EP0586320A1 - System for the connection of a stiffening element of a curtain wall to a construction element - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention relates to a system for the fixing of a curtain-wall stiffener to a construction element. This fixing system is characterised by the fact that it comprises a connection piece (4) which may be solidly fastened to the stiffener and which comprises, laterally, at least one T-shaped groove; at least one angle iron (bracket) (15a), each flange (14a, 18a) of which has an elongate hole perpendicular to its angle edge; at least one first bolt (10a), the head (9a) of which is lodged, with a small clearance, in the said groove, while its threaded part passes through the elongate hole which is made in one (14a) of the said flanges of the said angle iron (15a); and at least one second bolt (19a) which fixes the other flange of the said angle iron (15a) to the said construction element (3). Application to buildings. <IMAGE>

Description

The present invention relates to a system for fixing a curtain wall stiffener to a building element, of the type comprising a connecting piece which can be made integral with said stiffener; at least one square, each wing of which has an elongated hole perpendicular to its edge; at least one first bolt, the threaded part of which passes through the elongated hole formed in that of the wings of the bracket which is in contact with the connecting part in the mounting position, its nut being tightened on the face of this wing which is opposite to the connecting piece and at least a second bolt which fixes the other wing of the bracket to the building element by crossing the elongated hole which is formed in this other wing of the bracket.

Such a fixing system is described in document GB-A-2,155,981, and it makes it possible to adjust the position of the stiffener on the building element in two orthogonal directions in a horizontal plane by modifying the position of the fixing bolts in the elongated holes which are provided in the bracket specified above. In practice, it is however desirable to be able to carry out such an adjustment in three directions, that is to say also in the vertical direction, which is not the case in the known fixing system. In addition, this known device does not make it possible to fix the stiffener as close as possible to the building element, since its minimum distance from the latter is determined at the outset by the position of the horizontal elongated hole which is formed in the aforementioned intermediate piece or in the corresponding square.

Document US-A-4.873.805 describes a curtain wall support which can move vertically, but this is not a fixing, but a free movement very limited to the inside a sleeve, which is intended to absorb relative movements. Furthermore, the sleeve in question is welded to the construction element, which imposes a minimum distance between this element and the curtain wall which is equal to the depth of the sleeve. Finally, the device described in this prior document does not provide adjustments in a horizontal plane, and, for this reason, it does not include fixing brackets provided with elongated holes.

A vertical adjustment made by means of vertical T-shaped grooves in cross section and nuts whose head is housed in the associated groove is described in document EP-A-0.052.158. However, the grooves in question are formed in a kind of vertical tube in two parts and with rectangular cross section which is necessarily present between the building element and the curtain wall, so that the latter is necessarily separated from the corresponding distance with respect to this element. Finally, the device described in this document makes any adjustment in the horizontal direction impossible parallel to the building element, so that it is only here an adjustment in two directions perpendicular to each other.

As for the devices described in European patent applications EP-A-0.438.649 and EP-A-0.428.962, the height adjustment which is provided therein is obtained by means of a simple setting screw whose useful height is adjusted by screwing a nut.

Also, an object of the present invention is to overcome the drawbacks of known devices and to provide a fastening system of the kind specified at the start which allows adjustment in three orthogonal directions and which allows the stiffener to be mounted at a very short distance from the building element to which it must be fixed.

According to the invention, this object, as well as others which will appear subsequently, such as those which consist in ensuring an extremely solid fixing and a great ease of assembly with simple, robust and inexpensive members, are achieved thanks to a fastening system of the kind specified above which is characterized in that the connecting piece specified above comprises laterally at least a T-shaped groove in cross section, which is vertical in the mounting position and open to the outside; and by the fact that the head of the first nut specified above is housed with a slight clearance in this T-shaped groove while being substantially prevented from rotating around its axis.

It will be understood that these arrangements make it possible to adjust in three orthogonal directions the position of the stiffener relative to the building element. Indeed, the first bolt specified above is intended to fix a square on a connecting piece, and this fixing can take place at any level of the latter in the vertical direction, since the head of the bolt, before tightening, can be placed at any point in the vertical T-shaped groove which is formed in the connecting piece. This therefore ensures adjustment in the vertical direction.

On the other hand, in known manner, the bracket specified above can be adjusted horizontally with respect to the connecting piece, on the one hand, and with respect to the building element, on the other hand, by modifying the position of the corresponding nuts in the associated elongated holes, which provides two additional adjustment directions. These two directions are horizontal and perpendicular to each other, as are the elongated holes of the bracket in question, and each of them is perpendicular to the direction of vertical adjustment which was mentioned above, which provides the adjustment in three orthogonal directions which was aimed.

In fact, the fixing system according to the invention is advantageously symmetrical with respect to the median vertical plane of the stiffener that is to be fixed, so that its connecting piece comprises two T-shaped grooves which are symmetrical in part and other of this plan and which each enclose the head of a bolt of the kind specified above under the name of "first bolt". Each of these two bolts fixes a bracket on the connecting piece, and these are therefore two symmetrical brackets which fix the assembly to the building element. It is clear that this arrangement considerably increases the solidity of the fixing, and this, at a lower cost, since these are identical members which are used on both sides of the connecting piece.

Advantageously, the connecting piece which connects the stiffener to the construction element by means of the brackets specified above is a profiled piece which has the shape of a U with right angles in cross section and which closely follows the external contours of the stiffener. The latter is therefore enclosed by the wings of the U of the profiled connecting piece and, preferably, a transverse bolt, that is to say perpendicular to the stiffener, passes through holes made in the latter and in the wings of the U for make the whole united.

According to an advantageous embodiment of the fastening system according to the invention, the connecting piece specified above extends outward in one piece by a vertical rib which extends over its entire height and in which is provided the vertical T-shaped groove mentioned above. Compared to an arrangement where this groove would be formed in a wing with rectangular cross section of the profiled connecting piece, this embodiment offers the advantage of requiring less material, and therefore of being less expensive, since the extra thickness which is necessary to accommodate the T-slot and the bolt head it contains is limited to a part of the wing of the profiled part, namely to the extension specified above.

On the other hand, it is advantageous that the surfaces of the connecting piece and the bracket which are intended to be tightened against each other by the first bolt specified above are each provided with a vertical notch. These combined notches serve, on the one hand, to increase the contact surfaces of the bracket and the profiled part of connection, and therefore the friction between these two members, which makes the connection more solid, and, on the other hand, ensure the relative positioning of the two pieces in question, so that the verticality of the connecting piece necessarily results in the horizontality of the elongated holes of the square.

As for the first bolt specified above which is used to tighten one against the other the connecting piece and the bracket specified above, it is preferably a simple square head bolt. As this square head is housed with a small clearance in the bottom of the T-shaped groove which was mentioned above, it is clear that the bolt in question is prevented from turning around its axis, this making it possible to tighten without problems its nut on the corresponding wing of the square. On the other hand, the small clearance between the head of the bolt and the bottom of the T-shaped groove allows the bolt to slide vertically along the groove, before it is tightened, and thus to fix the position of the bolt at will. , and therefore of the square, in the vertical direction.

To prevent the head of this first bolt from escaping from its groove, the latter is advantageously provided, at at least one of its ends, with a stop which can be in the form of a boss, d 'a dowel, screw or the like.

According to a variant, two superimposed stiffeners are made integral with the same connecting piece and, preferably, at least one of these stiffeners is made integral with the connecting piece by means of a transverse bolt, the latter passing through the stiffener corresponding through holes that are elongated in the vertical direction, which allows to absorb thermal expansion.

Finally, the connecting piece which connects the stiffener to the brackets of the device according to the invention can advantageously be made in two parts which are symmetrical by relative to the median vertical plane of the stiffener. Thus, this connecting piece is no longer limited to its use for a stiffener of determined width, and, on the contrary, its two parts can come to grip a stiffener of any width.

• La figure 1 montre une vue en coupe horizontale du système de fixation selon l'invention dans une première forme de réalisation ;
• La figure 2 représente une vue en perspective éclatée de l'objet de la figure 1 d'où l'on a supprimé le raidisseur, ainsi que l'élément de construction auquel ce dernier doit être fixé ; et :
• La figure 3 est analogue à la figure 1, mais elle représente une autre forme de réalisation du système de fixation selon l'invention.

The description which follows, and which has no limiting character, will make it possible to understand clearly how the present invention can be put into practice. It should be read against the accompanying drawings, among which:

• Figure 1 shows a horizontal sectional view of the fastening system according to the invention in a first embodiment;
• 2 shows an exploded perspective view of the object of Figure 1 from which the stiffener has been removed, as well as the construction element to which the latter must be fixed; and:
• Figure 3 is similar to Figure 1, but shows another embodiment of the fastening system according to the invention.

In all that follows, it will be assumed that this fixing system is in its normal position of use, that is to say as shown, but in exploded view, in FIGS. 1 and 3, this gives meaning to expressions like "horizontal" and "vertical" or "upper" and "lower".

It will also be noted that the directions hereinafter called "transverse" and "longitudinal" are the horizontal directions which are respectively perpendicular and parallel to the stiffener to be fixed, and that these directions are respectively indicated by the arrows X and Y in FIGS. 1 and 2.

In its embodiment shown in Figures 1 and 2, the fixing system according to the invention is intended to connect a single stiffener 1 of a curtain wall 2 to a slab nose, to a facade, to a metal structure or a similar building element which is suggested in 3 in Figure 1 and which will be called "slab nose" later, for reasons of simplification, although the invention is not limited to this particular type of building element. For its part, the assembly of the stiffener 1 and the curtain wall 2 is conventional, and it will not be described here.

As can be seen in FIG. 1, the stiffener 1 is fitted, practically without play, into a profiled connecting piece 4 whose general shape is that of a U with right angles in cross section, and it is made integral therewith. using a bolt 5 which crosses the stiffener 1 and the wings 4a and 4b of the connecting piece 4.

On the other hand, each of these wings 4a and 4b is extended in one piece towards the outside of the profiled part 4, over the entire height thereof, by a vertical rib 6a or 6b, respectively, that- ci, seen in horizontal section, extending from the face of the profiled part 4 which faces the slab nose 3 to the middle of the corresponding wing 4a or 4b of the profiled part 4.

As the system of the invention is perfectly symmetrical with respect to the median vertical plane P of the profiled connecting piece 4, it will be sufficient to describe the half which is to the left of this plane P in FIGS. 1 and 2 and to which belongs the lateral extension in the form of a vertical rib 6a of the wing 4a of the profiled part 4.

The lateral extension 6a is traversed vertically right through by a passage 7a of rectangular cross section which opens outwards by a groove 8a, also vertical, thus constituting a T-shaped groove in cross section. The square head 9a of a bolt 10a is inserted with little play in the vertical passage 7a, and its stroke is limited by stops 11a which are respectively located at the upper part and at the lower part of the passage 7a, of which only the upper stop is visible in Figure 2 and which may be constituted by bosses, screws, dowels or the like. For its part, the threaded portion 12a of the bolt 10a protrudes from the vertical groove 8a of the profiled part 4 to pass through a horizontal elongated hole 13a which is formed in a vertical wing 14a of a bracket 15a. The nut 16a of the bolt 10a therefore makes it possible to tighten the latter, by its wing 14a, on the profiled part 4 or, more precisely, on the lateral extension 6a thereof. This operation is facilitated by the fact that the threaded rod 12a of the bolt 10a is prevented from turning, since it is with a small clearance that its square head 9a is housed in the vertical passage 7a.

Furthermore, a vertical notch 17a is present on the contacting faces of the wing 14a of the bracket 15a and of the extension 6a of the profiled part 4.

It is by its other wing 18a that the bracket 15a is fixed to the slab nose 3, and this, by means of a bolt 19a which is only indicated by its axis in FIG. 2 and which passes through a horizontal elongated hole 20a formed in the wing 18a at the same level as the elongated hole 13a of the other wing 14a.

For the reasons of symmetry which have been mentioned above, a bracket 15b can be fixed by a bolt 10b to the profiled part 4, on the other side of the latter relative to the bracket 15a, its wing 18b which is fixed to the slab nose 3 extending of course opposite the corresponding wing 18a of the bracket 15a.

It is understood that the relative position of the profiled part 4 and of the bracket 15a can be modified in the vertical direction Z of FIG. 2 by sliding the head 9a of the bolt 10a in the vertical passage 7a before tightening the nut 16a. The same applies to the bracket 15b which is normally fixed on the profiled part 4 at the same height as the bracket 15a.

In the longitudinal direction Y, that is to say horizontally and parallel to the plane of the stiffener 1, the relative position of the profiled part 4 and the bracket 15a can be modified, always before tightening the nut 16a, by changing the location of the elongated hole 13a through which the threaded rod 12a of bolt 10a. The relative position of the other bracket 15b relative to the profiled part 4 in the direction Y is generally adjusted in such a way that the wings 18a and 18b of the two brackets 15a and 15b are located in the same plane.

Finally, the relative position of the assembly formed by the profiled connecting piece 4 and by the two brackets 15a and 15b relative to the slab nose 3 can be modified in the transverse direction X, that is to say horizontally and perpendicular to the plane of the stiffener 1, changing, before tightening the bolts 19a and 19b, the location of the elongated holes 20a and 20b that these bolts pass through in the brackets 15a and 15b.

It is clear that this possibility of adjustment is limited in the vertical direction Z by the distance between the stops 11a and, in the transverse X and longitudinal Y directions, by the length of the elongated holes 13a, 13b and, respectively, 20a and 20b.

It will be noted that the adjustment is continuous in the transverse X and vertical Z directions, while it is slightly discontinuous in the longitudinal Y direction, since it can only take place with a step equal to the width of the notches of the notches 17a , 17b. This drawback is largely offset by the fact that any risk of sliding in the longitudinal direction Y is thus avoided once the nut 16a or 16b has been tightened. In addition, the contact surfaces between the profiled part 4 and the brackets 15a and 15b are increased, which consequently reduces the risk of sliding in the vertical direction Z. Finally, the notches 17a, 17b automatically ensure the positioning of the brackets 15a and 15b, so that the elongated holes thereof take on a perfectly horizontal position by themselves.

It will also be noted that, as can be seen in FIG. 1 which corresponds to an extreme position of adjustment in the direction Y, the stiffener can be mounted a very short distance from the slab nose 3, which was one of the aims covered by the present invention.

The embodiment according to Figure 3 differs from that of Figures 1 and 2 in that the profiled connecting piece 4 has in its wings 4a and 4b, not a pair of aligned holes allowing the passage of a single bolt 5 , but two pairs of such aligned holes 21a, 21b and 22a, 22b, the holes of each wing being arranged one below the other and vertically one from the other. The pair of aligned holes 21a, 21b allows the passage of a horizontal bolt 23, and the other pair 22a, 22b is crossed by another horizontal bolt 24. The upper bolt 23 serves to block in the profiled part 4 an upper stiffener 1 ', while the lower bolt 24 clamps in the same profiled part 4 a lower stiffener 1' '. Finally, the holes which are made in the stiffeners 1 'and 1' 'for the passage of the bolts 23 and 24 can be lengthened in the vertical direction Z, as seen on the lower stiffener 1 "in FIG. 3 for the holes 25, in order to absorb thermal expansion.

It goes without saying that, without departing from the scope of the present invention, various modifications could be made to the embodiments which have just been described. Thus the connecting piece 4 could be made in two parts symmetrical with respect to the median plane P of the stiffener 1, which is suggested at A in FIGS. 1 and 2. In this case, the two parts of the piece 4 can enclose a stiffener 1 of any width, and they can be obtained from the same molded or extruded profile.

Also, the heads 9a and 9b of the bolts 10a and 10b of FIG. 1 could be, not square, but polygonal, and for example rectangular, or they could even have a cylindrical shape provided with diametrically opposite flats, or any other shape which prevents the threaded part of the bolt concerned from turning around its axis.

On the other hand, the T-shaped groove that each wing of the profiled connecting piece 4 has could be formed, not in a lateral extension of the latter, but in its wing proper which would then have a continuous and flat outer face. If this results in an increase in the quantity of material required, the profiled part will be reinforced, which could be advantageous in certain cases.

Furthermore, the fact that the part 4 is qualified as "profiled" does not necessarily imply that it is manufactured by extrusion, and, on the contrary, it could just as easily be a molded or machined part of a another way.

It will also be noted that if the fastening system of the invention has been described as being symmetrical with respect to the plane P, it would nevertheless be possible to deviate from this symmetry in certain particular circumstances, for example by giving different lengths to the brackets. 15a and 15b. Likewise, the two brackets 15a and 15b need not be fixed at the same level on the profiled part 4, and their wings 18a and 18b may be located in a different plane, for example if the slab nose 3 to which they are fixed by a step or a step at this point.

Claims (11)

System for fixing a curtain wall stiffener to a building element, of the type comprising a connecting piece (4) which can be made integral with said stiffener (1; 1 ', 1' ') at least one bracket ( 15a, 15b) each wing (14a, 18a; 14b, 18b) has an elongated hole (13a, 20a; 13b, 20b) perpendicular to its edge; at least one first bolt (10a, 10b) whose threaded part (12a, 12b) passes through the elongated hole (13a, 13b) formed in that (14a, 14b) of said wings of said bracket (15a, 15b) which is in contact with said connecting piece (4) in the mounting position, its nut (16a, 16b) being tightened on the face of this wing which is opposite to said connecting piece (4); and at least one second bolt (19a, 19b) which fixes the other wing (18a, 18b) of said bracket (15a, 15b) on said construction element (3) by crossing the elongated hole (20a, 20b) which is formed in this other wing (18a, 18b) of said bracket (15a, 15b), characterized in that said connecting piece (4) laterally comprises at least one groove (7a, 8a; 7b, 8b) in the shape of a T in cross section, which is vertical in the mounting position and open to the outside; and by the fact that the head (9a, 9b) of said first nut is housed with a slight clearance in said T-shaped groove (7a, 8a; 7b, 8b) while being substantially prevented from rotating about its axis. System according to claim 1, characterized in that it is symmetrical with respect to the median vertical plane (P) of said stiffener (1; 1 ', 1' '). System according to either of Claims 1 and 2, characterized in that the said connecting part (4) is a profiled part which has the shape of a U with right angles in cross section and which closely follows the external contours of the said stiffener (1; 1 ', 1' '). System according to claim 3, characterized in that said stiffener (1; 1 ', 1'') is made integral of said connecting piece (4) by means of at least one transverse bolt (5; 23, 24). System according to any one of Claims 1 to 4, characterized in that the said connecting piece (4) is extended outward in one piece by a vertical rib (6a, 6b) which extends over all its height and in which is made said T-shaped groove (7a, 8a; 7b, 8b). System according to any one of Claims 1 to 5, characterized in that the surfaces of the said connecting piece (4) and the said bracket (15a, 15b) which are intended to be clamped against one another by said first bolt (10a, 10b) are each provided with a vertical notch (17a, 17b). System according to any one of Claims 1 to 6, characterized in that the said first bolt (10a, 10b) is a square head bolt. System according to any one of Claims 1 to 7, characterized in that the said T-shaped groove (7a, 8a; 7b, 8b) is provided, at at least one of its ends, with a stop ( 11a, 11b) which is intended to stop the head (9a, 9b) of said first bolt (10a, 10b). System according to any one of claims 1 to 8, characterized in that an upper stiffener (1 ') and a lower stiffener (1' ') are both made integral with the same connecting piece (4). System according to claim 9, characterized in that at least one of said stiffeners (1 ', 1' ') is made integral with said connecting piece (4) by means of a transverse bolt (23, 24), the latter passing through the corresponding stiffener (1 ', 1' ') through holes (25) which are elongated in the vertical direction. System according to any one of Claims 1 to 10, characterized in that the said connecting piece (4) is produced in two parts which are symmetrical with respect to the said vertical vertical plane (P) of the said stiffener (1; 1 ', 1 '').

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