PARAPET

DESCRIPTION

The present invention relates to a parapet which can be used to delimit an open space laterally. In particular, the present invention relates to a parapet, which can be used to delimit an open space laterally, is adjustable in height and is provided with a plurality of uprights. In more detail, the present invention relates to a parapet, which can be used to delimit an open space laterally, is adjustable in height and is provided with a plurality of uprights, each of which is coupled to a respective foot shaped so as to support the respective said upright in a longitudinally adjustable manner. BACKGROUND TO THE INVENTION In the field of building constructions, it is well known to delimit balconies and terraces by using parapets constructed by assembling series manufactured members and coupled by means of threaded connections. This allows not only to pre-assembly these parapets at the factory, thus drastically reducing the activity of the installers, who must not have at the site a shop with heavy equipment, but this also allows easily to solve, with optimal aesthetic results, operations for the adaptation to the structures found at the site, in the case differences occur from what has been foreseen at the design stage, by means of the simple substitution of elements obtained from bars of a given section to be cut in an exact manner, generally bars produced by extrusion and provided with ribs for stiffening and / or suitable to define longitudinal seats. There are numerous known patent documents regarding dividing walls and parapets, but herein focus is made on parapets provided with feet, each of which is shaped so as to act as a bearing base for a

respective upright. Among the teachings deemed as most pertaining to the invention of the present patent application, it should be mentioned those provided in the European patent document No. 651110 by the French firm ALCAN FRANCE, which describes a foot for connecting the upright of a parapet to the ground, wherein the parapet is obtained through an extruded profile provided with a pair of L-shaped ribs, mutually counter facing so as to define a longitudinal seat. In this case, the foot presents a metallic support produced through die casting, which reversely reproduces an inner section of the upright, of which it engages a respective base portion in a prismatic manner; at this regard, note the inner ribs of the upright and the respective seats with which the support is provided. The foot furthermore comprises a connecting device provided with a plate, suitable to connect the base portion of the upright to the support in a rigid manner. In particular, the uprights presents an opening obtained between the L-shaped ribs, in which the plate can be housed, in such a way as to face the support to which it is connected in a bearing-type manner by means of a pair of screws, which allow to hold the upright in a sandwich manner between the plate and the support, by acting on the flanks of the longitudinal seat of the upright. These screws engage the plate in correspondence to a pair of longitudinally open seats, which allow to adjust in height the position of the upright with respect to the support. A screw, which crosses a through slot obtained in the support and arranged between a slot obtained in the plate between the holes of the clamping screws for fixing the connecting device and a rear part of the base portion of the upright, allows to connect hardware to the upright, in a given position on the respective base portion.

At this point, it should be specified the limits for the effective application of the teachings of the European patent documents no. 651110. Firstly, it is necessary to have available an upright which presents an internally hollow cross section so as to couple in a prismatic manner with the outer surface of the support, and therefore which can not be replaced even by a geometrically similar upright; secondly, the support of the foot is produced in metal through a die casting process, which is known to be a technological process which requires high investments for the construction of the dies that must be replaced often; to sum up, losing at least a plate at the site would prevent to complete the construction of a parapet; replacing the plate with a sheet element, constructed at the site with makeshift means, would lead to limitations to the stiffness of the connection and / or to the maximum length available for adjusting the height from the ground of the base portion of the upright. It is considered appropriate to specify that the need to use uprights with a given cross section is a particularly heavy limitation, which prevents harmonization of the parapet with the specific architectural framework according to the designers' requirements.

In view of the above description, it is easy to understand that there are numerous disadvantages in the production, the contextualisation and the trade exploitation of a parapet which embodies the teachings of the prior art and of the European patent No. 651110.

Therefore, the problem of having available a parapet, which can be easily harmonised with the architectural context, which is easy to construct, rapid to install and economical is currently unsolved, and represents an interesting challenge for the applicant, in order to facilitate the

diffusion of parapets constructed by assembling series manufactured members and coupled only by means of threaded connections and in any case of the releasable type.

In view of the above description it would be desirable to have available a parapet which, in addition to enabling to limit and possibly to overcome the typical drawbacks of the prior art illustrated above, could define a new standard for these types of architectural solutions and facilitate the diffusion thereof, mainly focussing on protection members, which can be produced in an economical manner and which are particularly versatile as regards the aesthetic characterisation.

SUMMARY OF THE PRESENT INVENTION

The present invention relates to a parapet, which can be used to delimit an open space laterally. In particular, the present invention relates to a parapet, which can be used to delimit an open space laterally, is adjustable in height and is provided with a plurality of uprights. In more detail, the present invention relates to a parapet, which can be used to delimit an open space laterally, is adjustable in height and is provided with a plurality of uprights, each of which is coupled to a respective foot shaped in such a way as to support the respective said upright in a longitudinally adjustable manner. The object of the present invention is to provide a parapet, which allows the disadvantages described above to be solved, and which is suitable to satisfy a plurality of requirements that to date have still not been addressed, and therefore, suitable to represent a new and original source of economic interest and capable of modifying the current market of parapets.

According to the present invention, a parapet is

produced, provided with a plurality of uprights and usable to delimit an open space laterally, and the main characteristics of this parapet will be described in at least one of the appended claims. A further object of the present invention is to provide a foot for supporting an upright of said parapet in such a way that this upright can be arranged at an adjustable distance from a floor surface.

According to the present invention, a foot is further provided for supporting an upright of said parapet in such a way that this upright can be adjusted longitudinally.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a support to be used for the production of a parapet provided with uprights to be installed at a height adjustable from a floor surface.

According to the present invention, a support is provided to be used for the production of a parapet provided with uprights to be installed at a height adjustable from a floor surface. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

Further characteristics and advantages of the parapet according to the present invention will be more apparent from the description below, set forth with reference to the accompanying drawings, which illustrate some non-limiting examples of embodiment, in which identical or corresponding parts of the device are identified by the same reference numbers. In particular:

- figure 1 is a schematic three - dimensional view of a preferred embodiment of a parapet according to the present invention;

- figure 2 is a schematic three - dimensional view of a median section of a portion extracted from figure 1, in

enlarged scale and with some parts removed for the sake of clarity;

- figure 3 is a schematic three - dimensional view of figure 2 with some parts removed from the sake of clarity; - figure 4 is a schematic three - dimensional top view of a detail extracted from figure 2;

- figure 5 is a plan view, in enlarged scale, of a first semi finished product, which can be used for producing the detail extracted from figure 2 shown in figure 4; and - figure 6 is a plan view, in enlarged scale, of a second semi finished product, which can be used for producing a detail visible in figure 3.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PRESENT INVENTION

In figure 1, number 1 indicates, in its entirety, a parapet which can be installed on a floor surface P in such a way as to delimit an open space laterally, generally in correspondence to a balcony, a terrace or a stair. This parapet 1 comprises a frame 10 provided with a plurality of bearing feet 20 shaped in such a way as to be interfaced with the surface P.

The frame 10 furthermore comprises, for each foot 20, an upright 30 provided with a substantially prismatic base portion 32. Each foot 20 presents a support device 40 suitable to carry rigidly each respective upright 30 at a distance which can be adjusted at will from the floor surface P along a respective longitudinal axis through the respective base portion 32. At this regard, each support device 40 comprises, for each foot 20, a sleeve 42 provided with a base 44, which is shaped externally so as longitudinally to couple with the base portion 32 of the upright 30, in such a way that the base portion 32 can be arranged at a distance definable at will from the floor surface P. Each foot 20

presents a through cavity 24, delimited by an annular surface 240 which develops along a given direction D, substantially vertical in figures 2 and 3, so as to result, in use, substantially perpendicular to the floor surface P. Each sleeve 42 is delimited at the opposite side from the base 44 by a free end 46, shaped so as to couple with allowance with the base portion 32. In the version described with reference to the attached drawings, and however without limiting the scope of the present invention, each sleeve 42 presents prismatic shape and the respective base 44 and end present substantially identical and mutually aligned sections.

With particular reference to figures 2 and 3, each foot 20 comprises a retaining group 36, suitable to couple rigidly the base portion 32 to the respective base 44, and which will be described better below in the present description, but always in order to maintain the wall 32 at a distance definable at will from the floor surface P.

Each base portion 32 is shaped in such a way as to be housed freely inside the annular surface 240. Naturally, this allows to vary at will the section of the upright 30 without however foregoing the typology of the structure of the parapet 1. Naturally, it will be possible to provide that at least the base portion 32 of each upright, or also the upright 30 integrally, presents a prismatic shape and a section geometrically similar to the cavity 24, without however limiting the general scope of the present invention.

Always with reference to figures 2 and 3, each retaining group 36 comprises a connecting unit 360 designed so as to incline, in use, the base portion 32 relative to the base 44, in such a way as to determine a retaining mechanical action sufficient to couple rigidly the base portion 32 with the respective base 44. Each upright 30 presents a bearing wall

34 which, in use, is arranged above the corresponding foot 29 and carries a hook 50 rigidly coupled to the upright 30 by means of a releasable connection 52. This releasable connection 52 comprises a first service hole 54 obtained in the portion 32 for a first screw 56 provided with a stem 560 which engages in a helical manner a coupling portion of the hook 50 which, merely for the sake of convenience, will be indicated by the same number 52.

Each sleeve 42 presents a first slot 420, which extends in the direction D on the side of the wall 34; each first slot 420 faces the hole 54 in order to house the first screw 56 and the bearing wall 34 faces with allowance the end 46 of the sleeve 42. In particular, the first screw 56 is suitable to tighten in a sandwich manner the bearing wall 34 between the sleeve 42 and the hook 50, in such a way as to position rigidly the upright 30 at a distance definable at will from the floor surface P. It should be noted that the extension of the distance L from the floor surface P of the portion 32 depends upon the extension L of the first slot 420. Furthermore, each foot 20 carries rigidly a plate 48 provided with a second service hole 480, which can be engaged by a second screw 220 transversally to the given direction D. Each sleeve 42 presents, on the side of the respective base 44, a fixing hole 424, through which the rigid connection is obtained of the sleeve 42 to the foot 20 by means of the second screw 220. Each sleeve 42 furthermore presents a second slot 422 which faces the first slot 420 and the fixing hole 54, in order to define a service opening which allows to access the head of the first screw 56. The first and second screws 56 and 220 are parallel to each other, in such a way as to determine a torque on the upright 30 which causes, in use, an inclination thereof with

respect to the base 44. Therefore, each pair of first and second screw 56 and 220 is part of the connecting device 360 of each foot 20, as indicated only in figure 2.

Each foot 20 presents a fixing device 200 for screw fixing to the floor surface P and a first lid 210, whose purpose is to hide the fixing device 200. This fixing device 200 comprises a through slit 260 which develops horizontally in figure 4, in order to allow adjustments of the position of the foot 20 with respect to the fixing holes produced for the installation in the floor surface P by means of a single screw.

Each foot 20 presents a base surface 22 which can be or not inclined by a given angle with respect to the direction D and comprises a compensation unit 290 suitable to adjust the inclination of the base surface 22 with respect to the floor surface P so as to install the respective upright 30 plumb. This compensation unit 290 comprises a pair of holes 292 arranged laterally relative to the cavity 24 for dowels 294 usable to balance, in use, the inclination of the surface 22 and to regulate the respective upright 30 plumb also when, in use, it is necessary to install the foot 20 arranged transversally to the floor surface P.

At the opposite side from the bearing wall 34, and therefore at the front in figures 1 and 2, each upright 30 is provided of a second lid 80 longitudinally snap coupled above the foot 20, in order to cover a rib, known and therefore not shown, of the upright 30, in which a head of the first screw 56 is housed. With reference to figure 4, each foot 20 is delimited laterally by a peripheral wall 26, which is oriented according to the given direction D and contains inside itself

a first portion 270 of the foot 20 provided with the cavity 24 and a second portion 272 arranged adjacent to the first portion 270 and provided with the fixing device 200.

In view of the above description, the parapet 1 can be integrally produced by assembling substantially prismatic members to each other, which can be obtained starting from semi finished products obtained through extrusion, such as the uprights 30, the sleeves 42, the feet 20, and therefore with reduced costs following simple step cutting operations, defined based upon the desired axial dimensions for each of them, and finished through subsequent finishing works by means of machine tools for chips removal, for example for producing mouldings, with reference to the slit 260, to the slots 420 and 422 and drilling, for the holes 480, 292, 424 and 54.

The use of the parapet 1 and of the respective foot 20 is easily understood from the description above, and requires no further explanations. However, it may be advisable to specify that each base portion 32 together with the corresponding base 44 completely pass through the cavity 24; furthermore, each foot 20 can be produced according to a method which provides the step cutting of a prismatic bar constructed adequately so as to be externally delimited by a longitudinal surface which reproduces in cross section a cross section of the peripheral wall 26. Furthermore, this bar must be internally delimited by a longitudinal surface, which reproduces the annular surface 240, and delimited by a further annular surface which delimits said slit 260. Therefore the method shall comprise, following the cut, at least a subsequent machining for chip removal so as to perform a finishing of the slit 260, the compensation holes 292 and the second hole 480.

The same process can be used to produce the sleeve 42 starting from a further prismatic bar, whose cross section can reproduce, for example although without limitation, the shape illustrated in figure 6. Lastly, it is apparent that modifications and variants can be made to the parapet 1 and to the respective foot 20 described and illustrated herein, without however departing from the protective scope of the present invention.

In view of the above description, the problem of having available a parapet and respective feet is solved in a particularly easy manner by using components such as the feet 20, the sleeves 42 and the uprights, as well as the screws 56 and 220 and the other described above.

Furthermore, in view of the above description it is also apparent that the set of a foot 20 and a sleeve 42 defines, through the use of a single second screw 220, a support S, visible in figure 3, to which it is possible to couple with allowance an upright 30 of any shape as described above, allowance to be taken up through the connecting device 360, and therefore the screws 56 and 220.

In particular, each support S allows to overcome the drawbacks of the known supports in which the part coupling with the upright imposes the shape of the upright, limiting the possibilities of the designers for the use of these supports in fagades to be architecturally contextualised at will, through the free choice of the shape of the section of the upright 30, with the result that a support S presents a very great flexibility of use.