TECHNICAL FIELD

The invention relates to a profile rail for support structures, especially for support structures used in the construction industry for supporting facade cover panels, and to a support structure comprising such a profile rail.

BACKGROUND ART

In the construction industry it is a frequent requirement to create facade surfaces which consist for example of ceramic tiles, stone and artificial stone tiles, glass, wood and metal panels or other similar covering members. Such facade panels are held by a support structure secured to a load bearing wall. These support structures generally consist of metal members, preferably aluminium members and stainless steel components, and they are secured to the load bearing wall at specified locations by using wall plugged screw joints.

It is a general requirement for such support structures that they should be light and consist of universally matchable members. This is because only when these conditions are met may a regularly and uniformly arranged facade surface be created even in the case of load bearing walls which are constructed with a relatively large tolerance. Therefore, it is important that support structures are adjustable in more than one degree of freedom. It is desirable that the major member of the support structures, i.e. the profile rail, has a universal shape which enables various functions in various positions, and in addition which allows adjustment in more than one degree of freedom.

A further characteristic of applying the above described support structures is that they are to be implemented with a relatively long overhang projection. The reason for this is that a heat insulating layer or an air gap allowing air flow is frequently inserted between the load bearing wall ahd the facade panels. In addition, it is a known problem that effects of thermal expansion need to be eliminated, which can be accomplished preferably by applying flexible sealant and dilatation joints which are durable and resistant to outdoor conditions.

Several such prior art support structures and associated profile rails are known. A profile rail type support structure is described for example on the home page www.tikosystems.com. In this structure a profile rail is applied, which generally has four side surfaces and a longitudinal flanged groove in each side surface. The flanged grooves are there in order to receive bolt heads and/or nuts of screw joints. The disadvantage of the solution is that an irregularly shaped, asymmetrically designed profile rail is less suitable for a universal application and for additionally providing an appropriate degree of freedom. Furthermore, a disadvantage of the approach is that it does not have a stiffening wall or walls cutting across the main cavity of the profile rail, as a result of which the strength of the profile rail is not satisfactory either. Additionally, the. asymmetric special profile design can cause problems during the on-site installation, and for the installation personnel appropriate orientation of the rail may cause difficulties. A further disadvantage is that the grooves of the profile rail principally have the same size and do not allow the adjoining of screw joints with different strengths/sizes.

DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

It is an object of the invention to provide a profile rail for support structures which is free of the disadvantages of prior art profile rails and as a result of its universal shape it is suitable for making support structures that enable a high degree of freedom. It is a further object to provide a profile rail having a higher specific strength than prior art profile rails, and allowing easy handling and adjustment for installation personnel during on-site installation. It is a further object to provide a support structure that has the advantages listed above.

The above objects are accomplished according to a first aspect by a profile rail having four side surfaces and a longitudinal flanged groove in each of the side surfaces, said flanged grooves being suitable for receiving bolt heads and/or nuts of screw joints. The inventive profile rail is characterised by having an overall cross section of a rectangular shape, and comprising two inner stiffening walls arranged in parallel with one of the pairs of the side surfaces, and further two inner stiffening walls arranged in parallel with the other pair of the side surfaces, said stiffening walls in pairs being arranged to sandwich openings of the opposite grooves and at

a distance from each-other longer than the width of the openings as well as to define inner walls of the flanged grooves. .

The inner stiffening walls according to the invention ensure on the one hand the required strength of the profile rail. Further, these stiffening walls adjoin the opposite side surfaces, thereby creating the inner walls of the flanged grooves in the side surface. Such a design of the stiffening walls therefore represents a kind of optimum in view of the contradicting requirements of material saving, strength and groove design.

According to a preferred embodiment, two inner stiffening walls arranged in parallel with one of the pairs of side surfaces are at a larger distance from each other than the other two inner stiffening walls.

By means of this embodiment it is ensured that the side surface pairs located opposite are suitable for receiving different sizes and strengths of screw joints. This is because in the case of the support structures mentioned in the introduction, the screw joint located on the side surface facing the load bearing wall is affected by a much higher load than on the side surface normal to the wall. As a result, the advantageous location of the profile rail is such that the inner stiffening walls located at a longer distance from each other are normal to the load bearing wall.

Another preferred embodiment is characterised by having a square shaped overall cross section. The overall square cross section allows universal arrangement of the profile rail, while the groove pairs suitable for receiving different size screw joints further increase the variability of building the support structure.

A further preferred embodiment is characterised in that in its side surfaces located in parallel with the stiffening walls arranged at a larger distance from each other there are flanged grooves for receiving screw bolt heads and/or nuts of standard screw joints, and in the other two side surfaces there are flanged grooves for receiving bolt heads and/or nuts of a larger size standard screw joints

Even more preferably, the profile rail is designed symmetrically to longitudinal halving planes that are parallel with its side surfaces. This design ensures that the profile rail has strength in all directions.

The inventive profile rail is made preferably of aluminium by hot pressing.

According to a second aspect, the invention is a support structure comprising cantilevers for securing the structure to the wall, a profile rail fixed by screw joint to the cantilevers and members fixed to the profile rail and suitable for holding object(s) to be carried, especially panel fixing lugs designed for holding facade cover panels. The invention is characterised in that the profile rail is an inventive vertical profile rail and the members suitable for holding the object(s) to be carried are secured to the profile rail in a vertically adjustable position by a screw joint fitting into the groove of the profile rail.

Preferably, the screw joint comprises a profile rail segment arranged perpendicularly to the profile rail and having the same cross section as the profile rail, as well as screw joints adjoining a groove of the profile rail segment, wherein the cantilever is secured to the profile rail via the profile rail segment in a way suitable for adjusting the distance between the profile rail and the wall. This structure enables flexible adjustment with a relatively low number of types of components. The profile rail segments can be simply produced in the required sizes by cutting from the profile rails.

Preferably, the cantilever is an L-shaped cantilever adjoining to one side of the profile rail segment or a U-shaped cantilever adjoining to two sides of the profile rail segment.

In the given case, the cantilever can also be a U-shaped cantilever adjoining to two sides of the profile rail or a stay cantilever adjoining by a screw joint to the wall side of the profile rail.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Hereinafter, the invention will be described by means of preferred embodiments as shown in the drawings, where

Fig. 1 is a schematic cross sectional view of a preferred embodiment of the invention,

Fig. 2A is a side view of a profile rail holding a panel fixing lug,

Fig. 2B is a top view of the assembly according to Fig. 2A,

Fig. 3 is a side view of a profile rail carrying a panel fixing lug which closes a facade,

Fig. 4 is a side view of a profile rail fitted with a stay cantilever,

Fig. 5 is a structural drawing of the stay cantilever type support structure according to Fig. 4, in an axonometric view with the load bearing wall and the facade panels,

Fig. 6 is a side view of a profile rail mounted with a U-shaped profile,

Fig. 7 is an axonometric view of the support structure fitted with the U- shaped cantilever according to Fig. 6, with the load bearing wall and the facade panels,

Fig. 8A is a side view of a profile rail fixed by self-tapping screws to an U- shaped cantilever,

Fig. 8B is a top view of the assembly according to Fig. 8A,

Fig. 9 is a side view of a detail of a profile rail support structure fitted with L profiles and an intermediate profile rail segment,

Fig. 10 is an axonometric view of the support structure according to Fig. 9 with the load bearing wall and the facade panels,

Fig. 11 is a side view of a detail of a profile rail support structure fitted with four L profiles and an intermediate profile rail segment,

Fig. 12 is a side view of a profile rail support structure fitted with two U- shaped profile and an intermediate profile rail segment, and

Fig. 13 is an axonometric view of a support structure fitted with the joint according to Fig. 12, with the load bearing wall and the facade panels.

MODES FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

Fig. 1 shows an especially preferred embodiment of the profile rail 10 according to the invention in a cross-sectional drawing. The profile rail 10 has four side surfaces 11 A, 11 B, 11 C, 11D and in each a longitudinal flanged groove 13A, 13B, 13C ₁ 13D. Each of the flanged grooves 13A, 13B, 13C, 13D has a longitudinal opening 12A, 12B, 12C, 12D. In the way shown in the figure, the grooves 13A-13D of the profile rail are suitable for receiving from one end of the profile rail a screw head and/or a nut of a screw joint, thereby fixing various structural elements to the profile rail 10. The fixing as shown in the figure is provided by the flanges 14 of the grooves 13A-13D.

In relation to the depicted preferred embodiment of the invention, screw joint fixings are described. However, for a person skilled in the art, it is obvious that by means of the profile rail according to the invention, not only screw joints but also different types of fixings, for example snapping, rivet or weld joints can also be implemented.

The profile rail 10 according to the invention has a rectangular, preferably a square shaped overall cross section. The profile rail 10 comprises two inner stiffening walls 15'", 15"" arranged in parallel with the pair of side surfaces 11A, 11 B. These stiffening walls 15'", 15"" extending across the whole inner section of the profile rail 10 connect the side surfaces 11C and 11 D. Furthermore, the profile rail 10 also comprises two inner stiffening walls 15', 15" arranged in parallel with the other pair of side surfaces 11 C, 11 D. The latter also extend across the full inner cross section of the profile rail 10, connecting the side surfaces 11A and 11 B. The stiffening walls 15', 15" and 15'", 15"" are arranged in pairs intersecting each other and forming central and four outside enclosed sections.

The figure shows that each pair of the stiffening walls 15'-15"" sandwiches the openings 12A-12D of the opposite grooves 13A-13D, and they are arranged at a longer distance from one another than the width of the openings 12A-12D. By means of the stiffening wall design according to the invention, it is achieved that the inner walls of the grooves 13A-13D are actually the stiffening walls 15'-15"" in a

way that the grooves 13A-13D also have the flanges 14. This design results in an application which is especially material saving, strong and universal.

Fig. 1 shows that the stiffening walls 15'" and 15"" are at a longer distance from each other than the stiffening walls 15' and 15". Furthermore, the openings 12C and 12D are also larger than the other openings. By this design, it is extremely simple to implement the application of screw joints in various strengths and sizes. In a preferred embodiment used as an example, the grooves 13A, 13B are designed for a standard M6 size screw joint, and the grooves 13C, 13D are designed for a standard screw joint of M8 size.

It is shown furthermore in the figure that the profile rail 10 is designed symmetrically to longitudinal halving planes being in parallel with its side surfaces 11A-11 D. This is advantageous for universal design and applicability and furthermore from the point of view of having satisfactory strength from all directions.

The profile rail 10 is preferably made of aluminium by hot pressing.

The assembly shown in Fig. 2A comprises the profile rail 10 according to Fig. 1 , to which by a screw joint 20 fitting into its groove a panel fixing lug 23' is connected in a vertically adjustable position. Preferably, the panel fixing lug 23' has a longitudinal opening 21 extending normal to the profile rail 10, and by means of this opening, the panel fixing lug 23' can be appropriately adjusted. The lower and upper recesses of the panel fixing lug 23' receive facade panels, which sit on a rubber sheet 24 preferably fixed by gluing at the panel fixing lug 23' to the profile rail 10. By means of the rubber sheet 24, each facade panel has a separate expansion space, as a result of which the accumulation of the displacement of facade panels can be avoided. Fig. 2B shows a top view of the fitting according to Fig. 2A. According to the figure, the panel fixing lug 23' is adjoined to the smaller size flanged groove. This is advantageous, because for the larger size groove facing the wall, a larger size screw joint can be applied which is also exposed to a shearing force.

Fig. 3 shows an assembly similar to that depicted in Fig. 2A, which assembly comprises a panel fixing lug 23" closing the facade. It can be seen that the panel fixing lug 23" has a hooked end only in one direction, to hold the facade panel closing the facade. Adjustability normal to the wall is provided by an opening 22 in the panel fixing lug 23".

Fig. 4 shows a side view of a detail of the support structure implemented with the profile rail 10. The profile rail 10, through its flanged groove designed to receive a larger size screw joint, is adjoined to a stay cantilever 31 by means of a screw joint 30. Screw joint 30 forms a screw joint fitting. The stay cantilever 31 is secured to the wall 33 by a wall plugged screw joint 32. Fig. 5 shows a support structure formed on the assembly as per Fig. 4. Insulation 25 is placed onto the wall 33, in which cut-outs are made during installation at the points where the stay cantilevers 31 are located. The stay cantilevers 31 are designed with a longitudinal opening 37 preferably located vertically at the wall plugged screw joint 32, and therefore it becomes possible to adjust the support structure vertically. The adjustability in a direction normal to the wall is allowed by the screw joint 30. Panel fixing lugs 23' and 23" fitted on the profile rail 10 hold the facade panels 26. In the way shown, the support structure can be simply and easily adjusted by means of the various setting options on the spot.

Fig. 6 shows a support structure fitted with a U-shaped cantilever 35. As a screw joint fitting, the U-shaped cantilever is secured by screw joints 34 to the profile rail 10, and the screw joints 34 fit into the longitudinal opening 38 extending normal to the wall 33 in the U-shaped cantilever. The opening 38 allows the adjustment of the support structure normal to the wall. It is not shown in the figure, but on the wall plugged screw joint 32 the U-shaped cantilever 35 preferably has a longitudinal horizontal opening, which enables horizontal adjustment in parallel with the wall. Fig. 7 shows a perspective view of the support structure with the assembly as per Fig. 6, which depicts well the different adjustment options.

Fig. 8A shows a side view of an assembly using self-tapping screws 40 and an U-shaped cantilever 41 as a screw joint. As also shown in Fig. 8B which depicts the fitting from a top view, the self-tapping screws 40 are preferably driven into the

four longitudinal enclosed sections sandwiched by the side surfaces 11A-11 B and stiffening walls 15'-15"" in the profile rail 10. This embodiment represents a further advantage of the profile rail according to the invention, namely that it has sections appropriate for receiving the self-tapping screws 40, and after fixing it also has free grooves for the fitting of other screw joints.

Fig. 9 depicts a double L cantilever fitting. By means of a screw joint 52, the L shaped cantilever 50 is adjoined to the profile rail 10, which L-shaped cantilever 50 is in turn adjoined to the profile rail segment 10' by a further screw joint 52. These members form a screw joint fitting. To the wall end of the profile rail segment 10', by means of a screw joint 52, a further L-shaped cantilever 50' is connected, and the latter is fixed to the wall .33 by a wall plugged screw joint 32. Fig. 10 shows a perspective view of the support structure having the assembly shown in Fig. 9. The drawing shows details of the adjustment options of the support structure. Openings 51 formed in the L-shaped cantilevers 50 and 50' allow a horizontal adjustment parallel with the wall 33, and a further horizontal adjustment normal to the wall is enabled by turning the profile rail segments 10' from a position normal to the wall 33 and then sliding the screw joints 52 in the profile rail segment 10'.

Fig. 11 shows a side view of an adjoining assembly consisting of four L- shaped profiles. In this embodiment, two-two L-shaped cantilevers 50, 50'; 50", 50'" are adjoined at the bottom and the top to the profile rail segment 10'. While requiring more material, this version provides more strength, and therefore it is to be used preferably for mounting of larger weight facade panels 26.

Fig. 12 shows a side view of a double U-shaped cantilever assembly, In this variant, a clamping U-shaped cantilever is adjoined by the screw joints 52 at the bottom and the top at both ends to the profile rail segment 10'. The wall side U- shaped cantilever 60' is adjoined to the wall 33 by a wall plugged screw joint 32, while the other U-shaped cantilever 60 is adjoined to the profile rail 10 by means of screw joint 52. A perspective view of the support structure with the assembly shown in the figure is depicted in Fig. 13. The perspective drawing shows well longitudinal openings 61 in parallel with the wall 33, on the U-shaped cantilevers 60 and 60', enabling a horizontal adjustment.

As shown in the description above, forming of a universally applicable support structure by means of the profile rail according to the invention is possible, especially for suspending ceramic panels, stone and artificial stone panels and furthermore glass, wood or metal panels and similar facade panel coverings of 8 to 30 mm thickness. It is obvious for a person skilled in the art, however, that the support structure consisting of the profile rail according to the invention can be applied not only for holding fagade panels, but also for other components, e.g. lighting equipment, security surveillance equipment, support racks and decorations.

The facades consisting of fagade panels can be built with a cantilever overhang of appropriate size by using the profile rail support structure according to the invention, and in this way the ventilation air gap can. be designed to be even larger than the approx. 20 mm width representing the minimum requirement. The low material requirement and thereby the light support structure has an appropriate strength even for providing such size of air gaps. In addition to its shielding effect, the air gap allows the smooth removal of the vapour diffusion from the wall. For the efficient use of the air gap, of course, an appropriate ventilation path must be provided at the bottom and top ends.

As shown in the figures, there are dilatation gaps between the fagade panels, and as a result the movements and forces resulting from generating heat are not transferred to the neighbouring panels, but they are equalised via the dilatation gaps. It is a further advantage of facades with open gaps that the external and internal air pressures are equalised, as a result of which protection against splashing rain is improved. This is because the rain and snow does not reach the insulation via the air gap, but the rainwater drops on the external surface of the fagade panels and any eventual incoming water comes down on the inner surface of the fagade panels.

The members of the support structure other than the profile rail are made preferably of a material which resists oxidation, i.e. preferably of aluminium or stainless steel. The various cantilevers shown in the figures are preferably made of

aluminium sheet, and the panel fixing lugs are preferably made of stainless members made preferably by a pressing process.

The installation of the support structure implemented with the profile rail according to the invention can be carried out e.g. as follows.

First, openings of an appropriate size must be cut in the insulation for the fixing members, and the material removed from the insulation cut-out must be refitted if possible after the installation of the support structure. The levelled fixing points are then drilled and plugs are placed into the bores. The cantilevers are fixed by the wall plugged screw joint via toothed washers, to prevent displacement. After fixing the cantilevers, profile rails are secured in a way known per se to the cantilevers, and they are adjusted according to the size of the insulation, air gap and facade panels. If the vertical profile rail is fixed to the cantilevers by lateral clamping, it is to be ensured that the cantilever joints do not prevent the subsequent insertion of the bolts of the panel fixing lugs. If necessary, installation holes protruding into the grooves in the side of the profile rail can be formed so that the bolt for the panel fixing lugs can be placed into the groove also in a clamped position of the profile rail.

The inequalities of the load bearing wall can be eliminated by the adjustment options normal to the wall, while the vertical adjustment can be implemented by vertically sliding the vertical profile rails or panel fixing lugs. A horizontal displacement in parallel with the wall can be implemented preferably by longitudinal fixing apertures of an appropriate orientation as featured in the different cantilevers, and it can also be provided by an articulated cantilever support structure.

The profile rail and support structure according to the invention may of course be formed differently from the presented embodiments, within the scope of the claims. It is shown by the description above and by the drawings that the profile rail and support structure according to the invention advantageously meet the aimed objects.