shortening of mounting section 219.
FIG. 8 shows an example of the use of a construction kit according to the invention with three facade panels. Here the two lower facade panels 12 are fastened to the building wall 57 by means of a profile element 13 and top facade panel 12 is fastened to the building wall 57 by means of an end profile 213. The fastening is made by screws 59, 259. Adjacent facade panels are separated from one another in the fully mounted construction by a gap 31. The gap 31 has a width such at that a screw 59 can be passed through this gap. This allows to fasten profile element 13 with a screw 59 and by using a tool to the building wall from the outside. The facade panels are usually mounted from bottom up. Start profile 113 is mounted at the bottom. It must be attached to that place at building wall 57 from which the facade is to be hoisted. Fastening of start profile 113 to wall 57 is preferably also done by screw connections.
FIG. 9 shows an alternative embodiment of a corner connector compared to the corner connector described above. This corner connector comprises a panel 61, the edges of which can be held by grooves 39, 41 of profile element 13. Panel 61 has a one-sided expansion 62 of the cross section on one side. On this side, two holes 63 are arranged at the same distance from the panel edge. The distance between holes 63 is the same as that between the annular screw receptacles 46 of profile element 13 shown in FIG. 3.
FIG. 10 shows the use of the corner connector panel shown in FIG. 9 for sheathing a corner with facade plates 12, which are fastened to building wall 57 by profile elements 13 according to the invention. As described above, profile elements 13 are fastened to the wall by means of a screw connection via their mounting section 19. Corner connection panel 61 is to be attached to a profile element 13 of these facade panels 12 before mounting both facade panels 12. Facade panels 12, which are arranged perpendicular to one another, are at a distance from one another which is intended to enable a screw to be passed through and the screw to be fastened from the outside using a tool. The screw, which is advantageously a self-drilling screw, is inserted into the hole in the corner connector panel 61 and then into the annular screw receptacles 46 of profile element 13 of facade panel 12, which has no corner connector panel 61.
While the invention has been described above with reference to specific embodiments, it is apparent that changes, modifications, variations and combinations can be made without departing from the spirit of the invention.

Claims

1. A profile element configured for arrangement on a back of a facade panel and for fastening the facade panel to a building wall or a facade beam, comprising:

a profile element integrally formed and having a receiving section, a fastening section and a mounting section, wherein the receiving section forms a receiving space at its free end and the fastening section is positioned with respect to the facade panel such that the mounting section extends beyond the facade panel.

2. The profile element of claim 1, wherein the receiving space is U-shaped wherein a first leg of the U-shaped receiving space lies in the same plane as the fastening section resting on the back of the facade panel.

3. The profile element of claim 2, wherein a second leg of the U-shaped receiving space lies in the same plane as the mounting section.

4. The profile element of claim 3, wherein a stepped recess is formed at the free end of the mounting section.

5. The profile element of claim 3, further comprising a stop aligned substantially transversely to the leg and formed at a free end of the second leg of the U-shaped receiving space.

6. The profile element of claim 1, wherein the profile element is made of extruded aluminum.

7. The profile element of claim 1, wherein the profile element has a greater height than a height of the facade panel.

8. A facade system for mounting on buildings having a plurality of facade panels and a plurality of profile elements connected to the plurality of facade panels, the plurality of profile element each configured for arrangement on a back of a respective facade panel and for fastening the respective facade panel to a building wall or a facade beam, each profile element integrally formed and having a receiving section, a fastening section and a mounting section, wherein the receiving section forms a receiving space at its free end and the fastening section is positioned with respect to the facade panel such that the mounting section extends beyond the facade panel.

9. The facade system of claim 8, wherein the facade panel with the plurality of profile elements is mounted by screws to a wall of the building or on the facade beam, the screws placed in an area of the mounting section.

10. The facade system of claim 8, wherein the plurality of profile elements are screwed to the plurality of facade panels.

11. The facade system of claim 10, wherein, in the installed state, the plurality of facade panels are mounted so that a gap is formed between the facade panels and the gap is sufficiently largely dimensioned to allow for a tool to reach screws in the area of the mounting section.

12. The facade system of claim 11, wherein, in the installed state, superposed facade panels are positioned such that the stepped recess protrudes into the receiving space.

13. The facade system of claim 12, wherein the stepped recess protruding into the receiving space is fixed by a stop with respect to its horizontal movement play.

14. The facade system of claim 10, wherein the plurality of facade panels are made of glass fiber concrete panels, fiber cement panels or laminate panels.

15. A construction kit for mounting a facade on a building wall or a facade beam, comprising:

a first profile element configured for arrangement on a back of a respective facade panel and for fastening the respective facade panel to the building wall or facade beam, the profile element integrally formed and having a receiving section, a fastening section and a mounting section, wherein the receiving section forms a receiving space at its free end and the fastening section is positioned with respect to the facade panel such that the mounting section extends beyond the facade panel,

a second profile element comprising only a mounting section and a recess formed thereon and forming a lowermost part of the facade, and

a third profile element having a mounting section along the building wall or along the facade beam and being flush vertically oriented therewith for fastening a peripheral top facade panel.