Present invention relates to a system for fixing panels on the facades of the buildings, in particular Veture type panels.

Recently, prefabricated Veture systems for thermal insulation of walls have become more and more popular among designers and contractors. They are made at the factory and delivered to the construction site in the form of ready blocks, usually cuboidal, consisting of:

• external cladding (on the domestic market there are usually quartz sinters, ceramic claddings, fiber-cement, tin slabs, less frequently stone);

• thermal insulation layer (most often they are rigid PIR/PUR foams and foamed polystyrene, or mineral wool);

• fastening elements (various types of slings, sleeves and connectors).

In the prefabricated Veture element, the dimensions of the cladding (length and width) are close to the dimensions of the insulation layer. Facade claddings are fastened to the thermal insulation layer by means of gluing, mechanically or as a result of natural bonding of the thermal insulation material (e.g. a combination of foamed foam with a cladding). On the other hand, the Veture elements are fixed to the walls by means of gluing; mechanically and in a mixed manner (e.g. gluing and mechanical connection) (O. Kopytow,„System elewacyjny z elementow prefabrykowanych Veture", Materiaty Budowlane, 9 '2016 (no. 529).

The Veture panel itself is usually a cuboidal block of a thermal insulation material, usually whose one wall with the largest surface is covered with a covering material and the opposite wall adheres to the wall of the building, which thus gains warming and aesthetic cover protecting against mechanical, operational and climatic influences. The properties of Veture panels and the requirements for their mechanical, thermal and physicochemical parameters are described in the European EOTA standard for their use in construction, ETAG 017 (ETAG 017. "Veture" sets - prefabricated thermal insulation elements of external walls). Simple assembly methods described therein are widely used. Hypothetically possible ways of gluing the panels directly to the wall of the building are not mentioned in the above-mentioned standard, however, attempts to use such solutions are known. A special case of such a solution is the gluing system recommended by BASF, described in advertising materials and in Technical Approval ITB No. AT-15-8763/2016. This system allows for gluing the Veture panels covered with ceramic tiles of small size to the wall. The approval itself refers to the EOTA standard no. ETAG 004, i.e. to the systems for covering thermal insulation with mineral air permeable materials, e.g. plaster as in the light-wet method. Due to the above limitations, this system should not be widely disseminated. The classic Veture panel mounting systems perform well when the following conditions are met:

1 . the fulfilment of other, additional functions is not required from the system ;

2. the fixing points on the building's wall can be freely adjusted to the location of the panel fixing points;

3. the speed and ease of assembly, as well as the ease of adjusting the position of the panel relative to the wall and neighbouring slabs, is not important.

Veture panels are exposed to distortion and deformation if there are differences in the thermal expansion of the insulating material and the coating layer of the panel surface, which is the rule in practical conditions . Distortions can be avoided in two ways, if the panel is covered symmetrically by layers with a similar thermal expansion coefficient, or if the coating layer is sufficiently rigid, which means that the covering is made of sufficiently rigid and thick material. Stone coverings with a thickness of more than 8 mm, coverings of profiled metal sheets, fiber-cement slabs and thicknesses above 8 mm, or ceramic ones over 8 mm thick may have such properties. The relatively high surface weight of such panels requires that the above-mentioned panel coverings to be mechanically affixed to a fastening system meeting the strength and fire conditions specified in ETAG 017. Usually it comes down to the use of additional structural elements intentionally placed in the insulating material of the panel.

If the slabs covering the surface of the panel have a smaller thickness and insufficient rigidity, it is necessary to use mechanical stiffening elements, also deliberately embedded in the insulating material.

Therefore, in the field of fixing Veture panels/systems, there is a need for panel fixing systems ensuring panel stiffening, guaranteeing stability of its geometrical dimensions, easy, quick and safe installation on the walls of the buildings and structures, easy panel position adjustment and free choice of panel fixing points throughout their entire length.

Thus, it was an object of the present invention to provide a system for fixing panels, in particular Veture type panels, providing the above mentioned features, such as dimensional stability of the panel, easy, quick and secure installation on the walls of the buildings and structures, easy panel position adjustment and free choice of panel fixing points throughout their entire length.

This object has been achieved by developing a system for fixing panels, in particular Veture type panels, according to the invention, which uses specially designed metal strips.

As a result, large-sized panels of sizes exceeding 1 square meter, covered with thin ceramic, glass, fibre-cement slabs or laminates with a thickness below 6 mm, or thin metal sheets with a thickness of 0.5 - 5 mm can be assembled in this way,

Thus, the present invention relates to a system for fixing panels on the facades of the buildings, in particular Veture type panels, panels comprising an facade panel and an insulating layer, characterized in that it comprises:

- a first strip and a second strip fastened in a permanent manner to the bottom panel layer, which is an insulating layer;

- at least one cross-bar joining the first strip and the second strip;

- a fitting attached to a wall of a building, including a the wall mounting part that adheres to the wall and a part extending towards the panels comprising an opening for the the screw to pass through;

- a screw for mounting and joining adjacent top and bottom panels which is to pass through an opening in the part of the fitting extending towards the panels;

- at least one nut for locking the bottom panel, suspended, in a given position, screwed onto said screw;

- a barrel nut screwed onto the screw, used to support and fix the position of the upper panel;

wherein

the first strip has a C-shaped profile forming a groove, at the ends of which there are protrusions formed by perpendicular walls, against which the nut and/or screw head rests from below, allowing the lower panel to be suspended;

the second strip has a U-shaped profile forming a groove in which a barrel nut screwed onto the screw from the top is placed, used to support and fix the position of the upper panel.

Preferably, the first strip and the second strip are fixed firmly to the insulating layer of the panel by gluing or laminating or during the foaming process of the insulating material.

Preferably, the first strip and the second strip are on the opposite edges of the insulating layer of the panel.

Preferably, the first strip and the second strip are made of metal, more preferably non-ferrous metal, more preferably aluminium.

Preferably, the facade panel has a thickness of less than 8 mm, preferably between 1 and 6 mm.

Preferably, when the facade panel is a metal sheet, its thickness can be from 0.5 to 5 mm.

Preferably, an additional nut for additional blocking the position of the panels is used between the lower and upper panel, above the groove in the first strip and under the opening in the fitting.

Preferably, the fitting affixed to the building wall is a bracket provided with a wall mounting hole on a part that is to adhere to the wall and a second opening on the part facing the fixed panels through which the screw is to pass.

Preferably, in the fitting the second opening on the part facing the fixed panels has an oblong, "bean" shape, allowing adjustment of the panel distance from the wall.

Preferably, in the fitting the angle between the wall fixing part , that adheres to the wall and a part extending towards the panels comprising an opening for the screw to pass through is a right angle.

An embodiment of a system for fixing panels on the facades on the buildings, in particular Veture type panels, according to the present invention is shown in the drawings, where:

Fig. 1 schematically shows a panel with a fixing system according to present invention in a side view;

Fig. 2 schematically shows a panel with a fixing system according to present invention in a side view detailing the individual elements of the system, including strips 4 and 5, the cross-sections of which are also shown enlarged;

Fig. 3 schematically shows a rear portion of a panel with a fixing system according to the present invention, i.e. a part fastened to a wall of the building; Fig. 4 schematically shows a method for fixing panels to a wall of the building using a fixing system according to the present invention, detailing individual component of the system, including elements 7 and 12, which are also shown enlarged.

The main elements of the fixing system according to the invention are metal strips with specially designed cross-sectional shapes (profiles) designated by numbers 4 and 5 in Fig. 2. The strips may have a length comparable to any side of the panel, most preferably the same as the longest side of the panel.

An example of the appearance of a Veture type panel is shown in Fig. 1 , where the slab covering the panel from the external side of the facade is marked with number 1 , the insulating material is marked with number 2, and the assembly metal strips 4 and 5 are adjacent to the bottom of the panel marked with number 3. Strips 4 and 5 are attached to the bottom of the panel using gluing, laminating or in any known manner of fixing to the panel at any length of the side of the panel, including its entire length.

Strips 4 and 5 are connected by cross-bars 6 shown in Figs. 3, made of metal or thermally resistant plastic, in many commonly known ways, whereby the profiles together with the cross-bars form a frame, also called a frame with length "n" equal in length to the strips and width "m" corresponding to the sum of the length of the cross-bar 6 and width of both metal strips 4 and 5. Cross-bars forming the frame are placed at a distance equal to 1 % to 35% of the length of the strips from the ends of the strips, and thus the ends of the panel.

Fig. 2 discloses the position of the strips 4 and 5 relative to the bottom side of the panel 3 visible from the side wall of the panel. The dimension "c" in Fig. 2 corresponds to the width of the panel. The dimension "d" corresponds to the possible difference between the size of the insulation and the panel covering slab (i.e. the facade panel) and can vary from zero to 20 mm. The thickness of the panel covering slab marked as "f" in Fig. 2 may be less than 8 mm and most preferably in the range of 1 to 6 mm.

The assembly system consists of fittings with typical shapes, most often the bracket, marked with number 12 in Fig. 4, provided with a wall mounting hole and a second "bean" hole for moving and fixing the connecting screw therein marked with number 8 in Fig. 4. The fittings 12 can be affixed using known and commercially available fixing systems, for example, such as fastening anchors, selected for the type of substrate from which the building wall is made, according to the supplier's instructions.

The fastening element connecting the adjacent panels and the adjusting one is a screw 8 on which nuts 9 are fastened to lock the position of the panel at the planned location (fig 4). The polygonal bottom nut of the screw is moved along the strip with the suspension profile marked with number 4 in Fig. 2, remaining in the groove created by the special shape of the profile. This desired shape is formed by the projections constituting the walls against which the nut 9 rests, marked by a hatched area on the cross-section of the strip with a suspension profile 4 in Fig. 2. The size of the screw head is selected so that it cannot rotate in the groove when twisting and clamping the fastening nuts 9. The connecting screw passes through the bean hole, and its sliding along the hole allows adjusting the distance of the rear wall of the panel from the wall of the building. The slot of the groove in the strip with the suspension profile 4 designated by "g" must have a width that allows the connecting screw with a diameter smaller than the width "g" to move freely. The move of the connecting screw together with the nuts prepared to be clamped along the profile makes it possible to choose the most convenient fixing point for the fitting. The fitting is attached to the wall of the building, for example with the aid of a standard anchor. After fixing the fitting and screwing the upper nut, the panel hangs on the nut of the connecting screw, hooked to the side walls of the groove on the bottom nut. Therefore, the fitter has good access to the nuts, which allows easy adjustment of the panel position. One of the assembly methods consists in the fact that the connecting screw is screwed in the known way to the bottom of the groove with the depth "h" sufficiently strong to block any movement of the connecting elements in relation to the strip with a suspension profile. By properly screwing the nuts 9, the position of the lower panel suspended on the fitting 12 is set and locked by tightening the barrel nut 1 0.

The barrel nuts 10 are designed to support and set the position of the upper panel. A strip with a support profile 5 shown in Fig. 2 has a C-shaped groove formed by a projection marked with a hatched area on the cross-section of the support strip 5. This profile is mounted on barrel nuts 10 that enter the prepared groove, whereby the movements of the panel in a direction perpendicular to the surface of the wall of the building are limited by adjusting the diameter of the barrel nut 1 0 and the width of the groove marked with "i" on the cross-section of the support strip 5 in Fig. 2.

Continuation of the sequence of operations described in the assembly of a single panel allows to mount groups of panel, creating a uniform coverage of the building wall with panels, in particular Veture type panels.

A system for fixing panels, in particular Veture type panels, on the facades of the buildings it is characterized in that it comprises metal strips with profiles shaped in a special way (Fig. 2 and 4), permanently embedded in a thermal insulation material or attached to it in another known manner. The metal strips have profiles of such shapes that one of them serves to suspend the panel (strip with profile 4) and the other to support it (strip with profile 5).

Said metal strips have grooves, wherein the groove in the strip with a C-shaped suspension profile 4 serves to keep the panel on the nut 9 screwed onto the connecting screw 8 and securing the panel to the fitting holding the panels on the wall of the building. In contrast, the groove in the support strip in the shape of an inverted letter "U" rests on the barrel nut 10 defining the position of the panel relative to the wall of the building and the neighbouring panel.

The metal strips 4 and 5, preferably of stainless metals, most preferably aluminium, are placed in the material layer constituting thermal insulation on two opposite sides of the Veture type cuboidal panel in the panel manufacturing process, and their profiles are used to fasten the connector allowing the positioning of the panels on the wall simultaneously as well as the adjustment of their position in relation to each other.

By using the fixing system according to the present invention, the panels can be laid horizontally, vertically or diagonally at any angles, depending on how the metal strips 4 and 5 are placed on the panel, i.e. on the longer or on the shorter sides or slanted.

The connecting screws 8 and the fixtures 12 can be moved along the strips in specially shaped grooves along the entire length of the strips 4 and 5. Strips 4 and 5 can be glued or laminated or in any known manner attached to the panel at any length of the side of the panel, including its entire length.