The invention relates to modular elements for buildings, capable of being joined together by rotation in the horizontal plane to form any angle from 0 to 90°, to a resistance structure obtained by casting a material which hardens in a unitary network, formed of vertical channels and oblique channels, obtained by assembling the modular elements vertically or horizontally, and to a construction formed of a unitary resistance structure which is formed inside an insulating structure, obtained by assembling several modular elements.

Concrete panels are used in a wide range of applications in the construction industry, to reduce construction time. Precast panels are made by casting concrete into forms (formwork). After curing, the panels are positioned vertically at the construction site.

The disadvantage of these panels is that, because they are not insulated, they will be insulated later and the insulation work is expensive and labour- intensive. Another disadvantage is that they cannot be used for ceilings, as they do not have sufficient strength for large ceilings.

Patent US 2002017070 describes a module made of expanded plastic for the construction of a concrete wall structure, insulated by assembling the modules together and filling them with concrete. The module is made of expanded polystyrene, for example. Each module is in the form of a rigid block, with a predetermined configuration inside, to be filled with concrete. In addition, a network of steel or plastic bars is inserted into the modules, to increase strength. The disadvantage of this technical solution is the high consumption of concrete, flow problems when pouring the concrete, due to the shape of the interior channels, arranged perpendicular to the vertical and horizontal direction, complicated construction and additional labour due to the network of bars. Patent WO 2005059264 relates to polyurethane or polystyrene foams for concrete structures. The insulation blocks (elements) have an internal arrangement in the form of vertical cavities, trapezoidal, circular, elliptical or parabolic in shape. The structure, resulting after the blocks have been filled with concrete, has good strength and thermal insulation properties. The disadvantage of this technical solution is the high consumption of insulation material and concrete and the lower strength of the linear structure compared to structures where concrete is poured in several directions.

Patent US 4942707 describes ceiling or roof structures that are supported by rigid insulation, which has several recesses or channels that become moulds for the concrete during casting. After the structures are assembled into the ceiling or roof form, concrete is poured into them. The disadvantage of this technical solution is the high consumption of insulation material, of concrete, and the fact that this process is only applicable to ceilings and roofs.

Modular building elements are known, such as those described in patent RO 123373 Bl, of parallelepiped shape with a vertical channel and at least two oblique channels communicating with each other. The disadvantage of this technical solution is the difficulty of manufacturing the elements.

Patent GB 1170103 describes a construction element made of an insulating material for arched dome-type structures with a network of internal, vertical and oblique channels. The disadvantage of this technical solution is that the concrete is applied after the formation of each ring of the dome-type construction, involving high costs and increased time for labour, in addition it does not allow the distribution of concrete between successive layers of building elements.

Patent RO 123557 Bl relates to modular elements of insulating material for buildings, having at least one grid element inside, to a grid obtained by assembling the modular elements, to a resistance structure obtained by casting a material which hardens in the grid formed by assembling the modular elements, to a construction obtained by assembling the modular elements and joining them by the resistance structure, and to a method of obtaining this construction. The disadvantage of these modular elements is that they are limited in use to angles of 180° or 90°, and for angles of 90° another mould is needed.

The technical issue which the invention solves consists in the realisation of optimised modular elements which can be arranged and joined together in the horizontal plane, by rotation through an angle from 0 to 90°, with an increased compressive and shear strength, allowing the creation of a unitary strength structure for the realisation of a construction based on these modular elements.

The modular element solves this problem and eliminates the disadvantages of the above solutions by being made up of a rectangular parallelepipeds body with a flat upper surface, a flat lower surface and lateral surfaces, the flat surfaces having elements for assembly and fixing with other modular elements arranged vertically or horizontally on the inside, the parallelepipeds body having a vertical cylindrical channel open at the upper and lower surfaces, communicating with two oblique channels each starting from the lateral surfaces and extending to the intersection with the vertical cylindrical channel, and wherein the parallelepipeds body consists of two mirror-symmetrical halves with respect to a median plane, the lateral ends of the parallelepipeds body having a convex surface and a concave surface of the same radius, the vertical channel being disposed close to the convex lateral surface and the oblique channels having different lengths and inclinations being open at the convex and concave lateral surfaces respectively.

The modular element for the belt consists of two symmetrical mirror- symmetrical halves, joined at the bottom by a sole, forming a rectangular parallelepipeds body having flat upper and lower surfaces, the lateral ends of the parallelepipeds body having a convex surface and a concave surface of the same radius, the upper and lower surfaces having machined fasteners.

Polygonal strength structure obtained by assembling several modular elements with a high-density polyurethane reinforcing layer inside.

Cylindrical polygonal structure obtained by assembling several modular elements on the circumference, having at the lower and upper sides modular elements for the belt, and between them modular elements with high-density polyurethane reinforcement.

By applying the invention, the following advantages are obtained:

- A large number of types of assemblies can be obtained, at any desired angle, creating multiple possibilities for the realisation of building walls;

- High compressive and shear strength of walls built with modular elements according to the invention;

- Quick and easy assembly of modular elements;

- Short construction times of constructions based on modular elements according to the invention;

- Increased energy efficiency and a unitary strength structure with minimal material consumption without formwork elements.

In the following, some examples of embodiments of the invention are given in connection with also Figures 1-6 representing:

Figure 1 Modular building element;

Figure 2 Modular elements for construction joined at various angles;

Figure 3 Modular element for constructions with high density polyurethane reinforcement; Figure 4 Belt elements joined at various angles;

Figure 5 Modular element wall with top and bottom belt elements;

Figure 6 Construction consisting of modular elements and belt elements at top and bottom.

The modular element according to the present invention consists of a body in the form of a rectangular parallelepiped 1, which has a flat upper surface 2 and a flat lower surface 3, and at the lateral ends has a convex surface 4 and opposite it a concave surface 5 of the same radius.

The convex 4 and concave 5 lateral surfaces, respectively, permit the joining in a horizontal plane of several modular elements placed side by side at different angles by rotation through an angle of 0 to 90°.

On the inside, the body 1 has a vertical cylindrical channel 6 and an oblique cylindrical channel 7 extending from the opening of the vertical channel 6 in the upper surface 2 to the concave surface 5.

A connecting channel 8 extends from the vertical channel opening 6 of the upper surface 2 to the convex surface 4. The connecting channel 8 is optionally obtained by coring and connects two adjacent modular elements.

The body 1 has on the upper surface 2 teeth 9 and on the lower surface 3 recesses 10, which serve to join the elements, nut and feder, as shown in Fig. 1.

The parallelepipedic body 1 is obtained by moulding and bonding two mirror-symmetrical body halves 12 and 13 to the median plane P, see fig 3.

The modular element is made of low-density polyurethane 50-100 kg/m3.

By joining and interlocking several modular elements arranged at different angles due to the convex 4 and concave 5 lateral surfaces, and by superimposing several modular elements, joined and fixed by teeth 9 and voids 10, a closed network of vertical cylindrical channels 6 and a closed network of oblique channels 7 or connecting channels 8 are obtained, channels which communicate with each other forming, by casting concrete, a resistance structure 18.

In order to increase the pressure resistance, in the area of contact with the concrete which is poured into the network of channels, the two body halves 12,13 have on the inside a layer 11 of polyurethane of medium or high density, i.e. 200-600 kg/m3, as shown in Figure 3.

The modular element for the belt, in the form of a rectangular parallelepipeds body, consists of two symmetrical vertical sides 14,15, mirror-symmetrically joined at the bottom by a sole, as shown in Figure 4, and convex 16 and concave 17 side surfaces. On the upper and lower flat surfaces of the vertical sides 14,15, they have teeth 9 and recesses 10 for easier joining and fixing of the modular elements together.

A cylindrical polygonal construction is obtained by assembling several modular elements on the circumference, having at the lower and upper side modular elements for the belt.

As an example, in the case of a material store, it is made of a cylindrical polygonal strength structure 18 obtained by assembling on the circumference of an imaginary circle a plurality of modular elements, in the given example a number of twenty-four modular elements, having at the lower and upper sides, modular elements for the belt, and between them are arranged modular elements with an internal reinforcing layer 11 , which take up the force exerted by the pressure of the material in the basin on the internal part of the body 1 of the modular element and discharge it onto the layer 11 of medium or high density polyurethane. This in turn discharges the force of the stored material onto the concrete structure formed on the inside of the polygonal wall made up of joined modular elements, preventing the crushing of the low-density polyurethane from which the symmetrical halves 12 and 13 are made.