Field of the Invention

This invention relates to fire rated wall panelling or cladding ( referred to hereinafter as "panelling" or "panels" for ease of reference ) for buildings , particularly fire rated thermally insulated external wall panelling for houses , blocks of flats , of fice buildings and the like .

Background to the Invention

The importance of external panelling or cladding for buildings which does not contribute to the spread of smoke and fire within buildings is now recognised as extremely important . It is also important that such cladding or panelling acts as an ef fective barrier to the spread of fire and smoke from an external source to internal areas of a building .

Hitherto , external panelling or cladding has been found to provide , at best , limited resistance to the spread of fire and smoke into and within a building with distressing consequences . Indeed, in many cases it has been shown that external panelling or cladding has contributed to such spreading .

The present invention sets out to provide fire-rated panelling for cladding external and possibly internal walls of buildings which provides enhanced protection against the spread of smoke and fire .

Panels in accordance with the invention are particularly advantageous when used for cladding the external walls of buildings whose construction includes fire resistant insulated panels as disclosed and claimed in the Applicant' s co-pending patent application GB2017840.6. Essentially, such panels include sheets of compacted inert vitreous silicate mineral wool sandwiched between and adhered on at least one side to rigid oriented strand boards by means of an adhesive sealant which intumesces in the presence of fire or excessive heat. A preferred adhesive sealant comprises Applicant's SA20 adhesive which includes measured quantities of an intumescent material.

Summary of the Invention

The invention provides panelling apparatus for cladding external and/or internal walls of a building, the apparatus being characterised in that it comprises a plurality of metallic panels (10) each of which includes an upper section (12) bordered along each side by a downwardly extending side wall (14) which together with the upper section (12) defines a lengthwise extending channel which is filled tightly with a block of fibrous thermally insulating material (18) and which is bordered on each side by an outwardly extending lip (16) , the apparatus being characterised in that each lip (16) includes a plurality of horizontally aligned open ended slots (20) each of which extends over the full width of the respective lip (16) and upwardly into the adjoining side wall (14) , and additionally in that the intumescent material (22) is applied to the exposed surface of the thermally insulating material (18) located within said channel .

The intumescent material applied to the exposed surface of the thermally insulating material may comprise strips of an adhesive material coated with a solution containing a material which intumesces in the presence of excessive heat. Brief Description of the Drawings

The invention wil l now be described by way of example only with reference to the accompanying diagrammatic drawings in which

Figure 1 is a perspective view o f the uppermost side of a fire rated wall panel in accordance with the invention;

Figure 2 is a perspective view of the underside of the panel illustrated in Figure 1 ;

Figures 3 and 4 are respectively front and rear views of wall panels in accordance with the invention when installed; and

Figures 5 and 6 illustrate support rails for panels in accordance with the invention .

Detailed Description of the Invention

The wall panel 10 illustrated in Figures 1 and 2 comprises a rectangular metal frame formed with an elongate upper section 12 bordered along each of its lengthwise extending sides by a downwardly extending side wall 14 from which proj ects a hori zontal lip 16 . Each lip extends along the full length of the panel .

The panel may be produced from a wide range of metals of various gauges , these including sheets of steel or aluminium .

Located within the channel defined between the section 12 and the side walls 14 is a thermal block of fibrous insulation 18 . The block 16 is dimensioned to be a tight fit within the channel with its sides closely in contact with the inner surfaces of the side walls and its lower surface lying generally parallel to the under-sides of the lips 16 . Hori zontally aligned open ended slots 20 are formed in the lips 16 these extending upwardly into the adj oining side walls 14 to positions approaching the upper section 12 . Generally, the length of the slots approximates to 55 to 75% of the height of the side walls 14 . The height of the slots could, however, extend to a greater or lesser height .

The block of fibrous insulation material 18 is coated wholly or partially on its exposed surface with a coating of intumescent material which expands signi ficantly in the event of heat generated by a fire . Alternatively, strips or sheets of intumescent coated material 22 ( see Figure 4 ) may be applied to the exposed surface of the material 18 .

Additionally, or alternatively, the internal surface of the metal frame of the wall panel 10 may be coated wholly or partially with such an intumescent material .

Figure 3 illustrates the appearance of panelling constructed from a series of vertically aligned wall panels 12 . As will be seen from this Figure , the panels are supported from channel shaped hori zontal rails 24 .

As will be seen more clearly from Figure 5 , the rails 24 have lengthwise extending outwardly proj ecting side pieces 26 which, in use , engage in the slots 20 of the wall panels .

As shown in Figure 6 , the uppermost rail is formed with a single outwardly proj ecting side piece 28 , this proj ecting from the lower edge of the rail . Similarly, the lowermost rail includes a single rail equivalent to the rail 28 but proj ecting from its uppermost edge .

The ends of rails 24 are secured for support purposes to steel box section pillars 30 . Typically, these pillars are powder coated and are 30mm wide and up to 60mm deep according to the required air gap and are typically spaced apart by 2 to 3 meters . They are typically supported at one or each end by wall mounted brackets .

The gap provided between the panels and the respective external or internal wall will , to a signi ficant extent , be determined by the dimensions of the pillars 30 . Thus , the pillar depth may di f fer from one building to another .

The length and shape of the panels 10 may vary form one application to another . Thus , the panels may be square shaped or elongate as illustrated .

Intumescent seals may be fitted within the air gap defined between the panels and the wall surface to prevent fire and smoke travelling vertically or hori zontally to other areas of the building in the event of a fire occurring within the building .

It will be appreciated that the foregoing is merely exemplary of fire rated wall panelling in accordance with the invention and that various modi fications can be made without departing from the true scope of the invention as set out in the appended claims .