MODULAR BUILDING ELEMENT COMPRISING A FRAME AND OPPOSITELY DISPOSED PANELS

DESCRIPTION

Field of application

The present invention relates to a modular composable element for building, in particular but not exclusively suitable for the manufacture and installation of "" ^■ interiors" of buildings, such as, for example, houses, work environments, public and private environments, i.e. separating walls, partition walls, additional storeys, architectural particulars and similar, typically used to

■.■generally define rooms, anterooms or entrances, "access corridors", open space environments, environments with a mansard, functional "corners ¹ ' like closet rooms, cupboards and similar.

Prior Art

It is known that, with reference to the manufacture of interiors of buildings of the above said type, besides a primary need of studied arrangement and sizing of walls and/or of special architectural details, there is another need, increasingly felt and of special importance, concerning the "light" or brightness, the colors and the "warmth" to be conferred and conferrable to the environment which is to be created. Furthermore, it is known that it is difficult to harmonize the above said twro needs with the means, tools and materials which are currently available.

Summary of the invention.

The problem underlying the present invention is to devise and provide a modular unit which is easily applicable to

building constructions of the above said type

(substantially a brick) which has, along with the structural and functional characteristics of a traditional brick, new and marked characteristics of structural and furnishing element.

This problem is solved according to the present invention by a modular element for building characterized in that it comprises :

a rigid frame, with a substantially picture-frame shape, defining a cell of predetermined depth, of which said frame defines side walls, said cell having open bottom and open ceiling, through which it is accessible from the exterior,

a first and a second panel of predetermined thickness, removably associated to said frame, juxtaposed to and at least partially covering the bottom and ceiling of said cell, said panels being soft, fabricated with an elastically deformable material,

said rigid frame being equipped, at the side walls of said cell, with means for a removable side-against-side connection of a plurality of said modular elements.

Preferably, said rigid frame has at least three sides and defines a prismatic cell of predetermined depth, of which the sides of said frame are the side walls.

Advantageously, said rigid frame is perimetrically equipped, at the bottom and ceiling of said cell, with respective means for removably engaging counter-means perimetrically provided on each of said panels.

Preferably said means and counter-means are of the type with engagement with snap.

According to a preferred embodiment, in said prismatic cell means suitable to receive a light source are comprised.

Further characteristics and the advantages of the invention will be made clear by the following description of an exemplary embodiment of the invention, with reference to the attached drawings, which are illustrative and non- limitative.

Brief description of the drawings

In the drawings :

Fig. 1 schematically shows, with separated parts and in isometric view, a modular element for building, according to the present invention.

Fig. 2 shows a perspective view of a modular element according to the invention and according a preferred embodiment.

Fig. 3 shows a side view of the modular element of fig. 2.

Fig. 4 and 5 show enlarged views of details of the modular element of fig. 3.

Fig. β schematically shows an isometric view of components. of three modular elements according to the present invention, which are connected in a side-against-side arrangement in order to form part of a separating wall.

Detailed description of a preferred embodiment

With reference to said figures, a modular composable element for building according to the present invention and globally indicated by reference numeral 100, comprises a rigid frame 1, preferably made of a suitable plastic

material/ known per se, preferably transparent (for example polycarbonate or ABS) , said frame being essentially shaped like a quadrilateral picture-frame, which defines in its interior a parallelepiped cell 2, whose depth corresponds to the selected thickness of said frame. The four sides of the rigid frame 1 form the side walls 3, 4, 5 and 6 of the cell 2 and said cell 2 has an open bottom 2a and an open ceiling 2b, through which it is accessible from the exterior.

A first and second panel 7, 8 of predetermined thickness, are removably associated to said rigid frame 1, being juxtaposed to and covering the bottom 2a and ceiling 2b, of said parallelepiped cell 2. Alternatively, the panels 7 and 8 may be associated so as to cover at least partially the bottom 2a and ceiling 2b, of said parallelepiped cell 2.

According to a characteristic of the present invention, said panels 7, 8 are soft to touch, since they are made, for example, of an elastically deformable material, preferably and advantageously a plastic material, for example a polyurethane resin of the conventional type, preferably in the gel form, such as, for example, the polyurethane resin known under the trademark Technogel®.

Advantageously, said panels 7, 8 are also flexible. Regarding the behavior to light, said panels 7, 8 are advantageously transparent or translucent.

In particular, according to a preferred embodiment, said panels 7, 8 are quadrilateral like the rigid frame 1, but have transversal dimensions greater than those of said frame, so as to laterally protrude from the cell 2, along its entire perimeter.

It is to be noted that the panels 7, 8 in plastic material are advantageously fabricated with usual molding technique-s and, in the example shown in the figures, the panels 7, 8 have substantially flat shape. Obviously using the same molding techniques, using suitable molds, it is possible to obtain panels in a variety of shapes, in order to comply with particular functional or aesthetic needs.

In order to connect the panels 7, 8 to the rigid frame 1, the latter is perimetrically equipped with means 9 for removably engaging counter-means 9a, which ' are perimetrically provided on each of said panels 7 and 8.

Preferably, the means 9 are uniformly distributed on the entire perimeter of the bottom 2a and ceiling 2b of the cell 2, whereas the panels 7, 8 are correspondingly equipped with suitable respective counter-means 9a. It is to be noted that the thickness of panels 7, 8 and the dimensions of the said means 9 are chosen so that these means are not visible from the exterior of the panels themselves, after being mounted on the frame 1.

Preferably said means 9 and counter-means 9a are of the type with engagement with snap.

In the non-limitative example shown in the figures, the means 9 comprise protrusions which are perpendicular to the planar surfaces of bottom 2a and ceiling 2b, and their ends have a substantially circular section. The counter-means 9a comprise grooves having "ω"-shaped sections, into which the protrusions of the means 9 can be inserted, up to the point where the protrusions themselves engage with a snap inside the grooves.

Preferably, said grooves are inserted in the thickness of the panels 7 and 8.

Advantageously (fig. 2), in view of the flexibility and softness of panels I ₁ 8, the bottom 2a and ceiling 2b of the cell 2 are formed by identical shaped plates, of the same dimensions as the panels and, therefore, laterally protruding from the respective cell 2, said plates being centrally equipped with quadrilateral openings 2c, in order to access the cell from the exterior thereof.

In order to provide a removable side-against-side connection of a plurality of modular composable elements according to the present invention, for example for providing a separating wall inside a building (fig. 6) said rigid frame 1 is equipped, at the side walls 3, 4, 5 and 6, of said cell 2, with suitable means 10 to allow a removable side-against-side connection of a plurality of said modular elements .

According to a preferred embodiment (fig. 4 and fig. 5) , the said means 10 are of the type with sliding engagement and/or engagement with snap.

In particular, the opposing side walls 4 and 6 of a first modular element 100 are advantageously connected to other two modular elements 100 of the same type with means with sliding engagement: in the non-limitative example of fig. 4 and fig. 5, said first modular element 100 comprises protrusions 10a and 10b which extend perpendicularly to the planar surfaces of the side walls 4 and 6 respectively, towards the exterior of the frame 1, wherein they are "L"- shaped and are suitable to be conjugated to the protrusions

10b and 10a respectively, of the other two connected modular elements.

The opposing side walls 3 and 5 of a first modular element 100 are advantageously connected to other two ^" modular elements of the same type with engagement-with-snap means: for example, said first modular element 100 comprises protrusions 10c which perpendicularly extend from the planar surfaces of the side walls 3 and 5, respectively, towards the exterior of the frame 1, wherein they axe "L"- shaped and are suitable to be hooked in corresponding cavities 1Od provided on the shaped plates of the cells, of the other two connected modular elements.

In the preferred embodiment shown in the figures and just described, said means 10 for a removable side-against-side connection of a plurality of said modular elements are a combination of the sliding engagement and of the engagement with snap, and may be defined as of the "bayonet type", since the protrusions 10a and 10b act as means of the sliding engagement type, whereas the protrusions 10c and cavities 1Od act as means of the engagement-with-snap type. In 'other words, the removable side-against-side connection of three modular elements is provided by sliding, for example, a left side of a first modular element along the right side of a second modular element, through the protrusions 10a of the side wall 6 of the first modular element which slide in the conjugated protrusions 10b of the side wall 4 of the second modular element, which act as "sliding rails", until the lower side of the first modular element engages with snap on the upper side of. a third modular element, i.e. until the protrusions 10c of the side wall 3 of the first modular element engage with snap into

the cavities 1Od of the side wall 5 of the third modular element .

Fig. 6 shows the frames 1 of three modular elements 100, which are mutually connected to form a part of a separating wall. Fig. -6 also shows two section bars 12 which are applied on the sides of the mutually connected ^■ modular elements 100.

Said section bars 12 have a substantially planar external surface 12a and an internal surface 12b which is equipped with means 13 for removably connecting to the ^' side walls 3, 4, 5 and 6 of the mutually connected modular elements 100.

The external surface 12a of the section bar 12 remains visible _. after the section bar 12 has been applied on the side walls 3, 4, 5 and 6 of the modular elements 100 which are mutually connected so as to form said separating wall of a room of a building, or the external surface 12a is placed in contact with the floor, the ceiling or the side wall of the room. In other words, section bars 12 are applied on the perimeter of the mutually connected modular elements 100, in order to close the entire separating wall, after it has reached its final dimensions and structure, and in order to fix the separating wall itself to the supporting structure (floor, ceiling or side wall of the room) .

The means 13 are of the ^' sliding engagement type and/or of the engagement-with-snap type, and are similar to said means 10 for a removable side-against-side connection of a plurality of said modular elements 100.

Preferably said section bars 12 are made of aluminium or rigid plastic material.

Advantageously, for special aesthetic purposes of interior decorations, in the cell 2, of one or more of the used modular elements, means suitable to receive a predetermined light source are comprised.

In particular, said means comprise openings 11 provided on the side walls 3, 4, 5 and 6 of the frame 1, for the passing of electrical cables (of the conventional types and not shown in the figures) which supply a light source, such as for example a sodium vapor lamp or a fluorescent lamp (of the conventional types and not shown in the figures) , which is preferably positioned in a central position in the cell 2, or is "disappearingly" positioned at the side walls of the cell.

It is to be noted that said modular element 100 may also be used individually as a special interior decoration component. For example, the element 100 may be positioned in a corresponding opening of a wall, a ceiling or a floor of a room of a building, like a "porthole".

Alternatively, said element 100 may be fixed on a wall of a building: in this case, one of the panels 7, 8 is removed, so that the bottom 2a or the ceiling 2b, respectively, of the cell 2 may be placed in contact with said wall. In order to fix the element 100 on the wall, suitable means are provided, such as a plurality of seats 14 for screws or nails which are provided on the frame 1. Advantageously, after fixing, the seats 14 are not visible due to the successive application of the panel 8 or 7 respectively.

From the preceding description one can easily infer that the modular element for building according to the invention solves the technical problem and achieves numerous

advantages: first of all, it is easily customizable with regard to colors and surface shapes of the panels, allowing a very wide range of different aesthetical plays, fulfilling very varied application needs.

Moreover, the modular element for building according to the invention is light in weight and allows the assembling/disassembling of separating walls, partition walls, additional storeys, etc. in a very rapid manner, without the need for cement, glues or similar materials and, therefore, without causing any dirt or damage to the interiors of the buildings and to the objects contained therein, therefore allowing an extremely easy assembly, made without the use of polluting products, respectful to the environment and with little waste of the resources necessary for the assembling and installation.

Obviously, the skilled in the art will be able to apply various modifications and variants to the above said modular element for building, in order to fulfill specific and contingent needs, all within the scope of the present invention, as defined in the following claims.

In particular, the above detailed description has been provided with reference to the preferred embodiment in which the modular element for building comprises a frame shaped like a quadrilateral picture-frame and a parallelepiped cell, although the invention refers generally to a modular element for building comprising a frame which has a substantially picture-frame shape, defining a cell of predetermined depth, of which said frame defines side walls. Preferably, the frame has at least three sides and, therefore, it defines a prismatic cell of predetermined depth.