The present invention relates to a method for obtaining a vertical or horizontal profile for interconnection to plasterboard walls, in particular to plasterboard walls which can be applied to in-wall frames of retractably sliding doors or for providing dry walls.

Currently it is known to provide doors or windows which use an in wall frame, arranged inside a wall, within which a door or a panel is slidingly associated, also referenced as "in-wall sliding door".

This solution allows to reduce the space occupations of the door inside a room by virtue of the possibility to make it slide inside the in-wall frame; it is thus possible to use the space adjacent to the door which would instead be occupied by doors of the type hinged laterally to a frame.

In the background art, the in-wall frame embedded in the wall is usually constituted by a frame which comprises a plurality of horizontal and vertical profiles, a pair of front posts, an abutment post and a rear post, which are connected by horizontal crossmembers made of metal plate, preferably aluminum, the entire assembly defining a containment casing for the panel or door.

The components of the in-wall frame are usually provided by means of processes that substantially entail the bending of a metallic lamina.

A track protrudes above the casing, along an axis which is longitudinal to said casing and is extended in the opposite direction with respect to the containment casing, and is concealed by a profiled element commonly known as "upper crossmember or transom or transom window".

Carriages are slidingly associated inside the track and are coupled to the upper edge of the door or panel in order to allow their sliding inside and outside of the in-wall frame.

The abutment post is usually associated with the end of the track that is not associated with the vertical posts and acts as a terminal for the abutment and location of the front edge of the door or panel.

These doors or windows of the known type therefore use metallic profiles which can be mutually assembled and are sold for example in an assembly kit.

For this purpose, the same Applicant is the owner of Italian utility model No. 278468, which describes a frame for doors or panels made of plasterboard which is constituted by a first element adapted to act as an upper crossmember for said rear and front posts and also as a track/guide for sliding supporting carriages for a door, said frame being furthermore constituted by L-shaped centering elements for an upper frame and for support for said plasterboard panels or walls.

Although this solution is valid, it has a drawback, since in general in these solutions, which are also known as in-wall frames for dry-built structures, the external finish of the wall is obtained by superimposing on the structure itself plasterboard panels, which are then fixed by means of conventional fixing systems, such as screws, both of the type with a self perforating tip and with a needle-like tip.

This method entails the need to perforate the metal plate that constitutes said horizontal crossmembers arranged so as to support the plasterboard panels, said plate having a smooth perforation base.

It is thus necessary to apply a given pressure, which entails an initial flexing of the profile which increases as the thrust that the installer must apply by means of the power screwdriver increases, thus making it difficult to perforate the metal.

In order to obviate these drawbacks, some manufacturers provide structures which use profiles with reduced thicknesses so that they can be perforated more easily; however, this entails a weakening of the profile, on which adapted ridges must be provided in order to stiffen it.

The result obtained, albeit functional, is however a compromise between rigidity/flexing and thickness and in any case entails a constructive complexity for the profile and a higher production cost thereof.

Other manufacturers provide systems which use horizontal crossmembers for supporting and fixing the plasterboard panels which are made of wood instead of metal.

These solutions can aid in the fixing operation, since wood is easier to be perforated than metal, but wood crossmembers are more flexible than metallic solutions, since it is not possible to provide them with greater thicknesses than said metal solutions, in order to ensure that the entire structure can be accommodated in the cross-section/thickness of the wall and can at the same time accommodate internally the sliding door or panel.

Another drawback that can be observed in the background art is constituted by the fact that the consistency of plasterboard panels does not have a high density and therefore makes said material brittle, whereas on the contrary the underlying metallic horizontal crossmembers have a high surface hardness and have a smooth perforation base on which the plasterboard panels rest.

Therefore, the tip of the fixing screw subjected to pressure in the screwing step might slip laterally, screwing in a manner which is not perpendicular with respect to the crossmember, with the consequence of having to screw it more deeply in order to ensure that the head of the screw is coplanar to the surface of the face that is external to the wall; a consequence of this is the risk that the tip of the screw might protrude excessively inside the in-wall frame and damage the door or panel during the step of sliding and accommodation inside the compartment.

Systems are known in which horizontal crossmembers are used in which the resting surface of the panels is embossed so as to create, by calendering, an incision of a chosen design: this solution allows only to try to prevent the tip of the screw from slipping beyond a certain extent that is determined by the design obtained, but it does not prevent it from slipping and therefore does not solve the problem mentioned earlier, contributing to increase the structural complexity of the profile and the associated production costs.

The aim of the present invention is to solve the described technical problems, eliminating the drawbacks of the cited background art, by providing a method for obtaining a profile that allows to achieve the optimum and quick support/resting and/or fixing of plasterboard panels adapted to define the sides of an in-wall frame for retractably sliding doors or panels which can be installed in frames for the provision of plasterboard walls.

Within this aim, an object of the present invention is to provide a profile that has a considerable constructive and installation simplicity and at the same time allows to achieve the fixing of ordinary plasterboard panels in a manner which is stable, durable and fast.

Another object is to provide a profile that can be used and to which plasterboard walls can be fixed which has optimum functionality and strength and furthermore allows to have particularly reduced thicknesses.

Another object is to provide a profile that allows facilitated fixing thereto of plasterboard panels even by personnel that is not particularly trained and with screw coupling means of a known or standard type and easily available.

A further object is to provide a profile that is structurally simple, can be provided with usual machines and systems and has low manufacturing costs.

This aim and these objects, as well as others which will become better apparent hereinafter, are achieved by a method for obtaining a vertical or horizontal profile for interconnection to plasterboard walls, characterized in that it provides for a continuous machining of a metallic lamina by rolling obtained by using two rollers, one acting as a die and the other one acting as a punch, so as to obtain on the planar surface of said metallic lamina a plurality of holes or seats, which are uniformly distributed, said continuous machining defining for the side or diameter (Dl) and for the distance (D2) between two of said seats or holes that are mutually closer and for the thickness (S) of said planar surface the following proportions: D2>S, 0.4<S<1.5 and D1<3S.

Advantageously, a vertical or horizontal profile for interconnection to plasterboard walls is obtained which is characterized in that it has a planar surface on which a plurality of uniformly distributed seats or holes is provided, their side or diameter (Dl) being equal to or smaller than three times the thickness (S) of said planar surface that constitutes said profile, the distance (D2) between two of said seats or holes which are mutually closer being equal to or greater than the thickness (S) of said profile.

Further characteristics and advantages of the invention will become better apparent from the detailed description of a particular but not exclusive embodiment, illustrated by way of non-limiting example in the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Figure 1 is a partially sectional perspective view of an in-wall frame for doors or panels;

Figure 2 is a perspective view of a horizontal crossmember;

Figure 3 is a plan view of the horizontal crossmember;

Figures 4 and 5 are side views of two different horizontal crossmembers;

Figure 6 is a plan view of the planar surface of the profile on which the plurality of holes is provided;

Figure 7 is a side view of the planar surface of the profile on which the plurality of holes is provided;

Figure 8 is a sectional view of the preceding figure, taken at the line VIII- VIII of Figure 6;

Figure 9 is a view of a variation of the profile;

Figure 10 is a sectional view of the preceding figure, taken at the line X-X of Figure 9. In the exemplary embodiments that follow, individual characteristics, given in relation to specific examples, may actually be interchanged with other different characteristics that exist in other exemplary embodiments.

With reference to the figures, the reference numeral 1 generally designates a profile with which plasterboard walls or panels 2 can be associated.

The profile 1 can be constituted by one or more horizontal profiles 3 or vertical profiles 4, by one or more front posts 5, by one or more abutment posts 6, by one or more rear posts 7, by one or more horizontal crossmembers 8, by one or more upper crossmembers 9 for the rear post 7, the front post 5 and the abutment post 6, and also by a support for a track/guide (not shown) for sliding carriages (not shown) with which sliding doors or leaves (not shown) are associated, all made of metal plate.

In the particular embodiment, the use of a profile 1 in its various forms has been shown which is used to achieve the support/resting and/or fixing of plasterboard panels 2 which are adapted to define the sides or walls 10 of an in-wall frame 11 for retractably sliding doors or panels or which can be installed in frames for the provision of plasterboard walls.

In the particular embodiment shown, the upper crossmember 9 furthermore connects the abutment post 6 which is fixed to the opposite end with respect to the rear post 7 and the front posts 5 are arranged approximately at the same distance between the rear post 7 and the front post 5.

The rear post 7 and the front posts 5 are connected transversely by the horizontal crossmembers 8 and are arranged at a mutual vertical distance such as to divide the length of the rear post 7 and the front posts 5 approximately into equal parts.

The method allows to obtain, starting from a metallic lamina, a profile 1 which has, in each one of its embodiments, such as the horizontal profile 3 or the vertical profile 4, the front post 5, the abutment post 6, the rear post 7, the horizontal crossmember 8, the upper crossmember 9, a planar surface 12 on which multiple holes 13 or seats 14 are provided and uniformly distributed.

The through holes 13 can be obtained by means of a step of perforation of the planar surface 12, achieved by punching or also by a drawing process, for example by means of a continuous machining which can be obtained by rolling and therefore by means of the use of two rollers, one acting as a die (which determines the shape and perforation of each hole 13) and the other one acting as a punch (which determines the external shape of each hole 13).

In the first particular embodiment shown, the method allows to obtain, for each horizontal crossmember 8 and at the longitudinal sides of the planar surface 12, one or more ridges or, as shown, two lateral folds or edges 15a, 15b and two wings 16a, 16b, which give the horizontal crossmember 8 a substantially omega-like shape; this machining strengthens the profile and renders it less flexible.

As mentioned, each hole 13 is obtained by deformation of the planar surface 12 so as to obtain, in a transverse cross-section, a substantially V- like shape, so as to define, starting from the planar upper surface 17, a substantially conical seat 18 which forms a guide for the tip of a locking screw and, at the lower surface 19, a conical tab 20, which is perforated, protrudes below the lower surface 19 and produces a localized increase in the thickness (S) of the planar surface 12.

The seats 14 might not be through seats and might be obtained by means of punches the tip of which marks, to the chosen depth, the planar surface 12; in this case also, a continuous machining is assumed which can be obtained by using two rollers.

The seats 14 advantageously have a polygonal, preferably square, shape in plan view, are mutually equidistant and have, starting from the upper surface 17, a conical seat 18 which forms a guide for the tip of a locking screw.

The side or diameter (Dl) of each one of the seats 14 and holes 13 provided on the planar surface 12 of the profile 1, and therefore of each one of the horizontal profile 3, the vertical profile 4, the front post 5, the abutment post 6, the rear post 7, the horizontal crossmember 8, the upper crossmember 9, is equal to or smaller than three times the measurement of the thickness (S) of the planar surface 12 that constitutes the profile 1 [D1<3S].

The distance (D2) between two of the mutually adjacent seats 14 or two of said mutually closer holes 13 is equal to or greater than the thickness (S) of the profile 1 [D2>S]

The thickness (S) of the profile 1 is comprised between 0.4 and 1.5 mm [0.4<S<1.5].

The presence and the particular arrangement of the seats 14 or of the holes 13 at the planar surface 12 allows an installer, once a plasterboard wall or panel 2 has been placed adjacent to a profile 1, be it a horizontal profile 3 or a vertical profile 4, a front post 5, an abutment post 6, a rear post 7, a horizontal crossmember 8, an upper crossmember 9, to fix it by arranging the screw in any point of the plasterboard wall or panel 2, with the assurance that the tip of said screw affects one of the seats 14 or holes 13 and therefore allows to achieve optimum interconnection.

It has thus been found that the method has achieved the intended aim and objects, allowing to obtain a profile which allows to achieve the optimum and quick support/resting and/or fixing of plasterboard panels adapted to define the sides of an in-wall frame for retractably sliding doors or panels which can be installed in frames for the provision of plasterboard walls, said profile having at the same time a considerable constructive and installation simplicity and allowing to obtain the fixing of ordinary plasterboard panels in a manner which is stable, durable and fast.

The needle-like tip of the screws for plasterboard panels in fact finds a guide, so that they slide into the holes 13 or into the seats 14, which are mutually close so as not to move too much the axis of the screw, and this is a great screw coupling advantage for the installer.

The profile maintains particularly reduced thicknesses and allows the fixing thereto of plasterboard walls even by personnel that is not particularly trained and with screw coupling means of the known or standard type and easily available.

The invention is of course susceptible of numerous modifications and variations, all of which are within the scope of the appended claims.

The materials used, as well as the dimensions that constitute the individual components of the invention, may of course be more pertinent according to the specific requirements.

The various means for performing certain different functions need not certainly coexist only in the illustrated embodiment but can be present per se in many embodiments, including ones that are not illustrated.

The characteristics indicated as advantageous, convenient or the like may also be omitted or be replaced with equivalents.

The disclosures in Italian Patent Application No. 102018000004059 from which this application claims priority are incorporated herein by reference.

Where technical features mentioned in any claim are followed by reference signs, those reference signs have been included for the sole purpose of increasing the intelligibility of the claims and accordingly such reference signs do not have any limiting effect on the interpretation of each element identified by way of example by such reference signs.