WO2008004954A1

WO2008004954A1 - Balkong

Info

Publication number: WO2008004954A1
Application number: PCT/SE2007/000664
Authority: WO
Inventors: Bo Persson
Original assignee: Nova Glazing Ltd.
Priority date: 2006-07-07
Filing date: 2007-07-05
Publication date: 2008-01-10
Also published as: EP2041377A1; NO20090092L; SE529063C2; SE0601498L

Abstract

The present invention relates to a balcony system comprising a frame (2, 2', 3, 3') surrounding a floor plate (8), characterized in that the wall bracket element (13) runs through the front of the frame (2'), through said floor plate (8) and through the backside of the frame (2) arranged to be in close contact with the facing of the wall.

Description

TITLE

BALCONY

DESCRIPTION TECHNICAL FIELD

The present application relates to a balcony system with fittings.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Today new buildings under construction require a balcony for each flat in apartment blocks or at the upper floor of private houses, wherein the balcony is designed as a part of the wall. In this case reinforcement bars are at appropriate points of time placed at suitable places in the wall to which a foot slab, the balcony floor, is cast. Thereafter a balcony railing, such as an open grating structure or solid balcony sides, i attached to balusters cast in the slab.

This type of balcony is very heavy, it weighs several tons, and furthermore it must be put in place during an ongoing construction in order to be cast as an integrated part of the building.

Depending on the surface finish and water outflow, the effect on the reinforcement bars can vary, while with time the bars will corrode and there is a risk that the balcony will collapse. Not too seldom this is the case, thus there is a need for a simple procedure for replacing a damaged or removed balcony without making too much interference on the facing of the house.

During new construction it is often desirable to fasten the balconies on the facing of the house afterwards, as a protruding balcony slab constitutes an obstruction during the work on the facing of the house.

US 4,548,003 describes a pre-constructed balcony slab, comprising a metal frame provided with ears by which the frame is attached to a wall. To the frame are arranged upper and lower fittings which lock the upper and lower floors, in between which a layer of mineral wool is arranged. In one embodiment of the invention protruding beams are present, which are pushed into the wall in order to pull the load. The beams are dependent on an arranged sleeve system in the wall provided with supporting partition walls.

NL 8500518 describes a balcony construction comprising a frame of angled steel plate on to which a floor plate is fitted. The frame is filled with foam plastic. The frame is further reinforced with two cross beams and covered with a glass fiber reinforced cloth. The balcony structure is described to be light, having a weight of 60 kg per running meter. No specific device for fastening to the wall is present.

DE 297 02 563 U1 relates a balcony floor comprising a compact slab containing lightweight concrete provided with a tile material on its upper surface. The slab is denoted to be lightweight.

SE-B-458 285 relates to a process for constructing balconies on the facing of houses and a profile for carrying out the procedure. The process involves arranging a profile on the outside of the slab of a balcony and fastening balcony posts in said profile for receiving a balcony railings and balcony side pieces.

EP-O 561 058 - A1 describes a balcony comprising a frame supporting one or more floor plates, said frame is arranged to be attached to a facing of a house by a screw joint reinforcement in the part of the frame in close contact with the wall.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention provides a solution to the problem of easily replacing worn out balconies during restoration of older houses, as well as in a simple manner attaching balconies during a late phase of a new building under construction.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention is principally characterized in that it comprises a frame surrounding floor plate, wherein the wall bracket elements run through the front of the frame through said floor plate and through the back of the frame adapted to be in close contact with the facing of the wall. By using the present invention the frame is held together, the floor plate is stiffened which means that a considerably greater weight can be put on the floor plate, and that the installation can take place from the front of the balcony and not necessarily from the back. The invention also provides a flexibility concerning the length of the wall bracket element which can be adapted to the wall to which the balcony is to be attached.

By using a light weight floor plate and frame profiles made from aluminum the balcony becomes very light weight, yet strong enough to meet the high demands of load tolerance. The present invention will now be described in more detail with reference to the following figures, wherein

FIG. 1 shows a balcony unit according to the present invention viewed from above;

FIG. 2 shows a cross sectional view of a balcony unit according to the present invention;

FIG. 3 shows a second embodiment of a side frame member according to the present invention;

FIG. 4 shows a third embodiment of a part of a side frame member according to the present invention;

FIG. 5 shows a cross sectional view of an escutcheon plate according to the present invention. FIG. 6 shows a cross sectional view of the embodiments according to FIG. 3 and FIG. 4 in a combined design of the construction of a balcony according to the present invention, and

FIG. 7 shows a connection between the balcony plate and balcony railings according to the present invention.

The number 1 denotes a rectangular balcony unit comprising side frame members 2, 2', 3,

3'.

The side frames 2, 2', 3, 3' are arranged next to each other in each corner 5, using right- angle fittings 6, which are screwed into each side frame member 2, 2', 3, 3' using screws 7. The screws 7 are arranged vertically in pairs, facing each other in each of the corners 5 on the side frame members 2, 2', 3, 3'.

The side frame members 2, 2', 3, 3' consists of aluminum profiles comprised in the order and direction as can be seen in the left profile of FIG. 1 of a vertical member 31 with an outwardly facing flat side surface 32, and with inwardly facing profiling hooks 33, which pair wise form the longitudinal spaces 34, which are arranged to receive for example stiffened profile elements 35. The frame profile further comprises a horizontal bottom part 36, from which an essentially, vertically pointed, wall part 38 provided with screw holes 37 is protruding, the wall 38 which is finished with an inwardly pointed horizontal plane 39. Above the vertical member 31 and the side surface 32 is arranged a notch 40 confined by a vertical side wall 41 and horizontal opposing second side walls 42, 43. Furthermore, the profile presents an upper horizontal surface 44 provided with two hook notches 45. The notch 40 comprises regularly spaced through holes 46. The spacing between the holes 46 can be adjusted to the outer dimensions of the balcony, or be decided to measure between 500 and 600 mm. Normally there are about 2 (two) holes per running meter of profile.

A floor plate consisting of a light weight material such as CORAPAN from CORATEC, Switzerland is placed in a rectangular composed frame consisting of side frame members 2, 2', 3. 3'. Said material consist of hard foam comprising polystyrol beads surrounded by a binder consisting of polymer and a setting agent as well as filler.

The plate 8 has on its upper and lower surfaces a top coat 9 of aluminum, which provides an improved resistance to mechanic wear. Such a plate has a density of about 150 kg/m³, which means that a floor plate with a bottom surface of 3 m³ and a thickness of 100 mm only weighs about 45 kg. Such a plate provides good sound insulating characteristics, which can be valuable in apartment buildings.

A number of through holes 10 are arranged through the floor plate 8. Distance sleeves 11 are introduced into each of these holes 10. The sleeves are of such a length that they protrude from the floor plate 8 with a length which is adjusted to the side frame members 2, 2', 3, 3', at which the distance sleeves 11 will provide a coumterstay for the side frame members when the balcony is installed. The through holes 10 are arranged at the same distance as the through holes 46.

The floor plate 8 is arranged on the frame from above, and bears on the horizontal plane 39. As a seal between the frame and floor plate 8, the hook notches 45 on the upper side of the frame profile 44 are preferably arranged with shaped hooks 47 provided with sealing strips 12. During the installation, bars 13 will be arranged in the through holes 46 and 10, which are fitted facing each other. The bars 13, are preferably made from stainless or acid proof steel and are on one of the ends provided with a head of bolt 14, such as a hexagonal nut, and in it's other end provided with a thread cutting 15. The head bolt 14 does not necessarily need to be a hexagonal nut, but can be of any suitable shape for accomplishing a spiral movement and thus be provided with a notch for an Allen key, Torx key and others. The bars 13 are pulled into holes intended for the bars 13 in the facing, if necessary by using suitable plugs. The spacing sleeves 11 have such a length that the frame sides 1 , 1 ' remain parallel to each other.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the side frame member 222 isn't uniform with the other side frame members 2', 3 and 3', but adopts the shape which can be seen in FIG. 3. In this embodiment the lower longitudinal space 34 has been closed by a hanging floor member 140 between the profiling hooks 33 and the plane 39. Furthermore, in the upper part of the side frame member a longitudinal space 134 having a rectangular cross section has appeared. The fastening bolts 13 are arranged to pass through these spaces 134. The side frame 222' (FIG. 4) is substantially the same as the side frame member 222 but has an upper space open on the side 234, for receiving a bolt head 14. This space which is open on the side 234 is preferably provided with an escutcheon plate 201 whose cross section can be seen in FIG.5. Balcony side pieces such as covering sheet metal, or cornices are attached to the side frames 1 , 2, 2' and 3, 3'. Preferably they are attached to poles which are attached to said frame sides. Poles or whole sheet metal sides 101 are attached by an attachment frame or attachment frame elements 102 to the side frame member 2', 3 and 3' using screws 103 which go through to the inside space 34 of the side frame to be screwed into the counterstay 135. In FIG. 7 the side sheet metal 101 is provided with a drip proof 104 at the lower edge, said drip proof also protecting and covering the fastening bolts 103. Depending on the desire and the design, the fastening frame 102 can be attached higher or lower on the side frame sides 2', 3 and 3'. Especially for restoration projects it can be valuable to adjust the inclination of the balcony plate from the facing. For this an L-shaped washer can be put between side frame member 2 and the facing, wherein the L-shaped washer is attached to the side frame member 2 using bolts in the lower part of the frame element, which bolt/bolts pass/es) through the frame member and preferably is pulled into the counterstay located in the longitudinal space 34 of the lower part of the side frame member.

Claims

1. A balcony system comprising a frame (2, 2', 3, 3') surrounding a floor plate (8), characterized in that the wall bracket element (13) runs through the front of the frame (2'), through said floor plate (8) and through the backside of the frame (2) arranged to be in close contact with the facing of the wall.

2. A balcony system according to claim 1 , wherein said wall bracket element (13) runs in distance sleeves (11).

3. A balcony system according to claim 2, wherein said distance sleeves (11) are arranged as a counterstay towards the frame sides (2, 2') during attachment to a facing of the wall.

4. A balcony system according to claim 1 , wherein the side frame members (2, 2', 3, 3') contain poles arranged to support balcony side pieces.

5. A balcony system according to claim 1 , wherein the side frame member (2) adapted to sit close to the facing of the wall is provided with one from the side frame member (2) downwardly protruding support moulding.

6. A balcony system according to claim 1 , wherein the floor plate constitutes of a material having a density of < 200 kg/m³ and a sound insulating number of

< 35 db.