The present invention relates to a curtain wall of a building, comprising a number of pillars fixed to the building, a number of glass pane assemblies disposed between said pillars, each comprising an inner pane and an outer pane separated with spacing means at the perimeter thereof, wherein at their perimetric faces parallel to the longitudinal axes of the pillars said glass pane assemblies are provided with longitudinal mounting grooves, and a number of connectors engaging said grooves and fixing adjacent glass pane assemblies to said pillars.

Background of the Invention

Curtain walls of this type are usually used as buildings fagades or roof constructions ensuring deeper penetration of natural light within the building.

Publication BE1000298 for example discloses a curtain wall structure comprising a pillar frame element and a jointed glass pane assembly comprising an outer pane, two inner panes and a spacer unit. The jointed glass pane assembly is connected to the pillar frame element by means of a C-shaped connector mounted in the spacer unit. The connector is fixed to the pillar frame element by means of a metal shaped plate and a screw.

Publication W02004063517 discloses a fagade or transparent roof construction having a carrier structure comprising at least one insulating glass pane that is fixed to at least one profiled element. According to the invention, a groove is cut, at least in sections, in the edge of the insulating glass pane, a holding arm of a glass pane holding device engaging in said groove and being fixed to a screw groove of the profiled element by means of at least one screw. The holding device facing the profiled element has an essentially planar bearing surface or lower side which can be applied to the front edges of the screw grooves of the profiled element. Preferably, a strip-type attachment is provided on the lower side of the glass pane holding device, said attachment being slightly inserted into the screw groove in order to centre the glass pane holding device. Typically the glass pane assemblies have a multi-chamber construction ensuring good thermal insulation. Nonetheless, it is desirable to prevent thermal bridges formation between the neighbouring pane assemblies.

It has been the object of the present invention to provide a curtain wall which would feature a simple construction with small amount of distinctive elements, good thermal insulation, which would be economical in production, simple to assembly and which would minimize thermal bridging between the neighbouring glass pane assemblies.

Summary of the Invention

Therefore, a curtain wall of the kind mentioned in the outset, according to the present invention is characterized in that said pillar is provided with a mounting slot, said connector is a longitudinal L-shaped profile having a first fixing portion disposed inside said mounting slot of said pillar and a second fixing portion disposed within said groove of said glass pane assembly, wherein said connectors are disposed in sequence with the second fixing portions projecting at the opposite sides, and the gaps between the adjacent glass pane assemblies are thermally insulated.

Preferably said first fixing portion of said connector is longer than its second fixing portion. Preferably the second fixing portion of the connector is provided at its end with a longitudinal oval fixing rail having a width substantially corresponding to the width of the mounting groove.

These features minimize the width of the gap between the adjacent glass pane assemblies, while enabling for a slight rotation of the pane assembly around the rail before it is fixed to the pillar.

Preferably said first fixing portions of said connectors are press-fitted inside said mounting slot.

In such a case preferably the first fixing portion of the connector is provided with at least one friction fixing groove cooperating with a friction fixing groove of said mounting slot. The first fixing portion of the connector is also preferably provided at its end with a fixing projection having the width greater than the width of the mounting slot. Preferably said pillar comprises a fastening profile provided with said mounting slot. Therefore the same fastening profile may be employed for pillars made of a different material and construction.

Preferably said mounting groove is embedded in the spacing insulation between the panes of the glass pane assembly.

Preferably the second fixing portions of the adjoining connectors project at the opposite sides. This facilitates the assembly process making it less error prone.

Preferably said pillars are provided with gaskets at the area of contact with the inner pane of said glass pane assemblies.

Preferably the first fixing portion of the connector is secured to the pillar by means of screws. The screws provide additional strengthening of construction.

Preferably said glass pane assemblies have a multi-chamber construction.

The curtain wall according to the present invention has a simple construction and its assembly consists of only a few simple steps. It minimizes the width of the gap between the adjacent glass pane assemblies and thus prevents thermal bridging of the wall.

Brief description of drawings

The invention shall be described and explained below with reference to exemplary embodiments and in connection with the attached drawings on which:

Fig. 1 schematically illustrates an embodiment of a curtain wall in a front view;

Fig. 2 is a schematic perspective cross-sectional view showing the curtain wall of Fig. 1 in the area of connection of a pillar with two glass pane assemblies;

Fig. 3 is a cross-sectional view illustrating the curtain wall assembly process;

Fig. 4 is a schematic perspective view showing two adjacent connectors;

Fig. 5 is a schematic perspective view showing a fastening profile of the pillar; and Fig. 6 is a cross-sectional view illustrating the curtain wall at the outermost pillar. Detailed description of preferred embodiments

As shown in Fig. 1 a curtain wall 1 comprises a number of longitudinal, vertical pillars 2 fixed to the floor of the building in a manner known to those skilled in the art, and a number of glass pane assemblies 4 fixed to and between the pillars 2.

In this embodiment the pillars 2 have a cuboidal cross-section and are made of wood. As shown in Fig. 2 and Fig. 3 a fastening profile 21 provided with a mounting slot 25 is fixed to the pillar 2 at its side facing the pane assemblies 4 by means of wood screws 22.

In this embodiment glass pane assemblies 4 have a triple-glazed (or dual-chamber) construction. Each assembly 4 comprises an inner glass pane 41 , an internal glass pane 45, and an outer glass pane 42. The panes 41 , 42 and 45 are separated at their perimeters with spacing lathes 43 distancing the panes with respect to each other. An elastomeric spacing insulation 46 fills the spaces behind the spacing lathes 43 at the perimeters of the panes 41 , 42 and 45, fixing the panes together and insulating the internal spaces between the panes 41 and 45 as well as the panes 45 and 42.

At the perimetric face of the pane assembly 4, which is parallel to the longitudinal axis of the pillar 2, a longitudinal mounting groove 44 is embedded in the spacing insulation 46 between the inner pane 41 and the internal pane 45.

A number of connectors 3 fix adjacent pane assemblies 4 to the pillar 2. Each connector has a form of a longitudinal L-shaped profile having a first, longer fixing portion 31 , press-fitted inside the mounting slot 25 of the pillar 2, and a second, shorter fixing portion 32 projecting at substantially straight angle from the first fixing portion 31 , and disposed within the mounting groove 44 of the pane assembly 4.

The connectors 3 are disposed in sequence and pairwise symmetrically with their first fixing portions 31 coplanar with each other and the second fixing portions 32 of the adjoining connectors 3 projecting at the opposite sides.

The space between the assembled adjacent pane assemblies 4 at the side of the outer glass pane 42 is filed after assembly of the wall 1 with a silicon insulating filler 27. The inner glass pane 41 abuts two elastomeric longitudinal gaskets 23 surrounding projections 211 of the fastening profile 21.

Fig. 3 illustrates the process of mounting the adjacent pane assemblies 4 to the pillar 2. As shown, the first fixing portions 31 of a sequence of connectors 3 were initially pushed inside the mounting slot 25 of the fastening profile 21 , wherein the second fixing portions 32 of the adjoining connectors 3 face the opposite sides of the curtain wall 1. The mounting grooves 44 of the pane assemblies 4 are now ready to be introduced over the second fixing portion 32 of the sequence of connectors 3. To facilitate this process the second fixing portion 32 of the connector 3 is provided at its end with a longitudinal oval fixing rail 321 having a width corresponding to the width of the mounting groove 44. The pane assembly 4 may therefore be conveniently rotated around the rail 321 before its fixing to the pillar 2, as shown on the right side of Fig. 3. Elastomeric protecting latches 34 aligned with the faces of the first fixing portions 31 protect pane assemblies 4 from crushing while they are handled to be fixed. After introducing the pane assemblies 4 over the second fixing portions 32 of the sequence of connectors 3, their first fixing portions 31 are ready to be pushed inside the mounting slot 25 of the fastening profile 21 until the inner panes 41 adjoin the gaskets 23. The position of the connectors 3 in the mounting slot 25 shall be additionally secured by means of fixing screws 33 which shall be covered by the wooden masking latches 24.

Fig. 4 and Fig. 5 illustrate constructional details of this embodiment of the L-shaped connectors 3 and the mounting slot 25 of the curtain wall 1. As shown, the first fixing portion 31 of the connector 3 is provided with two friction fixing grooves 311 and a fixing projection 312 at its end having the width slightly greater than the width of the first fixing portion 31. The mounting slot 25 in turn has a width slightly lower than the width of the fixing projection 312 and is provided with a number of equidistantly spaced friction fixing grooves 251 that facilitate press-fitting of the first fixing portion 31 inside the mounting slot 25.

Fig. 6 shows a cross-sectional view of an embodiment of an outermost pillar 2a of the curtain wall 1 along with the outermost glass pane assembly 4. The L-shaped connectors 3 are aligned with each other and simply fixed to the pillar 2a by means of wood screws 22. After introducing the mounting groove 44 of the assembly 4 over the fixing rail 321 of the connector 3 second fixing portion 32, the enlarged perimeter of the outer pane 42 has been secured with an aluminium angle section 26 and a silicon insulation 27. To improve aesthetic impression of the curtain wall 1 the internal side of the outer pane 42 at the perimeter thereof has been coated with a ceramic paint layer 47 hiding the elements of the wall 1 in the area of the pillar 2a from outside.

Furthermore, to improve aesthetic impression of the curtain wall 1 from an inside of the building the wall 1 comprises a wooden covering profile 5 snap fitted in a plastic fixing profile 51 fixed to the pillar 2a by means of screws 22 fixing the connector 3 to the pillar 2a and insulated with a gasket 52.

Curtain wall of the present invention may obviously be provided with additional doors, windows, or other fagade components fixed or hingedly mounted to the pillars 2 or 2a.

The above embodiments of the present invention are merely exemplary. The figures are not necessarily to scale, and some features may be exaggerated or minimized. These and other factors however should not be considered as limiting the spirit of the invention, the intended scope of protection of which is indicated in appended claims.

List of reference numerals

1. curtain wall

2. pillar (2, 2a)

21. fastening profile

211. fixing projection

22. fixing means (wood screws)

23. gaskets

24. masking latch

25. mounting slot

251. friction fixing grooves

26. angle section

27. insulating filler connector

31. first fixing portion

311. friction fixing grooves

312. fixing projection

32. second fixing portion

321. fixing rail

33. fixing screws

34. elastomeric protecting latch glass pane assembly

41. inner pane

42. outer pane

43. spacing lath

44. mounting groove

45. internal pane

46. spacing insulation

47. paint layer covering profile

51. fixing profile

52. gasket